Dorne, Red Mountains
Year 115 BC
Nymeria
She tried her hardest to resist the urge to ask how long her companion intended to travel before they finally stopped for a rest. But each time the question rose to her lips, she bit her tongue, determined not to give him the opportunity to make some sarcastic remark about her ability to travel with him.
What's more, she was convinced he'd deliberately delayed their stop to get his way. And considering she'd spent most of the last three or four years at Sunspear, aboard ships, and perhaps as guests of other Lords of Dorne, she might have become somewhat unaccustomed to long journeys on horseback, though she wasn't about to admit it. She had her pride.
To her surprise, however, after another quarter, the prolonged silence was broken by Neferion's voice, which carried a slight note of amusement.
"You've been strangely silent, Princess? Has the journey tired you so much? A horse's saddle is different from palace pouffes and beds after all."
"What makes you think I'm tired?" She replied, her inner irritation undoubtedly heard by her companion. "Does the silence bother you that much?"
"On the contrary," Neferion replied with that irritating smirk of his, "you've simply been talking non-stop for the past few hours, and I'm convinced I know enough about you to write a book. I can picture it in my mind's eye. 'Nymeria. Warrior Princess.'"
"I guess it's natural to want to get to know your travelling companion, and since you don't want to talk about yourself, apart from some anecdotes, I had to take the initiative," she snapped angrily, internally feeling a bit embarrassed, because she had indeed shared with him a few things that even her closest relatives didn't know.
But the combination of the freedom she now felt and the fact that in the palace, there was no guarantee that someone wasn't listening in on her conversations meant she could open up to someone for the first time since childhood. Plus, there was something about Neferion that made it easy to trust him. She simply had the feeling that anything he said wouldn't be used against her.
Even during their sea voyage together, she had noticed that Neferion cared little for other people's opinions, which could be irritating when the opinion he ignored was her own.
And it wasn't because of ignorance or arrogance, or at least it didn't seem that way to her. He gave the impression that no one and nothing could force him to do anything, so he simply did what he felt like doing.
He lacked the ambition of lords, knights, wealthy merchants, or magisters to climb higher and higher.
Suddenly, a touch on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts. She turned her head, noticing the concerned look on her travelling companion's face.
"Nymeria, you must have drifted off somewhere, for you didn't hear what I was saying."
Nymeria blushed slightly involuntarily and replied, "Sorry, I was just lost in thought." Then, looking at him, she added, "If you could repeat what you said. I give you my word, I'll listen now."
The man shook his head slightly, a small smile on his lips. "I assume you're tired from the journey, but in a few miles we should reach one of the mining villages surrounding the mines. There we will stop and decide how to proceed."
"I didn't think we were this close. However, I fear the village will either be abandoned or a massacre awaits us there," she replied, her face darkening at the thought of the likely dead miners and their families.
Her companion nodded slightly, then said in a tone far from cheerful, "I would be very surprised if it were otherwise. I expect the worst, and although a long time may have passed since the monster's attack, it's possible some traces remain."
"The last thing I want is to blindly go after a monster without knowing anything about it, especially since I can't risk your life, Princess."
Nymeria turned her head away from him, guilt flooding her. She knew she was a burden to him, and her presence could threaten his life.
Neferion, clearly seeing her crestfallen face, said, trying to reassure her. "Don't worry, Nymeria; since I agreed to have you accompany me, it means I'm confident in dealing with the beast and defending you. It will be an interesting diversion."
And indeed, half an hour later, a mining village, clearly past its best days, appeared before their eyes. The buildings were mostly made of yellowish-beige stone and wood. There weren't many, though, perhaps two dozen, and one larger one, which seemed to be a gathering place and probably the local inn.
The deeper they delved into the village, seeing no living soul and noticing the state of the buildings, they had no doubt that it was not only deserted but that something had attacked its inhabitants.
The doors of some of the huts were ripped off or smashed into splinters, and several others had completely demolished walls, as if something large had simply crashed into them, forcing the stone walls inside.
Nymeria glanced at her companion, who, having dismounted from his horse, began to survey the damage and circle around, searching for any clearer signs.
Nymeria, impatient, not wanting to simply wait for him to find something, decided to follow his lead and carefully dismounted, feeling achy. She then tried to diffuse the pain, catching sight of Neferion heading for the largest building, where he soon disappeared.
She spent no more than a few minutes waiting like this when the nervous neighing of the horses suddenly caught her attention. She glanced in their direction but saw nothing suspicious.
They were still restless, however, and instinct told her something was wrong. So she moved toward them, wanting to investigate, nervously gripping her dagger in her hand.
She paused beside their increasingly nervous horses, as if sensing danger, but the trail leading down the slope, the only route to the village, seemed completely deserted for the two miles she could see.
"Ah," she gasped, suddenly feeling a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Neferion, his face unusually serious. And she saw concern in his eyes.
"What's wrong? Have you found anything?" she asked, looking at him expectantly. He nodded.
"More than I expected. The inhabitants were killed but not eaten immediately. The creatures that attacked them took them with them."
He didn't need to specify why they had taken them, but it was the plural form of the beast he was referring to that captured her attention at that moment.
"What do you mean by creatures? You want tell me than there's more than one of them?"
Neferion sighed, shaking his head. "Not only are there more than one. There's a whole herd, or rather a colony, because I have no doubt they're overgrown insects or some mutated or modified version of them. So, we have to deal with probably dozens of insect-like creatures the size of a pony."
Nymeria clutched her head, suddenly feeling very weak. One monster was already a lot, but a whole lot. This was a disaster.
"How do you even fight something like that? ...But it's impossible that there were so many of them to begin with, or they would need much more food," she muttered nervously.
"I think at first there was just a queen or something," Neferion admitted, "and then she started multiplying, faster and faster, with more and more food."
"And by the way, the swarm's scouts are already here," he added, a hint of excitement in his voice before she could say anything.
"What? "Where?" She spun around, but seeing nothing suspicious, she looked at him irritably. "Speak," she ordered.
The man just rolled his eyes, then pointed at the ground with her finger. "They're digging tunnels in the rock. After all this time, they must stretch for miles in all directions."
Nymeria felt her legs give out, but Neferion grabbed her firmly and held her. It was worse than she could have imagined. These beasts posed a threat not only to the mine but to practically the entire region.
Nymeria turned her amber eyes to her companion holding her and said with a determined voice, "Neferion, you must help me with this, for this is not something I can handle alone."
He merely smiled faintly, then said confidently, as if it were already a foregone conclusion. "Within a week, nothing of them will remain. I give you my word. Let the world know that Neferion Aldmeri, the Dovahkiin, does not refuse those in need and is no stranger to any task."
Seeing his determination and absolute conviction, she couldn't help but smile.
"So how do we do this?" she asked expectantly.
"It's simple. We'll scare them out of the tunnels," he replied, to which she looked at him sceptically.
"How?"
"With fire." he replied, 'And later I will figure out how to deal with Alduin when he wakes up again.' he added in his thoughts.
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Dorne, Red Mountains
Year 115 BC
Lord Meryn Fowler
When his first patrols failed to return from the mines, despite his growing unease, he concluded that perhaps bandits had attacked them, or perhaps the miners themselves had decided to rebel, as small folk did from time to time.
So he sent his firstborn son, Roland, at the head of an armed force of four dozen men. However, when they didn't return by nightfall and sent no message, he finally realised something was wrong.
The rumours circulating from the moons about a beast prowling the foothills of the Red Mountains might have some truth to them. When his son didn't return by nightfall, he knew something was wrong and immediately sent a letter to Princess Nymeria informing her of the potential delays in mining.
He began gathering forces and sending scouts to the mines, but only one returned, terrified, muttering about numerous monsters that had appeared out of nowhere, as large as ponies, resembling giant insects that had slaughtered the remaining scouts one by one.
And he managed to escape after nearly two hours of pursuit by the monsters, which only then gave up. This news shocked Meryn to such an extent that he didn't know what to do. On the one hand, he yearned for revenge for his son, who had likely been killed and devoured by them, but on the other, he feared leading people to certain death.
This was the first time he had encountered a situation like this. Monster hunting was a relic of distant Essos and myths from the Age of Heroes.
While he was in this state of indecision, a letter reached him from the Princess, informing him that the famed Sandtower beast had fallen at the hands of a single warrior from a distant land and that she was sending him to deal with the situation in the mines.
He then decided to send another raven to her with the information that they were indeed dealing with more creatures.
Then, feeling that his pride would not allow this brave man to face the beast horde alone, he decided to lead his finest warriors from among the men he had gathered and, at the head of nearly three hundred men, a few days later set out towards the mines.
The first 60 miles were more peaceful, but things began to unravel when they reached Ironwell, the largest of the mining villages, located right next to one of the smaller mines.
The village was deserted, and they found numerous signs of a fight and long-dried blood but no corpses. The beasts had probably taken them to feed. Despite his mounting anxiety, Meryn ordered a halt in the village but gave orders for his men to secure the mine entrance.
"My lord, the entrance is barricaded, and I have posted two dozen men on guard around the camp itself. Not even a mouse will get through," reported Yarrick Sand, his master-at-arms, while he sharpened the blade of his two-handed sword.
"Good, now sit down and eat before the stew cools," he replied, gesturing to the seat next to him, right by the blazing fire. "Darn, he outdid himself with her today. I think I need to consider making him my head chef in Skyreach," he added with a laugh.
The normally serious face of his trusted right-hand man broke into a small smile. "The boy has talent. Both for cooking and with a blade. I can't take credit for the former, though; he inherited it from his mother."
"So he should appoint her my head chef, my friend?" Meryn asked, but only half-jokingly. For, indeed, his own chef left much to be desired.
A sudden cry of first terror, then pain, interrupted their conversation.
"One of the guards," Yarrick said, unsheathing his sword. "The cry came from the direction of the mine. TO ARMS! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" he shouted, but most of the gathered warriors were veterans of numerous battles with the Marcher Lords, so they reacted just as quickly as he did.
Just seconds later, more cries of pain and the sound of struggle rang out, and then, in the light of the camp, they saw what had attacked them. Beasts from their darkest nightmares.