“The animals know. They got the noses for it, not like we do. If yer in the wood and hear no birds, or wanderin’ round the Reach and nary a crow in sight, somethin’ worse than a storm is coming yer way.”
The old Dunmer coughs into his sleeve and takes another long drag of sujamma. “Ah, I’m out.. Where was I? Ah, that’s it there..
“As I was sayin’ earlier, the animals know. They’ll turn tail as the first faint smell. It’s got a smell, like a storm without rain, or how that college over in Winterhold smells, ye’ll know it when ye get there. But it’s thick at the tear, thicker than oil. Get too close and ye can’t even breathe, but by then..” He rubs his wrist and for a moment his face slackens. He’s gone off somewhere, far from here. It’s in his eyes more than anything: blank, glassy, like the eyes of a dead man whose heart doesn’t know to stop beating. And just like that he’s back in his own mind. The fire reflects again in his blood red eyes, and he looks to you like a stranger would.
“Do I know ye? Oh, oh that’s right there.. Yer here about the blackscales, aren’t ye? Well, the animals know. They got the noses for it. See a sabre cat wantin’ yer guts one second then running for home the next? She’s there.
“I know it’s a she, I seen her. They’re all she over there, past this world, past all th’ worlds. The ones you see here, flyin’ over and fussin’ about? All males. In our nature, ye ask me. We fight, we’re loud s’wits. But them? Nah. They’re quiet, but ye’ll hear ‘em all the same. It’s.. like music. Softest tunes to grace yer ears loud enough to split yer skull.”
Another round appears on the table. He takes it gladly and downs it in one go.
“It was me and Drelas back then. He’s gone though, and don’t go distrubin’ his next of kin, they won’t know who yer goin’ on about. We joined up with the guard, got lucky and ended up patrol partners. Did that a few years, Drelas found himself a lovely woman, even had a young’un on the way. Got assigned a post outside Raven Rock, close enough to the town not to worry. Figured it’d be easy. For the most part, guessin’ it was..
“.. Huh? What was that? Who’s Drelas? .. Ah.. Ah, yeah.. Right. It was me and Drelas, getting ready to change shift when we heard a scream. Drelas, he was a good man, he ran out to see what he could see. Followed him, glad I did, even if I ain’t. That was Drelas for ye. Too damn helpful for his own good. If he just let go..”
A third jar of sujamma appears. You’re still on your first.
“We followed it ‘round all the way to the coast, maybe six or so miles out. It was easy going, not a netch or ash hopper as we went. That prolly should’ve warned us, but if ye knew Drelas, and I guess ye never will, he wasn’t the type to ask a lot of questions. More ash than brain, that one..
“We followed it out, same volume, same pitch, ‘til we reached the shore. It was dark then, and the scream, it stopped. Didn’t know how bad me head was hurtin’ till it all went quiet, and then came that music.. Soft as silk, filled me head and I guess Drelas’ too. Dulled the ache it did, and ones I didn’t know I had. Dunno how long I was there, but didn’t much notice when it wasn’t night anymore. It was bright, brighter than any I’d see and I’ve been to Hammerfell, but there wasn’t no sun. No shadow, no shore, no nothing.. Shoulda been afraid, but I ain’t sure if you can feel afraid there. Or anything.. I guess that’s why Drelas waited too long. Of all the..”
A shouting argument across the room snaps him out from another daze.
“Ah.. Ah, yeah. That’s right.. It was.. Wrong, in there. That’s the only way to put it. Wrong. Like yer trespassing on somethin’, and I guess ye are. In the worst way. In that bright and that thrice-damned tone was that shadow. First I saw.. Then saw it wasn’t. Darker than a shadow, than anything. All the darkest black you ever saw, except the eye. Their eyes are gold. Purest gold, not the metal but the sun. Golden sunlight, that’s their eye..
“She took one look at us, at me, and she.. Ate him. Opened her mouth, and Drelas was.. He was dust. I know I screamed, ain’t ashamed to say it, but I didn’t hear it. Didn’t hear me own voice as that blackscale.. inhaled my friend, right through her scaly nostrils. I reached out a hand, stumbled back but into what I ain’t got a clue..”
He stops and looks at hist wrist. It’s a clean stop where a hand would’ve been, but no scar.
“I woke up on the beach, quiet as a damn burial cavern. When I went back to tell the captain what happened he looked at me like I was playing a damn joke. Asked who Drelas was. Never had anyone at that name in the roster, not when I was a guard. I told him where he could shove the roster and ran off to see Drelas’ woman. Ain’t no way she would forget, she was carrying his damn kid.
“She was as petite as ever. If there was ever a baby in her, she didn’t show it then. Didn’t know her own man when I asked, begged her to remember.. She thought me a drunk and had me escorted out. Spent a year on probation after that, lucky they didn’t toss me to the sea..
“I went back after I got me head straight, couple weeks after. Strand was lousy with ash hoppers, as they would’ve been. Mating season was ‘round that time. Was when I realized it. The whole way me and Drelas went, the ash hoppers became a scarce sight. If ye ever had dealings with those bastards, ye’d know they’d knock on the door to the House of Troubles. Ain’t afraid of a damn thing, but they hopped out from there quicker than anything.”
He lowers his sujamma onto the table and fishes out his pipe. He has trouble lighting it with just the one hand. You offer a hand but then the spark hits.
“The animals know, outlander.”