Rona's Story: The Truth Beneath the Rose

Chapter 12 Eroeh

(The Song is Arwen's Promise by Eurielle)

"It is done; I have decided.
No going back now.
I have seen, and I believe
You'll return somehow.

Since the first time I saw you I knew
The shadows in your heart withdrew.
Though the world grows darker every day
And hope seems all but a memory,
Nothing can dim or extinguish this flame
Ignited long ago, deep within me"

Rona followed behind the white-haired woman, practically chasing her out the door of the inn as she swept along almost quicker than she could catch her. The moment she was outside though her breath caught in her throat and she looked around stunned to see that it was light out. Not only that, but there was no snow to be seen. The sun warmed her skin as she took a few tentative steps forward, absolutely bewildered. It felt like a hot summer day instead of a chill winter one, which is what it should have been considering they were nearing the end of Evening Star.

Rona looked around and saw the long tendrils of white hair whisking back around the inn. She hurried after the woman chasing her all the way around the inn and down towards the lake. It was so beautiful. Flowers were blooming all over while butterflies and bees went about their business, dotting the flowers and pollinating them. Across the way, dragonflies caressed the lake while fish broke the surface catching the slower ones in their mouths. The birds were singing in the lively green trees and the rabbits were feasting and mating under the thick foliage.

Rona stepped onto the dock, looking out at this strange Dragonborn woman who had been following her so closely since they first met in that terrifying place, in the forests just outside the Void of Sithis.

She was staring firmly at the water and Rona moved forward, standing by her side and looked down into the sparkling clear lake only to be shocked when she saw the pale ghostly face of a woman, nearly identical to the one standing next to her. She looked... dead. Like she'd drowned. And yet, Rona knew, the song, that voice... it was coming from the woman in the water.

She turned to her companion and saw that she looked incredibly distressed. Wanting to ease her sorrow Rona said, "We have to get her out of the water. We can... here," she knelt down, reaching for the drowned woman. She slipped her good hand into the water and snapped it back quickly. She'd expected it to be cool definitely, but the water was absolutely freezing cold. She saw her own breath then, chilled in white puffs as it touched the air. Everything started to change, so suddenly, going from the beautiful warm landscape back to the dark, freezing cold night. It was like a curtain drawing back, revealing the truth to her. Rona watched as the lake started to freeze over again and her gaze traveled down to the break in the ice where the drowned woman lay beneath the surface.

The white-haired woman knelt beside her then, desperately reaching for the girl in the water as her tears traced her cheeks. Rona decided to help her as best she could. She reached back in, knowing now how cold it would be, but before her hand even touched the surface another hand burst from the water, grabbing her entire arm and dragged her down. Rona tried to scream, but she hit the water face first and her cries went unheard as she was immediately whisked away under the surface.

The world around her grew so cold and dark and then she heard the sound of roaring water, but it was not like she was beneath the lake anymore. She opened her eyes and found herself somewhere else entirely that looked a lot like some part of the Reach to her.

(Looped Background Music Through the Woods We Ran by Vinsvept Fantasy Music)

She was in the midst of a grassy field, surrounded by wild flora and fauna set in the mountains. Behind her was an enormous roaring waterfall, in fact, there were several waterfalls all around, springing from the mountains and deluging into rapid rivers which coiled around, falling further down the mountainside. She watched as people, who definitely looked like Forsworn went about their daily tasks. A group of women sat in a tent gossiping and giggling as they stitched together fabric. Several men walked by, carrying animal pelts and meat with them, looking as though they'd just returned from a hunt, some stopped by the tents to flirt and tease the women, leaving the girls giggling while the older women shooed them off.