Dra'ahza

There was once a young dunmer woman who dutifully studied magic at her father's behest. He would set goals for her to accomplish and lock her in her room until she met them. These ranged from casting a simple spell to answering a question from a dense, historical text. There were only two joys she felt. One was watching a neighbor's housecat who liked to climb the tree outside her window to chase birds. The other was on her birthday when her father would take her to the sea every year.

At some point during her studies, she realized the cat had stopped coming around. She didn't know precisely when, perhaps a week. That night when all was quiet, she used the magic she had learned to unlatch the locks and go outside. She cast a simple candlelight spell to light her way as she went to the tree and tried to find some sign. Before dawn, she found only a collar with a small bell.

It was a dark year for her. She hadn't even realized how much she relied on that cat. There was no reason to go on without it. Doing her daily tasks allowed her to survive. She was far too terrified of her father to try to run away. All she could do was count down the weeks until her birthday. This year instead of the sea, she asked for a cat of her own.

***

She heard the sound of the door unlocking. It was odd this time of day for her father to make demands. It was even more odd that she heard a knock. She didn't even know how to respond, and said, "I hear you."

After a short pause, a voice with an accent she'd never heard said, "This one is Dra'ahza. It was told this room has new mistress."

Her heart stopped, but somehow, she still had the strength to run to the door. She opened it to see her father standing behind a teenage khajiit. Her father slapped him on the butt and said, "Here. This one is prime stock and should keep you entertained." He pushed the khajiit inside and added, "You're growing up. I expect more from you now." With that, he locked the door again.

She stood there silent and mortified for several minutes. This isn't what she wanted at all. Deep breaths. She turned to the khajiit and gestured for him to sit, saying, "Greetings. My name is--"

"Forgiveness," he interrupted. "Khajiit was told to always call master or mistress."

"Oh," she replied. "If that's what my father wants. Listen... Dra'ahza, was it? I must be honest with you. I just asked for a housecat. I have no idea what to even do with you."

Dra's shoulders and ears sagged. "This one knew it was a mistake," he said with a wavering voice. "All khajiit's family ends up dying in kwama business. Thought it could live easy in house like elder master say." He got up to go knock at the door.

Her blood didn't know if it should run cold or make her face blush. "Wait!" she yelled while holding up a hand to stop him. "You can stay. Be calm."

He blinked and sniffed at the air twice. Dra stepped in front of her and kneeled, slowly leaning forward to lick the back of her hand once. "If this one is dreaming, please don't wake him up."

"Stop that!" she yelled! She took another deep breath and went back to sit at her desk. "Just... just come sit next to me and stay quiet. I’m learning proper finger positioning for casting non-verbally." A quick glance at her books and she had no idea how to get her concentration back. Dra’ahza did as commanded. It was clear he had no idea what scrying was. It was also clear how he was looking at the open books that he couldn’t read. It was going to be a bad year.

***

The next year was worse.

Her father’s arrogant attitude was starting to affect his standing in the outside world. When he came home, he’d take it out on her. Even if she had a good report about her studies that day, it was never enough. The demands he made of her became increasingly more difficult. Dreaded were the days she couldn’t finish in time and his yelling would not satisfy him.

The latest task was to find a lost scrying incantation that her father was certain he had seen somewhere in his library. It was rare that she was allowed out of her room to study, it must have been important. Dra’ahza had fallen into the role of a fellow student, though he had no magical ability himself. Dra stayed up with her all night and the following day. Together they skimmed through nearly every book on the extensive shelving.

“Well girl?!” demanded the father that eve. “Where is the incantation?”

She answered quietly, “We… we couldn’t find it, fath-“

He stopped her with a slap. He raised his voice and started one of his rants, “We?! You and your toy couldn’t find it, then? After a full day?! Maybe I should sell it instead! Maybe it was wrong for me to bring it to you.”

Dra’ahza stepped forward with his ears low, “This one is sorry, elder master. Khajiit can work in kwama mine to make up lost profits, yes?” Submissive attitude or no, it didn’t stop her father from beating them both until they could no longer stand.

The two lied in their beds in awkward positions that night trying to not put weight on their sores. Neither could sleep. She stared across at her khajiit in the dim candlelight for hours. It was the first time he had stood up for her. It was the first time he stood up for anything... and it was for her. “Dra’ahza,” she began, “Do you think that the kwama mines might have been better than this?”

“No.”

“No? Are you sure?”

“Dra’ahza think of this one as sister now,” he replied matter-of-factly.

She said in a mocking, but surprised tone, “Really? That’s bad luck for you then. Haven’t you heard? My family members eventually turn into asses. I’m probably one already.”

Dra let out a quiet growl in thought. He turned his head to look back at her. “Maybe this one will call its master Sass instead of Sis then.”

This time she sniffled. “I’d like that,” she sputtered out. “Just not around anyone else though, okay? I don’t think we could take it.” She pushed herself to her feet with a groan and moved back to her desk. He started to protest before she silenced him. Sass opened a drawer and pulled out the kitty collar she found so long ago. “Here,” she said. “This is… this is for you. It is one of my happiest memories.”

He was offended at first, then remembered the story she had told him about the housecat from before their meeting. It was a weird gift, but it was the best she had. Dra took it and immediately put it on with a little jingle. There were no more words to say about it.

***

Sass and Dra’ahza had grown into adults, but still lived in fear of her father who had come to rely on selling her research. She had secretly corresponded with the Mage’s Guild. They agreed to take them both in if she was willing to pay extra dues to cover his board. This left the problem of the duo getting money of their own.

She had taken note of a few objects of interest she located in the tomes they studied. Mixed in with a bit of scrying work, she knew where to find artifacts that would probably be worth a fair amount of coin. They guessed it would take three such artifacts to pay the guild – two for Sass and one for Dra.

They planned this for weeks. When her father was away for business, she opened a portal to where the scrying pointed her. Dra’ahza would step through and retrieve the artifact while she held the portal open. This worked without a hitch the first time. No problems the second time either.

“Just one more then we’ll be out of here,” Sass said as she ripped open reality to form the last portal. “Even father won’t be able to touch us after this. Okay, Dra, it’s stable. Be careful this time. We’re so close!”

Dra’ahza nodded. “This one will be fine. It knows exactly what to look for.” He stepped through the portal.

He was underground.

The light of the portal was the only source of light. He opened his eyes wide and let his khajiit vision adjust. Soon he could see the walls of a cave around himself. There were fallen rocks blocking the only apparent exits. This place hadn’t been visited in decades at least.

He stepped towards a crystalline stone embedded in the rocks. It was the beginnings of a welkynd stone growing, but it was different somehow. The color seemed a bit off. Dra rubbed his jaw and stared at it for a minute wondering if he would have to use a pickaxe. He reached out at simply pulled on it to test the feel.

As soon as he touched it, light danced around the room. The portal behind him rippled and became unstable! Bits of it seemed to stream across the room into the atypical crystal itself! He could do nothing but watch in horror with his ears back as the portal broke apart and faded away. The last thing he thought he heard was his master’s scream from the other side.

“No,” he whispered. The crystal he had touched was glowing from its magicka feast. He had just enough light to look around and tell just how screwed he was. It wasn’t long before he was scared to the point of talking to himself, “Maybe Sass will use the two already found and join guild without this one. Then will maybe remember khajiit and help.”

Dra began whimpering and looking around in desperation as the light began to fade. There was running water from a stream. It wasn’t large enough to fit through, but maybe it went somewhere. There was a bit of old mining junk scattered around. No food, just a few broken crates, empty bottles, and the like.

He ran in circles a good while trying to figure out what he could do with what he had. Tearing a piece of his tunic away, he hastily scrawled a simple message for help on it with some mud, put it in a bottle, and put it into the stream to be carried away. He did this several more times until he was out of bottles.

Darkness.

Dra’ahza spent the next several days groping around the room. He shifted rocks when he could and clawed at others when he couldn’t. There was no way to know which direction to go to get out. All he could do was survive for as long as he could. The water in the stream was clean. Grubs occasionally crawled in to give him a tiny portion of food.

He always knew he’d die like this, just like the rest most of his old relatives did. It surprised him when he didn’t. Long after he had given up hope, he heard voices that weren’t just in his head. A small group of khajiit had found his note and come to help him.

As soon as the elation wore off and he stopped blabbering about how he wanted to find his master, he realized he’d have to be careful. If he said too much, then Sass’ father might find him and force his daughter to return home again. Dra decided to stay near the cave in case she came looking for him someday. In the meantime, he felt he had a debt to repay his saviors.