welcome back.

------

"This is really good." Sel commented, as he took another spoonful of nix-hound stew. Vysi was becoming quite the cook, he noted, as he tasted the delicious mixture of meat, ash yam, marshmerrow, and even a hint of comberry. "You're getting as good as mom." he said with a laugh, but as soon as he said it, an expression of sorrow flashed on their faces for a moment.

After the pause, Vysi replied. "No, I'll never be that good."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Sel said, sliding his bowl away from himself after finishing his portion, and leaning his chair back.

"So what are you going to do?" Vysi asked.

It was the question that had gone unasked and unanswered for days. House Redoran had been Sel's life for some time, and in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

Sel sighed. "I don't know." he said honestly. "I could talk to Athyn, and he could probably make me his own page, but then I would have to spend another four years learning things I already know and I would ruin his reputation somewhat. How will everyone look at him after he takes in a banished boy? I don't want to put him through that."

Vysi opened her mouth to say something, but whatever it was was lost forever as a knock was heard at the door.

"Come in." Sel shouted, not getting up from his seat. He looked up to see Retin walk in.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked, striding towards Sel. As he noticed that Sel was leaning back in his chair, he took the liberty of pushing it over. "You don't talk like that to a Councillor and expect to get away with it!"

"Shut up!" Sel shouted angrily as he scrambled disentangle himslef from the chair and stand up. "What do you think you're doing, coming into my house like this?"

"I think that I'm putting some sense into your head." Retin shouted back.

"Get the hell out." Sel said firmly, pointing towards the door.

"Sel, I-"

"Out." Sel said firmly, not moving his hand.

"Fine." Retin said, heading towards the door. "Bye, Sel."

Sel flinched as the door slammed, and turned around to pick up the fallen chair. "Sorry you had to see that, Sis."

"It's okay." she said softly, but it really wasn't. She worried about her brother more and more every second. It seemed that his entire world was crumlbing around him, and everyone and everything important to him was leaving.

I won't leave him. she promised herself.

Awwwww.....I´m getting worried now, it seems as they are going towards a catastrophe...Sel really is a stubborn young man, and gets himself in trouble..frequently.But I do understand him, he´s righteous and firm..so..

Hmmm but please let him go to Athyn.....he will naturally take some action, he won´t let Sel down!

Great update Danny!!! woah....

Yay, update. Sel is getting rather stressed. He should be carefull before he loses all of his friends. Please keep writing.

It is to my sorrow that I have not kept up with one of my favorite writers. Fortunately, I have remedied that situation and caught up with this wonderful story. I stand in awe of your imagination, your ability to create believable characters, and your skill at telling an addictive story.

wow, great story Dantrag. I hope Sel gets through this well enough(sounded better in my head)

Oh, dear! Poor little Sel and Vysi! *wants to give them a big hug* Their problems just seem to get worse and worse.

Let's hope they can get through this together! *crosses fingers*

Oh! And here's a for continuing the story.

Well, I hope I wasn't gone so long that everyone lost interest. Expect an update sometime this weekend, as I have a long one away from school .

I'll write some tonight, and maybe tomorrow before posting.

Cool Danny!

Now danny...shame on you...how would you even think about us loosing interest in Sel...as a matter of fact, I have been missing him greatly, so please update soon.

I'm glad that you will start writing again, it's a really exellent story, so keep it up, ya'hear.

*Ends his lurking spree*

I've really been enjoying this story since the begining Danny, and I'm happy to hear you're updating soon. Sel's a very interesting, multi-level character that I love reading about and I hope you love enough to keep writing about him.

Jiggady Jona Josas ya'll!

Yay!!! An update is coming....this is excellent news, I will keep an eye on this..oh aye I will..

I promised, so here it is. I'm a (young) man of my word.

-----

"I can't believe we got it!" Aldaril shouted as he ran out of the dwemer ruin, clutching an enchanted halberd. He turned around to see that Sel wasn't behind him. "Damn." he spat in frustration as he started to run back in. That boy always seemed to lag behind when it came to leaving any sort of fight.

Aldaril began turning the crank to open the door and Sel ran through, along with a small army of constructs.

"Go!" Sel shouted as he sped past Aldaril, sword in hand.

Aldaril would have sighed if he had any breath left. Instead, he clutched the halberd tightly and followed after his younger counterpart.

The unlikely pair of adventurers ran on, the constructs not far behind.

"Split up!" Aldaril shouted, tossing a frost spell at the dwemer creations behind him.

Sel shook his head. "We just have to turn around and face them!"

Aldaril saw the logic in that; his and Sel's muscles would tire, but the gears inside the constructs would not. The pair turned around, Sel charging, and Aldaril chanting.

Aldaril made a point of freezing the lower parts of the constructs, be those parts legs or spheres, causing them to either fall or remain stationery. The ones that were successfuly frozen easily fell to Sel's rapidly swinging sword, and Aldaril finished a few off with a lighting bolt or two, causing the unfortunate constructs to turn into blackened scrap metal.

Sel ran his sword through the last hunk of metal, breathing heavily. A smile broke out on his face and he began laughing.

"It's not funny, Sel." Aldaril tried to say sternly, but it didn't work.

"Yes it is!" Sel was finally able to blurt out between gusts of laughter. "You dropped that thing five times on your way out!"

Aldaril rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yes, well, we should get this to Divayth Fyr. He said we could exchange it for information on Chrysamere."

Sel stopped laughing and looked to Aldaril seriously. "Are we stopping in Sadrith Mora on the way?"

Aldaril nodded. "More than likely."

"Can my sister come?"

Aldaril hesitated for a second. "We don't really need the trou-"

"She won't be a problem. We just have to do something when we get there."

Aldaril sighed. "Alright, she can come. Be ready to leave tomorrow."

"Alright, see you then." he said in farewell as he began walking back home. It wasn't much of a home anymore though, with his mother gone, and especially since he and Retin weren't exactly on speaking terms anymore.

Ok....you had to didn´t you? Leave me wondering why the h*** they have to go to Sadrith Mora....(That dangerous place!)Ah well I guess that´s the normal behaviour of a good writer to add a cliffie...but it is cruel!!!!

Anyway good writing Danny!!

Ooooh, yay! An update and I've been too busy to notice! So you glad you did, though!

...
...
... Ack, totally forgot what place was Sadrith Mora! Darn you, Oblivion, for making me forget the locations of Morrowind!

Anyway, please continue! I missed wittle silly Dunmer. *pinches Sel's cheeks*

Well, it wasn't supposed to be a cliffhanger, I just had to go somewhere, and found a good stopping point.

I have more, I just don't feel like writing it quite yet.

yay, an update. I like it.

Hmmm.....ok, but I´m so worried about Vysi....Sadrith Mora is by far no place for a young innocent girl.....Please take care of her.....!

Excellent update, Dantrag! I love the personalities you give your characters- it has been a real treat to watch Sel grow. Hope to see more soon.

forgot all about this...sorry.

----------

Sel woke to the smell of fresh baked bread the next morning to find his sister already awake, packed and ready for the trip while he wasn't even out of the bed.

He hurried to get some clothes on and picked up a small piece of the bread Vysi had cooked.

"When are we leaving?" she asked, cutting herself a slice of the fresh, warm bread.

"We're meeting Aldaril in the mages guild in a few minutes." he answered.

"So what's the surprise, Sel?"

Sel wagged his finger. "Oh, no. You'll find out when we get there." he answered. In truth, he had arranged for Councillor Neloth to make something special for her; for them both.

After finishing his bread, Sel strapped on his sword and he and Vysi were out the door and walking towards the main city of Ald'ruhn. Sel opened the door to the Guild for his sister before walking through himself. He found Aldaril impatiently waiting by the door, still holding that halberd.

"Why are you so late? Hurry, hurry!" he exclaimed, almost running towards the guild guide.

"Wolverine hall for all of us." the altmer said hurriedly as he tossed a sack of somewhere around a hundred coins at the woman.

They were instantly transported to Wolverine Hall, where the three mer borrowed a fisherman's boat to row to Divayth's small island. Aldaril was excited about possibly finding Chrysamere, while Sel was waiting for the trip to be over so he could go visit Neloth.

Ha! yessss an update...but still we have to wonder what´s gonna happen with Vysi...

Great work as usual Danny!

It wasn't really an update...merely what I didn't have time to include in the last one.

Whatever......it took the story a tad forwards anyway! Keep it up!

great story Dantrag, please continue making updates.. no matter how short they are, it gives us something to read

OMG!!!!! Have you noticed how many stories there are in the fanfic-forum just now??? The problem is it´s too much to read! But don´t let it stop you dear writers....go on just you write and post, it´s awesome!

But then again......another "Sel" is always most welcome!.....Ok Danny when will it be?

*Kiln taps his foot*

We need an update here mate, please continue soon. I really want to know what happens next...or else...I mean please?

hmm random?

but yeah I agree with Kiln... or el-please?

Here you are

------

Sel, Vysi, and Aldaril arrived at Divayth's tower, and were escorted in by Fyr's strange creations. Sel shuddered a little when they carried on about being wives and daughters. Aldaril seemed somewhat disconnected from it all, the prospect of seeing the Paladin's Blade had him too excited to see anything else but the prize ahead. He clutched the cloth-covered staff as if it were life itself.

The daughter-wife gave each of them a levitation potion, and they flew up the chute and into Divayth's private quarters.

"Did you find the halberd?" Divayth asked Aldaril without a greeting.

Aldaril nodded as he removed the cloth, revealing the ancient dwemer halberd. Divayth took it from Aldaril and inspected it.

"I can't believe you actually found this." Divayth said in awe.

Aldaril tapped his foot impatiently while Sel and Vysi merely looked all around the tower and gaping at the artifacts the old wizard owned.

"What of the information?" Aldaril asked when he realized that his foot-tapping wasn't getting his point across.

"Oh, I know exactly where it is. Chrysamere I mean."

"Well?" Aldaril asked, barely able to hold in his excitement.

"You've heard of the Nerevarine, right?"

"Yes." Aldaril answered, a bit confused as to why the Nerevarine was relevant.

"He has it."

"Wha-? Wait a minute." Aldaril said angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Divayth. "You had me do all of that work to get a halberd in exchange for useless information?"

"I told you that I would tell you where you could find Chrysamere." Divayth replied smugly.

Aldaril clenched his fists, and Sel watched as smoke flitered out from inbetween his fingers, apparently, he cast small fireballs when angry. This couldn't be good....

Yay, update! A nice one. Now Aldaril probably wants to calm down. I've seen Divayth in the CS and he's tough.

Yes, the Nerevarine has it and he's not going to give it up. He loves Chrysamere. (Well, my Nerevarine does.)

Ohohohooo......Now they have a problem......I loved the description of Aldaril casting small firespells out of anger......I can just see him do it!

Veery good Danny.....gives me sorta urge for more!....Yeah..you heard me..MOOORE!

(Still worried about Vysi.....hmmm no place for a young girl)


S.G.M

Fighting with Divanath? not a good idea... he doesn't have to use spells he has a Deadric, sortsword... or was it a Tanto?

Imagine my surprise to find several great updates since I was last here. This is truly exciting. I do hope that Aldaril's anger doesn't get the better of him; I'm sure that angering Fyr is a really bad idea.

<random babble>I agree with Minque's statement about the proliferation of stories on the forums. RL has been too busy for me lately, and I haven't had as much time to spend here as I would like, but it is almost intimidating whenever I do make it here and I see the mountain of possible stories to read. But as Minque said, please don't let that stop any of the amazing writer from continuing their stories.</random babble>

Short, but wonderfully described. I love the twist- just like Fyr to give an answer that is 100% correct and 100% useless- kind of like Microsoft...

Keep up the great writing.

wow. It's been awhile. (I'm such a slacker with this thing)

---------

Sel was getting more than a little scared because of the growing tension between Aldaril and Fyr. If the two decided to let their disagreement escalate into violence, then he and Vysi would be in a quite dangerous situation. With that in mind, he set out to put out the fires of strife.

"So is there anything else? Any word on where the Nerevarine is?" he blurted quickly.

"Why would I tell you?" Divayth retorted. "I don't respond well to threats." he finished, pointing to Aldaril's smoking fist.

If the old mage could play with words and get away with it, so could Sel.

"Well then you owe us; you haven't made good on your end of the bargain." Sel said, immediately regretting it, mainly because the Telvanni councillor was a very imposing elf. He looked fearsome in his strange black and red armor, and that look was intensified because of the anger etched across his face.

"Explain yourself." Fyr commanded.

Sel gulped loudly before continuing. "Well...uh...you see...uh..you promised that you'd...uh...tell us where Chrysamere was...not...who...uh...has it." he stammered. He gulped again, hoping that Divayth didn't see it fit to burn him to a crisp then and there.

There was a long and awkward silence that only served to make Sel's fear grow and grow. After a few more seconds, Fyr burst out into laughter.

"You're a clever one, boy. Your master should take lessons. Anyway, I suppose you're right. I did say that I'd tell you where the sword was."

"And?" Aldaril cut in.

Divayth shot him an angry glare. "I wasn't speaking to you." he turned back to Sel with a smile. "What's your name, boy?"

"Sel." he answered tentatively. This sudden change of attitude was more than a little unnerving.

"Alright Sel, come this way, and we'll see how I can repay what I owe."

Sel followed Divayth down the chute after the mage had given them both levitation.

Fyr led Sel to his own bedroom where he motioned for Sel to sit down in a nearby chair. Once Sel sat down, Fyr sat down across from him.

"So what do you want in exchange? I don't know where Chrysamere is exactly, but I'm willing to give you something else in return."

Sel leaned back in his chair and thought hard. If he made the wrong decision here, Aldaril would not be pleased. Divayth was rich, so he could take gold, but he was also a collector, like Aldaril, so he could get some kind of artifact...

"It's said that you're a collector; can I look at what you have?"

Divayth smiled. "Of course."

Sel then realized from the expression on Fyr's face that he had passed some sort of test and asking for gold had been the wrong answer.

More Sel! Hooray! Glad to see you back, Danny.

I enjoy your vision of Fyr and the almost inevitable tension between two powerful wizards forced into close proximity. Good to see that Sel was clever enough to recognize the flaw in Fyr's answer and to request a reward other than money.

Wohoo...finally we have some more of good'ol Sel.

So, Sel's a lil smartie huh, like we didn't know that from earlier on...

I loved to see more, so now all I have o do is to beat RL, and do some more writing myself....

Ha! Good old Sel! Clever as usual....some day he may be more clever than what´s good for him..... . So he managed to get some info outta Mr Divayth.....that is good..but!!! Where would it lead him? I bet we´ll see about that....

I do have a question..or shall we say a wish.....I wonder what Vysi is up to while her brother runs around harassing old Telvanni wizards......

*waiting eagerly for the next update, where all questions would be answered...or?*

I kinda missed Sel, so here you go.

----------

Divayth laid out a large variety of items on a table in front of Sel.

"These are the ones that I'm willing to part with. Make a choice."

Sel looked at them all, but knew nothing of any of them. There was a cuirass, a hammer, a mace, many odd dwemer items, and even a few daedric ones.

"Can Aldaril come in here?" he asked, wanting some help to make the right decision.

"Most certainly not. Aldaril and I have never got along well, we just...tolerate each other."

Sel nodded, not really wanting to know the history between Fyr and his employer. He was about to point to a daedric dagger, but Divayth cut in.

"I need someone like you."

Sel raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You have a good head on your shoulders. You're a bit young, but I can find plenty for you to do."

Sel suddenly understood. "You want me to work for you instead of Aldaril?"

Fyr nodded.

"No thank you." Sel said as if he were telling a waitress that he didn't want any biscuits.

Divayth's jaw tightened, and Sel guessed that he wasn't used to being turned down.

"I'll take that one." Sel said, not-so-tactfully as he pointed to the hammer, changing his mind from the dagger.

"Take it and go." was all Fyr said.

A bit flustered and even more scared, Sel grabbed the hammer and dragged it along behind him as he ran back to Aldaril.

O-o.....hmmm annoying Divayth Fyr are we huh? Was that very wise? Hopefully Sel will work it out...not that I don´t understand him but still.....it takes a lot of courage to stand up to an old Telvanni-wizard like that!

HMmmm so what about Vysi? Danny, thy name is "teaser"!

Guess I´ll sit around waiting again then......

Loved the comparison of Sel's "No thank you," to someone dismissing a waitress.... Wonder how Fyr will react to that...

hmm, don't you just love mind games? wrong answer and you could find yourself in the Corprusanium(sp?). Very nice additions Dantrag, very nice.

It was interesting that he dismissed Fyr's offer out of hand without even trying to learn a little more. Perhaps this was another example of the impulsiveness of youth?

Fyr will get even later.

---------------

Sel made his way back to the room in which Aldaril and Vysi were standing uncomfortably.

"Here. This is yours." he said to Aldaril as he handed the hammer over.

"By Azura, boy. Do you have any idea what you've just given me?"

Sel shrugged. "A hammer, I'm guessing."

Aldaril shook his head as if in disappointment. "Well, this isn't really the place to go into detail. I don't think the old wizard wants us around."

Sel nodded, and the three companions left the tower. While on the boat heading back towards Sadrith Mora, Aldaril took it upon himself to describe the importance of the hammer that Sel had chosen. It was no Chrysamere, but Aldaril was satisfied.

"So, since I got Volderug or whatever, do I get a bonus?" Sel asked hopefully; he needed a little extra gold to go pick up a couple things for himself and his sister.

Aldaril was in too good a mood to say no, so he dug in his purse for Sel's bonus. No sooner had Aldaril placed the coins in Sel's hand than they arrived in Sadrith Mora, just outside the Gateway Inn.

"Come on, Vysi. I have something to go get you." he said, running off into the city.

Aldaril was left far behind, shaking his head at youthful energy.

Ahhhh......more Sel! That hammer.....was it Volundrang or am I just far out ???

Anyway.....very good update...making me want mooooooooooooooooooooooore! For Azura´s sake Danny.....I´m so eager to hear about Vysi......and what will happen to her, I have the most dreadful feeling something´s bad is cominmg their way!

But what will Sel get her????? Arrrggg.......write more please!

I also will be curious to see what Sel buys for Vysi. We haven't seen very much of her lately; I do hope she's come to terms with the danger of Sel's new occupation.

I'm taking that as a yes

Anywhoo, nice job Dantrag. can't wait to see what Sel get Vysi.

ps. sorry for resurecting this but i wanted to comment on it.