Flash Fiction February Day 7 Storm (Valan)

 Day 7 Storm:

Ash storms are a common nuisance in Morrowind and known for coming out of seemingly nowhere, the closer you get to Red Mountain and the Ghostfence the worse they are. “This is it, I’m going to die in an ash storm.” I grumble using a nearby rock as a form of temporary shelter and pull my hood and scarf up to protect my face and eyes from the ash as it blows around. The storm waxes and wanes in its severity and in the moments of slight calm I trudge through the ashlands as quickly as I can, if I had one I would simply use a scroll of Divine Intervention to be transported to the nearest shrine but unfortunately I used my last one a couple of weeks ago and have been too busy to be able to find time to buy more of them. Due to my lack of magical assistance I continue to trudge through the storm when possible, taking shelter behind rocks when needed, and hope this storm is not laced with disease as ash storms are known to carry a wide variety of ailments. Eventually the storm dies down around the time I cross from the ashlands into Azura’s coast which is primarily a rocky coastline with a few hills here and there, eventually knocking at the door of Tel Fyr, my final planned destination. For once it is not one of the girls who opens the door, or Ayron as he is up at Tel Vos doing who knows what, probably playing with his Dwemer Centurion again, but Fyr himself. “Took you long enough, come in, come in.” He says waving me inside and reminding me to take my shoes off as if I didn’t already know the drill. “You got caught in an ash storm didn’t you?” the old man questions “Yeah, why?” He tilts his head and looks at me silently for a moment. “Because you look like Guar shit, come on, let's see if whatever was in that storm has gotten you sick.” Fyr begins to walk away, asking Alfe if she could please make tea for the two of us, at least, if not everyone, and asks me if I am coming. “Yes, yes, I’m coming, no need to be so snippy about it.” I say to myself before running to catch up with him. We sit in one of the rooms upstairs, have our tea and catch up, I give him the letter that Ayrons assistant from the council had asked me to deliver, to which Fyr writes a surprisingly quick reply and hands it back saying to deliver it back to Sadrith more, before he gives me a brief exam. “Well, good news is you don’t have Corpus, and if you ever do contract it come see me I’ve been working on something I think will help negate the effects of it and make the person both asymptomatic and noncontagious, the bad news is you do have a minor disease as a result of exposure to the ash…lucky for you, I have a just the thing for it.” He goes over to a shelf and rummages through it’s contents before pulling out a small bottle and handing it to me. “Drink that, and you might want some more tea in order to wash it down…” Fyr says, I look at it suspiciously before looking up at him “This is going to taste disgusting isn’t it?” The old wizard refuses to meet my gaze “Perhaps…” He mumbles “What was that?” I ask “I said maybe but its medicine what else would you expect now drink it, it will make you feel better.” He says finally looking at me again. With a deep breath I take the stopper off and swallow the contents of it in one go, trying not to gag as I do before immediately grabbing the cup of tea to get the horrid taste out of my mouth. “By Azura what was in that?!” I cough, pouring myself more hot water. “Oh, you know, the usual…Chokeweed, Daedra skin, Gravedust, Red and Green Lichen, Muck, and Willow Anther, typical alchemy ingredients.” I give him a look that is displeased to say the least and have something to eat. If whatever was in that potion is what it takes to cure the effects of diseases carried by ash storms, that's one reason for me to never go out in the ash ever again.