A Mysterious Voice (Fyr)

Short Story September Prompt: A mysterious voice

Something is wrong with Valan. Now to be fair, there usually is, however lately he has seemed…off. I’m not sure if it's lack of sleep, malnutrition, stress, or something else, but there is something different about him. Ayron noted to me recently he seems preoccupied and when last at Tel Vos spent a solid twenty minutes pacing about the Dwemer museum that Ayron has created mumbling to himself. While Valan may be eccentric in his own and very Telvanni type of way, that’s new. Beyond that he’s had a strange fixation on the Nerevarine prophecy as of late which has me concerned given he spends much more time in the wider world than I do. The temple doesn't take kindly to those who bring up that prophecy, the only reason I manage to stay out of some dark damp prison is due to my irreplaceable skills and research on the Divine Disease taking in those afflicted with the nasty illness. I very much hope that Valan wasn’t exposed to it on one of his adventures, that would potentially explain the strange behavior. I keep a close eye on him both near and from afar thanks to my little network of contacts that he happens to cross paths with frequently, and I remind Caius to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble. While close by and staying at the tower rather than rent a room at the inn in Sadrith Mora I pay attention to what it is he seems to be mumbling about, it does seem prophecy related. It’s quite late one night and in the middle of a raging storm that I find him wandering throughout the tower until he gets to the small study on the second floor and paces about talking to himself quietly while attempting to examine the books. He can’t read any of them, though, as the print is too small for him to see. It makes no sense as to why he would be so fixated on some old Dwemer books and folios dating from the early Second Era with scrawled notes of no importance beyond trivial matters and some hypotheses. Staying out of sight I watch as he goes back and forth and back and forth speaking just loud enough I can catch a word or two every so often. At one point I move slightly to see if I can hear better, causing one of the floorboards to creak. It is at that moment I realize there is in fact something very wrong. When looking up again I see the body of Valan staring, but rather than a pair of clouded red eyes looking at me confused, I see two gold glowing eyes silently judging, and a look on his face that would be more appropriate on a general than a thief and a wanderer. “Why do you disturb me, wizard?” A deep voice asks from Valans mouth, making it very clear that this is not Valan at all. “Who, or what, are you?” I ask the voice before telling it to leave Valans body and be gone, and to get out of my tower. Of course that fails rather dramatically as whatever has possessed Valans body slowly makes its way toward the entrance to the study. Valan himself is not particularly intimidating physically, but this mysterious voice has even me a bit intimidated. “What do you know of the Nerevarine prophecy?” I’m asked now standing face to face with whatever this is. “Why do you want to know?” I find myself replying before I can think about it. “I am the spirit of Indoril Nerevar, the prophecy has begun.” the deep voice tells me before Valans eyes glow a bright gold before fading and he collapses, unconscious. I don’t know whether to be fascinated or horrified. That certainly explains the strange behavior though. He’s not insane, or at least not in that way, he’s possessed…and possessed by a very temperamental warlord at that.