smartass_captain

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Jim answers his husband's call of his name with a noise in affirmation to show he's listening but doesn't reply right away. It's a shock to hear Felix giving voice to concerns Jim so often has when they're dealing with any kind of hostile entity.

"You know, this once, I think I'll be able to live with violence being our only solution." Felix is supposed to be the expert where conjuration's involved. He called out to the Dremora because he desperately needed an ally, and that trust was betrayed. Underneath Jim's fingers the memory of shredded leather and tacky blood is still fresh as the day he found his husband. "Seems as though you need to remind them who's the conjurer around here anyway, right?"

Jim won't waste a tear on a creature that tried to take everything away from him. He won't enjoy pulling the trigger but if Rielle weighs heavily on Jim it won't be because of a willful conjuration being aggressively escorted out of Nirn.

"Maybe best not to try attempting any Dremora again anytime soon though. I can't imagine they'll like what we're about to do."

For a time after there is little to do but mind the horses steady trudging through the drifting snow along the path mostly Stratos' clairvoyance is helping them keep to. Here and there the sets of small animal tracks atop the snow tell of the life in the woods but Jim still isn't quite ready for the slow realization that he's not seen any of that for some time. He remembers all too well the eerie silence and Presence Rielle has. It's not as all-encompassing as it once was, but it's the surest sign yet that they're getting close to the wards Stratos placed.

They won't be able to go much further by horse but truly the beasts don't seem to want to continue forward the closer they pick their way through.