In the morning, our heroine left the house of the branch of the Mages Guild of Bruma and went out into the fresh winter air. It didn't take her long to reach the city gate and walk outside.
"Good morning, sir," Selena said to the yellow-robed guard standing outside the city gate.
"Greetings, citizen!," he replied cheerfully.
"I'm going to Gnoll Mountain. If I follow the main path, I will move towards it. Is that right?" she asked.
"Yes. But if you follow the path, there will soon be a fork. One road will go north towards Skyrim. The other road is south towards the Imperial City. The Gnoll Mountain will be located to the east. Then you won't have to walk on the road anymore, but just through the snow and over the hills."
"I get it."
"Looks like you're not from around here. You may encounter goblins, cave trolls and cougars, as well as wandering bandits. Be careful."
"I will. Good luck, sir," Selena said, moving away from the guard.
After ten minutes of walking, the fork that the guard had told her about appeared. Now she had to climb the snow-covered hills. Activating the spell "resistance to cold" she went forward.
The sky had a bright orange-red hue, as if a fire was raging somewhere in the distance. But most likely it's just a unique natural phenomenon in these mountainous areas, and there is no fire ahead, Selena decided.
She walked uphill, often turning around and listening, fearing the appearance of some hostile creatures, about which many had warned her. She managed to find several thickets of thistles, from which she collected several handfuls of seeds.
Then some shouts were heard ahead. It sounded like a man shouting. It seemed like he was fighting, as the screams were intermittent. He probably screamed when he struck or received blows. There was also a kind of roar, clearly not human.
Selena cautiously moved forward, reminding herself that in case of serious danger, she should immediately drink an invisibility potion and rush to run. Unfortunately, after drinking the invisibility potion, you can't attack while remaining unnoticed. The effect of the potion stops in case of attacking actions.
Suddenly the screaming and roaring stopped, and Selena seemed to be approaching the place from where they were coming. She climbed onto a flat platform and she bumped into a giant boulder. In one hand she took her club, and in the other she took the invisibility potion and continued walking.
Going around the corner, she saw in front of her a huge translucent silhouette of some kind of creature! There was some magic involved. Perhaps this creature has the "chameleon" ability, which makes any creature transparent, but not absolutely invisible.
Nearby, a man in a fur cuirass was lying in the snow. Obviously, he was the one who shouted while unsuccessfully fighting this monster.
"Damn it! If that big guy couldn't cope with this monster, then I certainly can't...", thought Selena.
"Run! Not back! Forward to Gnoll Mountain. It is unlikely that this big monster deftly climbs the mountains!".
The monster, which Selena could not identify and which most likely was some kind of cave troll, began to growl aggressively. Without waiting for decisive action on his part, she immediately drank the invisibility potion in one gulp and ran as fast as she could.
Selena noticed a shield lying in a snowdrift, running past a dead man and quickly picked it up without hesitation. She swept past the unidentified monster and ran further towards Gnoll Mountain. After putting the selected shield in the inventory, she jumped from stone to stone several times, climbed up on large boulders, until she ran out onto some kind of road going up.
Looking back, she realized that no one was chasing her. The effect of the spell has ended. Now she could only hope that she would be able to climb Gnoll Mountain without encountering any hostile creatures again...
She walked up the snow-covered road, regularly applying the spell "resistance to cold" to herself, which allowed her not to suffer much from low temperatures despite the lack of clothes suitable for the winter season.
Soon she saw smoke rising up the hill in front. It was like someone had made a fire there. Maybe there was a camp.
"Maybe Dolada, my mom's fighting friend, will be there? She said she was ten years younger than her. So it should be a woman of about thirty-five years old," Selena assumed.
"How should I address her? Aunt Dolada? She's like my mom's fighting sister. Mom mentioned that she even held me in her arms when I was just born...".
The stream of thoughts associated with the hope of meeting this woman swirled in Selena's head until she saw some kind of human silhouette. The clarity of the atmosphere began to deteriorate. The sky was not very bright despite the daytime. It was dominated by orange and gray colors. Besides, it started snowing, and the visibility got pretty bad.
Selena put on a leather armor, and also decided to prepare a goblin staff.
"If this person turns out to be a robber, I will attack him with my staff. If it is that woman, then I will show her a staff that she may remember," she decided.
After taking a few steps, she saw a tall woman with short and dark hair, standing near the fire and looking into the distance. This woman wasn't looking at Selena, and she didn't see Selena coming.
The upper half of this woman's body was naked despite the winter weather.
"Why is she half naked? Probably because she is a Nord. Nords are not afraid of the cold, and can walk half-naked in the snow. Sometimes they get tattoos... And I've heard that they even smear themselves with the shit of mountain lions and trolls on holidays... However, the last statement seems to me unreliable," Selena thought, being undecided.
Finally, she moved on to meet the strange woman. The woman turned around when she heard the crunch of snow under Selena's feet behind her.
She immediately went to meet her when she saw Selena approaching. The woman had brown fur bracers and warm boots with fur, as well as leather underpants and something like leather knee pads. The description of her stingy attire could have ended there. Selena held the staff in front of her, hoping that the woman would recognize it if she was the Dolada.
"Although does she really remember such a weak staff?" she thought.
"Hello! How are you?!", Selena exclaimed uncertainly, trying to behave directly, "I am Selena. My name is Selena Erana..."
Selena suddenly realized that this woman was approaching her, holding her hands as if she was going to fight with her fists. Her frowning face did not look peaceful and benevolent. Selena involuntarily backed away, trying to delay contact with this strange woman.
"My last name is Erana. Are you familiar with this surname? My mother's name is Camilla Erana...," she said, hoping to notice some change in the woman's behavior after calling her mother's name.
Moving back, Selena went behind a large stone that could have separated them, but the woman just began to walk around it, and at the same time still kept her hands in a fighting position with clenched fists.
"Is your name Dolada? My mom told me about you. You and she worked together in the guild. I may be holding your staff in my hands. Do you recognize the staff? No?!", Selena asked, continuing to retreat and not getting answers to her questions.
The woman walked quickly and decisively, and Selena did not have time to back away with the same speed. She could have turned around and run, but she still hoped to negotiate with this person.