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Meren wasn't aware of the Thalmor's presence in Skyrim for a while, but when he saw them patrol the roads his stomach dropped and icy sweat rose on his skin. He dove off the road into the brush, forcing Teldryn to give chase, and it was only down a gully and under a bridge did Meren stop running.
"What the fuck-- what the fuck are you doing?" Teldryn snapped, grabbing the altmer's arm. Meren was halfway to panic attack, breathing heavily and eyes unfocused. "Talk to me. Or, don't, just." He removed his hand, stepping away. "I don't know."
"I'm a deserter." Meren breathed before turning to Teldryn. "I'm a deserter-- they know my face!" He pointed to the scar on his cheek, almost a carved 'D'. "They'll know this. They'll know me. I'm going to be arrested and executed-- Tel I'll be hauled back to the Isles and tried, they won't let me escape--" He shook, looking around at every noise.
"No one's taking you. Meren, I swear, no one's taking you." Teldryn told him, trying to calm him down. "They'll go through me first, I--" Meren grabbed his shoulders, dropping to eye level.
"No-- no no no if you get in the way you'll die, you have to run-- you gotta run--" Teldryn covered Meren's hands with his own.
"Can you breathe? It's-- slow down. Slow down. Okay." Meren nodded, making an obvious effort to breathe, his eyes closing.
"I'm. Okay. Okay." He muttered, slowly opening his eyes again. "Okay."
"Come on. They'll be gone by now." Teldryn told him, leading him back to the road.
--
They passed another patrol, Meren gripping Teldryn's arm and averting his gaze as they walked by. One of the Justiciars noticed, and paused, before calling a halt to his patrol.
"Meren?" Meren froze, heart rate picking up. "What are you doing here." It wasn't friendly, the threat obvious in the soldier's quiet tone. The altmer pushed Teldryn away, turning Meren to face him. "It's you. You look like shit-- are you still starving?" He didn't answer.
"Who the fuck are you?" Teldryn asked, preparing for a fight.
"Iroren Aedor, Justiciar of the Aldmeri Dominion. Get out of the way, dunmer." Iroren said before turning back to Meren. "You're in deep shit, Meren. I hope you know that." Meren didn't respond, and Iroren grabbed his jaw, forcing him to look at the soldier. "Do you know that?"
"Yeah." Meren whispered.
"Good." Iroren told him softly, and drew his sword. "Get him bound, we're sending him to Elenwen." Teldryn summoned an atronach. "Fuck-- kill that dunmer!" Meren punched Iroren, summoning flames and pressing into the man's chestplate, melting through the golden metal. Iroren screamed and hit Meren with the pommel of his sword before swinging in an arc.
Blood welled up from Meren's chest and he threw up a ward against another soldier's ice blast, slamming forward into Iroren with his shield. His movements were slow, rapid blood loss obvious, and Iroren swung again, meeting Meren's shield.
Teldryn swung at the soldier closest, his atronach attacking the other, and he dodged a greatsword's arc, countering with a thrust through the armour's hip joint and slashing open the soldier's throat as they fell. He charged the remaining one, the atronach killing her before he could reach, and turned to Iroren as he kicked backwards. The heavy boot hit Teldryn in the chest and he felt something crack. He cast a healing spell, stabbing forward. His sword glanced off the man's armour, and Meren was knocked backward by a fireball.
"You should have surrendered-- no, you shouldn't have left!" Iroren shouted, teeth bared. Meren looked distraught. "I trusted you, you know that? I thought we were friends, and then you up and deserted-- I don't enjoy this, but unlike you I'm going to do my job!" He swung backwards, clipping Teldryn's shoulder and moving towards Meren, who lunged forward, fangs out and bit him. He shrieked as his knees gave out, and Meren didn't stop until he'd drained the soldier. Meren looked around, confused, and then collapsed, not moving.
Teldryn crouched down by Meren, casting a healing spell while trying to figure out how lucid he was.
"Meren, Meren-- Meren, are you here?" He asked quickly. No response. "Meren, answer me-- I don't care how, give me a hand wave if that's all you can do, just let me know you're with me." Slowly Meren's hand unclenched, his fingers spread, and he curled them back into a fist.
"All right, that works. Tell me, are you all right with me picking you up?" The fingers spread again. Teldryn slowly lifted the larger man up, holding him close. Meren's head flopped against Teldryn's shoulder, and he began walking. "We're alive. That's what matters-- we're alive. And you're safe. Okay? You're safe."
"I deserted. I was a soldier I deserted. It didn't matter what they were fighting for, they offered food and shelter."
"You want to explain what made you pick that option?"
"I was alone. In the Isles. I was starving, homeless. They… I…"
"So why'd you leave?"
"We sacked the Imperial City. And I realised… what we were doing. It was wrong. It was… I ran. I keep running. From everything, why do I keep running?" His voice goes shrill, desperation obvious. "Why do I keep running?"
"Because its what you know?" Teldryn asked. Meren sighed. "It's done with. We'll keep you safe, Meren. We aren't letting anyone take you."
"Thank you." He whispered.