I got through to about half of the outdated knowledge before morning hit and Alontar woke up. I opened the way out before sealing it again as we set out once more.
"You have the tools already. Why are we still moving deeper into the Dragontail mountains?" he asked once he realized I wasn't leading us away from these mountains but further into them.
"The Dragontail mountains separate Hammerfell from High rock and run straight into the Druadach mountains that separate Hammerfell from Skyrim and as far as I know shouldn't have any Thalmor presence. Or very little if any. If we move through these mountains we should be able to avoid a lot of complications that the other Thalmor in the province might cause us." I explained.
"What about supplies? Skaven sits as the foot of these mountains and then there's almost no other settlements until Dragonstar. A few garrisons and maybe an Orc stronghold or two but that's it." he pointed out worriedly.
"My hat can produce food and my boots can make random plants grow. The only thing that may prove annoying is water and I have a spell for that now that there is actually moisture in the air rather than that arid desert from before." I said casually.
"You have a spell to extract the moisture from the air reliably? Every army in the world would pay handsomely to learn it. Especially here in Hammerfell." he said seriously.
"It's not all that complicated really. Most people just don't realize that there is water in the air to begin with and as a result don't consider that they could perhaps collect it for use. It's a simple alteration spell. The only trick is that it requires movement. Here, watch." I explain before waving my hand with the spell active.
Moisture visibly gathers on my skin with the movement. First a glimmer, then a drop then two, three and so on until I had a small pool of water gathered in my cupped hand. I brought it to my lips and drank it without hesitation.
"Pure, clean, fresh water. Just like that." I said with a chuckle.
"The key detail is that there has to be water in the air to begin with correct?" he asked.
"Aye. It's why it's nearly pointless in the desert. The air is too dry to get any water most of the time. Besides that sharing this spell would only make war easier and that is not a positive thing." I said honestly.
He sighed but didn't argue that point as that was the first thought he himself had upon learning of it. We moved through the narrow pathways of these mountains not going up them but around them. For the first day of travel like this we saw some wildlife occasionally, bears, foxes, mountain lions and that sort of thing but no signs of people. -
That changed on the second day.
It was around midday and we were passing around a treacherous cliffside path that would lead down to the narrow foot between this first mountain and the next when we spotted them. An encampment nestled hidden between these two mountains flying banners I didn't recognize.
"It's the resistance! So there was one of the famed hidden villages in these mountains this whole time!" Alontar exclaimed in surprise.
"Context is needed." I said curiously.
"Ah I forget you are not quite familiar with the entire nature of the resistances war with the Thalmor. The Thalmor are scattered across the towns and villages of the province so the resistance can't garrison themselves in any of them. An attempt to cut off the resistance from the populace and resources of these places. To combat this the resistance created places known as Hidden villages. These are basically entire towns whose purpose is to provide the supplies and services that the resistance needs to continue the fight. Each is said to be specialized in different things and whose locations are known only to a select few within the resistance for safety reasons." He explained excitedly.
"You know a lot, Altmer." A female voice said as above us dozens of archers appeared from under camouflaged cloth with arrows aimed right at us.
I inhaled deeply but a black arrow slid past my cheek slicing my skin open with a few sparks.
"Keep your mouth shut or the next one goes through your forehead, Alexan of Riften. Or should I call you Alexan Aldmeri Alysaen?" A Redguard woman with long dark hair tied behind her in a ponytail holding an ebony bow with a matching arrow knocked at the ready spoke.
My eyes narrowed in on her before flickering across the many other archers in calculation. I then looked at Alontar and exhaled audibly.
"Wise decision. You might live but he won't. Here's how this is going to go. You are going to banish that daedric beast of yours and then allow yourselves to be bound while you in particular will be gagged. Try anything funny and at most only one of you leaves alive." the woman said and clearly meant it.
Alontar looked at me and in his face and remaining good eye I saw the will to die if it came to it for my sake and lightly shook my head at him before sending my toad away. He looked a little reluctant but didn't gainsay my decision. A couple of Redguard men slid down from the alcove the archers sat on and approached tensely. I stared down at them impassively and allowed my mouth to be gagged and my hands tied behind my back. One of them seemed to get bold at this and tried to force me to my knees with a kick to my legs. I moved smoothly to the side and swept his legs from under him before firmly placing my boot on his throat and leaning back as a black arrow shot at me.-
I locked eyes on the woman in challenge for a good minute before she relented.
"Let him go. He got carried away, it WON'T happen again." she said giving the man a glare.
I lifted my boot from his throat casually and stepped back.