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The Thalmor had found her. Rather easily, really. She would have kicked herself for her sloppiness, but those Aldmeri assholes were well on top of that. She sat in her cell, badly dehydrated and futilely trying to cast a healing spell on the cauterized cuts between her fingers. Violet wasn’t afraid of scars. She already had lines marring her face from where a sabrecat had batted her head against a tree several years prior. She was always a little accident prone after that and collected scars like ugly merit badges. There just wasn’t anything else to do besides plotting how to get out, and she was already in the middle of that.A simple glass of water and she could get out. But whatever intelligence they had on her told them not to give her any water. So, they gave her crackers. Violet hated the dry little salt squares so much, she’d tried to eat the mushrooms growing in the corners. They weren’t bad, really. Needed roasting and spices.She slowly came to the realization that this was probably her lowest point so far. Sitting in a secret Thalmor prison probably (hopefully?) still somewhere in Skyrim, stewing in self-hate, eating hopefully not poisonous mushrooms and crackers. Her time back home in Hammerfell wasn’t amazing by any means. But at least there was a modicum of dignity.Violet took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She wasn’t a praying woman; this was more to stop the world and reassess the situation. She’d been in the cell for two days, not counting however long she’d been unconscious. It wasn’t going to get any easier, and certainly not any better. The Thalmor didn’t release their prisoners. She could hear water nearby but couldn’t reach it. There had to be something in here she could use.Step one: search every millimeter of the cell. Step two: while searching, consolidate the last of her magicka.She slowly slid from her bed to the floor. Trying to get back up was going to be a bitch. Once there, she ran her arms and fingers along the cracks and corners. Grime, spider webs, splinters of wood from the wood-rotted bed, and behind the corner bedpost was a thin splinter of metal. The corner of her mouth turned up just barely. She could get out of the cell at least. Then scrounge the halls and other cells.The inquisitor and guard didn’t come by often, just enough to have their footsteps set her on edge. She didn’t bother sitting up and crawled across her cell, still keeping an eye out for anything else she could use. The only other thing in her cell was a statue of Mara. Still not a praying woman. Had that been left here from whoever was here before, or did the inquisitor put that there to mock her? Did the High Elves even believe in Mara? They sure didn’t believe in mercy.She sat by the cell door and studied the lock. The prison was old; it seemed like these Nord people never made new buildings. They just moved around from ancient building to ancient building until it fell to ruin, and even then, they stayed in the rubble. A hundreds of years old lock probably wasn’t complicated. She hoped it wasn’t; she barely knew how to pick a modern one. There was a little latch inside to push and turn it to the right. ‘Delicate work,’ she scoffed. The splinter prodded and clicked as it slowly moved around the circular keyhole until a small vibration traveled into her fingertips and ear. A tiny bit of give. Violet’s heart skipped a beat.“Please… oh please…” She whispered.Her brain screamed back and forth between rushing and possibly ruining the whole thing and readying herself to full on sprint as soon as the door opened. Another minute of increasingly shaky poking later, the lock clicked and the bolt retracted. The door swung slowly and heavily, creaking loud enough the Redguard thought someone would come running in any second. But there were no footsteps. She would have cried if that weren’t a waste of water.Violet stayed low and away from the few lit sconces along the walls. Outside of her cell was a table at the intersection of hallways lined with more cells, and stairs leading to a higher level of the prison. She stopped at the table to put the single candle out and hopefully steal a sip of water from the tankard, even if it did have gross elf backwash. She was more angry than anything else that it was empty, but nearly shouted when under it was a key. She grabbed it and quickly threw herself under the table when she heard something move at the top of the stairs.Shuffling? It wasn’t the metal boots of the guard. Another poor bastard being questioned? More likely. Fuck. By herself, it was easier to sneak out. But another body to help overpower their captors would be essential if she was discovered. There was also the whole thing about leaving someone here to die. She couldn’t and wouldn’t do that. A barely audible growl and cough rolled low in her throat as she checked the hallway and peeked up the stairs. The coast was clear. She crawled up the stairs on all fours and took another look around. No guard, but there was someone in the last cell. Looked human and not an elf or beast. Bolted to the wall in stocks, his head drooped over his chest and long, black hair obscured his face. He somehow managed to look a lot worse off than she felt. She saw he had a cup of water on the ground at his feet. That was enough to decide for her.*Despite being a mage, she knew how to keep quiet. She reveled in silence even when she wasn’t in danger. Noise was annoying at best and painful at worst. The key she stole from downstairs clinked into the lock and slowly turned so the creaking wasn’t as horrible. The clank as the bolt retracted startled the man awake.“Back again? I swear to the gods, when I get out of this…” He rasped in a deep, frightening accent she couldn’t place.‘Shit!’ Violet summoned enough strength to rush through the door, over to him in a smooth motion, and clamped her hand over his mouth. “Ssshh! Sh sh sh!”His head raised enough his hair fell back and his bloodshot, hateful eyes bore into her. She almost fell back in surprise as he had bright red eyes, but not like a Dunmer’s. Maybe a half-elf? Was he a vampire or a Daedra? Ohh, she hoped not. She wasn’t about to get eaten so close to freedom. Also, even though he was bolted to the wall and bent over in an awkward position, she still had to reach up to quiet him. While she was already small and unassuming in stature, especially compared to the native Nords and even other Redguard, he seemed like he would dwarf them standing upright.She shook her head and hoarsely wheezed in his ear. “Be quiet. We’re getting out of here. If you fuck this up for us, you will wish I’d left you for the Thalmor.”The man squinted at her in the low light, exhaled into her hand, and nodded weakly. She produced the key that opened his cell door and tried it on the lock to his stocks, rolling her eyes with a ‘that’s fair’ when they didn’t open. Having a skeleton key for the entire place would’ve been too convenient. She still had the metal splinter that opened her cell though, and in an even tenser small eternity, picked the lock. As the latch opened, the splinter caught in the tumblers, bent, and snapped. Violet would have cursed at it if not at the same time, the man’s weight shifted on top of her and dragged them both to the ground.“Fuck fuck fuck fuck! Get off me!” Her whispers were high pitched and gravelly.“Will you shut up and give me a minute?!” He muttered. His hands found the ground and he slowly pushed himself off to one side, but still pinned her legs.“Are you gonna defend me when they show up and you’re still pinning me to the fucking ground?”“You’re a foulmouthed little thing, aren’t you?” The man’s annoyance was starting to make him a little too loud…“Shhh shut up… noise… please…” Violet was doing everything she could to not panic, but the pain of being fallen on when already in a weakened state was making her think this plan was ready to fall apart.The strange looking man eventually managed to sit up with his back against the wall, pulling her to sit upright across from him. “There,” he said quietly. “Now. Thank you. Do you have a plan, or were you just hoping to bumble your way to the exit with no resistance?”“I have a plan.” She reached for his cup of water. “I’m taking this.” And downed it in several gulps, not coming up for air or caring that it tasted like rust and grit.“You came in here to steal my water? They’d been teasing me with that for days.” He sighed. “I don’t suppose you at least found a potion on the way here? Since you took the water that could have cleaned my wounds.”“Hmm?” She noticed that the spot where he was sitting and where he had been bound to the wall were smeared with blood, both dried and new. “Mmm. They must have really liked you.”“Funny way of showing it. Healing? Or else I can’t move.”She nodded, then crawled beside him and turned him slightly to show his back to her. He’d been lashed several times, beaten, burned, and gods knew what happened with the older scars. “If I heal this up, I don’t know what I’ll have left if I need to fight.”His voice went strained for a moment. “You’re a mage?”That tone put her immediately on guard. “In theory?”“You manipulate magic.”“I… can… heal?”He grunted. “Look. We’re wasting time. If you heal me enough and find me a weapon, I can kill those Thalmor bastards myself and we can leave.”“Or we can leave without alerting them.”“They have my stuff. I’m not leaving without it, and they’re not going to hand it over. You heal me enough for that, you can leave without me.”She hissed through her teeth. “Fine. Least I can do for the water.”Violet took a few deep breaths and moved his hair forward over his shoulders. Her gravelly voice sent a painful shiver down his back. “This is going to sting.”Without waiting for his approval, she traced her hands from the back of his neck downward, dim wisps of yellow light weaving through her hands and digging into the open flesh and bone of the man’s back. The magic burned like the fiery lashes all over again, and he balled his fists to fight the urge to shout. She didn’t stop to ask him if he was okay; they’d already wasted enough time and she was already tired and dying of thirst again.By the time her hands reached his lower spine, he was punching the stone floor and breathing raggedly. The wounds had stopped bleeding and had scabbed over. Her energy spent, she flopped over against the wall and closed her eyes. The man rubbed his arm over his eyes, flexed his back and shoulders, and satisfied that the pain was down and energy was up, stood up and steadied himself against the wall.“I’ve always been amazed by healers…” He looked over himself and saw her nearly unconscious. “Oi. Don’t tell me you used yourself up doing that.”“Water,” she gasped.“We’re back where we started, you fool.” The man ran his hand over his face.“Just… kill the inquisitor, get your stuff, and come back.” She tilted her head up to look at him. “Damn, you’re tall…”“And you’re senseless. Gods…”*Kaidan looked at the tiny, plump Redguard woman slumped over herself where he had just been sitting. What could the Thalmor possibly want with her? She was clever enough to escape, and kind enough to help him, but they were usually after people who were dangerous. Or allied with dangerous people…He quickly had a look around. He’d studied his cell enough to know there was nothing useful in it, save for the giant gaping hole in the cell that led to where the inquisitor had holed himself up. It had probably happened when whatever caused the walls to crumble and water to leak in. He stepped over the rubble and found himself in another hallway; empty save for a box beside his cell that held the torture implements they had used on him. He chose a hook that had previously been raked along his spine. He knew exactly where it was going to go next.He’d been there for a week. Whatever it was that they wanted from him, it was important enough that simply killing him and looking elsewhere wasn’t going to cut it. Unfortunately for both of them, he had no idea what they were after. So they kept pressing for answers about his sword that he couldn’t give. And he had been very close to simply telling them any old nonsense so they would kill him. But thank The Nine for that strange woman, though he had a vague feeling that she wasn’t quite right.He made his way down the hallway, hook in hand and a week’s worth of rage simmering in his chest. He’d learned ages ago that you didn’t let the Thalmor live, let alone trust one. The natives around here agreed, though sometimes in secret. Kaidan got to the end of the hall, steeled himself, and rushed into the small chamber where his jailer had been writing at a table. The element of surprise only lasted a few seconds, but all it took was the metal hook to the throat and a left hook to the jaw to knock the Altmer man to the floor. As Kaidan pinned him down with his knee to his chest, the elf smacked his hand across his forehead to cast a spell, and white light turned his gold skin to iron.The man cursed and pulled the hook along the inquisitor’s throat, the inside blade not sharp enough now to make a clean slice. “Just die, you bastard!”*Violet took several deep breaths and dizzily pulled herself along the wall headed towards the sounds of fighting and an incredibly thick and angry accent coming up with new words for ‘Thalmor’. She snickered at ‘shit elf’. Good one. But if he was killing the inquisitor, then where was the guard?“Hhh- hey…” She panted from the doorway. “The other one.”The man didn’t take his attention from the inquisitor, still punching him in the face and tearing up his own knuckles. “Find my sword and give it to me! Now!”She groaned and scanned the room for a sword, as if somehow she would instinctively know it when she saw it.Nothing on the bed. Nothing under the bed. It wasn’t beside the desk. The corner just held cobwebs and empty wine bottles. These idiots didn’t even allow themselves water. The back of the room led to a small storage closet. She stumbled back there and found a few bits of junk they probably confiscated from other people and a dumpy little iron short blade that the Nords tended to use. That didn’t seem like his style, and it didn’t look like anything that wouldn’t be worth ditching to get out of here. She grabbed it anyway and threw it to him while she kept looking.“What in Coldharbor is this?!”“Just use that until I find it!” She whispered frantically. She didn’t know if he could hear, but there were footsteps coming down quickly from upstairs.The Thalmor was suffocating and bleeding out slowly from the hook, but clawed at the man’s shoulder until flames poured from his fingers. The man roared in rage and removed his hand from the hook just long enough to jam the sword through the elf’s eye and into the back of his skull. The two prisoners both exhaled with some relief, as one threat had been taken care of. Then she looked out into the prison hallway and saw the guard run around the corner.“Oh fuck…” She muttered.“What’s going on-”Kaidan jumped off of the inquisitor as the woman fell on both of them. She pulled the hook out of the elf’s throat and covered the wound with her mouth, sucking deeply and ignoring the man’s cry of disgust.“You’re a vampire?!”The woman groaned and sat up, visibly nauseated and even dizzier than when she had stumbled into the room. “Nnn… no…”His voice hardened. “…Namira.”“Wait!” She was about to plead but heard metal clanking into the doorway. A frantic string of curses and whimpers the man was thankful he didn’t understand poured out in strained little whispers until she gathered all of her breath. The guard leveled a crossbow at her and pulled the trigger.
"FO KRAH DIIN!"
She screeched the words over the man’s shoulder and at the doorway. Clouds of frost that resembled mages’ ice appeared, but they were a deep and ugly red. There was a solid ‘CRACK!’ as the wooden doorframe, the surrounding stone, and the guard froze solid and exploded from the sudden temperature difference. Piles of bloody ice and stone littered the floor and tiny icicles embedded into the wall, causing rushing water to start pouring in. Violet retched and coughed violently, gasping for air; far more blood than she had swallowed splattered to the ground and her arms wrapped over her head. The red-eyed man had a few of the same colored needles embedded in his shoulder and his ears rang, but he was otherwise unharmed.“What the fuck was that?” Kaidan got to his feet and scanned the room quickly for his sword. Whatever she was, she was probably not going to die by normal means. Those cursed by the Daedra were usually a pain in more ways than one. He rushed around while she was still shell-shocked and finally found his belongings in a chest locked up next door. One of the Thalmor had to have the key. He scowled as he sifted through the guard’s melting remains and found nothing. That meant the inquisitor had to have it. He went back in and found the woman curled up in a fetal position on the floor, her hands still clamped over her ears. Sure enough, in a pouch on the inquisitor’s belt was a set of keys (and some septims he quickly pocketed). He left and retrieved his things, able to dress, armor up, and come back without her moving from the spot.The tip of a black and silver blade slid across her field of vision; the light scraping noise sounded like metallic screaming to her. She scrunched her eyes shut and rolled away from it.“Ssstp…” Her voice was gone, and she was in tears.“Tell me what that was about if you’re not a vampire and you’re not a cannibal.” His voice was low and level.She wheezed and he had to lean in to understand her, the blade dangerously close to her throat. “Ice mage. Need water to cast. Blood is mostly water. They starved and dehydrated me. So thirsty…”‘Great. Another one.’ Kaidan thought to himself. “And that ice spell? Mages don’t shout spells.”“Dragon magic.”He didn’t know what to say to that one. At least it wasn’t Daedra worship. He lifted the sword away from her throat. “Come on, then. We’ve got to go.”It took her a few minutes more before she could get herself upright, despite the water rising in that area. She stumbled into the back room hoping to find her things and returned with only a waterlogged book, her only possession the inquisitor kept. She shakily held it out to him before stumbling back to the cell block.“The Book of the Dragonborn.” He took it from her, flipped it open and read the introduction before catching up with her. “Are you saying you’re Dragonborn?”“I came to this shithole country to find out.” She traced her steps back through the prison until she found a room full of bones surrounding a floor hatch. “Saw this and a note about the previous prisoners escaping down there.”“By The Nine…” He sighed. “I don’t even know your name.”“Violet. Or Starfall, if that’s easier.” She struggled with the hatch, wedging it open with stray femurs.Huh. Her name wasn’t very… Redguardish. He watched her a moment, though he was still unsure what to do with her. “Starfall. I’m Kaidan. I’m not a man who’s comfortable being in debt, and I owe you my life. If you’ll allow me, I’ll help you.”“Sure.” Her eyes rolled (whether it was dehydration lightheadedness or just her being blasé, Kaidan couldn’t tell) and she slid down the hatch feet first, not sticking the landing and making a clumsy splash as she tumbled several feet into a flooded tunnel below. A small, whiny “Fuck…” echoed up the tunnel.Kaidan immediately hated himself for promising to help her.
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The path led downward; the water from the upstairs collapse flooded the tunnel, but couldn’t flow outward towards the exit. Violet dunked her head under the water and was about to gorge herself, but Kaidan grabbed her by the back of her rags and pulled her up again.“Don’t drink it, ye’ daft thing. Look.”A dead skeever floated ahead of them.“We’ll find water once we’re outside. And possibly a healer. I’m dehydrated too.” Kaidan said. “We’re almost out.”The tunnel ended in a ladder leading up to a hatch, and when they finally crawled out, they found themselves under a bridge, with three paths of a rushing river lapping at the bridge platform they emerged from.“I thought Redguard children were all trained in the art of war and survival. Already being sick and dehydrated, drinking that would have killed you in a few hours.” He looked around to the top of the bridge to make sure there wasn’t anyone searching for them.She could hear him over the roar of the water, but after her performance, she couldn’t get out much more than the raspy whispers, which were pointless at their current location. He led her up to the road and started pointing in different directions.“Fortunately, I recognize where we are now. We’re in southwest Eastmarch. Unfortunately, we’re at least a few days from any village, and several to the cities. It’ll be dark in a few hours. North is Windhelm and Kynesgrove. Southeast is Riften; I’d rather not. Southwest is Ivarstead, but there isn’t anything useful there and we'd have to climb a mountain in our condition. There’s Eldergleam Sanctuary a day south, but it’s more a temple than anywhere we can get supplies and heal up.”She pulled his arm until he leaned over to hear her. “I need to go to Winterhold.”“Hmm. I suppose you would, being a mage and all. …Fine. We can follow the river north and stay in Windhelm for a while. We should catch game nearby and get water before going too far north. The foot of the mountain range is pure ice.”He pulled a waterskin out from his cloak and dipped it in the river, took a sip, then passed it to her. “Don’t drink this all at once. You’ll just be sick again.”She wanted to argue but put the waterskin’s strap over her shoulder and followed him. She was alone with a strange man in a foreign country, she had no idea where they were, she had no money, all of her possessions were destroyed, she was in bloody rags, the Thalmor were after them, and she was sick, battered, delirious, exhausted, and angry at the entire ongoing situation. This whole Dragonborn business was just idiotic and she wanted to make it go away in any way possible.*For the next several hours, they traveled silently along the river which did most of the talking for them. At one point, Kaidan was able to shoot a rabbit with his bow, and dress and roast it over a fire once the sun went down. Violet saw that there were perfectly good herbs growing just off the path and grabbed what she could as they walked.“You know alchemy?” Kaidan took some of the herbs and stuffed them into the little carcass.“Yes,” Violet said quietly, sort of hesitating about what to say next. “You asked about my ‘training’. I’m not a warrior. I’m more of a scholar. I’ve always been… too sick… to do any real fighting. But I can use healing and elemental magic, mix herbs, ride a horse, and shoot a bow. I can defend myself if necessary. Obviously.” She cleared her throat and instantly regretted it.“Hm. A mage-scholar headed for Winterhold. Going to the college. Trying to find out what this whole Dragonborn thing is about?”She nodded.“You came at the perfect time! Civil war, Thalmor patrolling the roads and kidnapping people, dragons burning down whole villages, bandits taking advantage of the situation and tearing across the countryside… You should have stayed in Hammerfell.” Kaidan said bitterly and turned the meat over the fire.“You’re from here? You. Um.” She turned her eyes down and gestured to her own.“Aye. Well, I was raised as a Nord. I know I’m not Nordic. Or Imperial, or Breton. My ears and face aren’t Merish. That’s about all I know. Probably not even from Tamriel.”“The college will have books about the other lands and their peoples.”“Most likely.” He said flatly.“…You don’t like mages.”Kaidan poked at the fire, making the flames dance and a few sparks jump at her.“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t do anything evil or forbidden. No necromancy, no Daedra, no-”“You sucked the blood out of a corpse and made that elf explode.” His red eyes were accusing in the firelight.Her cheeks burned, which then spread to her whole body. “Are you really upset about how those monsters died in a desperate fight for our lives? Because if you could see what your back looked like…” Violet drank most of the waterskin against Kaidan’s advice as her voice started to die off.He growled under his breath and reflexively shrugged. He admitted to himself that whatever she’d done back there made it feel better than it had in a long while.“They deserved it. And judging by that, whatever they wanted you for was worse than me being some kind of godsdamned mythical being of ancient prophecy.”“Who knows, maybe we both are.” He unsheathed his sword, a runed nodachi, from his back and held it out to her. “They wanted to know about this.”The firelight only reflected along the silver edge of the blade, and the engraved runes seemed to glow along with the fire. The black part of the blade actually absorbed light. The shape wasn’t Yokudan, Nordic, or Cyrodiilic, and was long enough it looked impractical to her, though maybe it was because it was meant for someone much taller than her. She handed it back and healed his shoulder when he reached for it.“I’ve never seen anything like it, except that these runes are Draconic. I can’t read them in particular, but they look like the same runes that dragon magic is written in. I learned what little I could back home, but not nearly enough because dragons are Nordic and why am I, a Redguard born and living hundreds of miles away, part of this?”He studied his blade. “Well that’s the first bit of information I’ve gotten in some time. Interesting that they had both of us at the same time and we’re more useful to each other than we were to them.”Violet could smell the rabbit cooking and her head started to swim between being sick earlier and not having eaten anything substantial for several days. “If they think that Dragonborn garbage could be useful to them, they’re going to be so disappointed. I just want a way out of this.”“Maybe Windhelm will have information. It’s the oldest city in Skyrim and they’re proud of their history. Though with the war going on, I doubt anyone will have time for us.”“I don’t feel like attracting any attention after this past week,” she mumbled.He leaned his head on his hand and stared into the fire. “Aye.”“I just want a bath, clean clothes, something for my throat and ears, and a library to hide in.”Kaidan pointed a thumb at the river. “Bath is over there. Better hurry before the wolves come hunting.”“That’s ice water; I’d be frozen dead five minutes in.” Violet glared at him and snatched up the whole rabbit from the fire. After a few bites she realized that she didn’t like rabbit, she’d burned her mouth on top of ruining her throat, and Kaidan was trying not to laugh at her.“Your loss. It’s another couple of days back to civilization.” He leaned over and plucked the rabbit from her hands, replacing it with the book from earlier. “Here’s your book back. I don’t have any medicine for your throat, but you can borrow my cloak if you don’t want to be seen. Best I can do.”She wasn’t in the mood to argue, so she made her way back to the river and upstream out of his field of view. Dipping a foot in, it was exactly as cold as she thought and ran her healing fire back over it to put the feeling back in. She paced around for a while trying to figure out what to do. She could summon a bit of fire as a basic spell, but that was an even bigger waste of magicka she couldn’t afford to spend. If only she had a bowl or a cup. She settled with scooping the icy water into her hands to warm it enough to wash her face and hair, which could air dry by the heat of the campfire. She also refilled the waterskin and dropped it back at Kaidan's feet when she returned.“Do you want to take the first watch, or should I?” Kaidan had eaten most of the rabbit, had spread out his cloak to lie down on, and reclined against a tree.“I want to sleep, but I can’t. It’s not quiet enough. I’ll do it.” She sat close to the fire and started to squeeze the excess water from her hair. Her long dreadlocks still dripped down her back and shoulders.He watched her groom for a while. “I don’t see many Redguard here with that sort of hair. It doesn’t seem very practical.”“Doesn’t matter. Not a warrior.”“Nobility? I could see lots of gold and beads in it,” he gestured, refraining from commenting on how she was also soft like one.“No.”“Old ways?”“Sort of, but I don’t believe in higher powers.”“Not even the Daedra who constantly meddle in mortal affairs?”“Not that I don’t believe they exist, more that I want nothing to do with any of them, good or bad.”“Even if you have the blood of a god?” He smirked.“Especially. Now please, I need as much silence as I can get.” She piled her hair on top of her head in a large bun, then turned away from the fire and sat in a meditative state. “And if you snore, I’ll probably ditch you.”“What am I supposed to do about that?” He frowned.“Not snore.”*The night passed uneventfully. Violet counted about fifteen different animals passing around the edge of their campsite to investigate the fire and smell of cooked food, with only one or two a potential threat. She didn’t bother waking Kaidan as she didn’t want him to think she couldn’t take care of them herself. Instead, she scared the intruders off by leaving weak ice traps to surprise them. She snuck the rest of the rabbit and willed her stomach to settle, thinking that the next meal might be a while off. While watching the two moons drift slowly overhead, she heard Kaidan stir.“Do you want me to take over?” He said groggily and sat up.“Yes. And thank you for not snoring.”“…Right.” He shook his head and got up to stretch.“Don’t step on the ice traps.” Violet quickly took over his spot, using his hooded cape to protect her hair and cover her head.“Where?”“Fifty paces north, south, east, and west. They won’t kill you or anything, I just don’t want to reset them. Still weak.”“Hmm.” After a quick investigation, he found the glowing white threads circling the camp. Fifty of her paces. About thirty of his. He noted them and went around.*During his watch, he strayed past her traps and surveyed the area between the river, camp, and road. They hadn’t seen or heard any other travelers that evening, which worried him. It meant that either people were staying away because of bandits, or something worse was in the area. Hopefully they’d be long gone before anyone came to check on that prison. He realized he should have taken or burned the inquisitor’s notes. Those combined with the incredible mess that Starfall had made would put them even higher on the Thalmor’s wanted list. Being on the other side of the bounty was fine. This was a problem.And of course, his life was upended by magic again. Though it sounded as if she neither chose nor wanted to be Dragonborn, if that’s what was really going on. The icy pins that had caught his shoulder melted a few seconds after they’d hit him, but the punctures still itched from healing. He’d never seen anyone use magic like that before and hoped to never see it again. News went around fast after the Jarl of Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak, killed High King Torygg with dragon magic several months prior. He never claimed he was Dragonborn.She wanted help and direction. Getting it from the mages in Winterhold seemed like a terrible idea. The College was insular, devious, and they frequently turned freaks out into the world who did everything from buggering the dead to hypnotizing armies of rats just to show that they could. Starfall seemed to swing back and forth between simple-headed (‘is that what she meant by “sick?”’) and genius.He hated to admit that using blood to make ice was clever of her under the horrible circumstances. And she was obviously disturbed by what she’d done. Even now she couldn’t speak up. But was she just injured or genuinely afraid of her powers?And if she was Dragonborn, her showing up could coincide with the actual dragons reappearing and destroying the country. Were they tearing the place apart looking for her? Again, Ulfric had existed for years before they returned. Starfall had to have only gotten here maybe a month or two ago. And what did she do to get noticed and picked up by the Thalmor so quickly? Now he really wished that he hadn’t pledged himself to her. But she was the only one who had any kind of information he could use since his guardian had died. He was now connected to the dragons as well.The night passed slowly. He was still tired, but used to it and had little problem traveling at night. Starfall said that it was too noisy for her to sleep, but aside from the river and insects, it was peaceful. Her hearing was keen, then. A little before dawn, he grabbed his bow and stalked the river. It was prime time for the good game. Just him and the other forest dwellers looking for their own breakfasts. He was tempted to catch another rabbit just to see her squirm, but a pheasant presented itself first, and some salmon had come close to the shore after he stirred a swarm of insects out of a half-submerged shrub.Satisfied with three fish and the pheasant, he gathered everything up and headed back to camp. The sun was just fading out the two moons when he spotted the camp just as he left it. The threads of Starfall’s wards were still intact, the fire was dying embers now, and huddled at the base of a tree was Starfall wrapped up in his cloak. Well, he did offer it to her…“You awake?” He set his catch down and began to work on stoking the campfire.The cloak cringed. “No.”“As soon as the food is cooked, we’re moving on. We’ve stayed too long in this spot already.” Kaidan had expertly already struck flint and was stoking the dried leaf tinder.She groaned and nodded.Violet watched the fire grow quickly and helped Kaidan prepare the food. She borrowed a small blade to gut the fish (she couldn’t bring herself to pluck the dead bird), cut it open, and gasped that he’d caught a spawning female still full of eggs. She quickly scooped the eggs out with her fingers and ate most of them before realizing that Kaidan was staring in horror.“What are you doing?!”“Eating salmon roe?”“You eat raw fish, eggs and all?”“Salmon and roe is a delicacy along the western Hammerfell coast. The eggs pop between your teeth.” She held out the wide-open fish for him to try some.“You don’t like the rabbit, but you’ll eat a still wriggling fish and its slimy eggs…” He grimaced and went back to preparing the pheasant.“I’m an alchemist and healer. I’ve tasted all sorts of things, including poison. A good poison is one you want to drink more of…” She finished the roe and put the rest of the fish over the fire with more herbs. “There. It’s cooking, and the scary roe is gone.”“Hn.” He had plucked the bird and put it on a stick to roast, then grabbed one of the other fish. Thankfully, that one didn’t have any roe in it.Once the food was done, it was cut up, wrapped in leaves, and carried with them as they followed the river, keeping the main road within eyeshot. He covered up their campsite, while she threw rocks at her ice wards. But she couldn’t break them and wasn’t restored enough to do it magically, so she just gave up and left them there. They weren’t lethal, anyway. Maybe they would slow down anyone who might be looking for them.*Kaidan slowly found himself bewildered and irritated that Starfall would either fall behind or wander off completely as any and everything seemed to catch her eye. Or maybe her ear. He couldn’t tell. Flowers she either collected, or tasted first and then collected, or sometimes just inexplicably drawn towards something he couldn’t see or hear. “You’re going to wander right into an animal den and then maybe you’ll learn to keep up.”“We’ll need money. I can turn this stuff into potions and sell them.”“Okay, fine. But does it really require you to stop every few dozen steps?”“The more herbs, the more potions and money.” She was starting to slow down again as she focused more on tying the bundles of flowers and roots together than watching where she was going.“Okay, then how about this? Remember what I said about the civil war, the bandits, and the dragons? We might be safe from the war as the Empire wouldn’t dare come so deep into Stormcloak territory, but the bandits and dragons don’t care about borders.”“We can trick the bandits and take their stuff. Dragons are pushovers when you shout their own dragon magic back at them.”The hunter stopped in his tracks. “…You what?”“It came from some mountain cave close to the Hammerfell border, I guess. The trees where I crossed into Skyrim were too close together for it to land and eat me, so I froze its eyes and put a few ice spears in its chest. It fell out of the sky, impaled on a tree, and that was the end of it.” She omitted the part about the burning waves of light…“By yourself?” He was more than a little skeptical, despite what he’d seen yesterday.“Mostly? I was travelling with a caravan to Falkreath, but they saw the dragon and tried to run. A lot of confusing things happened between a lot of people screaming and running, some shooting it with arrows, and the dragon burning that part of the forest.” Her voice was starting to give out again.“These monsters have been terrorizing the country for months. Hold guards have been killed by the dozen. And you just wander in and talk about killing it like stabbing a skeever.”She shrugged and started putting more herbs and flowers in her dreadlocks so she didn’t have to hold them. Kaidan growled to himself and rubbed his gloves over his face. More and more suspicious and dangerous and he wasn’t even getting paid for this…
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Four more days passed before they found anyone else traveling along the roads; a lone Argonian man dressed in layers of furs and a full backpack. Kaidan approached him with his cloak and hood up. As Starfall didn’t have anything to offer and was still underdressed in rags, she stayed behind and listened.Kaidan put his hand up in greeting. “Oi. Argonian. Have you come from Kynesgrove or Windhelm? Any news?”The lizard man eyed them suspiciously. “Bah. No one talks about anything but the war.”“More like Ulfric's fool errand,” he muttered.“Ha! Dangerous words so close to his castle.” He eased up slightly.“So we’re close? Good. What about the docks? Word from Solitude and Dawnstar.”“Dawnstar has nothing. Solitude is secretive. Too many Thalmor around, even by the boats.”“Be careful four days south of here. They’re lurking by the bridge. Do you have anything to trade? I have a few septims, and I saved this woman taken by bandits. She could use medicine and clothing.” Kaidan pointed to Starfall who had wandered off the side of the road again and seemed to be looking out towards something neither of them could see.The Argonian leaned over and raised an eye ridge at the dozens of flowers sprouting from her head. “Did they kidnap a Redguard or a very small, fat spriggan?”Violet turned around and glared at them both. Kaidan prayed that the sudden chill he felt was just a southward wind coming off the mountains. Her eyes rolled and she turned back to whatever had captured her attention before.“Hnn. Nothing of the sort. Unless she wouldn’t mind a little skooma to ease her mind after the ordeal…” He put a brown, clawed hand deep into a backpack pocket and pulled out a small, delicate-looking vial.Kaidan immediately looked away and growled. “No. Somehow I think that might make things worse.”The lizard man chuckled. “Suit yourself.”He waved the traveler off and went to see what had drawn her attention. “What did you find?”She pointed northeast. “There’s an abandoned house across the river, a couple miles that way. There might be something we can use in it.”“How in the world could you possibly know if the house is abandoned?” He squinted across the river to see there was indeed a shack down the ridge.“There’s an animal den less than a mile over there.”“Oh.” He looked over to the small outcropping of rock and saw telltale signs that something was living there, just not home at the moment.“Whatever it is, it should be a lot easier to kill than a dragon, right?” She flicked her right hand, and a thin, sharp icicle pitched into the ground beside her.“I’d rather not risk it. We could both do with more rest and healing, and I don’t want to be weighed down with junk while we still have a day or two left to travel.”“I want to see if there’s at least a pair of shoes down there, or a shirt not covered in blood, or a pitcher so I can heat water.” Her mind had been made up as she thought of trying to scrub at least some of the accumulating grime off of herself. “You have a bow; you can snipe it when it comes out after me. And we can sell whatever we don’t use.”“Fine, then,” he sighed and unclasped his shortbow from his back. The black cured wood looked similar to his sword but didn’t have any engravings.Violet noticed that the bow was still almost as tall as she was and definitely not for game, but for punching holes in thick armor or hide. If he could really shoot, it would certainly do against whatever wild animal, even if he only had a few cheap arrows.They carefully made their way across a shallow part of the river, still taking care not to get swept away. A few dozen feet from the shack, Kaidan could finally hear snuffling and grumbling coming from inside. Hopefully it had chased off whoever lived here and not torn them apart. Beside him, Starfall placed her hands over her chest and cast a spell over herself; her skin changed from deep brownish-red to dull iron grey.“I was going to tell you to stay back…” Kaidan nocked an arrow and quietly stalked towards the house. He was familiar with some of the spells that mages could use, including being able to harden their skin to various elements. He still preferred real, physical heavy armor; it seemed more reliable. But trying to kill that stupid Thalmor while that iron spell was up was enraging. Thankfully, the spell only lasted a few minutes. Either that or him dying by bleeding out was enough to break the spell.“Let’s see what we’ve got.” She went up to the door as if she was going to visit a friend and walked right in.“Don’t use yourself as bait!” Kaidan whispered. She wasn’t simple-minded, she was completely insane. As soon as she took a step inside, he saw another brown shape so much larger than her get up and growl loudly. ‘Does she have a death wish?!’*The shack turned out to be even worse off inside than outside. There were no side or back walls; the roof and front were attached directly to a rock wall. A fire was still burning against the back wall with the smell of burning food and blood filtering up through the holes in the roof. There were a few vegetable and fish scraps spread around the room. Right in the middle was a pile of gore, and sleeping beside it, a giant brown bear.‘Maybe if I just keep quiet, I can just take what’s out and leave-’ Just stepping into the room caused the rotted floorboards to creak. The bear snuffled and raised its head.“Shit,” she sighed.*Kaidan took a shot as soon as a clear opportunity showed through the window. As the bear got up on its hind legs to scare Starfall, an arrow pierced through its side. The mage held her hands out in front of her and icy pins and needles formed around her fingers like claws. She flicked her fingers at the bear's face and it gave a room rattling roar when the pins stuck to it like porcupine quills. Starfall backed out of the house while the bear thrashed and tried to scrape the ice out.Once she was out, he let several more arrows fly, putting mortal wounds in its side and neck. The bear couldn’t see him let alone reach him, so it chased Starfall outside and reared up to tackle her. She was not expecting something so large to be so fast, but was able to form an ice lance and impale the bear’s chest just as it came down to try and pin her. The bear’s claws drew down her face and front just lightly enough it only made a scraping sound against her iron skin on the way down, and dropped dead nearly on top of her. As soon as its blood started to pool, Kaidan finally lowered his bow.“Why. Why did you go in there as if somehow the bear wouldn’t bother to get up?! Have you ever been hunting before? Do they not have bears in Hammerfell? Hell, do they not have wild animals at all?!”“You know, you don’t have to fucking stick around. Other than the dead skeever water out of near-death desperate dehydration, I’m perfectly capable of fending for myself. I didn’t agree to a nagging babysitter. There’s far worse creatures than this thing back home.” She frowned and started to study the dead animal.‘Gods…’ Kaidan covered his face with his palm. “Just… go get what you were looking for and let’s keep moving.”Kaidan went to decide what to do with the bear carcass outside while Violet went back inside to see if there was anything left unbroken and useful. The corpse’s clothes were obviously completely ruined. The bear had eaten what wasn’t burned up in the cookpot. On the table were some books and a dagger that would have been completely useless against the bear. A plate and a fork, but no pitcher or bowl. Still no washing up. Damn. At least there were a pile of clothes and a pack in the corner. She checked to see if Kaidan was looking in on her; he wasn’t, and she quickly changed into the too large pants and tunic. The boots were also too big, but she made do by tying them tight to her calves and ankles with some leather lacing. A few more laces tied her hair up. She still looked silly wearing a larger man’s clothes, but at least it wasn’t suspicious bloody rags that barely covered enough. Then she spotted the chest in the corner. She found it was locked, looked for a key or a pick, couldn’t find either, gave up, then stuffed the dagger and books into the pack. A few septims were in a side pocket, and she was satisfied.An awkwardly long time for Kaidan passed, and Starfall clomped out looking improper and childish in men’s clothes that looked almost his size. She didn’t bother looking at him as she turned in the other direction and started raiding the little garden on the side of the shack. Yellow flowers for her hair this time, and the leeks and potatoes were shaken free of dirt and stuffed into the pack. He’d taken the bear’s pelt, wrapped it up, and thrown it over a tanning rack on the other side until they were ready to go. Whoever lived here must have been a hunter taken by surprise.They argued for a while about taking a rest since there was a bed in the little shack. Kaidan wanted to move on since they were so close to Kynesgrove; they could make it by nightfall. Violet pointed out there was a bed, fishing equipment, and more supplies inside that they didn’t have to pay for. Kaidan won by mentioning that she’d be able to take a bath and “preen” at the inn there. They set out again, and after getting far enough away from the shack, she stopped wandering and caught up with Kaidan.“Hmm. I… I’m sorry I scared you back there. I’m used to being left to my own devices and just doing whatever needs doing alone. I’m also going to try not to put you in too much danger, though I’m not sure how to do that when I’m going to have to hunt down more dragons and beat answers out of them. But… just don’t feel like you need to protect me from everything, or that I’m soft, or stupid. I know I’m a runt, and I’m strange, and an easy target. But that’s other people’s problem. Not mine. Not yours,” she said softly, not trying to look at him.Kaidan kept his eyes forward. “Sorry I yelled at you.”They both stayed silent all the way to Kynesgrove. They reached the small mining town late in the evening and were drawn by the small fires moving around the outskirts. The lights turned out to be guards patrolling, and two approached them before they could reach the top of the hill. Again, Kaidan took over talking, his hood hiding his eyes.“I’m a mercenary escorting this woman to Windhelm. We’re only stopping in Kynesgrove for the night and she’s tired.”The guardswoman held her torch up to get a look at them, then nodded to her partner. “Come on, then. Keep an eye south. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”“God, I need an ale after the week I’ve had,” Kaidan sighed.“Iddra’s got that for you, and beds for her. Very few travelers to Kynesgrove lately, even though we’re only a day from Windhelm,” the guard yawned.“The war?” Violet asked.She hesitated. “…Dragon lurking southwest. It showed up a few days ago, but circled the town and flew away without doing anything. Extra guards helping us from Windhelm, but no action yet. Unfortunately, we’ve been told to stay here and not send a hunting party to go find it.”Violet stayed quiet. She was thankful they couldn’t see the fire building in her belly and threatening to boil out of her mouth. Kaidan gave her a sidelong glance and kept going. At the top of the hill, the guard told them to mention her when getting a room, then turned back down the hill. They both were so thankful at the sight of the longhouse that they didn’t linger outside for a second. As Kaidan opened the door, a wave of warmth and the smell of cooking food hit them both and seemingly drained all of their energy.“Welcome! I just stoked the fire.” The innkeeper, Iddra, was sitting behind the bar and writing something in a ledger.Violet took her pack off, dug into the side pocket, and gave her a handful of coins. “Hope this is enough for a night. I don’t know anything about Nord custom. The south guard Odda said to mention her and to have a mead ready when her shift ends at dawn.”She raised her eyebrow at the strange woman with the thick accent, then counted the money and pushed three septims back to her. “Noted. This is enough, unless you’re hungry.”“I just want a washbasin and some sleep.” Now that she was so close to actual rest, her body was already getting unbearably heavy and stiff. She leaned against the counter and tried not to doze.“Another room and two ales.” Kaidan put the same amount plus four.“Rough time on the roads, eh?” She swiped the money off the counter and into a pouch, then wrote in the ledger some more, set two bottles of ale on the counter for Kaidan, and showed Violet over to a modest room with a bed, table and chair.She didn’t even wait for Iddra to leave before collapsing onto the bed. The entire week and a half fell on top of her like an avalanche.Kaidan popped the cork on the first bottle and took a long drink while settling in front of the hearth. He still didn’t know what to make of Starfall. She simply walked into the path of a giant bear as if there wasn’t any danger at all. And given a few more minutes, probably could have killed it herself. She didn’t try to shout at it; she used regular magic. She barely flinched after getting hit in the face with a bear paw. But she refused to call herself a warrior. She just… did things without thinking about them. Which, when he thought about it, was not something a warrior did who wanted to live very long. He looked down and the first bottle of ale was already empty. He took the other back to his room, sat on the bed and thought a while on her words; that he didn’t have to stay. To be honest with himself, she hadn’t done anything wrong, she was just aggravating.‘If we don’t find anything interesting at Windhelm, we can part ways. She doesn’t seem to really want my company anyway…’ He only made it halfway through the second bottle before he set it on the nightstand, kicked off his boots, and drifted off to sleep as soon as he closed his eyes.*The night, morning, and part of the afternoon passed in deathlike sleep. Violet didn’t even wake up when the mining crew came into the inn making their usual morning ruckus, demanding food and chattering. Kaidan awoke sometime in the late afternoon and after checking that Starfall hadn’t been run off by all the noise, he cleaned up, had lunch, and left with some of the miners to chat in front of the mine entrance.“My companion and I just got in last night. The night guard said something about dragons. What’s this all about?” Kaidan looked around the campfire.The crew all looked at the stranger, then at each other wondering who should go first. An older Nord man spoke up. “A bit ago, a bronze dragon the size of the inn crawled out of the burial mound just south of here. Nobody even figured that there were even any bones left in it. But as soon as it was out, it came straight here, circling and roaring. We’re just here to dig. We don’t have any weapons other than the picks in our hands. Blessed Talos that there was a Stormcloak patrol headed west. The dragon saw it was outnumbered and flew off back south. Hasn’t been back since.”The others nodded.“And no one’s hunted it down?”“No one to hunt it down. Everyone capable is off fighting.”“Ugh. Dark days,” Kaidan grumbled.“Agreed. I know Ulfric’s got his hands full, but I wish he’d take this seriously. Hundreds of years of nothing, and suddenly the dead are crawling from their graves. They’re going to burn down Skyrim and then he won’t have a country left to run,” a younger man said.After a few minutes of listening and debate, Kaidan spoke up. “…Where’s the burial mound?”The elder snorted. “You looking to get eaten?”“Ulfric’s in Windhelm, right? Does he even know what’s going on down here? Do you need someone to tell him? For now, I’ll only scout out where it might have gone.”“And you’re saying you’ll do that for us? You just blew in here last night. And with that voice and that sword, from where I don’t know.” A Redguard man eyed him.“I may not look it, but I was raised a Nord and am one by deed. And I have a better reason than most to see those dragons dead again.” Kaidan's voice hardened.“We’ll see.” The older man said. “There’s actually two burial mounds here. Pretty nerve-wracking to have one raise up and the other quiet. What’s the other one waiting for, you know? Anyway, the live one is back down the hill and southwest, a little inland of the river. The still dead one is right on top of the mine; follow the path around. And if you wake that second one up, we’ll put your head on a pike.”“Do you think necromancers are behind it? I’ve had more than one bounty for those monsters.” Kaidan asked. The mercenary in him was already counting coin.“We’ve got a mage working the mine with us; she keeps us safe down there, we keep her safe from those nasty city folks in Windhelm when they pass through. She inspected the mound after the dragon flew off. There’s magic, but it’s not necromancy, and it’s more powerful than anything she’s worked with.”“Like a new type of magic?” That sickening display of dragon magic from Starfall flashed in his mind.“Again. We are miners. Not scholars.” The crew laughed amongst themselves.‘Scholars. Like Starfall.’ She did say she’d be hunting them down. Except from what he knew about the old stories, no one ever mentioned them being intelligent, let alone able to speak. He’d have to see what she wanted to do. Maybe he could get her to show off that she really was Dragonborn…
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By the time Kaidan returned to the inn, the day had passed. He went in to see how Starfall was doing only to see she was still in bed.“Oi. Starfall. You’re wasting time, and I've found us a lead. Get up.” He leaned on her doorway and raised his voice to jolt her a bit.She didn’t move, except to make a deep, pained breath.“Starfall.” He narrowed his eyes, went over to the bed, and stood over her.She wasn’t sleeping, but frozen in place, staring at the ceiling. His boots clomping across the floor made her flinch, and only her eyes moved to focus on him. “I feel like shit. It was either the bear or something in that shack. Skyrim doesn’t have any kind of plague problem, does it?”“Shit.” Kaidan put his hand on her forehead and snatched it away immediately, shaking it. He didn’t want to say, 'I told you so', but… “Not unless you count vampirism.”“Either way, get a little water from the innkeeper. Mix it with a ground feather from my hair.”“You want me to do alchemy? I’m not that good at—”Violet grit her teeth. “It’s not hard, Kaidan. I just told you how to do it. Get a bowl. Grind it into a watery mix. Reduce it over heat. Give me the bowl.He grumbled and leaned in to pluck a downy brown and white feather from one of her locks. She did look a bit like a fat spriggan…Far too long for such a simple task later, he came in, moved a chair beside her bed, and put the bowl on the nightstand. He also had a bowl of cool water and a linen cloth for her forehead.“So, is it a salve? Do you eat it?” He glanced back and forth between her and the medicine. He usually just bought what he needed already mixed by an apothecary and kept a bottle or two in his pack, but there wasn’t one here and who knew if she’d get worse in the time it would take him to go all the way to Windhelm and back. The only other thing he knew about alchemy was that taste-testing random inedible things sounded like a good way to get violently sick.“Orally.” She moved her arms back to push herself upright and groaned. “Oh gods… Feels like my whole body is locked up.”“Ah. That would be bone break fever. You catch it from getting bitten or scratched by wild animals.”“Ugh. Shut up.” Violet managed to prop herself up against the wall with a lot of struggling and dramatic noise, and Kaidan handed her the thin concoction. “At least it doesn’t affect my stomach. I hate stomach illnesses.”“Considering you’re willing to eat live fish eggs and poisonous plants, I’d be surprised if you didn’t have an iron stomach.”“Did that really bother you so much?” She sighed and creakily raised the bowl to her mouth. Even chewing seemed arduous. “…You were supposed to take the soft barbs of the feather and grind that up, not the shaft.”“You didn’t say that! I told you I wasn’t an alchemist or a healer.” He rubbed his hand over his face.She picked a shard of feather shaft out of her teeth. “That’s fair. Thank you for making this for me. You did fine. The fever should break in a few hours and I’ll be fine tomorrow with more water and food.”He nodded. “Good. Listen. Kynesgrove is a mining village and I spoke to a few of the workers today. They say the dragon the guard mentioned is still loose just south of here. Evidently, we passed a burial mound last night and didn’t see it. There’s also a dormant burial mound on the other side of the village, on top of the mine. We should investigate both.”Violet leaned her head back against the wall. “Cloth. Please.”He dipped the cloth into the bowl of cold water, wrung it out, and gave it to her. She pasted it over her face and sighed in relief, focusing on the cool cloth over her face and milling over Kaidan’s news. Even if she hadn’t fallen ill, she wouldn’t have felt up to fighting a dragon, anyway. Using dragon magic drained her terribly, she was completely unprepared, and her number one priority at the moment was to get to an actual safe city and establish someplace she could work out of. Kaidan didn’t seem to mind being on the road very much, but to her it felt like she was constantly being chased and never allowed to rest. …Because she was. Fucking Thalmor. Fucking dragons. Fucking prophecy.She pulled the cloth from her face once all the cool relief was gone. “I don’t suppose you can make it a stealth scouting mission and do it yourself? Or at least wait until we can get actual money, supplies, clothing, weapons, and gods, I could use a cup of sweet aloe.”“Uh, no. You’re the Dragonborn, not me. I couldn’t hide even if I had an invisibility potion. And honestly, taking on a dragon with anything less than a dozen men sounds like suicide.”Her voice dropped to a barely audible hiss. “One, you didn’t believe me earlier so what changed, and two, don’t call me that out loud in public. I barely even know what it means, other than slightly deadlier than normal magic and unwanted attention.”Kaidan looked her over. “I have a theory.”“Oh gods…” Starfall rolled her eyes.“Were there dragons in Hammerfell?”“There were some around Skyrim’s border, yes. Who knew Dragonstar was actually named after dragons? Anyway, we killed them. All of them.”“Well so did the Nords hundreds of years ago!” He threw his hands up.“And now they are dead again. I hope.”“When did they start appearing?”Starfall shrugged which turned into a pained grunt.“Okay… when did you cross into Skyrim?”“I don’t remember how long it’s been. I have trouble remembering things like time.”Kaidan buried his face in his hands, growled, and walked out of the room.*A few hours later, he came back, and they pooled the last of their money together to give her one more night to recuperate. Kaidan left later in the evening without telling her where he went; only that he would be back in the morning. She shrugged (less painfully this time) and eased herself out to the main hall to eat and have a look around. As she filled up on bread and vegetable soup, she listened to the idle chatter going around.“You think he’ll actually go find that dragon?” A man who had to be one of the miners held the door open for a Dunmer woman.“I sort of hope he doesn’t. If it spots him first, he'll either be incinerated, or he’ll anger it enough it might come back here for another round,” she replied as she settled down for a drink.“You didn’t see him earlier. Human, but with Dark Elf eyes. Not a half-elf either; bigger than a Nord. He’s going to bring trouble down on us, I know it.”“Like how I bring trouble down on you, Roggi?” She side-eyed him and drank her mead.“You know I didn’t mean it like that, ‘Nea. Nosy strangers.”The conversation halted abruptly as they noticed Violet at the end of the hearth, picking at her bread.“And what’s your story, lass?” Roggi crossed his arms.She went with what Kaidan chose earlier. “I came here to chronicle the dragons. Some turned up at the edge of Hammerfell, and they led me through Skyrim. The caravan I was with got picked apart by bandits, and that mercenary looking for the bounty on them said he’d get me to Windhelm and I’d pay him when we get there.” Keep it simple, keep it short.“Wait, they’re in Hammerfell too?”“There have always been dragons in Hammerfell. A lot smaller than the ones here. But they were more a nuisance. Whatever’s going on with these giant dragons seems to be different.”“If only they were just a nuisance. Whole villages burned, livestock taken, nowhere is safe. I’ve heard that some have been killed, but they get right back up again later.”“…That’s new. I wish I had some parchment and charcoal. Those bandits burned everything they couldn’t use, including my work. It’ll take weeks to write everything down again.” Violet was tearing the hard-crusted bread from her meal into little pieces.Iddra pulled a few scraps of paper from under the counter and a bit of ink. “Here. It’s not a lot, but it’s a start.”Dravynea took a chunk of bread for herself. “Hmm. Redguard mage-scholars are unheard of.”“There’s more than one way to fight. My family was actually very supportive. Especially since if they hadn’t, I would have been killed.” Violet thanked Iddra and started writing slowly, her body still stiff.“Indeed.” She nodded.“I also need as many accounts of what people know about dragons as possible to put together patterns and find some kind of truth. Is there anyone here I can talk to?”“Tell the group at the fire outside that Roggi said to tell you the story about how bad it was with the old dragons. You have to start with why everyone is rightfully up in arms.” Roggi waggled a finger at her.“Thank you. I’m sorry we seemed so suspect. But the whole thing with the escape from the bandits was such a mess, we’ve been traveling through the wilderness for too long, and then I was attacked by a bear…” She trailed off, her voice turning into a low growl and coughing.“Damned bandits are capitalizing on the war. Don’t show any of ’em an ounce of mercy. Skyrim’s got enough problems without those fools taking advantage of the situation.” Roggi said.“Oh, I don’t think they’ll be able to hurt anyone else if they’re in little pieces.” Violet looked into her bowl of soup and finished it.For the rest of the evening, she worked on rebuilding her notes, taking what she’d learned over the past week and working backward. She went out and listened to the miners’ stories (trying hard not to run off and hide whenever they got loud and raucous), fitting as much as she could onto the scraps of paper she was given. She made a note about possible resurrections. There were even a few notes about the Outlander with the draconic sword. Maybe he’d be able to hold his own when the time came to face actual monsters instead of game.As promised, Kaidan came back to the inn a little after dawn and settled in front of the bar. He had dragged in a small variety of wild game and was negotiating a fair trade for them, when Violet came out of her room and took a stool beside him. Her flowers were all gone, as were her shoes.“I think I’m good to travel today. I’ve slept most of the fever off. Now I just need some fresh air and maybe another dose of medicine.” For which she asked the day innkeeper for another bowl.“Good. I also found a few supplies to keep us on the last stretch to Windhelm. If we leave tonight after checking the burial mound, we should get there in only a day or two.”She glanced over at the innkeeper, then back over to Kaidan. “Just what exactly do you want me to find, there? The dragon won’t be there; I doubt they crawl back into their graves to rest.”“A quick look through the woods, then.”“And if we find it?”He smirked. “You’re the one who said they’re easy to kill.”The innkeeper’s eyebrow went up.“When I’m not recovering from fever, stripped down to nothing, and all around completely unprepared. They didn’t destroy your armor, weapons, or weeks of important research. Look at this. How am I supposed to do anything if I have to keep stopping to make sure all this doesn’t fall off?” She hiked up the shirt as it was so big, the neck hole showed off her shoulders and cleavage.Kaidan’s eyes drifted down the front of her shirt, noticing there was a vicious scar that curved down her left breast. He quickly looked away and took the money the innkeeper gave him. “Gods… We’ll go to Windhelm first and get you kitted up. Just don’t expect much until there’s good money coming in.”“I already have that taken care of. I just need starter money for bottles, then it’ll all start paying for itself when we find the apothecary and healers in the city.”“Where’d your flowers go, anyway?”“I had enough books to press them. They’re in the pack.” She took the bowl and plucked a feather off of a dead bird that Kaidan had brought in.“How… how did anyone figure out that eating feathers cured diseases?” He leaned on the counter with his hand holding up his chin.Violet thought a moment as she showed him how to strip the soft, fluffy feather barbs off the shaft, then ground them up into powder. “Like most things in life, happy accidents.”“Not much of a happy accident to have discovered that deathbell flowers kill you…” Kaidan rolled his eyes.“Happy accident for the first after who needed poison.” She cupped the bowl in her palms and they all watched as the water quickly steamed and evaporated to a bit of white suspension.“Hmph. At least you have good control of your powers. Some mages I’ve seen literally blow themselves to Oblivion trying to light a candle.”She swirled the mixture, blew on it for a few seconds, then swallowed it in one go. After a few seconds, her muscles visibly relaxed. A little too much, in fact, as she slumped over and her head hit the counter.Kaidan tilted his head. “That’s… a lot more potent than what I made.”She breathed out and closed her eyes again. “Kaidan… I’ve actually been at this for far longer than you think. And somehow, I know the cures to everything, except for what I’ve got.”He frowned. “We should get going.”“Hmm,” she sighed and pushed away from the counter.*Violet and Kaidan made better time to Windhelm now that they’d had a little time to properly rest and reached the city walls just before sunset. The weather quickly turned bitterly cold the closer they got to the city, until they reached the gates and found the entire bridge frozen over and a snowstorm sweeping along the river. At the hundreds of feet to the other side, the gates were iced over and frozen shut. Violet took two steps onto the ice and almost fell.“Well this is going to be fun.” Kaidan muttered.“I am not turning back. I want to buy some clothes that fit and find a quiet place to work. I’ll just burn a path through.”“Wouldn’t heating a path be a gross waste of energy? And the gate is shut. Unless you can open that, too.”“Guards’ entrance. There still has to be someone over there. And I’m not going to continually summon fire, just small paths a few feet at a time.”She hated using raw fire. The sheer amount of heat didn’t agree with her, and people always got panicky whenever it wasn’t rooted to a candle or hearth. “I’m going first. The ice will turn to steam immediately, but the surrounding ice will melt and take its place within a few seconds.”She held her hands out in front of her, her palms pointed at the ground. Dim orange flames poured from her palms and onto the giant cobblestones, creating hissing steam and canceling out both problems. Kaidan walked in her footsteps awkwardly, having to stop and wait for her to get further away every few steps. She took her time controlling the bursts until they reached the front gate, and off to the left side, a small metal door meant for one person at a time. There wasn’t anyone guarding either, and she assumed that they were probably lazing around on the other side. She went up to the side door and pounded on it.“Ugh, the door’s too thick and they’re not going to hear that,” she huffed and rubbed the side of her fist.‘At least she’s not trying to melt the door off its hinges,’ he thought as he looked around. The ice had already reformed behind them so there really was no turning back.“Where the hell are the guards? Why is the city gate shut during the day? We could freeze to death out here. I’m so close to just breaking in.” She pulled her sagging clothes tighter to herself.“Considering we’re both technically foreigners, and this is the capital of a bloody civil war, that’s the worst idea ever.” Kaidan shook his head and gave his cloak to her.“You have a better idea?” Violet eyed the main gate.“Cover your ears.” He took out his sword and banged the pommel against the door several times.Violet barely had time to do what he said before the clanging of cold steel echoed up and down the bridge, and hopefully over the wall. After the noise dissipated, they waited for a few minutes. Just as Violet was about to do something drastic, the view slider on the door opened.“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” A guard peered through the slot at the two of them. “You see the gate’s closed.”“And why the hell is the gate closed in the middle of the day? You’re not under siege.” Violet said.The guard rolled his eyes. “Because of the dragons.”Kaidan squinted at him. “That makes no sense at all. They can fly.”“Look, we’re not asking you to deice the main gate, just open this door and let us into the city. I promise I’m not a dragon,” Violet groaned.Kaidan snorted and Starfall shot him a withering glare.“Did you come from Kynesgrove?”“Yeah. The people there want to know when Ulfric plans to send people out to kill the dragon from a few days ago.” Kaidan crossed his arms.“And you know what, go ask him if he remembers that he fucking owes me big for Helgen. He’ll know what it means.”Kaidan looked down at her. “He owes you? For what?!”She elbowed him in the side, only to wince as her unprotected elbow bounced off the black metal plates.The guarded looked back and forth between them, then slid the viewer shut again.“He’s actually going to make us wait out here while he goes to ask. I’m going in.” Her hand started to glow white.“Don’t.” He realized too late he shouldn’t have grabbed her wrist as blindingly bright flames flickered at her fingertips. He quickly let go of her as if she were still sick and contagious. “It’s got a crossbar behind it, and even if you do get it open, you’ll get to see Ulfric in chains. What is the matter with you?!”“The matter is that Nords are ridiculous.”Kaidan rolled his eyes. She wasn’t wrong. He was almost tempted to see what would happen if he just let her be insane when the door rattled back and forth on its hinges. After a few attempts, the ice surrounding the door frame crumbled and the door creaked open. Starfall muttered a bunch of curses and followed the new guard through the long hallways inside the massive, ancient walls.“I’m surprised you made it across the bridge. It gets like this every few weeks. You could have just stayed at the stable or farms down the road, you know.” This new guard shook her head at them.“I need to talk to Ulfric. And it’s been a shit couple of weeks,” Starfall groaned.The guard laughed. “And what would a Redguard be needing the jarl for? He’s not talking to visitors. Go get a drink at the alehouse and hole up until this storm is over.”“I already told the other one. We need to talk about Helgen, the dragons, and why he thinks these petty slap-fights with the Empire are more important than his precious country burning to the ground that Talo—”Kaidan gasped and snatched her up, clapping his hand over her mouth. Okay, that’s what happens when she’s allowed to be insane in front of other people. Noted. ‘Fuck.’The guard turned around and leaned in her face. “That Talos what, Redguard?”He broke in. “She’s mad, both in the head and about being attacked by dragons. Evidently Helgen was an… ordeal.”Starfall grit her teeth at that word. Mad. He thought so, too. Everyone did. Just because of some unspoken rules everyone snickered behind her back about. A Redguard who was powerful not with arms but by magic. A godless heathen who would be taken by no Aedra or Daedra in death, but evidently created by the “great” Akatosh himself. Would he still want her after she denounced and cursed him for making her an abomination? Another curse upon her to rely on the very magic that always threatened to end her. And all packed into a shell that was constantly on the verge of falling apart.Her body became dangerously hot in Kaidan’s grip, enough for him to snatch his gloved hand away from her mouth and dropping her entirely when his metal plating started to glow slightly. “Put. Me. Down.” She pulled the cloak over her face and slunk behind him in silence. They both eyed her uneasily but continued on.Once the guard led them out to the main road, Violet wished she had an invisibility potion, so she could ditch them and go about her business in peace. Instead she glanced around, noticed the castle straight ahead, and went in that direction without them.“I wouldn’t leave her alone, if I were you. Especially if she’s going to try and get into the castle.” The guard’s staring could have bored holes into Violet’s back.“Great.” He stayed a few feet away from her, praying that he wouldn’t have to step in for her again.
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“You’re not seriously going to see the jarl looking like that are you?” Kaidan had caught up to her easily and decided to just follow without getting too close. “If he remembers that the Thalmor almost had his head on a pike, and this whole thing is his fault in the first place, and we took care of the Thalmor who were kidnapping people right in front of him, I’m hoping he’ll help me.” “You have no idea what you’re doing. You’re going to embarrass him and yourself,” he sighed. “Because I’m mad?” Violet said quietly. He winced. “Well… yes.” “Your debt's been paid. Now leave me alone.” She took off his cloak and held it out to him. He shook his head, took it back, and left. Violet breathed a sigh of relief. She may have been grateful to him for getting her to civilization (if it could be called that), but his insufferable need to try and save her from herself was insulting at best. She needed space to breathe. Then she looked at the imposing castle doors, how awful she looked (and still felt now that she thought about it), and turned away from the palace. ‘Daft thing is going to get herself thrown right back out of the city,’ Kaidan thought. * Violet went around investigating as much as she could before nightfall. She managed to find the market district and quickly went for the apothecary. The shop was still open, and she ducked in just as a bitter wind blew at her back. The two men glanced at her for only a second before they went back to arguing. She decided not to get involved and started unpacking her flower-pressing books onto a table. She knew some of the Nordic flowers, and the little red berries and grapes growing on the roadside were addictive, but she hoped the store would have some cheap, familiar ingredients to really make what she wanted. The work table didn’t have anything in it, so she got straight to work. Herbs, roots, bugs, and fruits were crushed, boiled, distilled, and bottled. Then she took the samples to the counter, she found herself waiting an awkwardly long time for them to finally acknowledge her. “Yes, yes, what do you want?” The Altmer grumbled. “I want to trade up. I replenish your potion stock and remove your ingredient overstock.” “Hmph. Let’s see what you’ve got, then…” Violet had to fight the old man for over an hour before she had managed to get a few crucial potions, enough money for a bed at the tavern, and supplies tomorrow. Thankfully, the man who turned out to be an apprentice could see the value of her work (and was even impressed), and gave her the difference that the old, crotchety Altmer wouldn’t. It was too late now to talk to anyone else, and she’d been put in a miserable mood. Tomorrow there would definitely be better clothing, decent food, and serious talk. She groaned to herself at the last one. She couldn’t say what was on her mind, but somehow being vague and roundabout but polite was supposed to fix everything. Stupid, useless nobles. Causing wars and everyone else has to fight them. She made her way back to the center of the city and looked up at the Candlehearth Inn. It looked as old and dilapidated as the rest of the city. She wasn’t in the mood to talk, so she bought dinner and her room, locking herself up for the night. After a few hours, she could hear the main hall upstairs pick up in chattering activity and lute music playing. “Oh no…” She groaned. The pillow over her head didn’t do anything against the noise above her. Then she saw the candle on her nightstand. She softened the cool, hard wax at the bottom, and with a tiny bit of cloth off of her pants, made some crude earplugs and sighed with some relief. Far too soon, morning came. She’d slept terribly, and last night’s incident still plagued her mind. But at least a real bath and progress happened. She went back to the market for a new outfit and was surprised to come up empty-handed. Another Altmer woman, who she was completely surprised to see in the heart of the war, told her to go to the court wizard. “I’d be cautious about him though, they call him Wuunferth the Unliving.” Niranye rolled her eyes. “Ulfric hired a necromancer?” Violet was now incredibly suspicious of both of them. She scoffed. “Ulfric’s not that much of an idiot. But with what’s been going on with all of the serial murders, no one really wants to get on his bad side. Some people think he might be involved somehow, but no one’s got any proof.” “Serial. Murders.” “Women turning up dead all over the city, cut open, found before dawn.” The merchant sounded more annoyed than rightfully terrified. “Killing my business in the evenings. …Pardon the wordplay.” Violet simply took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. Of course, as soon as she escapes from prison, the first city she gets to for help is full of murder. “Right. Wear the good armor when going out at night.” She considered going to Ulfric first since she had to go to the castle anyway. Stupid Kaidan’s advice yesterday had played over and over in her head, making her angry all over again. She tried being calm and simple with the guards, not saying anything more than she had to and after several minutes of wandering the upper halls, she came to a dimly lit suite that actually felt really homey and comfortable. An older Nord man sat at his desk, writing and turning over a small gem. “You’re the court wizard? I was told to see you for arcane supplies.” Wuunferth sighed in exasperation and kept writing without looking up. “And as you can see, I’m busy. Come back later. Or don’t.” Violet began to fidget. She had other plans later and wanted this all done with as soon as possible. “I just need new robes, so I don’t look like a beggar in front of the jarl.” “He’s too busy to notice. Trust me. On that note, he’s probably not going to hear you, anyway.” “I need him to tell me everything he knows about the dragon magic he uses.” The old mage stopped and leered at her. “And why should he do that?” “Because I need to know how to get rid of the dragons. Maybe if they all go away, I won’t have to stick around here anymore, and I can go home and back to my studies.” “You?” He looked her up and down. “Think you’re a hero, eh? You’d fit perfectly in one of those monsters’ mouths.” She covered her face with her hands and screamed into them. “Just… let me buy some robes!” “Bah. Whatever. What kind of mage are you? Probably Destruction; you Redguards are too superstitious for anything else.” His bones creaked and crackled as he eased himself away from his desk and pulled a drab, faded, red robe and accessories from a chest in the corner. Was this man rude because he’s old, or was he rude because he’s a Nord? Or both? Violet quietly envisioned herself turning him into little crumbles of bloody ice while he went around his room gathering supplies. They exchanged a stack of magical supplies for almost the entire sack of gold she’d made the previous night, and she left as quickly as possible. Slipping into an empty and unguarded side room, she patted the dust out of the clothes, gratefully changed into them, and threw the oversized men’s clothes into the fireplace. The robes were still large since they were meant for a tall Nord woman, but she felt more comfortable at least. They would be perfectly fine until Winterhold. The college had to have quality enchanted clothing. She repacked her bag and retraced her steps back down to the main hall, where everyone was starting to convene for the mid-day meal. A man who was not Ulfric presided at the head of the table and was calling out business to everyone who sat down. With so many guards and people on high alert, she quietly approached the other end of the table. “Who do I speak to, to meet with the jarl?” She sat next to a man in noble clothing. “Stranger. The steward Jorleif is coming down the table. Speak to him first.” She waited patiently for her turn and used some of the mead to relax her nerves. Thankfully after the steward had seen everyone else, he was accommodating and willing to answer a lot of her questions. He did require a favor first, though she was incredibly tempted to just abandon the whole thing once she heard it. “One of the merchants told me about someone prowling the streets at night. But I just got here. I don’t even know my way around. I have urgent business in Winterhold that I'd rather attend to, if no one can help me here. And as a stranger, I’d have too much trouble talking to people, let alone getting them to trust me. I’ve had enough trouble just getting into the city.” She didn’t mention the general unease she got from people staring. Hopefully, it was just general unease about the war and not some other vague taboo she wasn’t aware she’d broken. Jorleif leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Get me a lead, and I’ll pass your inquiry on to the jarl.” She growled softly and showed him her scarred fingers. “So, you don’t think he wants to know now about the two Thalmor agents I killed south of here? In his territory? Kidnapping people and torturing them for information? And that there’s a dragon lurking in the woods south of Kynesgrove? Or does he already know about all this and just have his hands full? Because once it’s done burning down Kynesgrove, it’s probably going to come here—” “Alright, alright!” He hissed. “Keep it down. At any rate, do you really think he’ll drop everything for a couple of dead spies that you already took care of, and sending a regiment out into a howling storm to hunt down a hiding dragon? Best I can do is pay someone to do it for him.” Violet narrowed her eyes. “How much?” He looked at her as if she’d gone mad. “Hmph. A thousand septims to the group that kills it.” A thousand septims would buy her a ride to Winterhold and a modest place to stay until she set up long term at the college. “…Start counting now, I’ll be back in a few days,” she said. She excused herself from the table and left. The plan had changed a little, but money was still at the end of it. Kaidan had told her where it was, she just had to make her way back to Kynesgrove and work from there for a bit. Maybe another store would have a local map, so she wouldn’t die from wandering lost in the woods. She wasn’t a tracker. She thought of Kaidan. …Shit. She’d already gotten rid of him. Maybe he hadn’t left the city yet. No, he couldn’t. They were frozen in. She went back to the inn to plan her next moves. She had some of her supplies back. She was mostly rested and physically healed up. Her throat wasn’t great, but dragon magic was more like a last resort anyway. And it had been too long since she’d indulged that dark, gnawing hunger eating away at what was left of her sanity, so she was about due. * Kaidan stared into the fire at the New Gnisis Corner Club. He'd already burned through what he'd earned at Kynesgrove, so he spent his evenings at the little dive bar in the Gray Quarter. The patrons were suspicious of him, but Dunmer were mostly suspicious of everyone, anyway. ‘Guess I might as well call it even,’ he thought. Even though she thoroughly was mad, he sort of felt bad about hurting her feelings. She seemed like she was trying to be sociable (except when she was obviously hiding behind him and away from people), she just didn’t get it quite right. He wished he could hide sometimes, but his looks, height, job, and nearly everything else prevented it. She wasn’t malicious like most mages, but she was oblivious. She could've left him to rot in the prison or killed him when she shouted at the Thalmor guard. She cooperated with him when he asked, though she tended to bend the interpretation of his directions when she was feeling stubborn. “Ugh, why am I even thinking about her?” He ran his hand over his face and drank his ale. Once the gates were opened, he’d have to find work again. He had his weapons and the clothes on his back, which was more than many, especially in a city being left to ruin in the middle of a costly, foolish, war. Whichever side won would quickly be crushed by the Aldmeri Dominion. Starfall definitely had the ridiculous part right… Then he realized that he had been the one to tell the miners at Kynesgrove that he would look into the dragon hiding in the woods to the south. ‘Shit.’ Though… technically it’s not like he said he would slay it. And with Starfall likely making a scene at the hold, the message got where it needed to go, anyway. Crisis averted. He lay in bed, tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling for the rest of the night. At least until 4am, when he heard a woman scream, then a man’s voice cut off, and an explosion rock the building. A large crack crawled up the wall beside his bed, flaking plaster onto him. ‘What the—’ Kaidan stumbled from his bed, grabbed his sword and rushed barefoot and shirtless down the stairs. Only the bartender and two patrons were downstairs, all as confused as he was and looking to each other to be the one to go outside and investigate. He pushed past them all and ran out into the curving alley, not even flinching as his bare feet sloshed through the snowdrifts gathering at the door and slush from the street runoff. Fucking Starfall . She was standing over a dead …man… as a Dunmer woman cowered behind her on the ground. The man was absolutely pummeled to a frozen bloody paste, the wall behind him was barely holding together as a large circle of frost impacted it, the woman’s dress and arm were covered in blood, and Starfall’s face was twisted into a snarl of absolute rage and hatred, blood dripping from her mouth. Their eyes met and Kaidan couldn’t decide whether to run inside and lock the door (for what good it would have done) or disable her while she was still frozen after her attack. He’d seen that murderous look somewhere else before and his chest tightened. He prayed the shaking he felt all over was just shivering and no one could see. She didn’t even show that kind of hate for the Thalmor that tortured her. “Go. Back. Inside,” she coughed, her blood splattering on the cobblestones. “What the fuck did you do ?!” Kaidan against all sense marched up to her. “Fucking… obvious…” She struggled to get the words out as her voice died. “Chased a drunk fuck harassing me out here, catch this one about to kill her .” He looked to the young woman backed up against the wall of the bar, nursing the open gash down her arm and wild-eyed. She nodded at Kaidan to confirm the story. “Godsdamn it.” He picked up the woman and helped her inside. Before they were inside, Violet’s last whispers were, “Dragon. Coming.” Kaidan ignored her and slammed the door. He was lucky her voice was already gone… * The bar patrons looked between each other and took the woman out of his arms. They had her sit down and were searching for first aid, when Violet silently came in and sat at the same table. She pointed to Kaidan and a chair. “Not right now. She needs—” Her eyes rolled. “Ssst DNnn!” She hissed and spat blood into someone's cup, much to the bartender’s chagrin. Kaidan growled and did as he was told, lest the whole thing take longer or make her do something stupid out of frustration. Once he sat next to her, she pulled the cork on a small vial from her breast pocket and drank it, shuddering violently. She took the woman’s hand and Kaidan’s, then bathed everyone at the table in golden light. The woman winced but didn’t pull away, and Kaidan blinked as he realized his feet were full of pins and needles as warmth and blood flowed back into them. He’d been standing barefoot in the icy slush outside for only a few minutes… Violet’s throat looked as if she’d swallowed a flame, the elf's arm stitched up and scabbed into a fiery scar over her bicep, and Kaidan’s feet glowed with golden flames. Violet dropped their hands and shot him an ugly look. The rest of the room was stunned. “I told you not to fucking act like I don’t know what I’m doing,” she croaked. “Is everyone alright?” Kaidan and the woman looked to each other and nodded. Violet pointed to the elf, her voice still only a hoarse whisper. “If the guards or the steward ask you about this, you tell them the Redguard said this is the third time I’ve done the jarl’s work for him. Understand?” The woman nodded. “Good.” She turned to Kaidan. “Put your armor on, the dragon will be here soon. We can get some answers.” The room turned deathly silent. Kaidan’s mouth flattened into a line. If he hadn’t already been awake, he would have told her to bugger off and gone back to bed. She was still angry and grim, but also sparked with determination. She had to know something on top of predicting this incoming disaster. He went back to his room, put his armor on, and returned a few minutes later. Starfall still sat at the table, now quickly writing on some parchment with a piece of charcoal. He stood over her for several minutes, watching her write and scratch out parts. As he was about to ask what she was wasting time on, she passed him the parchment and pushed him out into the harsh snowstorm. It read, “ I know you don’t trust me, especially after I just killed that man outside, but I can explain all that later. Hypothesis: The dragons are looking for me. I think they can hear me when I shout. We were underground last time, so it was probably hidden from them. I need to get out of the city as soon as possible. Dragon magic is molded by emotion, intention, and other factors I don’t know yet. The drunkard and serial killer (LATER.) were suitable test targets to evoke an emotionally powerful spell. The dragon: I’m fully capable of killing one without dragon magic, but I want to see what your sword and armor does against it. I am not an expert, but I believe they are enchanted. The material in your sword is not from Tamriel. Neither Tamrielic nor Daedric ebony look like that. Your bow is also enchanted, but I cannot ascertain how since you don’t have proper ammunition. Once we split the bounty money (1,000 septims per Ulfric’s steward), you can buy better arrows that we can test with. I will keep you alive. Not safe, obviously. But alive. But you have to trust me and look for my signals, which will be points of light. Follow them as fast as you can without question. As you’ve seen, dragon shouts render me unable to use my voice normally. And yes, I know it was foolish to use it against the serial killer when there’s a much greater threat. I spent all day planning how to lure it out and fight it (by myself, but if you want answers, the dragons have them and not for free). I can actually use far more powerful magic than dragon magic for less personal cost. I know you don’t trust mages because we’re sociopaths or whatever stereotype, but I use magic to stay alive and “sane” . Without decades of discipline and study, I would have died long ago, and there would be no ‘Dragonborn’ at all. ” He stared at the paper for a long time. She sounded like a proper scholar on paper, instead of an unstable powder keg when she talked. When he lowered the paper, he noticed that she’d managed to lead him all the way back to the front gate. There were two guards manning it, and one in front of the guard house door that they initially came in. “Tell them a dragon is coming from the south, and to secure the south wall of the city. We’re going keep it out,” she whispered in his ear. “Are you absolutely sure it’s coming for you?” She nodded. He growled and went to the smaller door, as they definitely weren’t going to open the gates now. After a few minutes, she heard laughing from that direction, and of course they were laughing at the mad woman. Violet rolled her eyes and pushed into the group. “Oh gods, Starfall, don’t. We’re—” “Which one of you dumb fucks wants to be the one who told the Dragonborn to fuck off when the dragon came and ate everyone and burned this shitheap into even smaller rubble?” Her voice was hissing gravel and full of murderous rage again. They all gawked at her. “Open the godsdamned door. It heard me and it’s coming from south of Kynesgrove. You’ve got maybe another half hour before it flies in here looking for where I was last, which is here. Unless I get away from the city and meet it out there.” Against the howling wind outside, a long, high pitched screech echoed against the mountains surrounding the city. It made the walls of the city vibrate and everyone in the guardhouse slowly lose all the color in their faces. Starfall’s eyes rolled up in her head as she raked her nails down her face.
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It was pure chaos after that. They practically threw Violet and Kaidan outside and locked the guardhouse door; they could still hear shouting as they turned towards the bridge. Once they were out of earshot, she doubled over and coughed until she could find a healing potion for her throat and took it. She shouldn’t have to threaten people to get anything done, but no one ever took her seriously… When Violet recovered, she remembered the bridge was still frozen over; in fact, it looked even worse than when they arrived. ‘Right. This.’ “We don’t have time to go slowly over this!” Kaidan shouted over the snowstorm’s fierce winds. Violet nodded. She nudged him behind her, rubbed her hands together, then held them out and clapped them together. The noise echoed against the mountains, and a massive wave of fire erupted all the way down the bridge. It roared and hissed as the snow and ice battered it. Kaidan stared at the flames waving and froze to the spot. He could handle campfires and braziers. The fire was rooted down, controllable, and relatively small. But free fire. Living fire. The chaotic agony made by mages. His eyes widened and heart stopped. And then Starfall ran directly into the flames. Violet was halfway down the bridge when she realized Kaidan hadn’t followed her. She’d told him his armor was enchanted; it shouldn’t be a problem, especially since the fire would go out as soon as his boots stomped it out. Oh gods. He wasn’t afraid of fire, was he? She knew a lot of people tended to be skittish around it, and she didn’t even like it that much herself. But more in that it was noisy, sucked up all the air around it, was harder to control, made her all sweaty, and left a charred mess rather than it being a horrible and terrifying way to die. She huffed to herself and turned back. There he was, still back pressed up against the guard door, his mesmerized eyes glowing even brighter red and betraying sheer terror. Something in her chest twisted in a knot. ‘Well fuck. He’s definitely not going to like fighting the dragon, then.’ She ran up to him and grabbed his hands in hers to pull him down to her level. She tried her best to be soothing, but mostly came up with hissing whispers. “I can’t put it out, and we can’t wait for the storm to put it out. The best I can do is shield us. I told you before, your armor’s enchanted. It can’t hurt you. If you stay here, you’ll suffocate, or be eaten. It’s only a few hundred feet. I’ll protect you.” Still holding his hand, she clenched her other fist and a bright white, ornate tower shield appeared over her arm. He looked at it, then at her, realizing that it wasn’t going to get any easier with her. She’d just keep surprising him and swinging back and forth between amazing and terrifying. He was starting to get dizzy and the air was already getting thin. She took off again into the fire, trying not to slow down as she’d already hated running, grumbling the entire way. But running back and forth through hot, smoky, thinning air trying to coax a man twice her size behind her without being able to see very well with a hidden dragon bearing down on them was just horseshit. They could’ve been across the bridge and far away by now where she could actually let loose without hurting anything. He had better be worth the trouble… Starfall was right. It was hot and uncomfortable, but the fire wasn’t burning the lining of his armor or turning the black metal bright red. Nothing on him was going up in flames or melting. It didn’t stop the air from being nearly unbreathable or his heart from threatening to break through his ribs and armor, but she was doing as she promised for now. They were almost across when the warning screech sounded again, much louder and closer this time. As Kaidan looked up, the night sky was completely blocked over by storm clouds, snow swirling up and around the flames, and a fast-moving shadow headed right for them. He’d only seen a dragon once from far away and it thankfully flew over a forest going in the opposite direction. The hill of Kynesgrove started alighting with torches moving frantically back and forth. ‘Gods, let it ignore them. Come here, you bastard. It’s us you want…’ Kaidan started to breathe again when he saw the edge of the fire and the end of the bridge. The fire there was only black smudges and embers, and the safety of the cold, hard ground was a beautiful sight. He picked up speed and nearly dragged Starfall behind him trying to reach it. Starfall tried to catch her breath, the shield breaking with her concentration. “There had to be a better way to do that,” Kaidan growled. “Better, maybe. Fast, no,” she wheezed. She snapped her fingers and a ball of light the size of her fist appeared in her palm. It floated down to the ground, then around the bridge and down into the river fork where the southbound White River connected to the east-west Yorgrim. “You want to bring it down there? We’re still too close to the city. We should get further away.” Kaidan looked to a bridge further west and pointed there. She shook her head no, then created a larger magelight, and hurled it at Windhelm’s walls. It stuck to a parapet and illuminated that there were archers and soldiers running along the paths, scanning the horizon and barely able to hold it together. “You want them to shoot it?” She nodded, still panting. “Are you sure you’ve done this before? You can barely stand!” “Sh-shut up,” she huffed. “Not a warrior. Don’t need to move much for this next part.” She brought her backpack around, dug around in a side pocket, and brought out three identical potions and one black vial. She uncorked the black one first and drank deep, then drew signs over her chest that changed her skin from dark reddish-brown to glassy ebony black. The other three potions she held in her chest pocket. Another magelight appeared in her hand. This one shot straight up into the air and burst, creating a miniature sun in the middle of the stormy night. It was immediately swallowed up by a shadow diving from the clouds and dropping directly in front of Violet and Kaidan. A massive dragon, all white teeth and claws, bronze scales, and black spines dipped its head low and eyed the two of them. “DOV… AH… KIIN.” It growled. Its breath was hot enough against the worsening snowstorm to envelope them both in steam. “…Oh.” Kaidan didn’t really know what to expect, but it wasn’t that. His hands white-knuckled the hilt of his sword. If the dragon could tell just by approaching her… “Sure. Whatever. Do you speak Tamrielic ? Taaammmrr—” The word caught in Violet’s throat, making her cough. It huffed another steam cloud. “MAL. SAHLO. JOOR. ALDUIN YAH VAH HI.” “Shit. Do you know what it’s saying?” Violet started repeating the words in her mind, trying to commit them to memory. “No. I didn’t know they could talk at all. All anyone’s ever seen them do is scream and destroy everything!” “ROK FEN WERID DOVAH FAH HIN DINOK!” The dragon reared up and snapped at her. Kaidan rushed from behind her and raised his sword as the maw came down, jamming the black blade into the dragon’s soft palate and using his boot against its tongue to pin its jaw down. It twitched and gagged, trying to move its head enough to snap at him. The sword wedged deeper upward until he felt something give at the tip and clear liquid oozed down out of the wound. The dragon’s beady eyes squinted shut and it staggered. “Starfall! Don’t just stand there!” he shouted as the dragon tried to close its jaws around him. “Ugh.” Violet grumbled, then summoned another giant magelight. She latched it onto the center of the dragon’s forehead. ‘Fucking useless dragon. Just like the others.’ Two giant ice spears launched out of the ground on either side of Kaidan and met at his sword, wedging the wound in the dragon’s mouth wide-open. A small magelight fluttered around his head and led back to her. ‘Get out of there, you idiot!’ She waved her arms frantically. He almost questioned her for a split second, but he started to feel heat bearing down on the top of his head. He dislodged his sword and jumped away just as Violet ran into his position and summoned her shield. The distortion of light flared backwards this time like a bowl and the dragon’s fire blew back into its face. It fell backwards blinded by its own light, then staggered back a few steps. ‘Let the archers do some work.’ Violet pulled Kaidan back further and pointed to the wall. She wondered why they hadn’t fired on it yet, then launched a fireball in their direction to get their attention. She couldn’t make it any clearer; the damn thing had a huge shining target on its head. Just as the dragon reared up to take flight, a volley of arrows whistled down and peppered its wings and neck. It screeched in their direction, went straight for the wall, and set the parapets on fire. “Draw it back before it goes into the city! I told you we should have gone further away!” Kaidan quickly switched his sword for his bow and fired his own succession, his arrows wedging deep into the dragon's neck and back. She didn’t want to tell him he was worrying too much, but she understood why he was on the verge of panic. First, draw it back. It really was too close to the city and it wouldn’t look too great if she disintegrated half of Windhelm trying to kill it. Not after the other incident. She popped the cork on the first potion, drank it, and took a deep but unsteady breath. Her hands drew a circle in front of her and glowing white threads of an ice ward formed on top of the river’s slush, dozens of feet across and large enough to trap a dragon. Violet then opened up the second bottle and drank it, then put her hand over his bow arm to get him to lower it. “Stop.” “Hmm. I don’t think I’m making a dent in it, anyway.” “You did fine.” She cast several ice spears at the dragon’s back, piercing its wings, spine, and neck. It faltered, shakily pushing away from the wall and turning back to face her. “It’s weakening…” Kaidan watched it flap around shakily as if it were confused. She kept up her volley of ice until it was bleeding all over from huge gashes and barely able to stay aloft through shredded wings. The spears wedged deeper and deeper, widening the wounds. With every spear she launched, she moved down the hill, closer and closer to the fork in the river and the ice ward. ‘Come away from the wall. I need you down here.’ The dragon couldn’t ignore her any longer; it coughed fireballs at the mage and warrior, missing through blurring and dimming vision. It was about to dive at them until an ice spear jammed into its eye, and it fell into the ward. It crashed into the icy water full force, breaking up the ice floes and making the beast scream loud enough to shake pieces of Windhelm’s walls and bridge loose. With the threads broken, the ice ward exploded. Ice spears, needles, and crystals exploded from the splash, impaling the dragon in dozens of places and making the river run red. Its screams were cut off as its throat was severed with blood pouring out and freezing into crystals before they crashed and splattered onto the ice. “By the gods…” Kaidan nearly dropped his bow. He had seen parts of the civil war, and his scars were a testament to events in his life that he wished he could forget, but the sheer brutality in the span of a few seconds from one woman… He thought back to the prison and how he wondered why the Thalmor would want someone so unassuming, and why she was so desperate for even a few drops of water, even if it came as blood. “Not done yet.” She opened up the third bottle and finished it in two gulps. With both hands free, she raised her hands to the sky and swirled them with grabbing motions to seize control of the raging blizzard above them. The wind picked up from every direction, all being sucked into a vortex above the dying dragon and nearly dragging Starfall and Kaidan into the water. He had to grab her around her waist to keep her from being pulled into the river. The dragon was still alive somehow; twitching and trying to free itself with dying puffs of flame, but it couldn’t turn its neck and only leaked heat, grey matter, and blood from its mouth. The clouds closed in and formed a white ball of light, which collected wind, air, snow, and hail into one spot. The ball flashed once, twice, and released a series of lightning strikes that quickly tore the dragon, the city wall, the bridge, and parts of the ground itself into burnt crumbs. Starfall clapped her hands over her ears, and Kaidan had to shield his eyes from the bright flashing lights and back them away from the water’s edge. Each bolt that stuck the dragon popped and jolted it in the trap that made him think Starfall was being extra malicious on purpose. And she had said this was easy! Mara have mercy on him, then! A full minute later, the lightning finally stopped, and the blizzard seemingly tired itself out. The fierce storm withered into silent snowfall. Violet patted Kaidan on the arm and pointed to the dragon. The only thing left was a massive pile of char that was starting to break up and blow away. The ice trap had crumbled into bloody slush, like the man in the alley and the Thalmor guard in the prison. “Still not done yet,” she whispered. “But there’s nothing left! You’ve completely obliterated it!” Seeing the sheer desecration was starting to make him feel ill… “It said, ‘Dovahkiin.’ This is what that means.” The corpse rumbled, shifted, and burst into flames, the embers floating away to be carried out to sea. Wisps of fast-moving golden light flowed over the water and into Starfall, who began to glow and become enraptured. As he was still holding on to her, the light passed through him as well, though he felt absolutely nothing from either it or her. Well, however he was tied to the dragons wasn’t in a physical or magical sense… She inhaled sharply and visibly relaxed as the dragon collapsed into a pile of clean bones. Even the blood was gone. Kaidan finally felt like he could let go of her. “And with its soul, I gain even more power.” Her voice was still soft and grim, but now honeyed, instead of the raspy hissing he’d always known. The glossy black sheen drained from her skin and returned to its proper color. The tip of Kaidan’s bow dug into the frozen dirt as he leaned heavily on it and ran his hand through his hair. The dragon knew. And she had just absorbed its soul by using enough power to siege the city, if she had moved that final spell a few feet over the wall. She did it without using the very magic that made her special, and barely a normal word otherwise. She probably didn’t even need him to be there; but she did say that she wanted to test him. The Thalmor wanted her for damn good reason. She was the Blood of Akatosh. And he had angered her over and over the past several days. But she never retaliated against him except for when he physically put his hands on her, and even then, not to harm him, just to warn him. She healed him again and again whenever he was injured. She even soothed and protected him back on the bridge.“Well. It’s dawn. And I’m beat. I don’t know about you.” Violet patted his back and went to climb back up the hill to the main road. “Better get back inside before the bridge freezes over again.” Kaidan watched her hike her robes up a little and make awkward stomps and slides up the snowy hill. She looked like a clumsy duck waddling. ‘Bloody unbelievable.’ * The walk through the guardhouse was awkward and silent. The tired, shaken, and slightly burnt guards could only stare with reverence and terror at the little pudgy woman dragging herself down the halls. They all saw what she did out there. Some of them eyed Kaidan as if to ask, ‘did that all really just happen?’ The ones who doubted her now got out of her way. She did not look at any of them. As they made their way to the main thoroughfare, people were starting to peek out of their houses. They had to have heard the commotion just over the wall, and it seemed the guards hadn’t yet gone around to tell anyone everything was alright, yet. Violet looked back at the noisy, albeit cozy Candlehearth. It didn’t seem to have suffered any despite being right near the wall. “You were staying over in the slums?” she asked. “Ran out of money.” He looked everywhere but at her. “…Come on, then.” She sighed and led him inside. Everyone was all upstairs, murmuring quietly, about her, no doubt. She took a few septims, put them on the counter for the innkeeper, and went with him to her room, locking it behind them. “Uhm?” He looked around. Her room was the best room in the house, with a large bed, a well-stocked bookshelf against one wall, a writing desk and chair, a chest to put her belongings, and a dresser covered in various potions and scrolls. “How…?” She dropped the empty bottles on the dresser. “Alchemy money. Heal the sick for a price. Kill for a higher one. I told you. We’ll collect the two bounties from Ulfric’s steward in the evening, if you want. Fifty-fifty.” “You actually met with Ulfric?” “No. And of course he didn’t come out to help defend his city. For starting a war and being the talk of Skyrim, he sure is amounting to nothing.” She unlaced her ponytail, letting her ‘locs fall freely over her shoulders. She then undid her belts, robe pins, and boot laces, letting it all fall to the ground in a heap. She stretched and wobbled on tired legs, a stray crackle hinting her age. “I…” Kaidan looked away and cleared his throat. Evidently, she had no sense of propriety either, which made sense considering her angry outbursts. …At least she’d also bought underwear. “The city’s relatively safe now, there’s no reason to sleep in your armor. That’s a weird and uncomfortable thing to do, anyway.” She went up to him and pulled at the buckles and clasps for his armor, clumsily fiddling at them since she’d never dealt with his special armor before. “And if you rolled over on me wearing that, you’d shred me to pieces.” “Wait a minute, you don’t really—” He tried to get away from her. She rubbed her face. “Sleep. Just sleep. Too tired to argue. It’s cheaper and makes more sense to just share a large room instead of hunting down the innkeeper and looking for a spare place. Plus, you killed a dragon. You’re in this shit, now.” That… that was one way to put it. He definitely didn’t want to walk back across town to toss and turn in a dingy back-alley dump again, especially since she almost collapsed the building. It would take time to remember arguing with her was painful and costly. He sighed and helped her take off his armor, tossing it in a pile in the corner. He drew the line at the pair of linen pants he had on under his greaves. “You hurt anywhere from jumping into that thing’s mouth like a damn fool?” She walked around him, checking his shoulders and arms. She noted his back was healed to pale scars. He groaned. “You were just standing there in its way as if it wasn’t about to eat you in one bite.” She stepped away from him, snapped her fingers, and hard needles of ice erupted all over her body, then retracted. Kaidan winced and took a step back. That would explain why she didn’t mind being alone with him. “Actually, it would’ve just broken its teeth and tongue on me. Then it would have gotten an ice spear to the brain. If anything, you made the same first strike. At least now I know your armor is at least as durable as ebony, if not more so.” He leered at her. “I’ll ask again. How many of these things have you killed?” “Enough. And there will be more. Time for bed.” She climbed into bed and slid over against the wall to make room for him. He sat at the edge of the bed hesitating, then eased into lying down. Starfall had already curled around a pillow between them and was breathing slow and even. He supposed controlling the weather and bringing down a small apocalypse would be enough to drain even a Dragonborn. He looked her over. She looked to be a little older than him; her dozens of thick dreadlocks were marbled with grey throughout, and she had a few thin wrinkles here and there that were softened by her thick curves. Where most of his scars had been concentrated in one spot at the center of his back, hers were spread out everywhere. Strange for a healer and scholar… The edge of the one he’d seen earlier on her breast now looked as if some clawed human or some other monster had grabbed it and tried to tear it off. He winced and rolled away from her. Best not to ask or think about something like that. Kaidan didn’t know if it was the soft furs, the exhaustion, or having her warmth beside him, but sleep was much easier to come by this time.
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Kaidan awoke first, a few hours after the sun had gone down. He groaned and craned his neck to look around. This wasn’t the corner club; it was too nice. As he sat up, Starfall shifted away from him disturbing the bed. He had to think a moment before remembering that she had put him up for the night. Why she had done that he couldn’t figure; he thought that she didn’t like him since he kept underestimating and trying to save her.On one hand, last night was irrefutable proof that she could tear across Skyrim with no one to stop her if she ever snapped. On that note, it was entirely possible for her to snap and tear across Skyrim with no one to stop her if anything pissed her off enough. She could be kind and gentle, or she could be cruel and brutal. He was still learning what caused which. That dragon was already dead, but she kept striking it with lightning as if it was personally responsible for her being ‘cursed’ as she called it. Then sucked out its soul. And she was here beside him, curled up in a little ball, fast asleep and perfectly innocent. …That thought got shaken out quick.He slipped out of bed and went to go clean up and find food. Food would set his head right. He found a plain woolen shirt and as soon as he stepped out of the room, he was assaulted with food smells and chatter. The place was packed. Had the ice melted enough to open the gates? He went up to the innkeeper and tried to get her attention.“What’s going on?”“They’re here to see the Dragonborn!” Elda shouted over the din. Some of the people around them cheered.“Oh…” he said. ‘Oh no.’ he thought. Another reason they should have moved further away from the city to fight the dragon. Starfall was going to be… very unhappy, to put it mildly. She did not seem the type to be okay with crowds, or large amounts of unwanted attention.He managed to get food amongst the crowd, snuck something for Starfall, then went back to the room. How was she still asleep? The noise should have driven her out of bed, and possibly the building. She wasn’t sick again, was she? Couldn’t be. Let her sleep. She earned it.He ate his dinner at the table, peeking at the scrolls of notes she had written. Detailed information about the dragons, including types, biology, magic, intelligence, language, sightings, strategies, combat, and the alchemical applications of their entrails— It suddenly occurred to him that she usually ate alchemical ingredients to test them. Oh gods, moving on… A diary of her powers and whatever her sickness was. The words ‘pain’ and ‘hunger’ were used a lot as he skimmed it. He felt like he was prying with that one and put it back. A scroll about ‘the mysterious Akaviri dragon knight from beyond the Sea of Ghosts’ laid on top of her worn and mistreated copy of The Book of the Dragonborn.‘Hello…’ Is that what she thought he was? All the stories he’d ever heard said that the Akaviri were either dead or monster men, and he was neither. He was sort of disappointed to read that it was mostly dry, scholarly reading, which was fair since that’s what she was. A description of him, purely physiological and psychological. Not so much as a ‘dashing’ or ‘handsome’ anywhere. At least he got a ‘mysterious’ at the beginning. Analysis of his armor and weapons. Evidently specifically crafted to fight dragons? How did she come to that conclusion? But he did do better against it than he thought he would (bitten in half) on his first encounter. The dragon language on his sword. She copied the runes with a few letters translated. There were some other scribbles and runes about dragon language, but he couldn’t understand them.“Wait a minute, she wrote all of this in a day?” he whispered to himself. There were several other papers on the dresser, and at least two dozen bottles and vials of various chemicals. And she had seen the jarl’s steward and secured a reward for the dragon (and some other thing she still hadn’t explained)? Half the time while they were traveling here, she couldn’t even walk in a straight line for more than a few minutes. As he read on, her writing started to get more impassioned and worrying. That ‘madness’ or whatever was in her head leaked out onto the paper…“The Book of the Dragonborn calls Kaidan’s people ‘Akaviri’. The men / beast-folk from across the sea. Ancient invaders of Tamriel, and evidently the first dragon slayers. All of the information concerning them is either out of date by hundreds of years or written by obtuse fools. Mysterious Akavir says all the men were ‘eaten’ by the beast-folk. But if that’s so, then why are the Akaviri constructs around Tamriel depicting men and dragons, instead of beasts and dragons? Why have all records of them on Tamriel been hidden, destroyed, or obfuscated?
He is Dragonguard and I am Dragonborn. His people hunted and helped wipe out the dragons, but still prophesied my coming, of course by vague and flowery poetry. Where are the other Akaviri? The Thalmor brought us together. It’s almost too much of a coincidence. How much do they already know? How invested is the Aldmeri Dominion in seeing us succeed or fail, and at what? The book goes extensively into the royal blood of the ‘Blessed of Akatosh’. I am not of royal blood; I need no advisors, retainers, or courtiers. But I have a knight, now? If I haven’t turned him against me already with my instability. I have to keep him close for unknown reasons yet. Our 'fates' are intertwined.
Fate. Who awoke first, us or the dragons? The dragon resurgence is too recent. Kaidan looks to be in his late twenties, and I am only a few years older. There was nothing remarkable about my upbringing, and, considering he does not seem to know who or what he is, I doubt Kaidan’s was either. Why would we be awakened now instead of when we were not so broken by my illness and his tragedies? What if I were to simply ignore this calling, or worse, let my illness simply take me? What if I didn’t work to dwarf archmages and dragons alike and was instead struck down in my trials or locked up in the asylum? How badly does this Akatosh want me alive to fulfill whatever purpose? How much ruin could I cause before he would regret his decision, or better yet, revoke his ‘blessing’ altogether? What if I were to seek the help of other gods? Or to be more interesting, turn them against him for creating a tortured monster?
Perhaps Kaidan’s purpose is to guard everyone from a single dragon. He’s been trying from the start. I have to start trusting him for both our sakes.”His eyes drifted over to her sleeping on the bed. They’d been in each other’s company for about a week, and she already knew more about him than he knew about himself. She wasn’t just bitter about her circumstances, she was ready to stir true chaos, and she didn’t even know her purpose or why she was chosen, yet. She really was turning out to be a danger to herself and others. And she knew it and was terrified.He couldn’t leave now. She had answers. Hell, she’d already unwittingly dropped more information on him in a few paragraphs than he’d been able to find in his entire life. No one else cared to help or trust him with much of anything because he was an ‘Outlander’, and she did it out of pure curiosity. At first, anyway. Now it sounded like desperate necessity.“Shit.” He rubbed his face and wondered if he could quietly get his armor back on and go get some air before she woke up and he had to tell her about her new admirers outside. The noise really should have been bothering her…He went over to the bed and leaned over her. Starfall had uncurled from the pillow and was spread out face up, but her hair was everywhere, mostly covering her face and ears. He brushed some of her ’locs back and flinched when one sleepy, dark eye opened and her hand lifted his away from her.‘Just tell the truth…’ he told himself. “I was seeing if you’d gotten sick again. You didn’t wake up from the noise, when that usually bothers you.”She groaned. “Wax in ears. What noise?”“You… poured wax in your ears? How are you hearing me—”She let go of him and stuck her fingers in her ear, pulling out candle wax and cloth stuffing molded to the inside of her ear. As soon as it was out, her eyes bugged and her hand slapped back over it. “What the fuck is going on out there?!”‘I’ve got to stop putting myself in this position,’ he sighed. “The guards saw you kill the dragon last night and probably passed it around. The old stories of the Dragonborn are coming to life. I suspect that we… you… were seen coming in here last night and killing a dragon is probably the first interesting news that hasn’t been about the war in a long time.”“Tell them to go away.” She examined the earplug she pulled out, made a disgusted face, and tossed it away.“I would if we weren’t in a public inn that we don’t own, and they weren’t all paying the actual owners more than we are to be here.”“Fuuuck…” She hissed. “What time is it?”“It’s after sundown. It might become even more crowded in here soon.”“We should have hidden at your place in the slum.”“I don’t think that would have helped. I brought you food, so you wouldn’t have to go out there.” He got up and went back to his chair.Violet sat up in bed and quickly scraped pieces of wax off of the candle on the nightstand, making and inserting another set of earplugs. Instead of going to eat, she laid back down and stared at the ceiling.“I want to thank you for being there. I had to do the last ones myself, and they were kind of messy because I was experimenting on them and figuring out how not to die. Without someone to keep me focused, I would have played with it to see what else I could find out or do to it. You were focused on keeping everyone safe.”“Played with it?” Kaidan went pale.“If I torture it enough, will it talk? Do any of them know man or mer languages? What are their powers? Do they all know dragon magic? Do any know elven magic? What can I withstand if they shout at me? What other dragon spells are there? Can I stop it from disintegrating when I kill it? If I can, can I dissect it, and how long do I have to do it? Is it an edible animal? Can I refuse its soul? …Things like that.”Now there was that mage craziness that he really didn’t like. As far as he was concerned, dragons were a menace and the only thing to do was kill them. “Hm. I suppose I should say thank you for helping me on the bridge. I… I don’t like fire.”“I don’t like it either, really. But I know you mean something else.” She said quietly. “Sorry.”*They spent a short while planning ways for Violet to leave the inn without being seen. The windows didn’t open. She didn’t have the ingredients to make an invisibility potion. There were too many people around to sneak out. Kaidan advised her against using any magic. She wasn’t about to try to reason with or appease them. She could use Kaidan’s cloak, but she was still sort of distinctive in being only a little taller than a Nord child and would draw attention with his cloak dragging the floor. Plus, they had been seen together last night. They didn’t dare mess with him, but Redguard women, while known to not put up with any indignity, were still not to be considered too much of a threat to a Nord man (despite her having completely smashed a man to pieces as well as the dragon).“I guess the best thing to do is to take your cloak and sneak out the back door. Or I could just go back to sleep.”“What do you want to do?” Kaidan asked.She squeezed the pillow over her head, which muffled her voice. “I want peace and quiet.”He thought for a moment. “I think I can find you a place. Let me get my things.”They dressed, and using Kaidan’s cloak, she drew it over her face, then went first. She stayed low and quiet in the crowds all talking and laughing until she squeezed out of the door to the alley. Kaidan appeared a short time later, except Starfall was surrounded by a group of drunken revelers out back who were arguing about what the Dragonborn looked like. Her hands were covering her face, and if the men weren’t so loud, he would have heard her whimpering.“Bah, only a true Nord could have the strength to kill one of those big bastards!” One man laughed.“I’m telling you! I was on that wall! This cute little runt struck it down!” Another slapped her on the shoulder, almost knocking her down. “You tell ‘em how you blew it up and drowned it in the river!”Kaidan was both amused and waiting for just before she would completely lose her patience.“You. Are full. Of shit. One. Reds are fuckin' awful mages. Two. She's a runt. She couldn’t hold a skeever underwater. Draggin’ her over here trying to get one over on us.” He was slurring and ready to shove her.‘Reds?’ Really? The growling got louder. She tried to sneak off, pleading with her eyes between her fingers for Kaidan to save her. He finally relented and swooped in.“Oi, that’s enough. If she did or didn’t, she’ll never tell you. All that matters is that the dragon is dead.” He patted the believer’s back. “And maybe a hero just wants a little peace and quiet after saving the city, eh?”“Bah, it’s time to celebrate! The Dragonborn is alive and the dragons are dying!” A third man pointed a finger at the two of them. “Don’t you listen to this idiot. A win is a win against those things, blade or staff. Some of the meanest, fiercest warriors I ever fought with were battlemages and shieldmaidens. Could probably win this war faster if we just—”“Not this shit again. That daedra-worshipping horseshit is—”Violet and Kaidan were already well down the street.She groaned and hunched over. “I don’t like this city. Dragons, drunks, necromantic serial killers, racists, and an absent, so far useless leader.”Kaidan shrugged. “You get used to them.”“Do I have to?”“You’ll need a lot of cooperation from various people to do whatever the grand destiny of Akatosh commands. I mean, I could easily go back to living off the land and not having anyone bother me, but I doubt you’d get very far if it turns out the whole Dragonborn thing is about something big like ending the civil war, or killing all the dragons, or reuniting the Empire.”“If this ends up being about politics, I’m just going to have to let everyone die. I can’t be bothered.” She groaned and hunched over. “I got enough of that civil war shit in Hammerfell. Fucking Empire. Fucking Aldmeri Dominion. And they want me to somehow solve a centuries old conflict between a bunch of elves with their heads up their asses, and a bunch of religious wingnuts with their heads up Talos’ ass.”“And speaking of Talos, we’re here.” He had led her to a large temple door and opened it for her. “No more anger. Just quiet here, eh?”“You brought me to a temple? What did I say about—”He rolled his eyes. “Stop. Listen. What do you hear in there?”She was about to argue, but stopped herself and found that there was no sound coming from inside. It was dimly lit, and quiet. Mesmerized, she was drawn in. When Kaidan closed the door behind them, it was complete.The inside looked to be a lot better maintained than the rest of the city itself. Swept tiled stone floors, quality candles and incense wafted from small hanging braziers, ornately carved benches, fresh flowers, intricate tapestries along the walls to soften any noise, and at the front of the large room, a large statue of a man holding a broadsword and stepping on a dragon’s throat. He took her to a bench towards the front and she was thankful no one else seemed to be there to worship. As she sat down, he reclined sideways on the bench in front of hers.“It was either this, or the graveyard,” he whispered.“At least it’s warm.” She leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Nothing fancy, just support beams and a cast iron chandelier that was unlit. She closed her eyes and dropped her head and shoulders back.Kaidan watched her let go. She wasn’t high-strung, per se. But easily and rightfully stressed. They sat for a long time; even though she wasn’t given to praying, she became very still, and he could tell she was in ‘another place’ like some kind of praying priestess.“Are we allowed to talk here?” she whispered.“Aye. I’m surprised you want to break the silence, though.”“…Four.”“Four what?”“Dragons. Their souls are mine. One at Dragonstar. One somewhere in the Falkreath forest. One by a city called Whiterun. And the one last night. I’ve been here for couple of months now, lost and alone, and getting more and more frustrated. You want to know why I call this unimaginable power a curse?”He thought about it for a while, then nodded.“Imagine the worst thirst and hunger of your life. The kind that makes the Thalmor starving you for a week seem like that space between breakfast and dinner. The all-consuming pain of not having eaten in weeks, but death never comes. Your mind starts to play tricks on you, and you hate everything, and your body gets so desperate that it starts cannibalizing itself from the inside out. No one can help you; not the scholars, the healers, the holy men, or the unholy men. You’ve been fighting other Pyrrhic battles for so long, survival at any cost is automatic. Any stupid-ass idea seems like a good one.“So you get food. And you eat. And you gorge yourself. And it does nothing. The Hunger ignores the aloe and the milk and the whole fish and half a chicken and endless sweets and you keep fucking trying until you’re fat and nothing works. You move on to try eating things that aren’t food. Potions. Poisons. Drugs. Soul gems. Shards. A lesser gem of beasts. A godsdamned grand soul Dremora lord, beating heart and all. Blood. And the hole in your being is still there, whistling like a bottomless pit.“And then you learn you’ve been blessed, by getting chased out of town by a lizard the size of a building. You snap. And you turn that fucker inside out, you’re so beside yourself with rage and hunger and confusion. And suddenly the hunger stops. It’s all gone. And so’s the dragon. And it’s replaced with the feeling like you could fight all the gods at once and win. A flood of power trying to fit in a cracked thimble of a person. It’s got to drain off, and it’s almost as bad as the Hunger. And your health was never too good in the first place. But now you’re barely holding it together, and no one listens, and no one understands. But the flood drains with dragon magic. But the dragon magic tears you apart and brings back the Hunger. And then you have to find more souls to eat. I’m being forced to do this, and I don’t even know what this is. …There’s not going to be anything left of me by the end of this. It’s just going to be the Hunger and the Power.” Her voice cracked all the way through, and tears streamed through her fingers covering her face.Kaidan simply stared in horror. No wonder she was mad! There were no stories of great ones suffering. Only supernatural god-kings and heroes doing what needed to be done and dying valiantly. Why would Akatosh do this?! Starfall had drawn his cloak around herself and he could hear her sobbing and shaking. His teeth grit and he moved to sit with her.“Starfall…” He carefully put his hand on her back, making her tense up again. “I… I read your scroll and research while you were sleeping. The one about me. I don’t know if you meant it for me. I can’t possibly know your pain. But my pledge to you still stands. In those words, you’ve both unlocked my past and future. I don’t mean to make you feel like you’ve done something wrong or like you can’t handle yourself. It sounds like you’ve been stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. And I’ll see you freed from your curse, in one way or another.”Her crying only became louder until it filled the main hall. She threw herself across his lap and hugged around his waist. He didn’t know what to do with her, so he let her cry herself out.After a long while, a priest appeared from one of the side halls and approached them slowly. He was a young, nervous-looking Nord and had something in his hand.“I didn’t mean to listen in. I’m sorry. But she is truly the Dragonborn?”Kaidan nodded, his demeanor a warning.He stood beside their bench. “You struggle same as Talos did; given the Voice of the dragons and burdened heavily from it. He ascended to godhood through great deeds and bringing peace to all of Tamriel. And same as him, The Nine will realize your greatness. Talos will be proud to have you beside him.”Violet, still shaking, refused to look up and dug her nails into Kaidan’s leg.He rubbed her back. “He has something for you.”She slowly pushed herself upright but kept the hood over her face. The young priest pressed an amulet hanging by a leather cord into her palm. She studied the intricate bronze axe and clutched it close to her chest. It actually pulsed with enough power for her to feel, which was confusing in itself; religious artifacts never relayed power to her before.“Talos is the patron of those who study the Way of the Voice and will protect and fortify them in great need. He will help you.”“Do any of the stories have him ask why Akatosh would make the Voice so painful?”The acolyte frowned in thought. “I’m sorry. I don’t know. It’s only known that the Voice is only supposed to be used in ‘true need’. With Talos, it was lifting up all of Tamriel to keep it from tearing itself apart. For you to have come so far from your home, to brave great trials so far means something similar or worse is about to happen. And you already have people who have faith in you.”She clutched the hood tighter over her head. “Then they’re idiots.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It took a long while for Violet to calm down. When she finally did, she took Kaidan’s cloak off and gave it back again. “Well, I confessed. When I said you were in this shit, I meant it. Since you’re a few months behind, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, if I know it. Honest. I… really need help.” Her voice cracked again.He scoffed. “Tell me exactly how you need me. Because it sure isn’t about helping you take your frustrations out.”“I’m lucid for now. I’ve had a soul, so I should be alright against that Hunger for a few weeks. I think. The Thalmor took my previous journals. When I’m soul hungry, I lose the ability to think straight, be rational, and my actual illness becomes insufferable. Basically, everything turns into the drive to ‘find food’. I know you were mad at me for wandering around when we were trying to get back to civilization. I get distracted and hear things, or I’m drawn towards something. I’m usually able to catch myself before it gets too bad. You were bringing me back, and you didn’t even know you were doing it.”“I… I wasn’t mad. Just confused and a little frustrated. It made a little more sense when I understood just how keen your hearing is. I assumed you were finding things I couldn’t. Is that part of your ‘regular’ sickness?”“Yes. Sound hurts enough it’s distracting. All of it. All the time. A skeever scratching under the floorboards. Blades being sharpened is the worst. Sudden noises like doors slamming and explosions. And whispering coming from stone hills. Or is that one a hallucination? I get those too, sometimes.”He shuddered. “Oh gods… no. That’s not a hallucination. Those are called barrows. Mass tombs. I’ve been in a couple. Some of the dead down there are cursed. Angry, rotting, cold undead wandering around, protecting gods know what and killing anyone that comes in.”“This is how you get necromancer problems.” Violet ran her hands over her face.“The barrows are thousands of years old. Who knows what their traditions were about. And the dead are still preserved down there, doing who knows what.”“And now I’m going to be completely unsettled every time we pass one. Great.”“You weren’t before?”“I thought it was my mind going and I ignored it. Now I know that it’s people who are buried ‘alive’ for eons and want to murder the living.”“Fair enough. So how in Coldharbor did the Thalmor manage to capture you?”“One, it’d already been a few weeks since my last soul. Thinking gets really difficult and I’ll make stupid mistakes. Two, it was a spy who said she had heard of a dragon in the mountains southeast of Whiterun and was looking for people to kill it and share the bounty. We get out there, and yes, there was a dragon attacking some village called Helgen, and people were running everywhere in chaos and on fire. But while I was doing all the work, about six Thalmor ambushed me. I probably could have killed both them and the dragon with a storm spell, but it turns out a solid strike to the back of the head still works even if my scalp is made of ebony.“And then I woke up with what would be a normally lethal dose of magicka poison in my system and a sealed mouth full of rock salt. I’m guessing they ran from the dragon and it’s still out there because I still felt hungry. Then they waited for the salt to dissolve and me to dehydrate, making the soul hunger worse but also making it excruciating to talk, let alone shout. So… yes, the Thalmor know about me. But what’s more interesting, is that they seem to know about you, when even I didn’t know about you until after I met you.”“Probably because I’m a little more distinctive being an Akaviri than you being a Redguard. And I can’t say my story isn’t similar. Though they didn’t lure me with a dragon. Seems I asked the wrong people about my sword and I was ambushed at my camp.”Violet yawned and rubbed her face. Looking up, the narrow, stained glass windows were starting to brighten bit by bit. Crying on him had both tired her out and left an unsettling pit in her stomach. “Okay, that’s enough feelings. I never ate that food you brought me and maybe all those people will have given up and gone home. Then we can go get paid, and I can start planning to make my way to Winterhold.”“We were only here for two days. Did you really have that bad a time here that you’re ready to leave already?”“Oh, right. I said I’d explain the whole serial killer thing.”*Violet sat beside the cooking pot in Candlehearth’s kitchen, watching the fire crackle and the stew simmer. She didn’t usually eat in the middle of the night, but both forms of hunger were clawing at her chest and stomach, and she was trying to calm herself with the waving flames. There was far too much noise coming from upstairs, and it was making it a lot harder for her to concentrate. She was about to take a bowl back to her room when a tankard of ale flew down the hall and clanked against the back door, followed by a woman shouting. She flinched and leaned over to see who threw it.“And then that grey bitch mouthed off to me! Lyin’ and sneakin’ around in the dark! Why was she out there after dark, huh?! Huh?! Don’t tell me to calm down!”Violet narrowed her eyes. She didn’t care much about the other peoples of Tamriel, other than most of her dealings with these damned Nords made them out to be complete bastards. She had other shit to think about besides old grudges, ancient history, and general distrust. And now this drunkard was being gross and loud and—He stumbled down the hall and wound up in the kitchen with her. ‘Ugh, no…’ she closed her eyes.“And now a damn Red. What are you doin’ out of Hammerfell?” He slurred.“Wondering the same thing, to be honest,” she muttered.“We got enough trouble around here with all these fuckin’ elves, so if you’re not here to help with the war, you can just fuck off.”Her eyes rolled up in her head. She mentally kicked herself for not just staying in her room and finishing her writing. Then a few scenarios and choice words involving sucking his soul out through his nose passed through her head. She just knew if she started anything with this idiot, she’d be to blame. After all, she was the stranger here, not him.“I’m just trying to have dinner. Leave me alone.” She did not need red hot anger on top of everything else. It was hard enough trying to keep control. It was already burning her cheeks and chest, simmering right between her stomach and that drive to feed…He kicked the cookpot off its stand and into the fire, ruining both, then leaned in entirely too close. His breath was nauseating, and face contorted to half mocking, half rage. He grabbed her hair to make her face him. “Make me.”‘Guess this is how I get put in Windhelm jail, then.’ Her teeth ground hard enough the man probably could have heard if he’d been paying attention.Her fist clenched with a white flash and she sucker-punched his throat, a gauntlet of hard-packed ice crushing his windpipe and jerking his head backwards hard enough she almost regret it, as she realized it could have snapped his neck. He landed on his back and clawed at his throat, gasping for air.“You said…” Her hand flexed and the ice cracked off in large pieces. She stood over him, waiting for him to get up so she could do it again. It was satisfying, and that hole in her chest wanted more.Elda the innkeeper ran around the corner. “Damn it, Rolff, I knew you were going to cause trouble, you drunken oaf! Take it outside and stop harassing my customers!”“Maybe a guard should drag him off to dry up somewhere.”“Ffffuuhhhcking chh- cheeeating maaage bitch!” He wheezed and grabbed her ankle.“And of course, he’s not done. Because I’m not allowed a moment of peace.” She grabbed him by the back of the collar and dragged him across the hall to the rear exit. The innkeeper gladly opened the door for her and Violet dropped him down the steps. “I should empty your pockets so you can pay for all that food you ruined.”“Do it,” Elda cackled. “He’s been a pain in my ass forever, and he gets this way every few weeks.”Rolff, thoroughly angered and humiliated now, stumbled to his feet, breathing hard and glaring daggers. “You should be staying in the slums with the elf trash. Nobody asked for your red ass to come here and get in our way. Rolling over for those Aldmeri shits just like everyone else.”She wanted to turn around and slam the door in his face. But that seething anger melted seamlessly into that hole in her chest, making it howl new thoughts in her head.
Maybe a human soul is as good as a dragon’s. You haven’t tried that yet…
“Actually, Akatosh himself asked me to come all the way out to this frozen wonderland. Know what he said?” She grinned, unsettling both the innkeeper and the drunk.A small, single word and the frozen cobblestone stairs exploded into large crystals in front of the man, making him stumble backward and fall on his rear. Starfall cough-laughed through her pain, spitting a bit of blood at his feet. The man sobered up as he realized that wasn’t any kind of normal magic she just shouted at him. A literal, out-loud curse. Her face changed to something terrifying and otherworldly. Her eyes drilled into him; something was very, very wrong behind them. He turned and ran around the corner.Violet suddenly turned to the innkeeper, her features returning to normal, but her voice raspy. “Don’t worry, just going to scare him straight. Maybe beat a little more sense into him. I’ll return in a while,” she lied through her teeth and walked after him into the night. The innkeeper slowly and shakily closed the door and locked it tight.The chase only lasted a few minutes. She could hear Rolff clearly; he was stumbling and wheezing as he ran through side-streets and alleys trying to lose her, and she would narrowly ‘miss’ him with an ice spear smashing into a wall near his head. ‘That’s it, you disgusting piece of skeever shit. Just a find us a nice alley where we can have a much more intimate chat…’ As they went through a winding icy street, a crosswind from an alley carried a woman’s muffled screams into her ears. Probably an argument. Then she heard cloth ripping and the unmistakable sound of a blade scraping stone, the screams getting more frantic and pained.‘SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!’ She was ravenous, driven, violently enraged, and now that bastard was going to get away. Someone was going to get their soul ripped out tonight, and the Hunger was starting to tell her it didn’t matter who’s it was. Then that howling, sucking black hole inside her hit fever pitch.
The one at Kynesgrove can hear you, you know.
Violet put her hood up and ducked into the shadows of the alley. Her eyes couldn’t tell her enough, so she pulled at one of her earplugs just enough to let more sound in. In a corner a few feet away, a man was holding a Dunmer woman down against the ground. One hand was over her mouth, the other clumsily trying to stab her, but she was fighting back with everything she had. She bit his hand, only to have him draw the knife across her arm towards her chest.‘Just what is my luck?!’ She had to stifle a laugh.Violet snuck up behind him and jammed an ice spear into the side of his neck with enough force to throw him off of his victim and into the light of the main street. He lay face up for only a few seconds, his blood flowing between the street tiles, then boiling the ice away and crawling back into the wound. He sat up and glared directly at her.'And a necromancer!' she almost screamed. Everything about tonight was one Oblivion gate opening one after another. He wasn’t going to die to a simple spear. The amount of hate coursing through her at this point over the entire situation, night, and city was near blinding.
Kill two dragons with one shout.
Just as he was getting to his feet and saying something Violet completely ignored, the ice all along the street jumped up at him with the force of an avalanche. Three words and the roar of hundreds of pounds of ice and snow echoed throughout the city and against the mountains behind it. The building they stood in front of crackled as stone and plaster crumbled into the pile of red slush that used to be human.If it doesn’t respond to this, then we’re going to need a LOT of black soul gems—All of the Oblivion gates slammed shut at once, including the one whispering madness in her ear, when Kaidan ran out of the building. At least until he saw her face and what she’d done. There was that face again. Disgust, incredulity, and that hint of worry that he would be next.
Oh, Kaidan. Not you. Never you. You’re a part of this.
*They talked a little more, and by the time they made it back to the inn, Kaidan was shaking his head.“Do you get into this kind of trouble frequently? I’ve been with you a week and this is more action than I’ve seen in months, and I actually go out of my way to seek trouble out.”“Yes.” She growled through grit teeth.“Maybe it’s a side effect of being the chosen one.” He smirked.“Oh gods. Don’t say that or call me that. Whoever chose me for this is going to pay.”“You don’t even know what you’re supposed to do yet.”“You call yourself a Nord, what do you know about the old stories about the Dragonborn?”He hummed as he thought. “Hmm… Well, the first one was given the Voice by a dragon, only for him to abuse it. He fought against the dragons enslaving humanity, but then turned around and tried to use it against other humans in a war. He lost, so he spent the rest of his days studying the true power of the Voice.”“I’ve been using the dragon magic on humans. I better not get punished even more for it.” Violet opened the door to the inn and checked before going in. Almost everyone had given up and gone home or to work. She breathed a sigh of relief and went straight to her room.Kaidan sat at the table and picked up another scroll. “I know it’s a little late to ask, but can I read the rest of these? I was just curious about myself, but it also seems easier to understand you in writing than getting you to talk.”“Sure. I didn’t take you for much of a reader,” she scoffed. “Most Nords don’t. Or can’t. Can’t say I’ve seen any schools here.”“Yes, I can read and write. I wasn’t some unwanted orphan. I had someone to raise me and train me to survive.” He rolled his eyes. “I just don’t have many opportunities to read. If I’m not looking for work, I’m looking for someone who knows about my sword and investigating the Merethic ruins.”“You mean the barrows?” She took a vial off the dresser and sat down across from Kaidan to the plate of cold potatoes and leeks. After thinking on it, she decided she couldn’t be bothered to reheat them and ate them as they were, washing them down with the potion and water.“Aye. The undead I mentioned. They’re only up and around because they’re guarding something. But I’ve never found out what. I always wind up at locked puzzle doors with no key.”“Mmm. Well there has to be one somewhere. Though if it’s not in the barrow, then it could be anywhere in Skyrim, which is not helpful.”Kaidan shrugged and kept reading as Violet focused on her food. “Oi. Starfall…”“Mm?”“What did you mean by, ‘my tragedies?’”She rolled her head back and forth as she tried to find the right words. “You were nearly killed in some kind of fire. At least, that’s how your back reads. And confirmed on the bridge the other night. That and the part where you seem to be the only Akaviri, to the point you didn’t even know what you were because no one else did. But mostly the back thing. Like, when I was healing you in the prison, the old scars looked worse than the new wounds, and that’s with the fact that your spine was nearly exposed.”He self-consciously reached back and tried to feel where her hands had been. She could divine all that just from looking back there? Just what did it look like?! “And yet, you can’t divine our futures.”She heard his tone. “I’ll… try not to… um. Do that. Unless there’s some sort of thing you want to know about. But I’ll leave your past alone. I didn’t think you’d read it. Just… mad ramblings.”*Violet took a short nap, and by the time they made their way to the palace, it was midday.“I should go gloat at Wuunferth. He said I’d get eaten. He’s also an ass.” She huffed.“Who is Wuunferth? And I’d rather you not cause trouble. At least until we collect the money.”“Should. Not will. Wuunferth is UIfric’s court mage, though I don’t think someone like Ulfric wants much to do with magic, if the other Nords I’ve met are any indication. The steward is decent enough, though. …I forgot to take proof that I killed that man.” She groaned and hit her palm to her forehead.“You didn’t leave anything but icy gore,” he said flatly.“He had a strange looking dagger he stabbed the woman with. I probably could have taken it to Wuunferth and he could have identified it.”“What, like a ritual dagger?”“I don’t know, probably. He was necro trash.”As soon as they got to the center table, half the room surrounded them, guards to Ulfric himself. Violet grit her teeth and tried not to hide under the table. Kaidan was there, and that was of some help, but over a dozen people all talking to and at her at once overwhelmed her. Finally, Jarl Ulfric and steward Jorleif silenced everyone, and he sat beside her.“So, you’re the one who shows up with a dragon on her heels and makes a show of blowing it and a piece of my city to bits. Hello, Dragonborn.” Ulfric eyed her up and down.“Just Starfall, um—”“‘My jarl’.” Kaidan whispered.“That doesn’t make any sense, he’s not my jarl, I’m not a citizen.”“Starfall, please.” He shook his head.Ulfric waved it off. “It’s alright. I also seem to remember an extremely… spirited Redguard mage causing much deserved stress to the Thalmor at Helgen. Good lass!” Ulfric laughed.She sighed. “You laugh because you escaped by the skin of your teeth. I got dragged off to a secret prison by the Thalmor and almost had my Voice taken away.”Ulfric’s general, Galmar, slammed his fist on the table and made Violet flinch. “Elven dogs! Where?!”Kaidan took over. “We were being held about a week south of here where the three rivers meet, a day northwest of Eldergleam. They’re already dead, but someone will probably come looking for them when no one reports back.”Ulfric nodded to Galmar. “Send a small force there to secure the site and kill any enemy forces. Lurking this deep into our territory is going to cost them dearly.”“Gladly!” The general practically jumped to his feet, grabbed two guards, and ran out of the room.Violet stared after him. “Wish I had that kind of intensity.”“He is part of the reason we’re winning this war. His resolve is stronger than a mountain. But we’re not here to talk about Galmar, are we?”“No. We’re here to collect the bounty on the dragon, and I also solved the recent murders in the city by finding and stopping the serial killer in the slums. A necromancer, who was in the middle of trying to subdue a victim. There’s an elf with a scar on her arm there who’ll confirm my story.” She left out how she found him completely by accident. Done was done.One of the guards spoke up. “That godsawful mess in front of the corner club was you? By Talos, woman! Couldn’t you have just stabbed him or reduced him to ashes? That took all day to clean up!”Starfall rolled her eyes. “Like I said, he was in the middle of killing someone else, and shouting him to death literally killed two dragons with one spear. Which reminds me. Jarl Stormcloak. I have a request. I need you to tell me everything you can about the Voice. I may be Dragonborn, but it’s a title thrust upon me with no warning, instruction, or preparation. I’ve almost died twice now, the Voice itself is killing me, and I don’t even know why.”Nearly everyone around her went silent. Violet suddenly wanted to disappear. What rule had she broken now?“Or not…?”Ulfric shook his head. “I’m sorry, Dragonborn. I may have the Voice, but I’m no Dragonborn myself. Us mere mortals are also capable of using Thu’um. I studied for years at the Throat of the World with the Greybeards just to be able to use one word. They’re calling you, you know. Surely, you’ve heard it. ‘Do-vah-kiin.’ And no, I can only guess that you are here because the dragons have reawakened.”“No, I haven’t heard anything. But it doesn’t make any sense! It may take a few extra people, but any-gods-damned-body can kill one of those things! Meanwhile I’m wandering around like a fucking vampire because Akatosh is no better than Molag Bal!” She smashed her fist on the table, and every tankard, goblet and cup on the table exploded into a splash of ice crystals. Everyone backed away from her and the table, while the guards closed in.Kaidan carefully put his hand on her shoulder. “Careful, Starfall. Is this what you were talking about last night?”She took a deep breath and hid her face in her hands, nodding.“Can you control it?”She thought on it for an uncomfortably long time, then shook her head no.“Then leave. I’ll finish things here.” He helped her to her feet, since she wouldn’t take her hands away from her face.The guards led her outside, and as soon as the palace door closed, all of the cups melted and returned to normal.“You have a war to fight, she has hers.” Kaidan told Ulfric.“At least I know what I’m here for. In a way, it’s a little easier. I do not envy her.”“And I think it’s best if it doesn’t leave this hall. She has enough enemies in the dragons and Thalmor.”Ulfric nodded curtly and motioned for his steward to finish their business. Kaidan wanted it done as quickly as possible before he found Starfall outside trying to summon Akatosh so she could tear into him. Hopefully she had slightly more sense and went to hide somewhere instead. When he left the palace, he found her sitting on the steps next to a brazier. One of the guards sat with her, nodding and talking. He got as close as he could to listen without disturbing them.Starfall was ranting. “I mean, I would have thought that at least the king would be able to help me, but I’m still down to doing my own research and dragging my tired ass all over Skyrim following rumors and thousand-year-old hearsays. I would think people would want these lizards gone as soon as possible!”The guard raised her eyebrow. “Oh wow, you really are new to Skyrim, aren’t you? Ulfric isn’t the High King. Yet, anyway. He's the jarl or governor of this province, Eastmarch. He killed the High King in honorable combat, and once the war is over, the rest of Skyrim's jarls will convene at a moot to choose him as the new High King.”“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Starfall groaned.“Told you, you came at a great time.” Kaidan sat behind her. “Neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother, and we’re caught in the middle. Are you going to be okay?”“There were too many people in there. And again, nobody can help me…”He raised his eyebrow. “He did, actually. It’s just not the help you wanted. We have to go back southwest to the Throat of the World and meet with the Greybeards.”“I don’t understand anything before or after ‘southwest’.”“Oh! The Throat of the World is the highest mountain in Skyrim. You can actually see it from Kynesgrove. The Greybeards are an ancient order of monks who study The Way of the Voice. Not that I know how that works since I’ve never made the pilgrimage to ask them. I would think they also study prophecy related to it. You just have to have more faith.” The guard patted Starfall’s back, picked up her spear, and went back to her post.“There, you see? Now we don’t need to go to Winterhold and spend weeks in some musty old library writing boring book reports.”“I’m a scholar, Kaidan. Boring book reports is what I do. Not climbing a mountain and likely getting lost in blinding snow and shoved off a narrow cliff by a goat before I get to the top.”“Scholars also don’t wait to get eaten by a dragon just to see what will happen, and then get mad when they don’t die and disintegrate it with lightning. Either way, you’re going to have to go up there. We can go now, or after you’ve exhausted all your books that are probably ‘hundreds of years out of date’ or ‘written by obtuse fools’.” Kaidan said.She rolled her eyes. “You just don’t want to go to the college because you think all mages are dangerous and crazy.”“You don’t want to climb a mountain because you’re lazy and want to sit around and read in a cozy chair.” He shot back.“It is perfectly reasonable to not want to die alone on a mountain or fall off of it.” She grumbled and moved to go back to the inn. “How about you go to the Greybeards, I go to the college, and we meet somewhere in… hmm, three weeks’ time. Compare notes and figure out where to go from there.”“Sorry, no. Ulfric said they’re looking for you, Dragonborn.”“You’re just going to keep calling me that, aren’t you?” Her head rolled back.“You would prefer Dovahkiin?”Him saying her title made her chest tighten. “You shouldn’t invoke the dragon language.”“Starfall, then.”“Please.”
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It was a good while before they could agree with where they should go.“It’s not just the books. I need proper clothing, enchanted equipment, someone might know enough alchemy or restoration to help with my illness, and I also need to keep working with masters to improve my skills.” Violet said as she wrote in one of her parchments.Kaidan stopped counting the reward money and looked at her as if she were spouting nonsense. “Improve? I thought you were already a master! You want to become even more dangerous?!”“I’m a master of some kinds of magic, yes. Not quite an archmage, and it feels like whatever has dumped itself in my lap will require more tricks than I’ve got.”“It seems more to me that you could stand to use a little more practical knowledge on how to adapt to your new home. You may not like it here, but you’re going to be here in Skyrim for a long time, I think. Climbing mountains, navigating the harsh terrain, not contracting diseases from the local wildlife, learning our customs, and finding peace here where you can.” He thought about all of the trouble she could have avoided if she’d either used a little more sense or just asked. She did say she was more used to doing things on her own. Plus, it was obvious she was spoiled by life in a city.Violet cringed. Could he not keep track like this? The fever could have happened to anyone. At least he wasn’t smug about it. “Have you been to this Throat of the World?”“No. No one really goes there unless they’re on a pilgrimage. Not really religious, myself. Not like most Nords, anyway.” He mumbled.“So, the Greybeards are some kind of religious sect? And they treat dragon magic as some kind of religion. You’re not selling this trip too well. They better not start praying or chanting over me.”“It’s not like you're here to have fun in the first place.”“I’m not here to make myself as miserable as possible, either.”‘Could have fooled me.’ He thought. “Then get the “worst” part over with now. I’ll even teach you all you need to know about Skyrim along the way.”She finally stopped writing. “Fine, you win. How far away is the holy mountain?”“Back to the south. There’s no easy way to reach it, so we’ll need to go to Whiterun, then make our way west to Ivarstead.”“I can’t keep asking you about places because I have no idea what you’re talking about. I mean, I’ve been to Whiterun for a little bit, but before I could go anywhere else, I was captured. I need to buy another map.”“And a cloak so you’ll stop taking mine. Here. 750 septims.” Kaidan pushed several stacks of coins to the other side of the table.Violet scraped them into her pack. “I make more than this from alchemy, and it’s more reliable. You’d think a dragon would pay more.”“Probably more like the war’s drained their finances.” He took his share and put it in a bag on the back of his belt. “We can spend the rest of the day preparing for the trip. Maybe buy you an actual weapon. Magic runs out and it can’t solve every problem.”“Any problem it can’t solve can be your problem, then. And I have weapons, you’ve just never seen them.” She formed a black and purple ball of Daedric energy by cupping her hands together, then spread them wide to mold the ball into an aethereal bow.“Huh... But you can’t summon it unless you have magical reserves. Also, isn’t that thing Daedric?” He reached out and touched it, only for it to dissolve into flames and disappear. He raised his eyebrows upon learning that the fire was cold.“It actually takes very little energy to summon simple objects. And stealing objects from them is fine. Actually bringing them into this plane is where most mages go horribly wrong. And again, alchemist. As long as I have potions, I have unlimited reserves. Though I probably only get away with half of what I drink because of my high poison tolerance.”“So, magic is a lot about bending rules.”“It’s not all sinister. Think of it like this. There’s entire worlds’ worth of knowledge out there. Beyond Nirn. Beyond Oblivion, even. Beyond the Daedric planes. And we barely get to touch a drop of it. What if there’s cures out there? What if we’re so close to something that will change all of Tamriel for the better?”“What if right beside it is another Oblivion Crisis?” He took a drink of his ale.‘This is going to be a trial.’ She shook her head and went back to writing.*They spent the rest of the day making lists and budgeting the money. Violet found a map, a cloak, and snuck a few sweet rolls into the front pocket of her bag. Kaidan sharpened his weapons, bought better arrows (“I’m not getting ebony arrows, unless you’re paying. …I thought not.”), and bought in on a few survival tools they both needed but had lost. They spent one last night at Candlehearth, making plans and asking each other questions, hoping to have a better grasp of what the other was capable of.“I can make a potion out of most things, and poisons if you want to deliver something extra on the edge of your sword. Most mages are enchanters, but I’m really only able to appraise items, and capture souls to power those items. If you’re uncomfortable with soul trapping, I’ll refrain, but it’s going to leave us with little to work with if we find anything that requires them.”Kaidan pulled a face. “You talk about it like it’s the same as catching food.”“Enchantments don’t happen on their own. They’re powered by life energy. If something better is out there, we haven’t found it yet. Your armor is an ancient enchantment that’s not used anymore. I don’t know if the Akaviri used soul power, but they probably did.”“I don’t know much of anything about them.”“Almost no one does. All records of them are almost completely gone, save for a footnote in ancient history books. Only reason I figured it out is because you’re not mer, beast, or Tamrielan, and the Thalmor holding us together were particularly interested in our connection with the dragons.”“Hmm. But I can’t be the last…”“I have no way of knowing either way. But Tamriel is a big place. And if the Greybeards know dragon magic, then they can probably translate your sword, and I can make some sense of the runes I know and what that dragon said.”“There you go, then. Besides, they probably have plenty of prophecy, legend, history, and spell books for you to read. They have to have something to do up there between meditating and staring off the side of the mountain.”“I don’t know which is worse, wandering the wastes, dying of thirst while looking for some sand sage, or looking for mountain monks.”“Ah, so you’re also a bard. Tell some tales during the ride to Whiterun?” He grinned.“Ugh. No.” Violet groaned. “Anyway, besides being diplomatic, dashing, and daring—”“You’re doing it again.”“—what are you bringing on this little misery journey?”“It’s not a ‘misery journey’. I’m not going to tell you to stop being cynical; that’s your right, and I understand. I’m just saying it doesn’t help. And I’m just a mercenary, hunter, and tracker. Hired muscle. I’d like to think I’m a capable swordsman and marksman, but I’m completely incapable of using any kind of magic. I don’t know if it’s just me or something that is Akaviri. Not that I’d be caught dead using it anyway.” He crossed his arms. “I don’t know anything about enchanting, or much about alchemy, but I can work a forge. I can cook enough that we won’t starve.”“Your roasted pheasant and spiced leeks are good…”“I suppose I know how to haggle with shopkeepers only because it’s just what we Nords do. You’ll learn to do it too, in time. You might think I have a silver-tongue, but that’s only because you… Wait… You think I’m dashing?” Kaidan didn’t quite know what to do with this…“Just alliteration.” She shrugged.“…Oh.” He cleared his throat and went back to occupying himself with planning. “That’s definitely a bardic thing, by the way.”*A bit before the sun rose, Violet and Kaidan quietly left the city and headed to the stables near the bridge.“Shame they didn’t pay us enough for our own horses.” Kaidan looked over a sturdy black work horse that leaned towards him and nickered for attention. He patted its nose.“I’m fine with that. Means I don’t have to take care of it. Got more important things to do and no home to go to. Plus, no inevitable sadness when a dragon swoops down and tears it in half trying to get at us.” Violet went around the side to look for the hostler.Hearing her say that made him cringe and remember what they were up against. “…Maybe after we’ve gotten rid of the dragons, then.”“Maybe,” she said quietly. She finally found the hostler around back, tending the small farm of carrots and potatoes. She asked about carriage passage to Whiterun and learned that the driver would probably be along within the hour. Instead of waiting at the stable, she walked to the other side of the bridge and went down to see the dragon’s skeleton.It had half sunk into the river before the water froze around it. Its skull, neck, and parts of one wing rose above the water, as if it was still trying to claw its way out. Scavengers had come and taken pieces of bone and flaked scales. She leaned against the side of the bridge and stared at it for a long time before Kaidan came to join her.Kaidan walked up to the shore as if he wanted to go out and touch it. “Even the skeleton is terrifying. And how many more of those things are there? The miners said there’s another dormant burial mound right on top of the mine. And we probably won’t be back here for a while.”“Then Ulfric’s going to have to come out and do his job.” Violet scoffed. “Want to see it better, now that it’s dead?”“Well… I—” Before he could decide, Starfall waved her hand over the river. A path of ice solidified between them and the skeleton, the top gritty and slushy to give it traction. He went slowly at first, the ice creaking and crunching from his weight.She followed behind him, then approached the skull and ran her gloved hand over the muzzle. “As far as I can tell, the dragon decays back down to what would be left if it hadn’t been raised. And I’ve never seen just how or what causes them to raise up. It all sounds like necromancy on the face, but I don’t know much about it.”“Magic you don’t know about?” He scoffed.“I don’t know a lot. You’re just easily impressed. And necromancy is an abomination, defiles the dead who’ve earned their rest, and doesn’t seem to do anything that necromancers hope it does, like bring people back properly or give them eternal lives. I still agree with Yokudan beliefs on that. I also made a promise with my elders that I would not work any magic that would dishonor the traditions in exchange for being allowed to live freely. Had I known all this shit was coming...”“And the Daedric dealings?”“They were right about the planes of Oblivion being too dangerous. I’d only summoned a daedra once because I didn’t know how the Hunger worked yet, and it almost cost me my life. Although I do get to say that I’ve pulled a dremora lord's heart from his chest and eaten it in front of him. I can’t even tell you how disappointing it is that daedra hearts taste absolutely awful.”“That’s barbaric!” Though Kaidan stopped himself before saying anything else.“Didn’t say it wasn’t. A sickly little human not only beating these monsters twice and ten times her size, but outdoing their insanity and cruelty? How horrible are things going to get before this is over? What kind of monster will the history books say the Dragonborn is?” She noticed there was still a preserved tooth left in its mouth and dug the iron dagger out of her pack to try and pry it loose.“You don’t have to become a monster, Starfall.” He helped her out by punching it with his clawed gauntlet until it dislodged, then handed it to her.She held up the tooth; it was as large as her head, and now that the dragon was dead, dulled down from age. She strapped it to the side of her pack. “I feed on souls, Kaidan. Not even daedra do that. Souls fuel the dragon magic, so I need them. The first one showed me that ice spell by example. Then when I absorbed its soul, I knew its power. Repeated it. Screamed it so loud even the bones shattered back into sand.”He considered how difficult that balance must be for her to hold. “That power humbles you, and scares you, and will even drive you, but it isn’t you. You are powerful, but kind. You saved my life. You saved that woman in the Grey Quarter, prevented who knows how many more murders, and gave peace and justice to the dead. You saved two cities from being burned to the ground. You call yourself a scholar and not a warrior, but you move as a shieldmaiden would. Protecting, but also with a fierceness to match the gods. You’re trying to understand what’s happening instead of just going on a murderous rage and destroying everything. I can’t say that we won’t face more terrible circumstances like the prison, especially now that we’re sure to be hunted by the Thalmor. But even being on the verge of madness, you still made …sort of… rational decisions. For whatever else, I’ll try to keep you grounded and on this side of the Shivering Isles.”“You’re definitely not a Nord. Too eloquent.” She snorted.Kaidan rolled his eyes. “The first step to getting people on your side is to stop treating us like we’re all savage ice trolls. Nords can be cold, stubborn, and rash, but that’s part of surviving in such an inhospitable land. Skyrim tempers everyone who sets foot in it. Many of your people live and fight here too, you know.”Violet bristled. “…Let’s see if the carriage is here.”*They paid Alfarinn the driver for passage to Whiterun, offering protection in exchange for a discount. Traveling with her was admittedly easier now that she couldn’t wander off and stall progress every few minutes. Though now she simply lay on the floor of the cart and stared at the sky. She didn’t even complain. Not that he was complaining about that. He’d tried to talk to her a few times, but she gave short, disinterested grunts. He’d had more luck talking to Alfarinn. Unless she was just trying to concentrate and shut out whatever madness was squirming around in there. Despite hearing her side of the story outside of the corner club, her look of deranged anger over her ordeal was still frightening.The first day traveling west was completely uneventful, and they spent the night at a small place called the Nightgate Inn. They rented their own rooms, and Violet was happy for the quiet hideaway compared to the inn at Windhelm. Kaidan decided not to bother her and instead sat outside by the lake, watching the moons and stars reflect on the water. He took a smooth, round rock from between his feet and studied it, then flung it into the frozen lake. It smacked the ice with a hard, echoing clack and left a small spiderweb of cracks. He did it a few more times with larger rocks until he had made the web take up most of the lake.Even now, though he had a mission, his heart began to wander. Even for just a few hours just to be with nature. The two moons, Masser and Secundus were a beautiful view, but not very useful for lighting. Then there was the foolishness of wandering the woods in the middle of the night. There were still maybe another two days to Whiterun. The bitter cold might have been deterring anyone west of Windhelm, but they would be heading to the slightly warmer south tomorrow and more opportunities to get into trouble. He'd been to Whiterun before; a merchant city in the heart of Skyrim and very likely to be suffering because of the war. Mostly good people, though he didn’t spend time in the posh upper district or in the company of the jarl except to turn in a bounty. Here was hoping Starfall wouldn’t get into as much trouble there.He went back inside to warm up before bed, listening to the soft lute music to try and ease his mind before something told him to leave and not come back.*It was too bumpy in the carriage for Violet to try and write. She’d been able to afford a hardbound, gilded leather book from a grey market store in the Windhelm slums, just so she could cut down on carrying so many scrolls and scraps of paper. The weather was biting cold, there was nothing to see but mountains and trees, and she couldn’t get out of the wagon to pick up more ingredients or investigate anything. Kaidan kept trying to make conversation, but she just didn’t feel much like keeping one up. It was probably going to be about her past, or about some ruin they were passing. Her mind was quiet and sated enough now that she didn’t mind being in it, and she knew that if she started in on her ongoing magical research, he’d be the one to turn disinterested. She put her knapsack on the floor of the cart and used it as a headrest, staring up at the sky, though Kaidan’s knees and occasionally his face blocked the view.“Are you alright?” He leaned over her.“Fine. Bored.”“Want me to tell you about what we’re passing, then?”“No.”“I’m not a great storyteller, and I doubt that you’ll want to hear about how I once wrestled a sabercat when I was twelve.”“Hmm.”“Alright then.” He gave up and went back to keeping watch.Once they reached the Nightgate Inn in the evening, she had barely helped Kaidan and the driver with the cart before she went to her room and started writing in her book. The somewhat quiet (the cart did creak a lot as it rumbled over Skyrim’s crude, barely there roads) ride had given her much to think about, and she wanted to record it all on paper before she forgot. The one good thing about Skyrim was that it was a completely new environment that allowed her to test her magic and come up with new experiments. Her alma mater Elinhir may have allowed her some freedom, but the cold wetness of Skyrim was letting her elemental magic go wild, not to speak of the dragon magic. She wasn’t sure if it was inexperience, the Hunger driving her insane, or the dry heat of the region, but the first dragons at Dragonstar and Falkreath’s border were much more difficult to kill. Not that she was going to tell Kaidan that; it was sort of nice to have someone be so impressed with her.Kaidan said that it was another two days to Whiterun. She didn’t remember much about it, other than being dragged through the streets by the guards to go see the jarl… At least the weather was milder in the south. She could control her body temperature well enough, but the slow, sustained magicka drain was annoying to maintain, especially when they had first escaped the prison. Though climbing a mountain was probably going to wind up being even worse than the area they were in.‘The mountain is later. Now is a quill and paper in a warm bed.’ Violet gripped the book to steady it across her lap. The soft music from the main room wafted into hers and she wished there was a little more privacy in the form of a door. She leaned out to see who he could possibly be playing for this late, only to see Kaidan reclined by the hearth and looking sleepy.‘Just alliteration.’
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A bit before sunset of the second day, they passed along the southward road and Kaidan pointed out the temple on top of the holy mountain. It was barely visible through the clouds and sheer height of the mountain.“That’s going to be a bitch to climb.” Violet grumbled.“Yes. Which is why we’re going to make sure we’re prepared at Whiterun, and then Ivarstead. Maybe it’ll take some of that softness off you from sitting around reading.”“It's not from sitting around reading. It’s from trying to fill in the soul hunger with food. It’ll go away in a while now that I’ve figured out what it is. And it’s not like it hinders me any when it counts, like fighting. I don’t move fast, but like you said, magic is about bending the rules.”“You shouldn’t rely on magic so much.” He warned her.“I use the tools I’ve got. Magicka and miracles.”“Those miracles come at a price.”“I know, Kaidan.” She snapped, then relented. “I know.”He left her alone after that, and they traveled in silence until the darkness had well set in. Alfarinn needed to give his horse a rest but there wasn’t an inn, so they found a semi-protected rock overhang well off the road and made camp. Violet put her ice traps out around the perimeter and took out her earplugs. Kaidan and Alfarinn set up everything else, creating a campfire, unhitching the horse, and bringing out food and bedrolls. All the while, they talked about Whiterun, hoping Starfall was at least absorbing some of the information.Violet decided to take first watch, wanting to get away and be by herself. She slipped between the wards after she was sure they were asleep and flicked a mage light out into the darkness. It rolled close to the ground, searching for anything interesting. Small animals all over the field were navigating around her curiously, but carefully. She was especially captivated by the tiny dancing lights weaving through the tall grass. As she got closer, she tried to lure them with her own tiny light and found that they were green moths and yellow beetles. She wanted to study them, so she let some land in her palm, then encased them in ice and put them in her pocket. Before she had realized it, she had wandered a good distance away.“Okay. All I have to do is backtrack. The glowbug bushes, the fluffy cotton, the pond, the fire.” She turned around and kept her magelight tiny and low like one of the bugs, so as not to attract attention. She looked for anything high she could climb on to see further out, and only found a small hill. Once she reached it, she noticed it was made of stone circles, but there wasn’t enough stone around for it to have been ruins of a building.‘A ritual site?’ She looked around to make sure there wasn’t anyone immediately nearby. She drew the sign of Life in the air in front of her with her fingers, and the world gained a few dozen small candle lights, with three strong flames over to the northwest. The other lights either ran around in the distance or milled somewhere up another hill.“Well, now I know where they are.” she whispered to herself. She looked straight down for any flames and saw none. That was good, she supposed. It wasn’t some sort of secret barrow entrance. Then she tried another spell. She made the sign for Death. The entire mound glowed blue; the lights forming a skeleton in the shape of a dragon, with several humanoid skeletons buried with it.“And now I know what a burial mound looks like.” She paced around it carefully, as if anything could wake it up. “Nothing to dig with. Just as well, Kaidan'll probably nag me about how a watchman shouldn’t wander off and leave everyone unprotected.”The outline of the dragon disappeared, and she made her way back down the hill. As she stepped onto the soft grass, she heard the smallest shuffle of something beside her on the right. ‘But I cast a life spell… FUCK—’ She barely had time to turn her skin into iron before a blur swiped at her, cut the sleeve from her robe, and gouged a deep groove into her arm.She screeched a curse that she prayed wouldn’t alert more of whatever the thing was and threw a magelight at it. The light stuck above its forehead and when Violet saw its face, her whole body shuddered.‘Where the fuck are its eyes?!’ She recoiled and threw an ice spear at it, but it easily dodged it.She desperately wanted to blow it up, but with all the grasslands, she risked setting the entire field on fire and then she’d never hear the end of it. Lightning was the same risk. It reacted to the sound of her movements and charged, waving a wicked and disgusting looking grey sword in the air.“Shiiiiiit!” she hissed and dove off to the side with a roll back onto her feet. Despite her attempt to disappear into the tall grass, it easily followed her, snarling and hacking everything in front of it.‘What is that thing?!' At least dragons had eyes, tiny and beady as they were. This thing was creepy, gross, and it moved weird. ‘Oh gods, I can’t risk this thing finding the camp!’Violet braced herself and made a heel-turn around to face it, getting another slice across her side. As much as she wanted to stop and heal, she knew she had no room for pauses and clutched at the wound instead. This thing’s speed was inhuman! She used a weaker ice spell at the ground, turning the ground into a flat slick and the grass into blades of ice. The creature slipped and fell face and hands first into the blades. Without her earplugs, the monster’s horrible screeching was almost too much, but her side hurt more. Before it could scrabble back to its feet, she slapped her hand onto the back of its hairless head and mashed it back into the ice blades. A spear erupted from her palm and bolted the creature’s head to the ground. As soon as it stopped moving, she stumbled backwards, fell down, and gasped for air.‘Okay, fine! I’m out of shape! Fucking Kaidan!’ She put her working left arm up and closed the gashed right one enough to move it, then used both hands over her right side enough to close the wound. If she hadn’t used iron, she would have completely lost her arm and her liver would have been on the ground somewhere back there. The cuts weren’t too deep, but the sword was jagged and hurt like Oblivion. She cast the Life sign and still saw three lights a way off. There weren’t any more eyeless creatures nearby that she could tell, unless they didn’t respond to life magic... Then she heard loud buzzing coming in fast and saw the massive candle directly above her. It was some kind of flying insect larger than she was.“No no NO NO NO NO!!!” She didn’t care about dragging this one back with her. The eyeless horror took her by surprise and nearly cut her in half, and that was bad enough. But it screaming attracted this godsawful thing and she drew the line at giant insects. Bugs were supposed to be tiny and squashable with a shoe! She could see its stinger was the size and shape like two of the eyeless creature’s sword and took off running. Kaidan could yell at her all he wanted after he killed it.“KAAAAIIIIDDDAAAANNNN!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. It wasn’t a dragon shout, so her throat didn’t start bleeding, but it still hurt and she prayed it woke him up.Since it was in the air, she decided to take a chance and pointed her fingers together, summoning a bolt of lightning between her and it. If her screaming didn’t wake Kaidan up, this would. The sky lit up across the field, and a cracking noise shot out in every direction. It wobbled around in the air for a second, then became a lot louder and angrier, dive-bombing her and barely missing her shoulder. Two of her dreadlocks hit the ground and a lot of panicked cursing fell after them.*Kaidan slept lightly with his head resting on his pack and his hood over his face. His hearing wasn’t nearly as keen as Starfall’s; her scream barely reached him. He groaned and rolled over at her whining. When he heard lightning strike from the same place, he sat bolt upright and looked around for her.“Starfall?!” She wasn’t near the camp, and it was still the middle of the night, judging by the two moons. ‘Oh gods, what has she done now?!’His weapons were in his hands before he was even on his feet. Scanning the horizon, a tiny light was coming towards him fast, illuminating Starfall and a large chaurus hunter angrily buzzing and swooping at her head.He didn’t have time to curse her before he dropped the sword and let loose a barrage of arrows. ‘Where there’s chaurus, there’s Falmer. If she leads those bastards back here, I’m tying her up until we reach Whiterun. …If we live.’Violet could see Kaidan’s silhouette in front of the fire, but she couldn’t see what he was doing. It wasn’t until she heard a whistle near her head and the giant insect squeal, that she realized he was shooting it. ‘I swear to fuck, if you hit me trying to kill this thing, I will make you eat those arrows!’ She ducked as it dive-bombed her again, this time its stinger piercing the dirt. Three of Kaidan’s arrows landed in the pause, and it was grounded until it managed to dislodge itself and chase after her on spindly clicking legs. This turned out to be worse; the rapid clicking sound and screeching as it chased her turned her into a crying mess.“WILL YOU SHUT UP?! YOU’RE GOING TO ATTRACT MORE!” Kaidan wanted to throttle her, but the chaurus was getting too close and refusing to die.“KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!!!” Violet panted as she ran past her ice wards and Kaidan, not stopping even though it felt like her lungs were going to burst.“Gods damn it all...” He turned his bow sideways and used the bow limb’s tip as a blade, jamming it between the charging chaurus’s pincers and flipping it into one of Starfall’s traps. Even though it was much smaller than the one used to trap the dragon, it worked exactly the same and erupted when the giant insect fell into it. The trap burst into ice needles and crystals, piercing its shell all over, and nearly missing Kaidan. Instead, ice rime crawled up his bow, hands, and arms, freezing them together. He shouted in pain and wrenched away from the trap. The chaurus twitched and drooled blood and poison into a puddle on the ground, taking several minutes to finally die.“Starfall! What the fuck happened?!” He growled at her. If there were Falmer around, they had to get out of there immediately before more showed up. He held his arms over the fire, trying to quickly thaw himself out.Violet was cowering behind the cart with Alfarinn, who was trying his best to hitch it back to the nervous and fidgeting horse. “It didn’t have a face… just teeth!” She was on the verge of tears and hid her face in her hood.Great. It had only been a few days and Starfall was already back to being senseless. “Get up, we’ve got to get everything back in the cart before all the noise you made attracts more.”She breathed shakily and stumbled from around the cart, holding onto it for support. She was covered in blood, her robes were shredded, and she refused to look at him.“By the gods! What was so important out there that you nearly got yourself killed?” Kaidan dropped his arms from the fire.“…Dragon grave.” She mumbled. He probably would have broken out of the ice to strangle her then and there if she mentioned the (now crushed) butterflies in her pocket.He groaned and flexed his arms. The ice was thin and brittle enough that the casing cracked; the shards melted into the fire and made it hiss. He wished he had time to warm them up since they tingled with pins and needles as he fumbled with gathering everything back into their bags. She put out the fire and disabled most of her ice traps, leaving some to cover their exit. Once they were safely back on the road, he groaned and slumped over in the seat. When he saw she was still rocking over her side and trying to heal herself, he opened her pack and went through her potions.“You didn’t label these. How is anyone other than you supposed to tell what these are?” He picked up what he thought was a red one in a little cylindrical bottle, but in the darkness it looked black. “Is this for healing?”“I need a large blue one, and a square… light red one, for poison.” She was still breathing heavily and stretched out across the bench. She held her hand out, and a tiny magelight illuminated the inside of her pack. As he fished the potions out, he sighed and shook his head. “The giant bug is called a chaurus hunter. They’re poisonous, fast, vicious “pets” of …things… called Falmer. I’m assuming you already killed it or else you wouldn’t be here. Grey skin, emaciated, its hair, eyes, and nose gone, yeah?”She nodded.“They used to be elves, evidently. Elves enslaved by the Dwemer eons ago. But now the Dwemer are dead or gone, only those things are left living in their ruined cities or underground caves, and they kill anyone and anything they can find. Whether it’s because they’re cannibals or just assholes, I haven’t stuck around to find out. If there was only one, it may have just been a scout. You were lucky you weren’t ambushed by a hunting party.”“I almost didn’t hear it! And without eyes it kept following me and- fuck…” She shuddered and dug her nails into her hood. “I… I cast detect life! I could see you and the driver out here, but I didn’t see it! It didn’t show up with death either! What…”“They’re monstrous and primitive, but they’re still capable of elven magic. Maybe this will teach you not to wander so far off.” Kaidan held out the two bottles as carefully as he could while his hands were still numb.“Not going to make fun of me for being afraid of giant bugs?” She sniffled and took the potions, drinking them one after another, trying not to retch.“Fuck no, chaurus are the worst- wait, no. Giant spiders are the worst because they’re absolutely everywhere and they’ll rush you from a mile away. Chaurus are close though because they’re blindingly fast with deadly poison. It is sort of silly though that you can kill a dragon with almost no effort, and yet a chaurus and a Falmer nearly cut you to pieces.”“Dragons are big, slow targets. Those things were on me before I could scream, and I couldn’t use half my magic on either of them without making things worse. Give me your hands.” She took his hands in hers and cast a powerful healing spell as best as she could, stretching out and seething while her side finished stitching itself back together. “Well, there’s two more scars. And I just bought this robe.”Kaidan flexed his fingers as warmth and feeling returned to them, wondering how bad it would have been if he hadn’t had gloves on. “I’ll take over for the driver in a little bit. We might as well not stop ‘til Whiterun, now.”She figured he might still want to know about the mound even though very little came of it. “…The dragon was still in the grave. That’s one less thing to worry about.”He shook his head. “I suppose. Did you just happen to find it, or were you drawn to it?”“Luck, I think. I was looking for a high place to check on you and see my way back. Did you know there are people buried with the dragons?”“People? Huh. I wonder if they get revived too, or are they just left down there?”“I didn’t have anything to dig them up with and learn anything else. I wonder if they’re buried with artifacts or clues since no one here has the sense to cremate the dead.” She wished they could stop for a few minutes so she could make notes in her book, but knew not to push it.“Please don’t dig them up.” Kaidan groaned, rubbing his forehead.*The horse complained the rest of the way, but they made it to Whiterun in the early afternoon of the third day. Starfall paid extra for causing so much trouble, and bought the horse extra oats and apples from the stable. She looked out over the plains, the walled city, and the mountains looming to the south.“I have to admit, it is beautiful.” She mumbled.“It’s a start.” Kaidan patted her back. “I’ll show you the best of Skyrim by the time we’re done. Wait ‘til you see the view from the tops of the mountains. Come on; it’s a bit of a walk to the city gates.”“I don’t want to hear about more mountains when we haven’t even done the first one yet.”“You complain about the mountains, but you’ll probably hate the caves more. Rock climbing, except this time it’s in claustrophobic darkness, and there’s Falmer and spiders the size of cows.” He said cheerily.Violet turned and squinted at him. “Why do you keep saying things in the worst possible way?”“Because it seems like you hate everything and everybody.”She whined softly into her hands. “Kaidan. Please. I am tired. I had my soul scared out of me in the middle of the night like some kind of horror story come to life. I have been dragged kicking and screaming away from my house, my city, my country, my job, my books, my friends, my family, my babies—”“Babies? You have children?” ‘And a lover? Who in the world would be equally mad enough to…’ He stopped himself and tried to think of anything else.“Not human ones.” She rolled her eyes.“I… I don’t know if that’s better or worse.”“My father bought me two baby birds from one of his trading routes and we have no clue what they are, despite my research. They’re beautiful, mean, their bite can break bones, and they feed on any living thing their size or smaller, leaving bones around my house. For some reason, they love and follow me as their mother. I had to send them to live with papa while I do this stupid dragon bullshit. I hope they haven’t killed each other by the time this is over.”‘Definitely worse, then.’ He thought. “Well, at least you have those things to return to when you’re done.”That hitch in Violet’s chest hit her again. “…We’ll find yours. I am not taking you home with me.”He winced, then turned away from her and kept walking. “Doubt I’d do well in the desert anyway. Too acclimated to the cold. And I bloody hate sand.”“Where is there sand in Skyrim?”“Morthal to the northwest. Muddy, sandy swamp full of things lurking in the mist. Good mudcrabs, though. Also spent some time out in Blackmarsh.”Right before they reached the outer walls, they came up to a handful of tents set up on the side of the road. Violet recognized the emblems on the sides, and immediately wandered off to go look, forgetting her exhaustion and dishevelment. Kaidan followed her, sort of impressed that they were almost able to get inside the city before she became distracted. Partly he wanted to see what was on offer, and partly make sure the Khajiit wouldn’t take advantage of her.A Khajiiti man greeted them by sitting up and tipping his long pipe in their direction. “Greetings, friends—…Oof. You look as if you have had trouble on the roads. Ri’saad has potions, and I think there are spare clothes here somewhere…”“News for a fair price? Wouldn’t want you to run into what we did.” Violet grumbled.The man examined the long gash exposing Violet’s side. “Done. Whatever did that could have been feasting on your entrails right now. Ri’saad likes and needs his.”“It looks worse than it is. If the dress fits me better than this, I’ll consider it. If not, just a needle and thread. And two moon sugars.” She winked at Ri’saad, who nodded knowingly.Kaidan coughed. “Starfall…”“It’s fine, papa.”The Khajiit snorted, and Kaidan frowned at the two of them.Violet held up the dress for inspection. It was a better fit but wasn’t imbued with any kind of magic. “It’s for alchemy, not for staring off into space. Also, do you have something for my hair?”“Alas, I do not. The humble natives of Skyrim do not seem to value such finery, so we do not carry it.” He dug around in a bag and pulled out a small spool of thread and two small, paper packets.“Nords do not seem to value a lot of things. I’ll take the dress, if for nothing else, so I can change into something while I repair this. Twenty for the dress, five for the thread, and forty for the moon sugar.”The Khajiit tsked her. “I said a fair price. Not a steal.”“This isn’t even enchanted. And I’m guessing the moon sugar is why you’re not inside the city? Or would that be the actual skooma?” Violet tapped her foot.Kaidan’s eyebrows went up.The merchant glared. “You didn’t even see any.”“I know the tiny clink of gilded glass and thick fizz in your bag a mile away. So fifteen for the robe and thirty-five for the moon sugar, and the information, which you really need because bleeding to death is a really terrible way to go. And it doesn’t look like anyone in your caravan is a healer…”“Shrewd little Redguard. You cut to the bones.”“Just like Papa Zalim taught me.” Violet pulled her money pouch from her pack.“Indeed.” He half-snarled, half-grinned. “And you, Outlander?”“Hmm.” Kaidan picked up a slightly worn book. “Five.”Violet looked at the cover; it was some sort of book of fables. “Run out of my scrolls to snoop through?”“Yes, actually. And the cart ride over was a little boring up until last night.” He dropped a few septims into the merchant’s hand.“Ri’saad does not need to be hearing this...”Violet counted out the coins. “He means the Falmer to the northwest. There’s your info.”“Then we shall be going east. Falmer are savage beasts. And those evil, evil bugs they control. This one should be happy to never see them up close.” Ri’saad shuddered.“SEE?!” She shouted. “He knows!”Kaidan was already flipping through the first pages, waiting for her to finish shopping. “I wasn’t disagreeing that the Falmer are monsters. I was noting how poorly you handled the entire situation.”“Oh my gods! I’ve never seen them before! I didn’t even know that they were a thing that existed! How am I supposed to expertly kill something I’ve never seen before? I’ve met and killed dragons before, therefore they are easier to kill. It’s this thing called experience.”The Khajiit laughed. “This one is a dragon slayer? You probably clean their bones as well.”“She does, actually.” Kaidan smiled at Starfall only to get a murderous glare back.“You two are very interesting strangers in these harsh, frigid lands. Do you miss your warm sands as well, Redguard?”Violet nodded. “Very much. At least you’re not here to get eaten by overgrown Argonians on purpose.”“Ha!” He pointed at her. “You. Ri’saad likes you. We will be here for one more day, and then I think we shall make our way to Rorikstead. Come talk with us before we leave.”“We’ll see. We’re on a schedule, ourselves.”“May you return to your desert, uneaten, then.”“And to yours with purses full.”As they parted ways, Kaidan nodded. “A far cry from nearly getting yourself speared for pitching a fit in front of the jarl.”“I know the Khajiit. My father’s a trader and my family has been friends with them for years. They’re people with a shit reputation because the others put their own rules on them. Like jarls and kings and councils and people who won’t let you in on the rules but expect you to follow them, anyway.”“Yet you understand the unspoken rules of trade and the secrets of magic.”“Trading is basic math and economics. Magic is math and physics of energy applied to the different planes to move things around and between them. They’re not secrets (most of them, anyway), people are just bad at math.” She clenched her fist, and a small, geometric ice crystal formed when she opened her palm.Kaidan looked at the crystal and took it from her. Every branch of it was a smaller version of itself, seemingly going on forever. “And you’re just bad at people. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, I suppose.”
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They approached the main gates of Whiterun and were immediately stopped by the gatekeepers. One squinted through his helmet and groaned.“Oh good, the other crazy Redguard is back. What’s your business this time, then?”‘Ingrate,’ Violet thought. “We’re just here for a layover; this is the city closest to Ivarstead and the Throat of the World. …Wait, what other?” She asked.“Don’t know. Some idiots getting tossed out right now for disturbing the peace. The first minute I hear about you two causing trouble, you’re going to jail instead of out, understand?”“And make sure they stay out!” A guardswoman shouted from the wall above them.Two incredibly angry Redguard men marched out at the sword point of a third guardsman. As soon as they passed Violet, they started whispering to one another. She could hear them clearly; they were discussing the description of a woman named Saadia. Was Saadia a mage? It looks like someone already tried to take her out… Well she can’t be that short. She was supposed to be inside the city, not outside. The men were about to question her, when she pulled Kaidan close to whisper in his ear. “It’s okay. Just wait.”He nodded and continued to talk with the gatekeeper to figure out what exactly Starfall had done, and she turned to them and whispered in broken Yoku. “Selim. Sen Saadia, no. Ra, Yoku tongue?”They sneered at her, and the man who had to be in charge whispered back. “You speak Old Redguard? You’re either a black-market trader, a scholar, or a noble with too much time on her hands. That thick accent tells me it’s not the last one. And your eavesdropping is going to get you in trouble.”She rubbed her forehead. “Right. You’re not from the east, then. What in Oblivion are you doing? You’re about to get me thrown out of here and I haven’t even gotten in yet.”“We’re looking for someone. Her name is Saadia.”“Yes, I got that much. I’m not from here, and I don’t know who that is.”“Well you’re not getting any more than that. Just tell us if you see her. We’re going to keep looking on the way to Rorikstead.” They turned and walked away before the guard watching them became even more impatient.“Well it’s not about me, so I don’t care. Probably damn bounty hunters—present company excluded.” She grumbled, then remembered Kaidan was right behind her. He either didn’t hear or had ignored her.The guards pulled one of the large doors open just enough for them; it was wide enough for a team of horses to pass through, but far smaller than the frozen gates of Windhelm. They quickly slipped through and found themselves with a clear view all the way along the city, up to a giant castle on a hill. Violet was about to comment on the sight when a piercing squeal assaulted her ears. Across the little bridge and moat they stood on, a woman sat at a grindstone, a short blade shooting sparks over the edge and into the water.‘Of course…’ She cursed herself for losing her earplugs and pressed her fingers into her ears instead.Kaidan leaned in. “I need to pick up a few things here. There’s an alchemist and general store if you follow this road to the big well at the center of the city.”Violet nodded and hurried up the street, as far away from the noise as possible. The little neighborhood was… quaint. But then Elinhir was literally a college city full of reckless young people, and Dragonstar was colorfully made up of everyone who got tossed out of High Rock, Skyrim, or west Hammerfell. Her little back alley business would’ve been chased out of this place. And yet, her regulars took care of her. She had a system. A process. A routine. And it was all gone. New things to deal with every day and she had to do it all herself. No one was helping her now except Kaidan, and he was honor or duty-bound or whatever. That didn’t count.At least when the jarl here sent her away after the third dragon, she wasn’t banned from the city or anything. She just hadn’t gone and done anything that he’d asked (told) her to. But she had to go see the court wizard to see if he had what she needed. And that meant going back to the castle, and inevitably being asked if she’d gone and done whatever it was that she’d already forgotten about, because two days later all her possessions were destroyed, and she was being tortured.“Damn it.” She looked up at the castle looming over the city and ran her hand over her face. Kaidan did say something about Riverwood. Maybe she could get him to do a small detour for a few hours. Just how big could a barrow be? A room with a dozen people in stone boxes, max. Who would probably get up when she went to go take whatever the thing was that she was supposed to go get. She groaned and almost walked right past where she was supposed to go; thinking about the castle had subconsciously redirected her to a side street leading up to it instead of the alchemist on main.The short path led uphill to what looked like another neighborhood district. She didn’t know anyone here and didn’t want any trouble from the locals, so she backtracked. As she was getting back down to the market district and the busy thoroughfare was becoming clear, one voice cut through her concentration like a dagger.“And just what do you think you’re doing up there?” A Redguard man grinned, leaning over the fence of his yard.“Was just lost in thought.” Violet said. ‘No, no, no, shit! Keep walking…’“You always are. How you got to see the jarl wandering around like a lunatic is beyond me.” Nazeem smirked. “And gods, what the hell have you gotten yourself into the past few weeks? You look like shit.”Her eyes rolled up into her head, which then lolled backward. ‘Akatosh give me strength, if nothing else.’ “I’m not doing this shit with you this time.”Just as he was about to retort, his wife, Ahlam called up from the temple nearby. “I see you, Nazeem! Get back to work!”Violet stuck her tongue out at him and hurried off before the man could open his big mouth again. She mouthed thank you to Ahlam as she passed, the priestess sighed and nodded in that knowing way.Back in the market square, she looked between all the stalls and stores, but realized that as much as she burned with loathing, Nazeem was right. She needed to take care of herself first. She was tired, hungry, extra mad now, still bloody, and drafty. The Bannered Mare was right there. Staying off to the side, she went into the side door and wound up in the kitchen, where another Redguard woman was cutting vegetables.“Sorry to cut through here…” Violet went past her, trying to maneuver her backpack and belongings through the narrow room. A bowl of potatoes balanced on the edge of the table went right on the floor and she groaned.“We really should lock that door.” The cook said, rolling her eyes. “Just go see Hulda at the bar. We have a room available; you look like you could use a long rest.”She did as she was told, dragging her things behind her now so she wouldn’t knock anything else over. Thankfully the Bannered Mare wasn’t crowded, and she was happy for the peace. Hulda was right where she was last time, strangely enough looking like she hadn’t moved an inch from that spot even though she’d been gone for weeks. Violet shook the thought loose and dropped a few coins on the counter. Money was already running low; she’d have to rectify that. “A room please. And a lot of soap and water.”“You poor dear! The roads must have really been bad. I’ll get Saadia to help you. Saadia, dear!”Violet could hear the woman in the kitchen slap her palm against her forehead. “No, that’s alright, just tell me which room it is.” She did need to talk to this Saadia now, though…“Alright, suit yourself. It’s this cozy room right here.” The innkeeper pointed to the double doors at the back of the tavern. I’ll have some buckets of water for you in a few minutes.”“Thank you. And if a huge Outlander in black armor comes looking for me, tell him I’m here.” The tired mage dragged her things behind her, somewhat annoying the bard playing his lute at the end of the hearth. She quickly closed the door behind her, threw her things into a corner, and flopped over into the hard, wooden chair. The previous night was starting to weigh heavily now that she’d stopped moving. She wasn’t trained (well she was, but still) or built for this. Things were just going to throw themselves in her way, as if a lot of these morons didn’t care about the whole dragon problem. …And they didn’t. They were too busy fighting each other. She’d ignored the murmurings in the square about the war, but she realized that the dragons were too recent and surreal to be happening, where their war had been simmering for years. And obviously the monstrous things wandering the wilderness couldn’t care less. She rubbed her face and groaned, trying not to just fall asleep in the chair.Instead, she brought out her book and wrote fervently until she heard a knock on the door. Saadia stood there; a bucket of water in each hand and a bar of soap in her apron pocket. As she was setting them down beside the chair, Violet closed the door and dropped her voice to a whisper.“I had an encounter with a couple of mercenaries trying to come into the city a little bit ago. They were looking for you.”The woman fumbled the soap into a bucket. “What?”“Two Alik’r men were being tossed out just as I came through the gate and were about to hassle me. Now Whiterun’s guards are watching me. Now… I honestly do not give a fuck about whatever ridiculous politics are going on back home, as I was perfectly okay under my rock. And I’m not going to rat you out. But whatever this is about, is this going to cause me more trouble later on?”Saadia ran her fingers through her hair and suddenly dropped to sit on the edge of the bed. “Shit. And they’re out of the city now?”“Said they were going to Rorikstead. Wouldn’t tell me what it was about. But it doesn’t really do me any good to have one side of the story, so I’m just going to leave it. Here’s your fair warning.” “What if I pay you to get rid of them? You look capable enough.” Her voice shook.Violet squinted at the barmaid and then looked down at her own tattered, bloody mess. “I’m not a hired killer. This blood is actually mine. I almost died. Unless the thing needing being killed is a dragon, I can’t help you. Find someone else, and probably stay inside the city for a while.”Saadia growled and stormed out. She couldn’t blame the woman, being a fugitive was nerve-wracking. And she didn’t even seem to have any way to defend herself, which made it all the worse. But there was no way Violet was going to get herself put in any more crosshairs than she had to.She spent a while scrubbing the blood and dirt off of herself and her robes. They were far too expensive for her to casually toss aside, even though they weren’t even enchanted very well. She put the plain dress on and fell onto the bed for a nap, as she did not go back to sleep in the wagon after that hasty retreat last night. Mending the robes and getting food could wait.By the time she woke up, she could hear the late afternoon crowds filing out after lunch. She felt somewhat rested, so she got up and made herself a new set of earplugs and immediately felt better. She took a peek out to see if Kaidan had made his way there, and found him sitting outside of her door, listening to the bard and tapping his foot to the beat of the drum. She wondered briefly if he was waiting for her, then grabbed her robe and sewing kit and sat at his table.“You’re just going to sleep away half of this journey away, aren’t you?” Kaidan looked her over. “At least you look alright, now.”She rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t aware there was a time limit on this whole thing. Someone should have told me about it ages ago and I would have skipped all this annoying bullshit and gone right to the root of the problem to dig it out.”“And just what will you do if we’re forced to go somewhere where sleep isn’t an option?”“Then we’re not going there. Sounds like a terrible place. So what did you find at the blacksmith?” She asked and settled into her sewing. Hopefully damaging magic clothing didn’t break its enchantment.He took off his right glove and showed her the thin silver ring on his finger. Without thinking or pausing, she took his hand in hers and turned it over. Having his one hand dwarfing both of hers was a stark contrast. His was rough and calloused with his little finger broken and reset. Hers were dye-stained, soft, little hands that did very little manual labor, outside of probably nicking herself cutting up alchemy ingredients and getting paper cuts. And then the number the Thalmor did to both of them.“You could have just asked for the ring itself.” He mumbled. She was twisting his wrist and working his fingers around trying to see the ring’s details, and it was making him want to pull his hand away.“Silver, simple knotwork. No focusing gem. Low powered. Strength enchanted. Didn’t know a blacksmith had stuff like this.” She finally let go of him and tried to go back to her sewing, only to see she’d lost her place and rhythm.“Aye. Though it cost a bit. Feel like I need a lot more than this to keep up with you. I talked to the gatekeeper, and this is one of the places you killed a dragon? Thought you’d be a little more… appreciated?”Oh, boy… “I did. Except I had to drop an entire watchtower on it. The jarl said thank you for the dragon, but now I have to do errand-boy crap to pay for the building and he threw me out of the city.”Kaidan ran his hand over his face. Why. Why was she like this? He remembered that on shouting the serial killer to death, she almost knocked down the corner club, and killing the Inquisitor almost let the river into the underground prison. “Do I really want to know why you went with destroying a building instead of just magicking it to death? And how long is it going to take to pay for an entire watchtower?!”She shrugged. “Not going to lie to you, it was clumsy and brutish, but the damn thing was being stubborn and chewing on people. I panicked. I also suspect there’s a “war tax” added under the circumstances. Anyway, I just remembered that we have to make a detour. Jarl Balgruuf sent me to his court mage, Farengar, and he said I have to go to Bleak Falls Barrow to go get something called a Dragonstone. Let me go get the map and—”“Sit down, I know the area.” He put his hand on the top of her head and pushed her back into her seat. “So instead of going to the mountain, you conveniently have a diversion for us that will take a few extra days. Here’s the thing, though. The barrow is also on a mountain, so you didn’t escape it. Now you have to climb two.”The curse she let out had the whole tavern looking at her. Kaidan was scowling. She put her head down on the table.“No more tantrums. You’ve had your nap-time, now you need to finish your arts and crafts so we can go and do grown-up things like reflecting on our bad decisions.” Kaidan said as he got up and left.One murderously angry eye peeked out after him, then went back to fuming face down.*She avoided him for the rest of the day. After finishing mending her robe, she went down to see the apothecary and ply her trade. She didn’t mind Arcadia much, it was just annoying that she knew there was something wrong and kept trying to play healer with her. No, Arcadia, it’s not a disease as such, and no, your big Imperial Cyrodiil know-how isn’t good enough, either. Violet didn’t make nearly as much as her profit from Windhelm as she couldn’t stop and collect ingredients, but it was enough to cover more expenses and buy a few magical supplies. She avoided the creepy Breton man who worked next door. She was already angry, no need to escalate to murder. Especially with the guards watching.It was early evening by the time she made it to Dragonsreach. Hope Kaidan wasn’t planning on leaving tonight because that wasn’t happening. This whole thing was at her discretion, anyway. How dare he! She was so busy making herself angry all over again, she didn’t realize she was in front of the castle doors and muttering like a lunatic.“I see the Dragonborn is back. Here to pay your debt or add to it?” A guard chuckled.Everyone was picking on her today. There was a fire forming in her chest. “I need to talk to Farengar.”“Ugh. Boring wizard talk. Go on in.” He pulled the door open for her.The jarl’s court was just finishing up the evening meal. Jarl Balgruuf was talking with his advisor Avenicci, a stuffy Imperial. He was the one who suggested she pay reparations for leaving their Western border vulnerable. She bowed curtly towards the two of them and moved to the other side of the room. Farengar sat off to the far end of the table, drinking ale. Upon seeing her, he raised his eyebrows and pulled out the seat beside him.“You’re back! To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to. Was it there? Did you find any other artifacts?”‘I'm fine, thanks.’ She hesitated. If he rose his voice and attracted the jarl’s attention, that was even more explaining she’d have to do. “I didn’t get the stone. Helgen happened instead.”“What do you mean 'Helgen happened'? They’re miles from each other.” Farengar ran his hand over his face. Another dim-witted mercenary who couldn’t simply do as they were told…“I went to go see the dragon at Helgen, but it turned out to be a trap… sort of. The Thalmor were going to execute Jarl Ulfric and—”“Okay, yes, we all know that part about him escaping.”She was starting to get flustered and tugged at her hood and hair. “I got kidnapped, okay!? The Thalmor couldn’t hold on to Ulfric, so they took me instead.” She held up her hands and showed him the webs of her fingers. They were mostly gone and what was left was cauterized back together.All the color left Farengar's face. “So, what are you going to do now?”“I’m still going to go get this… thing. You’re studying the dragons because of Helgen and the watchtower.”“Yes, and that stone is the best lead I have. You have no idea what I had to negotiate for that information.”Violet sighed. “What does it do? I’m tired of stumbling all over the place with no clue what’s going on. I’m trying to study them too.”His eyes rolled. “I doubt that you would be able to under—”That fire in her chest doubled in size and the Power screeched.
Put him in his place.
She pointed her finger at his face, the tip sparking like a tiny, concentrated storm and her voice dropped to a whisper. “If you fucking finish that sentence, Balgruuf will need a new court mage. I’m mad, not stupid. Dragons are a fun little hobby to you, but for me, it’s life and death. Now, I need three things. One, I need as many Grand and Black soul gems as you can get your hands on. Two, I need to know what the Dragonstone does. You will get it, I won’t run off with it. Three, I need time. Sorry for getting sidetracked, but shit happens. I will go to the barrow first thing in the morning. In the meantime, I can offer you all the notes I’ve taken on the dragons so far. Is this enough for now?”Without removing her finger or eye contact, she put a scroll between them on the table. The other mage pursed his lips and nodded, making her slowly and shakily calm down.“You can take your time copying it. I’m going to the Greybeards on the mountain afterwards for this Dragonborn business.”“But—”“No.” She pulled her hood over her face.“I can’t get you Black soul gems. I can get you Grands. And the Dragonstone is said to be an ancient map of where the dragon cult buried their masters. But unfortunately, it doesn’t help towards finding which ones are coming back, or in which order. So, I was going to put together all the sightings to see if there’s a pattern.”“See? That wasn’t complicated at all, you pretentious nit. And the pattern is that they’re after the Dragonborn. Me. Now how they’re rising up and tracking me is the trick.” She grumbled.“That makes sense. But we can’t exactly follow you around, and you obviously can’t stay in one place.”“And now the gems.” She put a pouch of money next to the scroll.He got up and hurriedly gathered her order. He put one grand and two greater gems in front of her. They were cold and clear, meaning some unfortunate souls hadn’t been siphoned yet.“See how fast and easy it is when you don’t make everything needlessly complicated?” She sighed and put the gems in her pocket.As she got up, Balgruuf called her over. “Dragonborn.” His voice was stern.
Tell him no.
“It’s late, my jarl. I’ve had a terrible day.” And Violet kept walking.He sighed. “I understand Farengar can be… trying. But do not threaten my people again.”
And just what do you plan to do about it.
“Teach them manners, then.”*Kaidan twisted his ring over and over, surging a slight burst of energy through his hand every time it looped his finger. Starfall was turning erratic again. Maybe she was just tired and devoting her energy to keeping in check. He wished she’d remembered the barrow sooner. She seemed more concerned about getting there than the fact that barrows were all massive death traps. Didn’t Redguards also bury their dead in tombs? Or maybe the scholar part only went so far as book learning and nothing practical. This was going to be interesting. He looked up from the nervous Breton man in front of him, visibly dying for a sale. Belethor had an amulet in a display case that he wanted but was having trouble talking him down.“What happened to ‘anything for a sale’?” Kaidan tapped his fingers on the counter.The weaselly man scoffed. “This kind of magic? Do you have any idea what I had to do to get this in the first place?”‘Besides wait a few days for some other mercenary to come in and dump it off because he didn’t want it?’ “How about I even it out with a trade, then?”After far too much back and forth than Kaidan would have liked, he slipped the amulet under his armor and walked out. Starfall was probably going to avoid him for the rest of the day, which was fine. He had better things to do.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
A little before dawn, Violet gathered her things and trudged out of the Bannered Mare. The place was empty, and the hearth was down to glowing embers. Even Hulda had finally left her post. Violet didn’t even want to be bothered with breakfast; her nerves were bothering her too much, anyway. Kaidan would be somewhere near the gate, probably tapping his foot as if she’d slept in. The pre-dawn hours were foggy and unsettling, even in a large city like Whiterun. It didn’t help that there were only a handful of people awake, mainly shopkeepers getting their stalls ready to open.“Please don’t rain. Please don’t turn into rain.” The cool dampness was already sticking to her face, her mage robes and dull brown cloak were heavy, and she still wasn’t used to the humidity here. She followed the main street back to the gate, taking much more care not to mentally drift and wind up down a side street. Not in this dense fog.She had made it to the blacksmith and was going to go snoop around it when a shadow left the building just across the street. She knew deep down it was just someone wearing a cloak, but the way it looked as they smoothly appeared and drifted downward towards her in the dense mist was not doing her head any favors. When it got close and the looming ghost had red eyes, she had to bite back a scream.“I was just about to come get you.” Kaidan said as he pushed back his hood and hefted his pack over his shoulder. “Ready to go?”She blinked a few times. “Umm. H-how long does it take to get to the barrow? Or Riverwood. Whichever.” Her hood was up and she didn’t want to look in his general direction.“It’s only a day’s travel to both. I’d show you once we’re away from the gate, except this fog is probably going to hang around for a few more hours.”When they got past the outer walls, they’d caught the small trader caravan was packing their things, and Ri’saad waved to them.“Just in time to say goodbye. Did Dragonslayer and Outlander find anything good inside the walls?” He asked. He and another Khajiit man were folding the tents into neat little bundles.Violet and Kaidan both nodded.“I should have paid you to retrieve something for me. And now you are off to save the world again. But Ri’saad thinks we shall meet again. Yes.”“Good travels, Ri’saad. We’ll see you again before this is over.” She said simply and left.A few hours of walking and fresh air did Violet’s mood some good. Kaidan didn’t seem to be too interested in reining her in, instead letting her run off to pick flowers and whatever else made a good potion, as long as she was in sight whenever he turned around. Soon, she caught up to him with a head full of flowers again. Red, blue, purple, and white pops of color trailed down from her black and silver vines.“At least I can replace my supplies now. Good wild herbs and insects. Here.” Violet produced a handful of various colored butterflies, all frozen solid for preservation, and put them in his hands while she dug around in her pack. She did not see Kaidan’s disturbed expression as she snapped their wings off and dropped the wings into a book like little macabre bookmarks.By late afternoon, the fog was all gone, and they were at the foot of the two mountains. Just left of the fork in the road and down the river, a sleepy village went on with their business. He turned up the path west leading upward. “This smaller one has an easy enough path up to the barrow. Really, we could get to the entrance just as it gets dark. And there isn’t much reason to stop at Riverwood, at least for me. Out of money again.”“How do you keep running through all your money like sand in your hand?”He suddenly stopped and backed up a bit. “Wolves.”“Wh—” She was about to ask, but suddenly heard snuffling and growling. She quickly changed her skin to iron and readied an ice spear.A large, dark-furred wolf came out from a shady overhang. It stared them down and growled in warning.“Huh. It’s mottled to better blend in with the forests here. Hammerfell wolves are nocturnal and sand colored. So, what are we going to do? I think it’s just waiting for us to go.”Kaidan stared at the beast. He could tell it was fat from taking prey from the village below. Probably chickens and eggs. “A decent pelt.”She shrugged. “If you want it.”He pulled out his bow and fired an arrow into the wolf’s neck, while Violet put the spear in its side. It staggered and yelped for help before keeling over. “Damn it, I should have aimed for its head. More will come in a bit.”“Great. We should have just left it.” She mumbled.“Maybe the village will reward us for getting rid of them.” He switched to his sword. He didn’t want to mention that he exchanged almost all of his good arrows for the amulet, or that he had it in the first place.They waited in tension for several slow seconds before a small pack of three similar wolves ran from the cave, growling and defending their fallen pack member. Kaidan took a defensive stance in front of Starfall and went over his options. He’d fought plenty of wolves before; they weren’t exceptionally difficult. He just didn’t want to exert himself before getting to the actual hard part of this little side mission.“You get to clean this up. I have no idea how to dress an animal. Don’t really want to learn, either.” She held her hands out and a wall of ice spears erupted from the ground, separating them from the beasts. As the wolves moved to claw their way out, lightning rained down behind the wall, jumping back and forth between them until they all collapsed and smoked.“They were likely stalking the village. They’re too close to people.” He stood down, lowering his sword. They weren’t piles of char like the dragon, just burned in erratic patterns. At least their pelts were salvageable.“You’re the hunter. And how did you know there were wolves before I could hear them?”Kaidan dug a skinning knife out of his pack and went up to the ice wall. Knocking on it a few times proved it solid as stone. “Tracks in the mud. Plus, the carcasses in their den stink. You can’t smell it?”She twitched her nose. “Well, now I can. That and burnt fur. Ugh. Here, stand back some.” The wall of spears also erupted with lightning, shattering each into small pieces.“There shouldn’t be anything up ahead, I think. You can go on while I skin these and put them on posts to dry. I doubt anyone will be along after us to take them since there’s nothing up here but the barrow and more animals. Just stay on the path. I mean it.”She rolled her eyes. “I’m not a damsel.”“I’m not talking about you getting eaten by more wolves, I’m talking about you finding a mushroom in a tree stump or something and then you turn around and you’ve lost the path. And then you get eaten by an ice spider hiding in a snowbank.”“You’re kidding about the spiders, right?” Paranoia kicked in and her skin turned to iron.“…Maybe.” He grinned to himself.“No, not maybe. You’ve got to tell me now if there’s spiders.”“There’s spiders everywhere. That’s how spiders work. They lay dozens of eggs, and then they’re everywhere.” He was already flaying the largest wolf.“I’m serious. I hate spiders more than whatever that chaurus thing was.”“So was I. There's probably as many spiders as there are bears in the woods. You say you’re not a damsel, but I’m thinking I’m likely going to be killing a lot of those things for you.”“You said you wouldn’t make fun of me over the bug thing.” She was near shouting.“I’m not. Now get going and scout the path unless you want to help with this.” He made a show of peeling the wolf’s skin away from its neck.Her fist was shaking as it took most of the day’s restraint not to turn the dead wolves to ash. She made an undignified noise and went ahead. Gods, she hoped it wasn’t going to be like this the whole time. And she could already tell there was something up ahead, because he said there wasn’t and that’s how things worked in Skyrim. An hour later, she came to a bend in the path, where a little dilapidated watchtower sat crumbling over the edge of a cliff. With the sun going down, the air was turning cold and flurries were coming down. She went up to it to see if she could rest there for a bit, but was quickly discouraged by a man in patchwork leather and furs appearing in the doorway.“And just what the hell do you think you’re doing up here? You can turn right around and go home, little girl.”Violet simply stared at him. It couldn’t be as easy as trudging uphill in the bitter cold. No. There had to be assholes. ‘Guess I’d have to run into them sooner or later,’ she supposed. After the distracted exasperation wore off, she decided to see if she could just get away without any confrontation.“Look. I don’t care about whatever you’ve got going on here,” she gestured at the open tower. “I need to get up to the barrow at the top, am I at least close to that? Evidently studying ancient artifacts of dead Nords is part of my job now.”He sneered at her. “I could tell you for… hmm. A thousand septims.”
Leave them for Kaidan to murder. That’s what he’s here for. Let him earn his keep. Or shout the whole tower off the cliff. Whichever’s easier.
Without another word, she turned up the path away from them and kept going. She didn’t get twenty paces before something struck her in the back. It felt like someone jabbed her with their knuckles, and when she felt the arrow sticking out of her robe above her kidneys, she growled something else Kaidan would have frowned at, if he understood Yoku.*Kaidan rounded the corner, wondering if Starfall had made it to the barrow, or if she’d given in to whatever she was so bothered about and set up camp in this little watchtower up ahead. When he got close enough, he saw there were several ice statues around it. Even closer, and he went pale with the realization that they weren’t statues.'Dear gods. Did Starfall do this?!' He walked around them, noting that they had been in the middle of attacking something or someone. An archer was mid draw but didn’t have a bow in his hands. There was a pile of ashes shaped like a bow a few paces away. A woman in furs with a short sword was impaled against the stone wall with an ice spear.“Damn it, Starfall…” On one hand, the bandits were likely begging for it. On the other hand, this didn’t exactly look like a quick death like a simple beheading would have been. At least she didn’t break their limbs off like the butterflies. He quickly checked to see if she’d holed up there (and for valuables, there were none) and moved on. If there were more at the top and they kept pissing her off, he should probably go find her before she caused an avalanche. He hurried on through the growing darkness and at the end of the path was the barrow, quiet save for the crackling of settling snow. More ice statues greeted him at the entrance, with a magelight stuck over the door and a 'V' written in the snow.'Please dear gods, don’t let her accidentally murder me as soon as I open this door.’ He wasn’t a praying man; he didn’t deserve it. But this was not the way he wanted to die.He carefully opened the door a crack and shouted a warning. “Starfall! You in there?”“You lied about there not being anything up here.” She called out. Her voice echoed as if she were deep inside.“Sorry for not being up to date on where every single person in Skyrim is currently living.” He couldn’t help himself.“…Please get in here before you let all the heat out.” She said flatly.As he entered, the first thing he noticed was more corpses, including a few skeevers. The second thing was that the roof had caved in, and snow was gathering in the corners. ‘Let the heat out. Heh.’ The third was Starfall, sitting in front of a fire at the far end of the large entrance hall.He inspected more of her handiwork as he went over to the fire, or maybe they weren’t her doing. These weren’t frozen solid, in fact, it seems that the skeevers and the corpses inside were done and cold a while ago. The newer ones were definitely her though, as two bandits were in the corner and run through with ice spears. “Just what did those other ones outside do that you turned them into statues?”“I tried negotiating, and they shot me in the back as I was walking away.” She was sitting on one of their sleeping bags, rubbing her feet. “Then when I got up here, they tried to ambush me and shot me in the belly. By the time I got in here, I just... I just mended these robes, and now they’ve put holes in my cloak, too.”He ran his hand across his forehead. “Why in Talos’s name would you turn your back on a bunch of bandits?”“Because I didn’t want to be bothered. Obviously.”“Is that how it works back home? Because now you know that’s not how it works here.”“Well they usually stop when you beat one of them senseless or get someone else to. There’s some kind of ‘to the death’ idiocy here that seems like it would solve itself sooner than later.” Violet pulled her waterskin out and drank half in one go. “Anyway, we’ve got a problem.”“Besides the bandits?”“Yes. You know how I said that I sometimes hear creepy whispering and you said it’s undead?”“Yeah? What about it?”“You can’t hear it yet, but it’s different in here.”Oh, good. “Different, how?”“So, all the creepy whispering before was more like hateful, agitated muttering. This is more like a war chant? Actually, both types are here, so it’s even more of a problem.”“I’ve never heard war chanting before. Just the undead growling in some other language, probably telling me to die.”She slumped over. “Also, I underestimated how large a barrow is. I thought a barrow was just a simple tomb a few rooms large with a dozen people in it max. The sounds are echoing around from some other part of the mountain. This place is massive. And I’m too tired and pissed to tackle hours more of Nord nonsense when we’ve been walking all day.”‘Well I guess we’re not going there. It sounds horrible. Blah blah blah.’ Her whining from yesterday as predicted, became a thorn in his foot today. “You know what? Fine. You’ve earned it, I suppose, in some sort of twisted way. You can take a nap, but we move on in an hour. These places are too dangerous to spend more any more time than necessary.”He couldn’t be serious. “Twisted? Aren’t you a bounty hunter? Or mercenary, whichever. Isn’t it your job to go after people for money?”“But I don’t bloody kill them! …Most of the time. Unless they’re violent criminals. …Which they usually are. Anyway, I’m not an assassin, which is what you seem to be confusing me for.”“Tired. Angry. Cold. Hungry. Hearing voices. Trying really hard not to think about what kinds of horrors are down there. I think sleep would help with at least some of those. Unless you want me to do this while tired, making dumb decisions.”“Alright, alright. It’s my turn to scout, then.”“It’s strange how you seem to be okay going far too long without sleep.”He only grunted as he sat in front of the fire for a few minutes to gather himself. The way she seemed to easily take care of the bandits meant that the undead shouldn’t be much of a problem. The traps, however, were going to be annoying and he’d have to keep her on a short leash. The first time he tried to open a chest, he simply bashed the lock with a stone, not seeing the little wire behind the hinge. The poison dart only wedged into the collar of his armor and nicked him, but he felt like he was dying for hours afterwards. He played it a lot smarter after that. He noticed there was actually one right next to them, and it was still locked. He never bothered keeping lockpicks around; he couldn’t really work his fingers well enough for that kind of precision work. Starfall’s were good enough she broke them out of prison, but she hadn’t tried anything since. What else did she know how to do?He looked over and she was staring at the snow falling through the hole in the roof. She was spoiled, somewhat naïve, whiny, impulsive, lazy, prone to fits of violence, not all there, and it was going to take a miracle to get them through this whole thing. But evidently, she was blessed by Akatosh himself. ‘How badly does this Akatosh want me alive to fulfill whatever purpose? How much ruin could I cause before he would regret his decision, or better yet, revoke his ‘blessing’ altogether?' Well murder and collateral damage sure weren’t out of line…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Violet awoke to a starry sky, and a dim, quiet hall. Her throat was dry and her stomach growled. She was so tired earlier, she didn’t even complain about sleeping in the same room with several corpses. Remembering what she’d done quickly brought her bad mood back.“Gods damn it all…” She rubbed her face. A few months ago, she woke up in her little home above her shop, her birds had eaten half of her cold stores, and she was behind on filling her orders because she was too absorbed in her own research. She missed those little problems. She grit her teeth and resolved whomever was doing all the chanting and muttering that was giving her a headache were going to lose their heads.She had some bread and cheese hoping it would help and went to look for Kaidan. He’d said he was going scouting. “Maybe he’ll have gotten rid of at least some of the undead. It’s bad enough I have to deal with the living.”Violet was surprised to see the tomb halls were well lit; little clusters of wax candles sat on every surface. Kaidan probably didn’t do it, and it didn’t make much sense for the bandits have done it (especially lighting every candle). Were there grave keepers? People leaving offerings? But how did they navigate the whole business with the threat of being torn apart? Continuing down the hall, it was apparent there weren’t any grave keepers because the place was in the middle of collapsing. Half of the corridors were caved in, and more than once the entire place rumbled and dust fell into her hair.‘Well… if the monsters don’t kill us, the mountain falling on us will. There’s a new thing to be terrified of. Great.’Before she got much further, she cast a life spell to see where Kaidan was. ‘He’d better be still alive.’ There was a single candle flame a short walk away from her and another close to that one, but also several other flames of varying sizes all around her, including a very large one somewhere forward and far above her.“What is that? Another bear?” She tilted her head and wished those spells were better at showing off the shape of the creature at distances. Then it occurred to her that she could see the undead as well and was shown only few dozen, and thankfully not the army a place that size could have.She came across a table, threw her pack onto it, and dug around for her book and charcoal. It was all sort of interesting when she was able to ignore the dread and her general irritation. Art carved into the walls, simple furniture, incense (probably came from the same place as the candles), pots, jugs, and braziers (most of which were understandably broken), and when she started opening them against her better judgement (‘oh gods what if there’s someone’s dissolved organs in here what am I doing this is how you get into fucking necromancy put it back’), she found nothing but ashes, gems, and gold funerary tokens.Kaidan wasn’t watching her. Not that he could really stop her, but still... The pots had money in them. The dead don’t need money. That’s not how being dead even worked, anyway. Or maybe that’s how being a dead Nord worked, again, not that she cared. She rolled one of the coins in her hand, then dropped it on the floor and pressed two fingers over it. The coin melted into a little puddle of gold. It wasn’t plated and it wasn’t dirty. And now she was really conflicted.‘Shit.’ She froze the puddle enough to pick up the now ugly lump. ‘Angering the already angry undead who don’t need money, or being at least somewhat respectful? Because it’s not like it’s going into keeping this place up, that’s for damn sure.’She made sure to dust the coins off first. Cleaning ashes out of her bag was pushing it, even if she did intend to melt them down into something that could be exchanged for actual money.*Kaidan stayed far enough away from the idiot down the hallway that he wouldn’t be noticed. The man walked around in circles in a large room filled with lights and rubble, trying to figure out what looked to be a simple code. The door on the other side was gated.‘Starfall better get here soon or else she’s going to miss this joke.’ Kaidan caught himself grinning at the thought of the looming disaster.As if on cue, she came up behind him, making just enough noise for him to hear and not accidentally get her head taken off. He turned around and saw her shaking all the dust out of her hair. She leaned over, trying to see down the hall. He held up one finger to his lips, then pointed into the room, then cut across his throat with his finger. Violet found herself sort of scared at how his eyes made his look of mischief extra threatening. She sat beside him on the steps and watched the man trying futilely to open the far door.“I was hoping you could see this. This is why I don’t want you touching everything you get your grabby little fingers on in here.” He whispered in her ear.“I’m not a thief! And most of this stuff is covered in gross cobwebs. Damn spiders.” She grumbled. She was now overly conscious of the stacks of gold weighing her bag down.“That’s not the point and you know it. Anyway, look.”The man, who Starfall could only guess was another one of those stupid bandits from upstairs, finally gave up on walking around and went up to a large lever at the center of the room. As soon as she heard the mechanism click, she also heard the entire room come alive. Her eyes widened as needles flew from every direction, dropping the man like a stone.Kaidan shook his head. “And for some reason, Nordic barrows are full of these damn things.”“What?” She was frozen to the spot. It wasn’t too late to turn around. Or to go all the way back to Whiterun, kidnap Farengar, and throw him into this deathtrap so he could get his own damn Dragonstone.“On top of guarding their own resting places, they also put traps like this throughout the tombs.”“Squatters? Already taken care of. The undead I can handle. I think. Sure. Why not. Just reduce them to ashes. …I can’t break traps. Not without wasting a lot more time and energy than we’ve got. I’m not a tinkerer.”“To be fair, though? He died because of the poison. You seem to be mostly resistant to poison, the way you keep eating things that would make a normal person die. You’d likely be more annoyed, embarrassed, and sore for a few hours. Of course, if the poison doesn’t get you, the whirling blades, the fire traps, the falling rocks, the hidden spikes, the lightning stones, the battering rams—” Kaidan was counting on his fingers before Violet grabbed his hand.“No. Farengar can get some other gullible idiot to die over this. My head is pounding from all the extra voices that won’t shut up. We’re leaving.” She grabbed her bag and stood up.“And just how do you plan to pay off that building you destroyed instead?”“Grey market potions and poisons, just like back home.”“What if there’s treasure? It’s got to be something interesting for them to go through all this trouble.”“It’s probably ancient garbage that will fall apart in our hands the second we pick it up. I mean, with the condition this place is in, it’s possible the thing we’re looking for is already buried or destroyed.”Kaidan sort of agreed; he very rarely found anything that was worth the trouble. And they would probably wind up at one of those puzzle doors like he always did, and they didn’t have a key. But letting her give up this quickly was just going to make things worse later. He grabbed the bottom of her pack before she could get away.“If it makes you feel any better, considering I’ve traversed places like this several times and I am not dead, I could probably teach you how to avoid this stuff. Plus, even if we do come up against a wall and can’t continue any further, we could probably find enough junk between here and there to cover our losses coming up here.”“I hate having you as my voice of reason.”“I know you do. Come on.” He led her inside and up to the dead bandit. “Standing here, you can see the little holes in the walls where the trap activates. Look for those whenever there’s a lever, a pull system, a stand, a chest, or really, any kind of machine, or something that looks out of place. He was too stupid to put that together.”In three recesses in the wall were columns, each having three sides with an animal in bas relief.“Can I at least touch those?”“Yes…” He ran his hand over his face.Looking at the columns and around the room for about 30 seconds she turned back to Kaidan. “Oh wow, was he serious?”Kaidan just shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter now, does it?”Violet went over to the columns and studied them for a moment, recording them in her book (‘there are snakes in Skyrim?’), then when stepping on the border frame around the first column, activated a pressure plate that moved it around and changed the picture. Behind her were more relief sculptures showing the order of the columns, with one somehow fallen off the wall and broken on the ground. She matched them up and had Kaidan stand a safe distance away. Instead of launching needles when she pulled the lever, the gate rattled open.“This… this isn’t a puzzle. What was the point of this? To waste time?” She picked up one of the poison needles and examined it, then stuck it in a book page for study later.“It worked on him, didn’t it?” He came over and kicked the body on the ground.Violet growled loudly into her hands and they continued on. She thought she was being stealthy when she took various trinkets off shelves, tables, and urns, but it turned out Kaidan didn’t care. “Just as long as you don’t mention to the locals where you got it from. They’re superstitious about that, and very protective of their ‘honored dead’.”“If they’re honored, why aren’t they doing something about them being up and around?”“That’s what they pay me for. …Well, killing them again. I’m not about to drag them back into the coffins and shelves.”Violet raised her eyebrow. “It doesn’t require a priest or something? I’m trying to imagine you doing someone’s final rites and it’s something of a disaster. With the eyes and devilish good looks, you look more like a Daedra’s boy than an Aedra’s.”Kaidan suddenly turned very quiet and went ahead, leaving her wondering what she had said. She was about to ask when a few skeevers ran screeching from the next room. Kaidan easily flipped them out of the way with his sword and viciously smashed them against the wall. Without missing a beat, he disappeared down a spiral staircase, making her a little hesitant to get near him. Instead of following, she noticed there were a bunch of trinkets on a table and examined those instead. More money for her to pocket, and a soul gem, which she remembered she had more of and hadn’t filled them yet.“Oi, Starfall!”“What?!”“Get down here.”“Don’t rush me, you missed a bunch of free gold!”“I want to show you something.” His voice was flat and annoyed.‘Oh no. What kind of trap is it now?’ She stuffed her bag, and took her time down the stairs, since they looked rotten and about to fall apart any second. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she nearly screamed as she got a face full of spiderwebs.“Kaidan?!” Her voice was shaking.“Keep going, you’re almost there…”The further she went down the hall, the thicker the spiderwebs were until she was frozen to the spot a few feet from him. His hood was up to protect himself, and just past him around the corner, was a disgustingly thick wall of webbing. Beside it was a window of blocked vines that let her see what he wanted to show her. Two massive, creepy spider legs were waving and clawing to get at them, and a ball of venomous spit narrowly missed hitting her in the face, instead splattering against the wall next to her.Kaidan fully expected her to take the frostbite spider the size of a bear pretty badly. Maybe some cursing and screaming, a bit of girlish crying like with the chaurus while he chopped the spider’s legs off and stabbed it a few times. He wasn’t expecting three Words of Power, screamed in absolute terror and jolting what felt like the entire mountain loose from Nirn itself. He dove behind a brazier and was almost crushed by a cave-in as everything around them rumbled. He couldn’t see what happened to the spider, but he felt like it was safe to assume it was dead. It wasn’t making chittering noises anymore, and if the instant freeze and ice needles didn’t kill it, getting shattered against the far wall would. While trapped next to a skeleton clutching a large chest, there was a bit of time for reflection. ‘She really wasn’t kidding,’ and, ‘If she buries us alive, I will personally put her out of her misery.’“What in Oblivion was that?! What’s going on out there?!” A voice called out. It was male and panicked. “Hey! If that spider’s dead, then come help me!”‘Who in Coldharbor could possibly be down here?! The gate was locked! And the spider!’ Kaidan was able to push a few stones out of the way, but he didn’t have the leverage to make a space big enough to crawl out of. “Shit. STARFALL! GET BACK HERE!”“FUCK YOU!” she screeched, followed by a lot of coughing. She sounded well back up the hall, possibly back in the stairwell, hiding under the stairs. He was confused as to how she got there because every other time she shouted, she dropped like a stone or at least it paralyzed her.“IT’S JUST A FUCKING SPIDER AND YOU ALREADY KILLED IT!” ‘And nearly me!’ Kaidan had been in near death experiences that were far less annoying than this.“Will one of you come and help me already before anything else shows up?!” The man called out.Kaidan grit his teeth and wedged himself up against the top of the wall of stones blocking him in. After a lot of effort, one stone moved enough that he tumbled out with it and growled in pain at hitting the floor from several feet up. Gods, he was going to feel all of this later. “STARFALL!”Annoyance slowly grew into rage as he made it all the way back up the hallway and found her wrapped up in her cloak. She was clutching her head in agony and wheezing.“For gods’ sakes, get a hold of yourself! Fucking damsel.”“I can’t control it!” she panted and coughed. “Something else takes over and there’s buzzing in my head and my head is fucking killing me and the chanting’s getting louder!”Instead of coddling her, he roughly snatched her up around her waist and put her in the crook of his arm, pack and all, dragging her back down the tunnel. Thankfully despite her weight, her size was a compromise between the two. “You killed it. It’s done. There aren’t any others.”The spider was gone, replaced with a pile of dirty ice against the far wall. The cobwebs, however, were still plastering the rest of the room from ceiling to floor. She flinched from it, even when they got to the third source of angry swearing, a Dunmer man tangled up in a doorway full of thick webbing and struggling to get out.“Oh, thank the gods you two showed up. You’ve got to get me out of this.”Kaidan was not up for dealing with anyone else’s stupidity tonight. “First, who are you?”He looked around nervously. “Arvel. Name’s Arvel. Just a mercenary with a hunch. There’s weird goods in here and I swear I’ll let you in on this IF YOU GET ME DOWN ALREADY!”“Oh gods, please stop yelling, no more yelling…” Violet whined.“And no more whining. What ‘weird goods’?” Kaidan narrowed his eyes at the man looking more and more suspect by the minute.“Oh my gods, you are both killing me here. I got a key from Riverwood that opens the puzzle door at the bottom of this place. Some kind of crazy dragon artifact inside from the old Nord times. Even the key’s a golden dragon foot. But you’re not getting anything else out of me!”That was it. He’d literally been looking for a key for years. Kaidan side-eyed Starfall, but she was glaring at Arvel.She rubbed her face and immediately regret smearing tiny spider threads across it, shuddering enough Kaidan could feel it across his hip. “Do you know a man named Farengar?”He hesitated a second. “Uhhh, sure? I mean, who doesn’t?”Kaidan growled, dumped Starfall on the ground, and started hacking at Arvel’s prison. “You’re going to show us what you’re talking about with the door.”A few minutes and a gummed-up sword later, the weaselly Dunmer fell to the ground and set himself next to Starfall. “Finally. Been down here for hours, wondering when that spider was going to get hungry. I regret locking the door after me to keep those other guys out.”Violet grumbled. “You mean the bandits. They’re not a problem anymore.”“Bah, they’re not even good enough to be called that.” Arvel managed to get to his feet and stretched. “Eaten by skeevers. Honestly. The real trick is to—”Arvel took off down the newly opened hallway, leaving Starfall staring dumbly after him. Kaidan roared in anger and took off after him. He was going to get that damn key one way or another.“He's pretty fast for someone wearing a full set of armor.” Starfall was not going to be left alone in this hall of horrors for something else to drop down from the ceiling and she’d have another episode. She followed after them at her own pace; Kaidan said there was a locked door down here, and that idiot was going to run into it.They passed through several rooms before Kaidan saw a stack of tomb shelves at the bottom of the stairs and ground to a halt. He immediately knew what was coming next and was pretty sure that bandit didn’t, considering he couldn’t handle one spider. Starfall jogged up to him and he held out his hand to stop her.“The draugr.” He whispered.
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Kaidan carefully led her down the stairs and pointed to a dried-out corpse lying on a shelf. It wore a full set of leather and steel armor, and had a tarnished sword lying over its body.“Giving up already?!” Arvel shouted from the other end of the room.Kaidan rubbed his temples. Was everyone stupid from the thin, stale air? He heard Starfall inhale as if she were about to respond and he jammed his hand over her mouth.“Not a sound.” He whispered.“Mm!” She grabbed his wrists and glared at him.They heard shuffling and growling further away, closer to the loud, and soon to be dead, idiot.“Oh gods!” Arvel screamed.A hollow, old, and guttural voice shouted, “Dir volaan!”Violet’s eyes went wide, and she pointed frantically over there and at her pounding skull.Arvel panicked and ran further down the room, only to awaken two more, who quickly surrounded him. He was about to run around the corner into the next chamber, only to trip over a rock jutting out of the ground.Violet and Kaidan both jumped at the loud clang of metal smashing into stone and leaned around the corner to see what had happened. The wall had flipped around, revealing rows of spikes bolted to an iron grate. Arvel and the draugr closest to him were impaled and batted across the room like ragdolls.“Kaidan, no. Fuck this. This is ridiculous. Selling drugs was safer than this!” Violet hissed through her teeth.His eyebrows went up. “I thought you were a scholar?!”“Where the fuck did you think I got the money to stay in college?!” Her voice was rising. “It’s not all cough remedies and love potions!”The draugr across from them growled, turned his head in their direction, and rose from his shelf.“How are you having such a hard time with this, when nearly getting bitten in half by a dragon doesn’t seem to faze you?! Just do what you did to the dragon and the bandits outside!” Kaidan readied his sword.Violet cast Ironskin on herself and gave herself two spears. “One, we’re inside. I can’t change the weather indoors. Two, I don’t think a spike-wall or a needle sprayer will care if I use magic on it. Three, the more magic I use in this relatively small space, the greater the chance that you will get caught in the crossfire and die. Especially if you keep running in front of me thinking you have to shield me. You should know better and stop doing that. Add traps around the room going off because I didn’t see a switch or whatever sets them off and pushed something else into it. Four, to do that kind of magic, I have to drink a lot of potions and water. The potion ingredients are poison and I have to risk it backfiring and nearly killing me with only a dragon's soul as insurance at the end! I’m not afraid of them, I’m afraid of fucking this up!”As soon as the draugr started running for them, she launched an ice spear into its throat. When it didn’t seem to care and kept coming at her, Violet managed to at least slow it down by freezing its feet to the floor. It shouted something and called to the others.Kaidan considered her reasoning. He really did not want to test just how much of her magic would be nullified between his armor and the amulet. His hands had accidentally gotten caught in one of her ice traps to kill a chaurus, and while he didn’t lose them completely, losing the use of them for several hours was dangerous and painful. Warriors needed to get up close and personal to do their work, but mages needed plenty of space, which they were not going to get down here. He noticed that while her bag was full of potions, she wasn’t using them unless the situation was dire. He growled, ran off to the side of her, and drew two of the incoming undead away.His black sword clashed with the tarnished steel and easily chipped it, but didn’t shatter it or deter the undead warrior. He’d fought these monsters before. Somehow, dying, losing most of their flesh, and being mostly dormant for years and years didn’t weaken them at all, but they were some of the angriest creatures Kaidan had ever come across. Just as he pushed one off and slashed its arm off, one dressed only in tattered linens screeched at him and wedged her hand axe into his shoulder armor.“Hmph. Nice try.” An elbow to her face staggered the draugr woman (at least Kaidan thought it used to be a woman) long enough for him to take her axe from his shoulder and smash it back into her chest. Black ooze seeped out, dripping down her front until she crumpled at his feet.Violet’s trapped draugr flailed in her general direction, trying to break free of the ice growing all over it.“So are they dead and risen? Who raised you?” She couldn’t help herself; Kaidan was handling himself just fine, and after making sure this awful thing couldn’t escape, she decided to see how it worked. Then they would be one less thing for her to worry about. They obviously used to be people, but however long they’ve been undead and whatever magic was being used was distorted enough she couldn’t tell if it was necromancy, a curse, or something else.She poked and prodded at it, walking around and getting more and more fascinated. “Despite being half encased in ice, it doesn’t seem to be suffering at all. A living human or animal in the same situation would be either in hysterics or dying, if we ignore the spear in its throat. This thing is just mad and still fixed on getting its hands on me.”“Faaz! Paak! Dinok!” It gurgled thickly and swung a free hand at her.“Shut up. Just being next to you feels like my skull’s about to crack open.” She groaned and wished she hadn’t taken her earplugs out, but thought it too important to block out any potential danger after the first set of bandits outside. “Nords have a really skewed sense of what counts as ‘honored dead’.”“Will you stop toying with it?!” Kaidan shouted as he hacked off the remaining draugr’s head.“I need to know how to do this right, so it doesn’t take forever. Ice isn’t working.” She was mentally working through what magic she knew that could break necromantic magic. She had life magic, but it was for using on herself. Fire was the easy and obvious solution, but she didn’t know how Kaidan would react if she were to start flooding places with fire and explosions. Not that he didn’t deserve a good scare after the spider.Just as the ice reached its neck, she placed her palm on its temple. With a soul gem in her other hand, lightning jumped between them. A few seconds later, the glowing blue light in its eyes went out and the little pink crystal clouded over with a dark grey hue.“I guess lightning will do. I need more of them to compare it to fire and light.” She turned around and cast a spell to find any more in the area. “Ugh. One or two, not fifteen.”“Fifteen?!” Now it was his turn to be unsure about this whole thing. Watching her torture it and calling it ‘studying’ was more like overthinking. This was another reason he hated magic. It couldn’t be as simple as the sharp bit goes in the fleshy bit. They could be down here for days with her “experiments”.“Not all together. They’re in small groups, or alone. The next room has another three.”“Don’t scare me like that. These aren’t particularly strong, but I do have a limit.” He said.“Hmph.” Violet grunted, grabbed her things, and went over to the spike trap.Staying out of range of the grate, she looked for what had set it off. The only thing out of place was a little rock sticking out of the otherwise smooth stone floor.“Hey, is this what set off the trap?”“Does it have a rune on it?” Kaidan asked over his shoulder. He was picking through Arvel's broken corpse. When he pulled a solid gold dragon's claw out of his bag, he sighed with the first bit of relief since they left Whiterun.“Yes?”“Drop a weight on it and stand back.” He watched her from the corner of his eye.“No childishly easy puzzle on this one, I guess.” She picked up one of the draugr’s weapons, an old rusted greatsword, and tossed it across the stone. The metal grate snapped around like an upright bear trap, slamming against the stone wall. Even though she was right there watching it, the noise still made her jump and clutch at her head. “I did not need that.”Kaidan came up beside her, reading Arvel’s journal and putting the golden claw into her hands. “‘My fingers are trembling. The Golden Claw is finally in my hands, and with it, the power of the ancient Nordic heroes. That fool Lucan Valerius had no idea that his favorite store decoration was actually the key to Bleak Falls Barrow. Now I just need to get to the Hall of Stories and unlock the door. The legend says there is a test that the Nords put in place to keep the unworthy away, but that when you have the golden claw, the solution is in the palm of your hands.’ It sounds like he stole the key from a store. But then, where did the store get it?”The claw was heavy, narrow, battered, worn, and heavily stylized after a dragon’s foot. Violet turned it over and around in examination. “How is this a key? I mean I suppose the claws would be like a regular key’s notches, but why wouldn’t you just put three sticks together to get the same shape?”“Remember the puzzle from upstairs?”“With the three animals? …Oh, the palm has three animals on it.” She squinted in the candlelight. “The claw is so old the animals are starting to wear down. But I think this is a bear, a moth or butterfly, and a really bad picture of a bird.”“The doors I’ve been locked out of have giant wheels with pictures of animals on them. This Hall of Stories is where we need to go, then.”A short break and they continued on. Violet tested more of her spells on the draugr, and Kaidan made a handy distraction. Electricity worked well enough, but she found it difficult to direct safely away from Kaidan if he was in a group of them. Any restoration magic she tried didn’t do anything, so she made a note to study a basic exorcism spell or two. Fire was easily a much better weapon, but she was torn on using it. One with a bow put an arrow through her calf and belly, angering her enough that maybe Kaidan wouldn’t overreact and be fine as long as it wasn’t him on fire. Let’s test that.She pulled the arrows out of the shallow wounds with one hand and healed herself with the other. High flames erupted where the undead was standing, incinerating its weapons and withered flesh in seconds. The draugr she bathed in flames screamed in agony and the whole scene made Kaidan freeze up, enough that the other monster he was fighting was able to get a hit in. A helmeted one wedged its sword between the plates protecting his side and stunned him. Violet quickly froze it solid and slipped her hand into Kaidan’s armor to seal the wound. “Truce then,” she sighed. “I won’t use fire unless it’s an emergency, you don’t ever do the bug thing again.”“You’re going to ha-aaaGGH!” He almost took a swing at her when the fiery wisps of light leaked out from under the black plates, and her fingers pinched the wound shut. He leaned against the wall, panting. “Can’t you do that without the bloody fire?!”“No. At least you’re not the one drinking liquified, salted fish paste and then operating on yourself. Do you want to try it?” She pulled her hand out covered in his blood and looked for something to clean it.It took a few minutes before the soreness was bearable enough to move again, choosing to talk his way through it. “Your bedside manner is horrible!”She found some old, ratty, mummifying linens in the corner and voiced disgust before giving up and simply using fast, bright flames across her hand to burn the blood and clap the dust off. “That’s why I sell potions instead of devoting to a temple. That and the gods are assholes.” “I can understand why you hate Akatosh, but what have the others done?”“Sat back and watched.”“Hm.”*Moving along, they found another trap, and after spending far too much time trying to explain to Kaidan that her magic wasn’t working on the internal mechanisms of the swinging blades, Violet just decided to cast Ironskin and hope. Kaidan insisted that he should go first since his armor was stronger and he was faster than her, but she dropped to the floor and shimmied under the trap, missing it entirely. On the other side, there was a pull ring, and on looking for another trap layered on top of that one, decided to pull it. The blades retracted into the walls.“I don’t even remember a stone back there.” She wasn’t sure but also wasn’t interested enough to go back and look.He hurried through all the same. “Some of them just run all the time.”“How, though? Soul gems run out, if that’s how it was going, and it should have just worn down from friction if it’s been running for ages.”“I think there’s a lot of ancient magic running these places. Maybe the draugr have just enough energy to do repairs. Just another reason to hate it.” Kaidan shrugged.They were pretty sure they weren’t lost, since there weren’t many side hallways, and the cave-ins cut off any other ways to go, but after another several hours of walking and fighting, they were thankful for the change in scenery, even if it did mean that somehow that part of the barrow was cut in half and potentially ruined by the waterfall. Kaidan looked over the edge into the churning waters below. Three shiny, black eyes stared back; a troll hooted angrily and started bounding up the ledge. “How in the world did a troll get down here?”She was staying back and not actually looking with him... “Maybe it fell? For how it looks like sunrise, it looks like we’re on the side of the mountain. So how do we get across this?”“Just have to go around. There’s another path down there.” He pointed to a side path leading downward.She followed him and whimpered quietly when she saw the whole waterfall area bisecting the barrow. The falls had carved down about fifty meters down, with wet, slippery ledges leading around to where they needed to go. She clung for dear life to Kaidan’s cloak, hoping he wouldn’t notice her fidgeting. Just as they were getting to the other side and back into the barrow, the troll below sprinted up the ledge leading to them.“Shit Kaidan it’s coming we have to go I cannot fight on the ledges here!” She breathed quickly. “Go go go go go!”“I hear it, keep going!” He moved faster and pulled her around the corner into a path of glowing mushrooms.The solid ground steadied her nerves, at least until the troll ran in after them. Bolts of lightning scared it back, but the second she stopped, it roared and charged again. Kaidan ran up and tackled the much larger troll backwards, where it fell off of the slippery ledge.“That should be enough to keep it off of us. Hate trolls.” He said. “Though I suppose you’ll have wanted it for potions.”Violet tried to steady herself and will her pounding heart to calm down. As soon as she saw Kaidan look in her direction, she started cutting the glowing mushrooms off of the walls. “I’ll take these as consolation.”“We need those to see—oh, right.” He’d barely finished before she flicked a magelight to the top of her head. It looked as if she had a halo.The carved walls and candles were all gone, replaced with dank cave walls, mushrooms, and a network of streams leading all over the mountain. “Is this still the barrow?” She asked, looking around.“I think so. Never been here before, but sometimes the Nords would just incorporate the caves and natural caverns into whatever they built.”A few more tunnels and the sarcophagi came back, full of undead angry about their trespassing. She badly wanted to set off an oil trap that the draugr were patrolling through, but she foolishly set a no fire rule. Though it technically wasn’t her starting the fire…He could already see it on her face. “Don’t. If you set off that trap, it’s going to burn for ages and then we’ll have to wait for it to go out.”“Fine.” She said, pouting a little. She was now very bored and tired of fighting, wanting to get out of the barrow before she started to shrivel too.They finally came up to a double wide door, guarded by a single draugr who was muttering to himself in Old Nord, or whatever. Violet didn’t care anymore, she just wanted them all to shut up. The chanting was getting louder, and it was making it difficult to hear or think of anything else. Not to mention the six hours of sleep she’d had in the last forty-eight, with the rest spent fighting and exploring. She took a peek around the rubble filling most of the room, then tried to get Kaidan to take over on the condition that she’d both heal and support him if things turned dangerous. He finally agreed, just to make her stop whining.“You do understand that we’re probably going to have to do this several more times? Gathering artifacts and ancient knowledge to figure out just what the prophecies say about us, since there aren’t any recent records of dragons, Dragonborn, or Akaviri. And I’m going to be honest with you, this was one of the less horrible barrows I’ve been in. You’re going to bloody hate the ones that take days or have bandit gangs or entire Falmer tribes squatting in them. Bandits have these really lazy traps that make you feel extra stupid for falling for them.” Kaidan was getting tired as well, though he wouldn’t admit it at this point. He leaned against a fallen column and rubbed his face.“You’re being awfully cruel to your healer. Are you sure you want to do that? Are you sure you’re good enough you won’t need support from here on out?” “Yes.” As he unsheathed his sword, Starfall shook her head and ran her hand along his blade, making the silver edge and draconic runes glow bright white.Even though he couldn’t use magic himself, he was familiar with being “used” by mages and was instantly wary. “What did you do?”“It’s like a temporary enchantment, or like poisoning a blade with magic. You can now strike with lightning. My concentration’s just too bad at this point for long range control. Have fun with my cosmic powers for the next few minutes. And I suggest you don’t touch it out of curiosity, same as poison.” She waved him off and started digging in her bag for more water and anything that would lessen her headache.He turned the sword over in examination, then back at her. “Why didn’t you do this earlier?”“It uses up a lot of my energy. Plus, you were doing so well without my help. Now you’re faking at not being tired, and we both want to get out of here and collapse into a nice… warm… soft… bed…” Violet pulled her hood up and groaned.“We’ll rest in Riverwood after this is done.” The mention of sleeping in a bed and her whining made him want to throw her to the draugr. There was going to be a long talk about all of this, once they got to safety…He left the relative safety of cover, rushed up, and slashed down the front of the surprised draugr. The sword easily cut open the leather armor, the dull crackle of electricity coursed through what was left of its flesh, and it dropped to one knee.“Huh, it worked…” Violet was still watching from around the corner.“What do you mean ‘it worked’?!” Kaidan shouted. He quickly ran his sword through the draugr’s chest, and its flesh turned black and charred in spiderwebs outwards from the center. Not quite dead yet, it flailed and grabbed his wrists to pull itself closer to him, instantly turning its hands to ash. In a split second of panic, Kaidan grabbed the draugr’s head to push it away, only for that to crackle with lightning and collapse into dust as well. Seeing it disintegrate from touching him was almost made him throw the sword and draugr away in disgust.She winced, both from the volume and the tone. “Just that I read once that in a pinch, casting a spell on a weapon could work as a hasty, low-quality enchantment. Never actually tried it before. Not sure why it spread to you. Maybe because you were holding it? But that was really good, considering I didn’t even use that powerful of a spell on it.”“Starfall!” Using his sword, he flung the dead draugr up against the door, making it slam open. “And what if it didn’t?!”She jumped from the bangs of the body hitting the door and the door hitting the walls, then backed away from him. “You wouldn’t have died, if that’s what you’re insinuating…”“Don’t ever use me for your damned magic experiments again.” Kaidan sounded as if he was three seconds from grabbing her just to see what would happen. He held his hands out and away from himself until the crackling light quickly dimmed and died. His sword returned to normal at the same time.“…The fire?” Violet asked quietly. She’d assumed (very wrongly now) that he didn’t like fire because he’d been trapped in one. But combined with his fear of magic, she started reassessing.“You of all people should know not to do shit to people without their consent.” He snatched the claw from her hands. “We’re here.”
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The long hallway of Bleak Falls’ inner sanctum was carved floor to ceiling with murals of a grand funeral taking place. Robed attendants carrying the deceased on a grand litter, decorated animals, hundreds of constellations that probably weren’t accurate anymore pointing the way through the door, and a dragon taking up the whole ceiling escorting them all.Kaidan turned the dragon claw over, studying it, then the tall door. The animals matched. This was it. Thankfully, he was tall enough to reach the outer ring, as Starfall only reached up to the center ring. Not that she was interested in being near him right then. While he was working the door, she was trying to occupy her thoughts with deciphering the mural. She talked aloud at nothing, which then filled her head with not quite enough noise to block out her guilt and the chanting. They were behind the door, whomever they were. Either Kaidan was deaf, or this was one more piece of her ongoing nightmare.The dragon’s three claws were a little bent, but fit into the key slots with a bit of force. When he turned it, the lock plate turned just like a regular lock, and the whole room rumbled as the large stone door slowly sank into the floor. The antechambers after each became larger and larger until the barrow opened up into a low ceiling tunnel full of bats (that Violet jumped at and then froze out of the air), and finally, a massive cavern. A stream ran through the middle, and the top was open enough that the rising sun illuminated the entire place.“Gods, you’re telling me you can’t hear this?!” She shouted with her fingers in her ears.“The only sound in here is running water and the wind blowing in from the roof.” He grumbled.“RahGOL… ahrk… VULOM?!” Violet gasped. The echo of the chants bouncing off the walls and ceiling were too hard to ignore, until she wasn’t sure which thoughts were hers.“What?” He turned to her. She was turning pale and weak before his eyes. “Starfall?”“WALL!” She shouted and pointed at it. “HELP!”Just as he went up to her, she leaned into his arms, chanting the same gibberish as the draugr. “Hey. No. Come back to me. Starfall, you’re scaring me here…”Even though she was dizzy and none of her potions were helping, Violet led him across the rocky stream and up the stairs. Kaidan saw the sarcophagus in the center of the platform and was already quietly cursing. They were tired, she was delirious and possibly being possessed, and he was out of patience. The closer they got, the more fidgety she became, until she pushed out of his arms and fell to her knees in front of the giant memorial wall carved with a dragon’s face and runes. Her voice shook the cavern and the echo finally made Kaidan cover his ears.“HET NOK FAAL VAHLOK DEINMAAR DO DOVAHGOLZ AHRK FUS DO UNSLAAD RAHGOL AHRK VULOM!”The only things she could see were the waves of light, and the blinding words dancing on the wall in the darkness. She could only hear those words, and not even from herself. Her whole mind went dark for a moment, save for a small memory flickering like a dying flame.
Force. Fus.
The moment she stopped talking, the sarcophagus lid slowly slid open and cracked in half as it hit the floor.‘Thanks for waking it up, Starfall.’ Kaidan rubbed his face and groaned.The draugr used its sword to climb out, the tip cracking the stone platform as it dug in. “DOVAHKIIN…” It focused on the woman down on the ground. Starfall was still frozen in place, mesmerized by the wall. She didn’t even hear it stalking towards her, the dragging sword screeching against stone.“Get up!” He shouted. Something had happened with that wall, but just like all the noise she was complaining about, he wasn’t able to sense any of it. She still wasn’t moving when he moved between them and blocked the draugr’s swing at her head. “Starfall!”The draugr narrowed its glowing blue eyes. “DOVAHKRIID!! AKAVIRI TAFIIR! DIR!!!”This ancient monster knowing who or what Kaidan was, was enough to throw him off. The draugr Deathlord easily swatted his sword aside with its own enchanted ebony blade, grabbed him by the collar, and opened its mouth wide. This thing was not a simple peon like the ones on the other side of the door, or the others he had met in other barrows. This monster was sealed behind that thick, stone, puzzle door and the key was hidden on purpose. To keep the unworthy out. Him, but not her. All of this was meant for the Dragonborn.
“FUS RO DAH!”
Violet was jolted awake just in time to see Kaidan’s body slam into her and smash them both into the memorial wall. The force of him hitting her, then both of them hitting the stone wall was accented by the sound of cracking glass and bones. She had barely gotten her vision back and now everything was full of white stars and black static.‘Fus Fus fus fusssszzzzssshit what happened I can’t move—’ Everything was ringing and impossibly heavy and the air was made of boiling blood. Trying to inhale turned into trying to scream and that was even worse.‘Gods fucking damn it why didn’t you move?!’ Kaidan’s armor felt like it weighed more than a mammoth and he was crushed inside of it. ‘FUCKING STARFALL!’ Not that her moving would have helped anything; he had no idea if she could even do anything about it if the same dragon magic were used on her. He knew he had collided with her as he was thrown across the platform but couldn’t figure out much more than that. At least until he heard the draugr’s footsteps coming closer. ‘Get up get up get up before it kills us both!’‘—I told him I told him I messed it up I can’t breathe need air oh gods Kaidan I’m sorry—’ Finally desperation overrode pain and she inhaled as deep as she could, only to lose the whole thing in a coughing fit.Kaidan felt her shudder underneath him and began to panic and claw at the wall trying to get up. “Are you awake now?!”The sparkles in her vision faded enough she could see an ornately armored draugr coming towards them. “F-fffire now?” She managed to squeak.“Yes! Now! Please!” He had his sword back, and was on his feet, but was still unsteady with every bone screaming in agony.She could move her arm and hand enough to draw a semi-circle on the ground, and a wall of flames erupted to cut off the Deathlord’s advance. Kaidan inched away from it, but was still thankful for the reprieve. It threw its hands up to shield itself and stalked back and forth waiting for her magic to die off.“Daanik kendovve…” It growled at them, heating its blade in the flames until the ebony metal glowed red.“Now would also be a very good time to take every potion you’ve got…” He looked down at her crumpled up in the corner with dark puddles forming from her chest and mouth. “Please tell me that’s not as bad as it looks...”She tried to push herself upright and failed miserably. Reaching into her breast pocket, a bloody shard of glass came out instead of a whole bottle. “Pff… I told you if you rolled over on me, you’d shred me.”“What in Coldharbor happened?!”“The wall, same as… the dragon souls. I absorbed… the wall?” Violet shakily checked herself over. Her chest was full of lava. Breathing was almost too difficult. She smelled both blood and her potions soaking into her robe. The headache was no longer metal on stone screeching, but mace to the skull throbbing. A step down if she had to rate it. “I think you crushed my ribs. …And my potions. I can hold this wall for a few more minutes until… we can figure this out, but the longer… it takes, the less magic I’ll have to kill this thing.”They only had one chance, then. “Do you at least have enough magic to heal? Either me or you?”Her head dropped back to the cold, hard floor and the fire wall flickered.“Hey! No! Stay awake!”She was down to mumbling. “I’m trying. But I can’t… heal myself with glass in my chest. It’s going to… have to be you. …Give me your hand. I've… got enough for you and I need… to enchant your sword again. …Please. I’ve barely got enough … and you need to be fast.”He knelt down and put his sword in front of her, and she shakily reached out for his hand. Grasping it weakly, she passed bright yellow flames up along his arm and across his body. His armor didn’t weigh a ton now, but everything still felt ragged. Using the fire from the wall, she ran her fingers over the silver edge until it glowed white hot and smoked. As soon as the spell wove around it, the fire wall dropped, and the Deathlord's eyes brightened. It charged in, fiery sword waving in the air.“FUS—”Violet barely got the entire word out before she passed out.Kaidan was almost stunned from her use of the new spell that the Deathlord had just used on them, but remembered that was what almost got them killed a few minutes ago. The force of the word blew the draugr’s feet out from under it, dropping it to its hands and knees. The Dragonguard roared and was on it in a second, despite just barely being upright himself. He was not going to waste the one opportunity Starfall had given him. Kaidan seized it by a horn on its helm, snapped its head back, and ran his sword through its throat just as it opened its mouth again to shout. It grabbed his sword only for its hands to burst into flames, but this time Kaidan didn’t care. Thick gurgling came out instead of a shout, and he twisted and sawed the blade until the draugr's head came off. It rolled onto the floor, leaving the helmet in his hand.“Ughhh… Charred draugr…” He hated the stink of the undead under normal circumstances. This new dimension of horror, plus the adrenaline wearing off made his stomach lurch and knees shake, so he stumbled back over to Starfall.“Please don’t be dead.” He put his back to the wall and slid down beside her. ‘Please, Divines…’No answer. She was still crumpled up in a heap and the puddle of red was only getting larger.“Shit.” He realized that she had let her armor lapse well before they had entered the room, and him plus his armor and gear were almost three hundred pounds that had used her as a cushion, hitting her against a stone wall with the force of an avalanche. He felt his chest armor and the metal just below his collar was so badly dented inwards, it was cutting into his chest. They were both lucky they weren’t shattered into tiny pieces like she usually left her victims.Because he’d hesitated.He had no choice but to turn her over and lay her out. She was still barely breathing. That was something, he supposed. Most of the liquid at her chest was her broken potions, but the red dripping down the corner of her mouth was definitely all blood. He was not a healer and he was pretty sure his own couple of vials were crushed in the impact. He did have bandages. She still had a needle and thread. Stop the bleeding, stitch her back together. Figure out how to get her all the way to Riverwood. Don’t think about how that sounds like far too much with what felt like his soul smashed out of the back of his body and his skull still ringing.Unlacing the top of her robe revealed a wet, shredded mess. But none of her ribs had broken through her skin, and her chest was the correct shape (not caved in like his armor). It took a lot of time and a lot of picking with his hunting dagger to pull all of the shrapnel out. He hoped he had pulled all of the glass out, panicked a bit when removing the biggest shards made the bleeding worse, then he quickly stitched the worst cuts shut and bound her chest as tight as he could make it. (‘How on Nirn did her ribs break with this much padding?!’)Now to figure out how to get her out of there; he wasn’t in the best shape himself. It was a ridiculously long shot, but he checked the various troves the draugr was buried with for inspiration, and possibly something to pay a healer when they got back to town. The draugr itself had a little stone slab with a map on it. ‘Probably what she came all this way for. She’d probably shout me to pieces if I forgot this…’ There were plenty of gold and gems, the Deathlord’s weapon, and some artifacts he couldn’t identify. So much for that.The only way he could think of was to carry her, but the prospect of going all the way back through this death-trap and possibly waking up more draugr while she could possibly be dying wasn’t even worth considering, so he kept exploring the cavern they were in. There were steps upward behind the memorial, and scouting the path, the cramped, crumbling tunnel led outside to the side of the mountain. It was on a dangerous cliff face that would require they drop down several feet at a time and possibly becoming even more injured. There was really no choice. The view was familiar, though.‘Wait a minute. This place… my camp!’ He could see a little tent and fire circle on the edge of the lake right below. They could rest there. Hopefully the Thalmor wouldn’t believe he’d be stupid enough to go back to where he was first captured, because things were pretty dire right now. At least they didn’t destroy it. He went back for her, carefully picked her up, and carried her out to the fresh, freezing air and blinding sunshine.*By the time Violet regained consciousness, she had no idea where she was or how much time had passed. Everything that made up her mind and body was screaming.‘The noise, and Kaidan was—oh gods what happened?! I’m sorry I fucked this up completely! I should have tried harder to block out the noise! I tried to tell you! Please don’t hate me! I need your help! Please Kai don’t be dead, I tried to help…’ Déjà vu kicked in, and in trying to sit up to figure out what was going on, her entire torso seized up and flat out refused to work. She was pinned down by both pain and a lot of heavy warmth. All that regret and terror came out as a gasp, coughing, and a squawk.“It’s okay. Don’t try to move. Just go back to sleep.” Kaidan whispered.Violet looked around in the darkness and finally recognized that they were outdoors somewhere, Kaidan was half asleep and hugging her, and she was wrapped up tight in a fur-filled bedroll. He had the sense to take off all that leather and ebony so it could have been worse. He was still too heavy to be smothering her like this, though. She checked herself and was able to feel her simple wool dress; whatever happened must have ruined her robes again. The taste of blood was still in her mouth. Fuck. She raised her voice only to scare herself back into a whisper. “Kaidan, what—?!”He winced at the noise and a dim, sleepy eye opened up. “Shh. You’re safe. Killed the draugr. Found your tablet. Camping out at the bottom of the mountain until you’re well enough to move. It’s the middle of the next night.”“That was…” She couldn’t say unhelpful, as it summed up everything pretty well, but also at the same time wasn’t nearly enough.“Don’t. Just sleep it off.” He mumbled, already falling back to sleep himself.“I… I’m sorry.”He was quiet for a long time. “…Me too.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was several more days of her going in and out of consciousness, frequent attempts and failures at healing magic, and a few trips to a strange, old woman living alone in a cabin nearby before they’d recuperated enough to really put together what happened back in Bleak Falls.“I think we both learned a lot of lessons back there.” Kaidan sat by the fire, roasting a pheasant he’d caught and some leeks he bought from Anise.Violet could only retreat deeper into the furs and groan. “Like, ‘I hate this.’ And, ‘I can’t keep this up.’”He sighed. “It was horrible, aye. And we both almost died. Okay. And we’ll probably have nightmares and guilt for weeks—”Her voice was muffled by the furs. “Please, stop.”“But we can’t stop, now. We’ve barely started, if the way one draugr managed to literally snap us in half with one spell is any indication. You said you absorbed something from the wall. And then you used that draugr’s spell against it. You have two spells now. We now know that draugr speak Draconic. You were in a trance, but when it attacked me, it knew me. Or rather, what I am. It called me Akaviri, among other things. I think. It said ‘Dovah…kriid… Akaviri… something.’ None of them have done that before. We have to find more about the language. There’s several other barrows across Skyrim, and there have to be other memorial walls. We just have to be much better prepared. Get more practice, like you said. Figure out how to keep you from losing several minutes sitting prone every time you learn a new word. Keep out that noise so you can keep your head about you.”“We should have left when I said the first time.” She sniffled quietly. Her throat was starting to close up and hurt again.He ignored her. “I’ve been studying this tablet. It looks sort of like Skyrim, just with slightly different borders, which makes sense, since this thing is a few thousand years old. There’s two little stars outside of old Windhelm where the dragon mounds are, and one close to where Whiterun is, where you were attacked by the Falmer. You should copy this before you give it back to the court mage.”Violet was still hiding.“You can’t go home ‘til you’ve sorted this whole thing out, you hate Skyrim so that should be enough incentive, and I’m not carrying you this whole journey.” He was getting exasperated.“You’re used to this shit! Living in the woods for weeks at a time, hunting and killing everything, just barely getting out alive, everyone around you is a stranger who possibly wants you dead, the world is endless instead of one city district, new skills, new threats, do you know what it’s like to have something else take over your mind and drive you like a fucking cart?!”“Yes, actually.” He growled.Even though she was buried in furs, her tantrum was enough to make the nearby water lapping out of the lake vibrate, freeze, and crumble over and over as it hit the shore. Kaidan closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. She was too old for this shit and far too powerful. This wasn’t how he imagined avatars of the Divines to act. “Am I going to have to listen to you bitch about this the entire time?!”“HOW ARE YOU NOT PANICKING ABOUT THIS AT ALL?!” She was just determined and mad enough to scream before it devolved into a coughing fit, then pained hyperventilating and crying.He screamed into his hands, his accent growing heavy enough it all slurred together in enough swearing to impress Starfall, if she weren’t stewing in impotent rage and tears. “WHO FUCKING SAID I’M NOT?! I ALMOST GOT YOU KILLED! DO Y’HAVE ANY IDEA HOW GODSDAMNED BAD IT WOULD BE FOR THE DRAGONBORN TO DIE CONSIDERING THERE’S ONLY ONE OF YOU ‘ND WHATEVER HAPPENS NEXT IS EVIDENTLY SOME SHIT ONLY YOU CAN SOLVE?! ‘ND FOR FUCK’S SAKE, CALM DOWN! Y’R GOING TO RIP Y’R STITCHES ‘ND PASS OUT AGAIN!”“I know you poor things are having a terrible time, but you’re scaring the fish. And you’re upsetting Sig.” Kaidan’s neighbor, Anise, hobbled up with a fishing pole in one hand and her cane in the other. A nervous, fidgeting skeleton followed a few steps behind her.Violet squeaked out a curse and tried to scrabble out of her pallet.Kaidan took a deep breath, held his hand out in front of Starfall, then turned to Anise. He previously knew she was a witch after seeing skeletal footprints in her muddy garden, but didn’t need the aggravation, so they agreed to let each other be. “It’s okay. Anise and I have an understanding. We leave each other alone, no one gets hurt. Anise. Why are you walking around with your thrall out where people could see?”“Sig’s protection, dear. Dear husband passed away eight years ago, leaving me here, alone in the woods, all by myself. Can’t say I don’t miss the fleshy bits, but at least the yelling and hitting stopped.” She cackled viciously.Violet stopped sniffling and looked at her like she was flaying Sig’s flesh off right in front of them.Anise eased herself down onto a large rock on the lake shore, and Sig sat down on the ground beside her, hugging his knees. “Anyway, my medicine must be doing the trick, as you’re both full of fire like a couple of young dragons. Been snooping around in the barrow, and you got the fright of your lives, eh?”Violet only groaned and coughed.“Mmhmm, I know that miserable sound anywhere. But you two didn’t die, now did'ja? This one is right, though. Won’t do you any good to lie here paralyzed. Bears live around here and you’d just be a free meal. Ha!” The old woman cast her line and had the skeleton watch over it.“…Is …is he… still in there?” Violet’s morbid curiosity wouldn’t let her look away.“Who, Sig? Oh goodness, no. The actual bastard's probably rotting in the Soul Cairn by now.”The skeleton shrugged and kept fishing.“What the fuck.” This was almost as terrible as the barrow. At least in there, the dead weren’t being manipulated as far as she could find, they were in there being evil all on their own.“Alright, Anise. Quit scaring her. Redguards don’t like that stuff. I don’t like that stuff. Starfall, how about we just take it easy for a while at Riverwood and then the Throat of the World. No more monsters. No more staring death in the face for a long while. We’ll go ask the Greybeards about all of this, then you can finish healing somewhere close, do your scholarly thing, and figure out what to do from there. Give you some time to think.”She sighed and threw her hands up. “Whatever. There aren’t any good alternatives.”“There you go, dear. Take breaks. Do whatever you need to. Have fun. Because a good mage knows a tired mind is how spells backfire. And then you’re a hagraven and crazy as Sheogorath. That kind of curse is permanent.” Anise shook her head.Violet simply nodded slowly. Why was this crazy old woman who murdered her husband giving her sage advice?Sig clattered around as he reeled in the line and seemed to watch a salmon flop about at his feet. “Ah, that’s a nice big one, dear. Do you two want to have lunch with me?”Kaidan looked away. “That’s… alright. We need to get packed up. Since she has enough energy to flail, she has enough energy to walk.”Violet was still staring at the witch and skeleton suspiciously. Anise waved her cane at her. “Yes, yes, necromancy is bad. I have a feeling that whatever’s got you digging up the dead up there and seeing those stuffy old mountain goats over there is going to show you that a stray skeleton here and there is going to be the least of your problems, young lady. Sig here even decided to be a sweetie and had a peek around while you two were out cold to make sure those damn uppity elves didn’t come around again.”She grimaced. “I… did not need to hear that.”“You did. Come on, Sig. They'll figure it out.” she pointed the way with the cane.Sig didn’t bother to wave goodbye as he picked up his catch and followed her back along the shore.“Kaidan.”He gave a heavy sigh and taste-tested a pheasant leg. “Mm.”“Why is your neighbor an old, crazy necromancer who keeps her dead husband around?”“She’s mostly harmless.”“It’s not right.”“Neither was what you did to those bandits.” He leaned over and gave her a plate.“That was self-defense.”“So was what she did, evidently. Not that Sig could tell us otherwise. Quit overthinking and eat.”*With Kaidan’s help standing and a walking stick he snapped off of a tree, Starfall followed him around the mountain and up to Riverwood. He wasn’t happy about having to carry both of their packs, but the second he put hers on her back, she made a dying animal noise, fell backwards, and passed out from the pain. The village had a thick, ominous fog rolling across it in the early morning. The Sleeping Giant Inn was little, humble, but well taken care of. Kaidan dumped their packs beside their table against the far wall and flopped down on a bench, while Violet used her foot to push a chair over and eased herself into it.“I’m probably not going to be able to get up again, now.” Her head dropped back.“We’ll find you more medicine soon. I know there’s a trader nearby, and if any of your flowers survived, there’s an alchemy table over there.”“I need a dedicated alchemy bag.”“But then you won’t be a spriggan anymore.” He gave her a little smile.She sighed. “I’m just going to admit now, that I have no idea what a spriggan looks like exactly, other than evidently it has flower hair. It’s not a desert creature, and I’ve only received pieces of them in a few incredibly expensive alchemy shipments.”Kaidan realized this next bit could go very badly, then. “Oh. Uhm. Women who look like trees, or are they trees shaped like women? Brown wooden skin, glowy bits, leaves and flowers for hair, giant claws, sometimes elk antlers. I used to spend time with them when I was a lad; I called them the ‘nice tree mums’ because my godfather Brynjar said they were ‘Earth Mothers’. I don’t think they’d like me very much now that I’m all grown up and pulling trees apart to burn and make walking sticks with.”Violet thought for a little bit and decided to follow Anise’s advice, then pulled a few flowers out of her pack and stuck them in her hair, grew a pair of ice ‘antlers’ and claws, then drew a sign on her chest and turned her skin from flesh to tree bark. She completed the look by hiding a few tiny magelights in her hair and dress.“Like… that…?” Kaidan blinked at her, unsure of what to say. Probably wasn’t a good idea to mention that they ran around stark naked.“I forgive you, my son.” She patted his arm with disturbing ice fingers, making him snort.The innkeeper heard them talking and came out of her room. “Welcome to the Sleeping Giant Inn, I- whoa, whoa. What are you doing bringing a spriggan in here?!”“I probably should have asked if they’re friendly or not, because I’m actually stuck like this.” She looked back and forth between Kaidan and the innkeeper.“I guess your impression is very good.” He laughed.The woman came up to them and squinted at her. “Why in the world are you dressed up like a spriggan?”“He was trying to describe one to me.” Violet shrank a little bit in embarrassment, then stuffed the flowers back in her pack and put out the lights. The antlers and her skin were still stuck.“O…kay. You two need breakfast? Rooms?” Great. Weird travelers turning up first thing in the morning and it was far too early for weirdos.“I’m not even sleepy. I’m just tired and everything hurts. But a room, yes.” She turned to Kaidan. “We need to organize all this junk before we sell it. And my septims are all mixed up in my bag with the other currency. Tell me you at least grabbed one or two things.”“Nothing big because I was too busy trying to save you. Why did you mix all the money up?”“Because my mind went ‘shiny goes in shiny pouch’. Plus, I’d already gotten a good pile from the bandits before we caught up to each other and that was the only spot with enough room.”“Well I guess you’re going to have to dig them out and find them. Told you before, I’m broke.” Kaidan shrugged.“Then how did you pay Anise for the food and medicine?” Violet narrowed her eyes.Kaidan avoided her gaze. “I gave her some of the extra ingredients in your bag because she said she could turn them into potions to save you. Didn’t think you’d mind, considering the state you were in.”“If you gave her any of the good stuff…”“You picked up almost all of it off the side of the road! I didn’t think any of it was! I’m not an alchemist!”“Kaidan…” She groaned and rubbed her face.“Are Anise and Sig still out by the lake being creepy?” Delphine sighed.Violet nodded.“She needs to come back to town more often. I think the isolation’s getting to her, poor thing.”‘You think?!’ She nudged her pack over to Kaidan with her foot. “Since you like rooting around in my things, you can find the money. It’s probably all shaken up.”He rolled his eyes, then widened them when he opened up the pack’s side pocket. “You found this much?! And is that a diamond?! No wonder I couldn’t find anything!”“I’m keeping the diamond. Do not sell it. And yes. It all adds up, doesn’t it? You said you could work a forge. Can you make a few rings and medallions out of it? Or can you only do things like take care of your armor and weapons?”“There’s enough here for a few ingots. And I don’t have the tools to make jewelry. Even if I did, it wouldn’t be very pretty. I can make a few things, but I’m not an artisan, either.”“Doesn’t have to be pretty, I’m going to enchant it. The magic will be worth more than the gold, even if it’s just my apprenticed enchanting.”‘Wait…’ Delphine furrowed her brows, studying the two of them. “Mercenaries?”“Mm.” Kaidan kept picking out the septims.“He is. I don’t know what’s going on, anymore.” Violet sighed.“You’re pretending to be a tree spirit, evidently.” She crossed her arms and leaned in close between them to whisper. “And shouting loud enough to be heard all the way across the valley.”They both looked up at her in shock. She nodded over to a side room. “I know it’ll be a little hard for the Outlander to be inconspicuous, but you two should probably be a little quieter and more discreet. Hey Orgnar. Hold down the bar for a few minutes.”Kaidan had forgotten his hood was off and he quickly shaded his eyes, even though it was so early no one had even arrived for breakfast yet, save for a man half-asleep, half-drunk at the bar.“Do you know her?” Violet asked as she struggled to get up.“No. Keep on guard.” He helped her and followed the suspect woman into the little room that was a bit cramped for all three of them.As soon as the door closed behind them, Delphine leaned on the wall and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Well over a month ago, the guards come by, spooked all to Sovngarde that a crazy woman came, blew up Whiterun’s western watchtower, and dropped it on a dragon. Those noisy Greybeards on the other mountain were calling for the ‘Dovahkiin’ weeks ago, right as Helgen was going up in flames. A courier brought news a week ago that two people not only managed to both bring down a dragon, but also tear up pieces of Ulfric’s city with him right there watching. Half the city and all of Kynesgrove were talking about the two strangers who swooped in, took a dragon's soul, then disappeared. And right as I get this news, your voice is ringing down from the barrow. I thought High Elves were supposed to be the ostentatious ones, not Redguards.” She pointed at Violet, who was now banging her head against her walking stick.“And this concerns you, how?” Kaidan glared at her.Her voice hardened. “I need to see with my own eyes if you’re the real thing.”“I do not have the time or inclination to prove to every drunkard, jarl, and secretly not an innkeeper if what is happening, is really happening. I don’t know what’s happening, anymore. Everyone else seems to know something and won’t tell me!”“Are you kidding me, right now? It’s hard to tell with the antlers.” Delphine rolled her eyes.Violet sighed. “I can’t move my arms enough to take them off.”“Oh my gods.” She rubbed her forehead. ‘No… no… it’s too early to say we’re doomed. Breathe…’Kaidan quickly turned and snapped them off, jerking Starfall’s head sideways and making her grunt in pain. “Okay, now who are you, really?”She looked back and forth between Violet and Kaidan pointing at each of them. “Someone who is looking for someone who actually knows what’s going on with these damn dragons, the dead rising from their graves, the Divines finally choosing a champion after hundreds of years of silence, people long thought wiped off the face of Nirn immediately finding their way back to said champion, and why no one seems to be up to doing anything about it, except for you two.”“Well you won’t find any of that with us, we’re asking the same damn thing.” Violet scoffed.“And you thought provoking the dead would answer those questions.”The mage carefully sat on the bed and grimaced. “Not only did it just raise more questions, we were nearly killed in the process. Nords are bastards alive, and they’re even worse when they’re dead.”“Don’t I know it…” She muttered. “Fine, then. I suppose you’re also in the area to try and go see the Greybeards?”“Don’t think that’s any of your business, considering you’ve not told us a bloody thing.” Kaidan produced a handful of septims but didn’t hand them over, yet. “If it turns out that staying here will bring trouble down on us, I swear you’ll find out firsthand how those dragons died.”The innkeeper took the money, grumbled under her breath, and slipped back out to the main room. Kaidan closed the door after her.Violet exhaled, then pulled her book out and started making notes. “Think she’s a spy?”“Oh, definitely. But for who, I don’t know. Ugh. Too many groups in Skyrim alone, and gods help us if she’s involved with the Empire.”“Oh gods, not politics. Anything but that. You should have left me in that tomb to die.”“Let’s just straighten out this mess and move on. We still have to get to Ivarstead.” Kaidan started pulling all of the junk they’d collected out of their bags and setting it all on the table and floor.*An ice enchanted sword and a much nicer but still badly enchanted circlet that Kaidan had picked up had indeed turned out to be near useless to them, so they went in the sell pile along with some books she’d taken but had nothing interesting in them, some potions that Kaidan thought Starfall could study even though they were thousands-of-years-old bottles of black sludge, some of the embalming tools she wanted to study but Kaidan told her no, and the sack of gold. There was a blacksmith nearby, so they melted down the gold into a few bars and sold them and the sword, using part to repair the damage to Kaidan’s armor. The Riverwood Trader took everything else including the golden claw, thanking them profusely for finding it. In exchange, they got enough septims that Kaidan’s mood improved immensely. They moved outside to sit on the porch and make their next moves.“But he’s an Imperial, how’d he get it?” Violet put her half of the reward money in her pack.Kaidan had pulled out her map and was trying to show her the path through the mountain pass. “Does it really matter at this point?”“What if he knows where there’s another?”“He didn’t even know what he had. It wasn’t a key or an artifact to him, it was just a gaudy decoration. And now that we’ve cleaned the place out, it’s useless.”“Here’s to hoping they’re all luckily found nearby. Not that I want to ever do that again.” She rubbed her chest.“Mm. We have to pass through Helgen, and then a mountain pass. I don’t know what happened to the town after the dragon, but Delphine said to go around, instead of through. Might be ashes, then.”“Hopefully.” Violet said.He raised his eyebrow. “What? Why?”“Helgen looked to have a fort in it and the Thalmor were there executing people when the dragon attacked. If the town is gone, there’s no reason for them to be there. I’m in no condition to fight.”“We stay outside the gates as a precaution, then. Any other business, here?”Violet looked along the main street, noting only a few residents were out, and they weren’t even working. “There’s nothing else here but that “innkeeper”, and she’s not going to give up anything else. I just need to brew and try healing again.”She had enough money and supplies now to make a few quality mixes, and on drinking them and trying her most powerful healing spell, they both heard the dull snaps of her ribs popping. The rest of the inn heard her swearing at a bunch of gods they’d never heard of. After she’d slept that off, they packed up and left for Ivarstead.*The road to Ivarstead was long and boring, which was just fine with them. It started out with a small detour, though, as Kaidan had something to show Starfall. He brought her up to a small hill overlooking the river, and on a small platform were three monuments.“These are the Guardian Stones. They’re a series of monuments dedicated to each of the signs that we’re all born under. I know you’re not the religious type, but it’s usually a bit of good luck to stop at one.”The warrior went with the obvious choice and went up to the stone engraved with a constellation and swirling carvings. He took a knee and bowed his head in a small prayer, then touched the stone. Violet watched as it reacted to his touch; the constellation’s stars lit up and a light appeared in the hole at the center. Whatever magic was in the stone, Kaidan didn’t seem to mind much as its light swirled around him and his prayer was sent up to the heavens in a thin pillar of light off the top of the stone.“Choose one.” He returned to her, expecting her to choose the Mage Stone without question, but being surprised when she asked about the Thief Stone instead.“What does this one mean?” Violet traced her fingers over the hooded figure.“It means you’ve got a roguish charm about you. And lucky… ‘til you’re not. Though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, the way you want to keep to the shadows, have a love for alchemy, and you have a slight knack for doing things in …dodgy ways.”Violet nodded and followed Kaidan’s example; kneeling in front of the monument and made a short, silent prayer in front of the stone. She was surprised at the slight surge of energy as she connected to the stone similar to a small blessing of magic from a healer. Her little message went up somewhere into the sky, though she had no idea who would hear it, or if they’d care.*On Delphine's advice, they kept to the outside wall of Helgen. Even weeks later, it still stank of char. And it was too quiet. It took almost two days to get through the mountain pass after that, and when snowy, grey rocks turned into golden forests, Kaidan breathed a sigh of relief.“Welcome to the Rift.” He said.“Better than icy rocks, anyway.” Her mind was both tired and now going in different directions from the colors and lively forest noise of the early evening.“Good weather, life and beauty, peace and quiet. What else can a man ask for?”“A man usually asks for a woman. I am not a man, so I ask for my dark, silent hole in the wall to crawl into and hide from the horrible bright sun.”He frowned. “That sounds more like what vampires ask for.”“I’m not going to apologize for the blood incident. You already have proof I’m not undead.”“I know, but the day sleeping, the sun aversion, the simultaneous affront to and culmination of the gods, the temper, the blood magic, the unceasing hunger for the life force of other creatures…” Kaidan was counting on his fingers.“…Enslaving you as my thrall…”Kaidan reddened. “Hey, you’re the only one who seems to actually want to get to the heart of all this. Don’t phrase it like that.”“Sure. And you can leave any time you want.” Her wide, manic grin was enough to stop Kaidan in his tracks.“Don’t… do that.”“Do what?” Violet asked sweetly.“When you make that face.” He cringed and walked away from her.“I seem to find more and more things that bother you deep down. Maybe you should just list them all right now, so I don’t keep accidentally twisting all your little knives.” Her little knuckles twisted deep along his arm.“I’m fine.” He said, rubbing where she’d touched him.She sighed. “I… warned you early on that I’m strange.”“I know.”A small growl escaped, and she went back to wandering around the general direction Kaidan was going. A short while later, they found a few little cabins in the woods. One looked to be abandoned and exposed to the wilds, but had lots of alchemy stores. Violet hesitated about taking anything, but Kaidan pointed out that everything had a layer of dust and the garden out back was overgrown. Plus, there was a free book. She couldn’t argue with that. The other cabin had Kaidan pacing around it as if he wanted in, but he quickly gave up and kept going.“What was that about?” She didn’t think there was anything interesting about it.“It’s not abandoned, but it’s also not occupied. No one lives there, but it’s well taken care of.”“Someone probably comes by every once in a while and takes care of it for the owner. There’s a few places like that in Elinhir. Rich people own them.”“Waste of a good home.” Kaidan looked back at it.“Maybe. You act as if you want it or something.”“Supposing once all this is over and I don’t go back to wandering.” He shrugged.“You’ve been here before?”“When I first came back here from Cyrodiil. There's something about this place. It’s beautiful.” He said wistfully.She smiled, seeing him like this. “Hmm.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
They arrived at Ivarstead just as the sun was going down, turning everything else gold on top of the forest. The picturesque little village at the bottom of the mountain was awfully quiet for a rest stop for religious pilgrims. A few people they found admitted there hadn’t been any for some time, and they were the first for several weeks. More to blame on the war. Violet and Kaidan resolved to stay overnight and start upward in the morning. At least the inn had a few of the villagers in for the evening meal. Peasants and farmers sat around the hearth chatting about nothing the two cared about, which was fine with Violet. Small town gossip (or any, really) never interested her, and found it to be mostly petty boredom.Sleep was hard to come by and filled with terrible dreams of burning darkness and deafening whispers. She never bothered with learning metaphysical truths and divination since half of the time, mind-altering drugs that made her condition worse were involved. She woke several times during the night, looked around to remember where she was, groaned, then passed out again. Kaidan had to come wake her up to both of their annoyance.As they went to the other end of the village, she looked to the barrow on the hill. That fucking whispering emanated from it, but the thing that made her soul curdle, was that she spotted something glowing peeking from around the edge of the entrance.“…Kaidan. Do draugr ever come out of the barrows?” She dug her nails into his sleeve.“They’ll chase you outside if they see you down there, otherwise no. They stay underground. Why?” He tried to see what she was looking at but couldn’t find anything.“Never mind. Fuck it. I can hear them already. Up the mountain and away from the death pit.” She did a quick heel turn and went towards the bridge.“So, all it took for you to stop complaining about mountains was to make you more afraid of barrows. Now to figure out how to get you to go back into ‘the death pit’ next time.” He chuckled.She leered at him. “I don’t know why you’re making fun of me like you didn’t wind up ass-over-head down there, too.”Kaidan cleared his throat and went ahead.*Just over the bridge at the base of the mountain, two men argued over a large burlap sack. The Nord pointed up the mountain path. “I had to come back down! It’s just not safe anymore.”“But then what are the Greybeards going to do? You’re already a week behind on the delivery.” The Wood Elven man said, looking towards the swirling grey clouds at the peak.“Well with how much lives in the mountains here, I’m sure they can easily catch a couple of goats to tide them over.” Kaidan said as he walked past.“Wait, you’re going up the 7,000 steps? Could you please take this with you? At least you look ready for a trek.” Klimmek asked Kaidan, holding the bag out to him.The warrior’s head rolled around on his shoulders. ‘Should have kept my mouth shut.’Violet came up and dragged the bag a few feet to test its weight. “I’ll take it.”“Talos bless you. But what are a Redguard and an Outlander going up to see the Greybeards for?” Now the two villagers were ogling them.“No clue,” she said. “They called me. Never even heard of these guys before. You take stuff up to them? Who are they? What are they like? What do they do up there?”“The Greybeards called—you’re the Dovahkiin?! Huh!” Klimmek rubbed his bald head.The Wood Elf named Gwilin pointed a thumb to the swirling clouds. “Nobody really knows what they’re like. They never let anyone in, and they don’t come down. Everyone who goes up there to see them just comes back disappointed.”“I’ve never met them, either. There’s a huge chest of offerings pilgrims leave for them; I leave the goods in there. Was hoping I’d get to meet them face to face one day, maybe get a thanks…”Violet turned to Kaidan. “I don’t like this. No one’s ever seen them, no can tell me anything about them, them calling the Dovahkiin is probably the most anyone’s heard from them ever, and yet, everyone’s in reverence?”“You don’t like anything.” Kaidan said. “But yeah, it’s jarring. Problem is, everything seems to be suddenly happening all at once. You, me, dragons, the Greybeards, and possibly other things we’re not aware of yet because most of our time's been spent without reliable communication.”“I’m not good at everything happening at once.”“Very few people are. They think they are and then bugger it all up.” Kaidan grumbled.“Well this thing with a bunch of mountain shut-ins is what’s happening now, so let’s stick with that.”Klimmek stopped her before she walked away. “It wouldn’t be fair of me to send you up there with no warning. The wildlife that’s moved in up there has gotten meaner in recent months. Used to just be a stray wolf or two. A few days ago, a troll chased me all the way back down here. So be careful.”Kaidan groaned. “Stupid trolls.”“Are they as bad as draugr?”“No. But they regenerate, so you have to keep hacking at them until they’re in lots of pieces, or their head's off. It was the furry, angry thing that chased us across that cave bridge in Bleak Falls.”“Ah. The thing that kept coming through lightning. I’ll figure something out.” Violet threw the sack over her shoulder and hesitated. “Are there really 7,000 steps?”Klimmek shrugged. “I have no idea. I never make it past 400 before I get bored of counting. Anyone who’s tried gives us a different number. Plus, the steps get buried in snow or broken over the centuries.”“Huh. Well now I have to. Onnnne, twoooo—”Kaidan put his hand on her head, twisted her around, and his accent went heavy. “I can put up with strange and whiny, but we’re not doing that. Okay?”She grinned at getting under his skin again, then realized what he had actually said. “...Do I really whine that much?”“It’s usually salted with swearing, but yes.”*At the foot of the mountain, Violet came up to a stone memorial with a small plaque in it. Dried flowers, money, and little mementos were littered around it, and it took a lot of her willpower not to collect it all up. Not that she needed a blunt dagger or someone’s old, cracked helmet. Instead, she read the inscription and copied it into her book.
“Before the birth of men, the Dragons ruled all Mundus.
Their word was the Voice, and they spoke only for True Needs.
For the Voice could blot out the sky and flood the land.”
“The origin of your magic.” Kaidan said. “And it says all of Mundus, so whatever’s going on happened in Hammerfell too.” “All of the dragon mounds must be under thousands of tons of sand, then. I wonder how many tablets there are.”“Dunno. But I think what you’re supposed to do is stop at each one and think about the story, thanking the ancient heroes for saving everyone.”“And there’s that ‘true need’ thing again. What does that mean? What will happen if I don’t?” Violet put her book back in her pack as they continued on.Kaidan shrugged. “Save for the spider, seems like all the instances you’ve used it that I’ve seen have been warranted. Nothing’s happened yet. You did say that shouting drains you, though. Are you alright? It’s been a couple of weeks since Windhelm.”“I’m alright, I suppose. My entire body being sore is enough of a distraction from everything. Something wanted me to murder Farengar in front of the jarl and destroy that little bandit watchtower on the way to the barrow, though.” She didn’t mention that she was quietly counting the steps in her head. ‘Wait, are the three steps next to each other one step or three?’“That condescending court mage in Whiterun? That probably wasn’t the curse’s fault.”“He grated you, too?”“Went in to turn in a bounty to Avenicci some months back. He suddenly comes in, interrupts the negotiation, and calls me a big brute while I’m standing there.”“And those sideburns.” She seethed.Kaidan chuckled. “They are horrible, aren’t they?”“Anyway, Balgruuf told me not to kill him and sent me on my way. Destroying an entire watchtower just to teach a couple of bandits a lesson seemed like overkill.”“And yet turning them into statues wasn’t overkill. I have a feeling I’m going to have to chaperone when you go back, to keep you from burning down Dragonsreach over the entire barrow incident.”“If I go back. Honestly, they’ve all been useless ingrates from the moment I walked into the city the first time. Maybe I could have killed the dragon without collateral damage, but it’s too late to find out now. Not like that watchtower was doing too good of a job standing on its own in the first place. Like pushing over a drunkard instead of a solid stone building.” She grumbled.*Kaidan wanted to keep her somewhat focused, so he kept her talking. Like the rocky mountain pass, there wasn’t anything for her to get distracted by, save for the occasional snowberry bush stubbornly hanging on in the hard, frozen soil. The morning was freezing, and Violet kept picking at them while they walked to ease the magicka drain of keeping her body temperature up.“You should probably be trying to acclimate to the weather instead of constantly casting spells and eating those things.” He said over his shoulder.She shook her head no and kept eating. “I’m from the desert. That would literally take years, and then I would have to do it again when I go back home. Besides, these aren’t half bad; a little tart, but crunchy inside.”“Fine. I know your job was an alchemist in Hammerfell, but do you also have training as a healer? You seem to know enough about how the body works, you’re rough but effective, and you get… morbidly curious.” Though he meant more that the way she tortured those draugr to study them was awfully close to the necromancy she was so disgusted by…“I’m not a master, but I’m close enough, if that’s what you’re asking. I would be able to work in a temple if I actually believed in the gods or be an actual ‘respectable’ healer in an Imperial city. But my quiet life in a Dragonstar alley helping people like me was enough.”“So, how do you know about fighting, then? Not that you’re all that great in close combat, but why would a healer need destruction and summoning spells?” ‘Or sneaking, lockpicking, and poisoning…’She winced. “Wow. Just come out and say that I’m terrible. And like I told you before, it’s to defend myself. I was given some training as a child, and some at Elinhir, but my masters stopped when they figured out something was wrong. I’m not as imposing as you. Though after I settled into my practice in Dragonstar and proved myself to the community, people stopped trying me. The summoning was a stupid foray into trying to find a daedra to sate the Hunger. It didn’t go well, but I learned a lot.”“If you insist,” he grinned. “The dragon was impressive, but everything after that’s been a mess. You panic too easily, any close range fighting you did in the barrow was chaotic, you’re always forgetting simple things like keeping your armor up, you keep losing your concentration, though I suppose that can’t be helped, and you don’t have enough experience with Skyrim's dangers. You should be wearing actual armor if you’re just going to forget your spells all the time. Even a set of leathers would be better. We should find you some after this.”“I… damn. I didn’t mean for you to actually do that. And no, I do not want to wear physical armor. I would just be slower than I already am as I’d have to learn to move in it. I’ll just try to keep the spell on all the time, despite the fact that instead of being a spriggan, I’d be an iron construct.” She changed her skin from flesh to iron and stared at him with blank, dull grey eyes.It was sort of unsettling… “What about the other one? The black one you changed into to fight the dragon?”“Ebony? It’s for emergencies because I have to draw on reserves that I don’t quite have, with potions to supplement the difference. Repeated applications require that many more potions. It numbs me and if I were to receive too many injuries, I wouldn’t notice in time to heal them before the spell drops off and I return to flesh and bleed to death. I’ve been trying to find something better, but not much luck.”“Huh. Can we at least get you a shield, then?”“Have one. Need both hands free and it drains magicka worse than the hole in your pocket.” The air in front of her distorted and wavered when she held her hand out in front of herself, then it solidified into the silver-light tower shield.“Don’t those kinds of shields only stop magic?”“Doesn’t stop arrows. Can stop most everything else, up to a point. You couldn’t smash through it, but it would still transfer the force and knock me down. Look, as long as I can end a fight quickly and decisively, there shouldn’t be a problem.”“Interesting. And here’s another tablet.” He read it this time.
“Men were born and spread over the face of Mundus
The Dragons presided over the crawling masses
Men were weak then, and had no Voice.”
“But if the dragons are a creation of Akatosh, then why would he make something that would just turn around and start bullying and slaughtering us? Or rather, why do people still worship this asshole?” Violet scoffed.“Since dragons seem to be intelligent, it’s likely their free will. Akatosh probably didn’t mean to, but the dragons saw easy prey.” Kaidan said and kept walking.“And now they’re back and have learned nothing from being driven to extinction. Meanwhile, it’s evidently been long enough that humans have grown soft and they don’t remember anything; let alone how to fight them. So now we’re back to this tablet.”“Save for you. And somehow I’m supposed to suddenly live up to a thousands-years-old legacy of people I’ve never known.” That same bitterness was starting to creep up on him as well.“Isn’t destiny amazing?!” Violet grit her teeth. “But really, live up to who? Me? I don’t know much of anything about the Akaviri either; I don’t even know what your part in all this is, exactly. No one else knows except maybe the Thalmor and who knows what they’re up to. Don’t go thinking you have to impress me. I’m sure not trying to impress these ungrateful savages. Don’t even have actual beds with mattresses and drinks that aren’t alcoholic. Since this evidently happened all over Tamriel, maybe I can just solve whatever the dragons are doing from Hammerfell instead.”“Actually, Ulfric was quite thankful, despite the fact that they’ll have to reinforce the holes in the southwest wall and bridge, and pull that skeleton out of the river to rebury it.”“Not thankful enough he could have paid us a little more. Unless the wall and bridge came out of the reward money. I wouldn’t be surprised. Also, I hear a lot of snuffling, grunting, and stomping up ahead. Probably the troll that chased that man back down the mountain. So other than trying to remove its head, how are we supposed to kill or otherwise get rid of it?” She cast detect life, and further up the trail was a large, slow moving flame.Kaidan looked over the edge of the trail. They had barely gotten out of view of Ivarstead, and the peak with the monastery still seemed so far away. He still had hope that they might be able to reach it by nightfall, or maybe find a cave they could clear out. But if there were a whole host of trolls moving in along the trail, their progress might be pushed back too much. “Trolls hate fire. Unfortunately.”“What about poison?”“I don’t usually use poison, but I think with their fast healing, they just burn through it without taking too much damage.”“Maybe I can compromise, then.”She summoned her Daedric bow and a quiver full of wicked looking arrows. Even though for her it was second nature to trust and lean into magic, Kaidan wondered for a moment if something that was barely even able to manifest in Nirn would be all that effective. She nocked one, and pulling back, the forked arrowhead changed from glowing purple to flaming white. “I’ll blind it. Should be easier to figure out what to do after that.”“How far up the trail is it?” He asked, unsheathing his sword.“Around this bend. Maybe 50 feet. I obviously don’t know what it looks like on the other side, so I can’t see if it would be better to fight there or draw it here. Stay here for a minute.” She withdrew the arrow and stayed on the stone path to minimize the sound of her boots crunching in the snow. Keeping low, she made it around the corner, and the path sloped upward along a narrow ledge overlooking a steep hill dotted with trees. Even with her bow, there was no way she was going anywhere near that drop…Kaidan watched her sneak up the trail and around the bend. Why in the world would a mage have and need the skill of hiding? A few minutes later, he heard a snow-shaking roar and Starfall bolted around the corner back in his direction.“My plan didn’t work.” She said, running behind him and nocking another arrow.“What plan?! What did you do?!” Kaidan raised his sword. He frowned as a blind troll stumbled around the corner, flailing and thrashing.The frost troll’s three eyes were all burned out with an arrow between them. ‘Nice shot,’ Kaidan thought, at least until he realized that the arrow had also passed clean through its skull and should have killed it.“I was just going to blow its brains out with the fire arrow, but that just made it mad! How is it still moving?!” She fired another arrow into its chest. “If the fire didn’t kill it, piercing its brain should have done it.”“Told you, regeneration.” He went around behind it and put his sword through the troll’s heart, dropping it to one knee, but still not stopping it. The troll swung around and fell on its back, clipping Kaidan’s arm and shoving him backward against a boulder.“That’s ridiculous! The cauterization put its eyes out! Burning up the center of its brain should have been the end of it! Get out of there and I’ll just blow it up.”Kaidan took several steps back and moved around the corner. If her ice traps we’re any indication, he felt like he should probably go hide somewhere further up the mountain.While the troll was still struggling from the chest wound, Starfall wove glowing red threads around it, draping them lightly over it like a net. At first, they itched and burned, causing it to pull and rip them. When the gossamer threads snapped, the trap exploded in a ball of flames, blowing the creature apart and charring the remains. Kaidan preferred the ice trap's brutality; at least the victim stayed in one piece. Mostly. And there was no char smell.“So… why didn’t you do that before?” He asked, coming back and stepping around the black crater.“My original plan was to blind it, and while it was dying from a shot to the head, shove it off the edge. But I couldn’t find anything big enough to push it, and shouting up here seems like a really bad idea. For this, you weakened it enough it wouldn’t escape or be thrown free of the center. I didn’t want to be here all morning. I know I said I wouldn’t do fire, and I am more proficient in ice magic, but if it doesn’t even respond to any of that…” Violet threw her hands up, annoyed that she couldn’t even salvage any of its fat for alchemy.“Hnn. Just give me plenty of warning, then.” Kaidan sighed.They kept going, taking turns reading the tablets, discussing and sometimes arguing their meanings, getting interrupted by more trolls (who were also incredibly stubborn and blown up), and getting temporarily turned around in a powerful blizzard that was too strong for even Violet’s magic. Once the sun went down, they still didn’t want to stop, so they travelled by her magelight and used her Detect Life spell so they weren’t taken by surprise. They knew they were close when she saw a small cluster of bright candle lights a short distance away.“I have… no idea what… to say… to these people….” Violet wheezed. The thin mountain air, non-stop hiking for hours, and trolls had left her doubled over and leaning against walls where she could. The air was so cold and thin, her heat shielding had actually become visible in the dark as a dim orange sheen over her entire body.“Let us in and where’s the hearth.” Kaidan’s hood was up, his arm covered his face, and his cloak was drawn over his armor as if it would help against the biting wind. He didn’t mind regular cold too much; he was raised in Skyrim, but he’d never been this high up and the storm was getting ice into every little gap between the metal plates and leather.“We’re almost there. Damn, I’m going… to need to heal my legs and feet. I can still feel them… and I really wish I couldn’t. The rocks up here must be made of glass. …Fuck mountains. Once we’re done here… we’re never coming back. You hear me?”A strong gust into his hood and down his collar made him agree.High Hrothgar was a small monastery partially carved out of the mountain itself, impervious to the blowing ice and tons of snow gathering on all sides of it. At the foot of the stairs was a chest, right where the man in Ivarstead said it would be. Violet was glad to be rid of the sack, though it wasn’t particularly heavy (especially after helping herself to a couple of apples to keep her energy up). Off to the side was the final little shrine. It was Kaidan’s turn to read this last one with chattering teeth, not that Starfall had any breath left to read even if it were her turn.“The Voice is worship Follow the Inner path Speak only in True Need.”“I think the lesson here is not to use dragon magic… unless it’s an emergency. …Fine with me.” She looked back up towards the steps and almost cried. “After all that, there’s stairs?!”“Just a few more feet. Don’t start whinging on me.” Kaidan took her wrist and pulled her up the steps. As they got to the front door, they realized that the villagers below had said that everyone who had come up here had left disappointed. There wasn’t even a handle on the door. She hissed and started pounding on the heavy, embossed iron. “They had better not be asleep…”A few hard knocks and the door opened all on its own. The two were suspicious up until a waft of warmth and incense flowed between them and was lost to the frozen night. They were inside and the door shut before any common sense could take hold. Their bags were thrown into the corner and they fell onto a bench along the entryway. The inside was dimly lit and warmed by dozens of candles, dying torches, and braziers of glowing embers, all illuminating carvings, statues, and reliefs of dragons. Violet was set on edge, but also too exhausted to do anything about it.“Whatever they want… it’s going to have… to wait until morning.” Violet slumped back against the wall, still struggling for air. She realized that going inside didn’t mean there would suddenly be more air and cursed under her breath.“If they’re reasonable.”“They’d fucking better be.” She muttered.“Please don’t get us thrown out with your profanity and heresy.” Kaidan groaned.‘Oh, if they only knew…’ Violet refused to look at him. “I promise nothing.”“Are we going to get a repeat of Windhelm?”“…I promise nothing.”Kaidan covered his face with his hands. “Starfall…”“Healing and sleep… Why hasn’t anyone come to meet us? They… just left the door open for us?”“Hello?!” Kaidan shouted.“You get on me for things, but you get to be an idiot when you’re tired.”“They’re peaceful monks and they invited you here.”A moment later, an old Nord man in drab robes came from around a corner. “The journey here must have been truly daunting for it to have taken over a month to get here. Greetings, Dragonborn. I am Arngeir.”“Greetings…?” Violet struggled into sitting upright. “Yes, it was. A month? …Since what, you calling me? If you did, I never heard it. And… how did you know I was coming?”“You could not hear our voices? It was you at Helgen, yes? It certainly sounded like you, as well as at Bleak Falls below us. …And other pilgrims are very rarely accompanied by explosions.” He cleared his throat.‘How did everyone seem to hear me in that cave? I don’t even remember what happened…’ “Helgen was a disaster. I never heard you… because I was kidnapped by elves and left to rot… in an underwater prison miles from here. Dragon magic… is loud, but not that loud. And not to be… rude, but even getting up here was an ordeal. We need rest and healing.” She yawned and was immensely disappointed when it didn’t help at all.He frowned, but nodded. “Of course. The others are sleeping as well. You shall meet them in the morning. Follow me, then.”The old monk led them down a hallway and then a set of stairs going down to an unused part of the monastery. Dust was everywhere, it was cold, and the rooms were dark. The men in the village weren’t kidding about them not taking visitors. At the end of the hall were two rooms opposite of each other, and Violet immediately set to burning up the excess dust and stoking the fireplaces. The monk watched them curiously for a moment before bidding them good night. Once she was sure he was gone, she went and took a peek into Kaidan’s room.“Are you hurting or just tired? If you just need sleep, I don’t have to use a potion. Healing works best if it’s accompanied with sleep.”He sat in front of the fireplace and rubbed his face. “Just need to thaw out and eat.”She went over and leaned in close, squinting in examination. His entire face was red, and he probably didn’t even notice, the idiot. ‘Blah blah Nord this and that. Just need to thaw. You’re not a Nord, as much as you want to believe it, and thank fuck for that. Those weirdos would probably eat snow too if they could figure out how to make alcohol out of it.’It was making him uncomfortable and he wondered if she was being strange on purpose again. “I’m fine. Really.”“Can you feel this?” She asked, poking all over his face.“Feel what—” Kaidan suddenly did feel his face flush and heat pool across his lips, cheeks, and nose. He couldn’t quite tell if she was using her healing magic on him or if it was her playing with his face like he was made of clay.“I’ll see if I can make some protective potions out of the snowberries. You should try acclimating to the harsh weather here.” She rolled her eyes and left, casting the same light on herself. It wove through her legs and feet as she went back to her room.He looked after her and moved to go after her, but she’d already closed her door. He thought for a moment, then shook his head. ‘Where’s my ale…’*She fell onto her bed, instantly regretting it as she forgot to stir and burn the dust there. After choking on it for several minutes, she groaned. She should have been more insistent on going to Winterhold. No, she should have put her foot down. Now she was on the opposite side of the country and hoping these people that no one had ever met before could solve her problems. When you were called by these folks, you went. This is what she got for listening to a bunch of superstitious yokels. Her mind was screaming along like a runaway horse-cart. ‘No no no, shut up. Too tired for this. So tired…’Violet dug around in her pack, pulled a tiny, silver vial out, drank it, and clutched her pillow tightly as everything slowed to a stop.
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Kaidan didn’t bother waking Starfall up early this time. He stoked the fire that had gone down during the night and tried to wipe the build-up of dust from the window. It was faded stained glass that probably didn’t offer much of a view beyond snow and ice, anyway. He wondered if he could sneak out to go hunting, or if the storm was still raging outside. He did see goats and rabbits on the way up, but they all disappeared once the snow got too heavy. It was so deathly silent. He couldn’t even hear Starfall across the hall, though she tended to move like she was afraid of noise, anyway.‘I really hope we get some answers today. If we’ve come all the way up here and they just aggravate and confuse her some more, she’s going to be insufferable.’ He sighed.*Violet woke up sometime around late-morning, judging by the light coming through the window. Sleep helped a little, but she still felt rather light-headed and sluggish. She pointed over at the fireplace, and the fire jumped back to life before she rolled over in bed. There still weren’t any words coming to her over this whole situation. People said the Greybeards worshipped and studied the Voice, but the halls were adorned with dragons and she’d been killing the things left and right. But then how were they and Ulfric able to use dragon magic? Didn’t they have that gnawing hunger slowly driving them insane? But then Ulfric said that mortals could use the Voice as well. …Was he kidding about… oh gods. She realized her mind was racing and she was having trouble stopping it, which meant she had to go find something to do. Well, this was where she was supposed to be, and there weren’t any answers in her room. She tested her back, legs, and feet, and they were back to normal. Everything else was down to dull soreness. Good enough.“Do I bring my notes? They’re going to ask me questions, I know it. I’m not going to remember my own questions, there’s too many.” Violet dumped her pack upside-down onto the floor, picking through her books, scrolls, and scraps. The amulet of Talos the priest had given her back in Windhelm slid out of one of her books. She held it up and put it on. Curiously, it helped just a little. “Damn it, what if they test me? I can’t waste my energy. Shut up, you don’t even know what they want, yet.”Before she knew it, she had fallen into a spiral and was stuck to the floor, staring through the pile of papers until her eye focus was somewhere completely under the mountain. “Why did I let Kaidan talk me into visiting these people, they’re going to see I’m a heretic and a lunatic and refuse to help me like everyone else…”*Kaidan finally heard her knock on his door somewhere around midday. ‘Took her long enough, she’d oversleep through the end of the world itself.’He opened the door and she was standing there with her arms full of scrolls and her logbook. She still looked tired and now jittery and distracted.“Just keep me from saying something stupid and getting us thrown out. Please. I have a feeling.” She mumbled and rubbed her face.“Are you at least all healed up?”“Mm-hmm.”“I wonder if they’ve been waiting for us.” He followed Starfall down the hall, going slowly so he didn’t overtake her. “Not enough to actually come get you, though.”“Well, sorry for being tired, old, and addled.” She was barely looking where she was going, her face was in a book, and whenever she passed close to a torch or candleholder, she flicked her fingers at it for more reading light.“You’re not old. Here, give me some of those before you fall over yourself.” He took some of her papers; they seemed to have multiplied while he wasn’t looking. “You didn’t sit up all night and write all of these, did you?”“No. They’re from the lake, Windhelm, Riverwood, and Ivarstead. I slept enough, I just don’t like it up here, and everyone’s built these people up as if they’re the most important people in Skyrim or something. Whatever they want out of me, they’re going to be disappointed. And then I’m going to be disappointed. And we’ll have wasted several weeks.” She sighed, counting on her fingers.“They won’t. You’re overthinking. You do that a lot and you need to stop.”“Can’t stop.”“Maybe your ‘Hunger’ is returning?”“…Don’t know. Probably. Focus is difficult. Been a few weeks.”They found themselves back in the front room of the monastery, this time much brighter as the rows of side windows let in a surprising amount of extra light. A man was already there praying in front of a relief, and when he saw them approach, silently got up and left the room. Was it Arngeir or someone else? His hood was up. Enough time later to make her feel even more awkward, and he returned with three other monks in tow. A different one stepped forward and that was Arngeir.“So... a Dragonborn appears, at this moment in the turning of the age. Welcome. I am Master Arngeir. I speak for the Greybeards. These are Borri, Wulfgar, and Einarth.” They all bowed, and not knowing what else to do, Violet bowed in return. Kaidan simply stayed in the background since they obviously weren’t concerned with him, and that was perfectly fine.“What age, though? My book says the same thing.” Violet nodded down at the stack in her arms.“First, a formality. Shout for us, Dragonborn. Then we may have time for questions."‘Shit. I knew it. …Wait a minute.’ “In an enclosed space? And right in front of you? That would injure everyone here. And even if I could…”He reassured her. “It is alright. We are masters of the Thu'um. You cannot harm us. …Your companion may want to stand behind you, though. If you are truly concerned, then the one word you used a short while ago will suffice. Let us taste of your Voice.”‘Don’t put it like that, it’s weird.’ Violet sighed and rubbed her face, nodding at Kaidan to hold the rest of her work. She quickly grabbed some wax from a nearby candle and pressed it into her ears, feeling safe enough that she wouldn’t have to keep an ear out for danger any time soon. Once he was behind her, she dug in her heels, took a deep breath, and focused on the large, heavy vase beside Arngeir.“FUS!”The vase slammed against the wall and shattered, but the small group of monks barely stumbled back a step. They looked to each other and nodded their approval, at least until they noticed Violet was doubled over, heaving for breath, with blood seeping between her fingers. Kaidan frowned and kneeled beside her. She turned away from them and swallowed a golden flame from her palm.“What has happened to her, Outlander?” Arngeir asked.He looked to her, not wanting to give away too much information if she thought it would make things worse. She pointed to one of the scrolls and he skimmed it. “She says that she hasn’t been able to properly keep up with the curse of needing dragon souls or releasing that magic properly. She had absorbed a dragon at Windhelm, but that was about three weeks ago. She’s also been trying to figure out what ‘true need’ is and not wasting the magic, but there have been… incidents.”“It is true that having the blood and soul of a dovah can be called a blessing or a curse, but unfortunately we do not have the insight of knowing just how it will affect a mortal. There hasn’t been a Dovahkiin in hundreds of years.”“It’s a shitty blessing, I can tell you that much,” Violet croaked. She cursed herself for not bringing water and now her voice was already starting to go. Of course they were going to make her shout. Not wanting to wipe her hand on her robe, bright flames ran all over her hand and fingers, burning the blood to black dust.The Greybeards all looked to each other.Once she composed herself, she breathed deeply and tried to organize her thoughts. “I did your test, now please, tell me what is happening. Everyone I’ve spoken to around Skyrim about the Dragonborn says the Greybeards know everything about dragon magic, but haven’t been able to tell me anything else. I was chased out of Hammerfell by a dragon even though this all seems to be Nord business, and I’m just lost. So let’s start with something easy… Who are you? What is this place?”“We are the Greybeards, followers of the Way of the Voice. You stand in High Hrothgar, on the slopes of Kynareth's sacred mountain. It was built as a sanctuary and place to reflect on the gifts given to us by both divine and dragon. Here we commune with the Voice of the Sky, and strive to achieve balance between our inner and outer selves.”‘Okay, but why would anyone subject themselves to this?’ She took a book back from Kaidan and started writing quickly. “Is there somewhere I can write comfortably?”“Actually, Dragonborn, we would like to know the extent of your powers and possibly bestow gifts. It is a momentous occasion, you see…”“You also see me bleeding from the mouth and struggling to breathe? The more I use the Voice, the worse the Hunger gets, and I’ve never forced myself to use it in rapid succession before. I just need to sit a minute and think.”Arngeir looked confused. “Hunger…?”Kaidan immediately felt the entire room drop in temperature until he was sure it was likely warmer outside. ‘Oh no…’She went slowly, enunciating every word. “The maddening, agonizing, relentless drive to find, kill, and eat dragon souls. The urge to destroy everything after I’ve eaten one. Or else I lose what little sanity and self I have left. …How have you been dealing with it if… you… don’t leave…?” Her voice died off.He shook his head. “We do not know what you speak of. We have studied the Way of the Voice for many, many years. Training with the Th'uum only seems punishing in the beginning, as a novice. But there is no… ‘hunger’ as you call it.”Starfall was very still and quiet. Mortals are allowed to use dragon magic and not suffer any sort of penalty. Meanwhile, every time, she tread entirely too close to death when she was already looking over the edge.“I don’t understand. What does any of this mean?” Instead of lashing out, she covered her face with her hands. “No, no, no, no…”“If you would, Dragonborn—”“Stop calling me that, I have a name. I’m Violet Starfall. He’s Kaidan, not ‘Outlander’.” She’d stopped paying attention to herself and was pacing around in circles, her voice rising.Kaidan reached out for her shoulder until he remembered that it wasn’t a good idea to touch her while she was agitated. “Starfall, stop.”She did, only because her thoughts had turned in on themselves and found another path. Her body turned along with her thought, flipping towards the beginning of her journal. “Okay, fine. Let’s try this. Arngeir, what do, ‘MAL. SAHLO. JOOR. ALDUIN YAH VAH HI,’ and ‘ROK FEN WERID DOVAH FAH HIN DINOK’ mean?”One of the old men gasped, and her already spiraling anxiety shot straight up.‘Here comes the swearing and shouting…’ He thought. “Starfall, you’re not making any sense now.”“I’m being forced to do this, and this godsawful curse isn’t getting any easier so I’m going to skip to the easiest conclusion and stop playing around with all of the stupid, vague prophecies and all the other dumb peripheral annoyances like the war and the Thalmor. It’s about the dragons. Dragonborn, Dragonguard, dragon runes taking me out of my own head, and a bunch of scaly fuckers all burning down Skyrim and Hammerfell to find me. The one at Windhelm actually said that to me, right before it tried to bite me in half. What did it say?”Arngeir looked away. “We do not believe you’re ready in your current state—”“Careful…” It wasn’t clear who Kaidan was talking to.She pulled her hood down tighter and breathed slow and steady. She could tell she couldn’t pull the same trick with these monks as that piddling court wizard. These old goats would throw her off the mountain. “I’m not a child. I’m not stupid. I’m not weak. I sometimes get frustrated and rush through things, but I can still maintain some control. I don’t know how long that’s going to last. People are dying. I might be dying. I’ve almost died several times already, including right under your godsdamned noses a few days ago. And good luck finding another fucking Dragonborn on such short notice. So, do you want to sit on this and wait for all this to get worse, or can I do this now before the Oblivion gates open again?”Kaidan rubbed his forehead. Now he was starting to regret talking her all the way up here.The Greybeards gathered together amongst themselves for a moment, though even Violet couldn’t hear anything from them. The others probably had some sort of vow of silence or some nonsense. Arngeir turned back and nodded. “I think we shall have to convene to decide your best course of action. As I was saying before, one of our duties is actually to assist and guide you in your destiny.”“And what is that? Please, by your gods, at least tell me that.”He hesitated. “We cannot. We do not know it yet.”‘I am going to turn this mountain upside-down and drop it on all our heads, I swear to your misbegotten gods…’ “So at least tell me what that dragon said. Or tell me where I can learn Draconic.”Arngeir’s voice became grim. “I can give you the means to learn the dragon tongue. But know this, Dragonborn. The words you have just imparted on us are more dangerous than you can possibly know.”She covered her face with her hands and screeched, thick frost crawling outward from her and up the walls and pillars. Kaidan simply stepped out of the way. She wasn’t wrong at how frustrating this was turning out to be, but her growing lack of control was getting just as bad.Master Wulfgar shook his head and stepped forward. He approached her, opened his arms, and waves of golden light flowed between them. She gasped as the rest of her pain vanished and the growing pit in her chest shrank until it was only a small puddle. Her head wasn’t completely clear, but it was enough of a relief. Being stuck up here unable to do anything but watch it take over hadn’t even occurred to her until Kaidan had reminded her in the hallway.“A dragon’s soul is what sates your pain, yes?” Arngeir asked.She nodded and patted her chest and head. “You can give souls? How?”Wulfgar merely shook his head no. ‘Not yet.’“Are any of you going to answer any of my questions? Or am I going to have to join and become a hermit for fifty years before the secrets stop?”“You say that like you’re ready to leave already.” Kaidan said.“Well if nothing’s going to happen except more mysteries that I don’t need…” She sighed. “At least it’s quiet. And thank you, Wulfgar.”He nodded, then motioned for Violet and Kaidan to follow him. The other Greybeards went out of the rear doors into the bright, snowy day.*“At least the obtuse books were filled with other information to put it all together.” She grumbled.Now Kaidan was reading her notes. “Were you really expecting them to just feed you all the information in two minutes like they gave you that soul?”“Yes! That’s why I finally gave up and came up here!”“And who told you that they would?”She opened her mouth. “I…” Ulfric only said they were calling her. Everyone else said that they knew about The Way of the Voice, which seems to be only the reverence of her dragon magic.She made an ugly noise that Kaidan couldn’t help but snort at. Wulfgar decided to not draw attention to himself.He led them to a cozy alcove with a few chairs, a candlelit table, and a tiny library composed of a few bookshelves. They were either well organized or all read many times, because Wulfgar went right to two books and placed them on top of Violet’s pile. But the two were both surprised when he pulled out a third book, and put it on Kaidan’s stack, looking directly at him.“‘The Rise and Fall of the Blades’… This is for me?” Kaidan asked, raising his eyebrow.“Dovahkriid arkh Dovahkiin.” he whispered so faintly, Kaidan almost missed it. But he didn’t miss the room’s subtle shaking. All the blood drained from his face. The name that the powerful draugr in Bleak Falls Barrow had called him. Wulfgar pointed to Kaidan, then to her, then joined their hands.“Dragonguard and Dragonborn?” Violet asked. She knew the words ‘dovah’ and ‘and’ at least, and her books said that Akaviri were Dragonguards, but she’d never heard of the Blades…The old man only placed a finger over his lips and left.“That ancient monster from the barrow knew I was an Akaviri Dragonguard? What in Oblivion happened back then?”“Wait, if it knew you as Akaviri, then it was using its own memories and wasn’t controlled by anyone. Necromantic thralls don’t know anything except what a master tells them. Draugr are just… unbelievably old. This is insane.”Kaidan took his hand back and set all the papers down, settling into a chair across from her. “I’d say, complicated. And aggravating. But now you get to sit down and read, and maybe calm down a little.”“I wish. They’re out there talking about what to do with me. And I have no doubt whatever they come up with is going to be just as useless.”“You never know,” He mumbled. He was already becoming absorbed by the book.“I want to see that after you’re done.” She watched him study for a few minutes, then turned to her own books. Her journal was filling up quickly and she’d have to buy another sooner or later, her bag was already getting full, and she imagined being bogged down by a small library she’d have to drag behind her by the end of the journey. She needed somewhere to store all these papers.*“She already speaks of Alduin, yet she doesn’t seem to know who he is. Something’s amiss.” Arngeir rubbed his beard.“Truly. She is temperamental, lacking in forethought, and barely aware of her true powers. And her mind seems to be elsewhere. Likely back in Hammerfell, judging by her thick accent. She is not ready.” Borri grumbled, and the mountain with him. Their voices were shielded by the blowing storm around them, though they were completely unbothered by it.“I believe she is aware, but her body rebels at its use, making her afraid. A single word rebounded back hard enough she was almost on her knees.” Arngeir shook his head.“Probably because she’s neither Nord nor man.” Borri scoffed. “Mal sahlo arkh joor.”Einarth threw his hands up. “And what of the Dovahkriid? The Akaviri? They were supposed to have been wiped out. Appearing at the same time as the revival of the dragons and with no small coincidence at the Dovahkiin’s side. His allegiance to her puts both her and our master in grave danger.”Wulfgar smirked as he approached, riding the wind as if it could hold his weight. “Their souls are beginning to intertwine. She is in no danger.”“That’s rather… irrelevant to this, Wulfgar.” Einarth rolled his eyes.“It means that they can’t be easily separated, and he seems to be her protective voice of reason and temperance. At least as far as not letting her ‘curse’ get the best of her. It is best to leave him be, for now.” Wulfgar replied. “Borri, Einarth, you do not watch enough. I know it has been decades since your life before the Way, but there are still aspects of our mortality that cannot be overlooked.”“Indeed,” Arngeir said. “But she needs training.”“Do you think she’ll agree to stay with us for that? She was trying to figure out how to leave as soon as you left to discuss this.” Wulfgar sighed.“Then convince him, as she seems to listen to him.”Borri shook his head. “The fact that we have to work against her to make her work with us does not bode well at all…”“Wulfgar, see what Master Paarthurnax wants to do with her. But we are settled. We shall try to keep her here to help her learn at least a few things, since that is what she has obviously come here for.” Arngeir turned his gaze even further upward towards the mountain.*“There are those that say the Blades still exist around us, in hiding from the Thalmor. Waiting as they have done time and time again, for a Dragonborn to return. For one to protect, for one to guide them. …I suppose my place really is here with you.” Kaidan had started taking his own notes on a piece of paper he’d borrowed from Starfall. ‘Ugh. I hope she’s not rubbing off on me…’“You can do whatever you want. You don’t have to be here with me or be a Dragonguard. You don’t have a dragon god holding a leash around your neck, siccing you on his failed progeny.” She muttered over her own work.He frowned at her. “Maybe not, but it wasn’t fun being nothing, nobody, directionless, and desperate. This at least solves those things.” He said quietly.She winced. “Don’t lean into it too much, yet. If I figure out how to ditch this whole thing, I’m gone. You’re free to keep nearly getting killed every few weeks, but this sort of shit is why I almost got put in an asylum.”He stared at her. “Asylum? Just how bad did it get?”Violet sighed and kept writing. “Don’t worry about it. It won’t happen as long as I keep medicated.”“And how long after your medicine runs out?”“It won’t.”“Like there will always be more dragon souls?”“Do you have an alternative? A solution?” Her voice hardened.‘Yes.’ He went back to his work. “No.”Arngeir came in shortly after; if he had heard anything, he didn’t show it. “Dovah… Starfall. Kaidan.”Kaidan was instantly suspicious that they were now addressing him. Before, he was simply the Outlander to be ignored. Did Wulfgar tell them something?“Kicking me out since I won’t cooperate?” She rolled her eyes and kept writing.He shook his head. “Nothing of the sort. You came to us for help and guidance. And seeing how badly you wish to have it; we will see what we can do. But I ask that you must be patient. You look for quick answers, but you can only skim the surface with those. The depth of what you will learn in the coming times will only bring more questions, none of them easy to answer, and a few you’ll wish you hadn’t asked. You said your journey here over the past month was harrowing and fraught with danger. It will be nothing compared to what you will face.”Violet stared up at him, then over at Kaidan. “So if you’re not putting us out, but you can’t tell me everything so I can just go, what’s going to happen?”“We are going to try to help you gain better control of your Voice. The reaction you have to your own thu’um should not be happening. The Voice itself is not supposed to be a curse. We will teach you new words and shouts. You both will learn Tinvaak, to speak in the dragons’ tongue. You say you are not weak, and while you have faced trials, bested a few dragons, and taken their souls to have the shouts you have, the dragons had help to cause the pain and suffering that they did. Some of their allies turned out to be worse than the dragons themselves. You both will learn your legacies, hopefully understand the true nature of what your future holds, and why you shouldn’t be eager to rush to your doom. This will take time. Weeks, at the least. I will say that you do have this amount of time. The dragons cannot take over so quickly, nor can they approach High Hrothgar. You are safe here on this holy mountain. Is this amenable, Dovahkiin and Dovahkriid?”They looked to each other, then said together, “We need time to decide.”‘Wulfgar was not kidding.’ He raised his eyebrows and stifled a chuckle. “As you wish.”
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“I really hate that you pitching a fit like a whelp was what got us somewhere.” Kaidan shook his head.“You think I like never being taken seriously until there’s anger and threats and tears? I don’t! No one ever listens!” Violet pounded her fist on the table, making the papers bounce.“No one listens, including you! They offered to help you earlier, but you were so absorbed with your immediate thoughts you weren’t listening to them trying to figure out how to help you! Really, they just offered more to keep you here. …Your mind is turning on itself again already.” He rubbed his forehead.She blinked at him, then opened a different book than the one she was working on and started writing in that one.“What are you writing?”“You’re right. And I’m still gathering data and experience on what happens between states of power. I had months of previous work thrown away by the Thalmor, and now I have to build it back up. Also, I’m also right because I saw them watching me during that trial. Borri neither likes, nor trusts me. He’s going to be a pain in my ass if we stay. …I think that’s Borri. Because they don’t talk, and they all look alike with their hoods up.” She grumbled.“Sunken eyes, short beard, even more grim than the others.” He offered.“Yes. Him. Anyway, actually trying to help with the curse, may have changed my mind. …And them offering to help you.”He looked back in their general direction. “That was surprising, considering they didn’t even acknowledge me until you were hurt. I think Wulfgar knows more than he can tell us. I don’t have much use for Draconic, outside of my sword.”“It would be more helpful in that we would both be able to try and communicate with the dragons, whenever they hesitate for a few seconds before trying to kill us. Whatever that dragon at Windhelm said was incredibly bad.”“Write what it said down in Tamrielic for me.” Kaidan said.She took a scrap of paper, wrote it down, and gave it to him.“Alduin ya va hi? Gods, your accent is atrocious. It’s a wonder the Greybeards could even understand you. I think this is what they were so afraid of. I don’t know the rest of it, but Alduin is the son of Akatosh and considered a god in his own right.”“I never studied worship, lore, and theology, and my family wasn’t especially devout. I barely know a few of Cyrodiil’s gods, and next to nothing about Nordic traditions. Akatosh is Ruptga, Mara (though in Hammerfell her name is Morwha), Mehrunes Dagon because of the Oblivion Crisis that we were required to cover in various classes, and a few others. It was all stories to me until I learned I had a Voice.” She did remember hearing a few stories about the Dragon War from the miners in Kynesgrove and started digging around to find that paper.“Brynjar liked to tell me stories, so if you need some context, I could try to tell you a quick version. As for Alduin, he led the rest of the other dragons in enslaving humans. Once he was killed, the others scattered or died like the tablets outside said.”“So gods can be killed…hmm.”“You’re getting too far ahead.” He said. “Anyway, what were your books about?”She showed him her writing; the Draconic alphabet with most of the runes translated to Tamrielic. A few were missing, and even if she could translate, the words would have no meaning. “It’s still not proper Draconic. Plus, we'd have to learn most of the words from elsewhere. Like, I don’t remember anything from the barrow, even though everyone on this side of the country seems to have heard it.”“The barrow echoed your voice around the cave, and the top was open. But it was so loud right next to you, that I couldn’t understand anything. Unless you want to go back in and write it down.” He smirked.She flicked her hand at him and paused. “…What are the runes on your face?”“What?”“You tattooed Draconic runes on your face. What do they mean?” Violet leaned over and ran her fingers through his hair to move it up and aside.‘Why are you so intent on pawing at me?’ He looked away and tried to ignore the heat from her hands. “Brynjar did that. He said it was something to do with my mother’s wishes.”“Well they made it difficult to figure out what runes those are. Stylish, mysterious, and handsome, but not readable.” She smiled.“…Par…don?” He coughed. The heat from her hand spread across his face. He was pretty damn sure the frostbite had healed already.She ignored him and went back to work.*They had a mid-day meal with the Greybeards, which turned out to be painfully awkward, as half of the table was forbidden from actually speaking. Violet tried to press Arngeir for more answers, and he kept deflecting. She eventually gave up and went back to conversing with Kaidan.“I just realized that we’re going to have a slight problem with staying.”“Another?” Kaidan said around his mug.“Well, not so much a problem as, I’m going to absorb everything they give me like that dragon soul, then have very little to do while I wait for you to learn everything like a mortal. As with magic, I performed a few miracles to do in thirty years what most do in ninety, and it cost me.” She waved her greying ‘locs.“Magic can do that too?”“Elves do something similar to live longer, but I’m not an elf, and this curse isn’t exactly pushing me to look into it.” She scoffed.“Well then, you can study not being such a mess when you fight things you’re not familiar with. One Falmer nearly killed you; they usually move in packs and have powerful magic because of course elves do. Skyrim’s wildlife and monsters can get a lot worse than that bear. And… the other thing that almost did us both in.” He grumbled.“I can’t do anything about that. It’s like something in my head gets switched off and I can’t control anything.”“That’s called ‘fear’, Starfall. You can absolutely control that.”“I know what fear is, smartass. This is worse. I know what I’m doing doesn’t make any sense. But nearly every time, it all happens so fast, I don’t understand what happened until it’s far too late. It’s like waking up from being unconscious and I’ve been lashed to a runaway horse. So you just handle that, and I’ll handle everything else.” She cringed and started scratching. “Even thinking about them makes my skin itchy.”“I guess we’re all lucky then that we’re possibly dealing with Alduin, a dragon god and not Mephala and Vaermina, Daedric princes of spiders and nightmares.” Kaidan muttered.“You don’t get to be mad. I asked for warning, and you didn’t take me seriously, but took advantage of it instead.”The monks all looked at each other.“Not mad. Just an observation. I know I deserved to be nearly killed in a cave-in over a small prank.” He said and kept drinking. ‘I should have brought more ale…’“Erm… If you would, Starfall. It would very helpful to us know just what happened to you to have arrived into your power.” Arngeir felt like maybe he’d better steer them towards something else before things escalated.“Are you sure? Because I’m not sure you all are ready for what's really going on.” Violet knew she shouldn’t have let Kaidan wind her up, but now there was energy pent up in her chest.Kaidan sighed. “Alright, alright. Enough Starfall. I apologized, and you did too. You yourself said that you needed more tricks, and those are going to take training. The Greybeards aren’t trying to hold you back, they’re trying to not overwhelm you. You’re going to have to cooperate.”“But it’s too late for that. Gods, and curses, and dragons, and a war, and old magic, and you, and these old men, and I've barely gotten started. Just put everything in the pile now so I can decide what to do. Or just point me at whoever needs to die for me to be able to skip all of this.” She said, looking directly at Arngeir.“You in your current state do not have the means. You say you are a scholar. That will be a valuable asset when it is time to weave all of the threads of fate together.”“Scholar of magic and medicine. Not scholar of prophecy, history, or politics. I was barely able to get enough material together at Elinhir to point me to Skyrim, and the Thalmor took everything before I could get to Winterhold to find more.”“Even of magic. Your thirst for knowledge is understandable, but you of all people should know the consequences of being unable to control new magic?”She slumped down in her chair. “Mm. You know what? Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”*Violet lay in her bed, staring at the stone and baked clay ceiling as the afternoon desert sun cooked her through the window. It was pretty much all she could do at that point. Trying to distract herself from the howling pit that was embedded in her chest had long since stopped working. Any kind of stimulation just made it louder when she inevitably returned to it. Her alchemy and healing work had ground to a halt weeks ago, and people had stopped asking for her a few days ago. Did everyone think she was dead, or had they just moved on without a care? The weeks after the disaster of summoning a daedra, she had to go into hiding, so maybe they thought this was just another ‘spell’ she was having. She couldn’t tell which was worse, the physical pain from binding her chest back together, or the shame of having broken so many people’s trust, her own morals, and the contract that kept her a free woman. The physical pain was mostly gone, only to be replaced by the Hunger again, and so much worse. But after three months of this, she didn’t have any more ideas. She was left with staring directly at ‘it’ (‘it’ currently being a fixed point in the ceiling that was warping into a bubbling black hole with light runes she didn’t understand dripping out of it) and breathing, her lungs pushing ‘it’ around whenever she inhaled. Moving anything else was terrifying.The doorknob rattled a few times, and a series of random taps knocked on the door. Violet didn’t hear it.The taps kept going until they turned to scraping. “K-k-k-k-k-k-k-kaak?”Her eyes finally moved from the hole to the door. Her voice was a tiny rasp. “Babies?”“K-k-k-k!” The knocks heard her and scraped the wooden door frantically.They must have broken the roof hatch again. Them being in the house meant that her pantry was now strewn all over that side of her apartment. The two bird creatures were perfectly capable of fending for themselves (and thank goodness for that because she could barely even move for herself anymore), but still liked to come inside to get pets and scritches and steal her things. At least they didn’t eat her alchemy ingredients. They just wanted meat and fruits, not potted plants and dead bugs.She couldn’t move. The doorknob rattled more and more until the door slammed open and two large, black, balls of feathers skittered into the room and jumped directly into the bed with her. A stray talon dug into her just-healed breast and she nearly threw them off onto the floor again from being forced upright. The hole widened so fast, it threatened to take up the entire ceiling.“Please…no.” She whispered. She was shaking and the bubbling hole in the ceiling was mirroring her.The two birds hissed and lifted her hands onto their heads. “K-k-k-k-k-kaaak kaaak…”After realizing they were just going to sit there until her hands moved, she relented, and her fingers curled under the glossy feather crests on the tops of their heads. They rattled happily. The hole stopped moving. The runes were still spilling out, leaving a mess.“Were yyyou even worried about mmme, or did you just nnneed my ffffingerssszzzz—” The room swam and she fell back to lying down again. The hole grew one large eye. She’d never seen that before.The eye blinked and glared at her, crying the runes all over her bed between her legs. She'd already cried herself out ages ago so there was nothing left but to just stare. ‘Oh good. Vivid, terrifying hallucinations with uncomfortable symbolism. Someone please kill me… I’m done. I’m finally done…’Outside, there was a loud, dull thump, causing the entire world to slowly start shaking, not that Violet could tell the difference. At least until the birds started clacking their confusion and scooping the runes out of her lap with their beaks. …They weren’t supposed to be able to see anything. The two wedged themselves under her arms.“Earthquake?” She asked them. It happened whenever there was a mining accident at the edge of town.
NO.
The eye oozed a single word in her native language this time. She was well aware how weird and horrible this hallucination was, but now it was mocking her, and being exhausted, agonized, and scared turned into being annoyed. She was tempted to put a blindfold on, but the previous episodes had shown her that the horror didn’t stop when her eyes were shut.The earthquake was getting stronger, and now there was screaming outside. Lots of people screaming, and one deafening, screeching thing she’d never heard before that made the entire building rattle and drop dust out of the hole. The screech pierced right into her brain and woke her up properly.‘That’s not part of this whole thing, is it?’ She looked around frantically and tried to move towards the window, but the birds wouldn’t move.The bubbling eye started vibrating. It synchronized very well with the screeching outside.Violet was finally able to push one bird aside and fell to her hands and knees beside her bed. All of her bones ached. How long had she been lying there? She crawled towards the window, wrenched it open, and was greeted by a blast of icy air that burned her face and made her slam it shut again. The force and temperature difference made the glass explode and rain down across her arms. “FUCK!”She swiped her glowing hands across her arms to quickly patch the bleeding, dragged herself to her feet (and fell and tried again), grabbed a bird under each arm (she hoped they wouldn’t get a taste for her blood), and headed downstairs. She needed her medicine, and for that, she needed to reach the storeroom. The ceiling was back to normal. She didn’t want to think about what it would look like after all this. As predicted, her babies had trashed her cookpot and pantry; bits of food were all over the floor. The stairs down had to be navigated sideways with her back against the wall; she wouldn’t be any good to anyone with her neck broken at the bottom. Once she was on the ground floor, she freed her arms up by kicking open the storeroom hatch on the ground and throwing both birds down the stairs. They had wings; they wouldn’t die. They’d just bite her fingers off later.Something was happening outside. Something with ice magic similar to hers. She was delirious, in agony, and hallucinating, but this wasn’t part of it, she didn’t think. It was loud and shaking a portion of the city. The guards were probably on it, but she was a healer, and it was an emergency, and she had a contract. But because she was hiding upstairs for the past weeks out of her fucking mind, there probably wasn’t enough of her stock to help people, so she’d have to drain what little was left of herself. There wasn’t really time to ask what she’d done to deserve all this.What she wouldn’t have given to just take a minute to cry on the floor. She was still shaking, even as she pulled on her silver and white hooded robe, jewelry, and sandals. The sleeves instantly soaked up her blood and she sighed a curse. The chaos was still going on outside. Down in the storeroom, four scared and angry eyes followed her from behind some boxes as she pulled out a crate of vials, drank five at once (and gagged more obscenities at the conflicting tastes), then filled a satchel sized waterskin from her cistern, forced herself to drink half, splashed her face, then filled it again.“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you when I come back. A whole bucket of crabs for us to share, I promise.” She attached a magelight to the ceiling and went back upstairs, locking the hatch so they couldn’t escape.She slapped her face a few times, went up to the door, and opened it slowly to peek out. There wasn’t anything happening immediately outside, so she ventured south to the main road. A great, flying thing. Grey scales rimed with ice turned dirty, sandy brown. Wings stirring up icy dust devils up and down the roads. The city’s namesake and the theme of most of the city’s monuments. A dragon. It swatted at a guard that cut its lip open with his sword, and the man crumpled into a heap against a stone wall on the next street. It just flicked him away like a bug. The other guards retaliated with arrows and spears.Where was the reassuring hole in the ceiling that reminded her that this was all just a really bad fever dream? It was in her chest, vibrating to the steps of the monster, getting ready to tear its way out through the jagged scar across her breast. …Never mind, fuck that thing. She backed away from the street and cast Detect Life to see if anyone else was nearby. Many strong flames hiding underground in basements, cellars, and sewers. Around a dozen weaker and flickering flames in the immediate vicinity. There was no point in looking for the dead just yet. If the guards could do their job and drive it away, she could sneak around and do her job for the first time in two months.She cut around behind her house to the next street and met one of her neighbors lying on the ground just a few feet from his house. His wares from the market and part of his arm were under a piece of roof that had cracked loose. She knelt beside him and whispered. “It’s Violet. I’m going to get you inside, okay?” She struggled horribly with pushing the chunk of stone away and streams of light wove down her hands into his. She could see the dragon’s tail flicking back and forth a few dozen feet away.The Breton man shuddered awake, his grey eyes wide with confusion and fear. He grabbed her arm with both hands to get up and thanked her profusely. At least that’s what she thought was going on. A stream of gibberish poured from his mouth. She knew he spoke Tamrielic. She spoke with him every once in a while. He sold her a blue dress that she had in her closet.“What…?”“Kogaan! Kogaan!” He said gratefully before running into his house and slamming the door on her.‘Oh gods no. No no no no no fuck no.’ Did she hit her head in her house? Was her brain finally and completely gone with apoplexy? She checked her head for blood from the window shattering. A few cuts, but nothing deep. She looked up. The sky was grey and snow was coming down… in the desert. Cling to the last shred of sanity like an oasis. The dragon screeched again and took off, making her dive between two houses so she wouldn’t be seen. It left her neighborhood, so she went to look for other survivors again. They all spoke the same gibberish as she helped them to safety. Even the words in her head were starting to lose meaning. That oasis was evaporating fast.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After Violet couldn’t find anyone else to help and was alone on the other side of town, it dawned on her that people weren’t screaming anymore. Had everyone finally found a place to hide? Where were the guards? Did the dragon finally leave for good? She went back out to the main road.Everyone was dead. Frozen solid or piles of bloody slush. Then where was the dragon? It couldn’t have been long since they hadn’t started to melt from the heat, yet. Violet was past exhausted and the adrenaline was wearing off, so she leaned against the wall and fell into a sitting position. What did it want? To just show up, kill a bunch of people and leave? Dragonstar was going to be a mess for months to come. Why was it part of her fever dream? Or did her failing mind just incorporate it, and it wasn’t a sign of anything except that she was about to die of apoplexy?She splashed her face with some water from her waterskin and looked for the nearest tavern or shop. Not for alcohol, just for someplace to rest that wasn’t out in the open. She wasn’t going to make it back home before passing out. She saw the Red Beetle a few blocks up (not the worst place in town) and shakily pulled herself up to her feet. When she looked down to dust herself off, the black hole with an eye floating in it was under her feet and growing in every direction like a fast… approach—“FO KRAH DIIN!”The dragon’s shout echoed up and down every street, and the blast of ice sent a frozen sandstorm into every crevice for over a mile. Violet was slammed against the ground, frozen nearly to death, and the black hole’s bubbles were stinging cold. She tried to breathe but the air was too cold and too dusty, so she coughed into her sleeve. The hole’s eye below couldn’t hurt her. The dragon’s teeth above her definitely could. That good cry she needed earlier was now a good hysterical shrieking and almost as insistent as the Hunger.The dragon dropped down from the building above her and cornered her.“ZU’U MINDOK LOSEI NI DILON.”Violet could hear it talking, but not only was it the same gibberish from earlier, it was like listening to it in the middle of a crowded bathhouse. Ringing and water flooded her ears. The shell of ice quickly melted, and a cloak of fire crawled over her shivering form. She didn’t want to look directly at the horrible thing, but the only other place to look was into the dizzying blackness below her.“KRO? PRUZAH.” It… grinned?She stared dumbly at it. What else could she do? This thing had tried to kill her and had almost succeeded, but now it was trying to communicate with her? “I don’t understand.” She coughed weakly.The creature narrowed its eyes. “LOSEI DOVAHKIIN, GEH?”She didn’t understand it; it didn’t understand her. They weren’t going to get anywhere. It was going to get frustrated and kill her soon.
Kill it before it kills you.
“What?”“HIN LAH LOS DOVAHMED… TINVAAK!”Lay this fucker’s bones out for dust! The Hunger laughed. It hadn’t laughed before or spoke before today. This was far scarier than the giant lizard creature’s guttural yelling and widespread destruction.The dragon stood up on its hind legs, then scratched the ground with a dewclaw and pointed at each rune. “Fo! Krah! Diin!” Its voice was a thick, deep, angry growl instead of a proud, intense shout. It saying those words this time didn’t summon a blizzard.She got to her feet, as well. She wiped her face on her sleeves and read the scratches on the ground. They looked like the disgusting, bright mess the hole in the ceiling left all over her bed. Everyone was speaking whatever this thing was speaking. That wasn’t a fever dream or a nightmare. Well it was, but it was all becoming too real. Or was reality turning to mush…?“Fo. Krah. Diin.” Violet repeated it carefully, though her accent clashed badly. It came out more as “Fook-rah deen.”The creature was not amused. It slammed the ground with its tail, which made her flinch, which seemed to upset it even more. “NID NIKRIIN! TINVAAK! NU! Fo! Krah! Diin!”
KILL IT OR I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF.
The ground became wet sludge and Violet realized she was actually sinking into the black pit under her. Whatever this was, it was so strong now, that it wasn’t content being a hallucination anymore. And it wanted the dragon more than anything else in the world. It was tormenting her for months over something that didn’t even exist until a few hours ago. And now it knew things instead of being some kind of vague sickness she had no way to fight. She was possessed. A new and different rage started to seethe and grasp and claw at the pit in her chest, one that actually belonged to her. She slowly slid her hand up across her heart and drew the sign for ebony. She wasn’t even aware she was doing it.The dragon watched her change color and snarled. “ZU’U FEN NAK HI NAHLAAS.”It dove right at the mage and snapped its jaws, only to pull away and screech before it could get them closed. A cluster of ice lances jutted out from the bottom of its jaw and up through the top of its muzzle, and several of its teeth were cracked. That earth-shaking scream came out again and Violet thought her head was going to shatter like her window.‘No turning back now!’ Violet thought as she turned and ran down a side-street. It was too big to fit down the alleys, and it was a gamble making it fly over her, but she was too tired, she was low on water after all the healing, and it already proved it didn’t care about destroying the city. She had to draw it out, but she lived on the south side of the city, and the nearest gate was miles away on the west end, leading out into the desert. She could hide when she needed to, but she had no idea how sharp a dragon’s senses were. Sharp enough to find and draw her out of an entire city full of people. She could steal a horse or camel, but the dragon would just kill it and she didn’t want that on her head. If there were any guards left, would they let her out? If there weren’t, could she get the gates open? Too much to think about! She screamed internally and kept her eyes up for the dragon and definitely not to avoid the bottomless pit in her shadow trying to get her to go back and fight.Alleys, side-streets, private gates, and a few broken into buildings turned into an escape route that led her to the Alik’r West Gate hours later. They were shut, and there were no guards to be found. She tried the gate house and it was locked. There was no picking that one. The dragon was screaming alleged curses overhead and tearing the place apart looking for her. Anxiety was starting to burn all over, pushing past the pit in her chest and churning down into her stomach.‘Well, if it kills me out there, at least I won’t have to face consequences for this…’ Violet pulled at her dreadlocks, whining and pacing and hoping some other less stupid solution would come up. It didn’t, so she puts her hands on the wooden gate, breathed deeply, and drew dozens of bright red explosive ward threads all over the door hinges and weak points. ‘Oh gods…’She ran back along the road a few dozen feet, then, being unable to actually pray to anyone, screamed into her hands some more and threw a simple fireball at the center. It set off a chain reaction, and both doors erupted in flames. The steel hinges melted, making the doors fall over into a cloud of dust and smoke.‘That wasn’t so horrible. I thought it was going to explode. …It should have exploded. And now that dragon is going to come investigate.’She barely reached the main road before she heard it scream, “DOVAHKIIN!”‘Can I at least have a head-start?!’ She realized she wasn’t going to make it on foot. ‘No no no please no…’ Maybe this was far enough away. Maybe if she could keep it right out here and focused on her, it wouldn’t head back inside. Maybe one woman would succeed where an entire regiment of guards failed and the thing whispering murderous thoughts in her ear would finally leave her alone. She covered her face with her hands and tried her damnedest not to cry, knowing full well if she did, it wouldn’t stop and then she’d truly die.She was ready to die a few hours ago, anything to get away from the Hunger. What changed? What if she’d done all this for nothing and it was just going to swallow her up from the inside out?The dragon’s shadow swallowed up her own and the pit underneath her feet filled the dark space, bubbling up more light runes.“Oh, fuck you. No one was talking to you. I shouldn’t even be acknowledging your presence. I can’t even read that.”“Fo! Krah! Diin! RUTH JOOR! TINVAAK!” The dragon blocked her way back into the city and angrily shouted the words over and over. Stupid, stupid mortal!“Stop saying that!” She screamed, coughing halfway through. “I don’t understand! I said it! Nothing happened! FO KRAH DIIN! …See? Nothing!”It sneered at her. “LOSEI DOVAHKIIN. ZU’U KORAAV NI.”“STOP TALKING AT ME YOU GODSDAMNED LIZARD!!” She screamed and launched a fireball into its stupid mouth.Its head snapped backward briefly before it finally relented yelling at her, instead spitting onto the sand at her feet. “RUZ OFAAL DII ZII.”“FO!”A stream of stinging ice swept her up into the air and slammed her back down, knocking the air from her lungs. Her face was smashed into the sand to prevent her from getting any back. The impact emptied her brain out save for instant regret and terror.
Are you just going to let it kill you?
‘What are you?! What did I do?! What is all this?! I don’t understand!’ She was surprised that there was enough left of her somewhere that she started to crack, and tears fell into the pit.
We know something you don’t. Kill it and you'll know.
The pit under her graciously helped as sand fell down away from her into nothingness. The eye seemed to bore directly into the center of her mind until the pupil itself opened and a hideous mouth full of dragon’s teeth laughed at her. It was mocking her, the dragon was too, and they both would see her break.‘Anything to see you both die!’Tiny flames crawled out from her fists and the sand turned black with soot. For every meter it moved away from her, the flames doubled in size, looking for any and everything that would burn. Airborne debris. The trash on the roadside. The gas clouds from the mines. She pulled everything light enough to be moved by the winds out of the area and pointed them at the dragon. At it, around it, back to her, and around again. The smoke enveloped the dragon quickly, spinning into a wall of fire, trapping it with the storm clouds the dragon brought making the ceiling. She managed to get to her knees but was still too shaken and focused on the fires to stand.The great beast looked around surprised. Human magic was supposed to be weaker than a dragon’s Voice because they were too small and pathetic to voice their demands of Aetherius itself. She had repeated his words to no effect. But instead, this silent, wild rage was made of more fire than a mortal should be able to even dream of. The dragon’s blood was there. She was still soulless and ignorant. But this was something else, and possibly worse. He shouted into the fire, but was drowned out from the roar of the flames below, rumbling thunder above, and blowing sand around.The smoke from the fire and the grey clouds from the dragon fed each other, growing larger, taking in more surrounding air, flushing it into the fire, expanding the column, making more smoke, and growing the cloud. Violet only meant to make a simple pillar. Oh well. It’s not like she’d be able to let the damned thing go; if it didn’t keep trying to kill her or yell at her, it might go back into the city. The firestorm was hard to control, and her head was filled with all kinds of horrible noise including her screaming, but the whole thing was just pissing her off even more. It couldn’t fall to someone who was actually able to handle this, like the guards were supposedly trained to (okay, there probably weren’t plans if dragons showed up out of nowhere and started ravaging the town), or the fighters’ guild, or the mages’ guild, who were suspiciously fucking absent unless it was time to pay her dues or go to her probation hearings. She couldn’t just lie in her bed and die in delirium and let her birds eat her corpse. There had to be a thing sucking out the last bits of her brain and driving her to fight past exhaustion some kind of nightmare that she was pretty sure wasn’t part of her normal horrifically exaggerated imagination. She wasn’t even a fighter. She hadn’t done any Destruction training since college, which she was quickly exempted and graduated from because of her health, and her ‘tendency towards creative decisive victory’ (the nice way her professors kept from calling her an ingenious, deranged monster).Instead of shouting for her to stop, the dragon devolved into screeching and took off straight up to escape the swirling fire. He reached the cloud layer before being struck down to the ground by lightning, landing in piles of broken glass created by the lightning strikes fusing the sand. The fire closed in, melting the ice on its back, then burning its scales and moving inward. Once the winds caught its wings, it was swept up in circles with the stinging sand and shredding glass, thrashed around in the storm, flailing and spitting frost trying to counter her assault. Unfortunately for it, Violet was now caught in her own angry thought spiral and with no way to communicate to her, he was stuck until she worked her way out of it.By the time Violet came back to herself, she could barely see through blurring and darkening vision. The fire wasn’t in front of her, and neither was the sun. Did it burn out? Where was the dragon? Just turning her head to look for it made her entire body sway too far to the side until she fell over.“Damn it, where is it?” She coughed. She crawled around, swinging wildly between panic, fury, and exhaustion. The entire area was scorched. Follow that. The path of destruction went back into the city.“No...” She dragged herself back through the gate and found the guardhouse, barracks and most of West Dragonstar burning, with the dragon crashed through the side of a building. It was completely charred, and yet, still not dead. The monster lifted its head slightly and growled at her.“How?! How the fuck are you still alive?!” Violet screamed. The coughing came with blood this time. She used the last of her waterskin, the blood, and her pouring sweat to form an ice dagger. It froze her hand and hurt like hell, but at least it was something she could actually tell was real.The dragon's voice was a labored grumble. “Hin dovah sos los mul. Kod dii rotte arkh dii zii arkh krii rok. Fo. Krah. Diin.”“You’re still fucking talking like I can understand.” Violet pulled herself up to her feet and edged along the wall of the burning building while cursing, waving away smoke, and losing herself in another tirade.“I swear to the motherfucking gods. Whatever this is all about? It better be worth all this horseshit. I’m a fucking healer, but everyone is dead. A scholar, but I have no fucking clue what’s happening! I went to college! You wouldn’t believe the shit I had to do to get through it. They said I was too fucked up to finish. ‘A danger to myself and others.’ But look who was the only fucking one to have the absolute audacity! Look who’s left to clean up this mess! Look who accidentally burnt down a piece of the city trying to kill one fucking lizard! Look what we did! This is all your fucking fault! Look who’s talking to herself and the thing hiding inside her that probably snuck out of an Oblivion gate except I already tried an exorcism! I am not going back to the godsdamned asylum! Are you happy? Huh?! I’m getting sand, dirt, blood, and soot all over my good, enchanted, white robes and this was expensive, you giant piece of shit!” She screamed through her tears.The dragon didn’t reply.Take its life for your own. I’ll have the rest. The black pit was trying so hard to swallow the dragon. But it needed her to do it. She was definitely going to find this pathetic parasite and kill it.“Now you have nothing to say to me.” She jammed the blade in between the scales on its neck, wedged its jugular open with her bare hands, and waited for it to bleed out. She stared at the absolutely normal, red blood gushing out over her robes and feet and into the pit. “That what you were after?!”Suddenly, the dragon spasmed and caught fire again. She stared up wondering what was left to burn. The bubbling blackness that was slowly taking her vision instantly turned into blinding white light. The flames were brighter than the fire consuming the building and wove into strands and ribbons. This new fire flowed around and through her, and Violet gasped.She stumbled backwards and fell; it felt like all of her blood had been replaced with lightning. The pain, the confusion, the Hunger, the anger, and the exhaustion all died in a heartbeat and were replaced with power and ecstasy. And everything was real again! At least in the way that reality was present. She still wasn’t sure what had happened to her over the past few months. But no more hallucinating wildly and not knowing what was real and what she was merely imagining. Her hearing was filled with roaring flames and faint whispers. The light had died and so had her sight. The air was dirty, and smoky, and burning the toxic gas clouds from the mines was one of the worst things she could have done, but she knew it was all real.Then she saw it. Her vision was still dim, but there was the barest flicker of light in the darkness. The runes. The meaning of the dragon’s words. The power and intent of conjuring a blizzard. To command the weather to obey on a level so pure and primal, her magic was just a bastard imitation. A frost at first, then bitter cold, to finally freeze the world itself. Now. See the world again.“FO KRAH DIIN!”Since she was pointed at the barracks, her voice impacted immediately, blasting what was left of the burning building to rubble and immediately snuffing the fire. Snow and ash rained down again to dust the sand. The dragon’s skeleton shattered into a pile of splinters.She covered her mouth. The dragon’s magic, power, memories, blood, and soul were hers.
NOW KILL THEM ALL.
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Violet pulled her head up from being nestled in her arms on the table and looked around. The Greybeards were either gawking at her or staring through the floor. Kaidan had his hand over his mouth and he looked exhausted from just listening. There was that damned look again.“Do we all understand just how fucked up this whole thing is, now? Does everyone get why I call this a curse? Do you see what kind of trouble you get to keep me out of, if you decide to call yourself Dovahkriid?” Her voice cracked as she looked at Kaidan.He simply exhaled and rubbed his face.“For what it’s worth, it takes around two months before the Hunger starts getting… insistent. It had been about five weeks since Whiterun when you met me. That was just the ‘acutely annoying’ stage.”“How in Oblivion am I supposed to… save? distract? keep? you from a murderous black pit that may or may not actually exist?”She shrugged and gave a hollow laugh. “I don’t know. I don’t even know how much of what I said was actually real, other than the dragon and the city burning/freezing.”“And you nearly did the same thing to Windhelm?! By the Nine…” Now it was Kaidan’s turn to put his head down on the table. Starfall had already told him she had a… problem… back in Windhelm. But to actually hear the unbelievable details… She’d destroyed half a city and likely killed so many people! Being simple-headed, moody, and addled with pain was one thing, but widespread destruction from loss of control, being possibly possessed by something that ate away at her mind, and being halfway between this plane and likely Oblivion? He only meant it figuratively that he would keep her from being lost to the Shivering Isles. He had no idea how to actually do that.“You should be comforting me.” She shook her head and patted his back. “Just keep finding me dragons while the Greybeards work on breaking this curse, and we’ll all be fine.”“I… believe we have a lot of research to do, then.” Arngeir mumbled and scratched at his beard.“I hope you have more sources than that tiny library that Wulfgar showed us.” Violet scoffed.He nodded. “We do. Do not worry.”“And if you’re still saying that it’s going to get worse than being so completely broken that everything stops being real, then I guess we can all just quit now, because I… that can’t happen again.” She ran her hands over her hair.“That remains to be seen, Dragonborn.”She grit her teeth. “Violet. Or Starfall. Just not that stupid title.”Arngeir sighed and chose the name that the Dragonslayer used for her. “Starfall. As you demonstrated through your story, dragon magic is ancient, and powerful. But it is also simple, as dragons, while intelligent, have simple intent. Fire. Ice. Power. Control. Death. Humans can be far more complex. And we have also had thousands of years to tap into new ideas, forces, methods, and even the Divines themselves. And when I say the dragons had help, I mean they were able to lend their power to humans in a way similar to a Dragonborn. Whatever you faced in Bleak Falls Barrow below… those draugr… those were cultists. They worshipped the dragons and were rewarded. They will have passed on their knowledge, and it can only have grown and festered with time.”“So like me, combining dragon, elven, and human magic.”“Yes. And on that note, when you are ready, we would like to meet you outside at the courtyard. We will start by studying the extent of your Voice by giving you new Words of Power. Take your time.” Arngeir nodded to his brothers, then to Starfall and Kaidan.She scoffed, but relented and took a long drink. More words meant more instances where she’d have to use them, and more energy spent trying to balance the two opposites tearing her apart. They still insisted in giving her even more power after hearing all that. She was going to pay for this alcohol later, but she needed it now.*After Violet stalled for a while, she finally went out to the courtyard. Kaidan took a spot off to the side, on top of a pillar. He wondered what other kinds of shouts there were. She had ice and used the same invisible force as the draugr. The dragon they fought breathed fire opposite her ice. Something was summoning these dragons back to life. Could dragons be necromancers? He imagined an army of draugr all headed by a rotting dragon that itself couldn’t die. And they’d have to face them all.He studied Starfall pacing around in the snow, trying to vent nervous energy. Everything surrounding and in her was steeped in various kinds of magic and she swore it wasn’t killing her, but there wasn’t a single part of any of this that wouldn’t be solved if she didn’t have any of it. And he was supposed to be able to counter more horrible magic than he’d ever seen before without using any.“Gods damn it.” He mumbled under his breath.The Greybeards all took position at various places around the courtyard, with Arngeir stepping up beside her."Without training, you have already taken the first steps towards projecting your Voice into a Thu'um, a Shout. Now let us see how you learn. When you Shout, you speak in the language of dragons. Thus, your Dragon Blood gives you an inborn ability to learn Words of Power. All Shouts are made up of Words of Power. As you master the Words, your Shout will become progressively stronger.“Master Einarth will now teach you "Ro," the second Word in Unrelenting Force. Ro means "Balance" in the dragon tongue. Combine it with Fus - "Force" - to focus your Thu'um more sharply." Arngeir explained the basics to her, then stepped aside for Einarth."Ro." He pointed to the stone tiles glazed with ice, then said one word loud enough that it branded deep into the stone and glowed fiery red.She could see the waves of light rise and pass through her, dimming her vision. Even though Arngeir had just told her what it meant, she could see the idea clearly in her mind.
Balance. Ro.
When she came back to herself, Arngeir had set another pot a little way away from her. He pointed to it but didn’t move from beside it.“FUS RO!”The pot flew all the way across the courtyard into the far gate and smashed into pieces. She coughed and gasped for air but wasn’t hurt."You truly do have the gift, as strenuous as it seems to be for you. But learning a Word of Power is only the first step... you must unlock its meaning through constant practice in order to use it in a Shout. Well, that is how the rest of us learn Shouts. As Dragonborn, you can absorb a slain dragon's life force and knowledge directly."“Oi, Starfall. Arngeir. Can she use a word if she’s only heard it and not seen it?” Kaidan called over to them.“Hmm. There are a few instances where this is possible. Such as if you know someone’s name in the dragon tongue, you could summon them. But then there are precise ideas that can only be learned from the source.”“Then… the final word the Draugr Lord used on us was 'Dah'. While you were learning from the wall, I got a practical lesson.” He grumbled.“Well, at least it didn’t snap your ribs like twigs.” She said. She closed her eyes and thought about the runes she learned, then pointed at the ground with one finger and burned the word next to Einarth's ‘Ro’.The world went dark again, and memories far older than she was bubbled up in her mind.Dah. Push.The three words together felt like she really could destroy the mountain. The others could see it in her eyes.“FIIK LO SHAH!”Borri quickly summoned an ethereal copy of himself for her to use as a test target.Violet stared at it for a moment. She had not seen the dragons do that. It would pass as an Illusion class spell, similar to invisibility. And coupled with invisibility… “Can you control that, or is it a statue?”“Focus!” Kaidan shouted.“You want to come down here and do this?” She waved him over.“Can’t use magic, remember?” He grinned at her.“As loud as you are, I’m thinking you probably could use dragon magic!”Borri's doppelganger disappeared while they were arguing. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot.‘These two…’ Arngeir sighed. “Starfall, please.”She quickly turned back to where Borri’s clone was.“FUS RO DAH!”Borri’s clone was not there. Borri was.“BEX WULD!”He sidestepped the distortion of air and was suddenly on the other side of the far gate that had opened by itself. The shout picked up the loose snow as it traveled, completely destroying a stone post on the other side of the gate.“Shit!” Violet covered her mouth and coughed.Kaidan barely had enough time to register what had happened. One, she was able to use a word that he had told her, and not a sage, dragon, or wall. Two, dragon magic could be dodged. Three, a spell to open doors and move unnaturally fast.Wulfgar, Einarth, and Arngeir all looked at each other.“Remarkable. You should not have been able to create the word yourself.” Arngeir said.“I have four dragons’ memories to draw from, not counting the wall from the barrow, and these words just now. Though none of them had used anything except fire and ice to try and kill me.”He cleared his throat. "Save for you being easily distracted, you wield like a master. But we will need to see how you learn a completely new Shout. Master Borri will teach you “Wuld” as he has just demonstrated, which means “Whirlwind”. And at least we know you must still hear the word within yourself before you can project it into a Thu'um. Approach Master Borri and he will gift you his knowledge of “Wuld”, and Master Wulfgar will demonstrate Whirlwind Sprint again. Then it will be your turn. Master Borri?”Borri opened the gate again.“BEX!”
“WULD NAH KEST!”
Three words and Wulfgar moved with the same speed and force of Violet’s previous Shout. He landed with an abrupt stop just behind the gate and it shut behind him.‘One spell to move others, another to move yourself.’ Violet noted to herself. ‘Bex opens things.’"Now it is your turn. Stand next to me. Master Borri will open the gate. Use your Whirlwind Sprint to pass through before it closes."Violet hadn’t noticed that just past the gate was a sheer drop off the edge of the mountain, nor had the Greybeards told her how to stop. So when she used that one Word and the entire country of Skyrim instantly became visible at her feet, the resulting small gasp was only audible to Wulfgar just behind her. The rest of them only saw her falling flat on her face.Kaidan covered his mouth and struggled to keep from laughing as he thought she’d tripped, until he noticed she didn’t get up or start screeching curses. Wulfgar went over to check on her and shook his head.‘What on Nirn?’ Kaidan hopped down from his pillar and went over.‘Talos save us…’ Wulfgar kneeled down to make sure she hadn’t hit her head on the rocks all around them, then rubbed his head. He looked up at Kaidan approaching, shrugged, and motioned for him to come get her.“I suppose the lesson is over, then.” Arngeir sighed and pinched his temple.“I don’t believe this. Though it explains why she didn’t want to come up here in the first place. Damn it, Starfall...” Kaidan scooped her up in his arms and looked out over the horizon. He could see most of Skyrim; Whiterun, Windhelm, the rivers, the mountain passes, and very faintly the statue of Azura. They were just starting and there was so much out there. An overwhelming sight, if he were to own the truth.He took her all the way back to her room and lay her onto her bed. He was about to close the door, when he heard a sharp inhale and a small mumble.“We’re fucking doomed, you know that, right? Your Dragonborn is a coward and a lunatic.” She grabbed the pillow and tried to smother herself with it.“We’re not.” He said and closed the door.*The Greybeards didn’t pressure her for a few days after that, and she mostly stayed in her room. Instead, they let her absorb all the information she wanted with books and questions. Whatever Arngeir would willingly give up, anyway. She learned the history of those with dragon’s blood, and then had to have an argument about that.“This doesn’t make any sense, though. I’m a Redguard, and my ancestors were. I’m not the bastard daughter of an Imperial.”“I suspect that with no other actual descendants of the royal lines left after Martin Septim, Akatosh, or Ruptga as I believe Redguard call him, had to choose someone new.” Arngeir said. He had come in to lend her a book he had found in one of the other rooms, only to be caught in conversation. And admittedly she kept her room cozy…“Wish he would have asked first so I could have told him to fuck off.” She grumbled.He cleared his throat. “I’d say something about most people being excited to be able to lay claim to the Empire, but learning from your experiences, it seems that you are not most people.”She sighed and kept flipping through the history book. “I just want to be left alone.”“Maybe he found you to be the most fitting, judging by your abilities, except knowing that you would not cooperate, thought to give you ‘motivation’.”“There are far more proficient mages, warriors, and glory seekers than me, who’d stomp on everyone in their path for the chance to fight legendary monsters.”“It is not just about fighting and ambition. You have already surpassed our expectations regarding being able to learn dragon magic, not to mention everything else we put in front of you. You are keenly interested in the world around you, enough that you are able to control and manipulate it. You persist through your pain and circumstances. Kaidan tells us that you tend towards protectiveness and acts of compassion far greater than your job as a simple healer would require. Would you say that you had these qualities long before the Hunger forced you to?”She rolled her eyes. “I will say he’s been talking about me behind my back and I don’t appreciate it.”“You must not lose these qualities. They will be invaluable. And I dare say they are hallmarks of a good leader. Empress, even.” Arngeir gave her a small grin.“No. And all those things are worthless if you’re barking mad.”“You do not give yourself enough credit.”“I give myself exactly enough. Everyone else needs to stop being so easily impressed.”“And humility, as roundabout as it is.” He shook his head.*Now that Starfall was prone to hiding in her room, Kaidan took the opportunity to leave the monastery and explore more of the mountain. They’d killed the trolls, so there was little left in the way of danger. The weather still seemed to rage at inopportune times, such as if he were to go too close to the far end of the courtyard to go further up the mountain. Of course it raised his suspicion, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it other than maybe bring it up with Starfall, even though she’d tried to manipulate it before with no success. The man at the bottom of the mountain had sent up dried fish, meats, and some pickled vegetables, but those were for the Greybeards. He and Starfall had brought some food, but there wasn’t enough for them to stay for more than a few days.Without the trolls and with cleaning up a few odd creatures like ice wraiths, the wildlife on the mountain was already returning. He spotted rabbits, goats, and further down, a few elk. Those would keep them fed. Though it was highly unsettling that they all seemed to ignore him. He was even able to walk up to a rabbit and grab it by the scruff, and those things usually sprinted when they heard him coming from a mile away. There were more snowberry bushes that Starfall hadn’t stripped bare, and he wondered if her skills in alchemy also lent themselves to brewing alcohol. Probably not; she rarely drank alcohol but was constantly going through water like she was always dying of thirst. Maybe it was part of a habit from living in the desert; get water when and where you can.And if it came to it, he could always just disappear for a few days and go down to Ivarstead, considering it only took them a little over a day to climb the mountain with all the distractions. Being up on the mountain for only a week was already giving him cabin fever. Arngeir only talked to him to instruct him (and get him to talk some sense into Starfall), and the others went back to avoiding him when Starfall wasn’t around. She was holed up in her room using up every scrap of paper on the mountain trying to put it all together, and it was probably doing the same number on her head. She’d never admit it, though.And so he’d leave for days at a time, sometimes without telling anyone, though Arngeir seemed to mysteriously know that he’d gone down to the village. It annoyed her more that if he’d gone down there, he didn’t ask if she wanted anything (more paper, scissors, any alchemical supplies he could buy, eggs, leeks, butter, potatoes, and salt). He always seemed to know and came back with those things (and other supplies), anyway.*The more she learned Dovahzul, the more she found it outdated in its simplicity. Dragons were thousands of years old and died before human and mer history had picked up with more complicated concepts. They didn’t even have ideas or spells to enrich, bolster, defend, or heal. Just lots of natural, physical, and emotional states related to misery. A lot of giant, flying bullies. The Greybeards didn’t worship them as such like the pre-Nordic Atmorans, but gave thanks to Akatosh and one of his sons named Paarthurnax for sharing the dragons' power to shout. Evidently, not all of the dragons were evil, but just as scared of Alduin and followed orders as such. She wished she could remember everything that that first dragon had said to her. It so badly wanted her to learn its spell that it was willing to sacrifice its soul for her to learn despite her completely botched attempt to kill it quickly. But it seems those were few and far between, as every dragon after went straight for the kill.“Are you even learning anything if you’re just running off every other day?” Violet groaned and rubbed her face. Everything was stiff, her eyes were dark circles, and the hearth had gone cold, but she still didn’t want to move from her desk that was littered with paper and empty potion bottles.Kaidan shrugged. “About as much as you’re getting any exercise.”“Hi drun un bokke het lingrah. Ahrk ruth hi.” She hissed.“Zu’u ni, hi los.” He grinned.She raised her eyebrow. When did he have time to study? And his voice was entirely too smooth and deep for Dovahzul's guttural growling. Though it probably sounded just as odd coming from a little, fat, Redguard woman instead of a giant lizard.“I practice with Arngeir and Wulfgar while you’re holed up in here.”“Huh.”He sighed. “You need to stop hiding in here. Nobody cares that you don’t like it up here.”“I’ll do what I like.” She grunted.“Including wallow in pity and darkness.”“Doing all the work when I get it minimizes all the wandering looking for more clues. While you were out playing in the snow, I have all this. So far, it seems like if the Septims hadn’t gotten themselves killed 200 years ago over the Oblivion Crisis, I wouldn’t have to do this now. Nothing in any of these books says anything about my Hunger problem. So it may not even be related, in such that it’s a separate curse from whatever being Dragonborn is, I think. But if that’s true, then I have no idea where it came from and it’s too coincidental that it started when it did, and not something that I might have always dealt with.“Arngeir says that I haven’t been selfish with how I’ve been using my Voice, so I should be okay as far as ‘true need’ goes. Despite learning Dovahzul, writing words down on a page like I did outside does nothing to evoke a spell in my mind. So I either need to learn from other people, kill more dragons to fill in the holes in my memories, or find more of those walls. I do need to go to Winterhold, still. They don’t have any other magic here for me to learn.“I also translated your sword and title. Dovahkriid means, ‘Dragonslayer’, not ‘Dragonguard’. Dragonguard is Dovahdeinmaar. So I suppose I might be called both a Dovahkriid and Dovahkiin. I think I like Dovahkriid for you. Your sword says, ‘Search bones of ancient enemies.’ So I guess we need to dig up a dragon grave, even though you said not to.”He rubbed his chin. “Hmm. But there’s a few dozen dragon mounds around Skyrim, and then there’s the rest of Tamriel. We need more than that. Did you ever find out what the dragon in Windhelm said to you?”Violet nodded, then flipped through her journal for the right page and slid it across the table. Kaidan picked it up and read it.“Small. Weak. Mortal. Alduin is looking for you. He will reward me for killing you!” He stared back at her.She pulled at an imaginary beard and mocked Arngeir. “We do not believe you are ready in your current state- Psh. Fucking shit.” She threw her charcoal stylus down on the table, cracking it into shards.“Do you really think you’re ready to fight a dragon god?” He sighed.“Does it matter? Especially if he finds me first?”“We were nearly killed by a corpse on our first expedition into a barrow.” Even though it stung him to admit it.“I’ve never been in a barrow before. I’ve killed dragons before.”“You’ve never killed a god, Starfall. For fuck’s sake! I know you’re ma… angry, but I think this is one of those things where you can’t be your usual, simple-headed self!”She clenched her fists over and over and her eyes rolled up in her head. “One. Fuck you. Again. Two. I want his soul.”“…Do you, or does the Hunger?” He crossed his arms and glared at her. She wasn’t listening to herself or to him.“Me. I do. That asshole into Oblivion can have whatever’s left when I’m done.”“Listen to yourself, woman. Come on.”Kaidan knew this next part would probably get the rest of his skin melted off, but she was being stupid. He got up, walked around to the other side of the table, and picked her out of her chair. She gasped and was about to tear into him when he deftly threw her over his shoulder.“I swear to the gods themselves, I will fucking—” A cloud of frost wrapped around her hand and he heard the sound of ice crackling.‘Huh. She still won’t use fire on me.’ He thought with relief. “No, you won’t. One, I’m your voice of reason. Two, I’m doing my job as you expect and need me to. Three, it doesn’t feel good to get all pawed up, now does it? Four, you need to go outside and get some fresh air and sun. You’ve been up your own arse for too long and it’s making you stupid.”“Kaidan. Put me down. Now.” She wedged her hand in between his armor’s back plates, only for the magic to be absorbed and dispersed when she touched it. “Gods damn it!”“In a minute.”*Borri sat quietly on the top floor of the courtyard watchtower, the brisk air blowing between the roof pillars. The Way set well within him from this spot, as well as the bright blue horizon. ‘Sky above, Voice within…’A woman’s echoing scream below nearly gave him a heart attack. He looked down and the Dovahkriid had the Dovahkiin slung over his shoulder like a wriggling sack of flour and she was screaming bloody murder.‘Foreigners…’ Borri rolled his eyes and watched as Kaidan walked towards the edge and faced away so she was pointed upside-down out over the edge. Her genuine terror and panic were unnerving. This is what they had to work with?“FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK GO BACK GO BACK KAIDAN PLEASE!” Starfall was scrabbling at his back and wheezing.“No, because you need to face this and get some perspective. You hate this so much that you’re probably about ready to really, truly hurt me, never mind that if you do, I could drop you and as far as I know, you can’t fly. I don’t even know if that’s a thing mages can do. Now, I’m a lot smaller than a dragon, and I’m not having much trouble carting you around.”“I know the fucking dragon would make it quick and not torture me like this!” She struggled in his grip despite his warning and hid her face in his cape to avoid looking at the sickening drop in front of her.“That’s the thing, isn’t it? All it would have to do is snatch you up and crack you open like an egg on a rock while you’ve passed out from terror. At least that’s what I’d do if I were a dragon. That or shout you off a cliff. Seems like the ones you fought weren’t very smart.”“You bastard!” She screamed, her voice cracking.He flinched. “…Never said I was nice. Point is, I know you’re hurting. What happened to you and your home was awful. It’s only going to get worse the longer we wait, and you’d sell your mortal soul to Clavicus Vile to make all this go away. But the Greybeards were right. You’re not ready. You can’t even look down a hill or lock eyes with a spider. You all call me Dragonguard. Well, I’m trying to guard you from doing something dumb like hunting down an ancient, immortal monster when you don’t even know anything about him, yet.”He walked away from the cliff and set her down on the steps of the monastery, then sat beside her. She was heaving the thin air and her hands were covering her face; her nails dug into her skin so deep, she was about ready to bleed. He took her hands away from her face and took her chin in his hand. “Look at me. You’re safe on the steps. It’s silly how much power you’ve got when you’ve got no damn sense.”“Well if I could control it, I wouldn’t be mad, now would I?!” She doubled over and hugged her knees, wishing she had her hood on to hide her face.He sighed and hugged her. “We’ve got to get this under control. Preferably before anything else.”“You think I haven’t tried?!” She whimpered.‘These two are going to be the death of us…’ Borri thought.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Starfall sat quietly until Kaidan had thought she’d become lost in thought or had just decided to give up and sit there. “You haven’t dozed off, have you?”She didn’t move. “You told me to solve it. It’s going to take time. Give me time to think.”“Would it help you if you actually talked about it?”“It’s purely magical, and medical. Then you’d be the one to doze off. And you’re likely tired of me saying I need to go to Winterhold, but that’s what needs to happen.” She said.“Then explain it to me. Simply, I guess.”“There are five schools of magic. Restoration, Destruction, Illusion, Alteration, and Conjuration. Each is a different way to manipulate an aspect of the world. The one that I think might help is Illusion, or changing the way people perceive themselves, others, and the world around them.”Kaidan nodded. “Okay…”Violet started to draw in the snow at the bottom of the stairs with a stick. “I’m wondering if there might be a way to …trick… myself into perceiving things differently. The problems are, one, I don’t know if it’s possible, but it sounds plausible. Two, I’m bound by a contract. In exchange for staying a free woman and able to practice magic, I can’t use Daedric or illusory magic. The Daedric one is pretty obvious why, but to sum up illusory magic, Yokudan belief is that our minds are our most sacred asset for fighting, and to take that away from someone is evil. The irony is realized.”“What happens if you break the contract?” He figured not much, considering she was still running loose after summoning a dremora lord and burning down half a city. Either that, or she had managed to not get caught.“Theoretically? I’m brought before the mages’ guild, who are supposed to be looking after me, who then report to my elders, who then decide what to do with me. I’d probably end up back in the asylum again. That’s if they don’t find out about all the other things I’ve done, like the demon summoning, burning the city trying to get rid of the dragon, leaving the country, grave robbing, getting the attention of the Thalmor, getting indirectly involved with helping Ulfric—”“So prison.” Kaidan ran his hand over his face. At least this explained all the sneaking, caginess, lockpicking, and being able to break them out of prison.“If they can. Depends on how much they care about this whole Dragonborn thing. It might finally be good for something, then.”“Why are you like this?” He sighed.She shrugged. “It’s gotten much worse since this all started. I’ve always been …strange. Probably the constant stress and terror.”“So your idea is to counter all the frightening hallucinations you’ve been having with more hallucinations, this time self-inflicted.”“You said to fix this. You didn’t say how.”“You keep piling magic on top of more magic. I think it’s making things worse. Just how many spells can you inflict on yourself before they either backfire or cancel each other out? And anyway, you can’t even remember to keep your armor up, and you said you lose control when there’s spiders around. You wouldn’t have time to cast it if one dropped from the ceiling on top of your head.”“I guess I could do it with alchemy, but it’d be expensive, take a while to get the right dose, and would probably use moon sugar. Maybe trace doses of refined skooma...” She started drawing alchemical equations beside the other snow scratches.Kaidan grabbed her hand. “Don’t. Magic it is.”She glared at him, then rolled her eyes. “Hanging me upside-down over a cliff may have woken me up for a few minutes, but it obviously hasn’t solved anything, so unless you have another, hopefully less awful step to curing me, and I don’t think you do since you’re not a healer, maybe let’s listen to the one with the experience. And speaking of…”High Hrothgar rumbled behind them and the snow from the roof crashed over and onto Kaidan, burying him. He shouted something foul and struggled to get out.His voice was muffled. “Damn it, Starfall!”“Don’t fucking try that shit again.”“Get me out of here!”Violet was about to add more snow when her head whipped around and up as she heard Borri way up in the watchtower, wheezing with laughter in that annoying old man way.She stomped back inside and slammed the door on both of them.*Later, Einarth and Arngeir took her to a quiet shrine and Arngeir explained their meditation to help with controlling the effects of her Voice, while Einarth wrote the tenets and had her copy them. She didn’t particularly care that it was most likely in response to her and Kaidan arguing outside, but she wasn’t about to turn down a little more information, peace, and time away from him to cool down. So maybe she was going stir-crazy being on a secluded mountain with a bunch of pain-in-her-ass men and she was running out of patience for everyone doing their jobs a little too well in not letting her do whatever she felt like, including hunting down a god and killing him. Did she not warn them about the Power part of her curse?Einarth had to prod her every few minutes as she visibly drifted off into her own little world full of what looked to be anger and plotting. She swore she wasn’t. Later, Kaidan would tell him that was normal and that Starfall was lying. That extended the period of not talking to him for another few days. Eventually Borri, Einarth, and Arngeir all agreed it was time to get them out of there before they both became even more destructive in their boredom. Wulfgar thought it was the first entertainment they'd had in decades.Once Starfall had finally 'calmed down' enough that she stopped giving death glares to the rest of them, the Greybeards sat her and Kaidan down together and explained the final part of her trials.“After all this, I still have to prove myself?” She groaned.“You’ll probably have to prove yourself over and over to everyone.” Kaidan patted her shoulder.“It is not enough just to know basic facts. Think of this as your own pilgrimage. We are sending you to meet our founder and the creator of the Way of the Voice, Jurgen Windcaller.”“One of the first to receive the cur- Voice?” They didn’t like it when she referred to her abilities in a derogatory manner, so she tried to remember what it was actually called. She failed half the time. “Maybe I can ask him what to do about the pain and insanity.”“He is deceased and has been for a few thousand years.” Arngeir said.“Oh. …Is he buried in a barrow?” She narrowed her eyes at them. It was too soon for another one of those. Maybe next year.“Yes, as a matter of fact, though because of his importance, it is built more as a fane. It is called Ustengrav, a short distance north of Morthal. You will use the Shouts in your repertoire to retrieve his war horn and bring it back here.”“Lessons learned, Starfall. We’ll be better prepared.” Kaidan heard the dread in her voice and reassured her."He was a great war leader of the ancient Nords, a master of the Voice, or Tongue. After the disaster at Red Mountain, where the Nord army was annihilated, he spent many years pondering the meaning of that terrible defeat. He finally came to realize that the gods had punished the Nords for their arrogant and blasphemous misuse of the Voice. He was the first to understand that the Voice should be used solely for the glory and worship of the gods, not the glory of men. Jurgen Windcaller's mastery of the Voice eventually overcame all opposition, and the Way of the Voice was born. Remain true to the Way of the Voice, and you will return."“And if I do this, you swear there won’t be any more secrets?”“You, being fully realized as Dragonborn, will have access to as many answers as we can give.”‘I suppose that’s as good as I’m going to get.’ She huffed. “Fine. …Just don’t expect me back here for a while, considering how long it took for us to get here in the first place. I tend to get sidetracked.”“That is fair, Starfall. We wish you the blessings of the Divines on your journey. Sky above, Voice within, Dovahkiin and Dovahkriid." Arngeir and the others all bowed.*The mage and warrior waited until it was the warmest part of the day to leave. What little heat from the sun that hit that part of the mountain would be most helpful at the beginning, since the top of the mountain was far colder than the base. They bade farewell to the Greybeards and Violet followed close behind Kaidan, avoiding the now clear and spectacular view of the horizon. It was easier to avoid on the way up, and now she felt like the entire way down, she’d probably be looking at the side of the mountain, his back, or her boots.“Alright. It’s a lot easier to get back down from here than it is to come up. We should be back in Ivarstead just before nightfall, really. Then, if we can’t buy a carriage to Morthal, I guess we go back the way we came.” Kaidan had perked up a bit now that he was finally leaving the stuffy, old monastery.“Oh, we’re not going to Ustengrav. I could not care less about whatever stupid ‘fetchit’ they set us out to do after The Dragonstone Experience. I’m not fucking around anymore and we’re going to Winterhold.” Violet’s tone suggested that this was final; no negotiations this time.His eyebrows went up. “I thought you were after those answers they were holding out on you?”She rolled her eyes. “Their answers are worthless. I’ll tell you why once we’re back in Ivarstead.”As Kaidan had said, the way down was a lot faster than coming up. No beasts, no plaque reading, and no uphill resistance eased their spirits, and slowly but surely, Violet stopped struggling for air. She was still out of shape though, as she rarely left the monastery for those weeks, meanwhile Kaidan was able to keep up his personal training (she declined his invitations on the grounds that his methods were useless to her, nor was she interested in watching him ‘flail’).They had made it all the way back down past the second story tablet before she could finally bear to look out over sleepy little Ivarstead. It was just as they left it… sort of. She couldn’t see anyone out or working, though. Was it Sundas or something? She’d admittedly lost track of time up there.“Kaidan…?”“Hmm?”“Where is everyone?”“What do you me… What in the world?”There was no one on the farms or working the sawmill. None of the houses had dinner smoke coming from the chimneys. There weren’t any guards walking the streets. The animals weren’t in the yards. It was silent as death.“When were you last down here for supplies?” She asked.“About a week ago. Everything was fine.” He narrowed his eyes and scanned the village for something, anything, out of place.“We’re not even off this goddamn mountain and already shit’s about to go wrong. I swear to the gods they are fucking with me every step of the way. I couldn’t even make it down to the tavern to get a piece of pie. I need some fucking pie after living off of water, bread, pickled vegetables, and goat for a month.” There was frost and tiny ice needles already growing from her fists, and she was shaking.“Alright, alright. No need to work yourself into a frenzy. Yet. We need to be cautious. Put your spells up. You keep an ear out, and I’ll watch for danger.” He unlatched his nodachi from his back and led her down across the bridge.Unfortunately, the closer they got to the river, the less Violet could hear anything over the rushing waters. There weren’t any signs of struggle; everyone was just… missing.“This is too weird and it’s not doing my head any favors.” She grumbled.He didn’t want to think about the possibility of her madness rubbing off on him somehow. It didn’t make any sense for an entire village to disappear practically overnight. “We can check the tavern first. Maybe everyone’s gone into hiding from something.”“There’s the dragon at the top of the mountain, but there’s nothing down here for him.” She waved dismissively in that general direction and kept wandering through people’s yards.“The WHAT?!”“Those idiot monks think I don’t know there’s a dragon on top of the mountain. Or maybe they do and are waiting to see who makes the first move. Anyway. I can see every living thing so how… gods damn it.” She slapped her forehead, then cast the sign for life at the center of the village.There were bright, human flames in every house. There were various sized flames in barns. There were even some in the barrow, though that didn’t help her anxiety at all. Everyone was fine. They just weren’t moving at all or making noise, like they’d all been frozen.Kaidan threw his hands up. “No, go back! We’ve been sitting under one of those things for weeks and no one was going to say anything about it?!”She pulled the door to the tavern open for them and went inside. There were a few people including the innkeeper around the main room, all completely still. “They’re harboring it for some reason. It’s not Alduin or else it wouldn’t have just let me walk around right under its nose. Since we can’t go up there, and they’ve already told me they meditate on the blessings given to them through the Voice, and the tablets say that Paarthunax did it, it’s probably that one. But hey, it didn’t want to come down and help me or straighten this whole mess out, so fuck it. Oh, AND EVERYONE IS ALIVE.”Kaidan went up to a man who was staring down at a plate of food and waved his hand in front of his face. Nothing happened. “What’s happened to them? And who would do such a thing to an entire village…” His soul started to wilt when he realized he knew exactly who would do such a thing.“They’ve been charmed and paralyzed.” Violet nudged the innkeeper. The man didn’t react, even when she pushed him aside. He looked unnerving laying on the ground but still in a leaning position. “Mm. And someone was able to do it to the entire village. …Maybe I can go find that pie before everyone wakes up.”“So this is a spell. Can you undo it? And please stop with the food. You’re making me hungry, too.”She shrugged, then went over to the hearth that was barely embers. Whoever did this had done it a while ago. “I can either try to dispel it, which would drain me terribly and might not even work, or let it run its course. Here’s the problem. This is supposed to be a short spell. Everyone should have woken up well before we even got down here. Someone is powerful enough to hold this spell for a very long time judging by this cold fire pit, and they have to be in the area. And now we’re down here with them and we’re very likely going to get ambushed the second we step outside. They have to be around here somewhere, but none of the flames I saw moved.”She cast the life spell again and took a more careful look around. The two flames that were in the barrow were gone. “They were hiding in the barrow. Now we know there’s two of the—!”She heard boots walk up to the door and the two flames were right behind it. Violet hissed and quickly barred the door just as they tried to open it. “We seek the one who lied to the Greybeards and the people of Windhelm! We saw you enter here!” A woman shouted and banged on the door.‘Lied? About what?!’ She grabbed Kaidan’s arm and frantically whispered in his ear. “Ugh. Keep these people safe while I try to get rid of these creeps. If you have to come out and fight, stay far away from us, especially me. I am not exaggerating about this. Use your bow at all costs. I will try to keep them both distracted as best I can so you can snipe them. You obviously have experience with how dangerous mages are, but I really wasn’t kidding about how Elinhir said I was a danger to myself and others. I can’t even promise no fire this time, but I’ll try not to burn down the village.”Kaidan nodded slowly and pulled his bow out. This was that same intense focus at Windhelm that seemingly only turned on with the threat of death. She probably also used it to come up with that awful solution in the prison. He thought it ironic that her lighting that fire inside of herself did more to conjure fear in him than whatever she happened to be facing. She quickly fished around in her pack, gave him two vials, and took four out for herself. She quickly drank them all one after another and he could see her very quickly regretting that decision. She dug her nails into his sleeve and shakily drew the sign for ebony over her chest, changing her skin into black, hardened glass.She pointed to each vial in his hand. “Resilience against magic to supplement your armor. Take it now. Magicka poison for your arrows. Unfortunately hitting them with this will break the spell, and if we’re still fighting when everyone wakes up, they’ll panic. Got it?”“DECEIVER!!” A man shouted.Kaidan stared at the vial a second before drinking it, expecting it to taste like liquid death after watching Starfall gag. It tasted like concentrated mushrooms and eggs. Not horrible, just strange. “What are they talking about?”“I don’t know! Get away from the door!”“How will that help? You can obviously see them, so they can probably see us! Just shout at them!”“Do you really think I should stun myself right at the fucking beginning?”“Then what was all that practice and work for over the past month?!”“I just don’t bleed as much! It still hurts like hell! Just do it!” She growled through her teeth. As soon as he was out of line of sight, she opened the door and recoiled. Two people wearing frightening, white, bone masks and golden dragon scales over their arms loomed over her. “Gah!”“This is the one our Lord told us to find?!” The woman's voice was mocking.The man growled. “You. You are the one they call Dragonborn?”Her head filled with curses in every language she knew, and she grit her teeth. “I really wish they wouldn’t, but here we are. Why did you charm the entire village?”The woman held up a scroll; it was written in ink that shimmered and moved around in circles with a soul gem shard pulsing at the center. “So they can’t interfere. Not that any of them would be able to save you from Lord Miraak, anyway.”“Who is Miraak?” Nothing came up in her mind, but judging by their looks, they probably had something to do with the dragons.“The true Dragonborn who will not suffer imposters and fools. And your lies will end here!” Fire erupted behind the man and a Daedric fire atronach appeared behind them, already forming a ball of lava in her hands. The man pointed directly at her and lightning jumped between his fingers.Violet looked between all three of them and threw her hands up with her shield just as the fire and lightning left theirs. The heat and static bounced back, stunning him, but the elemental caught her lava and clutched at it. The woman used her free hand to summon her own shield.“Oh. You’ve misunderstood. I said, ‘I wish they didn’t call me that.’ ‘I wish I wasn’t.’ But I absolutely am cursed to be Dragonborn. And if whoever the fuck Miraak is, wants to debate on who is Dragonborn or what is the truth, he can come do it himself. So you can either drop the spell on the village and leave with your lives, or I can write a note and send it back by courier with a bag of your ashes.” Ice needles formed and grew in layers all over Violet’s skin and clothes while the floor around her burned and smoked with tiny arcs of lightning. The three strangers scattered, preparing their own spells.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Kaidan prepped his arrows and watched as a monstrous-looking Starfall marched outside on a foul-mouthed tirade. It sounded like a storm brewing. She said she wouldn’t burn down the village, but lightning was just as bad, if not worse. Ivarstead would not hold up to the kind of abuse that Windhelm had endured, and Divines protect them from another Dragonstar.He leaned over to peek outside just as an icy wind shear cut in front of her and swept the two strangers off their feet, smashing them against the stone fence of the farm across the way. Them being prone was good for Starfall, but made a smaller, oddly angled target for him. When he leaned outside to shoot the man, the flame atronach grabbed his wrist and yanked him outside. His arrow hit the dirt somewhere off to the side.The daedra’s metal mask curled into a smile, made all the more menacing as she had no real eyes or face. Then she blew a kiss of flames directly at him, and in that split second, Kaidan's heart stopped and he wished he had the helmet that went to his armor. Brynjar said that he had never received it from his mother, so it had probably been lost to time. But the fire felt more like a punch to the face than his flesh searing, so the amulet and Starfall’s protection were doing their job. And since his armor was fireproof, he punched her in the collarbone, grabbed his sword from his back, and brought it up and into the atronach’s neck. The blade slid between her armor plates, breaking the spell holding her together. Lava gushed down her shoulder and her hands clapped over it trying stop it. His other hand grabbed her mask by the horn and twisted sharply to throw her off balance. He was about to stab her again (through where he assumed her heart was), when crackling noises quickly filled his ears.Frost and ice swarmed along the ground like skittering insects, covering them both with spikes and crystals. The ice hissed and popped on the atronach, melting fast and cooling her off. Kaidan gasped and scraped them off of his boots with his clawed gauntlets before too much collected on him and trapped him as well. It only took a few seconds before she was swarmed enough her core went cold, and she stopped moving completely. Looking around, the road, inn, and a few of the houses were being infested. All three mages were stuck in the middle, slowly being consumed.“Shit!” Kaidan looked around for his bow only to find it under a layer of crystals. He frantically dug it out and took aim at the man again since he was starting to melt his way out in an attempt to escape. The summoner had to go. Those who associated themselves with the Daedra were the absolute worst and he would happily cast them all into Oblivion if he could.Just as he loosed the last of his arrow barrage, the two mages after Starfall screamed something at her and a column of lightning came down on top of all three of them. Striking her finally stopped the ice, but Kaidan couldn’t decide whether that was good or bad. Was she resistant against magic as well? She could take a direct hit from a dragon. Then again, she was far stronger than a dragon…*‘I don’t need this shit. I have enough to deal with. Why is it always me, oh wait, I know why! Fucking…’ Violet was only marginally paying attention, instead building up a lot of murderous and destructive energy as she watched the two mages spread out and start hurling spells. The woman tossed a ball of lightning at her and instead of bouncing off of Violet’s shield, it stuck to it, followed her, and pulsed annoying electric shocks. That brought her back to the present quickly and she started flailing and swatting at it. “Fucking ow!”Had the cultist’s eyes been visible, they would have rolled. This heretic was resilient and something that should normally be agonizing and fatal was just making her angrier. Great. He had to drain all of her magic and fast. She claimed to be Dragonborn but refused to use that magic. Just as well, those who were punished by Miraak in that fashion never survived, and they were not there to fail. He held both hands out and tried another lightning spell, only for Violet’s shield to suck up the energy. “Sister! Summon an atronach, if you can!”She shook her head. “I need two hands for that! And I can’t release the village until she’s dead.”“Then cover me until I can take control of her storm.” He looked up at the low, dark clouds swirling quickly overhead. Did she really mean to use that much energy trying to get rid of them?!“That doesn’t belong to you!” Violet swiped her free hand sideways and a powerful wind shear picked them both up and threw them up the road. Maybe she could get them far enough from the village… And here’s to hoping that Kaidan’s aim was just as good at long range. “That scroll however, you can just throw that over here and I won’t fucking burn you alive.”The woman held onto the paralysis scroll for dear life, much to Violet’s annoyance. Where was Kaidan? She looked back at the inn and the fire atronach was pummeling him to barely any effect. “Will you stop playing with that thing?!”He was too busy to answer. Fine. She dropped her quills and lightning cloak to free up her magicka reserves, turning the needles loose. They multiplied as soon as they hit the ground, spreading like a pestilence. She hated this spell; it was so unnerving to look at. But that was simply the way hard frost looked when moving and reacting quickly, and it was the most efficient spell she had for covering or reaching a far-off area. Everything around her froze, including the boots of the two mages, the inn, and the atronach Kaidan had wrestled to the ground. She hoped Kaidan had the sense to keep moving.This pretender was playing with them. She had to be. She could have killed them easily with the magic she was wasting. Not that the woman was complaining. But her legs were going numb and she could feel the ice digging into her flesh. Fire poured out of her free hand and quickly melted it, but not fast enough before Violet started coming towards them, both hands pulling the flashing cloud with her. All of her rage seemed to be in the cloud instead of showing on her face. The concentrated storm was crackling loud and fast, flushing air down and around her hard enough to snap up the shards of ice and whip them around. One shard snapped across the man's sleeve and slashed it open, taking a gouge of his arm with it, and another jammed clean through his mask and in under his eye.“Help me take it from her, now!” The man screamed frantically. He was happy no one could see his face. Miraak was not going to be happy about this. They could slow her down, but they weren’t going to be the ones to stop her. She was able to do this and possibly worse without words. The two cultists pulled at her spell instead, ignoring the whirling shrapnel to pull the black flashing cloud down on its caster. Flashing light came down all around them.*When the overwhelming light and sound stopped, the two zealots were on the ground and thoroughly charred. Both were littered with arrows, and the one who summoned the atronach had one through his other eye. Violet briefly wondered if Kaidan had done that on purpose for having to deal with the fire atronach. Either way, it was well deserved. “Well I’m glad to have wasted all that energy being a good distraction!”Kaidan watched her shake off the same attack that burned the two cultists and an entire dragon as if someone had just touched her after shuffling across a bear rug. She had to be immune to her own magic. He was unsure if it was safe to approach her yet; the magic was gone, but she was still looking like she could stand to kill somebody else. “At least you didn’t completely destroy anything.”“How was I supposed to know they were weren’t actually that much of a threat? Speaking of, I don’t suppose you’re barely clinging to life so I might get one or two more answers.” She kneeled over the dying woman and poked an arrow impaling her.“Don’t touch me, Deceiver!” She gasped and tried to stab Violet with a black, runed dagger from her belt. Violet watched it scratch across her forearm before rolling her eyes and electrifying the blade to make her drop it.“Who is Miraak? Where is he?” Healing light traveled down the arrow as Violet twisted it into the wound, making the woman scream.Kaidan growled under his breath as he approached. It wasn’t the violence of it so much as she was being callous and petty. A healer shouldn’t be this way… “Stop it. She has no incentive to tell you anything, and whoever Miraak is, he’s probably not going to be kind towards her failure if you somehow save her. Easier to just gather information from their corpses. And… those who kill for their gods… their minds are rotted. It would take far more than what you’re doing to get anything useful.”She sighed heavily. “I’m not mad about them trying to kill us. But paralysis spells have a chance to get stuck permanently. They could have inadvertently killed everyone here. Or, if no one had stopped them, who knows how long it would have stayed up being powered by a soul gem. That’s clever, by the way. Going to have to remember that later. This is more me being pissed that they one, called me a liar about all of this, two, tricked and/or hurt people trying to find me, and three, there’s some creep powerful enough to sucker people into coming after me over saving people from dragons. Like you said, it’s time to reflect on our bad decisions. Now, how did you find me? How long has this Miraak known about me?”The cultist was still struggling weakly until Violet gave up and pulled the arrow out, so blood started to well out of her chest much faster. “Listen to him… so high upon your throne that you can’t see reason. Miraak has seen you long before you were born. He will judge you upon your death. And your soul and memories will be his… as you have taken the souls… and memories… of…”Violet’s eyes rolled up in her head as her head lolled back. “Ugh, of course her last words are useless.”Even in death, the woman was clutching the half-burnt scroll tightly enough Kaidan had to wrench her fingers open. Unrolling it, the spell rotated on the page in a disconcerting way and the black shard in the center seemed to be what was pushing the words around. When he tried to remove the shard, it felt like it was stuck with glue. He wasn’t exactly concerned with keeping it intact however, and ripped the thick parchment unevenly, stopping the spell. It was as if the entire world started again. They hadn’t noticed how quiet the village was because of the rushing river and the more important task at hand, but now the chaos of dozens of humans and animals waking up, moving, and shouting in confusion made reality ‘complete’. Even when they were staying on the mountain, there was still that knowledge that there were other living things around and moving.Once the village guards ran outside to see if everything was alright, Violet and Kaidan spent a short time explaining what had happened. Knowing the Outlander from his previous visits down the mountain and the ominous letter he had taken from the male cultist's corpse pulled the story together. Two strangers had appeared a day ago and had charmed everyone with a similar scroll. The next thing they knew, the whole thing was over. Violet kept the empty black soul gem in the woman’s pocket, most likely meant for her, and the fancy ebony dagger as an upgrade to the simple iron piece of junk she’d been carrying since before Windhelm. She also took a mask in hopes that someone might recognize it, but quickly gave it to Kaidan to hold on to when she realized it didn’t have any eye holes but stared through her all the same.*They returned to the inn, ignored all of the people clamoring to figure out what had happened to the village, paid for the night (saving the village didn’t even give them a discount), and Violet flopped down on a bench to get the pie she’d been craving. She used the traveling money from the cultists and gave half the money and food to Kaidan.“Do we understand now why we don’t use ‘d-words’ in public? Because assholes will hunt us down and start hurting innocent people.” She picked off the crust and pushed it aside.“That’s not going to matter much when everyone is gawking at you pulling the light off of a giant skeleton laid out in the open.” He took her crust and looked over the cultists' note. Those people came all the way from Solstheim, off the coastal border of Skyrim and Morrowind. He doubted Starfall would take a detour for this either, despite the new urgency. “What if there are more of them searching for you?”“They’re more than welcome to walk into the mages' college, start shouting like idiots, and get turned into piles of ashes again.”“And after you leave?”“Too far ahead.” Starfall said. “And I can’t be bothered to go back up to High Hrothgar to ask about a ‘true Dragonborn’. So whoever Miraak is, he’s going to the bottom of the work pile unless he wants to do his own business.”He frowned at her. “The longer you let them search for you, the greater the possibility that someone’s going to get killed getting in their way, if they haven’t killed people already trying to find you.”“Same could be said for the Thalmor, and we can’t do anything about them. And that’s on them killing people, not on me for not taking down the entire godsdamned Aldmeri Dominion, or all the dragons, or some egotistical idiot.” This whole thing was starting to make her dessert sour, including the part she already ate. She pushed the plate aside and put her head down on the table.Kaidan leaned over her and brought his voice down to a whisper. “Fine. What about the… thing on top of the mountain?”“The strange storm that prevented us from going further up the mountain. It’s similar to my spell. You can’t see what I see, but there’s a flame at the top of the mountain so incredibly large that it can’t be anything else. Plus, that magic requires memories or souls to see the meaning, intent, and draw of power. Those old bastards had to have been getting the souls from somewhere before the rest came back, so they must have been getting ‘pieces’ from that one. I wonder though if I’m supposed to know or see something so incredible inside Ustengrav that I somehow become ‘ready’ for whatever all this madness leads up to.”“You won’t know until we go there. And I have more questions now. That draugr knew me as Akaviri and Dovahkriid. What were the Akaviri doing in the tombs so long after the Dragon War?”“Your history book and a few of mine said that they hunted the last of the dragons. Maybe they were raiding strongholds thinking the cults knew where they were hiding. Without more research, it’s just another dead end for both of us. At most, I’d probably get another word and some gold. I’d rather have magic that doesn’t tear me apart and answers that aren’t at the end of a blade. I’m not even supposed to be fighting, but it’s all I seem to do since I woke up four months ago.” She rubbed her face and pushed her plate towards him. “I’m going to sleep.”“Decide what to do then in the morning, then?”Starfall nodded and left him at the table, retreating to a side room. Kaidan looked down at her bits of pie crust, shrugged, and popped them in his mouth. He still had a few days to try and dissuade her from going to Winterhold, but she’d already been delayed from going for almost two months. And he supposed it wasn’t really fair to keep steering her away from whatever she thought would help her, despite mages rarely proving themselves to be helpful. She’d find out about Winterhold soon enough. He wiped his hands and went to his own room on the opposite side.*The fight against Miraak’s assassins had left Starfall drained enough she slept through most of the following day, only waking up once almost the whole day was gone. Kaidan knew to let her sleep now, as he figured it was just something to do with her health. Maybe she preferred sleeping for a day after using elven and human magic instead of a coughing fit and a bloody throat from using dragon magic. He was sort of relieved he didn’t have to decide, but they could have been out and halfway back to Riverwood by now. Then that suspicious innkeeper bubbled up in his mind. How fast would word have traveled back to her that two strangely dressed mages attacked Ivarstead… she couldn’t have. She had better not have. They were going to have a nice friendly chat when they returned to that side of the mountain.*The long sleep leaving her groggy and still unrested, the new and confusing danger weighing on her mind, and finally getting tired of nothing but water all the time finally got to her, causing her to finally ask Wilhelm for whatever he had that was strongest. She hated that it was easier to just settle with what was on offer than arguing with every damned innkeeper trying to find something like juice, aloe (‘these assholes import apples and tomatoes but can’t get hardy aloe plants?’), and hearing them snort when she considered the milk. It didn’t help at all that Nord alcohol tasted awful. No wonder they were all in various states of a bad mood all the time. She and Kaidan went back and forth some more, and after revealing his suspicions about Delphine, they decided they would make a stop there again before going back to Whiterun to drop off the Dragonstone. She drank as they packed that evening, her nerves becoming more and more loose as the evening went on.“How long have you been roaming Tamriel, Kai? I’ve been away from Hammerfell for about four months, and it feels like part of me is fading away. Animals don’t forget if you abandon them. If you close up shop, all your business just goes elsewhere, and it’s near impossible to get them to come back. I’d send letters home, but what the fuck do I say? ‘Still alive, pa, much to the elders’ and Mages’ Guild’s disappointment. Killed ten people so far. Surprisingly all in self-defense. Nords sure are some murderous cretins. Okay, some were elves, one guy was a serial killer, and there was some kind of horrible thing that I’m told used to be an elf. I’m famous enough now that there’s not one, but two secret groups trying to kill me. Can’t wait to come home and everything has moved on without me.” She sat on the bed with her back to the wall, and her eyes fixed across the room on the now ratty pack she took from the abandoned shack all those months ago.He heard the small cracks in her voice. “I suppose it’s easier with no one to worry about but myself. I left Skyrim at about fifteen. I’d just buried my godfather Brynjar and there was nothing left for me here. My armor didn’t even fit right, but it was still better than wearing cheap cold iron and leather with holes in it. I wandered aimlessly, all over Tamriel for years. …Neither sounds very good.”Violet patted the bed beside her, still staring off into space.Kaidan sighed. “Explain to me how you can eat poisonous mushrooms and raw demon entrails, but a few ciders makes you weepy and clingy.”“Only if you come over here.”He hesitated, not wanting to be sobbed on all over again. Or worse. At least it wasn’t her temper talking.“I’m not going to do anything dumb. I’m not that drunk. I’ve only had.… seven. There’s a set of two black bottles in my pack with ‘PA’ written on them. I started labeling them so you won’t wind up killing either of us if I’m not able to point things out for you. Bring me one.”He sighed and did as she asked, handing her a little bottle and sitting beside her on the bed.“I’m not completely immune to poison. I just don’t die. You see me gagging and ready to be sick whenever I start mixing bottles. ‘PA’ stands for poison antidote. They’re hard to make and I shouldn’t be wasting it on plain alcohol, but it sounds like you don’t like seeing me like this. And now you know.” She pulled the stopper and quickly drank it, shuddering. “We should leave soon.”As he nodded and prepared to get up, she leaned on his side. He rolled his eyes and was about to nudge her off when she turned wistful.“You’ve said you’ve been other places, but have you ever been to Hammerfell? Four days south of Markarth through the Dragontail Mountains, is an easygoing city of a few thousand people from all over west Tamriel. Bretons, a few Altmer, Nords, and Redguards. The Empire knows they’re not welcome anymore. We’re all together because of the shared borders. The north half the city is built directly into the side of a mountain.“It’s hot and bright during the day, and it’s surrounded by the Alik’r Desert, so the lighter skinned folk are out from dusk to dawn, or they wear traditional hoods and cloaks like the Alik’r. It’s why I sometimes miss most of the day; I lived in a neighborhood with lots of Bretons and a few Altmer. It gets harsh sometimes, with sandstorms, and cute little bastard dragonlings eating someone’s pet, and the mines making the ground quake, and the mine gasses making people sick when they aren’t blown away from the city, which I helped to curb as part of my job as both a healer and a mage. The little ones in my neighborhood called me ‘Miss Weather Witch’ when I was out doing that job.“But we don’t grumble. Much. We don’t judge. There’s too many of us being too different. The city used to be divided in half. East to the Nords, west to the Redguards. That wall came down a long time ago, and living on that side of the mountains made them a little less stupid. So now everyone comes and goes when and wherever. You would be more at ease there. As long as you don’t hurt anyone, nobody would care about your past or where you’re from. You wouldn’t have to hide your beautiful eyes. It’s safer than here. In a month or so, it’ll be Fishing Day for the Bretons and they’ll all celebrate by annoying everyone with fish brought in from Illiac Bay. It used to be called Starfall Bay ages ago, by the way. …It would’ve been a sight to see, if I hadn’t burned part of it down. Maybe if we don’t die, enough time will have passed that I can show it to you.”He looked down at her and she was fidgeting the little glass bottle in her fingers clumsily. “Starfall...”“Sorry. I said I wouldn’t do anything dumb, and I started rambling.” She scooted away from him and rubbed her face vigorously. “Back to Riverwood.”
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Violet had them leaving in the early evening, despite Kaidan pointing out the danger of traveling at night. She didn’t care much; after all the things they’d seen and beaten so far, and how quiet and boring the trip through the southern mountain pass was to get there, the trip back was likely to be just as boring. It would probably take Miraak a while to send more people again, and they were leaving quickly to throw off any information on where they were.To ease his anxiety, she frequently kept lookout with her life spell, at least when she could remember to. Most of the time, she stopped at the plants she had missed on the way over, or picked off the nocturnal wildlife for rarer ingredients. The night passed uneventfully, just as she predicted. Mid-morning though, a few ice spiders skittered down the mountain and Kaidan made short work of them (with only a bite to the arm) while Starfall hid behind a tree and whinged the entire time. He sighed and took the antivenom she threw at him, noting that blasting them apart would have been quicker and easier, but she’d already run away from the giant corpses disturbingly curling up upside-down. She was paranoid for the rest of the day.By the time they reached the ruins of Helgen, it was dark again. The hollowed-out buildings had finally stopped smoking. Enough time had also passed that she could hear raucous laughing, and Kaidan could see small campfires.“Who would think a burnt down skeleton of a village would be a decent place to stay?” Violet mumbled as she tried to see through the open gate.“I mean, I wouldn’t be picky if there weren’t anything else for dozens of miles, and I were tired from walking for hours and hours because my partner’s sense of time and danger is completely broken.” Kaidan said, not looking directly at Starfall.“We are not going in there.” Violet hissed at him.“Do you have a better idea? And no, keep moving is not it. You didn’t have to fight the spiders.”“What the fuck is wrong with Skyrim that the spiders are so huge?!”“You don’t have giant bugs in Hammerfell?” Kaidan was skeptical that just because it was a desert that there weren’t any bugs.“Beetles, scorpions, and I guess crabs if you count those—”“Wait, you have crabs in the desert?”“Getting off track here! Going around!” She pointed off the path.“No. Tell me how many are in the camp.”Violet growled to herself, then cast Detect Life. “Five outside, but for some reason, they’re staying away from inside the fort. There doesn’t seem to be anyone in there. We could go in there and bar the door. We can bypass them and nobody has to die, because this shit where Skyrim is all about ‘kill or be killed’ is ridiculous.”Starfall had a point, but he was starting to run out of patience. “How? I’ve told you before, I’m no good at stealth.”“Which is strange because you’re definitely dressed the part.” She picked at his black cloak, then pulled two vials out of her pack. “One. Hold my hand. Do not let go or else you’ll lose me. Two. Drink this. It’s for invisibility, and it works for only a minute, so we have to move quickly. Three. Just try to keep as quiet as you can. No words. Don’t pull your weapon. Don’t make any sudden moves, even if they’re suspicious.”Kaidan stared at the bottle for a few seconds before trying this one. The thick liquid was glowing in the bottle. The only things that he knew of that glowed were the Luna moths, the torch bugs, and those nirnroot weeds that made horrible ringing noises when he got near them. It wasn’t so much the nirnroots that bothered him, but bug eating was one of those things that he expected the little weirdo beside him to do but he sure wasn’t about to. “You made this out of the bugs you’ve been catching, didn’t you?”“Huh. You were paying attention. Maybe I should make you an apprentice.” She took his hand and drank, stifling a cough. Right before his eyes, she changed into something clearer than water, but her hand was still solidly in his.The warrior grumbled under his breath, steeled his nerves, and drank quickly enough he prayed not to taste it. It still hit him and tasted like bitter weeds and …metal? It also left a horrible, grainy coating on his tongue. “Ugh.”“I know.” She whispered and quickly pulled him through the broken gates of Helgen.*Violet tried hard to resist her curiosity and go listen in on what the bandits were talking and laughing about. She didn’t have the best equipment to work with on the go, so the potions wouldn’t work for very long. And even with her keen hearing, her eyes weren’t nearly as sharp, so she found herself nearly bumping into things in the shadows or being surprised by moving shapes. Kaidan could just barely see where Starfall’s form distorted from the far-off fire light, but he kept a firm hold on her hand anyway. He could see most everything around in the dark but let her lead. She navigated as quickly as she could towards the half-collapsed fort but stopped short when the large door had sharpened logs in front of it as a barricade. The logs had charred corpses impaled on the ends. She spent a little too long staring at them before Kaidan squeezed her hand and pulled her around the blockade and into the door as quickly and quietly as he could manage.As soon as they were inside, the potion wore off and Violet nearly hurt herself pulling the heavy wooden crossbar down across the door. “Those were not there when I came to Helgen two months ago. What the fuck was that?!” She was still whispering.“…They threw all the corpses in here.” Kaidan said quietly, clutching her shoulder.As soon as she turned around and flicked a magelight into the middle of the room, she understood why there was no one inside the fort. Over a dozen corpses were tossed around the room like so much trash. Some were burned and others cut apart in battle. How she was only just then realizing the smell was a mystery. She covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve. “Oh, fuck…”“Some of these are recent. The fucking trash outside have been robbing and killing anyone coming back into the village. They could have been survivors of the original disaster, only to get this trying to salvage their lives. I hate bandits.” Kaidan growled through grit teeth.“What kind of sadistic shit was that outside, though?! Why would they desecrate the bodies?”“Said it yourself; sadistic bastards all of them. Come on. Hopefully they didn’t fill every room like this.” Kaidan stepped over the corpses into the next rooms.There were fewer dead in the following rooms, but they were from something other than the village burning or the murderers outside. Men and women in military armors, some in Imperial red, and some in the same blue Violet remembered from Jarl Ulfric's palace.“Don’t tell me these idiots couldn’t stop fighting for a few hours while a dragon was burning everything to the ground.” She was tempted to see if there was anything useful in the room, but after so long, it was likely all contaminated.“The war here has been absolutely ridiculous. And for what? Selfish ambition in the guise of religious freedom. Gods.” Kaidan shook his head.The lower levels were a little better off, but the fighting looked like it continued on for a while, and the dragon attacking even managed to collapse parts of the hallways. Crushed corpses had died struggling to get out of the rubble which made Violet keep moving as if she were afraid of a similar fate. They found an empty storage and common room and settled down in a corner. Violet put down her ice traps at the entrance and exit, then found a sealed water barrel, and filled her waterskin.“We’re not going to get dragged into this civil war mess, are we?” She asked and settled onto her bedroll.Kaidan had cleared the hastily left to rot kettle and ashes from the hearth and filled it with broken pieces of an empty crate, and Starfall poured flames into it. Even if the bandits outside saw the smoke coming from underground, they wouldn’t be able to get into the fort. “I sure hope not. Not my fight. If they were actively fighting the Thalmor and the Aldmeri Dominion for their freedom, it might be different, but the Stormcloaks are just throwing themselves against the Empire instead, when the Empire needs them to help get the Thalmor off their backs. They’re both being stupid and inefficient about this whole thing.”“He even named his army after himself.”“A perk of being a charismatic leader.” He scoffed. “…Oi.”“What?” She mumbled. She’d already unpacked her book and started writing.“I want to make sure those assholes outside don’t hurt anyone else.”Violet only growled and kept writing.“We easily could. There’s only five of them. The roads are unsafe enough as it is.”The only response Kaidan got was a resigned groan and Starfall’s shoulders drooping.“Fine, I’ll do it myself, then—”“I never said no. Just… rest first. You’re the one who said you were tired, but now you want to take on five people.” Violet rolled her eyes. “How is every other step in Skyrim… this.”“I’m having a hard time believing that your home had no danger. There’s no such thing with people around.”“Of course there was crime and danger. But I didn’t constantly feel like I personally had to take care of ALL of it myself! Just the occasional shop thief, and the birds screaming and tearing apart something that crawled out of the mines or over the desert wall. Not some bandit tribe two villages away or someone summoning a daedra in Elinhir just because I used to live there a couple years prior.” She dropped her book beside her pallet and leaned back against the cold stone wall. Now that they had stopped, walking all day finally caught up to her.“I guess that’s only my daily routine, then.”“By the way, did my antivenom work alright?” She looked at the two scratches on his bicep where one of the ice spiders had scraped a fang trying to bite him.“Mm-hm. Just a scratch.”She stared at it for a while, and her eyes moved towards all the scratches and dings in his armor. “Tell me about what you do. I only know one other bounty hunter, and only because he’s one of papa’s friends. I don’t understand how you feel like this is normal.”“I don’t, though. I don’t like it, but for me it’s killing two birds with one stone. I make enough money to keep going, and the area I’m in stays safe for a few more months. I assumed you knew with how quickly you secured a reward for the dragon.”“That happened by chance. I only wanted to talk to Ulfric about the Voice, and the steward said go kill the dragon first. Considering how much I destroyed killing the others, I wasn’t counting on actually getting paid.”“Just how much do you owe Whiterun exactly?” Either the tower wasn’t worth that much, or that little tablet they got from the barrow must be worth a fortune. Considering what they went through to get it, Kaidan hoped it was the latter.“Just the Dragonstone. Jarl Balgruuf is the only reason I haven’t just burned down Dragonsreach. His personal guard tried to kill me when I set foot in the door, his mage is a jackass, his steward wanted me to literally come up with twenty thousand septims for a tower that was already on the verge of collapse, and his spoiled-ass brats need to be put to work with the chambermaids and stable boys. How everyone around him is an embarrassment is really suspicious...”“Twenty thousand septims. Gods, with that kind of money, I could settle down somewhere and pay someone else to figure out this whole Akaviri business.”“I’ve only seen that much money once. Payment for saving some rich fool’s idiot son from a skooma overdose. It paid for everyone else’s medicine for months.”“It’s like that, just killing things pays less for some reason.” Kaidan drew his knees up to his chest.“Is it always about keeping everyone safe?” Violet asked.Kaidan narrowed his eyes at her. “What do you mean?”“I know it can’t be notoriety, especially now that we’re technically fugitives. The way you burn through money seems to be a part of it. If it’s too personal, I’ll leave it. It just seems like it would be easier to be part of something, like the Alik'r, considering you don’t seem to like being alone. I don’t know what the Nords call their organized mercenaries.”“Oh,” he relaxed slightly. “They’re called the Companions. Something of a long history dating back to when the Atmorans first arrived in Skyrim. But no. I thought about it for a while. It’s not that I don’t like being alone. I’m fine with being alone. The problem is if I stick around somewhere long enough, trouble catches up with me. So I do what I need to and move on.”She looked into the fire for a while, not knowing what to say other than, “I’ll keep watch. Get some rest.”*Instead of wandering, Violet stayed close. She didn’t want to go back upstairs with the bodies, and it turned out they couldn’t go much deeper into the fort because of another cave-in. So they’d have to go take care of the bandits outside whether she wanted to or not. The two invisibility potions she used were her only ones, and she’d have to make more either in Riverwood or Whiterun. While Kaidan slept, journal entries were written, plans were remade, more bits of wood were thrown into the fire. Picking through the junk left behind, a less ruined copy of The Book of the Dragonborn lay on a table with a new pack. She took both and quietly switched out her things. The next room was obviously a torture chamber (‘fucking Empire’), but it looked as if the bandits had tried to convert the room into a bar before giving up trying to deal with all the bodies and abandoning the whole building for living out in the open air. That room with all the cages and torture aesthetic unsettled her as much as upstairs, so she went back and waited for Kaidan to wake up.When it was his turn to keep watch, Kaidan mostly occupied himself in the same way, though he was a little braver and snuck past her trap to explore upstairs. The dead didn’t bother him as much, though he was still very careful not to get too close or take anything directly from them. The bandits probably took all their valuables, anyway. Several junk weapons and cheap armor lay around; those weren’t even worth taking. A few books which he brought back to Starfall. Any food was either long gone or rotted. After an hour or three of exploring the ruin, he gave up and went back to the storeroom.Sleeping reset their internal clocks slightly, enough they were both awake again in the mid-morning and slightly rested. Once they’d shared anything they’d found overnight (she picked through the books and kept The Black Arrow, Volume 2, thanking him), Kaidan started in on his plan to get rid of the bandits quickly so they could move on back to Riverwood by midafternoon.“If they saw or cared about the smoke from our fire, they’ll have either tried to get in, which they didn’t, or they’ll have set up an ambush for us if we try to leave. They’ll have spread out among the ruins and have someone keeping watch on the door. And unfortunately, the upper floors of the fort are closed off so we can’t get high ground and snipe them back. If you don’t have any more invisibility potions, you can at least use your life sight spell to tell us where they are, and we can hopefully avoid some of their lines of sight. Just tell me where the highest ones are, and I can shoot them. The ones low to the ground are likely to barely be able to fight, just able to hit someone without armor hard enough to stun or kill them. Bandit groups are usually rubbish at best; they just use their numbers. Hell, picking a few of them off might make the rest scatter.” He had even drawn little scribbles on a piece of paper like a map.Starfall simply nodded at him.“…Did you even get any of that?”“I did. My plan was going to be flood the area with enough electricity until whatever’s left that isn’t ashes, is.” She shrugged.He covered his mouth and sighed heavily.“It’s faster, whoever doesn’t die will clear out immediately and never come back, and it’s not like collateral damage matters.”“Isn’t that a gross waste of your energy, though? And incredibly loud? And not at all a fast, clean death?” Didn’t she usually try to conserve her energy until it was an emergency?“Your way sounds like we’ll be here for most of the morning trying to pick them off one by one. My way everyone’s dead or gone in fifteen minutes, at the most. And yes, it is a waste of magicka in a sense, but that’s just magic’s trade-off. Time for energy. I’ll just be a little sluggish and sleepy for the few hours back to Riverwood until I can get some water and medicine in me. And what do you care if they get fast, clean deaths? They’ve been putting people’s corpses on posts and killing disaster survivors. Never mind getting hit by lightning is absolutely a fast, clean death. You go from a whole person to a few pounds of dust in three minutes, instead of bleeding out on the ground and making a mess. Were you not paying attention at Windhelm?”Kaidan rolled his eyes and flicked a hand at her. “You know what? Fine. Go for it. I took care of the spiders, you take care of the bandits.”“You say that like it’s something I’m going to relish doing, or like I’m a child with a flame staff. I’m just trying to get out of here so we can move on with as little fuss as possible.” Violet stood up, stretched, and pulled her “new” pack over her shoulders.“We’ll see how long it takes.”*It didn’t take any time at all, because the bandits had moved on before they did. Violet quickly cast Detect Life in the front room of the fort, took a look around, and quickly opened the door for fresh air before Kaidan could stop her.“They’re gone, okay? There aren’t any flames anywhere near here. They must have cleared out hours ago.” Violet slammed the door after them, annoyed all over again that Kaidan had them go in there.“Damn it. It could take all day to figure out where they went.” He went over to the wreckage of the house that the campfire smoke had come from last night.“I thought you wanted to wrap this up quickly. There’s nothing faster than just not doing it at all.”“And you just want to let those monsters run loose in the area?” He shot back.“With that attitude we’ll never get where we’re going because well shit, why don’t we just hunt down every goddamn bandit in Skyrim instead of doing what we’re supposed to?” Instead of following him, she turned to orient herself with her map and headed back towards Riverwood.She actually got a few miles away before Kaidan finally caught up to her, fuming. Except the only reason he caught up was that she’d stopped just off the side of the road.“I understand you’re driven at this point, but if you’ve been this long without getting to Winterhold, you can hold back for one more day.”“I found where the bandits went.”“What?”She pointed to a group of thoroughly broken and mutilated corpses, spread out just into the tree line. The damage was so severe and strangely set up, it couldn’t have been something as simple as a few wolves or even several bears. They weren’t burned or frozen, but thrown around like ragdolls. One man was broken in half against a tree, and the tree itself was splintered as well. They all had punctures in their armor that went all the way through the flesh and out the other side.“Fucking dragon.” Her hands were balled into fists over her face and she was trying so hard to suppress screaming that she was making a high-pitched whine that was unsettling him. The needles of ice skittering around her feet was even worse.He thought she would be well ready to go after a dragon, as she hadn’t had an actual dragon soul for well over a month, and only received something similar from the Greybeards a few weeks ago. But here she was, trying her best not to freeze the entire valley. All this was done without fire or ice…“No rest for the wicked, then.” He said and patted her back.
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“Where is it?” Kaidan pulled his bow from his back and scanned the horizon. This was the edge of Falkreath and Whiterun, so if it kept low, it could easily hide in the forest.She was breathing heavily and rubbing her face. “It’s too close to Riverwood. I don’t… Fuck. Let’s go.”He looked in that direction and there was nothing.“What’s going on? I don’t understand!”“Bo, Dovahkiin... Daar wuth mey Paarthurnax nis aak hi nu...” (1) She growled in that harsh tongue and pointed into the trees. “It waited an entire fucking month for us to come down from the mountain, just like those godsdamned zealots. Did all of Skyrim hear me in that barrow? I am so sick of this shit!”‘Come, Dragonborn…’ He strained to hear anything besides the forest and river, though it was odd that if it was so far away, it should have been loud enough to echo off the mountains…Violet didn’t hurry, despite the situation. The mage just kept cursing to herself and soon veered off the path a few miles before the village walls. Kaidan had no choice but to follow her, trying hard to finally see what Starfall could. Was she following its 'flame'? It was so quiet…In a small space between the trees, she stopped, pulled a bottle from her bag, drank it, and changed her skin to ebony.“You scaly pieces of shit need to stop changing things around on me. Get your ass out here and go back to mindlessly destroying shit to lure me out.”“Why would you say that?!” Kaidan groaned.“It’s not like it can understand us.”The trees all around them rustled. Only when Starfall threw a magelight in a particular direction and it stuck to a nearby tree, illuminating a ghostly set of giant grinning teeth and shimmering eyes, did Kaidan understand what was going on. He agreed very much with Starfall about hating this.Without a word, it rushed towards them, trampling everything in its way and dropping its ethereal form. Even without the ethereal effect, its sleek, dark green and brown hide was confusing among the wavering trees and tall grass. The magelight Violet created seemed to make the dazzling effect worse, much to her regret. It bound across the newly made clearing a lot faster than she was expecting, but managed to put up an ice wall just in time for it to get a muzzle full of frozen spears. It backed up, scraped them out, and… laughed? Rhythmic screeching that made Starfall cover her ears and Kaidan become enraged.“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Violet kept summoning spears, lances, and spikes to slow it down, but mostly the dragon kept eating the ice and snapping at her.Kaidan ran to the side far enough it wouldn’t be able to turn easily enough to get at him and pulled his sword. This thing was actually taunting and laughing at her. But they still died like any other beast and that was good enough for him. He wedged his nodachi between the scales on its side and thrust the sword in to the hilt. “Stop laughing, monster!”The dragon screamed and flailed its wing backward trying unsuccessfully to reach him. “FEIM ZII GRON!”It flashed, then became ghost-like and disappeared. Kaidan’s sword simply fell through to the ground and nearly took him with it. “Starfall!”“I know!” She quickly drew the sign for Life, and cursed when the giant flame was now airborne and headed for Riverwood. “Fuck! It’s going to the village!”“RUTH JOORE…” (2) Its voice was a whisper through the trees.“I don’t know whether to follow it or try to draw it back here.” Violet clutched at her hood in frustration.“One, then the other.” He grabbed his bow and held three arrows out to her. “What’s your best poison?”She fumbled around in her pack and pulled a black vial with a blue mark, and one with a red mark. “A little goes a long way. …Where are the rest of your arrow—Miraak’s zealots. Shit.”“Maybe someone in town will loan me some?” Kaidan prepped the arrows as he ran.She was just barely keeping up with his long strides and was starting to pant a bit. “Like they’ll stop to help between running and screaming! Just let me handle it again!”“Riverwood’s not going to hold up to you raining down lightning! You’ll have to think of something else!”Once they reached the outer walls, they had to stop. People were outside and working as if nothing was wrong. They couldn’t see the dragon; hell, Kaidan couldn’t see it either. But Violet saw its life force perched on top of the blacksmith’s, though no one seemed to pay it any mind. The blacksmith’s daughter walked from the workshop and right over its tail without seeing it turn and watch her with giddy eyes and bared teeth.“It’s right on top of the forge.” She muttered.He looked up in that direction and only barely saw the air distort. “You’re kidding. What’s it doing?”“Mocking us. Waiting for us.”“I don’t suppose you’ve seen any of the others do this?”She growled through grit teeth. “No.”“And you’re dangerous when you improvise, so this should be interesting. And by interesting, I mean terrifying.”“Shut up.” If she threw a magelight at it, it would be visible, but then the town would panic, and it might make the dragon start attacking them instead of her. Shouting at it would draw everyone’s attention to her, and then they would get in the way and panic. No one would believe her if she just told everyone to run. Neither of them could simply start attacking it since Kaidan fell through it when it first turned. “I think we have to wait it out. Dragon magic seems to only work for very short time spans. It’s going to reappear soon. But after that, I’m not sure, other than aim for something vital.”“KLO JOOR ARKH FEYKRO JOOR. ALIK’R ARKH AKAVIR. FRIN ARKH KRAH. NEY LOS SAHLO!” (3) The dragon laughed, its words seeming to carry only to them. The rest of the village still couldn’t tell...‘It knows Akavir?’ Kaidan squinted at where he thought it was, as if that would help and slowly tried to recall his lessons. “…Hi …mindok Akavir?”Its eyes lit up and it cackled, its voice only carrying to the two of them. “KROSIS DOVAHKRIID. MU LOS NEY NOL AKAVIR! NUNON HI FEN NEH KORAAV HIM HOFKIIN! ARKH REK FEN KORAAV HI OBLAAN!” (4)She looked up at Kaidan and his eyes brightened with a glow that looked like her fire. That pure, violent fury that went straight to the nerve. And the worst part was, she’d know if it was lying in a few minutes and it would be her job to tell him. “Shoot my magelight.” Violet said quietly and flicked one into her palm. She could see the dragon rising to its feet and grinning manically as if it had gotten the reaction it wanted.The dragon rushed them, coming out of its ethereal form directly on top of them. Even its movements were silent. As it reared up on its back feet, she threw the magelight at its throat and Kaidan shot it, the arrow wedging under its chin. As soon as the arrow was loose, she put a wall of stacked ice lances jutting out of the town wall all around them. The dragon couldn’t stop in time, dove into the spikes, and flailed its wings. The arrow in its throat spread acid and melted its scales, but it couldn’t reach it to pull it out.Behind it, chaos broke out immediately. The villagers screamed and ran in every direction, while the few guards that were out tried to herd them. The two dragonslayers didn’t see any of this going on at all; the dragon’s wings flailing were blocking their view. They could certainly hear it though.“And here we go.” Violet rubbed her face on her sleeve. “I’m going to cut this thing's tongue out. Then we’ll see how much it has to say.”“You’ll never make it back to Akavir either, fucker...” Kaidan switched to his sword and ducked through the trap to run the blade deep across its belly several times, painting the cobblestones red.*“What in Oblivion is going on out there?!” Delphine shouted. Half the town streamed into The Sleeping Giant and everyone was panicked.“A real, live dragon!” Frodnar yelled as his dog ran and hid under a table. “There’s a wizard lady and a guy with a huge sword out there fighting it!”‘Ah, they’re back from the mountain.’ This wasn’t quite what she meant by wanting proof, but it would do. “Everyone get away from the door and stay on the far side of the build—!”“FUS RO DAH!”Three Words rocked the entire village and a world-shaking crash happened right outside. The sound of thunderous waves, wood creaking, and ice cracking echoed around the room, scaring everyone even further. Screams and murmuring passed between everyone until Delphine and Orgnar managed to get everyone under control.The sounds of fighting and magic flying stopped, only to be replaced by deafening, inhuman screaming. Then that stopped and turned into two people arguing right outside.‘Almost afraid to look, now…’ She opened the door a crack and paled at the sight.A brown and green mottled dragon was laid out on its back with giant ice pylons crossed over its body to hold it down, and it looked like the whole White River jumped out of its path to make them. The sawmill’s wheel didn’t even run anymore, the water level was so low. The street’s cobblestones had been scraped up and pushed aside from her knocking the monster onto its back. Its wings were pinned down like a butterfly’s with dozens of ice lances, the wingspan blocking Delphine from getting the door all the way open. There was a giant tongue on the ground beside its head and its mouth was wedged open with more lances. It was wheezing and … laughing hoarsely? The Redguard mage from a month ago was standing on the monster’s chest, screaming threats and obscenities at it and waving a bloody dagger in the air, while the Outlander was trying to talk her down. The fact that they both looked like drowned cats probably didn’t help either’s mood.“She’s looking lively. The mountain air and rest must have done her some good. I’m going to stay in here for a bit longer.” Delphine slowly closed the door to keep from being noticed, but kept it cracked so she could listen…*“Oh, so you can ask questions, but I can’t?” Violet was gesturing with her ebony dagger as Kaidan had refused to let her use his sword as a giant scalpel.“You cut its fucking tongue out! Now nobody gets to ask anything!” He pointed at the giant slab of flesh. She’d cleanly cut it and cauterized it so it wouldn’t bleed out while she was ‘working.’ He wasn’t sure why he didn’t think she would make good by that threat, earlier. Felt stupid, in retrospect.“If I didn’t, it would’ve shouted again and escaped! Kaidan, please! I need to rebuild my research, and this one is new and different from all the others! I just want some scales, the eyes, and some entrails. Definitely the heart.” She grinned maniacally at the creature writhing under her and trying to escape.He clutched at his hair. “Do you hear yourself when you say these things? Gods, woman! You sound like a—”Her face returned to her normal constant irritation. “—fucking scholar, alchemist, and healer doing her job by taking this thing apart so I can see how it works. A daedra's heart is one of the rarest ingredients you can get that can heal you, with human hearts being one of the most powerful poisons, which makes perfect sense if you see the irony—”“Please tell me you haven’t actually eaten someone’s heart!” Considering she’d eaten a dremora’s, it wasn’t that hard to imagine.She rolled her eyes. “Just a piece. Anyway, a dragon's heart has to be so incredibly potent in its properties you could probably make dozens of potions with only an ounce! I don’t eat this shit for fun when it could very well overpower my resistance and kill me!”“Please don’t open that thing up in the middle of the street!” A village watchman managed to speak up after ogling it and making sure that it wouldn’t escape. The other guards were nervously standing around watching, but unsure what to do about the raucous woman who almost single-handedly subdued a dragon and was now blocking the main road with a potential act of public indecency...“She’s not.” Kaidan side-eyed Starfall and was three seconds from pulling her down and finishing the job himself. There was no reason good enough in keeping it alive any longer to threaten everyone.She started counting and pointing with the dagger. “I absolutely am because one, it pissed me off with the death threats. Only you get to piss me off. Someone else touches a hair on your pretty little head, they fucking pay. That’s the rule. Two, who knows when or if I’ll be able to capture another one alive. You know full well if it dies, it burns up instantly and I get nothing but the soul. And three, if I have to invoke the whole ‘You're the last of the Blades and you have to follow my Divine Right of Kings’ horseshit, then absolutely no one here is going to be happy. I do not want our already fragile friendship to suffer that. We’re already arguing and snapping at each other over this damned thing. Look, I let you do the hunter thing and kill everything that crosses our path, even though half the time it’s far more than we need. Let me have this. Just keep the women and children inside for the next… hour or three. If anything goes wrong, I finish it. It even cleans itself up. We can move on.”Kaidan simply stared at her, the light in his eyes dying. There was far, far too much there for him to comment on. He simply turned and left towards the inn.The dragon wheezed something neither of them could understand and she stabbed it. “No one asked you!”Kaidan waved his hand over his shoulder and closed the door.*Delphine watched as the Outlander completely ignored her as he passed, tiredly sat with Orgnar at the bar, and ordered whatever was strongest. He was one of the Blades, and an honest to gods Akaviri at that. He had found the Dragonborn first. And she had accepted him. …Sort of. Neither seemed to have any kind of healthy influence over the other, and it looked like everything was already taking a toll on both of them. He wasn’t even old enough to know what happened at the Battle of the Red Ring. Hell, he might not have even been born yet. These two overpowered children were supposed to solve this dragon crisis on their own? Here was one right now, on its back, eviscerated, and pinned to the ground like a bug in a collection. They were a little soggy, but neither had a scratch. Things were unfolding a little faster than she anticipated. She slipped outside and went up to the giant creature blocking most of the village’s thoroughfare.“Oh great. And what do you want, “innkeeper”?” Violet sighed as she climbed over the pylons. She had a book in her hand and was taking notes, ignoring the dragon struggling.“I want to know why you’re so adamant on keeping this thing alive.” She crossed her arms.“I know you were listening in on us. That’s what people like you do. Just research. Nothing more than what I said. And anyway, you sure you want to strike up a conversation in the middle of the street? I mean, it doesn’t matter if I get told on; the Thalmor and a bunch of other assholes here to Oblivion already know I exist. And it’s not like I can hide all of this. Which, by the way, my friend in there is pretty sure you might be involved with the incident in Ivarstead, and if he finds out you are, he’s going to have a fit and probably take all of this out on you.”Ivarstead? “What incident?”Violet looked down at her a moment with a raised eyebrow. “Surprised your ‘informants’ didn’t rush over here immediately after, it’s been a couple days and it was pretty big. Anyway, I’m busy.”More news and if she waited for someone to come by with it, these two could be long gone. “I need to talk to you and the Outlander when you’re done here.”“Mm. Could you do me a favor and bring me one of his empty bottles? I know he’s in there drinking. I need something to collect the blood in. Maybe something I can keep a heart the size of a…” She looked along the dragon’s length and wrote down some numbers. “Never mind, its heart would be about the size of my whole torso. I’ll just take part of it. Maybe just a coin purse. I have money in my pack to pay for his tab.”Delphine frowned. Not more than five minutes ago, she was raving like a lunatic. Now she’d calmed down considerably once she was left to her own devices. Then she saw the Dragonborn carefully put her book and dagger away, summon an ethereal looking Daedric sword, and start carving at the dragon like a Feasting Day bird, with both red and golden fire alternating out of one hand to both heal it and stem any bleeding. The dragon started to howl in anguish, but she quickly cut its throat open and jammed her hand into the incision, silencing it with a particularly nasty curse. The innkeeper understood perfectly now why the Akaviri would take up drinking to cope.*Kaidan watched as the innkeeper quickly ran back inside of the inn, clearly shaken. He kept drinking. It wasn’t that Starfall was doing it at all (okay, maybe a little), it’s that she was doing something horrible right out in the open, she was torturing it (‘again with the cruelty…’), and she wasn’t thinking about anything other than her short-sighted wants. The whole village was in danger while that thing still lived. She was in one of her ‘driven moods’, and he couldn’t stop her. …Well… he could. But not without possibly injuring both of them. Or making her revoke that ‘friend’ comment, for whatever it was worth. No energy to approach that one.“Is… um… Is she always like that?” The innkeeper whispered to him, taking over for Orgnar at the bar. She sent him to go check on the other patrons and make sure no one was hurt.Kaidan considered his answer carefully, found that he couldn’t, and grunted.“She says something happened at Ivarstead. No one’s come from there besides you two. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I don’t know what happened over there.”“Then who do you work for?”She walked off for a moment and came back with a book from one of the side-rooms. She kept her voice level and low. “Why don’t you have a quiet rest in the back with a good book? It’ll take your mind off the grim business outside. The room’s on the house for taking care of the dragon. And I already asked the Dragonborn that you two come see me when she’s… done.”He read the title. The Rise and Fall of the Blades. He gave her a hard stare and finished his ale. “No, thanks. I’ve already read it.”“Hmph. Also, I need this.” She picked the empty bottle from his grasp. “She said she needed something to hold blood in and knew you’d be done with one by now. …Gods.”“It comes with the job.” Kaidan rubbed his face. “And since you’re going out there, wait until she’s finished to make sure she doesn’t cause any more damage. Plus, you’ll have your proof.” ‘And give me five minutes reprieve…’
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Returning outside, Delphine leaned on the porch and watched for a solid hour as Starfall diligently poked and prodded and cut and noted, all the while talking to herself, a guard futilely trying to get her to stop, and oddly enough, the nephew of the blacksmith down the street. Hadvar had run back into town months ago as Helgen burned, shouting that a dragon was there and was on its way here. She wondered if this was the dragon he was talking about. It sure took its sweet time getting here.“Okay, but I’m a soldier, not an artist…” Hadvar picked up her book and charcoal, slowly and carefully trying to recall something coherent out of that chaotic day.“Just do the best you can, just write it out if you have to, I don’t care if it’s stick figures… Okay, maybe I care a little. But I need all the information I can get.” She wiped her hands and pointed to where she wanted him to make his testimony.“Are you really learning anything from torturing it, or is this just for fun and we should all be really worried?” Delphine came up beside him and looked over his shoulder. Hadvar was right; he wasn’t an artist.Violet’s head drooped backward as she rolled her eyes. “It camouflages itself and sneaks up on the target to stun and crush them in its jaws. All of the other dragons have been slow, loud, elemental, and brutish. It does share its arrogance with the others, though. It has cunning, deep but focused language, and a sick sense of humor. A personality. They’re intelligent; they just don’t care enough to try communicating with us— you mortals much before killing you. It doesn’t have a gender, or genitalia, which means there won’t be any new generations of dragons, thank fuck. This one weighs about fifteen tons and is forty feet long; actually pretty large, compared to the others I’ve fought. How these bastards stay aloft weighing that much has to be more magic than anything else.“So far, only its eye and heart have alchemical properties, which lines up with my theories, though I’ve yet to mix them into proper drugs, nor can I get to its brain. The rest of it isn’t edible. They seem to be immortal unless I personally take their soul, as someone told me that others have been ‘killed’ but resurrect later. Which is strange in itself, because this is hands down the cleanest necromancy I’ve ever seen. Memory retention, free will, beating heart, hot blood, bright flesh and muscles, no rot in thousands of years until its killed again… this honestly can’t be considered necromancy. Humans aren’t this good. Elves aren’t this good. Most gods aren’t this good. This is something new, and mortals need to be kept far away from it. Really, the only thing that makes them immortal or otherwise powerful is stupid Akatosh “blessing” them same as me. I’ve been keeping it alive for about an hour, which means if I can manage to capture another one alive, I’ve got time to ask more questions. Maybe I can do it without all the constant nagging. And that’s before I take its memories. I don’t know why everyone keeps insisting on doubting me like they’re the damn experts.”She divined all that in an hour?! “Fair enough, then. Can you please kill it, now?” Delphine still wasn’t sure what to make of the Dragonborn. Her Voice could rock the valley just like the stories said, but their first meeting presented a confused, meek, and miserable runt. And a month later, she comes back a cold and calculating monster. What happened up there? What did those ridiculous old hermits tell her?The dragon was barely breathing by then and they all almost felt sorry for it. Almost. Violet gave a heavy sigh and pulled up all of the pylons holding it down, returning the river to its proper path. Just as everyone began to panic from it moving, she summoned her blade again and thrust it down into the dragon’s exposed heart, twisting it a few times. It barely thrashed before going still. “Are we done worrying now? Scary dragon’s dead. Look at all the perfectly normal, hot, red blood all over the pavement. Tastes like nails, even. It’s just a giant, mean-ass lizard that knows magic and seems to only exist to give me fits.”“By the Divines!” Hadvar shouted and stumbled out of the way as the red flood trailed between the cobblestones. Maybe she should have killed the dragon first, then used the ice water to clean the road.“Don’t bother calling them for help.” The mage spat. The dragon shuddered underneath her, signaling for her to get down before she fell through its ribcage. As soon as she hit the ground, the blood she landed in caught fire along with the rest of the dragon.Delphine shivered with goosebumps as the fire and divine light erupted all along the street, twisting and weaving into the Dragonborn. The woman in the middle of all the spectacle leaned on the emerging skeleton, absorbed everything that didn’t turn into ashes, and breathed a sigh of relief. The guards were all staring, slack-jawed and murmuring about history and rumors. Here was her proof, as if she needed any more. So why did knowing feel worse than the anxiety of waiting?Violet took off her gloves and rubbed her face. Now that she had stopped, everything was catching up with her. At this rate, she was going to spend more time sleeping all of this off rather than getting anything done. If she could sleep; the exhaustion of spending all of her magic clashed badly with the rush of becoming… whatever she was, carrying multiple souls and mixed magics and energies. A vessel. A tool. A lightning rod. A medium.“Are you done writing?” She asked Hadvar.“Y…you…?” He stammered. “The stories!”“Yes, I need yours to figure out what happened at Helgen while I was out. Quick, before I pass out. …Actually, just give it to the Outlander in the inn when you’re done. Tell him he needs to read the last ten pages or so.” She mumbled and pushed past them all.*They’d only just left Helgen a few hours ago, and Starfall was already asleep again. Kaidan still didn’t trust Delphine enough to talk to her quite yet, so instead, he went to go negotiate with the blacksmith. He pried a few of the scales, teeth, and tail spikes from the dragon and asked Alvor to use the forge, as if anyone would turn down the two who saved the village from a dragon. A few tests and experiments of his own were done, including testing their strength, burn points, if he could carve them (not with the basic tools available to him, but he could easily nick splinters off with his sword, meaning he’d have to find a bigger forge with much better tools), and seeing if he could get anything for them. The blacksmith said it would be an interesting challenge to see if he could make anything out of dragon scale, but he’d need a lot more.“I’m not looking for a full suit of armor, just asking if it can be done. Proof of concept, I suppose.” Kaidan flipped a dragon claw over in the flames. “I think it’s going to be a long while before I can get enough usable pieces to make something I can wear.”“Ah, then I’d suggest getting the flat plated bones: skulls, pelvis, cut the plates off the spines, ribs…” The blacksmith picked the claw out with tongs and laid it on an anvil. It didn’t burn in his forge; it only became red hot and sooty black from the dirt on it. A few hits with the hammer shattered it into a pile of shards and splinters. “I tell you what you can do with this right now, though. Arrows. A lot simpler, and the shards will go much further than trying to bang out something complicated like a helmet or breastplate.”Kaidan rubbed his chin in thought. “Arrows, eh? I could use a few of those after using my last few on that dragon. And it’d be good revenge against the next ones.”“You’re probably on your way up to Whiterun?”He nodded.“Take them to Eorlund Grey-Mane. He works the Skyforge on top of Jorrvaskr. He could definitely do it.” Alvor doused them in water, then took a shard and dragged it across one of the posts holding up the forge. It left a deep groove with hardly any effort. “Gods, look at that. From a good bow like yours, it could probably pass through.”Kaidan nodded, impressed. “He could do it, but would he? Would he have time with the war going on?”“He may be a True Son of Skyrim, but he’s more dedicated to that forge than the war. Show him the bones of a dragon and he’ll drop everything for a chance to work with something no one’s seen in thousands of years.”*Violet finally woke up sometime in the late evening. The fatigue was mostly gone, but the curse was kicking around in her chest along with all the visions in her head that haunted her when she slept now. Darkness like the Void itself, with flashes of people, places, and things she didn’t recognize because she hadn’t been born yet. And the urge to purge all of the energy she’d amassed. She shivered, stretched, paced around the little room of the inn a few times, tried to put time back in order (‘Fourth. Two-oh-one. …Frostfall, I think. Ask Kaidan what day it is. If he’ll talk to me.’), and dragged herself out to the main room.Riverwood wasn’t as lively as Windhelm upon learning that she’d vanquished some great evil that threatened everyone, and she was grateful for that. She received a stare or two and some whispers, but was able to deal with it and settled in front of the hearth with a large plate of salmon, a bowl of soup, bread, and no alcohol, ‘Psh…Milkdrinker…’ be damned. Kaidan was out somewhere. Probably brooding in the woods. There was going to be a (yet another) talk on what counted towards ‘protecting the crazy woman from herself’. She wondered if someone had started dismantling the skeleton and dragging it away, yet.“Hm. Orgnar makes pretty good soup.” Violet doubted the innkeeper could do it; spies tended to only be half decent enough at things to not get caught. “Where did my partner go?”“Last time I saw him, he was talking to Alvor, our blacksmith. Doing his own snooping. Picking apart what was left of the dragon. Antsy about something. Most likely being able to keep you under control, if his grumbling is anything to go by.” Delphine sat beside her and handed her a note.‘Mm-hmm, brooding.’ She thought as she pocketed the little bit of paper without reading it. “He doesn’t seem to be happy until he’s wandered off into the woods to be with nature like some kind of druid.”“I’m not sure the Akaviri were druids. Mostly warriors. Spies. Accomplished and relentless dragonslayers, as your friend is settling into.”“Who are you?” She quieted down some. “What do you know of the Akaviri?”“Delphine, owner of the Sleeping Giant Inn. General listener to all of Riverwood’s problems. And there are more than one would think in such a little place.” The innkeeper spoke aloud, then whispered, “He’s not the last of the Blades.”Violet’s eyes rolled up in her head. “Gods damn it, not another one. Go bother the shit out of Mede into being useful. I’ve already got someone to keep me from killing everyone in a fit of rage. He’s still trying to get it right, bless him, but nobody important has died, so he’s not fired yet.”Delphine blinked. “One, Mede is controlled by the Thalmor. Two, he has the Penitus Oculatus instead. Three, what fits of rage? Who did you—”She covered her face with her hands and quietly hissed through them. “Listen to this, then. I’m not here to play savior and have Tamriel eating out of the palm of my hand, or command an army, or manage a spy network, or play god-queen-empress, or whatever other stupid-ass thing presents itself. I’m going to kill some dragons and go home. People are starting to decide that sounds like something incredibly fun to interfere with, or that I’m not in the right state of mind to do it, or that I’m lying about how much I absolutely fucking hate all of this, or that I’m doing it wrong. It pisses me off.”“Well, I’m not here to do any of those things. Like I said, I’m a sympathetic ear. I’m just going to let you enjoy the soup. And I made it, not Orgnar. He did the bread and the fish.” She pointed out and went back to her station of listening to the other customers.*Kaidan came back mid-morning of the next day to find Starfall sitting on the riverbank with her feet in the water. She was mesmerized by a flock of birds on the opposite side.“Finished communing with nature?” She asked without looking up.“We both have our ways about getting peace and quiet.” He said, unsurprised that she’d heard him approach.She nodded.He sat down beside her, unsure how to break the silence. If anything, he wanted to just let the river and sawmill fill the gap, but… “Are you feeling alright, now?”“Never felt alright a day in my miserable life.”“You know what I mean.”“I’ve slept. Horribly. But I can continue. We can go on to Whiterun. Possibly sneak out before Delphine tries to corner us and try to sell us into letting her in on … whatever this is.”“Our stuff is in there.”“…Damn.”He sighed. “Do you at least understand why everyone was trying to stop you from doing your grisly work in the middle of the street?”“You… they… felt I was putting the village in danger as long as it stayed alive. And like I told Delphine, I’ve fought and killed enough of them, that I can reasonably estimate how dangerous they are. It wasn’t dangerous in its destructiveness; it just took perverse pleasure in our terror and rage. It knew I could see it and preyed on whoever was closest, hoping I would make a mistake. It told you about Akavir because you’re too young to have seen it, though it hadn't seen it in eons, either. It did those things because it couldn’t burn the village down or even knock down a building. It was weak, a coward, and a bully. Since it was a weaker one, I figured I could take it alive. And again everyone thinks they know better than me, or I’m crazy for keeping it alive, or scary for not somehow dragging a fifteen-ton dragon all the way out of town to dissect it.“I know it was technically dangerous to keep it alive. Except I need to do these things to make up a complete picture in my head. It’s barely even half-finished right now. Did you read my notes about resurrection and necromancy? This is incredibly bad and something I’ve got to look into further. Whatever is able to raise them is worse than old Mannimarco. And what if it starts doing it to things that aren’t dragons? Plus I’m going to have to start looking into how to master countering necromantic magic, and that could take a good while.” She fidgeted her hands, staring into them so as not to look at Kaidan.He wasn’t sure if it was better or worse that she knew what she did was wrong and did it anyway. Ugh. Trust. She was trying and willing to trust him, and she was sincere with a decent heart in there somewhere amongst the mess, but there were just too many things against her for him to do it fully, even after all this time. “You’re just lucky this is some little backwater village. What if this had happened in Whiterun? Or gods forbid, Windhelm? Expertise or not, you would have been arrested and taken away, and then you’d be set back for possibly weeks. According to the Dragonstone and the books at High Hrothgar, there’s more than enough of these monsters that you don’t need to treat every opportunity as your last. The dragons are literally all over Tamriel, and there might be more left on Akavir. I’m sorry to say it, but this could take years, Starfall. There will be time.“Even if you think it’s fine and you have the situation under control, any small thing can go wrong, and then we’ll have an even worse mess to deal with. That’s what we’re all worried about. What if it knew more than the invisibility spell it used? What if it knew how to cloak itself in fire and ice like you do? You nearly flooded Riverwood just to study that thing. The rest of us aren’t immune to elemental magic. One of the biggest things you’re going to have to remember in battle is that the tide can turn in an instant. Especially considering you literally just did that.”“Oh gods… years…”“You didn’t hear anything else, did you?” Kaidan rubbed his face.“I did, I’m sorry!” She pulled her hood over her face and swore and kicked at the water. “I know! But years of this?! Years of just wanting to have a ‘normal’ fucking day again and instead there’s screaming and killing and ancient monsters trying to claw out of my mind to burn the world to ashes and juggling how sick I feel on any given day and I can’t catch a fucking break…”This agai- … wait. “What?”“All souls are made up of life energy, experiences, and memories, even ours. Well… yours, the dragons, and other mortals. Singular souled things. Who knows what mine looks like, now. Probably a snake mating pile. It’s going to get crowded after a while, but for now, I can silence them all until the Hunger is too strong a distraction. That’s what the Power is becoming.”“And you absorbed that last dragon who’s only motivation was to torment us. By the Divines…”“Vonuznax.”“You know its name?”“Yes. Most dragons have simple, apt names. ‘Unseen Cruelty.’ On that note… Feim!” Using a single word didn’t completely fade her from Kaidan’s vision as the dragon could. Instead she looked ethereal, like a ghost. Once she stopped coughing, she moved her hand through his arm trying to grab it, but passed through, making him shiver. Even her voice changed into something wispy and barely there. “I get dragged deeper and deeper between worlds. And this is just one word. I don’t think I’ll be using this one much.”“What is it like?” He reached for her back this time and got a handful of nothing.“Nothing like an invisibility potion, which is just a light cloak. I feel lightheaded, but not drunk. It’s drafty. Everything feels less real.” She cast a small magelight, then set it inside of her chest. The light made her ghostly form shimmer. As soon as the light started to fade, she pulled it out and set it out to float down the river. The shout’s effect slowly dimmed until she was solid and whole again.“Amazing.”“It’s being set with the ‘for emergencies only’ spells. And never three words.” She sighed. “I won’t promise this won’t happen again. But I’ll try. And listen more to your ‘warrior’s wisdom’.”“Thank you.”“So, what do we do with Delphine?” She asked as she rubbed her face and arms to make sure she was all there.Kaidan scoffed. “My first reaction is to ditch her. But we need allies, if she can be called that. And maybe she could tell us what happened to the rest of the order.”“I already told her I’m not interested in balancing even more on my plate. I don’t even know what good a spy would do me in the first place. It’s not like she can find dragons and listen in on them.”“But she can listen in on the Thalmor, Empire, and Rebellion.”“I don’t care about those things.”“But they care about us. That’s why we were captured by the Thalmor. You’re on Ulfric’s map, after saving him and his city. And Tullius is going to want to know who aided him in escaping Helgen. Who knows, she could give us warning if they’ve started to move against us, if she or her informants can find us in time.”“I didn’t mean to help him escape, the dragon did that! Who in Oblivion is Tullius?”He shrugged. “General Tullius is the Imperial commander sent to crush the Rebellion, kill Ulfric for killing High King Torygg, and bring Skyrim back in line. He’s also under the thumb of the Thalmor.”Violet simply fell backwards and lay in the grass. She stared at the sky while Kaidan skipped rocks and waited for her to finish thinking.“How about this. We listen to her proposition and whatever information she can give us. We have her stay here and keep snooping. We’re not telling her where we’re going. I don’t need her directing every little worry my way. If it’s so important, she’ll find us anyway. Once I’m done with the college, we’ll come find her and collect another batch of news. Maybe she’ll have something more substantial for you, as she seems to know a little about the Akaviri, as well. Sound good?”“Sounds good. Let’s go have a word, then.” Kaidan nodded, got to his feet, and helped her up.
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Violet and Kaidan waited until Delphine was done with the lunch crowd before going ahead with the meeting she had called. Violet’s journal was getting full, so she opted to buy a few scrolls now at the Riverwood Trader and a new book at Whiterun. Delphine then took them to her room and closed the door; Kaidan was only mildly surprised that her room had a hidden passage in the bookshelf, and Violet nodded approvingly. These things were all over the college, and she was pretty good at finding them in random places. She’d be more surprised if Delphine didn’t have a secret hideout.The little basement in the Sleeping Giant was a rudimentary base of operations. A few personal weapons and armor, a small personal collection of books against the far wall, and some choice supplies for making alchemical concoctions. ‘Probably poisons.’ Violet thought. Delphine closed the door after them and leaned against the table.“The Dragonborn, after hundreds of years. And a descendant of the original Blades. By the gods, all of that prophecy business is true. I'm Delphine. One of the last remaining Blades after the Great War.”“Delphine. I’m Violet Starfall, and this is Kaidan. First things first, I don’t suppose you’ve learned anything useful in the month we’ve been gone. The Greybeards were only slightly helpful, and not in the way I was hoping.”“Unfortunately, no. The Empire is busy chomping at the bit to get at Ulfric, and with the Thalmor cleared out of Helgen, I’ve lost a reliable source of information. You said something about Ivarstead earlier. I don’t know what happened there, but it’s probably safe to assume that it was something to do with the dragons?”Violet frowned and pulled the cultist’s mask from Kaidan’s pack. “Do you recognize this mask?”Delphine took it and turned it over. “Not at all. Who would wear such a ghastly thing? It doesn’t even have eye holes. What did they want?”“Great, she doesn’t know either.” He grumbled.“Some sort of cult. They tried to kill me, and they mass paralyzed the entire village to get at me before I even came down from the mountain.”“They what? By the Eight…” Delphine covered her mouth.Violet explained the event (with Kaidan filling in the strange gaps) and handed her the note to copy. “If you want to be useful, you can look into this Miraak asshole. All I know is that he’s determined to be the “true Dragonborn”, while doing none of the work.”“Because the civil war, the Thalmor, and the dragons weren’t enough. Don’t expect anything soon, I’ve got almost nothing to go on, and all my focus has been on you and the Thalmor.”“That’s fine, I’m probably not going to be back here soon. Several months, at least.”“What, why? We need to—”“No!” She said a little too loudly. “I need to go do what I set out to do months ago, and people keep derailing me to go solve some unrelated disaster, usually of their own making. Honestly, I was ready to ignore the cultists completely until I couldn’t anymore. But if you want to take that load off me, that will work. Same with whatever the Aldmeri cult wants with me.”“Them too?! How have you gotten everyone’s attention so quickly? Well my job just got a lot harder...”Kaidan signaled that she should stop, and Starfall rolled her eyes.“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll fucking make a nice neat schedule for everyone to follow from now on. Maybe an etiquette book! ‘While killing a dragon, the Dragonborn is off limits, and for forty-eight hours after.’”“Stop shouting! All I’m asking for is a little discretion.” Delphine said through grit teeth.“As soon as we hit the village gates, that bastard outside was sitting on top of the blacksmith’s, stalking the little girl there and put its maw over her like it was going to eat her. The one at Whiterun was biting guards in half and burned a field. No time! They’re loud, powerful, arrogant, hate humans, want revenge, and are nigh immortal otherwise. If you know how to kill a lizard the size of a building discreetly, please share! You’re the ancient dragon slaying order. I’m just a healer literally dragged screaming out of her deathbed!”“Thank you for winding her up again. Really.” Kaidan growled.“Fine.” She threw her hands up. “Do whatever you want. But if you want to get through this in one piece, your plan's going to have to be a little better than ignoring whatever you don’t feel like doing. You call the Thalmor a distraction, but they’re a much more present, pervasive, and constant threat than a dragon here and there.”“We know.” Violet spat. “We’ve already had Words with them.”“And you even came out alive? Well, the Blades used to number in the hundreds, and now there’s two. So you should understand why you kind of need to be careful with the couple you’ve got left.”“I’ve kept this one alive, despite his repeated attempts to sacrifice himself on my behalf.” She pointed a thumb at Kaidan.“Because your way of problem solving is either almost cause the end of the world or almost die with no in-between!”“Vahzah, oblaan lein aal oblaan dii so...” (1) She grumbled under her breath.Kaidan glared at her. “Nii.” (2)‘Oh gods, they even have their own little secret language. This would be precious if it weren’t infuriating.’ Delphine crossed her arms. “Anyway! If you’re going to disappear again, just make sure you try to be a little less blatant, alright? I’ll get to work on all these leads. But you’ll need to do a little research on your own, as well. All I want to know is why you and all the dragons have come back and if anyone else has any idea what’s going on.”“The Thalmor definitely know, considering they kept us together, but I’m not exactly keen on paying them another visit.” Kaidan said. “…I also want everything you’ve got on the Akaviri.”“Less than you think, but there’s a bit of hope. Considering how young you are, I don’t think your parents’ clan was with us during the… slaughter. It can’t really be called anything else.” She pointed to his runed nodachi and the tiger emblems on his armor. “I was younger than you are now. But I think I might be able to find someone who can help you.”“…Please.” He mumbled.The two women could tell he was trying not to get his hopes up and Violet patted his back. “It’s not a tight plan, but it is one. And it’s time to go, again. I miss not being on the run.”“And I miss not having to keep my head down by living in a tiny backwater village with nothing to do.”“Trade you. I can go back to my hovel and apothecary shop in Hammerfell, and you two can go kill all the dragons you like.”“I’d say that’s a deal, if I could do the part where you take their souls.” Delphine smirked.The Dragonborn grimaced. “It’s not as fun as you think.”*They left Riverwood right after and Violet was determined to not stop for anything. It even started to rain across the fields halfway there, but she wouldn’t have any of it and flushed enough cold, dry air upward that the clouds directly overhead dispersed.“We could have just waited it out somewhere. Now we’re going to get to Whiterun and you’re going to go back to sleep for a whole day.”“I’ll sleep in the cart to Winterhold.”“About that. I was hoping to get two or three days in Whiterun because I’m going to try to get something commissioned.”She scoffed. “With what? You don’t have commission money. You have basic necessities money.”“I do have commission money.” He jingled the heavy bag at his belt and the side pocket of his pack.“How?”“Hunting. It’s always appreciated when you bring in enough to get people through the next several weeks. Plus I managed to save a bit from Bleak Falls.”“Ah. It’s odd that my sleeping bothers you so much, when you get so much done once I’m not awake to annoy you to death. So what are you getting made?”“Going to see if Eorlund Grey-Mane will turn some of these dragon bones into arrows. He’s the best blacksmith in Skyrim and runs the Skyforge. It’s the giant eagle as you’re walking up to Dragonsreach. See how sharp that is? That would be a fitting end for those monsters.” He said and dropped one of the bone shards into her hand.She rolled it between her fingers, then lightly drew a line across her hand. With almost no pressure, the cut opened up and bled freely. She quickly drew a glowing finger over it to seal the wound again, and the line disappeared completely. “Oh, this will work nicely. See? You found a use for their remains, too.”“The difference is that I waited until it was actually dead. I also got you a few ingredients during the hunt. Elk antler tips and bear claws. But you were sleeping so I put them in your pack.”“You’re being nice.” She squinted in his direction. “And you said you weren’t an alchemist.”“Just because I’m not an alchemist doesn’t mean I don’t know the first thing about it. I know flour, sugar, honey, yeast, butter, eggs, and milk make a sweet roll; I just don’t know the exact formula. I know the irony of vampire dust curing the early stages of vampirism and glow moths making invisibility potions. Alcohol doesn’t go with whatever you’re taking. You’ve built up a tolerance to a lot of poisons on top of your natural immunity, and you’ve somehow managed to negate the ill effects of moon sugar. Anyway, I’m being practical. That’s more money later on.”“That’s better.”“…You’re suspicious of me being nice to you?”“Because you get annoyed with me so easily. I’m ready to start timing it until you decide I’m not worth the aggravation and constant threat of death.” She said as he had reminded her to catch a few bugs and was chasing down a blue butterfly.He kept walking, pushing down that twinge of guilt. “Hmm.”She groaned and rolled her head across her shoulders. “Fine. We can stay in Whiterun for a bit. Besides turning in the Dragonstone, the jarl has a surprising amount of books around Dragonsreach, I think Farengar might have a few books as well, the apothecary should have new stock in her shop by now, and I want to see this forge you’re talking about.”“Good. I understand now how much Winterhold must mean to you if you’re still so determined after several months. But the arrows will be well worth it, trust me.”*The guards at Whiterun still hadn’t forgotten her, but they were a little less interested in teasing her, as a guard from Riverwood had traveled by horse the previous day to spread the word that yet another dragon was dead. She wasn’t a fluke. Still a bit of a disaster, but real, nonetheless. But as soon as they were inside the walls, Kaidan parted ways with her.“I just prefer the Drunken Huntsman, is all. Less crowded than the Bannered Mare, I know one or two of the regulars, and the owners have good stories to tell.”“That’s fair. See you tomorrow, then? Maybe at the Skyforge. I want to see what’s so special up there.”“I was going to go first thing in the morning. You’ll probably still be asleep. But if you’re up, I’d like to see what that Dragonstone is all about, afterward.”“We’ll see then. Depends on how much rest I can get. It is kind of noisy at the tavern, now that I think about it. Maybe midmorning. It’s where the upside-down boat is, right?”“Jorrvaskr. Yes. There’s a hidden staircase on the left. And now, good night. Can’t wait to get these boots off in front of a fire.” Kaidan hiked his pack up, and turned left up the little hill, leaving Starfall on the main thoroughfare.Violet watched him leave, then looked along the street where the braziers kept everything lit just enough not to accidentally wander into someone’s yard. Except everyone’s yards had various herbs and flowers she could use. One or two blossoms missing wouldn’t kill anyone.... By the time she made it to the Bannered Mare, her pack smelled like a garden. ‘Really need to buy a satchel. Maybe the apothecary will have one. She should.’Before she could even get inside the Bannered Mare, she could hear music and laughter outside, and she hadn’t even taken her earplugs out. She groaned and started to pace around, wondering if it was too late to sneak back down to the gate and see if there were any rooms left where Kaidan was. At least there wasn’t any music wafting outside when they were outside talking. She’d only been in the Drunken Huntsman once; she sometimes liked to window shop and see what a good craftsman could make, despite having her own aethereal armory at the clap of her hands. It didn’t really occur to her to get a look around the rest of the place. To help make her decision, she went up the steps and cracked the door open. The bard was playing a jaunty tune on a lute, while a young Nord couple danced together around the hearth. The rest of the place clapped their hands, stomped their feet, and cheered the two on.“Ugh. That could go on a while.” She groaned and closed the door. If it was just a bit crowded, that was grating, but bearable. Revelry, possibly drunken? Too much.She didn’t even have to intrude on whatever Kaidan was up to, she’d just pay for a room and go straight to bed. He could stay up and listen to bedtime stories, as long as they didn’t get rowdy about it.Sure enough, back at the Drunken Huntsman was a lot quieter. There wasn’t even any music. Maybe they didn’t have a bard? She did the same check at the door, opening it a crack and peeking in. It wasn’t dead, per se. Just far more relaxed. People were seated at most of the tables, chatting quietly with the Bosmer owner behind his counter, who was writing in his logbook. She looked around for Kaidan, and he was right where he said he would be, by the fire with his boots off. He was talking to a shady looking Dunmer woman when she slapped his back and laughed.“Sounds more exciting than another bandit camp.” She leaned back and grinned at Kaidan.“I wouldn’t say it’s exciting. I mean, it is. But imagine facing down a mammoth by yourself. Dragons are larger than that. And mammoths don’t tend to try and bite you in half. Or turn into ghosts. Or breathe fire.” Kaidan’s head dropped backward.“At least tell me there was a reward for the thing.”“Scaring the shit out of the guards, a bunch of bones, and a free room at the Sleeping Giant.”The Dunmer scoffed. “Tell Avenicci up at Dragonsreach. A dragon? That’s worth at least a thousand gold, if not a few.”“Funny enough, a thousand is exactly what Ulfric paid us for the one at Windhelm. Split it with my partner, but she’s some sort of wizard, both with spells and money. Doesn’t really need bounty money since she can change plants and viscera into all kinds of medicine.”Both of her eyebrows went up. “You? And a mage? It must be the end of the world.”“I know.” He groaned. “She’s… not horrible, really. A pain in my arse, sometimes. And gets a little bit… vicious… whenever something’s gone wrong. Except something always goes wrong in our line of work. But none of this is her fault. Fates and Divines and all that. She means well. She hasn’t hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, and gave fair warning to the ones who did. She has the answers I’m after and she’s doing all she can to help me. She’s good people deep down; just that this whole thing is driving her fucking insane.”“Could be worse.”He gave a short, dry laugh. “Heh. I have a feeling it will get worse. Much worse.”“You seem to be doing alright, though?”“…No, Jenassa.” He went quiet after that.Violet desperately hated her keen hearing. She already knew most of what he said. And she had warned him several times about everything. But he still insisted on following her down into the dragon’s maw. Did he really have a right to complain, especially since no one was forcing him and she’d already tried to discourage him? Or maybe his curse wasn’t as clear cut as hers was.She almost went back to the Bannered Mare. Instead, she silently went in, went directly to Elrindir, and paid him, just as she planned. She did pass by Kaidan, patted his shoulder, and went upstairs. “Sorry to break into your hiding spot from me. They’re partying at the other place and there’s so much noise… Doubt the jarl will have a spare room for me that’s not a jail cell. Just going to bed. You don’t even have to wake me tomorrow if you don’t feel like having me around.”Kaidan and Jenassa looked after her, then at each other.“…What did she mean by jail cell?”Kaidan only slumped down in his seat.*The downstairs of the Drunken Huntsman stayed active for an hour or two more before he declined any more stories and ale, and everyone else either left for their own homes or went to bed. Upon going upstairs to his room, he found Starfall next to his, in her little ball clutching the pillow for dear life. He watched her for a little bit; she gasped and grumbled little things in her native tongue that he couldn’t understand. Or he presumed it was her native tongue, anyway. He only knew Tamrielic, mangled Dovahzul, and… well… He had heard her talking to other Redguards in what they called Old Redguard; she called it Yoku after their ancient homeland. Has she talked in her sleep before? Maybe it was only a one-night thing. But she’d said she was sleeping badly… Sleep now, more problems later.Sleep didn’t come. He realized as his head hit the pillow that she’d come in just after they were talking about her. How much did she hear? He quietly growled to himself and fought his mind out of overthinking all of the day’s events and towards sleep. As usual, it didn’t work. He’d sneak out and away, but the city gates were locked tight at night. Even though he’d been seen around Whiterun frequently as of late, the guards wouldn’t appreciate him stalking around the walls at night.
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Kaidan did find sleep eventually, though just as Starfall did, he overslept as well. It was almost noon before they both had gathered themselves enough with baths and food that they could venture out into the sunny, brisk day. Kaidan even felt safe enough within Whiterun’s walls that he’d decided not to wear his armor. Violet would have sworn that it was his second skin or something. Enough that seeing him wear the layered woolen tunic and pants almost looked strange. And he wasn’t hiding his eyes. Not that it mattered, if it wasn’t his eyes, it was the fact he was even fairer than a Nord (honestly, he should have spent all of his time in Skyrim completely sunburned), huge, and travelling with a tiny, plump, dark-skinned, grumpy mage made the difference look almost ridiculous. Meanwhile, Kaidan wondered if she shouldn’t just enchant the corseted dress so it’d at least look like her clothes fit her somewhat. It was a nicer look for her than oversized, frumpy, shapeless robes.“The goat could’ve used more spices.” She picked at her teeth as they walked towards Jorrvaskr. “I also wish I’d had fruit for breakfast, instead. Some of those nice Jazbay grapes I found on the side of the road to Windhelm.”“You could have just added the spices yourself.”She shook her head. “Back home, you do that, you offend the cook, and then you starve.”“Here, you do that, you don’t wind up complaining.” He countered.“You need to teach me more customs.”“Well, here’s one, since we’re going to the Skyforge. You give a small sacrifice to a forge when you ask to make something special. You ask the head blacksmith what it eats. Some eat fire salts, most plain old wood or coal, and I’ve heard of old Dwemer ones using entire underground lakes of fire.”“Wouldn’t it be easier to know what it eats beforehand? What if it requires something you don’t have, like the fire salts? That stuff is both expensive and rare; too much to be throwing it into a fire. Or do you buy the sacrifice from the blacksmith, in which case it’s just called a fuel tax?” She asked, now becoming distracted as they passed through the marketplace with all its abundant food, shiny items, and loud people.“…I, uh…” He’d never thought about it as he’d only done it twice, and really, “Starfall, it’s just tradition.”“Tradition is dumb superstition and what gets you thrown to the literal wolves at the age of ten just to see if you’re a worthy human being or not.” She’d found her way to the produce stall and was buying the grapes she was craving.“They were just trying to teach you self-sufficiency. But how did you survive that, if you’re ‘sickly’?”She savored a few grapes before answering him. “They knew something was wrong with me, but did it anyway trying to get rid of me. So I blew up the wolves. Then I got punished for ‘cheating’. Then I tried to blow up the instructor for throwing me to the wolves. And now I’m their worst nightmare.” Then she pulled up her skirt a little and showed him a faded scar that looked like her ankle had been chewed on. “What I want to know is how you managed to keep that pretty face, when you do things like not wear a helmet or use a shield, go after bandits, go into barrows by yourself, and up until a few months ago, did not have someone to immediately patch you up.”He decided not to take the bait. “I’m skilled enough that I know how to defend against nearly anything using only a sword. Same way you seem to be able to take bolts of lightning with little to no reaction.”“Pretty sure you don’t use a localized absorption field that digests kinetic energy and reclaims it for you to use.”Kaidan hummed at all the fancy mage words.“You’re not grounded against physical attacks the same way I’m grounded against aethereal ones. Here.” She passed him the mostly-eaten bunch of grapes, he shrugged and finished them off. He didn’t really like grapes, but she’d already wandered up the steps to Jorrvaskr to go nose around the upturned ship.“A few of the Companions are probably in; they go handle whatever people pay them to. I wonder if they’ve been called to handle any dragons, yet.” He followed her around, just to make sure she didn’t run into (cause) any trouble.“Not interested in them, really. Just wondering how much of this ship is real. And if it is real, why they thought to cart a giant ship a hundred miles inland to flip it over.”“Oh, it’s real, lass. One of the original ships that carried Ysgramor and his Companions from Atmora. Older than Whiterun itself. They brought it here because they couldn’t bear to leave the ship behind when settling Skyrim. They knew this was home.” An older Nordic man came up beside them. “Two Outlander tourists looking to learn some history?”“We’re looking for Eorlund Gray-Mane. I have a project he should be interested in.” Kaidan said.“Should be, eh? And what would be so special that he would jump up for two complete strangers?”“At least someone hasn’t been giving credibility to the gossipy as shit City Watch.” Violet crossed her arms.Kaidan pulled his pack around and pulled out one of the tail spikes from the dragon, unwrapping it from the cloth he used to protect his belongings.Eorlund took the spike from him and turned it over in examination. “Where in Oblivion is this from? Bigger than a horker tooth and sharper than a sabercat’s.”“Dragon’s tail. I’ve got claws and teeth, as well. I need arrows.”“Dragon? Arrows? Who are you two?” The old man squinted at the two of them.“People who need incredibly sharp and dangerous arrows.” Violet said.“Probably scavenged them.” Eorlund scoffed.Kaidan warned Violet not to do anything hasty, and she growled at both of them and walked away.“We didn’t scavenge them. And looks can be deceiving.” He nodded towards his partner, who’d gone back to studying Jorrvaskr.“Why not take them to Elrindir? He’s the fletcher.” Eorlund gave the tail back to Kaidan.“Because the bones need to be heated in a special forge and use the sharpest tools available to be ready for carving. I tried at the forge in Riverwood and it just wasn’t good enough. Got a bunch of broken shards, but feel that edge.” He produced the bit he gave to Starfall.The master blacksmith tested the shard the same way Violet did, by pricking his finger. His method of healing only involved shaking it and sucking the blood off, though. “…I see. Come with me.”They both went up the stairs, leaving Violet poking around where she technically didn’t belong, in the Companions’ backyard. She sat down at a table and started sketching the ship. She didn’t notice the two men had left her, until another one had come up behind her.“What are you doing here?” A gruff voice rumbled.She’d heard him approach, and for some reason was hoping that he’d leave her alone since she wasn’t actually doing anything. “Just admiring this building. We don’t have anything like it where I’m from. Well, actually, there might be one at Stros M’kai, but I’ve never been there. I should send a picture back to pa and ask.”“You’re from the desert? Your words are all weird. But we have lots of Redguards living here, and their accents aren’t weird.”She slowly turned and looked up at who would be so childishly dense… “Yes. I’m from Hammerfell.”“I knew it! Only Amren and Saadia remember Hammerfell, but they don’t talk about it much. Sometimes I wonder why we don’t have any Redguards in the Companions. They’re really good fighters. I asked Amren and he said he already had a family.”She slowly nodded and looked around to finally notice Kaidan wasn’t around to get her out of this.He sniffed and crossed his arms. “But you smell like magic and all the plants and flowers in Arcadia’s shop, so you must be a mage. Mages are too weak to be in the Companions. And honestly, you’re too tiny, anyway.”‘Did you just fucking sniff me?’ Her eyebrow went up. “You can smell my magic?”“It’s really strong. Like even worse than Farengar.” He somehow managed to realize what he’d said. “I mean, it’s not bad. It’s just a magic-y smell.”‘I just took a bath!’ Violet started to back up for space. “Well, okay. I’m guessing you’re one of the Companions? Is this like a meeting hall, or do you live here, too?”“I am! I’m Farkas. And we meet and practice and take jobs upstairs, and we sleep downstairs.”“My friend says the Companions are like the Alik’r from Hammerfell. Are you mercenaries?”“Lots of people call us that, yeah. But we’re also family. We fight so that other people don't have to. We bring honor and glory to ourselves and each other.” He smiled proudly.“Huh. Have you fought the dragons yet?”“Not you, too…. The guards keep saying that someone’s out there killing dragons, but they always start whispering about the old stories of the Dragonborn. I think they’re just telling stories because they’re all bored. I want to see why everyone’s so afraid of those things.”‘Oh gods.’ Violet shook her head and slowed down a bit so he could understand her better. “Listen to me carefully, Farkas. You don’t. They’re horrible, terrifying, smart, cruel, and hate humans for trying to kill them all thousands of years ago. The guards are bored, but they’re also right, as much as I hate to say it. It’s possible for people who aren’t the Dragonborn to kill them, but it takes a lot of very strong people, and the dragon might not even stay dead. If anyone hires the Companions to go fight a dragon, you need to bring your strongest. The first one I ever fought killed over a dozen guards because no one had ever seen them before and didn’t know what to do.”“We’re not whelps.” Farkas mumbled. “Maybe you think they’re scary because you’re a mage who can’t hold a weapon.”‘Damn, this man is adorable but dumb as a sack of sand.’ “You’re not listening. It’s not because I’m a mage.” She hissed and held her hand out. An ice spear erupted from her hand and she spun it over her hand and wrist, launching it hard enough that it went clean through a training dummy across the yard and jammed into the stone wall behind it. “They are the bastard creations of Akatosh. They’re almost as bad as daedra. My own companion is up there talking to your blacksmith to turn their bones into weapons because normal steel does next to nothing.”“Not bad,” He said, looking at the damage. “But me and my shield-brothers and sisters are powerful as well. We’ll be fine.”“You just said mages weren’t allowed.”“They aren’t. We’re not mages. You should go find your companion and Eorlund. It smells like the forge is getting extra hot, so I guess he’s going to take the job. And come find me afterward, I want to see what a weapon made from dragon bones looks like.” Farkas said and went to go study her spear and the new hole in the city’s wall.*By the time she finished her sketches and writing, it was just as Farkas had said. Eorlund and Kaidan were working the bellows and bright yellow flames waved among the coals. Eorlund had even given Kaidan a blacksmith’s apron to protect his clothing. Violet took a seat at the grindstone and continued her sketches of the fabled forge, but the stone eagle looming over them was so large, it was hard to see the details from under it.“Didn’t know you could draw.” Kaidan glanced over at her.“It’s not very good, but I can tell what it is, and it’s enough I can remember the rest.” She held up her book; the drawing of the forge wasn’t crude per se, but the forge was round, and she’d drawn a hexagon filled with tiny cubes and arrows coming out of it. “So what’d you sacrifice to the fire gods?”Kaidan was picking through the bones and teeth to see which one to test out first. A dulled tooth with deep grooves in it was tossed into the center of the fire. “Just coal. And it’s not to fire gods. …I don’t think.”“No, lad. Though some seem to think it was left by the Divines as they created Nirn. The elves don’t even know where it came from.”“Is that why Jorrvaskr was dragged all the way here?” She asked.“Mm-hmm.” Eorlund nodded. “Ysgramor and the original Companions needed some sort of protection against the elves, and they seemed genuinely afraid of this thing, so it’s ours now. Imagine being afraid of a forge. It’s blessed, not cursed. Anything that comes out of this forge is finer, sharper, deadlier, more easily enchanted than anything coming out of a normal forge. And while I don’t normally do arrows, Aela would give me an earful if I passed up a new way for her to have an advantage in battle.”They waited as the tooth reheated as before, with Kaidan and Eorlund talking in smithing terms Violet only vaguely understood. She listened anyway, as maybe they’d be able to find something else that she could use. Kaidan watched the master blacksmith pull the tooth from the fire and use a chisel-like tool to shave the tip into a sharp point.Eorlund held it up against the light. “Interesting. But it’s got to cool slowly or else it’ll just crack when it hits the water.”“How many tips from each bone?” Kaidan asked.“From this one? About ten. The tail would be worth half that, since it’s narrow.”“What if you changed the arrowhead shape?” Violet started rolling something in her fingers. “Not necessarily the typical triangle for every arrow, but making a variety of them. Some flat, some round-pointed, some for long range when they’re in the air. I can reach them with lightning that far up, but the longer the range, the harder it is to control. The more people working to bring it down, the better.”She held out several designs for arrowheads made of ice in her palms for them to examine, except Eorlund reaching for the samples to turn them over made them immediately melt.He mumbled. “Hmm.”She rolled her eyes. “Give me a minute.” This time, she also sketched the designs on a piece of parchment and pinned it to the nearby tanning rack.“Y’ve done fletching and hunting before, lass?”“I can take care of my equipment. I at least learned to do that. Unfortunately, most of my archery expertise is for human-shaped targets. Dragon scales are a lot thicker than leather and even some types of steel.”“I like this design, but it’s still geared towards killing something unarmored. The hollow bits here make the blades too fragile when it hits their scales.” Kaidan pointed to the hollow broadhead design.“That’s the point. It goes in and splinters up, shredding their insides. You don’t get the arrow back, but still…”Eorlund rubbed his chin, getting soot in his beard. “Vicious little thing, aren’t ye’? Aela would probably like that against those damn giants. She came back grumbling the other day about how many arrows those big bastards could just shrug off. I’ll make a test few, and some without the cut-outs.”Violet quickly ran her own errands as they put together samples of a few different designs and were deciding on which ones to keep. Most were the traditional hunting design, with a couple dozen of Violet’s special designs. When she came back, there were five unfletched samples cooling on the stone worktable.“Would also be good against trolls.” Kaidan said and tested one. With his bare fingers, he was just barely able to snap the hollow blades off, and then those crumbled into little bits of bone shrapnel.“Plus poison and enchanting.” She held up her book, full of different magical and alchemical combinations. Kaidan recognized a few, Eorlund did not.Once everything was agreed upon, Eorlund noted it would be about two days to get all of the arrows made, and that’s if none of the Companions had urgent requests. They always came first. Kaidan said that was fair and paid half.*It was early evening by the time everything was set at the Skyforge. As they were walking away, Violet told Kaidan about the conversation she had with Farkas.“You’ve finally found someone stranger than you?” He laughed. “It doesn’t matter. Doubt we’ll cross paths with them too often. And if it was that much of a problem, they wouldn’t have him around. His sword arm works, and I suppose that’s enough.”“He sniffed me…” She shuddered.“And you could hear a bear pissing next to a stream on the other side of the woods. He was just getting to know you.”“If you ever say anything like that again…”“You’re leaving. I know. But you do tend to listen in on things that aren’t your business.” Kaidan patted her shoulder.“Also he’s not a dog. That’s not how you get to know people when you’re not a damn dog.” She shuddered at the thought of them.“How do you know?”“Know what…?”Kaidan shrugged. “How do you know he’s not a dog? No one can tell that you’ve got a dragon’s blood and soul. Or several. You’re just a strange, little Redguard to them. Everyone’s got secrets. Would explain why he’s simple-headed.”“There’s a difference.”“Only a little. Guess it depends on the Divine or Daedra that touches you. I’ve heard of vampires who just try to live normal lives, which I suppose would be fair if they didn’t want to be a vampire in the first place. You can be touched by Hircine, Prince of The Hunt and become any manner of creatures. The Wood Elves can use some kind of ancient magic, but… they don’t talk about it. And then there’s the Khajiit. I still don’t know how they keep track of all that business.”“So you think he’s cursed as well?”“Could be. Not everyone minds terribly about the hand the world deals them.”She was quiet for a while. “…He said I smelled really strongly of magicka. I can’t smell anything.”‘Uh.’ Kaidan looked for a way out. “You want to go grab dinner before going to Dragonsreach? Working the forge builds an appetite, I don’t know about you…”“Yes. And you’re avoiding the question.” Violet sighed.‘Fuck.’ He kept walking down towards the Bannered Mare. “Magicka has a smell, yes…”“Kaidan.”“You probably can’t smell it because magic is a literal part of yourself, like tasting your own tongue. You don’t smell bad. You smell like a storm passing over a field of wildflowers.” He cleared his throat. “It’s not a problem, unless you start using necromancy and dragging a corpse around with us. Or if we get stuck in another barrow for days on end and covered in pieces of draugr. Or you don’t wash off blood before it dries. Not sure why you’re so worried about it.”“Because strange men smelling me is weird.” She rubbed her arms.“You are weird.”*The Bannered Mare was much quieter than the previous night; Kaidan wanted something better to drink, and they managed to grab a bite to eat in relative peace. Saadia was still alive, and Violet was somewhat grateful for that. She knew those Alik’r mercenaries from all those weeks ago were suspicious. She guessed they’d either given up, or Saadia (if that was her real name) found a way to throw them off the trail. Overthinking about Farkas turned into overthinking about what would happen after they turned over all their hard work. She’d copied the Dragonstone to her own map with Kaidan’s best approximations, then whined that they’d likely have to find each and every one of the graves and kill the monster in it all over again. If for nothing else, to make sure Kaidan got his answer. Violet wondered if this one ancient map was really worth enough to free her from being indebted to the jarl.“I should have asked for this contract in writing. I should know better. Especially considering that fool Farengar almost got me in trouble, last time.” Violet stared at the faded, flat rock on the table.“A jarl’s court serves as a witness. They can’t change the terms of a contract when everyone heard you both agree to it. It’s fine.” Kaidan mumbled around his tankard.She rubbed her forehead. “I’ve been on the defending side of enough incidents to know that’s horseshit.”“Maybe that’s a Hammerfell thing, then. Or a city politics thing. It could happen in Riften or Markarth, definitely.”“Okay, but we’re in Whiterun. What about Balgruuf?”“He’s fair, if a bit indecisive. Everyone’s been waiting for months for him to choose a side in the war and it’s starting to take a toll. I suspect even after you turn that thing over, you won’t be done with him or it, though.”Violet ran her hand down her face and pushed down the urge to smash the Dragonstone on the floor. Instead, it went back in her bag, and instead turned her annoyance to her leeks. Saadia’s cooking wasn’t great. And the alcohol was the same swill everywhere from either Black-Briar or Honningbrew. After that clingy, mopey scene in Ivarstead, she avoided it as best she could. Cities should have at least had more than ale, mead, and wine… “Why does everyone in Skyrim only consume dangerous levels of alcohol?”He flinched. “Because it warms your soul and cools your senses to the world outside.”“That seems like a fast and easy way to get eaten by wolves.”“Then the wolves get drunk and leave everyone else alone.”She shook her head (which made Kaidan chuckle a bit) and put her head down. A few seconds later, a stranger inched his way down the bar, and invited himself to their table. Her ears twitched, but she didn’t bother to sit up.“Now what’s the matter with this pretty little thing?” The Breton man pointed at her.“Just the way she is.” Kaidan eyed him. “Leave her be. You’ll only make it worse.”“Bah!” He shook his head. “Who could be so melancholy on an amazing night like tonight? There’s something out there. I can feel it! Here! A round on me!”“I don’t drink this Nordic crap.” Her voice was muffled through her sleeves.He blinked at her, dumbfounded. “Did I hear this right? She’s in Skyrim.”Kaidan nodded.“She’s a Redguard. It’s damn hard to kill ‘em, ‘specially with alcohol. They can put away Daedric Lava Whiskey without coming up for air.”He shrugged. “Seen her drink worse.”“The drinks are free.”Nod.“Is she steering the horse back?”“Don’t have one.”“Then do as Imperials do, as they say!”“She won’t. I don’t press her. You shouldn’t, either. You can buy me another, if you like.” Kaidan waggled his eyebrows.The man, obviously well into his own inebriation, rubbed his chin. “What if she had a little motivation?”“I seriously doubt you have anything she’d want. And I’m starting to feel a little insulted (and dry), here.” He wasn’t, but he was sure that Starfall was and was trying to distract him away from her.The man looked her over. “She’s a mage. Hmm… What have I got for that…”“I swear to fuck, if it’s because you could ‘smell it’…” Violet hissed.“You’ve got empty magicka bottles next to your water. In a tavern. What is this world coming to?” The Breton threw his hands up.“Oh.” She slid them off the table into her bag.“What about a staff, m’dear?” His eyes glittered.“I don’t use staves. They require wasteful amounts of high tier soul gems, and they’re usually too long for me to use.”“Too… long?” The man looked under the table and saw that her shoes were dangling rather childishly an inch from the floor. “Well I’ll be damned. Heh.”“Look, I told you, she’s not going to bite. I mean… she might. I haven’t pissed her off that bad, yet.” The Akaviri grinned around his mug.“I’m not a savage…” She grumbled through her sleeve.“You are, however, in a bad mood that you won’t take it upon yourself to try and fix. Or at least tell me what you need to fix it.” Kaidan sighed.“A brand-new, shiny staff would make you feel better…” He grinned at her as if she could see his face.She did hear the tone of his voice though, and she growled louder. “You haven’t even said what it does. Wrecking my liver for several hours over a wooden stick that does this would not improve my mood.” She snapped a tiny magelight into existence and snuffed it out.“I am utterly insulted that you think I would wager a piddly magelight staff in such a high-stakes game of endurance. And it’s not wood… I mean… It looks like wood, but anyway. It’s made to last and doesn’t use soul gems.”“And the Khajiit peddling junk outside the walls has a panacea he wants to sell me. Who are you, and why are you so set on bothering us?” Violet finally sat up and stared him down.“Call me Sam.” He took her hands in his. “And you, my dear girl, more than anyone else in this tavern, nay, this whole damn city, look like you could use a good time. Or at least a hug. Although, I’m guessing you’re not ‘the type’ for hugs. Your dour friend here is a close second, though he has no reason to be with that face.”“Not from strangers, no.” She took her hands back. “A drink wouldn’t help. Waking up from this ongoing nightmare would.”“I’m… not that kind of problem solver. But the day’s almost over. I can help you forget for a little while.” Sam slapped Kaidan’s shoulder. “The Outlander knows. Don’t you?” He said rather ominously.Kaidan’s only reply was another pull of his drink and a wink.“And some say a relaxed mind makes better, if not more interesting, solutions. You’ll lose nothing from this, except for maybe a little pride, or that overwound knot between your shoulders.”Violet scoffed, then rolled her shoulders and realized there was actually a lot of pain there. “While that’s true, it would help if the only options here weren’t made from snow runoff.”“You say this as if there are more options in the desert.” Kaidan rolled his eyes.“Spiced cactus pears. Buried under the burning sands where the Alik’r’s magic flows deep and ancient. It’s said that forgotten casks spawn oases. You open one up after a few months, add aloe pulp, and a lot of Stros M’Kai rum. Shake and freeze at the same time. You want for nothing, except another.” Violet’s head dropped back, she moaned, and it looked like she was about to die of thirst, even though she’d been through so much water since sitting down.Sam’s eyebrows went up. “Damn, that actually sounds really good. Give me a minute…” And he slipped back over to Hulda at the bar.“You’re not going to find it here…” She called after him. “Gods know I’ve tried…”“And now you’re homesick again.” Kaidan leaned over and patted her shoulder.“I never stopped. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get all mushy on you again. But if he does find something, it might just be enough for me to hold on to for a little while.”
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When Sam came back with a large tray of dizzyingly cloying tankards for the three of them, Violet was instantly suspicious. Never mind that Hammerfell and Skyrim were neighbors. Skyrim didn’t have any substantial imports from there besides maybe the rum, despite the East Empire Company being a giant thorn in her father’s side (and vice-versa) and seeing their crates in both Whiterun and Windhelm.When Sam made the staff appear with a snap of his fingers, put it on the table, and it was literally a stemmed rose, still alive, larger than her head, smelling strongly of not roses, and bleeding from the thorns, she knew she should have grabbed Kaidan and left.When she put the tankard to her lips anyway because the smell was oh so familiar and comforting, and instantly all of her senses including her magic went someplace they hadn’t since her ninth year at Elinhir and some evil (and very cute) Dunmer fucker said ‘crush the moon sugar into the bottom of the glass and pour the punch on top of it’ while putting his hand where it shouldn’t have been, she knew she should have put an ice pick through Sam’s ear, then grabbed Kaidan and ran. She leered at the Breton man with every ounce of her internal magic roiling yellow in healing magic, trying to purge her system. “What is this?”“Ah, ah, ah… no cheating.” Sam smiled and drank his punch. “This is absolutely amazing, by the way. I have to pick your brain for the exact recipe, once we’re done here. If you’re still coherent. This is a lot stronger than I was expecting from you.”Kaidan was covering his mouth and staring at the last remnants of the bright orange and pink … slush in his mug. He was in no way immune to any of whatever was going on, had a pretty large head start on how much alcohol was in his system, and didn’t recall actually agreeing to any of this. “Ugh, it tastes like Stros M’Kai rum mixed with some weird fire fruit and a bottle of Hist sap thrown in. …Wait, why are you glowing?”“Kai, you’ve been drinking that rancid sewer water you call ale for gods know how long. You have no taste. And how do you know what Hist sap tastes like?” She scoffed. Her magic wasn’t working, and even if it wasn’t the real thing, it was so damned good, her mind stopped caring and soon gave up.Sam laughed. “Now, now, you two. You both have to outdrink me, and you’re both still on the first one. I know you’re not lightweights, either of you.”“Bugger that. She has no taste!” He went back to his ale, even though it was already too late. “And it’s her staff, not mine. I can’t use magic.”“Oh, if you absolutely must.” Sam rolled his eyes. ‘These two are already at odds. This ride is going to get really bad, really fast.’Violet was already in her second tankard and had plans for whoever this was. First, she was going to have to get rid of Kaidan. He would complain about whatever happened next as if somehow whatever questionable thing she did was his fault or something. Then she’d ask this Sam what he was really after. Powerful Illusion magic being abused towards a stupid drinking game over a strange weapon she very likely had no use for? No. Even those Thalmor assholes didn’t scheme like this. She took Kaidan’s other two and didn’t even stop between them.She stood up and swooned. Okay, so the hard liquor was real; it wasn’t Nordic mead in disguise. Maybe drinking a bottle and a half of rum and fruit fermented enough to be hallucinogenic all in the span of fifteen minutes was not smart. Whatever. She grabbed the last mug and slammed it down in front of Sam, sloshing part of it on the table. “I am going to finish this because it’s my first taste of home in months, and then I’m going to figure out what the fuck you’re up to. Then I’m taking the staff, and I’m going to use it on you to see what it does. My dear Kai, I know you don’t like it when I “ask questions”, so here’s your warning. You can go do whatever you want for the rest of the day. I think Farengar’s going to have to wait until tomorrow.” And like that, the third tankard disappeared in one shot.Sam did not seem to be bothered by her threat. Instead, he was applauding her ability to stay under for so long.‘My dear…?’ The other times that too much alcohol was involved, Starfall drank herself weepy and whingy. Now she was visibly overflowing with magic, somewhat angry over being told to loosen up, very lively, and to be honest, she had a point. Something was up. Kaidan rose up and grabbed the much shorter man by the throat. His eyes glowed red with menace complimenting Starfall’s gold. “I’ll hold him down.”“Oh, good. Maybe I won’t have to ditch you after all. I promise I won’t dissect him or take his soul. Just for you.” She grabbed the staff and ran her thumb up and down one of the thorns. The staff’s blood mixed with her own, making her grip it tightly and the rose bloom.“Okay, I think we might have a misunderstanding here.” The strange man croaked. ‘I guess an orgy for these two means an orgy of violence. I mean I’ll take it, but damn!’“Don’t you three dare start anything in my bar!” Hulda leaned over the counter and shouted at them.“Yes, Hulda! Could you watch my stuff for a few minutes, then? Need to have a chat outside.” Violet said, both she and Kaidan smiling with far, far too many teeth and glowing eye whites showing. She grabbed Kaidan’s free arm, pulling them out of the door into the twilight.“I understand that you two are about to have… an honestly pretty frightening concept of a ‘good time’, but maybe we can talk this out, relax just little, and I can just call you both winners? I know a little place that’s a lot better than what’s likely going to be the back alley. A bit better for not tearing me apart?” Sam said nervously.“Then do lead the way, ffffriend.” Violet slapped his shoulder, except her hand had an ice spell in it. Thick, biting frost crawled up and down his arm and neck, making him gasp.“Starfall… isn’t this how you said you wound up getting caught by the Thalmor?” Kaidan shook his head and tried to think straight. The twisting roads, prevalent stairs, and uneven hills of Whiterun were not the place to try and do that. But honestly, if this Sam had something a little different and less miserable going on than the past several weeks, fuck it, he’d take it.“Oh no, he’s not Thalmor. The Thalmor aren’t this stupid. Also, I wasn’t drunk. And there was a dragon involved. This is some other horseshit we’re going to get to the bottom of.”“Hey, now wait just a minute…” Sam grumbled. “I don’t know if I’ve got a dragon. They’re not really the sort for parties…”*Violet awoke to blessed silence. She almost hated to break it with the deep, satisfied moan she let out. She hadn’t slept so well in months. But then her brain actually started processing what she was seeing. Gold. Everywhere. She hated that color. Everything was wet. The gold she was seeing was a giant statue of a very curvaceous woman wearing nothing but a flower in her hand.Hulda did not have one of those in the Bannered Mare.“Sleep well?” A woman’s voice beside her asked icily. “Sounds like it.”‘Yes, actually.’ She didn’t want to move, despite knowing she was not in the very short list of places she knew, the water was cold, and the voice had a very angry tone. “Give me a minute, please.”“Get up. Now.”‘Thanks for ruining the peace and quiet.’ Violet winced and slowly sat up. One. She was sitting in pool of water. Two. She was not in her blue corseted dress. It was a dress. There was a corset. And there was blue. But aside from that, it was all wet sheer silk doing very little to cover dark glowing skin, gold from her dreadlocks to her toes, and it all had to have cost way more than she could even dream of—“Where’s my stuff. Where’s the Dragonstone?! Wait, where’s Kaidan. OH FUCK ME.” She splashed her way out of the pool and fell onto the cold, hard, stone floor. The moment was gone.“And we’re back to blaspheming again.” A woman wearing a gold robe rolled her eyes.Three, that was a priestess. She was in a temple. Good things never happened in temples, especially considering she was a heretic and her status as a mortal was up for debate.“Where am I? What happened?!” Anxiety quickly fed off of her new energy and she clawed the table next to her trying to get to her feet. Once she was upright, she cast a thin sheen of heat across herself until the water steamed away.“You. Are. Insane! Look at what you’ve done! Clean this up now and maybe I’ll have something for you. Or maybe I’ll just call the guards.” The priestess gestured angrily at the confusing mess.They were in the main room of a mostly stone temple made up of architecture that was in no way Nordic. Every bit of stone from the floor tiles to the ceiling were carved and engraved with designs and symbols she didn’t recognize. What wasn’t stone, was gilded. The braziers, the accent columns covered in deep claw grooves, the statues, the candlesticks bent in unusable poses, the offering plates half melted off the edge of the table, the woven tapestries pulled off the walls, the little bottles of potions knocked all over the floor, even the food.Violet picked up a bit of bread and turned it over. “What the… is this bread made of gold? How—”She threw her hands up. “I don’t know, you maniac! I can understand the statues and the furniture, but the food? We have to buy all new food, now! Get back to work!”Actually doing that took several more minutes as she tried to figure out what was going on and struggled with pushing down her rising terror. Strange place that wasn’t Whiterun. New and frankly overindulgent clothes? Where was her pack? Did she leave it at the Bannered Mare or the Drunken Huntsman? She left with Kaidan and someone else, but they weren’t here now. …Ssssssaaaaam. Ice needles skittered around her silk-sandaled feet and the divining pool froze over. A few of the gilded glass bottles exploded and left potions frozen in the shape of their containers. The priestess took a few steps back and hesitated. “Get back to work, please. And then we can talk.”“There were two men with me. An Outlander, and a Breton. Have you seen them?” Violet said slowly and carefully, while grabbing a broom partly to sweep up the glass, partly to occupy her hands against collapsing the temple with her in it to hide her shame.“No. Men are not allowed here. Only you came in here several hours ago, screeching obscenities, so deep in the cups you should have drowned, and ‘the marriage was off’.”“…The what?” The broom no longer worked as the bristles froze and broke off in a pile of straw splinters. It explained the dress at least. Not where it could have come from, but one thing at a time.“Finish cleaning.”“You cannot leave me with just that. I cannot be married. Ever.” She was shaking now as answers weren’t coming and nothing made sense and just when she felt like she’d gotten just the tiniest grip on things…“You said that as well. Look. Dibella teaches love and compassion, but that doesn't mean we're just going to tell you what you want to know and let you walk away from this. Pick up your mess, then apologize, and if we think you're sincere we'll consider lending you aid.”She was still shaking, genuinely scared now, but found another broom, tried to get herself under control, and put everything back as best she could. “I, honest to the gods, can’t remember anything. I barely remember yesterday, either. I’m not sure how or why I could have done this, as I usually know better than to set foot in holy places. I’m sorry, priestess. …I don’t even know what temple this is. I don’t know Dibella.”The woman studied her for a minute, though Violet was looking everywhere but at her in an effort to figure out where she was. “You really don’t know where you are? At least tell me you can remember your own name.”Violet opened her mouth, went wide-eyed, then closed it. It took several embarrassing seconds. “…Ssstarfffall.”The priestess ran her hand down her face. “Whatever you drank, don’t ever drink it again. It’s rendered you completely senseless. You’re in the Temple of Dibella in Markarth. Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Passions. I’m surprised you don’t know, as we get a lot of visiting Redguard women from Dragonstar who worship her. And you’re certainly dressed the part.” “Markarth?! Hhhowww…?” She wheezed and started pacing around. She did know where Markarth was, at least. There was a dangerous, claustrophobic, underground, and mostly unused route through the mountains from Dragonstar that she didn’t want to take all those months ago, plus she had business in Elinhir before going to Skyrim. “I was in Whiterun a day ago! Oh god, what if it’s been much longer… no no no no no…”“You also dropped this. It sounds like you were in here after holy water, but something stopped you or you had some kind of change of heart. Maybe whoever wrote it can help.” The woman held out a little piece of paper.Violet took it and read it, her voice quivering as she went on. “We need the following to repair the broken staff: Giant's Toe, Holy Water, Hagraven Feather. -Sam. This is useless. I think. I don’t know…” This was almost worse than the Dragonstar incident. At least there, everything happened so quickly she didn’t have time to give in to despair.“Oh, no. Please do not start crying in our Lady’s temple. Besides, you’re going to smudge your kohl.”“Kohl? What?” She went over to one of the golden offering plates and looked into it. She was covered in makeup, and her dreadlocks were pulled up into a complicated design held together by dozens of gold rings, pins, and capped ends. She thought she hated gold, until she saw it. She sniffled but managed to pull herself back. She also saw the toe and the holy water on the counter. She quickly made them disappear before turning around again.“It looks like you were halfway into your wedding night before you came in here screaming and having a fit.”“Can’t. Marry.” One part of her desperately wanted to rub her face to see if everything was really real or if she was losing her grip on reality again. The other part didn’t want to mess up the makeup, as she liked the look. She usually had no use for the stuff.“Sort of curious though what sort of marriage a goddess would have, considering you felt like you needed to turn half of the temple into solid gold. You don’t have to turn it back, though…” She said and cleared her throat.“Now you’re just saying things to see what happens. Even though I’m an alchemist, I don’t know how to make gold.”“You did this. All of it. Even the bread! You screamed about how they were missing out on becoming gods, they could rot in Rorikstead, then started showing off. Try there.”The mage looked around again. She didn’t really know how to manipulate metal except to harden her skin to iron and ebony, and definitely not anything related to gold. On trying to bite the golden bread, her teeth clacked hard against it. She smashed it against the corner of the stone table, and it didn’t even dent, let alone break. It really was completely solid. “I don’t know how I did this. It shouldn’t be possible for me to do this.”“Maybe goddesses shouldn’t get drunk, or else we’ll wind up with another dragon break where everything is made of gold with new little Divines running around turning into dragons and destroying their own temples.” The priestess said, unamused. She turned and looked at the claw marks on the posts. “How on Nirn am I supposed to cover these up?”All the blood drained from Violet’s face and she ran out of the temple.*Two guards stood alongside an Outlander staring at the outside of Markarth’s city gate. It was solid gold. The Outlander was dressed as if he owned both the gold gate and everything behind it. He had his hand over his mouth and couldn’t pick out the right words.“Don’t think the jarl’s going to be happy about this.” A guard said.“Are you kidding? The left door alone could pay for the Reach to become its own city-state.” The other smacked his arm.“What, like Orsinium or something? Why would we want that? I meant now the door is made of soft metal, weighs five times as much as it did, and people are going to try and steal it.”“Just saying that we could.”“Oh.”“And you say a little Redguard woman did this?” Kaidan couldn’t take his eyes off the door.The first guard chuckled slyly and put his hand a little below chest high. “Ohhh, yeah. About so high, gold everywhere the silk wasn’t touching. Looked and moved like she wanted to kill everyone, but that’s just Red women, in my experience. I sure as shit couldn’t afford her, even with all the scars. Dressed like she was yours, come to think of it.” He raised his eyebrow at him.Kaidan was still up in the air about defending Starfall’s honor. That wasn’t his business. But while that outfit sounded nothing like her, it did sound like they’d been to the same tailor in their blackout state…“You know though… we’re not the City of Silver, anymore. She’s ruined it.”“Oh, gods. The Silver-Bloods are going have a fit.”“Or change their name to the Gold-Bloods.” The second laughed.“And neither of you thought to stop her?” Kaidan asked weakly. Not that they’d be able to, but they could have at least tried…“The fuck are you? Mad? Stop this?! You’d be talking to a couple of fancy statues about now, instead!” One banged his shield on the door, except it made a dull thunk instead of a ringing clang. Kaidan winced in pain at each hit. “We were betting to see how far she’d get!”He went hoarse. “There’s more?!”“Half the city before she stormed off to go screech at the Priestesses of Dibella. Uh… we’re not allowed in there, so she’s kind of got asylum, for now.” The other mumbled.Kaidan couldn’t get any paler. He woke up in a stone watchtower just outside the city, feeling like his head was about to rot clean off his shoulders, his stomach out of his gut, and a lot of miners and a couple of farmers swooning over him despite it. He felt like a damn fop. He had no armor or weapons. Thankfully, the main city was just at the top of the hill. She never said anything about being able to literally create gold. He wondered if all the finery was her doing, as well. It had to be. The clothes alone were worth more septims than he’d ever see in his entire lifetime, unless Starfall kept this mess up. Black fur and leather accented all over with gold thread, buckles, and buttons. He wouldn’t have chosen it; for one thing, he had no desire to be King of Akavir. Or emperor, or warlord; whatever went on over there. One of the farmboys complimented him on his fancy earrings and that they worked for him. The poor man’s eyes went wide as he felt several loops, drops, and studs lining the outside of his ears, and one of them caught on the new diamond ring on his hand. It looked different from his utilitarian enchanted ring. It was something made up for an occasion. What happened last night?! His ears weren’t pierced; none of him was supposed to be save for where swords and arrows had gone through. They didn’t hurt, either; it was as if they’d been there forever. He almost pulled them all out except they were literal money fastened to his head.He knew that Starfall had the capacity and drive to be highly destructive. He knew that she was afraid she’d lose control sooner or later and it was his ‘sacred’ duty to keep her from doing so. Or at least minimizing the damage. He didn’t know that unimaginable chaos and destruction would look like a destabilized economy that could start riots, and not a bunch of burning holes in the ground or a city crushed into frozen piles of rubble. Well, that’d be the thing about unimaginable chaos and destruction, now wouldn’t it? They’d been separated for about half a day as far as he could tell, and whatever happened in Whiterun had escalated so quickly that there was absolutely no way for him to fix or otherwise mitigate this. He didn’t even understand how they’d managed to go across the entire country in only a few hours.His instinctive thoughts of having a pain numbing drink instantly made him go from pale to green. If Sam was still alive, he was going to fix that.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As soon as Violet set foot outside of the temple, there were people everywhere. They were chattering, all confused, and the gilded nightmare continued out of the temple and carved a swath all through the city. Her eyes bulged and she quickly looked around for which way to go. She could try the palace and court mage, who could possibly help with what was happening with her magic, but then she’d wind up in the path of the jarl. That couldn’t happen, even if he somehow wasn’t upset that she’d somehow exponentially raised the value of the city and simultaneously crashed it. Kaidan could be anywhere between here and Rorikstead, if he wasn’t still in Whiterun. Maybe check the inn for him first; this sort of thing would instantly make him either hunt her down or drown his sorrows. She could find someplace to get real clothes and some temporary supplies, and pay for it with some of this junk she was wearing. She couldn’t go out into the wilderness looking like this (‘well, I could, but I’d draw too much attention’), but then how did she get here in the first place? She could probably even afford her own horse now.Then the conversation they had all those months ago about dragons killing it sprang to mind, and she realized she didn’t have any of her medicine, water, or potions. If anything serious came up, she’d have to run. And she had maybe three days tops before she needed to find a suitable substitute for her medicine. She slipped down the stairwell and kept out of the way as best she could. The priestess had threatened to call the guard, but judging by all the gold everywhere, they were probably looking for her anyway. Asking them for directions was out of the question; she’d have to find someone else. Directly below the temple of Dibella was one to Talos. They probably wouldn’t help her, even if she told them who she was. There was a lightly trafficked sky bridge going across to what looked like a residential area and she took it, the view giving her a slightly better idea what was around. She could see the city’s wall and a gate a few dozen feet tall… all gold. At least she knew the way out, now. More keeping her head down and moving quickly past the homes built into the walls of the mountain (‘Huh, they do it here too, though this couldn’t have been the Nords, this doesn’t look like their work.’), and down the stairs brought her to the main thoroughfare of Markarth. Market stalls, the inn, and a store were all conveniently in one place, which made checking each one a lot easier.*Kaidan grumbled as a guard decided to follow him inside just in case he decided to start anything as well, despite telling them that he wasn’t capable of magic, he was hungover, and he just wanted to find ‘that woman’ and go home. If she was similarly hungover, she was probably somewhere panicking, or if she knew where Sam was and still in her aggressive state from last night, tearing the place apart looking for him.He wasn’t even sure where to start, as he tended to avoid Markarth as much as he avoided Riften. Cross the wrong person in either of those cities and you were either thousands of septims in debt, imprisoned, or had assassins on your arse. ‘The guard said she was last seen at Dibella’s temple. But I can’t get in, so that’s out…’He took three steps into the city when someone in the marketplace shouted, "The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!" and suddenly people were screaming and running. The chaos rattled around in his head and pushed his balance off. He was about to turn and leave, when a blast of frozen air and ice erupted from the center of the crowd.‘FIVE FUCKING MINUTES, STARFALL!’ Kaidan slapped his forehead and instantly regretted it.The guard beside him ran in that direction, and despite everything in him wanting to get away from the noise, he followed.*The jewelry stand owner was admiring but very confused about Violet’s entire look. “Oh, it’s all lovely! I’m sure we can discuss—”"The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!" Someone shouted near Violet.The woman beside her was yanked backwards and shouted in pain, and before Violet could react, a man had shoved her aside and to the ground. Violet looked around confused with her hands over her ears until she heard the woman on the ground beside her scrabbling to move and failing. Blood quickly trailed across her feet and the hem of her dress. The noise of the crowd felt like claws raking the back of her head.‘Oh gods, no no no, I can’t go five minutes without something happening! Fucking why?!’She quickly turned in the direction that the man had tried to push through the crowd, swiped her hand in a semi-circle, and trapped him in a round cage of ice lances. ‘Hopefully it’ll at least take him a few minutes to escape and the guards can get to him before then…’ Once he was secured, the mage’s attention went back to the victim and she tried to administer triage while trying to ignore all the noise threatening to smother her other senses. She didn’t have her potions, but she had enough magicka reserved within herself to at least make sure the woman didn’t die. She put her fingers to the stab wound in the woman’s back and forced bright healing light into it. Stop the bleeding first. It was too close to her heart…*Guards swarmed past Kaidan and up to the man trying his damnedest to melt his way out of a cage made of ice. Kaidan looked around frantically for whoever made the cage and found Starfall kneeling over a woman bleeding out on the cobblestones, trying her damnedest to save her. The guards weren’t kidding; if he was dressed like a king, she was dressed as a goddess. Her glowing healing aura while trying to perform a miracle only cemented it. Though it wasn’t all that difficult to dress better than Dibella… He asked himself again with desperation what had happened last night, and of course, still had no answer.A voice whispered in his ear. “Give me that amulet around your neck, grab your woman, and get the fuck out of this city. This is none of your business, she’s done more than enough, and if she’s still here in the next two minutes, you both will wind up in the mines. Got it?”Kaidan looked up and the guard who escorted him in nodded towards the gate with his sword pointed at Starfall. If looks could kill, he wouldn’t need the sword. She was too busy to see either of them. ‘Shit.’ In Markarth, you did as the guards told you and stayed out of the damn way because they talked. And if it wasn’t to the Silver-Bloods, it was to the Thalmor. They both had the jarl in their pockets. He snapped the chain of the enchanted gold amulet at his neck, tossed it to the guard, and dropped to one knee.“Starfall.” He silently cursed himself for this next part, but everything was already such a mess... “Leave her.”“Kaidan?! What the fuck is going on?! Get me a lot of water and see if anyone has a—”“No. We have to go. Now.” He pulled at her arm. ‘Don’t make it worse…’She finally turned and glared at him. “I have to help her! Get off!” She shoved him away with bloody hands.He roughly grabbed her again and lifted her up, speaking slowly and carefully in her ear. “We’re leaving. I’ll explain later, but for now, I’m sorry.”They both turned towards the shout beside them as the man in her almost melted ice cage said his last words. “I die for my people!”One of the guards had run his sword between the bars and right through the man’s chest.Kaidan couldn’t be bothered to be nice anymore and lifted Starfall up in a bear hug, dragging her off. She immediately fought back and cursed at him. Hefting her off the ground made the back of his head split and the world spin for just a moment and his patience dropped to zero. He clamped his hand over her mouth.“What the fuck are you doing?! Put me down!” She screamed into his hand.“Alright everyone, clear out! Nothing to see here!” They heard a guard say. Anyone left who had stuck around was being shooed away from the scene of the crime. “Get back to your own business!”“Shut. Up. Stop making it worse.” He dragged Starfall to the gate, struggling all the way. Thankfully the giant door was still open a crack and he pulled her through, shoving her hard against the other side. “They were going to arrest us. Never get arrested in fucking Markarth. It’s worse than a death sentence. Now come on.”He stumbled back, shaking a bit and running his hand over his face. All the things he needed to get rid of his hangover were on the other side of the door. While he knew full well the hangover was his and possibly Sam’s fault, he still cursed Starfall for getting them exiled from the city within seconds of him entering, and now they were in the middle of one of the most dangerous parts of Skyrim with nothing to their names.Violet watched him hesitantly. Usually after drinking, he mellowed out considerably, or at least went numb. Whatever happened just before he’d found her (plus whatever happened out of her watch) had legitimately scared him. He leaned heavily against the wall.“…Sit down.” She said softly and held up a yellow flame in her palm.“You’re all bloody. No.”She looked herself over. Her entire outfit was ruined. Some of the blood had transferred to his sleeves and boots where she’d flailed at him. “He stabbed her in the back right next to me. I couldn’t just leave her.”“The guards would have left us alone if they wanted her alive.”She quickly worked it all out from there. “…Oh. It’s one of those places.”He sighed and nodded.“Well, we can’t hang around here, then. I don’t even have a map. All I know is that near here to the south is a path back to Dragonstar, and if I thought I wouldn’t just wind up arrested there too, I’d take my stupid ass back home. I could show the council that I went out, tried my best to save the world, but nobody wanted my help. But hey, at least I got a somewhat decent, if a little rough, Outlander husband out of it.” She threw her hands up and flopped down on the entrance steps.Kaidan’s head tilted as he tried to understand all of the horrible and frightening words that just came out of Starfall’s mouth. His head and stomach already hurt. Sobering up enough to get them out of Markarth alive took all of his energy, and it didn’t even look like midday yet. “Please don’t fuck with my head right now. I’m in a bad way. And it kind of pisses me off that you aren’t suffering, too.”“Yeah, that’s because I drank a bunch of water and ate food. Plus the whole blood “immunity” thing. Except it didn’t quite work out of my system as fast as it should have. Sorry. I woke up in the Temple of Dibella’s divining pool, and after I cleaned up …last night’s?... complete meltdown, the priestess there told me that one, I came in there and turned everything to gold. Two, I destroyed everything after turning it all to gold. Three, I was ranting about a marriage and godhood. Four, that asshole Sam left me a note. And five, to never drink again as we don’t need ‘another dragon break’ or ‘new little Divines running around.’ Anyway, just look at us… ignoring the blood and dishevelment from the last five minutes. I think there was a really, really nice wedding. Honestly, I’m really hoping it wasn’t ours because my getting married would be a serious problem. …For either of us, in any kind of way.”The explanation didn’t help. Too much to comment on. “Just… stop talking. I need food and water to ease this pain before I can deal with any of that. There’s a farm and a little mining community at the bottom of the hill. After that, I don’t know.”*They first stopped at the waterfall and stream beside the city in an attempt to clean up. Violet finally gave up and all of her makeup came off. Cool spring water made Kaidan feel slightly better and more agreeable. The blood all over them froze and she scraped it off, turning that bit of the stream red when it melted again. Down the hill, they tried the farm first. The elderly woman in the yard feeding chickens saw the ‘lovely Outlander nobles’ (making Kaidan groan), introduced herself as Vigdis, and had them tell stories over lunch while her husband Rogatus grumbled in the background. Violet quickly and easily faked a lot of it on account of actually being more of an Outlander than the Akaviri.“I’ve been learning a lot about Skyrim, these past few months. I’m still trying to get the hang of the customs. It’s a different thing every day.” She said as she stared down into her tart, or pastry, maybe it was a pie. It was filled with eggs and cheese instead of fruit.“It’s going to take a while, yet.” Kaidan said. He was incredibly grateful for the eggs and bread, and very nervously declined the mead. “And even I’m learning a few things.”“Like not accepting free alcohol from strangers.” Violet sighed.“How did you get to be this old without knowing that?”“Oh, I knew. But… it… stopped mattering. I know that’s a ridiculous thing to say, but there was something so powerful in that cup that it took me away from… you know… for a little bit.” The mage stared down into her plate.“Ugh. Rich people problems.” Rogatus spat.Violet twitched a little at that but could only rub her face.“Well whatever was in that cup also took everything else.” Kaidan grumbled.“I guess I’m going to have to be the one to keep us safe until we get back to Whiterun. Can I… now?” She sighed and wrapped her hand in healing light.He finally relented, and she put her hand on his back. Soft yellow light wove around and through him, making him relax considerably. That splitting headache calmed down into dull discomfort.“And a healer! Not something many nobles would take up.” Vigdis said.“I got a crick in my back if you want something to do.” Her husband scoffed. “Payment for breakfast.”Violet shrank down in her chair and the farmer's wife said he was only kidding, but she said it was alright. A good bit more water converted into restorative light, Vigdis’s store of herbs crushed and boiled down to tincture, and the advice not to lean so hard on his tools when working the field seemed to satisfy the old man. She also left them a golden bracelet, explaining that they’d just come from a wedding and the hosts were entirely too lavish with thanking the guests.“Now look at this. Isn’t this lovely? They fixed you up nice and even gave me a gift. We had guests for breakfast, and neither is a dragon or a monster come to burn down the farm. Perk up a bit and try not to be so hard on strangers.” Vigdis chided her husband, patting his shoulder.Violet and Kaidan both gave pained, weak laughs and tried to look anywhere but each other and this poor woman who had no idea.“Bah.” He growled.After the two wanderers thanked them for their hospitality and left, they tried to come up with a plan on the way back to the stables.“We can either get to the bottom of what happened last night, or we can bury it deep, never speak of it again, and simply take a cart back to Whiterun.” Violet sighed. At that point, the second one seemed as good as any other plan.“I want my stuff back.”“Oh. Right. What if it’s at Whiterun, though? Didn’t we leave everything at the Bannered Mare? Or did we go back to our rooms…? Or was there more magic involved? Oh, gods. I should also probably mention that while I’m fine now, if this takes more than about a few days to figure out, I’ll start to succumb to my original illness, and I’ll become something neither of us wants to deal with. I’ll see if I can find the raw ingredients for my medicine, but some of them are a bit rarer than wildflowers and animal parts.”He looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Explain ‘something that neither of us wants to deal with’.”“A wretched, haunted thing that just runs on impulse. For good or bad, but considering the Hunger and Power have done nothing but try and get me to kill or otherwise destroy anyone or thing that gets in the way, probably bad. You can usually get me to at least think about consequences, when you just don’t give up and can’t be bothered because it’s too difficult, like Riverwood. It would be more like having no supervision and at the whims of whatever’s bothering me… like last night. If I knew what I even did. …Kaidan, I can’t create gold. And it shouldn’t be possible to change any material like that except another metal. And what if along with my somehow now being able to create gold, I learned any other magic, like something that could take us from Whiterun to wherever?”“You can’t, and it shouldn’t be possible, but here we are. I’m wondering if this was your doing, then.” He flicked the jewelry in his ear.She glanced over and shrugged. “That’s the other thing. I hate gold. It’s ugly and burns my eyes. …I would have used silver set rubies to match your eyes. But who the fuck knows, other than Sam.”Kaidan growled at the name. “We’re going to have a nice, long chat. Sober, this time.”In exchange for nearly all of Violet’s gold, they were able to buy a stocky, black and white work horse from the stables nearby. Kaidan decided that it would be far too dangerous to keep it, even though Violet immediately got attached to the friendly, old gelding with a far too long mane. They would sell him when they got back to Whiterun. Violet sat sidesaddle in front so she could braid his hair and explain what the priestess said to her. She showed Kaidan the note, and he said he knew the way.“I hope you broke the staff over his head.” He muttered.“Again. Something isn’t right. I still don’t know what it does. Whatever we did last night broke it. He sent me off with this note, but these items don’t do anything together or on their own. I have two of them anyway just in case, but it doesn’t make sense.”“I’ve only been to Rorikstead once. There’s nothing there but some farms and a good view of the plains. Not a bad place, but hardly someplace I’d go to for a good time.”“Well we must have found something to get into. And we’ll probably have pissed someone off there like in Markarth.”“Mm. You will have.”She tsked. “You’re a warrior, not a priest. Shut up.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As they rode along the northern road to Rorikstead, Violet had Kaidan fill in what he could about the current events in the Reach.“I’ve heard some things from my Breton neighbors, but I’ve been trying to mind my own business. Of course that didn’t work. It never works.” She grit her teeth.“Ulfric—”“He has his hand in everything, doesn’t he?”He lightly flicked her head for interrupting. “—was tasked years ago by the Empire to clear out the Forsworn, who swear they were here before the Nords. Who knows if that’s true. He broke them and captured their king. Dunno what happened to him; probably executed as an example. Nords like doing that. And then the rest were either scattered or taken as slaves to work in the various mining operations here. So the few groups hiding around think they’re ‘taking back the Reach’ by killing anyone who isn’t another Forsworn. And speaking of, I need a weapon and armor. I’ll not be hiding behind you all the way to Rorikstead. …You’re too little.”She refused to take the bait. “Or do you mean you don’t trust me to be able to protect the both of us?”He rolled his eyes. “I just need a weapon in my hands. I don’t feel right without one.”“That’s… hm.” She thought to herself for a while. “Well, you are my brave dragon knight, after all.”She shifted away from her braiding to face Kaidan. “I can create a temporary weapon and give you armored skin. I know you don’t trust or like magic, but it’s the best I can do with us all alone out here in the wilderness. I’ll make them as basic as possible, so no randomly catching things on fire, no being stuck as an iron statue.”He twitched. “Wait, those skin spells can get stuck?”She put her hand over her face and sighed. “It’s incredibly rare. And it usually only happens to novices. I’m not a novice. You know this. The armor only lasts for a few minutes unless I keep it refreshed. Same with the sword. But it only takes a second to cast each. If not, then you’ll just have to trust me not to get us killed, as much as that itches you. And I know it does.”He tried not to look at her face, even though she was inches from him. “Fine.”“I’ll let you test it, then. You’re going to go numb for the duration. You’ll be stronger against blades, but blunt forces like maces are relatively dangerous. Because it hardens your skin, it doesn’t have the extra weight of external armor. Your movements are going to be faster and slightly exaggerated. Meanwhile, the sword is going to have extra weight because the daedra that use them are much stronger than mortals. Maybe those will even each other out. Because I’ve never used your Akaviri sword, I can’t compare the sharpness, but I’ve seen them cut trees down with one swipe and completely destroy ebony armor. I’m only going to summon each for a few minutes so you can get a sense of them and decide.”First, she drew the sign for iron across Kaidan’s forehead. He blinked from the white flash, and his skin went cold and darkened to polished grey. He held his hands up in front of himself, then pinched his skin and found that it didn’t move or give, nor could he feel himself doing it. “How am I supposed to hold anything if I can’t feel my own hands?”“Muscle memory. You said you don’t feel right without a sword in your hands. Use that feeling and just lean into it. Trust it. Everything under your skin is still exactly the same. Your muscles will ache if you overexert yourself. If something manages to get past the iron, it will bleed, and it will hurt. But it’s better than nothing.” She then transformed her own flesh to the same metal. The scars and grooves over her skin turned to scratches and pits.He’d been under the influences of magic before, and as much as Starfall thought hers was somehow different, it wasn’t. Even her healing magic was painful fire. At least this was just a dull feeling all over. Punching his fists together made a heavy clunking noise under the leather gloves. No pain. He wondered how many of Starfall’s scars were from her not realizing she’d been badly hurt. “It’ll do, I suppose.”“And now, the sword. I hate this thing.” She held both hands out in front of her so that a large ball of Daedric energy spun around in her palms. She clutched it, and an evil-looking greatsword crackled into existence. Starfall wasn’t kidding when she said it was heavy; the weight was all at the other end, so the tip immediately hit the ground and shot sparks when colliding with the cobblestones. She was almost pulled off the horse, which caused him to complain.Kaidan quickly grabbed it from her with one hand and hefted it up for inspection. It was thrice the weight of his nodachi, so it was going to take a lot of getting used to. It looked ghostly; trapped between dimensions like that new spell Starfall learned from the dragon in Riverwood. But her getting dragged down by it and grinding out sparks along the road proved it was real enough. The triple blades were serrated with blood channels in the center leading into the hilt. Even the cross-guards and pommel were their own weapons that he’d have to be careful not get anywhere near him. It looked like the sort of awful thing Starfall would use for her blood magic. He thought his skin was numb, but ice worked its way to his bones and a familiar pain started to form deep in his chest.“Why do you even have this?” He eyed her suspiciously.“Test runs of being able to pull items from Oblivion. First harmless objects they won’t miss like an artifact, then a dagger, then some other weapons, then a bow, then a Lord’s weapon, …then a Lord. Don’t worry, it’s not like they can come looking for it or know who took it, unless some idiot were to either snitch to Mehrunes Dagon or pull the Daedra out while they’re still holding the weapon.”He froze up. “You’re taking these things from Mehrunes Dagon’s clans?”“I’m not familiar enough with the others that I can touch their planes, so I don’t even know what they have that I can borrow. Conjuration is kind of one of the dirtier schools, that way. Honestly, I wouldn’t have learned anything about it if it weren’t for the Hunger driving me to do stupid things out of desperation. But it has its uses. I really like their bows. And the whole soul trapping thing.” She felt him tense up against her when she said that accursed name.“Fuck! How do I get rid of this thing?! Now! Send it back!” Kaidan held it out to her.Violet heard that panic come back from when they escaped Markarth, but it was even worse now. “Kaidan, what… Just let go of it. It needs physical contact to stay in this plane. The second you let go, it’ll go back.”He nearly threw it, and like when he first tried to take Starfall’s bow, it burst into flames and disappeared. “No. I need a real weapon. One that’s not marked. Gods, you have no idea what you’ve done!”Violet looked around at the rolling hills of the Reach, then strained to hear anything. There was nothing, save for a wild animal here and there. She turned to him and held his hands, speaking softly. “It’s alright. I swear. I just told you. They won’t know who took it, if they even notice it was gone at all. …Did the Daedra hurt you too?”Just as he was about to speak, the armor spell flashed off and the feeling of heat, pressure, and pain washed over him. He gasped and clutched onto her shoulder for balance while that pain in his chest exploded outward.“Oh, the spell wearing off takes some getting used to.” She turned back towards the road. “But you’re obviously not taking this well, so I’m not going to bother you with it, anymore. We’ll just have to find you something else. I'm sorry.”Kaidan shuddered and ran his sleeve over his face. They kept quiet for the rest of the day, until they reached Karthwasten.*The small mining village was loud with arguing when they rode up to the large building in front of the mine. What looked like half the village was surrounding a group of armed men telling them all to clear out, while a sole Breton man stared them all down.“Keep riding, or wait until there’s violence?” Violet whispered up to Kaidan.“Just listen for now.” He said against his better judgement. But he was tired, and he knew there wasn’t anything along the road for a long while after this.The Breton man tried to shoo the group in front of him out. "I want you sell-swords out of my mine."A huge, armored Redguard rolled his eyes. "Watch your tongue, native. We'll leave when we're sure there's no Forsworn here."Violet raised an eyebrow, then squinted at the mercenaries."Oh, and when would that be, I wonder? When I sell my land to the Silver-Bloods?"Kaidan shook his head quickly and whispered in Starfall’s ear. “Ohh, no. Do not get involved in this. We just wait ‘til they’re done and gone.”The mercenary sneered at them all and sent his group into the mine. "The Silver-Bloods made you a very generous offer for this pile of dirt. I suggest you take it. We’ll be waiting for your agreement."“More like surrender.” The mine owner flicked his hand at them in a rude gesture and told his crew to break off. “Don’t worry, everyone. We’ll get this resolved. Somehow.”“That name. The Silver-Bloods. They own most of the Reach. They run Markarth more than the jarl does. We do not want their attention.” Kaidan told her.“Fine. But it doesn’t look like they have anywhere for us to stay. Is there anywhere else close for us?”“Nowhere safe.”“Can you negotiate a way for us to stay overnight, anyway?”“I could try. Wait here, and don’t cause any more trouble.” He left her and the horse outside of the foreman’s house, going up onto the porch to talk to him.She listened idly while Kaidan and the Breton man (who introduced himself as Ainethach) discussed what just happened. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. The Silver-Bloods were relentless. Greed always is. Kaidan seemed to be truly wary of them; he did say something about the Forsworn being captured as slaves around here. Maybe the Silver-Bloods were always looking for more ‘workers.’ And once they were stuck down there, there’d be almost no chance of anyone coming to get them out. At least back home, there was a guild, and protection, and payment. It was still dangerous, but people were compensated for it. Mostly. After a while, Kaidan came back and helped her down.“We can stay overnight and that’s all we want, anyway.”“Alright. But I need more information about the area we’re in. Maybe over dinner. And something for Tiku.” Once she was down, she hugged around her horse's muzzle.He groaned. “You named it. Why did you name it? We’re not keeping the horse.”“Look at his big fuzzy face.” Violet patted Tiku’s shaggy mane and he nuzzled her back.“I see it. We’re still not keeping it.” He led the horse behind the house and brought it a bowl of apples.“Did he want us to help him with those mercenaries?”“Yes, but how, exactly?”“Maybe ask him if he has any equipment to spare. You still have plenty of gold left to trade.”He looked her over. “I’m surprised you don’t want to rest, with how much magic you’ve expended today. With little water, either.”“That’s why I suggested dinner.”They shared a meal with Ainethach, with Kaidan helping to explain the news around the Reach. It matched up with the things she learned from her Breton neighbors. They talked well into the night, and of course they didn’t come up with any leads with what had happened the night before. Ainethach gave them the large bed by the hearth, and Kaidan dropped into a fitful sleep, but Violet didn’t bother. She silently crept outside and out into the night. The two moons gave off enough light that she had no trouble seeing, and her ears told her it was safe. Everyone was asleep. She went over to the mine, and one of the mercenaries was asleep at his post at the door.‘Good job,’ she shook her head and slipped past him.The Karthwasten mines were dark for the night. She didn’t mind being underground, much. She had to go into Dragonstar’s mines every so often to heal an injury or help someone who’d succumbed to a pocket of red brittle gas. That was good money paid by the guilds. Violet heard snoring slightly above her on the left, so she flicked a tiny magelight out into the darkness. A system of scaffolding went up to a platform, probably where the workers would rest on break. She went up and found the group of mercenaries camped out with sleeping mats. Then the little magelight proceeded to bother the man at the end until he woke up.“Damn torchbugs,” he grumbled and swatted at it. It quickly flew back to its master.“An honest day’s work in the mines not good enough anymore, ‘Bu?” She hissed quietly.The Redguard man started awake and grabbed his mace. She quickly illuminated her face. “It’s me.”He blinked a few times and had to struggle to keep from yelling and waking the others. “Miss Violet?! What in the Eight are you doing way out here? What happened to you? People have been looking for you for months!”“Down. Now.” She pointed with her magelight, then made her way back down the ramps until they were off in a different part of the mine.“Kibu, what the fuck is this? Mama Lishona raised you better than this.” She leaned against the wall and rubbed her face.“Don’t bring my mama into this. Again, what are you doing out of Dragonstar? I thought you were on some kind of probation. And you were really sick for a bad while. We thought maybe you died…” Kibu growled at her.“The dragons. They attacked Dragonstar a few months ago. I helped as many people as I could, but I had to get out before more came. I don’t know what’s left. It was awful and it made me realize I was about to die. And I’m… still sick. It’s getting worse. I’m out here looking for help because the mages’ guild couldn’t help me. I was told there were people in Skyrim who could.”“Then you know exactly what I’m doing out here. That big snowstorm and fire the dragon started, Miss Violet. It ignited the mines. We’re all out of work, the ones that weren’t down there when it started. Fuck, they could still be trying to put it out, for all I know.”“Fuck. Is… is your family okay?” She covered her mouth. ‘No, no, no, no…’“Mama Lishona's okay. Kalim and Isse are with mama, but we need money. My Ayali… she was fighting the dragon in the square with the other guards, but they didn't stand a chance. We thought you were still sick in your house so we brought her by your place first, but nobody could find you. We took her to the temple, but they couldn’t do anything, and the guild couldn’t find you, either. But I had to pay them. …It wasn’t enough. I lost my beautiful Ayali. I had to do something, Miss Violet.” He ran his hand over his mouth and tried to hold back tears.She was quiet for a long time. “…But this? Putting those folks outside out of work, too?”“They can just keep working the mine for the Silver-Bloods.” Kibu grumbled without looking at her.“Honey, the Silver-Bloods are fucking slavers. No better than those trash elves out in Morrowind. They’re going to fill this mine with more of the natives or Forsworn or whoever in chains. Just do me a favor and forget this. What do you need from me to get you and your boys out of here before I go in the morning?”“Shit. Like I said, we need money. With enough, I can take the family to Elinhir, or out to the Bay. Give my Ayali a proper urn in her family’s tombs.”She only had a few pieces of jewelry left. Not enough. She looked around in desperation. Something. Anything. There was only mining equipment, solid rock, and shiny glints everywhere. The mine was rich; there were even ingots of solid silver just lying on the table. No wonder the owner was being strong-armed.“If you say where you got this, I will tell your mama to beat your fucking ass when I get back home, you understand me?” She pointed at him as she grabbed a few bars.“What are you doing?” He squinted at her in the darkness.Her magelight floated up and stuck to the ceiling to free up her hands, then looked back and forth between the bars. They had to be worth several hundred septims each. She couldn’t, but she could. She did, so it had to be in there somewhere. What’s another fucking miracle? She owed him that much. His mama even more. And dear Ayali, gods take pity on her.Take the fundamental rules of flesh alteration. Compare to the fundamental rules of matter alteration. Use an existing sample of gold. Mass smashed down to the most basic energy, reformed like those bastard Divines see fit to fuck us over every day. More heresy. Soften the silver with aethereal catalyst. Gold and silver, sister metals. Decrease conductivity by a fraction. The properties swapped. Compress it. Move through each iota, pulling out the excess. Absorb the excess radiant energy with the aetheric shield. Don’t turn your hands and skin to gold.Kibu watched as the silver bars in her hands shrank slightly, crackled, and changed into pure, shining gold. Miss Violet was shaking and dropped the bars as if she’d done something horrible.“By Zenithar himself! What did you do?!” He was gawking.“Don’t. Fucking. Tell. A. Soul. Please, ‘Bu. This never happened. I can’t do this ever again. We go our separate ways. Don’t go back to the Silver-Bloods or Markarth. Take these, split them up, make jewelry out of them, and sell that. Get out of Skyrim, go back to your family. At least you’ll be able to. You never saw me. Maybe I did die. I still might. Do something, anything else than being a godsdamned hired thug.”“This definitely isn’t part of your probation.” He frowned at her.“You don’t know the beginning of this mess.” She sniffled and slid down the wall to sit on the ground.“Is the dress and the Outlander and the horse you pulled up on part of it? Didn’t think it was you until you came in here.” He sat with her and picked at the thin silk.“It’s not what you think. It’s so much worse. And if you’re still here when he wakes up, he’ll come in here full of rage looking for a way to vent, and he’s fucking killed dragons. You wouldn’t stand a chance. I don’t want to have to try and stop him or explain this. Do whatever you can to get everyone out by dawn.”“He’d better not be hurting you.” He automatically looked towards the mine doors with foolhardy murder in his eyes.“No! He’s… I… He’s good. He’s helping me. I need him.” She left it there.He watched her a moment to make sure she was okay. “Thank you, Miss Violet. You be safe. Whatever has you out here, don’t feel bad about doing what you need to do. You’re too good for all this mess.”She sniffled. “I’m so sorry, Kibu. About Ayali. And everything.”He hugged her and gathered up the gold. She put the magelight out, snuck out of the mine, and went back to bed, trying not to wake anyone with crying herself to sleep.*At dawn, someone nearly banged down Ainethach's door.“They’re gone!” One of the miners shouted.“What?!” The old Breton got up from his desk full of paperwork. He was always up early to get ready to inspect and open the mines. He threw open the door and followed the worker out.Kaidan groaned, sat up, and rubbed his eyes. “Someone’s excited to go back to hard labor…”Starfall didn’t stir.“Oi. It’s morning.” He nudged her.“Please… don’t.” She whispered from under the pillow she crammed over her head.“An hour.” He sighed. “But you’ll miss breakfast.”She stayed in bed for that hour and fought him for more, which only made him suspicious. “Are you alright?”“No.”It clicked, and he leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “What did you do?”“I’ll tell you once we’re far away from here. But I saved everyone some time and mistakes.”*No one could tell where the mercenaries had gone, just that they had completely packed up and vanished. The village decided a celebratory breakfast was in order, and they shared a meal on the porch of Karthwasten Hall. Violet kept her mouth shut and stayed in the background, preferring to try and hide behind Kaidan before giving up and leaving completely to avoid the noise and share some scraps with Tiku. Kaidan finally brought a small sack of supplies and a lot of money that Ainethach had provided, as everyone was now in a good and giving mood.“I take it you’re ready to go.” He tied the bag to the saddle.She nodded.He eyed her again, seeing her eyes were red and puffy like she’d been crying. “Come on, then.”He mounted up first, pulling her up in front of him. He bid goodbye to the village, and once they were well on the road, he asked her again.“That Redguard mercenary. I knew him. I saved his life and healed him all the time when he worked in Dragonstar’s mines. His mother treated me like a daughter and helped me out just as much. I was best friends with his wife. …And I killed her!” She broke down in tears instantly and hid her face in the fur collar of his coat.“Wait, what?! Go back, you’re not making any sense!” He held on to her.Her voice was muffled and sobbing. “That first fucking dragon! It came and fucked up everything looking for me! I burned our home trying to kill it! The mines caught fire and he lost his job because of me and he said she died while they were trying to find me and now he’s here doing this shit trying to earn money to save his sons from the horrible mess I made and it’s all my fault! I loved Ayali! I love Kalim and Isse and now they have no mama! He doesn’t know the fire was me and his mama would never forgive me! So I turned some of the silver in the mines to gold and told him to leave with it before everyone woke up. Magic is dangerous and you’re afraid of me and it’s all growing out of my control and I’m a fucking monster!”“By the Nine…” It was a horrible relief that she couldn’t see him. She was breaking down and he was ashamed to be part of the cause. “I’m no stranger to regret, and that pain. In many ways, it’s the hardest of punishments. But what you did was because of the dragon. If you hadn’t killed it, it would have killed everyone and destroyed your home and you with it, anyway. You did what you could with what you had, and in already terrible circumstances. Just go ahead and mourn. I’ll keep watch.”Starfall cried herself back to sleep in his arms, part from exhausting her emotions, part from lack of sleep, and part from doing that magic she said she didn’t know how to do. She must have finally figured it out, out of stress or desperation or fear. She was seeing the consequences of her actions. It shouldn’t have been like this, though.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Only Secunda had risen by the time they reached the gates of Rorikstead. The two adventurers were worn out from riding all day, despite nothing happening since early that morning. Kaidan did stop in the late afternoon to give everyone a rest, but all Starfall did was lie in the grass and mourn. The guards who were on their night patrol saw them and groaned.“If it isn’t our two favorite bastard nobles! What is it about money that makes you lot think you can just do any damn thing you want, huh?”Kaidan took a deep breath and pinched his temple. They’d been here, alright. And it sounded like they were about to be arrested. “Just tell me what we did so we can fix it. Preferably in the morning.”“Ugh. Ennis has been completely inconsolable since you ran off with his goat.” The other pointed at them.‘A goat.’ Kaidan merely growled under his breath. “Where is the inn? We need to rest. It will be fixed in the morning. I promise.”“You’re lucky it’s a long way back to the Whiterun dungeons.” The first guard threatened.“I’m sure.” He rolled his eyes and continued up the road until they found the Frostfruit Inn. Violet kept quiet the entire time and simply followed after him until he pointed her room out to her, where she disappeared and shut the door.‘I feel like I should do the next part myself.’ He watched her go, then planted himself in front of the hearth.“Why would we take a goat…?” He groaned to himself.“You were scheming something about trading it.” The strangely familiar Redguard man said next to him. He was dressed in traditional Alik'r attire and snickering to his friend. Like Starfall said, ‘one thing at a time’…*In the morning, Starfall refused to come out when he knocked on the door.“Oi, Starfall. Open up. Quit sleeping in.”She only grunted and told him to go away.“You mean you don’t want to know why we, for some gods forsaken reason, stole a live goat?”“I don’t even like goats…”“Me either, which makes this even weirder.” He leaned on her doorway. “…I hope we didn’t accidentally kill or sacrifice it.”She started crying again.“Sorry. I’ll be back later. I’m just going to go talk to the farmer.” He sighed and rubbed his forehead.*He went out to the fields across the road, quickly finding the right farm on account of several shaggy goats seeing him and promptly running away.Ennis recognized him immediately and ran up to him, brandishing a pitchfork. “You! You've got a lot of nerve showing yourself in this town again. What do you have to say for yourself?!” “I'm sorry?” Kaidan could only hold his hands up and shrug.“Sorry's not good enough! Not while my Gleda is still out there, alone and afraid. You kidnapped her and sold her to a giant!”He stared at the farmer for an uncomfortable amount of time. There was so much wrong with all of this, he didn’t know where to begin. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”Ennis spoke slowly so this damned rich boy could understand. “Is that so? Does the name Gleda ring a bell? The star beauty of my farm? Kidnapped by a couple of drunken louts and sold to a giant? You'd better remember her right fast, before I call the guards and have you hauled away.”“Yes, the guards already threatened me with that. I need a minute, because honestly, this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”“Well maybe you should have thought it through a little better! I'll never breed another prize-winning goat like Gleda! And don't you think of coming back to Rorikstead until you get her back from that Giant over the hill!”Kaidan turned to leave, but stopped himself. “Did my companion or I say anything about a staff?”The farmer rolled his eyes and shooed him off with the pitchfork. “You mentioned something like that... when you were running off with my goat! Tell you what – you bring back my goat, and maybe I'll give a damn about your staff. Get!”On one hand, it was fair for this man to be angry that his goat had been stolen. On the other hand, Kaidan remembered a simpler time before Starfall where he didn’t bother tiptoeing around horseshit like this to stay out of trouble. Plus they were out of Reach territory finally... He grabbed Ennis’s pitchfork and pitched it clear across the field, then grabbed him by the collar and hefted him off the ground. His fiery eyes bore into the farmer in a much different way than either a human or a Dunmer and his voice went heavy and deep. “Tell me everything and you won't end up like your goat or your pitchfork.”“Okay, okay! Most of what you said didn't make sense, but you left a note. The only bit that I could read said ‘after repaying Ysolda in Whiterun.’ That's all I know!” Ennis said shakily. He stumbled backward and fell on his ass as soon as Kaidan dropped him.*Kaidan stomped off and went back to the inn, only to find Starfall still hadn’t come out of her room. He stopped to breathe and bring himself down before knocking on the door. “I’m back. How are you feeling?”“Like shit. …Come on, then.” She said quietly.“Hm.” He let himself in and found her sitting on her bed. He took a chair by the desk. “I need your help for this next part.”She wiped her face on her sleeve. “What happened?”“I still don’t know why or how we did it, but we took a goat, and we traded it to someone else.”“That doesn’t make any sense. That’s dumb.”He huffed through his nose. “That’s what I said.”“I mean if we stole the goat, why didn’t we skip that part and steal the thing we traded the goat for?”“Probably because being drunk makes you even more strange than usual. And the giant would have drop-kicked you clear across the hold.” He tried not to laugh at the thought.“…A giant? What in the fuck could we possibly want from… wait.” She pulled the folded note out of her cleavage and remembered the giant's toe sitting in Tiku's pack, now fully realizing how disgusting it was for them to be carrying a severed body part around. It was cauterized, but still… “I can see how that would be hard to steal without him noticing.”He grimaced. “I don’t suppose you can either stitch or heal it back on?”“No. It’s been too long.”“We need to get the goat back from the giant, and then go back to Whiterun. There’s a woman named Ysolda there who can tell us… something… after we repay her. For something else. I don’t know.” Kaidan threw his hands up.“This is the worst mystery I’ve ever been involved in, and you wouldn’t believe what kind of stupidity happens at Elinhir when everyone is capable of magic.” Violet groaned.“The giant’s not going to give the goat back, and we can’t give the giant’s toe back. Plus giants are barely able to understand us. For being so big, their brains are really small. They barely speak Tamrielic and most of the time, they just do whatever they want including raiding villages and farms and killing travelers.”“So steal it back?”Kaidan shrugged. “If you want to be humane about it. I’ve had more than a few bounties to kill them. They’re not highly regarded as anything other than large, dangerous pests.”“Not anyone else’s fault (except Sam’s) that we were stupid. I’d rather we not just kill our way through… whatever this is.” Violet sighed.“Fair enough. Since you’re the one who’s good at all that backhanded business, you’re going to have to be the one to grab it.”“…How much does a goat weigh, though? And I’m not a professional thief; I can pocket tiny things like keys and money if they’re not on a person. A whole goat? It’s going to scream the second I try to pick it up.” She shuddered at the thought of the noise.“How did we even…?” Kaidan growled. “A goat weighs about a hundred and fifty pounds. If you can pick up another person, then you’re fine. And if you can’t pick it up, drag it, or magic it. Improvise, and don’t kill it. I’ll distract the giant. Be quick about it. I can fight them and run a lot faster, but I’m not taking a bone club to the face over this.”She leaned her cheek on her fist. “I feel like you knowing exactly how much that thing weighs and what to do means this is your fault.”His voice went flat. “I would not have come up with trading a giant his toe for a goat. They don’t even deal in little goats; that's what the mammoths are for.”“Mammoths?”He stared at her for a moment. “You don’t have mammoths in Hammerfell?”“No?”“Hm. Guess not with all the fur. This is going to be interesting…”*The two waited until well after dark to go south out of Rorikstead and find their way up to the giant’s camp. Kaidan was able to track it up to the top of the hill, Violet kept the various wildlife away, and they hid behind a rock outcropping to plan the next steps.“Where’s the giant and the goat?” He asked her.Starfall cast her spell to see all of the life in the area, and the only things she found nearby were the giant’s flame, and a little flame sitting on top of the giant. “Of course he couldn’t leave the damn thing to graze. It’s on his head. And the giant’s in some kind of hole in the ground going down the other side of the hill?”“You’re kidding.” He slipped around the side of the outcropping and went up to look.Looking over the hill and down the other side, he found the giant sleeping sitting up against a pile of boulders, and Gleda curled up on his head. She looked like a really bad toupee up there. He either hadn’t made a camp yet or couldn’t. He was alone and had nothing to his name, when giants tended to live in small groups and collected things like bones and stolen loot. Maybe he was cast out? “Is there a mammoth around? The flame should be only slightly smaller than a dragon.”“Mammoths are that big? I would’ve noticed that. There’s just the giant and the goat.”There wasn’t a mammoth nearby… hence why the giant traded for the goat. He’d somehow already carved Gleda’s little horns. Kaidan groaned.Violet tilted her head. “What’s the matter?”He sat down on a rock and looked back and forth between her and in the giant’s general direction. Now, if he were a complete asshole, and this entire ordeal was slowly setting him back on that path, he wouldn’t tell Starfall anything and just take the goat. But she’d figure it out, and he’d have to live with even more guilt. It was also slightly disappointing that she wouldn’t get to meet a mammoth up close, but it also meant that he wouldn’t be left to deal with it.“He traded for the goat because he doesn’t have anything else. He’s an outcast. Homeless. And young. I think.” He explained.“Oh.”“So we can either take the goat back to her previous owner, or we can leave her with the giant, who probably hasn’t done anything wrong in all this except be willing to sacrifice part of his foot for his new companion.”He watched as Starfall blended into the shadows and went to go see and decide for herself. She was gone for a good while; he watched her as she got entirely too close for his comfort to the giant and Gleda, then went around the hill looking for something he couldn’t figure. Then she woke the giant up by shoving his arm from atop the pile of rocks. Kaidan hissed through his teeth and hopped over the outcropping to grab her, as if he could do anything about the giant, but she held her hand up.“It’s okay. I think. …Grok?”The giant slowly grumbled and almost shook Gleda off of his head. “Hnng.”“Grok.”“What the fuck are you doing?! How do you know his name?” Kaidan whispered. Wait, giants have names?“I sort of remember… some things. Everything feels a little off, but my head’s clear for a bit. Some of the people around the village had some ingredients and a table I could brew with. Not great, but I had to do something while we were waiting. Crying was only making me feel worse and I was already starting to slip…”The giant looked down at the tiny, sparkly human female and remembered her as the one who gave him the goat. He grumbled in warning for waking him up, then took Gleda down off his head protectively. Gleda did not like being woken up and squirmed around in his hands.“I won’t take your goat. …Yet. Do you understand me?” She took two steps back.He simply nodded.“Farmer misses his goat. It was bad I took it. I have to give it back. What if I give you two goats for Gleda? Goats he’s not sad they’re gone?”Grok held Gleda protectively away from her and frowned. “Gleee-duh.”“Farmer had Gleda first. And two goats is better than one goat.” Violet held up two fingers.Grok squinted at her in the moonlights, then looked at the wriggly goat in his hands. Gleda was angry now at being man- er, goathandled, so he put her down. The goat grunted and went over to Kaidan, sniffing him and proceeding to chew on his coat. He rolled his eyes and nudged it off.“Two goats.” Grok said, holding up his fingers.“Yes. Two goats in the morning. Everyone sleeps now, so two goats in the morning. I’ll come back here first thing.”The giant narrowed his eyes. “Morning.”“Yes.”He huffed and settled back into sleep.Violet pulled some pieces of apple out of her dress and waved it in front of Gleda’s nose. “And we don’t even have to carry her.” She said softly.“Huh.” Kaidan watched as the goat stopped trying to bother him and started to follow Starfall instead.“How much did Ainethach give you?” She asked.He instantly went defensive. “Why?”“To buy the goats legally, obviously. Gods, Kaidan, we were absolute fuckers the other night, and all the crying and thinking’s made me sicker than usual and exhausted. Don’t. Karthwasten wasn’t planned, but honestly, all that money is mine for getting rid of ‘Bu— the mercenaries. Like you said when we first started, it’s gonna be too hard to make amends, heal, and make progress if everywhere we go, we find we fucked over somebody else and they want us dead. It’s bad enough right now. So just tell me how much the mine owner gave you.” Her voice cracked.Whatever she took while he was out, maybe she should make more of it to keep her head clear. “About fifteen hundred, if you didn’t take too much to buy medicine.”“I hope that’s enough. I don’t actually know what farm animals cost. Unless you’d like to be the one and try to negotiate a fair trade.”He grunted. “I don’t know a bloody thing about farming except seeds go in dirt and add water.”“And how much a goat weighs.” She said as she looked at him from the corner of her eye.*It was almost dawn before they managed to lure Gleda back to her pen with the other goats. They went back to the inn, counted out the money, and went straight back to Ennis to buy two normal goats (though if it weren’t for the giant carving up Gleda’s horns, Violet would have already lost which one she was and tried to buy her all over again). Ennis feigned not being grateful, but as soon as they were far enough away, they heard him shout with joy and Gleda give some kind of horrifyingly shrill bleat that made Violet sway in pain and hang on to Kaidan’s arm. They even got leads this time, tied them to Tiku’s reins, and the two goats followed her obediently up the hill to be rewarded with an apple each for not being ornery about it.Grok lumbered up to them, making the ground quake and scaring the goats. “Two goats?”“Two goats for Grok. Here. Sorry about Gleda.” Violet gave him the leads. “And your foot. I was mean and bad.”Grok was already admiring his new tiny herd and leading them away.“Glad that’s over, at least.” Kaidan watched them go, then pulled her back up on the horse. “You probably want to sleep now.”“Yes. And a bath. Goats, horses, and giants all smell awful.”“Mm-hmm.” He took her back to the inn where they both cleaned up and rested.*It was a straight shot back to Whiterun, but a long and barren one. Most of the area was rocky plains dotted with fortresses and crumbled ruins. Kaidan told her most of the buildings were occupied by either bandits or military, neither of which they wanted to be involved with, and gave them a wide berth. And after the Falmer creature lurking in the dark back east, she was wary about camping in open fields. They traveled from the midmorning all the way past midnight just to not be caught out. When they approached the western watchtower (and Violet noticed that it was still on its side and there were huge bones still poking out of the rubble), they relaxed somewhat. The farms appeared next, and Violet fidgeted.“Do we have to give up Tiku?” She yawned.“I knew it…” He sighed.“I think we still need him. Besides, it’s nice to not have to walk for days and days…”“Because you’re using my lap to not get saddle sore.” He stretched and she could hear his back crackle.“Well it’s not like you’d fit on mine.” Violet shrugged.“You’re supposed to be sitting behind me, but you’re still wearing that… dress.”She prickled a little, as she sort of liked it, and pretending to be a princess riding with her brave knight… “You say it like I want to be wearing this. I’d fucking freeze if it weren’t for your coat and my cloak spell. And I’m sure you want to go back to your metal plating.”“Hmm.”“At least we didn’t have to fight or kill anything for fucking once. I… gods…” Violet rubbed her face and whimpered into her hands. Kaidan only kept silent.Once they reached the stables, he paid for a day or two of care; time enough for him to convince her to sell the horse. He hoped the whole thing with the staff was over; they were tricked and never got it, but they’d only lost about four days and no one was badly hurt. Just incredibly confused. They got ugly looks from the night guards, ignored them, and stumbled into the Drunken Huntsman. Kaidan hated the name, now. They found Elrindir in front of the fire, dropped the last few septims into his hand, and were pointed to the two rooms on the end. Since Kaidan was well known there, his things were in a chest, locked tight and Elrindir had the key. He’d get it all in the morning.
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Kaidan awoke the next day to find Starfall already out and gone somewhere. That was a first. With the spare time, he was able to change back to his armor and ask the inn’s regulars just what had happened over the past several days. No one had anything out of the ordinary for him, nor could they figure out what had happened those few days ago when he and Starfall had disappeared. He wasn’t sure if he should go looking for her (she was probably just over at the Bannered Mare getting her own things, anyway), or continue catching up. They never did solve the mystery of how they managed to get from Whiterun to Markarth in only one night. Probably either Starfall’s or Sam’s magic. There were several other things that would have bothered him as well, if he’d let them. But then he’d go stir-crazy like her, and nobody needed that.He pushed it all out of his mind and decided to go get his Dragonbone arrows first. If nothing had gone wrong, they should have been done. It was good to be back in Whiterun. Let’s pretend the last four days didn’t happen. Find Starfall and drag her over to Dragonsreach so she can be rid of that stone tablet. Sell the horse. Use the money to buy her medicine and a cart ride to Winterhold. She can read in the nice quiet library and nobody gets hurt. He could go do jobs in town for a few weeks until she’s had her fill of watching the other mages blow themselves up. Now that was a plan.He tried not to think about just how fast that plan would all go to shite with how much she “liked” to find trouble. All this from one man buying her a drink…Whiterun was dreary and rainy, and not a drop of it bothered him. He was back where he was supposed to be, wearing what he was supposed to wear, and doing what he’d set out to do. He put his hood up and the water droplets tapping his head and shoulders were soothing. It also made the walk across the city more bearable in that there were far fewer people willing to be out in the rain. The merchants weren’t enjoying it, though. As he went past the Bannered Mare towards the steps to the Cloud District, he spotted Starfall arguing with two women at the jewelry stall. …Why was she still wearing that dress, and while it was raining? The guards, who usually thought to pick on her for being a mess were full on ignoring their work to ogle her. A growl caught in his throat and burned its way up his face.He decided to keep walking. If she wanted him there, she would have waited for him. He prayed he at least picked up something from watching her sneak around and slipped past them while they were distracted. The rain was too loud to pick up what they were saying, but he wondered if she was still working on that stupid staff. ‘Just leave it, for gods’ sakes…’Approaching Jorrvaskr, Kaidan could hear the Companions talking and laughing in the back, probably sharing how their recent jobs had gone. Hopefully Eorlund was nearby. He probably wasn’t working the forge in this rain. “Oi. Is Eorlund Grey-Mane here?”A woman sitting under the awning idly listening to the rain looked up. “He’s inside by the fire. You’re the one who came by the other day and gave him the dragon bones?”“Aye. Has he had time to work on them?”“It’s all he’d go on about when he wasn’t! And I’m definitely keeping a lookout for more of those bones. The design is cruel and efficient. I like it.” She winked at him.He blinked at her, then moved towards the door. Normally, he’d definitely have a sit down with her, but the past several days had caved his head in. “There’s still a dead dragon at the Western watchtower... If you can dig it out of the rubble.”“Bah. I want them as a trophy off one I’ve killed myself. What’s your name, Outlander?”Ohhh, not today… Why today? “Uhm. Kaidan.” He was still moving towards the door.“Aela. Bring those arrows out here when you’re done. I want to see how you shoot.” She grinned and gestured at the targets lined up against the wall, making the others laugh.‘I don’t need this right now. I needed it four days ago instead of following Starfall and winding up in a terrifying magical drunken bender with two mages. Where were you, then?’ He studied her for a moment, then went inside. “Maybe.”Inside, Kaidan found Eorlund sitting with another older Nord man, grumbling about various things as old men do. He wasn’t familiar with many of the Companions, as he rarely crossed paths with them, but he recognized their patriarch of sorts. There were elder members, and a sort of vague hierarchy, but no one he knew in particular. As he approached, their conversation hushed, and Eorlund raised his eyebrows.“Ah, the Dragonborn’s protector! Did you two have fun giving the city watch several heart attacks the other night?” Eorlund chuckled.Kaidan only cringed.The blacksmith gestured to a chair beside them. “Sit, lad. It was only a jab. I’m sure you’re here about your arrows. I finished them yesterday. But we’ve gotten to wondering…”The other man nodded. “I’m Kodlak Whitemane. Harbinger of the Companions. I’ve seen you around, even before the dragons returned. Though I’m not sure how much any of that will mean to you as an Outlander.”“I’m Nord enough. I know the Companions enough, too.” He crossed his arms.“Good, good,” Kodlak nodded. “But this is more about you and the Dragonborn. …Is she truly as the legends say?”He looked away. “Depends on which legends you’re talking about. The dragon killing and soul-taking is true, at least.”“Surely someone powerful enough to kill a dragon on her own would not need a protector?”‘What are you after?’ He frowned. “She doesn’t. But she’s from Hammerfell; she’s more of an Outlander than I am and needs a guide. Plus, she says I’m part of the prophecy. We’ve yet to find out what that means. …And I have my own reasons.”“Well ye’ certainly look the part. Far more than she does, anyway. Tell us what’s happened to ye’, then. At least a better rendition than the rumors going around.” Kodlak said and they both nodded.Kaidan stuck to all the parts related directly to the dragons, and the parts he was there to witness. As he talked, other members of the Companions came in to listen. She had predicted the dragon at Windhelm just before it came to the city to destroy it and Kynesgrove. They had gone out to confront it, only to learn the dragons are intelligent enough to speak but no one could understand their ancient, magical language. Starfall’s plan to get him involved, show the guards what it would take to defeat one, and her sheer destructive power nearly brought down Windhelm’s southwest wall. He explained how to fight them. The hall of warriors were all hanging on to his every word.He was just getting to the good part of the Riverwood dragon, when Starfall herself ran in up to him, soaking wet and dripping water everywhere. She dried herself off quickly, saw that he was in the middle of something, and sat beside him quietly.“Didn’t mean to interrupt, but it’s important and we need to go soon.” She whispered in his ear.He squinted at her, then whispered, “How did you even find me?”“Not right now. Just keep going and get your arrows.”“Well… uh… we were…”“The invisible dragon was about to eat the blacksmith’s daughter.” Vilkas offered, grinning.Kaidan cleared his throat and carefully continued on despite the new pressure. Just as the dragon reappeared, it reared up on its hind legs and he shot it in the chest with his last arrows.At the same time, Starfall waved her hand at Jorrvaskr's long hearth, and a fiery dragon leapt from the coals to pounce at a fire warrior, only to get shot in the chest. Everyone stared at it, then her.“Keep going.” She said quietly, her hands and fingers weaving the tale under the table.He did. The fire dragon flailed until the warrior ran his sword through its belly and gutted it. Just as it was falling backwards, a little woman made of fire ran between them and shouted on Kaidan’s prompt. She tipped a goblet of water off the table and the entire hearth erupted in an explosion of steam, making everyone scoot back. The dragon was flipped over on its back and slid through the rumbling coals, and walls of flame crashed down like waves of water to impale the dragon. The miniature Starfall pulled every lick of flame in the hearth into herself and fell apart.“I should have you tell stories more often.” Violet stared at the hearth as the fires died and the coals calmed. “And now you all know what it takes to permanently kill a dragon.”The whole room was staring at them. Kaidan was staring at her. All the attention shifting back to her made her shrink a little. She quickly got up and moved to leave. “Get your arrows. I know where Sam went.”Kaidan took her wrist. “You’re still set on that staff? Just let it go.”“No. I want to know what he did. That wasn’t run of the mill magic. Then I want his fucking hands so he can’t cast magic anymore. Ysolda said she'd tell me where he went if I give her the wedding rings back. …There were three. I already sold mine, not knowing how important it was. We have to make up the difference, so I’m taking the Dragonstone to Dragonsreach.”She was doing it again. “How are you so good at being a bard, but so bad at explaining things aloud?”She shook her head and pulled away from him.*Kaidan got his arrows and a lot more questions from the Companions that he didn’t have the time to answer. He didn’t mean to get their attention like that. He very much meant it that he didn’t want to join them, and there definitely wasn’t time while he was keeping up with Starfall. He’d never seen a mage do that before. He knew that they could, but for some reason he thought that (admittedly very detailed) parlor tricks were beneath her.By the time he met her at the Bannered Mare, Starfall was back to her oversized mage robes and her frumpy self. She had her pack, and she wasn’t panicking, so everything must have still been in it after four days. At least Hulda didn’t just toss everything away. The streets were still empty, so he had a few minutes to try and catch up on what she had found out.“Was wondering why you didn’t do that first.” He picked at her cloak.“I saw Ysolda before making it inside the inn and didn’t want to come back out to find she’d left. When she said she wanted the rings back if we weren’t going to go through with it, I immediately thought of you because I know you have one of them. …Please don’t say you sold yours too. And I know it sounds strange, but I found you because I’ve seen your soul enough through spells that I can identify it in an entire city full of people. …That and I saw you failing badly at sneaking past me, anyway.”He thought about it a minute and remembered that spell she used to see where living things were. Wait, what was so distinctive about his? “…Fair enough on the soul thing. But what’s this about wedding rings? I thought we agreed that was a bad joke.”“There was a wedding. I think. Maybe not. Almost? We put everything together, evidently, and in one night. Ysolda congratulated me and asked me where the other bride and groom are—Is marrying more than one person a thing over here?”“No. Unless you kill one of your previous spouses, but that’s a completely different mess.” Kaidan’s voice hardened for just a second.“So what the fuck happened? Why are there three? And at least someone or something stopped me, us, whoever the third person is. Oh gods no, what if it’s Sam?!” Violet clutched at her hood.“So, let me get this straight. We left the inn after getting blackout drunk. We went… somewhere. Planned an entire wedding, despite the fact that you keep saying you can’t get married. Screwed over several people in the process of getting everything together. Several steps required you to do things that you couldn’t or wouldn’t before, like create gold which you don’t even like, and steal a living animal. None of this seems to have anything to do with the drinking game or staff, except for the two items you have and a note saying it’s broken. We split up at the end for some reason. Sam ran off, leaving us to clean up the mess. All of the events add up to much longer and farther than we were gone in one night. No one who saw us can or will tell us what happened exactly, except that it was wild.” Kaidan was scowling by the end of it.“Do you understand why I want to find him and break off all of his fingers, now?”“…Yeah.”*The guards gave each other a nudge and a chuckle at both of them as they asked to be let into Dragonsreach, and Violet couldn’t be bothered to sass them back. She went into Farengar’s study while he was sitting at his desk and Kaidan hung back in the doorway. The court mage was bent over a piece of paper and writing furiously. She put the stone down beside him with a heavy thunk, making him jump and smear his work.“I’m back. It’s done. Here’s your stone. Tell the Jarl to free me from the debt. I’ve got a lot of work to do and not much time.” Violet flicked her hand at the source of more than her fair share of trouble.Farengar’s eyes widened as he looked up at her and back at the stone. “Starfall?! You’re alive!”“Everyone always seems either surprised or disappointed at that.” She sighed.The court wizard threw his hands up. “You said it would take some time, but almost two months?!”“The Greybeards wanted me to stay with them for a while. Then I got distracted. I learned a lot of things.”“Which reminds me of your notes! They were amazing! By Talos himself, I had no idea you were a master scholar, considering how dense you were acting…” He mumbled. “You practically did all the work for me! I’m sorry I misjudged you!”Farengar suddenly jumped up from his desk and snatched her up in a hug, laughing. She grunted in surprise and had to force down the urge to fight back or use her defenses. Kaidan’s eyebrows went up but didn’t feel it necessary to pry him off of her, yet.“Please, no?!” She whined.“Huh? Oh!” He quickly put her down and cleared his throat. “You and my associate have given me most of the puzzle pieces, and I’ll get to work right away to put them all together.”‘Associate?’ She smoothed her robes down and fidgeted without looking at him. “Tell Avenicci and Balgruuf I’m done, first.”“You don’t have time to discuss what you’ve learned? What about the knowledge of the Greybeards?”“I can’t. I have to… catch up to someone before they disappear again.” She said slowly and loudly in the hopes he wouldn’t push the issue.“Fine,” Farengar moped. “But you must come back and share whatever else you’ve learned. Everyone’s heard about the dragon in Riverwood. I never would have imagined being able to actually dissect one!”She turned to Kaidan. “And if it had been any real trouble, they would have come and got me. But they didn’t.”He glared at her.They all walked out to the main hall where Avenicci was discussing the day’s matters with the Jarl. Farengar walked right up to them and broke into the conversation, while Kaidan and Violet looked at each other. Both Balgruuf and Avenicci knew it was just best to let Farengar say his piece, but then they both turned to Violet in surprise.“You actually found and retrieved the Dragonstone and went to see the Greybeards?” Balgruuf sat up to see her better.“Against my better judgement.” She muttered.Balgruuf’s brother and thane, Hrongar, narrowed his eyes at her. “Wouldn’t expect Outlanders to understand…”Starfall was about to speak up, but Kaidan shook his head at her. Since she was ‘so bad at it’, she had him explain what happened during Bleak Falls and High Hrothgar, all the while doing the hearth fire trick again. The more he spoke, the more Balgruuf’s court latched on to the story. Meeting the Greybeards seemed to be the greatest honor, though still felt like she could have done something better with her time.Jarl Balgruuf finally leaned back into his throne and reminisced for a few moments. “I envy you. I’ve climbed the 7,000 Steps. I made the pilgrimage. High Hrothgar is a very peaceful place. Very… disconnected from the troubles of this world. I miss that. I wonder if the Greybeards even notice what's going on down here. They haven't seemed to care before. Hmph. No matter. Proventus, make note of this….“You've done a great service to me and my city, Starfall. You may have gotten off to a rough start and caused some stir, but you’ve more than proven yourself by defending both Whiterun and Riverwood. You’ve given Farengar the tools to help us fight back against the dragons. And it’s also been noted that you have also helped my people throughout the hold. By my right as Jarl, I name you Thane of Whiterun. It's the greatest honor that's within my power to grant. I assign you property, Lydia as a personal housecarl, and a weapon from my armory to serve as your badge of office. I'll also notify my guards of your new title. We are honored to have you as Thane of our city, Dragonborn.”Violet just stood there gawking as the whole of Dragonsreach stood and cheered. She didn’t understand anything that had just happened. She didn’t really move until Kaidan instructed her to acknowledge the Jarl. Usually she stayed far, far away from any kind of authority because being in front of them meant she was about to be judged. She looked down at the engraved and enchanted black ebony hand axe that Avenicci had given her. She didn’t even know how to use axes with any sort of skill.“…Kaidan?” She whispered.“It’s alright. I’ll explain it all later, but basically, you’ve moved up in the world. You’re a citizen and a noble member of his court, now. Just nod and say thank you.”She did as Kaidan told her, then found her anxiety climbing even though she understood that she wasn’t in trouble. Technically. Meanwhile, this wasn’t what she came here for and it sounded like there was going to be even more responsibility in her future.Kaidan hummed. The problem that Starfall hadn’t realized yet was that she was now tied to Whiterun's politics and yet another person was going to be dragged into their mess. He had no idea who Lydia was, but it wasn’t likely that she’d be equipped to handle dragons, being constantly on the move, and Starfall’s strangeness. Not that Starfall didn’t deserve her new position, but Balgruuf had gone about rewarding her the completely wrong way.She quickly apologized to Balgruuf, trying to explain that they had only meant to drop off the Dragonstone, and they had to go meet someone. Violet and Kaidan got as far as the door when a young Nord guardswoman stopped them.“Dragonborn. I’m Lydia, your housecarl. It is an honor.” She bowed slightly to Violet.“My what?” Violet looked back and forth between Kaidan and Lydia.“She’s like a bodyguard.” Kaidan said.Lydia nodded. “I am sworn to protect you, and all that you own.”Oh gods damn it, not another one. “Why did Balgruuf give me an entire person to look after? At least tell me you’re a freeman…” Violet groaned. “I swear to the gods if I have to deal with any kind of awful ‘property’ bullshit—”She blinked. “Of course I am. I am a part of Jarl Balgruuf’s court in service to him, and now to you as you’re part of his court.”“That’s something, at least.” Violet mumbled. “But I really don’t have time to deal with the fact I now have yet another person to keep from getting eaten, or in the case of right now, tricked into doing a bunch of weird shit. Also, how can I have a housecarl if I don’t have a house? …I mean, I have one. …Had. Everyone back home thinks I’m dead, so they probably took my house and all my things. All my books, my plants, my clothes, my memories… gods…”The housecarl cleared her throat. “You do have a house. Here, I mean.”Violet and Kaidan’s eyebrows all went up.“You’re in court and service to the jarl now, and it wouldn’t exactly serve him for you to be a vagrant.”She shook her head. “I don’t have a choice; I have to be. I can’t stay in one place, for several reasons.”“Show us the house.” Kaidan ordered.“Of course.” Lydia said and took them back down Dragonsreach towards the city gates.“Lydia, this is Kaidan. He keeps me from doing anything too evil or stupid.” Violet patted his shoulder.“Trying to, anyway.” He said under his breath.“Nice to meet you? Though I don’t really know too many of the tales about the Dragonborn, and nothing about Outlanders?”“Neither do we.” Kaidan shrugged, not looking at her.Violet looked up at him. “On that note, why didn’t he make you a Thane? You’re as much a part of this as me.”“Because I’m an Outlander.” He said simply. “I’m barely a citizen. I’m not even sure I was born in Skyrim, just that I was raised here by a Nord. And with the Thalmor having wiped out most of my people and looking for the rest, the fewer people who know, the better. Don’t worry about it, Starfall.”“And we’re in a bit of a problem, Lydia. We’re in the middle of tracking someone down, who, the more I think about it, is incredibly dangerous. You shouldn’t get involved with our mess, and you’ll be absolved of any wrongdoing if you stay in Whiterun, so we’re going to have to leave you here.”“What do you mean ‘wrongdoing’?” Lydia frowned.Violet sighed. “The point is that you don’t know so you don’t get into trouble.”“Okay, fine, but if you don’t plan to stay in Whiterun, at least tell me what you want me to do in the meantime.” She said and stopped in front of a nice little place at the front of the Plains District. “Here’s your house. It’s called Breezehome. The previous owner left for Cyrodiil because of the war and left it to the city.”The modest two-story house sat right next to Warmaiden's, and Violet already knew that was going to be a problem.“Of course it’s the house right next to the noisy blacksmith’s with the screechy whetstone and the hammers banging all day.” She groaned.“I understand how you feel, but you’re still complaining about a free house.” Kaidan stared at the front door. He’d never had his own bed before, let alone a whole damn house.“I’d give you the deed, if you weren’t in the same boat as me and could afford the upkeep. But Whiterun has more than enough mercenaries, and it’s so small that they don’t need two apothecaries and a temple and a healer. Hell, I don’t know if I can afford the upkeep and paying a housecarl. Godsdamnit, Balgruuf, I needed money, not a house I can’t live in.” She unlocked the door and went inside, anyway.It was dark, and dust stirred up in a small cloud from the door opening. She set a magelight at the center of the living room to see it was still furnished; a cold hearth and empty cookpot in the middle, chairs, tables, shelves, even dishes and pots on a cabinet in the corner. Violet walked around inspecting everything.“And we were supposed to have left for Windhelm, not ogling at all of this.”“He took us all the way out to Markarth and Windhelm?!”“Not really Windhelm, but more like Kynesgrove. I haven’t checked the map exactly, just that we met someone just south of there. No idea where that is.”“Gods… and it’s going to be another three days to get back out there. Do you really think he’s still going to be there?” Kaidan found himself setting into a chair by the hearth without even thinking about not wanting to get up, or the giant cloud of dust that he dislodged. He coughed his way through his regret.“He wants us to go find him, or else he wouldn’t have given us this list to fix the stupid staff.”As soon as she turned the corner to the back of the house, she gasped (into a coughing fit from inhaling more dust). There was a little alcove behind the stairs, and inside was a bookshelf, a desk and chair, and an alchemist’s worktable.“What did you find?” Kaidan looked over his shoulder, but couldn’t be bothered to get up.“I don’t have to use Arcadia’s alchemy table anymore! I can just buy what I want and store it back here, instead of carrying fifteen pounds of herbs and a bunch of bottles ready to break wherever I go! And a bookshelf! Gods damn, do you have any idea how heavy books are?” The alchemist fell to her knees in front of the bookshelf and sobbed happily.Is this all it took to make her happy? A desk and a chest? He and Lydia looked to each other. “I suppose you’ll be wanting to keep the house, then.”“I don’t know!” She cried and looked through the doorway of her new study.“You haven’t even seen the upstairs, yet.” Lydia pointed her thumb at the stairs and went up first.At the top of the stairs was a little sitting area that divided the two bedrooms. The master bedroom was directly over the hearth downstairs, and the little side bedroom was over the study.“Ugh, all the smoke’s just going to travel up into this room and make everything stink. Who designed this?” She looked at all of the lights and shadows from her magelight passing through the floorboards.“That’s why this room is vented.” Kaidan pointed to all the shutters and lattices that made up the ceiling and roof.“It’s still going to stink in here.”“So use your magic to funnel the smoke out.” Kaidan said, swirling his fingers.“How about this? You can have the big, smoky bed, and I’ll just sleep in my study.” Violet waved him off.“So you are keeping it. And this is your house, you shouldn’t be in the tiny room at the back, sleeping in the corner like a beggar. Just take the big bed and make sure the fire’s out before going to sleep.”“You know what, let’s worry about it after we get back.” Violet waved it all off. “You probably just want to sap all my warmth like you always do.”“Says the damn pillow thief.” He poked her on the side of the head.Lydia just kept quiet. Maybe it wasn’t too late to go back to Dragonsreach…
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After unloading most of her bag into her new study, Violet gave Lydia a few hundred septims and a few vague instructions about taking care of herself and the house.“Thing is, I don’t know when we’ll be back. It’s going to take us at least three days to get where we’re going, and then a few days exploring around that area, then business elsewhere. Oh, and if a woman named Delphine comes calling, don’t tell her a godsdamned thing. She’s only going to give us more unrelated nonsense to worry about. We can deal with her when we get back. Just see what you can do to get the house into shape, and don’t worry about buying things like food for us, we’re not going to be here much, if at all. The rest is yours. I’ll just send more by courier every week or so.” Violet scratched down some hasty notes and handed them over.“I thought I was a housecarl, not a steward.” Lydia started reading.“There’s got to be some overlap, somewhere. Gods know people just keep adding whatever they want to my job description.” Violet said flatly.“Just as long as I don’t have to do it. I’m not your bloody servant.” Kaidan said.“Have I ever? And you’re my brave Knight Advisor.”“That's not a real thing.” He sighed. ‘More like Dragon Tamer.’"Anyway, don’t know when we’ll be back. Maybe a couple of months.” Violet opened the door and left.Kaidan nodded to Lydia. “It was nice meeting you. I’ll be sure to …try and explain what I can when we return.”He followed Starfall out, and she was already headed towards the gate and the stables. Just what did she think was going to happen if she were to find Sam? His version of magic was very different, and it felt entirely too easy to get caught in it. Unless Starfall was angry enough to simply shout at him?Once they were well out of the city and headed north on Tiku, Kaidan gave Starfall a nudge. “I should have had you make more magic resistance potions. I… I had to bribe the guards back at Markarth into letting you go, and they took some of the jewelry I had on me. One of them was an amulet that protected me from magic. Having my armor back is barely enough against elemental magic, but it won’t work against… whatever Sam used.”Now that Violet was back in her normal mage robe (which was more like an extra-long tunic and pants), she sat behind him properly, but was sort of fidgeting as they were passing up perfectly good alchemy and cooking ingredients. They’d need a lot more now that they were both broke, owed people money, had a house and horse to take care of, and a whole person they never asked for in their employ. “What?”Kaidan realized he couldn’t see her and had no way of knowing if she was even paying attention. “What are you doing back there? I said, I need you to make me magic resistance potions.”“Oh. Well for that to happen, I’m going to need to either stop a lot to pick up ingredients, or we’ll have to buy them directly once we get to Windhelm. Except doing it that way costs money that we don’t have because I don’t have anything left to sell or trade. I have to do it now before the snow takes over the north and there’s nothing but snowberry bushes again. Ooh, butterfly!” And without thinking, she rather clumsily maneuvered her way off the moving horse and into a roadside flower bush.“Starfall…” He growled and followed her on horseback, preferring to stay in the saddle. “This is why we should have just sold the horse. We’d have a lot more money, and we’re going to end up taking forever and walking anyway because you do this.”“What’s your solution, then?” She scoffed, knowing perfectly well what it was.“My solution was to not be arsed with finding Sam and that damned staff.”“We’re not doing that. That’s not a solution. That’s you being scared of magic again. If I have to deal with the spiders and mountains, you’re going to deal with the magic. And I told you, it’s not about the staff, anymore.” She was jogging along beside the horse now, deftly picking up everything on that side of the road that seemed to have any kind of medicinal properties.Kaidan grumbled. “Gonna scout ahead.” And he took Tiku well up the road.*The stopping and starting to collect more ingredients continued on for the rest of the day, though they were able to make it to a farm late in the evening, and resolved to not actually steal anything this time. Violet got nervous in the morning when there were baby chickens and ducks being adorable everywhere, but Kaidan stopped her first.“Just one?” She whined and gave him big doe eyes.“Starfall...”“I’m joking. What would I do with an incredibly cute little bird cheeping in my cloak hood?” She stooped down and petted one, making a few more come around.He watched her for a moment in interest at the rare moment of peace, then went to go get the horse. “Come on, we need to get going. It looks like rain soon, and could turn to snow once we get far enough north.”Before they could get out to the main road, they heard something crash, a blood-curdling scream, and a lot of shouting. At the end of the driveway, a cart had broken down, and the driver was pacing around and worrying himself silly. Violet and Kaidan looked to each other about what to do with the strangely (and badly) dressed Imperial who gave them both a horrible sense of dread. The owner of the farm was right there with them except he was damned sure he wanted nothing to do with him. They were about to see if they could sneak away when the man ran up to them. Kaidan instinctively put his hood over his eyes.“Dear me, dear me, oh kind and fellow travelers! Say you’ll help poor Cicero! Cicero is stuck. Can't you see?!” He pleaded.“Uhm.” Violet stared blankly at him, then over at the broken-down cart. It had a large crate in the back.The crate was whispering. She stealthily used her Life and Death spells on it with her fingers behind her back, and it showed up as neither.‘Aw fuck no. No no no NO.’ She grabbed Kaidan’s arm and pulled him off to the side. “Just a minute…”“But I’m already so very late! I’m transporting my dear, sweet mother. Well, not her. Her corpse! She's quite dead. I'm taking mother to a new home. A new crypt! And invited by my friends to Skyrim from my good home in Cyrodiil! But... aggh! Wagon wheel! Damnedest wagon wheel! It broke! Don't you see? We are oh so close to our destination! Say you’ll help! Such unkindness, so little hospitality in that farmer! But you, oh great, brave, and strong warrior and tiny Mistress of Aetherius! You’ll be good to Cicero, won’t you?!”“I know it sounds weird, but we have to help him. We cannot leave him here. And really, he hasn’t done anything wrong except be scary. And mad. And have some kind of slightly undead thing that probably isn’t actually his mother in a box.” Violet whispered.“Undead… why in Oblivion would he have one of those?!” He asked.“I don’t know! Maybe he really is some kind of clown and he captured a damn draugr for a really fucked-up show!”“Damn it. Don’t suppose you can summon a spare wheel, then?”They both turned to Loreius, the farmer. Farmers usually had spare parts for their equipment, but he wasn’t budging.“No. He’s got something in that box. Says it’s his mother. Mother, my eye! Probably weapons or enough skooma to sink an entire city. I ain’t gonna be part of helping some kind of smuggling ring or anything else. Find one of the guards and let them deal with him.” He pointed down the road.Violet sighed and sort of agreed, but knew better. “Look. I’m grateful that you let us stay, even though honestly, I’m not sure how you didn’t think we were just as suspect. But I need you to listen carefully. It’s not drugs or weapons. There really is… a corpse… in that box. The absolute best way to get rid of this man is to get him on his way.”Loreius turned pale. He finally gave in and provided a spare wheel, and she and Kaidan helped replace it. Getting so close to the cart let her hear the frankly seductive whispers better and a horrible sickness bubbled up, getting entirely too close to the pit in her chest. It quickly turned into wanting to bathe both the man and the cart in enough white-hot fire that even the ashes wouldn’t be found. Kaidan didn’t seem to be affected by anything other than annoyance at being stopped.It set them back an hour or so, but the cart was as good as new, and Cicero was overjoyed. “Oh strangers! You have made Cicero so happy! So jubilant and ecstatic! But more! Even more! My mother thanks you! Here, here. For your troubles! Shiny, clinky gold! A few coins for a kind deed! And thank you!” The jester paid them with a suspiciously large bag of money, a funny little dance, and the promise to see them again.“No, no, you don’t have to—HNGK!” Violet’s unease was magnified a thousand-fold into full blown panic when he far too easily snatched her off the ground and into a crushing hug. She couldn’t get out of it, and the sudden thought of him snapping her in half like a loaf of bread sat front and center of her mind.KRII ROK AG ROK AG NII PAH NAHLAAS NIL LOS OK THUR ROK LOS SUNVAAR NI TINVAAK MAL NI TINVAAK MAL KRII ROK NU!!! (1)While the souls inside her were screaming at her from every direction, the black pit and eye that she’d thought she’d appeased months ago opened underneath them, going directly for the jester who had no idea what he was standing on. The eye opened into that maw of teeth and now there was a different darkness altogether behind them.Kaidan realized immediately that this wasn’t like getting a hug from that smug, but harmless court mage in Dragonsreach. Starfall made a screeching noise that startled and unsettled all three men, making him quickly pry her out of Cicero’s grip. How the fuck was he so strong?! It all happened so fast, he didn’t even realize her real panic until painful cold crawled up his spine and grabbed directly at his heart. It was an instant and incredibly painful reminder that he really did need that extra protection from her magic.“Stop it!” He held her at arm’s length, only to get frost crawling up his arm.“Dii vul miin…” (2) She panted quickly and hid her face with her hood, then under his cloak.‘The pit?!’ He looked around himself and found nothing but her frost, and nothing out of the ordinary in the ten seconds that he had been in contact with the two of them.Cicero stared at her with absolute confusion, then a dawning realization and a terrifyingly gleeful sneer. His voice took on that knowing edge. “The tiny mistress has powerful, old, and dark magic… Now I really have to find something good to give you! I must know! Who is this lovely little shadow of yours, Outlander?”“She doesn’t want it.” Kaidan stood between them and reached for his sword. “Your cart is fixed. Leave. Now.”“OH! That’s right! I’m late! And dear mother does hate waiting in the sun! We’ll meet again!” Cicero hopped into the driver’s seat and took off, his cart creaking under the weight of the crate.The farmer backed away from the two of them, and Starfall fell to her knees. With the cart rolling merrily away, the pit gave up and shrank back into her. Kaidan scraped as much ice off of himself as he could and was extra careful about touching her again.“I thought I got it to be quiet… I gave it the dragon… I gave it more souls… It wanted that man…” She whispered as Kaidan knelt down in front of her. “And my souls were scared of him.”Kaidan looked out at the cart headed south down the hill; Cicero was headed either for Whiterun or Falkreath. Markarth would not put up with his antics. They’d have a while before chancing to run into him again. “Let’s go, then. He’s off in the other direction. We still have a while to go before that little inn by the lake. It’s done. Let’s not scare this poor man anymore.”“I’m sorry…” She said aloud, hoping someone would take her word for it but knowing they wouldn’t.*Kaidan felt it only fair that Loreius get half the money for providing the wheel and sheltering them for the night. He waited for Starfall to calm down a little, then pulled her up on the horse and off they went. After the farm, the hills and snow came up fast. She cast her spells to keep warm, but saved her energy by not stopping the heavy snow. Unfortunately, that part of the mountains didn’t have any caves for them to wait it out, nor were there any places to rest. At least it was quiet. The soft crackle of snow made her doze and lean on Kaidan. He looked over his shoulder momentarily; her leaning on him was transferring her heat spell. It shouldn’t have since his armor was supposed to absorb elemental magic. He let her rest for a while until he spotted movement far ahead of them.“Oi. Wake up.” He whispered and nudged her.“Hmm? What?”“Something’s up ahead. Can you hear what it is?”Violet shook the drowsiness off and tried to single out the noise from the crunching snow and Tiku’s snuffling and trotting. Her Life spell didn’t give her much of an idea other than it was human sized, but not the right ‘flame’ shape.“I don’t know. It’s alive, but it’s not an animal or a person. Are there any landmarks in this area?”“Just a grove. There’s usually animals and spriggans… Oh. Be on guard, then. Might get to see one, if she decides we’re trespassing. They use nature magic us mortals aren’t privy to. Hopefully she’ll just let us pass if we don’t do anything dumb. So stay on the horse and don’t try to get her attention.”As they passed around the outside of the grove, Violet kept listening, but didn’t see anything except for lots of trees. Kaidan told her to have a quick glance (‘but don’t stare too long’) at a particular one well off the road, and she was surprised when she saw it flash two glowing green eyes. They narrowed in warning, and one of the branches turned into an arm. The spriggan put a long, thin finger to her mouth in silence.“Huh. She really does look like a tree.” She whispered. “Also, I don’t look anything like that.”“I think she’s letting us go, or else we’d be all cut up already.” He kept his eyes ahead. “And of course you don’t without the flowers and the fact that you’re a good half meter shorter. And you’re thicker.”“Is that good or bad?”“I’ll not be falling for either of your womanly traps.” He smirked.Violet rolled her eyes. “Can I go back to sleep now that we’ve passed?”“Aye. But you’re just going to sit up all night at the inn.”“Probably.” She leaned into his cape again and exhaled slowly. “The dragon souls. They said, 'Kill him. Burn him alive. Burn everything. Something about 'the master'. Some other thing. Whispering. Whispering. Kill him now.’ Meanwhile, the curse, the pit, was staring directly at him. It’s never asked for human souls before, even when I was so desperate, I thought I could substitute enough of them for a dragon. And the souls have never been so angry as to speak up about any particular person, let alone afraid. I’ve been trying to do the opposite of what they’ve been trying to get me to. But between the whispering coming from that box and everything inside me reacting so violently, maybe I should have listened?”“The thing inside the box. It was whispering to you. And the souls could hear it, too. What did it say?”“I don’t know. Just thinking about it or concentrating too hard makes me feel so sick…” She started breathing faster and pushing her stomach down.“Then don’t. But was he still a human who didn’t do anything wrong?”“Smell the bag of money he gave us.”“What? Why? …Uch!” Kaidan scrunched his face.“I’m a healer. I know the stink of blood. When he hugged me, it was faint, but there.”“And with his strength and that look in his eyes at seeing your fear… he’s an assassin. And now he knows your face and your magic. Fucking hell, Starfall. How? How does trouble find you so easily? And I don’t know what to do about the pit. Out here, nothing visible happened. You just started screaming.”“Part of the curse, probably. Kill all the dragons. Feed the monster demanding souls or else it will eat you instead. Go mad from stress and find an early grave. Get eaten alive by your own magic. Scare off or kill everyone who’s ever cared about you. Become a beacon and vessel of unspeakable evils.”“Oi. Stop. We’ll figure all this out. It doesn’t make any sense for the Divines to set all of this on only you all at once. There’s something to it. So just rest now. It might be a while, but we can do this. You can.” He said gently. Her arms slid around his waist.*Because of that morning's incident and the inclement weather, they didn’t reach the Nightgate Inn until the middle of the night. Tiku shuffled into the little stable off to the side, and Violet refreshed him and gave him one of her warmth spells. Inside, the inn was just as they left it a few months ago, down to the emptiness save for a single man drinking away his sorrows.‘I wonder what happened to him that he’s isolated himself here with nothing but alcohol to numb him…’ She glanced at him as she passed. Under his table, she saw it. A sword like Kaidan’s. Delphine said there was a war that she and Kaidan’s people had lost against the Thalmor. Her eyes drifted to the runed nodachi beside her.“Daar mun, tuziil.” (3) She said quietly.“Hmm?” He looked over and saw the worn and beaten up nodachi under the table. “Mm.”They bought their rooms and food, Violet sitting by the hearth, and Kaidan at the bar, asking the night innkeeper what the lonely man’s story was.“Know it’s none of my business, but he literally hasn’t moved since we were through here over a month ago.” Kaidan pointed a thumb over his shoulder.“He pays so he can stay as long as he likes. Poor bastard chose the most remote place he could find and crawled right into a bottle. Most I’ve ever gotten out of him is that he came here to forget. I ain’t here to remind him, either.” The innkeeper shook his head and passed a bottle to him.“And another for him.” He said, putting a few more coins down on the counter.Kaidan took the two bottles to the back of the house and set one in front of the stranger. The gesture was only met with a grunt of thanks, at least until he looked up.“Or maybe not. If I’m seeing you red-eyed bastards, it means I’ve had more than enough to see ghosts.”It wasn’t the worst thing he’d been called by a long shot, but he still twitched at it. “I’m not a ghost. I just mean to talk.”The man squinted at him. “About what, huh? ‘Cause you saw the sword? Got nothin’ to say about anything related to that. …Not that you’d understand, kid.”“Maybe, maybe not. If not that war, and you know what I am, then maybe you’ll know the emblems on my armor? I’m looking for someone who knows it, or someone who knows this clan.” Kaidan pointed to his chest.“Little blurry, y’understand... And your kind was still rarer than hen’s teeth even before the Thalmor killed them all. Only seen two others in the whole thirty odd years, and they were twin Daedra, not twin cats. Sorry, kid.”“S’alright. Was a long shot, anyway. Sorry to bother you.” Kaidan popped the cork on his bottle and left to go check on Starfall. “He didn’t know anything.”Violet nodded. “I feel like we’re not going to find anything substantial until I can get to some sources that have been able to cast a wider net than asking one person at a time.”“As long as we don’t end up asking the wrong people again. Anyway, you doing okay, now?”“Everything quieted down a while ago. But they’ll probably wait for me to fall asleep before starting up again. …Years of this…” She rubbed her face on her sleeve.“Yeah.”“I’m sorry.”He tilted his head. “For what? None of this is your fault. It’s all happening to you.”“I should be trying harder to control it. Going back to my research in alchemy. Create something that dulls my mind enough to shut them out. Finding out what that eye is. Got distracted by revenge instead of work.”Kaidan simply considered her words and played with his bottle. “Least you’re closer to Winterhold, then.”They sat in silence for a while longer, then retired to their rooms.
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When Violet and Kaidan awoke the next morning, the mysterious Nordic man with the sword was gone. They didn’t really want to consider where he’d gone, and decided to take slightly easier pace towards Winterhold and Kynesgrove. The snow didn’t really let up overnight or across the day, but that didn’t deter the wildlife. A small pack of wolves spooked Tiku, and Violet drove them off with fireballs while Kaidan didn’t want to be bothered and outrode them. They stopped a bit after midday to rest at the mouth of a cave decorated with pots and torches, only to get a few steps in and hear the awful whispers of a new Word.“Don’t feel like trying again yet?” Kaidan asked.“Don’t feel like getting even further off track. Just want this to be over and done with. Could have been at Winterhold by now.” She grumbled into her hands as she sat on the back of an abandoned wagon and studied the previous owner’s bones in the corner. Going inside the cave didn’t help against the freezing temperature at all; snow and ice were everywhere as if the roof didn’t even exist.“Well, the road north to the college is just outside, I think. We could head north after you’ve gotten this out of your system.”“You’re being entirely too agreeable about going.”“Not really fair at this point to keep you away from what you think’ll help you. Plus, if all this business with your head really is magic, I suppose I’ll be needing help to keep you from losing yourself.” He said cautiously. “Most of it up to now's been for good reason or somewhat harmless. …When you grabbed me after I pulled that clown off you, it felt like your ice was freezing my heart solid. And seeing what you do when you’re scared, it could have been a lot worse. It stopped when I pulled you off me, but with a bunch of dragons and gods know what else inside you, it showed me that I can’t fight what I can’t see.”She hugged herself tighter. “Oh.”“I didn’t mean…”“I know.” She pulled her book out and started writing. “I don’t know if I’ve got the ingredients for resistance potions right now. And I’ll get you another amulet as soon as I’ve paid all the money we owe. Either that or work on creating one, myself.”While she was writing, he decided to sneak just a little further inside to see if there was anything salvageable in the early rooms. Instead, there was an ice wraith lazily swirling around in the frozen drafts. It either hadn’t heard him trudging through the snow, or he hadn’t gotten close enough to earn its ire. Starfall was right where he’d left her on the wagon. “There’s an ice wraith in there. Can you use its entrails?”“Their essence can make you a little more resistant to ice in an emergency, if you can keep the throat sac intact. And I could use the teeth for potions. Very rare and expensive back home.” She said.The throat sac. Got it. “I don’t suppose you could make the essence a bit less horrible going down?”“The acids overpower any sugars that come in contact with it.” Violet shrugged. “Sorry.”Kaidan shuddered and went back into the other room.“Now you know how I feel daily,” she mumbled.*The ice wraith still hadn’t noticed him on his return; it didn’t even look to be doing anything other than idle wandering and picking at something in the snow. He took out his bow, nocking one of the steel arrows he’d bought for regular use. Eorlund had even upgraded his quiver by lining it with bone plates so the new arrowheads didn’t tear through the already thick leather. Before the creature could turn to attack, two arrows had pinned it to the wall of ice behind it. It struggled and thrashed against the wall, hissing and spitting clouds of frost as he approached.“Thrashin’ just makes it worse.” He switched to his sword and finished it off by removing its head with a quick, downward slice. Its body stayed pinned to the wall while the head rolled into a snowbank in the corner. He picked out the parts he needed and put them in his hip pouch. “Hmm. A bunch of teeth, connected to one small throat sac.”*Violet watched him go deeper into the cave, somewhat curious, but mostly feeling like she should just stay out of the way. That creepy Imperial was still in her mind. Or rather the violent reaction of everything inside her. Everything had always stayed dormant unless she was deep asleep, or if the Hunger had gone on too long without being sated. Even right now, everything was back to normal, and it was all barely a dot at the back of her mind. Kaidan thought that man to be an assassin, but not even when the Thalmor had her did anything speak up when she was on the verge of death. They said something about him being part of the Void, but that didn’t really mean much since souls not bound for the Soul Cairn or a chosen resting place at death get tossed into the Void instead. If he really was just a stupidly dressed assassin, of course he’d be tied to the Void.She stopped writing and lay back, trying her best to empty her head out. The cave entrance echoed the blowing winds outside, the crackling of the settling ice and snow inside, and further in, Kaidan clomping around in his heavy boots about to kill some creature. She heard two arrows fly and smack into the wall, followed by a lot of hissing and screeching. Those were literally cut off with a sword cut. Then it all went quiet.‘He doesn’t like or trust magic, but he’s going to try and get help from the college while we’re there. Did I hurt him that badly? I need to know what happened to him exactly if we’re gonna continue.’ She realized her mind was racing about helping him instead of being calm and clear and she huffed, giving up to go see if he’d found anything else.Stepping into the next room, she saw him picking apart a serpent creature impaled against the wall. It looked almost ethereal. On the other side of the room, another one slithered through the air towards him, its movements masked by the cave’s ambient noises. She’d never seen one before and thought the crystalline creature was actually really pretty. Well, except for its ghastly looking face. The face looked like one of the eels at the fish market. Instead of alerting him and things possibly going wrong, she summoned her bow and did the same thing, though she needed four arrows instead of two.“Stupid, wiggly ice eel.”Kaidan quickly turned towards the sound of the arrows and ice wraith struggling behind him then over to her. “I, uh, I would’ve gotten it…”“Didn’t want to deal with you getting bit or frozen.” She said and banished her weapon. “I wonder if they can be tamed…”“No, they can’t. And you’ve already got a horse. Don’t need any more animals.”Violet went up to her new specimen and started to study it. It felt like cold glass and its misty blood sank down the wall. “I hope the college has bestiaries for me to take notes from. I’ve only read about the alchemical properties of their teeth, but not about what the actual creature is like.”“You know, you’ve got a perfectly good hunter right here if you want to know about this stuff.” Wary now, he went behind her and went further into the chamber to check for more.“Alright, then. Just what is this thing?” She asked while trying to pull its teeth.“Another type of nature spirit. Likes secluded places and hiding in snowbanks, which means this place probably hasn’t been visited for a while. Behaves like any other animal; get too close and it’ll go after you. If you get bit, the venom hits your veins and it slowly freezes you from the inside out. These are actually pretty small; usually they’re a couple meters long. Most likely they were young.” His voice echoed around the cave.“Hmm.” She pondered his knowledge while picking through the giant urns littered around the room. Only a few gold funerary tokens, and someone’s old silver ruby ring. She held it out to him. “See, something like this would fit you much better. I just need to enchant it.”He came over and looked at it. It needed a bit of a scrub and polish, but the square knotwork still stood out. “My eyes, again?”She turned it over and got a look in his. They were bright, curious, and a slight shade darker than the ruby. “Yeah.”“Hmm. At least someone likes ‘em.” He sighed and patted her shoulder. “All rested?”“Close enough.”“Now that you know Dovahzul, can you understand the whispers?”“Not from out here. Maybe a little further in. But I’m not interested in that right now.”“Alright, then.”Once they set out again and were well along the road, Kaidan tried to find the right words again. “You said you couldn’t get married. Is that part of your… contract?”Her head drooped back. She knew the question was coming, but still dreaded it. “No. If anything, my stupid council thinks a having a spouse would ‘fix’ me. Fuckers.”“How in the world…?”“One, I don’t enjoy the company of men or women. Two, we would quickly become resentful burdens to each other and that wouldn’t be fair to either of us. Three, spite. Having a lover wouldn’t fix the fact that I’m being haunted by a whole bunch of ancient assholes, and now they’ll never know if they’re right or not.”“You don’t… like men or women?” Well, this just made all the jabs and flirting and pawing at him all the more confusing.“I can like people, even been in love once or twice. But not in the way they’ll want to love me back. But now there’s all kinds of horrible shit happening so I don’t have to look directly at the fact that I’m nearly past marrying and childbearing age and don’t care if it ever happens. At least until Sam happened.” She grumbled.“Won’t judge. Been in my own share of ‘strange’ relationships. And no, I do not want to talk about it.” He shrugged.“You’re the one who brought it up.” She poked the back of his head.*It was deep into the night by the time they reached Windhelm. The gate was shut, and the bridge was frozen over from the storm.Violet leaned into Kaidan’s back, so her voice was muffled by his cloak. “Ugh. This again.”“Let’s not have a repeat of last time. Maybe we can stay at the stables ‘til morning.”“Fffine.”The stables were thankfully accepting of their plight, and they were allowed to stay for the few hours until morning. Tiku was just happy for the rest and for Violet’s brushes and spoiling. It took a lot longer than they expected for the guards to let them through (though Violet was a lot more patient than last time) and by the time they were able to make their way to the market district, the square was crowded with people who couldn’t stand to stay in from the cold anymore. Violet grumbled to herself and put in her earplugs.“What do you want to do first?”“Need money and medicine.” She mumbled.“I’ll take care of the money, you do the medicine, yeah?” And he held his hand out to take the funerary tokens and other junk to be melted down and sold. The bag seemed to be a little on the light side, but should’ve still been enough to hold them for a while.The alchemist nodded and quickly broke off to go inside the White Phial, the apothecary shop with the old, grouchy Altmer who liked to shortchange her. He wasn’t behind the counter today, though. The young Nordic man who she assumed was his apprentice was working on the ledger. When she set her things in the chair by the door, he looked up with surprise.“Oh, welcome!” Quintus perked up a bit as if he were glad for the company.“Taking over the shop, today?” She asked, settling down and pulling her pressing book and a lot of paper sachets out of her bag.“Yeah. Nurelion’s been unwell for a few days. But I’ll be happy to serve you.”“Thanks. I have most of the ingredients and bottles, I just need to move some things around.” She supposed he might be as good a source as any. “Aside from the war, how has Windhelm fared these past few months after the dragon?”“Well, after the Dragonborn left, things quickly went back to normal. I’d feel a little safer if they finished fixing the wall right outside, though.”‘Hm. I guess it never really got around that it was me. Just as well.’ She looked back to her work. “And no more serial killers?”“Turns out it was Calixto, who ran a little museum on the other side of the city. No idea why he started killing all those women, though. Lots of people went to see all of the strange things he’d collected in his travels and loved the tour. Now his museum’s been sitting empty and no one knows what to do with it.” He said sadly.“Nobody knew him as well as they thought.” She scoffed.“He was a deviant and he was trying to stitch his dead sister back to life. Never mind if they were Imperials, it wouldn’t have worked for him to have killed all those elves.” Nurelion spat as he creaked down the stairs. “Can you two keep it down? Gods.”Quintus cleared his throat. “Sorry, Master Nurelion.”The old Altmer squinted at her. “Ah. Dragonborn’s back. Come to use up all my supplies again so you can finish tearing up the rest of the city?”Quintus’ eyes went wide while Violet ran her hand over her face. For someone who probably spent his days sick in bed, he knew far too much.She moved to get up. “If you don’t want me keeping your stocks fresh and potent, I can go find a general trader or something. The woman across the way seems to have good deals. And she pays me what I’m worth.”“Oh, sit down. You know full well Niranye doesn’t have what you’re looking for.” He scoffed. “Hmph. Good that you’re back, anyway. I took a look at the goods you sold me after you left that while back. You know your vitae formulae, woman. …You ever hear of the White Phial?”“A bottle with a catalytic lining and an aetheric condenser stopper. Why?” She knew it was the name of his shop, but she thought it was just (unexpectedly and completely unfittingly) quirky.The master alchemists stared at each other. Nurelion was torn on whether to toss her smartass from the shop or fall at her feet. “So you know.”“I know the story. I don’t know if it exists or if it would actually work. I never really looked further into it because it sounds dumb. Having a bottle that would replenish itself would only be able to create one type of liquid forever, so it should be something that there should be more than one of in the entirety of Nirn. Also if left unplugged, would continuously overflow directly from Aetherius itself. And would already be filled with something, likely either something useless or dangerous if there actually were an infinite amount of it.” She was gesturing the alchemical symbols and equations with her fingers.“By the Eight, you talk too damn much. It is real. It works. And it is the purest expression of our craft. There is only one because that’s all its creator wanted.” He pointed at her with a shaky finger. “You, Dragonborn or whatever. Please. From one master alchemist to another. I’ve spent my entire life searching for it. And I’ve found it. I know where it is. And now it's within my grasp... but the Eight, it seems, have chosen me for their amusement. In my current condition, I'll never be able to lay my hands on it, and my ‘assistant’, more like hindrance, won’t go get it, either—”Nurelion had worked himself into a coughing fit and nearly collapsed, and suddenly Violet knew his feelings all too well. As Quintus helped him back upstairs, she called after them.“Tell me where it is,” she groaned.*Kaidan worked quickly through his errands, as he wanted to be done as soon as possible to get them back on the road. He took the gold to the forge, had his weapons and armor maintained, and traded some of the pelts he’d gotten on the trail north of Whiterun. At least the horse was good for carrying a few extra things. He couldn’t find anyone with an artifact that could replace the amulet the guard at Markarth stole, but if nothing came up, he and Starfall should have enough for someone who would.He was buying more food when Starfall left the apothecary shop next to the butcher’s stall. “That took a while.”She came over and took a peek at what he was buying. “Talking with the owner. You know that cave that we were in yesterday with the two ice wraiths?”She’d better not be changing her mind already… “What about it?”“After we’ve beaten Sam clean to death, we need to go down there. The man who owns this shop, Nurelion, says there’s an artifact down there. Says he’s been looking for it his entire life.”“That’s it? You’re going to go back into a barrow just because that miserable old bastard asked you to? Just what did he say?” He squinted at her. He’d only been in the White Phial once a long while back, and that was enough. The only thing he’d help him with was a good curse match.She sighed and held up a crystal bottle filled with thick, green, glowing liquid. “Let me fulfill a fellow master’s dying wish. I know where he’s coming from, alright? Besides, you said we needed practice. And if it works as well as he’s selling it, I could copy it and it would permanently fill the gap in your immunity to my magic, and all magic in general.”“Hmm. We’ll see, then. I’m almost done here. What kind of food do you want?”“Chicken. Tomatoes. Leeks. Juice.”“Things that will keep.”“It should all keep; it’s freezing, all the time, everywhere.” Her lip curled up in a snarl. Should’ve called it Snowrim…“Okay, fair enough. Now, got anything for me?”“I made you a few potions and poisons. Once we’re ready to go, we can trade all this stuff out.”“Are we stopping in Kynesgrove for anything? I think if we skip it, we can get where we’re going by nightfall.” Kaidan said over his shoulder as he picked up several paper-wrapped packets from the food stalls.“Not really. Maybe check to see if the other burial mound is still dormant. But we would have heard something if anything had happened.”Kaidan waited at Candlehearth while Starfall finished her other errands. Wuunferth had nothing new for her and charged too much for his enchanting service. Galmar, Ulfric, and Jorleif nearly roped her into the same official thane nonsense that Balgruuf and Avenicci had (she ran out while they went into a side room to discuss some other news about the war), and browsing the quieter shops in the Grey Quarter didn’t turn up anything interesting.As they left the city, looking over the side of the bridge showed that they did manage to dredge the dragon’s bones out of the water and probably carted it back to its grave near Kynesgrove. Going into the village, only one or two guards seemed to recognize the two strangers who’d turned everything upside-down months prior. The strangers had no intention of stopping to chat, either. By the time the two made it to the grove, the sun was nearly gone and a torch bug speckled mist had washed in from the south. Then it all hit Kaidan like an avalanche upon seeing the ramshackle little cabin in the woods surrounded by bloody pikes and skulls on sticks.“Oh, no.” His eyes went wide and his skin prickled.“What? What’s going on?” She tried to lean around him to see what was ahead of them.He held his hand out behind himself. “Give me the map. Now.”“What’s gotten into you, other than this house situated in the middle of the woods all on its own is suspicious and ominous as fuck?”He quickly turned the horse around and got a distance away before looking it over. “Starfall… what were the things Sam told you to get?”Violet pulled the note out of her breast pocket. “Holy water, Giant’s toe, Hagraven—ah. Shit.”“Witchmist. Of course. I. Hate. Hagravens.” He said slowly.“Maybe she’s nice? Maybe she didn’t kill us and steal all our stuff because we showed her a drunken good time and didn’t try to murder her immediately like I can sense you plotting, now that you’re sober and have been for several days?”“Hagravens are a perversion of nature and they’re vicious bitches.” His teeth were grinding.“…Okay. Maybe you should stay back here for this one.” Very rarely did Kaidan show any kind of real loathing towards anything or anyone in particular, so this was sort of disturbing. But hagravens were deadly, cunning, monstrous, magical creatures who tended to enjoy torturing men (the pit in her chest opened its maw to comment and she told it to shut the fuck up), so it made sense.Violet hopped off the horse and told Kaidan to keep Tiku company (and no sniping) while she made her way up to the cabin. How in Oblivion did they end up way out here with a hagraven? And why didn’t they have the feathers if they’d been here before? Violet didn’t really think much of hagravens, mostly because she’d only met one or two who lived by themselves in the mountains. They were like desert harpies, only …mangier. They kept to themselves unless some fool had disrespected their space. Ol’ Murel who lived out in the mountains north of Dragonstar had a sweet tooth that Violet leveraged to get feathers and iffy ingredients. She was “nice” enough, as long as Violet honored her bargains and kept her wits about her. As she approached the house, the smell of viscera, blood, and other things she didn’t want to think about became horribly strong, and she wondered how they were able to stand it all those nights ago. Not that it was the most pressing question. Like what was her name?“Hello…?” Violet said cautiously.“Ahh! Is that my darling little desert flower?” A woman’s voice squawked.‘Oh gods, what?!’ The answer was caught in her throat. “M-maaaaybeeee?”The gnarled creature awkwardly stumbled out of her shack on misshapen talons. Her clothes were actually pretty nice leather and cloth considering she had to accommodate her feathers and claws, and she was covered in gold jewelry, which she frequently stopped to admire. On one finger was a ring that matched Kaidan’s. Violet had already sold hers. This was all so horrible, it would have been hilarious if she weren’t nauseous and this weren’t an incredibly dangerous and delicate situation.“And where is our handsome husband?” She wrung her hands with a look of hunger in her eyes.‘Ohhh NO.’ Violet blocked the hagraven’s way. “He’s still... talking things over with Sam. Trying to get him to stop dragging his feet.”“Your best man. He talked too much, I say. And too deep in the cups. But his grove at Morvunskar is prettier than mine. A fine place for a wedding.” She cackled.Morvunskar… Morvunskar. Not even remotely familiar. ‘Gods he had us running all over the country…’“He said he wanted a memento from you to remember you by. Can I give him a feather?” Violet pointed to her arm.“Tell Sam that he still owes Moira a kiss.” She scratched herself with her long claws, and a few feathers shed onto the ground.Violet cringed, leaned over to get the feathers, and on standing up, Moira had closed the gap and glommed onto her. Her scratchy pinfeathers and cold, leathery skin made Violet’s skin crawl. But she noticed there was no voice of displeasure in her head other than her own.‘WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYONE SET ON HUGGING ME?!?!’ She screamed internally, which came out as a small, high-pitched whine.“Your kind make such lovely harpies, and Kaidan shall be a fine slave…” She cackled in a such a way that Violet’s mortal soul (and a few of the immortal ones) curdled.
Flay all of Sam’s skin off and roll him in fire salts. Then feed him to the hagraven. Then curse his bones and use them as your thrall.
Violet was more disturbed that she liked the idea than that the Power was suggesting horrible things again. She waved to Moira as she made her way back to Kaidan and Tiku. He’d seen the whole thing and was in the middle of aiming a Dragonbone arrow at the bird-crone’s heart. She wondered how good his hearing was.“Save it for Sam.” Violet said simply as she climbed up behind Kaidan. “Open the map, Moira says he’s at Morvunskar.”“I know where that is, it’s just across the river. ...You should have just killed her. She’s going to figure out you tricked her and come after us.” He spat.“And Sam tricked all of us. We should bring her along.”It took a lot longer than Violet would have liked for him to stop aiming at Moira. He finally gave up, growled, and took them back to Kynesgrove.Violet wasn’t tired and wanted to finish all this, but Kaidan told her that Morvunskar was an old fortress that changed hands a lot, and rarely to anyone nice. Showing up in the middle of the night might give them an element of surprise for all of five minutes before the fact that they’d been traveling all day hit them and then they’d be at a disadvantage. Kaidan didn’t want to talk about what had happened at the grove, and just as well, Violet wasn’t sure what that whole incident meant in the first place. Sam had somehow convinced them to (hopefully pretend to) marry a hagraven just to collect a few feathers which they didn’t even get the first time. None of it helped either of them sleep, so going to Kynesgrove turned out to be a waste of time, anyway.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
At first light, they left Kynesgrove and moved slowly across the river. Kaidan didn’t even want to be bothered taking the roads at that point and the horse obliged. Tiku didn’t seem to care at all as he easily walked the shallows of the river and up steep hills towards the crumbling tower overlooking Windhelm and Kynesgrove. Violet wondered if the horses in Skyrim had been bred with mountain goats.“You’re still angry about Moira, aren’t you?” Violet looked over the cliff uneasily. The sharp angle that Tiku stood on had her clinging to Kaidan and hoping she wouldn’t slide off the saddle.Kaidan refused to answer and instead stopped a distance away from the fort’s archway. “See how many are home. Don’t feel like getting sniped before even getting in the door. …Or hearing crying about how your horse is dead.”Violet frowned. He had a point with the second one. Looking up with her Detect Life spell, there were people patrolling on the arch. “Yeah, there’s four of them up there, but I can’t tell you anything else.”“They’re mages. The lot of them.”“How can you tell that from here?”“The storm smell. It concentrates with a lot of continuous magic use. I think your nose is just dead to it.”She tried to sniff it out, but all she could smell was horse and Kaidan’s new coat of armor oil. “Whatever. If Sam’s still here, they shouldn’t turn us away if we tell them we’re here to meet him. Stay back here if you like. Then you can do the sniping if need be.”Starfall hopped down and walked the rest of the way up the hill, keeping an eye on the people who she knew were watching her. Once she got close enough, one of them fired a warning fireball at her feet.“That’s close enough. What are you doing here?” A young Nord warlock sneered at her.She… sounds like a child? What? “Is Sam still here?”“Who’s that?”Violet huffed. “Smarmy jackass Breton. Illusion mage, I’m guessing. Likes alcohol and causing me infinite grief.”“Ohhh, that Sam. …Never seen him.” One of the girls above Violet giggled.Why are a bunch of brats playing around in an abandoned fortress? “Do your parents know y’all are out here about to set your own hair on fire pretending to be big grown up warlocks in a coven?”“Fuck you, you fat cow!” A Nord boy shouted down at her and threw another fireball at her head.It bounced harmlessly off of her aethereal shield and she pinched her temple. Every godsdamned step of the way...
Show them what real magic is.
She liked that one. Either that or tagging them so Kaidan would put a hollow-point in their thick little skulls.“Get out of the way or else I’ll show you what actual magic looks like. I’ve had a loooong fucking week, and I know Sam is here. Or did he put you up to this?” Instead of pitching a fireball back at them, the boy simply dropped as a small arc of lightning formed above his head and stunned him unconscious. “That’s for the mouth.”The young mages stopped short and weighed their options. She did that by barely waving a finger and completely ignored his attack. He was out cold before they could blink. Fiin took months just to learn that one fireball spell and half the time he messed it up. “He’s in the basement! But Naris’s probably going to take your head off for busting in uninvited…” The first novice warlock said quickly.“He can try.” Violet scoffed. “If I come back out here and you’ve messed with my shit…”One Word and the one of the keystone blocks below them froze and exploded, taking out several others. The stones falling from the tunnel underneath set off all the fire traps that they had set up, and the resulting cascade of explosions nearly toppled the whole arch. The teenagers all ran from the parapet while Violet wheezed her way back to get Kaidan.“What did they do that you had to shout at them?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Sassing me. They’re just a bunch of brats, so don’t kill any of them. No maiming, either. Ass whuppings are fine. …Ugh, I’m an old person now.” She groaned.“Why in the Nine would he be hanging out with a bunch of teenagers?”“He’s probably their favorite uncle who buys them alcohol.” She cleared her throat, downed a quick potion and some water from one of Tiku’s saddlebags, and went back to the fort.*The first thing that hit them when they opened the door was sweltering heat. The second was the stink of wine. Both of those things together did not sit well with Violet. “I understand wanting to keep a big, cold castle warm, but what are they doing in here?”He sniffed again. “You said they’re kids. Drinking and setting things on fire. I’m not even a mage and I recognize a fun combination when I see it. Don’t suppose you told them not to gang up on us later on?”“I’m hoping the fact that they could have been killed in a building collapse was all the necessary explanation as to why that would be a really bad idea. Anyway, there’s the stairs down. They said Sam was down in the basement and to look out for someone named Naris.” Finally, she could wrap all this stupid horseshit up. Preferably by showing Sam where he could stick that fucking staff.The main floor had very little going on except for a kitchen, a locked door, and of all things, a forge. No one, including the two kids trying to fumble around with it, had any idea why a bunch of mages would need such a thing. Violet quickly attributed the coal and wood fumes as to why they were stupid and chased them out with a bunch of nearly missed ice spears. Kaidan watched them run down the stairs instead of outside and called Starfall over. The other thing that they both noticed was that every single room had at least a dozen bottles of wine in it, and most were empty. Even the stairwell was littered with bottles and broken glass.“Oh yeah. That damn drunkard is definitely here and trying to give a bunch of kids alcohol poisoning. Where do you even get this much wine?!”“There probably aren’t any grapes left in the whole of the Rift, now.” Kaidan picked up a sealed bottle and almost forgot himself before taking a deep breath and putting it back.“I’ll buy you a proper, non-drugged, non-magical drink after this is over.”Kaidan sighed. “Thank you.”“It was hot, anyway.”“Ugh.”The bottom of the stairs opened up to a view neither was expecting; a grand hall held up with columns as big as trees. Dust and water dripped from the ceilings, leaving deep puddles all around the room. Off to the side was a tall set of stairs. At the top, a bunch of mages frantically talked amongst each other in front of a shining portal bright enough to light the entire room. An Altmer mage sat on an improvised throne, idly staring at the portal and only barely paying attention to the kids trying to wake him up to their presence.“I feel like we’ve uncovered something unexpected and very bad here. Portals and most methods of teleportation are either rare or expensive, and only used by very powerful mages who can stand to waste ridiculous amounts of magicka.” Violet was fixed on it to the detriment of everything else. She was sure she could create them if she knew how, but not to just leave one open like this. Stupid contract forbidding her from leaving Hammerfell (and the mortal plane, but that was just closing a loophole). Well, that turned out to be a waste of ink and blood…“Well, it explains how we were able to cross the entirety of Skyrim in a few hours.” Kaidan said. “Now how do we get past the ones guarding it?”“They’re stupid teenagers. We just chase them off or kick a little sense into them.” Violet scoffed and navigated her way around the pools of standing water on the floor.“Something’s not right.” He couldn’t explain what it was, though. Starfall had already walked up to the bottom of the platform.She called up to the group at the top of the stairs. “Look, I don’t even care what you all are up to with all the alcohol and fucking around. Just tell me if Sam is here and what the fuck is even going on. I don’t recall inviting any of you to my wedding. Not that I remember the wedding either, but still. And I sure as shit wouldn’t have had it in an abandoned building…” She looked around at the rubble and the mess.The High Elven man looked down at her with sheer disgust. “Yes, Sam is here. Yes, he’s been waiting for you. I can’t believe he chose you. I’ve been trying to get his attention for years, and he wanders off into town and has that once in a lifetime, spur of the moment, life-altering drink with you.”“Why are you talking about that asshole like he’s actually somebody important?” Violet’s eyes went back to the portal. She really didn’t like the feeling in her chest now…The other young mages were staring at her now and whispering back and forth. Just who was she? Was she another immortal? How could she not know what she’d done? Who would be dumb enough to care so much about the game if they didn’t already know how high the final stakes were? Somehow that one little act that didn’t mean much of anything suddenly made her want toss out all the rules she gave Kaidan outside and just vaporize them all. She was being fair in not simply tearing this place apart, and all she wanted was a simple answer. She wasn’t getting it. They knew something she didn’t.Naris got up from his chair and flames appeared in both of his hands. “You mean to tell me you went through all that completely blind?!”“How come everyone else knows what we did but we don’t?!” Kaidan threw his hands up.“Anyway, it’s not like you know who I am, either. Maybe I’m an important bitch who’s really getting tired of getting strung along and getting taken advantage of because ‘ha ha tiny fat Redguard who can’t possibly be a threat’!” Despite seeing the fire in his hands, she still chose to summon her ice spears and pulsed electricity through them. She turned to Kaidan and set up her Ironskin and aetheric shield. “Get behind me.”“What happened to ‘they’re just kids’?!” He unlatched his sword instead.“THE REST OF YOU BRATS GET TO LIVE IF YOU GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SIGHT, RIGHT NOW!” Her voice boomed around the hall loudly enough that it shook another cloud of dust and stone loose, and Kaidan wondered if that was just the echo or her using her Voice. She coughed a few times, which sort of killed the intensity. The Voice, then.One of the mages quickly told Naris about what she’d done outside, then took the rest of her friends and ran down the stairs past Violet and Kaidan. One of the girls stopped beside him, openly ogling him.She grinned stupidly. “Wait, you have a Demi? Because I might have to stick around to see—” “I’m not a fucking Daedra!” Kaidan roared, his red eyes glowing brightly. The edge of his sword was up against her throat before she could finish her sentence.“OUT!” Violet snapped a lightning bolt at her feet to get her going.“Shit!” She squeaked and took off running. The Altmer man hesitated for only a moment before deciding it’d be worth it just to be rid of these clueless assholes.“As for him, he’s not a kid, he’s not running, and he’s not smart, so he’s fair game, and he’s mine.” She turned back to Naris. “All you had to do was get the fuck out of the way and answer a simple question. Sam’s made suckers of us all, but somehow that’s my fault? No.” “WULD!”
Before either of the men could blink, she was at the top of the stairs with Naris and one of the spears went into his gut. The two flame spells in his hands clapped onto her shoulders, but she barely reacted to her charred sleeves and shorter locs. If anything, it only made her angrier; she screamed, the second spear went through his throat, and she used the two spears as leverage to swing him around and over the stairs. He’d tried to grab and pull her along at the last second, only to get electric shocks that made him wrench his hands away. Kaidan watched him hit the ground beside him with a heavy crunch. Without a word or a second to wait for him, she stomped through the portal. Well, that was the end of that. He noticed that Starfall was so wound up that she either didn’t see or want the chest next to the throne. Opening it revealed a lot of money (‘finally something I don’t have to melt down’), a gemmed circlet (‘was this meant to be Starfall’s?’), and yet another diamond ring (‘oh gods, who is this one for?’).Starfall was supposed to be frail and sickly, but she managed to lift and throw a larger man with enough force and distance to break his neck, and several other things. Or maybe that’s what was considered frail for a Redguard? He realized he hadn’t really associated with many before her. At least it was a quick end. Sam was about to have a very bad time. He was all for it.*Violet stepped onto a small wooden footbridge with electricity crackling all around her, reflecting the utter confusion and rage rattling around in her head. What was this place? Where had they ended up? Had they been taken across the country again? Why were those mages protecting this and why didn’t they retreat into here, instead? Why were she and Kaidan led here? It was beautiful. Eternal twilight. Lanterns and torch bugs glowed just enough to light the path, making everything sparkle. A secret grove, hidden in the basement of an icy mountain fortress. They heard laughing in the distance. Corks of wine being popped. People lost in songs. For all its beauty and serenity, it was all so unsettling. Moira was right, though, Violet could see herself having a wedding here if such a horrible thing were to ever come to pass.“What is all this?” Violet panted. With the adrenaline draining, her chest, arms, and throat burned. “Don’t know why you’re asking me. Stay close ‘til you’ve got your air back.” Kaidan kept his sword ready.The path eventually opened up to a party. No one standing around, dancing, or feasting had any idea what had just happened outside. The guests all wore similar glamorous clothing that she and Kaidan had woken up in at Markarth several days ago. So did this whole ongoing disaster start here? Or were they supposed to come here earlier and got so horribly and completely distracted for an entire week?A man gasped behind them and drew them both into a hug. “It’s about time you two got back! I was beginning to think you might not make it! But you both seem to have lost your lovely finery in all the action, so let me see if I’ve got—”“YOU!” Violet’s anger spiked again, and she quickly turned on Sam. She raised an ice spear that crackled with lightning to his face. Kaidan was even faster and had his arms pinned behind his back. “Do you have any idea what we’ve been through, you FUCKING MANIAC?!”“I swear you two are the most back and forth between love and hate people I’ve ever seen. Sloppy fuckin’ drunks, and the amount of drugs and alcohol it took to get you there would nearly kill me . But once you’re sober, it’s back to all murder, all the time.” Sam sighed and shook his head. “It’s like you do all the steps right and still get the wrong answer. You were doing so well.”“Stop talking in riddles, or we slit your fucking throat. Answers, then. Now .” Kaidan growled and twisted his arms hard enough Sam grunted.The Breton rolled his eyes. “You two need to stop taking everything so deathly seriously.”“People have actually died, you stupid fuck!” Violet screeched. Everyone around them took absolutely no notice or care that they were arguing with and threatening this man…“I mean… yes. But people do that all the time. This whole thing was supposed to teach you that all of this…?” He nodded all around them. “Pointless. That guy outside? He completely missed my point, which is why he couldn’t cross over here. This is all just an unfun game we’ve been tossed into, and if you let it, it’ll kill you. But you have to live. Be the ones who survive, or else none of us will. Take the time to forget! “And a night was all it took! You both were amazing! A Divine-marked using their powers to the fullest! A Daedra-marked remembering true freedom! A perfect union! I haven’t been so scared, so proud, so amused, so entertained in ages! I laughed! I cried! I… couldn’t get you your dragon, though. I really don’t know how that would have gone down, anyway, considering you don’t do carnality. That’s kind of refreshing, m’dear. Makes you unique in a world of base mortals with base desires. You put your creativity someplace else, which seems to be increasingly wild ways to bend reality to your will in futile attempts to have all this make sense. You should probably stop that, by the way. It’s only going to make your little …problem… worse.”“What do you mean by bend reality?” Kaidan paled and looked at Starfall, having missed everything else that came out of this deviant half-wit’s mouth. “I thought you just said you weren’t a Daedra?” Violet leered at Kaidan, scowling. She knew she was ‘blessed’ by Akatosh, but she never thought Kaidan to be anything other than a (wildly out of place in every conceivable way) human. As soon as their eyes met, he blushed badly and looked away, more angry with himself than anything.“I’m not! I—” “Please, you two! I can only take so much dramatic tension. Unf! You’ve already won the staff, Star! You can stop now. Besides, I never said who was what…” The strange man laughed.“WHO ARE YOU?!” Violet screamed and jumped on Sam with both her hands full of lightning to his throat. He yelped, instantly and effortlessly broke out of Kaidan’s grip, and grabbed her by the wrists, holding her up and away from himself.“Alright! Alright! You’ve both clearly pushed it all down and tried to forget absolutely all the wrong parts, ironically enough, but you really need to calm down now. And coming from me, that’s really saying something. So maybe cool it with the bloodlust, alright?”Sam Guevenne completely ignored the fact that Kaidan was trying to hold him, put her down gently without letting go of her wrists, and popped with a flash and the pop of a wine cork. He reappeared in front of the two of them as a very large, scarlet-skinned Daedra, wearing nothing more than a blue toga even skimpier than Violet’s wedding dress and a grin. “Sanguine, Prince of Debauchery, Revelry, and Passion, at your service. And welcome back to the Misty Groves, your own little slice of Oblivion, m'dears!”“Surprise!” The revelers around them cheered and laughed as if they were all part of this whole horrific surprise party.“…Ohhhh, fuck me.” Violet stumbled back and covered her mouth. It wasn’t time for that part of the plan, yet. She hadn’t even gotten to read up on the Princes to figure out who’s who and how to deal with them, and they were already coming to her.“You say that, but you never mean it.” Sanguine huffed.“All that godsawful insanity… because you're…” Kaidan’s chest tightened and suddenly there was a lot less air and warmth in this plane of Oblivion…The Daedric Lord waved his hands in front of his face. “Ta-da! And yes, I know. Not really fair of me to trick you like this. But I really meant what I said back in the Bannered Mare. You needed this. Both of you. Really, really, really badly. Dear …me , you two are wound way too tight! I mean, that first night, you were so pent up you actually almost managed to cut my fuckin’ tongue out!” He laughed and ruffled Violet’s ’locs. She did not appreciate that and slapped his hand away.Kaidan’s shoulders fell and his voice withered. “She what?”“I mean, I’m not angry or anything; I actually kind of like it. Wish I’d thought of it sooner.” Sanguine gave him a sly grin, then held his fingers in a V over his mouth and stuck his tongue out. It was long enough to be unsettling, split down the middle like a snake’s, and each side moved independently. He waggled his eyebrows at Kaidan, already knowing Starfall wouldn’t tolerate his nonsense. Kaidan had already forgotten the whole getting tattled on thing and was now about to faint. Starfall was powerful enough to maim a Daedric Prince. And of course the one she went after liked it. And oh, merciless gods, why was he looking at him like that! That limit she’d talked about where she wondered what would finally make him snap and quit was coming up faster than the ground. He made a strangled gasp and shook his head no, making Sanguine double over in loud, tearful laughter.Sanguine growled and showed lots of sharp teeth. “Oh, believe me, if she weren’t here protecting that pretty little everything of yours… Ahem. Anyway, you two being so precious almost made me forget the staff. Here you go.” The Sanguine Rose appeared, dropped into the Prince’s hand, and he pitched it into the ground in front of Violet. You have his gift. Now, kill him. ‘Shut. Up. Not. Now.’ She reached into her pocket, trying to buy time to try and figure just a hint of this shit out. “But… I thought I broke it. I woke up with this list—” “Oh, that. Nah, that was just part of the fun of getting you back here. You can toss all that. I really meant it when I said the staff is meant to last. You can’t destroy it, and you already bound it to your blood.” He waved the bit of paper away.And just like he said, that made it worse. The piece of paper burst into flames in her fingers and her fist started shaking.“This was all just a prank to you?! As soon as we woke up, we got roped into a fucking rebellion! A woman was dying in her arms!” Kaidan shouted.Sanguine's shining black eyes rolled up in his head. “One, just a prank? Just a prank?! The Daedric Lord of Debauchery does not deal in mere 'pranks'! This may have begun as a minor amusement, but it wasn't long before I realized you're a lot more interesting than you look. Dragonborn? Chosen of a sacred mission? Blood of Akatosh? Boring. Bad use of prophecy. Fire the scribes. Agent of Chaos and not knowing whether she’ll destroy everything you care about or make you happy beyond your wildest dreams? Yes! More! Commission another five volumes! And two, if it makes you feel any better, that woman in Markarth lived. Star did her little miracle, and you did your boring Dragonguard… thing by keeping her world from collapsing. You, my dear Kai, really need to slack the leash and quit overcompensating for your own past regrets.”The two mortals simply stared at him. Neither could figure whether it was better or worse that all this was coming from someone still so obviously and completely inebriated.“And I’m going to let you in on a few things. Let's be honest, here. I don't always think my decisions through. You’ve seen why. That thing with the rum and the crazy pears? I need to try more Redguard cocktails. Whoo, you all like the hard stuff! But the other thing…” He knelt down in front of Starfall, took her chin across his hand, and this was the second time now that a Daedra was about to make her heart stop. His voice turned dark and ominous. “You’re gonna go places, m’dear. You are beautiful, amazing, and terrifying. Alduin’s not going to know what happened before his ashes are raining down across both moons. Use that passion, that anger, that hate. And you will be unstoppable. You’re gonna to need to be.”And he gave her a quick wink before lightening up again. “…But that’s about enough for now! I think it's time for you to go. There’s no fun to be had keeping you here.”“Fffffun?!” She hated that she still wanted to tear him into tiny pieces and finish cutting his tongue out, except now she was both sober and aware it was an exceptionally bad idea. “Yes, that feeling that you won’t admit to. Like so.” And the Prince of Passion grabbed them up in another hug and kissed Kaidan (but not Violet) before tossing them through another portal. “Make your dear, old uncle Sanguine proud!”*It took them both a full minute to realize they had stumbled right back outside of Morvunskar. It was another several minutes before they could understand what just happened. Violet didn’t remember grabbing the staff, but there it was in her hand anyway.“Oh gods… too much.” Violet was at her limit. Too much had happened, and she wasn’t capable of processing any of it. All of her nerves were fried.“…Agreed.” was all Kaidan could get out, his voice brittle.After unsticking themselves from the collapsed archway, they went back to Tiku (who was obliviously munching grass and snowberries) and somehow made it all the way back to Kynesgrove before collapsing at the inn. Because of all the magic use and her injuries, she was out cold in seconds, and Kaidan only managed to get his boots and gauntlets off before flopping over beside her.
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Neither Violet nor Kaidan knew how long they were out, only that upon waking up, everything felt off as if they’d just had a collective nightmare and passed out again. At giving up on any of it being restful, Kaidan sat up to check if Starfall was alright, and couldn't figure out if the nine empty potion bottles next to the bed and on the floor meant that she was, or she wasn’t. He realized that in all the time they were together, he still had no idea what all of her medicine was or did. ‘Please don’t let those have all been at once…’“Starfall.” He mumbled.She didn’t answer.“Oi.” He gently nudged her arm and saw where that warlock had burned her. Her shoulders were covered with salve and her arms and neck were bruised. Her breathing was slightly labored. Even though she had her armor and shield, the fire was hot enough to melt through them. Then she overdid things in her rage and ignored her body until she could treat it back here. He decided to let her keep resting.The last thing Kaidan ever wanted to do again was see, hear, or deal with Daedra. And now he was in one’s favor, if not service. He’d shake Starfall silly if she weren’t right in the same mess (and she wasn’t already silly). It’s not like she knew. Even though he had warned her early on that they meddle in the affairs of mortals. Except maybe she wasn’t, and that was why she’d attracted his attention? Sanguine said that she was trying to make everything make sense, even if that required messing about with the very world around her. Suddenly knowing magic she previously didn’t know how to do. Bringing people back from the brink of death. Flying into violent, but intensely focused rages whenever she thought someone was keeping something from her. Sanguine’s ‘prophecy’. Trying to fight the gods. Actually managing to hurt one. Getting away with it. Had it been any other prince…And that depraved motherfucker snitched about his mark. Now he was going to have to tell her the whole truth before she tore into him next. Though he wasn’t sure how she’d do that. If anything, she seemed averse to doing any real damage to him. On purpose, anyway. He wasn’t about to start testing what he could get away with.While she slept, he went to go vent nervous energy and check out the two burial mounds with the horse (making damn sure not to get anywhere near Witchmist). The one over the mine was undisturbed and hadn’t seemed to hear her shouting at Morvunskar. The one south of the village was hastily reburied. That one could never come back. The people of Kynesgrove were a little more hospitable and agreed to give them some space.When he returned to her in the evening, Starfall was sitting up in bed, rolling yellow wisps of healing magic over her shoulders and trying to fix what that Altmer warlock had done to her hair. She’d managed to do a decent job of hiding the damage to her dreadlocks by changing them to a more practical style of a braided wreath in front and a bun in back. Looking closely, he could see her charred skin actually sloughing and regenerating, while the blood and dead tissue in the bruises broke up and dissolved.“I’m so sorry. I’d say you could leave if you wanted, but I doubt that hiding is an option when there’s a Daedric Lord peeking over your shoulder.” She said softly.“Divines know I’ve tried.” He sighed. “Now I’ve got two soul marks. And I’m pretty sure those two aren’t friends.”She sat quietly, studying him. She was kidding earlier about him being a daedra. She knew he wasn’t, despite… most things about him. And then there was that episode on the way to Rorikstead… “Mehrunes Dagon?”Kaidan took a deep breath and rubbed his face to get out of looking at her. “…Mm.”So he was a Daedra’s boy. “Can I know what happened? If you don’t want to tell me, that’s… fine.”He hunched over and tried to work up the courage, but after a few seconds he started shaking and hugging himself. “I… I will… soon. I can’t, yet. I swear I’m not trying to keep it from you.”“Okay.” It sort of wasn’t, as she’d already shared far too much of herself with him, but seeing him get that scared over it meant it wasn’t really worth pushing. “I want to stay here where it’s quiet for a day or two, instead of going back to Windhelm. Every time we go there, I get roped into something.”“Yeah,” he grumbled.She winced. “I don’t think we can pretend this one didn’t happen.” “Well, considering we still can’t remember much…”“Maybe you can’t.” She gestured to the mess of bottles. “You probably don’t want to hear it, but some of it was sort of funny. Mainly the parts where I desecrated a temple and we stole the goat. She really liked chewing on your cape. Not so much fun tricking Moira, and even sober, I don’t know how you didn’t spoil it. She’s the one that wanted all that shiny gold. She still has a bit of human left in her… like us. So Sam— ...Sanguine, showed me how to transmute. It’s ‘funny’ how absolutely dangerous that is. Probably why he allowed me to have it; to see what I’d do with it. And then there’s the fact that you started this by flirting with him back at the Bannered Mare and he knew you were faking it, so he turned it back on you. …Or at least I thought you digging that hole for yourself was funny… ‘til it wasn’t. You’re probably regretting even more of your life choices, now.”Violet watched Kaidan somehow manage to go even more pale and his eyes go dim, then dead. “Don’t worry, that’s not what gave you his mark. Or rather, he didn’t get far enough before I stopped him from trying to …‘teach you a lesson’. And he did want to show you what happens when you bait him. Which is why I tried to cut his tongue out. Maybe it’s better you don’t remember that part.”“I can’t believe you! You don’t even use a blade, so how…?!” He clutched at his hair and tried not to fall back into full blown panic. He realized he was breathing erratically and clutched at his chest.She held up her hand and made a flame appear in her palm, then rolled and brightened and flattened it until it was a thin, blinding white line. “Oh fuck, I stuck my hand in his mouth. Did you see his teeth? I could be missing a fucking hand…”“If anybody hurts you, they fucking pay. That’s the rule.” He smashed their thick accents together mocking her and it sounded awful. “ Bloody fuckin’ ‘ell . You’re going to get yourself killed . Or me by accident in one of your moods.”“I honestly don’t know about that, now.” She smirked. He saw the look in her eye. “Oh my fucking gods . Starfall, NO . The Daedric Princes are not at all as lenient as Sanguine. Nearly all of them would smash you like a bug without a thought for even thinking whatever you’ve got going on in there.”“You heard him.”“He is not the Prince of Prophecy. That’s Hermaeus Mora, and even then, it’s usually really, really bad if he’s telling you your fate. Sanguine’s the Prince of Getting Blind Fucking Drunk and Making Bad Decisions.”“Bad decisions that got me a patron, thrall, and my own plane of Oblivion. A nice looking one, too. No lava pools or souls of the damned floating around.”“Plane? Thrall? What are you…” He saw the rose staff leaning in the corner. “Oh no. That’s what it does?! Why in Oblivion would he—”“Remember when that girl thought you were a demiprince? That must have been what they were after like it’s some kind of godsdamned toy. …Literally.” She smirked and huffed through her nose. Maybe if Kaidan sprouted horns, completely let go of his temper, and added a few more spikes to his armor…He shuddered at the implications of that sort of ‘gift’ from the Prince of Debauchery, then realized that he’d given it to the one person who had no reason to ever use it. Bad decisions, indeed. “You have to get rid of it.”“Okay. And how do I do that? He said I can’t destroy it. And I’m not sure what it means for a Daedric artifact to be bound to me, but I feel like I shouldn’t try to dump it off on someone else. Not that I have any idea who I could trust with it.”He stared at it hoping something would come to him, but there was nothing. “I told you, you should have left it.”“It bound to me when I first held it back in the Bannered Mare. I’m not going to use it. I meant it when you first met me that I won’t be summoning any Daedra. You’ve seen why.” She gestured to her breast. “But until I find someplace secure, it’s going to have to stay with me.”“Fine, then. And speaking of gifts, you forgot this from when you killed that warlock.” He pulled the tiara from the top of his pack and handed it to her.She took it and turned it over in her fingers. “Silver, moonstones. …Makes my armor spells more efficient. Ugh. Where was this before that asshole messed up my hair? It’s going to take years for these to grow back.”“In the chest beside him.”“Oh.”“Here’s their pocket money.” He tossed another full purse into her lap, and the new ring. “And you sold your ring, so here’s another. And no, it doesn’t count if a bloody Daedra does the rites.”“At least now we know that they’ll take the form of mortals just to fuck with us.” A tiny chuckle caught in her throat and withered into a groan. “Mm. Because we really needed that level of paranoia in our lives on top of the war and the Thalmor.”“Not sure now if I have the energy to go back into that ice cave for that magic phial.” Violet rubbed her face.Kaidan frowned at her. “So you’re going to just keep that bottle of green slime in your pack? And didn’t you say he was dying?”She growled into her hands and lay back. “Shhhhit.”“We’ll do it later. Today, you focus on healing. Still, we’re a lot closer to Winterhold than we were. It’s a few days north of here if the weather doesn’t get worse over the week, which it will because we’re late in the season. And we know more of what to expect in a barrow.”*After letting Violet heal for a couple days, checking their inventories and spending a bit to refresh supplies, they mounted up and headed back northwest to what they learned was called Forsaken Cave. Most likely because of the draugr below making disturbing noises echo all around them.Violet stared at the embossed bronze double doors for a while before blocking her ears, gritting her teeth, taking a deep breath, and pulling them open with Kaidan’s help. The heavy doors protected the inside from the bitter cold outside, and same as before, the place was dimly lit by small candles and large braziers.“Only thing I can think of is that the draugr do this. They don’t let anyone else down here.” She snuffed out a candle and relit it by pointing at it.“Wonder why, though. They seem to just lie in their shelves and boxes until someone wakes them up. They don’t need light for that.” Kaidan said.They traversed winding hallways and spiral staircases deep into the earth. Since she had dulled her hearing, she used her Detect Life spell to find there was a patrolling draugr going up and down an adjacent hallway, meanwhile there was a chest right in front of them and a rune tile right at their feet.“Clever, you dried-out assholes.” She grumbled and looked for what the trap activated, and there were little holes in the sculpture above the chest. “Run over to the chest, get shot. Draugr hears it, runs around the corner, and finishes you off.”She stepped around the trap, summoned her bow, enchanted it with fire, then leaned around the corner and put a fire arrow into the draugr’s neck while its back was turned. She cackled quietly to herself as the draugr’s head burst into flames then fell off. The bit of effort was worth it; the chest had a small cache of gold and a scroll of ancient magic. She tried to offer the scroll to Kaidan, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with it.“Don’t even know what it does.” He crossed his arms.She rolled her eyes at him, then scanned it. “It makes it rain fire. Okay, yeah, you don’t want this.” “No, I don’t.”She folded it up in her pack. She didn't have any use for it, but maybe Wuunferth would give her a few septims for it. It didn’t take long before Kaidan started fidgeting from following behind Starfall’s little non-armored frame (she did have iron flesh, but that didn’t really count to him). She let him take the lead (sticking her tongue out at him behind his back), then watched as he got three steps ahead of her before a draugr swung at his head with a greatsword from around the corner and another far down the hall shot him in the arm. He just barely deflected the greatsword and used that draugr as a shield while Starfall shot the archer back.“Why didn’t you say they were there!?” He hissed, hoping it wasn’t loud enough to bring more.“Because you’re my brave hero who knows what he’s doing.” She said flatly.“Starfall, it’s been twenty fucking minutes since we got in here. Don’t start.”“Sorry. But you are trying to protect the poor, little, soft mage again.”He growled to himself, only to find her hugging his arm and giving him doe eyes. That almost made things worse. “Don’t make that face at me.”“Fine. We can split up if you like and make this go a little faster. You can go down that part of the maze; there’s three standing up in upright alcoves. Don’t forget to rob these bastards blind.” She patted his arm and took the arrow out. It had barely wedged into his bracer with how old and brittle the point was. It was probably only deadly from the risk of brownrot. He nodded reluctantly, then turned down a side path, going slowly so as not to get surprised again. Still, his boots and heavy armor clinking gave him away, so neither he nor the draugr were actually able to gain that advantage. Without Kaidan, Violet was actually much quieter and was able to dig around in urns and generally take whatever she liked without waking anyone. She’d forgotten herself and started thumbing through a well-preserved book she found on a table, when Kaidan came back up the hall and woke one of the monsters between them. He hacked it to death in annoyance. “Oi. I need you to come open a locked door I found.”Violet was jolted from her reading and followed him all the way back through the maze, into a little back room. “I think I should teach you how to pick locks.”He flexed his hands. “Can’t. My fingers aren’t any good for fiddly bits like locks. Got my fingers broken a long while back, when I was still sort of new to the trade. They healed alright and I learned how to fight despite it, but my handwriting is shite, and little careful things are more trouble than they’re worth.”“Oh. …Do they hurt when the weather’s bad? I treated that complaint a lot during the colder nights.”“A bit. Nothing terrible, though.”“Mm.” She bent up a few lockpicks before the door loudly creaked open, making several growling voices mutter behind them. “You can take care of those. I’ll take… there’s just a chest and some pots in here.”The converted gold would definitely get her some more picks though, plus some quality ingredients once she got back to Nurelion. And buff the new scratches out of Kaidan’s armor.She led them out of the cramped circular maze, and into the barrow proper with its high ceilings and crumbling walls. The dead here had yet to care about their presence, and Violet filled a little pocket in her apothecary pouch with preserved finger bones to grind down later.“Taking the treasure, I can understand. Now you’re just defiling the dead.” Kaidan watched her take apart a skeleton's hand with some bemusement.“These are good quality, though. The older the bones, the better because all the goo like marrow and tissue are gone. Fresh bones off your animal carcasses have to be stripped, dug out, and baked.”“The marrow’s good eating, though.”“Not human marrow.”Kaidan pulled a face. “Does magic and alchemy have you engaging in acts of cannibalism often? Because all these little things you mention off-handedly like knowing what hearts, blood, and marrow taste like are making me wonder if it’s not playing a part in your mental decline. You don’t die from poison or rot, but you’re not fine, either…”She rolled her eyes and kept walking. “You eat something once to see what it does, and suddenly you’re a cannibal. Yes, I am fine. Relatively speaking. The effects wear off in a few minutes. I have to process the ingredients for any lasting potency.”“I sort of want to know the worst thing you’ve ever eat—” Kaidan sucked through his teeth and quickly grabbed Starfall close to him.Just as she was about to ask him what he thought he was doing, she heard a small click, and a jet of flames shot up a few inches from her face. She stared at it through her aetheric shield as it ran for a few more seconds and shut itself off. “Oh.”He frowned at her and put her down beside it without a word. Except that as soon as she was back on the floor, she went over to one of the corpses on a nearby shelf, took its sword, and started to poke at the large tile in the floor until it spouted fire again.“We’re still in the middle of a draugr infested hall, you know.”“Okay, but is it a mechanism filled with oil, or is it magic?”“What difference does it make?!” He said, trying not to be too loud. “Let’s go!”She tried carefully sniffing the fire for clues. “If it’s oil, then it’s useless. If it’s magic, then we can take it apart and get a free soul gem. I need those.”“Is a soul gem really worth it to spend valuable time nearly getting cooked?”“You have a point. …Can we at least lure one of them into this and watch it burn?”“No. Quit being sadistic and let’s get a move on. We both hate these places, but here you are playing around.”“I’m not playing. We’re going to have to kill all the undead in here anyway, so it might as well be interesting and easy.”“I’d rather fast than interesting.” He shook his head and went on ahead on his own.Violet gave up and followed him, taking the boring way out and decapitating the draugr he woke up while he distracted them.A few more fire traps and dead undead later, and they were both relieved to find a small storage room to take a break in. Shelves were lined with pots, ratty linens, a lot of free silver, and several little glass bottles full of potions. They glowed and swirled in the brazier light as if they were freshly made.“This feels like the first bit of evidence that we’re in the right place. These vials look new, and pretty potent, at that. The ones you saved for me at Bleak Falls were so badly deteriorated, I couldn’t even tell what they were. It doesn’t look like anyone living has been here for a long time, too.”“You going to take them for study?” He picked a little red vial and shook it. There was an entire sky’s worth of starlight inside.She started putting them in a separate part of her pack. “Definitely. Maybe there’s something to this after all.”*Once they were rested enough, they passed through the doors and found there was still lots more to do. Winding tunnels and stairs led upward to a narrow catwalk overlooking the room with the high ceiling they’d just entered a few minutes prior. Kaidan decided again that faster was better, and simply held her hand and led her across while her eyes were shut. It led her to missing him knocking a draugr off the edge, and watching it fall and crack its head open on the stones below. She certainly heard something shout a curse and crunch below her, though, and clutched his hand tighter.“What was that?”“Nothing,” he said. “Almost across.”The thought did cross his mind to be mean to her over her thoughtless need to play with fire, plus that first ambush she’d led him into, but he’d learned his lesson about inappropriately timed pranks and her volatile reactions from the last time. He led her into a stairwell before telling her she could open her eyes. She still looked miserable and embarrassed about it; mumbling a thanks and collecting her wits by sitting on the stairs for a minute. Concentrating on it, the chanting was starting to break through her earplugs. It was still probably farther than she would have gotten without them, though. Shuffling boots walked around above and behind her, and she held up two fingers to Kaidan. The warrior nodded, then followed her into a circular room. The two undead noticed them immediately and charged through the middle of the room, setting off the trap. Just before Starfall and Kaidan could meet them, the entire room rumbled as the center of the floor shifted upward and spikes came down to crush the undead and impale the remains. Well, that problem certainly took care of itself.“Never seen that one before.” Kaidan frowned at the dead draugr dangling from the ceiling. One of the buckles on its armor was stuck. He didn’t care enough to try and pull it down to check for a few coins.Violet found herself hugging the outer wall of the room. “There sure are a lot of traps in this one.” “Just what did he send you in here to get again?”“It’s called ‘The White Phial’. It’s supposedly a bottle that can continuously refresh itself of whatever you put in it. An old alchemist’s tale. Literally. It doesn’t make any sense, but he swears it’s in here, buried with the creator. I guess something like that would be incredibly powerful, but definitely not worth all this trouble to protect it, especially if it’s already filled with something pointless like eons old hair growth serum. But this place is completely littered with all sorts of well-preserved potions. If I could get to a worktable, I could analyze them and see what those are all about, and hopefully learn something. This might actually have some truth to it.” She found a locked door, but she only had a few picks left, and didn’t want to waste it on what was probably another linen closet.“Nurelion will probably want to see them as well. …He’s not taking a cut of the treasure though, is he?”“Fuck no. He asked for the bottle and that’s all he’s getting.”He chuckled and went ahead, being less annoyed now about leading her across another catwalk, this one being pressed against the ceiling.Kaidan poked her. “This one’s actually pretty safe, though; it’s caged in iron bars. You can’t fall.”She was breathing slow and steady, still refusing to open her eyes. “It’s not really about falling…? I mean, it is. But I get this sickening pit in my stomach and the world turns sideways, and it’s the second worst feeling in the world. Then I lose my balance.”“Hmm. Alright, then.”Stepping off the catwalk, Violet didn’t really like what she opened her eyes to. Rows of big, ugly, dragon statues, and there was a lot of loud muttering and chanting throughout the room.“It’s getting bad. I think we’re almost there.” She rubbed her arms. “I don’t like this room, either. There’s a group in there in different spots. I’ll have to lure them out.”“Just tell me if it gets to be too much again, yeah?”“Okay.” She rubbed her face on her sleeve and went into the room. Shadows danced on every surface, and while she was looking at the brazier casting them on her left, an entire group of draugr rushed from behind the statues lining the room. They were shouting ancient curses at her and rolling ice and lightning magic over the rusty weapons in their hands. She countered with her own lightning, and Kaidan used his bow behind her and away from all the flying spells. Once the group was down to the final two, she slipped two crystals between her fingers and cast Soul Trap on them. She should have been doing it from the start, but the spell was incredibly draining, and not just to the target. The door at the end of the hall was shut tight, and she could always have a few minutes here once everything was dead. Kaidan took over for her and expertly pinned them to the wall like the ice wraiths a few days ago. She didn’t relish using Soul Trap either, like Kaidan seemed to think she did. It was honestly as close to necromancy as she could stand to get. Really, she only did it because buying gems pre-filled cost a fortune, and for good reason.Violet needed to sit after that and took one of the draugr’s alcoves by the door, though she was reluctant to do so because the war chant was starting to cut into her thoughts.“Do you know what the voices are saying now? Maybe it’s a clue to what spell is written on the wall.” Kaidan still thought it was incredibly unsettling that he couldn’t hear something supposedly so loud and powerful…“It’s not gibberish. They are saying something. But it doesn’t sound like a spell. It’s just… ‘kill, kill, kill’.”“Great. Well, don’t force it. We don’t need a repeat of Bleak Falls.”“Ugh.”
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Violet groaned as she didn’t want to get up; all the walking and fighting had taken its toll. Time to stall for a few minutes while she did a few preparations. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a plan to not die for the few minutes I need to read and interpret the wall?” Kaidan looked at the door that likely led to a giant open chamber like the one at Bleak Falls. It said ‘Curalmil’ in large Draconic runes. He supposed that making an impossible relic made him important enough to get his name on the door. Then he remembered that they didn’t have a key for this one. Were they going to be blocked and have to go back out and find it? Was a claw key even necessary for all of them? “Well, I learned at High Hrothgar that shouts can be dodged. So that’s a start. No idea if I’m fast enough. I’ll still have to lure it away from you until you wake up, so we’ll see, I suppose. I know you’re drawn towards it because of a spell or the pain, but what if you just stayed away from the wall?”“The draugr didn’t wake up until I woke him up, right?” He nodded. “Never mind that, then.” Violet sat perfectly still for a moment and took several deep breaths, then pulled several vials from her bag. She drank one after another, clutching her stomach trying to will it to settle. It took a minute before she could draw the sign for ebony, and for extra protection, summoned her spell shield. The blade of her ice spear was jagged in a spiral design. “Now if only I could summon something to block the noise.” She said. He held his hand out to her and helped her to her feet. “Come on, up you go. We’re already doing better than last time.” * On opening that final door, they didn’t find a Hall of Stories, but a simple hallway filled with swinging blades. Violet grumbled that she’d psyched herself up and wasted it, and now was going to be stuck with two kinds of awful noises now. She did the same as before, crawling under them and turning them off for Kaidan. They’d barely gotten into the main room before the lid of the sarcophagus slid open on its own and the doors slammed shut behind them. “Shit.” Violet’s shoulders dropped. As soon as the draugr sat up, Violet’s spear was wedged into his mouth and through the back of his skull, breaking his jaw and knocking his helmet off. “Fffuck youuu, Curallllmilll.” She stumbled slightly and leaned on Kaidan, her eyes starting to glow blue. She tried to shake it out. “Now he can’t shout. Go…” “Right. Get up to the wall, I’ll distract him.” He nudged her along and charged in. “Come on!” The ancient alchemist Curalmil snapped her spear in half and pulled it out of the back of his head as he climbed out. His voice resonated around the halls, but was slurred and almost unintelligible. “Nahlaas, zeymahhe! Qahnaar volaanne!” The alcoves all around the room came alive with groans and clouds of dust, and several other draugr emerged. All of them wore heavy armor of an elite guard and seemed very angry to have been woken from their millennia of slumber. Violet wished she could get sleep that good. They saw Kaidan first and rushed him, and right into barricades of ice lances exploding around him, Curalmil, and the sarcophagus. “Shit, shit, shit, shit…” She was now blocked from the wall by all the monsters surrounding Kaidan and Curalmil trying to get at them, and the chanting in her head was just screaming “Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!” over and over. She created another spear and launched it at one of the draugr, but only clipped it across the arm. Her vision was going blurry and the wall was getting impatient. She desperately wished Kaidan wasn’t so afraid of fire; fire didn’t need to be precise and it was exactly what these fuckers needed. Two of them had given up on trying to assist Curalmil and went for her instead. She also wished she could remember to check to see if the court wizards knew exorcism magic. But why would they? It was just a cushy job doing parlor tricks for lazy, old men. Violet rubbed her face and screamed into her sleeves to dampen the noise while the two charging draugr ran up to her. As they raised their sword and axe, she passed lightning through and between them, the bolts jumping back and forth until they both caught fire and burned to ashes. The chanting wasn’t satisfied, but that didn’t matter. She had to get to the wall before her brain leaked out of her nose and she turned into one of them. * Kaidan’s sword clashed with Curalmil’s and the force made them both stagger backward. Parrying and countering were easy enough, but the trick was to kill this bastard as quickly as possible. Starfall had made it a little easier on him by making the draugr eat her spear and taking her share of the fighting, but now he was blocked in and couldn’t maneuver. A particularly good counterattack knocked the ancient warrior back against his sarcophagus, and Kaidan swung his sword low to remove his legs. “ZUUN HAAL VIIK!”The pain in his hands that Starfall had asked him about earlier suddenly tore its way down his arms and gnarled his hands as if they’d just been crushed all over again. Yet another spell, something to do with either disabling him or just racking him with pain. Is that what she would get here? His sword hit the floor and he looked over to the draugr guard aiming his bow. It wasn’t that rusted steel garbage the others had, either. Ebony held up much better against the millennia. The Dragonguard inhaled sharply and quickly grabbed Curalmil up into a bear hug, using him as a shield just as the arrow loosed. It passed through Curalmil’s collarbone, and nearly into Kaidan’s forehead. With all the force he could without his hands, he threw him over the ice spears and into his guard to knock them both down, then ducked behind the sarcophagus. ‘Damn it! Starfall, hurry up!’ He flexed his hands, fighting down the pain to get them working again. Starfall probably had something for this in her pack, but she was on the other side of the room. “Fucking work!” * Violet looked over quickly at the two shouts that came from Kaidan’s direction. One of the draugr guards used a thu'um. The other was Kaidan shouting in pain, but he was still standing, so that was something. Curalmil shouldn’t have been able to, but those guards had similar armor to the one in Bleak Falls; ornate but tarnished heavy metal. Maybe elite guards and their lords were taught some spells to protect themselves and each other. More than one of them being able to shout? Everything they’d discussed on the other side of the door was just completely out of the window. The architecture in this barrow was odd. The memorial wall was at the top of a set of stairs and carved out underneath was a long, dark hallway. The potion that Nurelion had given her probably was meant for that room, but she didn’t have any time now to test it. Her head was killing her, and she was torn between getting to the top of the stairs or going back to help Kaidan. ‘Two minutes! Hold on!’ She climbed the stairs as fast as she could, trying not to sway too far off to the side and fall off, but hugging the wall itself completely smothered her own mind. The narrow, curved platform was half blocked by a very large chest and made the bottom part of the wall hard to read. If it mattered to read it. The voices were very clear now and every one of them seemed to be chiding her on coming up to make the noise stop instead of killing all those fuckers down below. The words made sense now as they wove around her like the soul of a dragon. “NONVUL BRON DAHMAAN DAAR ROT DO FIN FODIIZ BORMAH WAH KRII KO
MOROKEI KEIN LOS WAH ZIN GEINMAAR WAH DIR
KO MOROKEI KEIN LOS WAH ZIN PAH DO KEIZAAL!” KILL. KRII.She knew this word already from her studies in Draconic, but the depths of what it meant for dragons, and how much hate and want and had to be behind it made her stomach turn. And she sure as shit was not about to die for the honor of Skyrim. And was it really a war if it was just a handful of people versus what could be thousands? More like a series of pyrrhic battles. She was good at those.
They would not heed your words before, but now your word is absolute. Tell them to lay down and die.
She didn’t think it’d been that long that she was hearing… it. But she had used her Voice more in the past few days than she had over the last month. And whether they were true need was probably debatable, as well… *All three of the warriors turned when Starfall’s voice echoed around the great hall. The hanging braziers and ceiling shook their dust loose on top of them. Kaidan had to clap his palms over his ears to dampen the noise. “DOVAHKIIN!” Curalmil’s guard growled. They immediately turned away from Kaidan and looked up the stairs. The ancient alchemist was still prone from Kaidan having dismembered him, but the guard dropped him and aimed his bow towards the platform. ‘Oh, fuck.’ He knew Starfall could take an arrow or three, but it’d be stupid to take that kind of chance. Kaidan grabbed his sword and clutched it as tight as he could muster; his hands shook, but the pain was receding. He climbed on top of the sarcophagus to jump clear of Starfall’s trap, and chased after the guard with an underhand swing just as he released an arrow. The draugr’s bow arm came clean off and he clutched at his shoulder. Kaidan took another swing behind his knees to drop him to the ground, and another swing removed the head. “Starfall?!” He called up to her. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She sighed and tossed the bloody, broken arrow over her shoulder. Her robe had a hole in the bicep. “Let’s just finish this up and get out of here. At least we can both walk out of here, this time.” He took the stairs two at a time to get to her. “What happened? I wasn’t really paying attention because of the shout those bastards used on me. What did you see?” “More of the same. Death everywhere. For being immortal, dragons sure do like coming up with new ways to play around with it. Am I even a fucking healer, anymore? Able to make everyone just drop dead by only a word.” She sat on the chest and rolled her sleeve up, waiting for her energy to stabilize so she could heal herself. She already had the power to kill things by shouting at them. Maybe this was just more direct without the ice and force? “So… hmm… ‘krii’? You said it was chanting the word ‘kill’ over and over.” “Mm-hmm. Want to see what it does? Is Curalmil dead over there? I heard you shout in pain just before the wall took over my thoughts. Are you okay?” Kaidan suddenly remembered he had neglected to finish him off in order to get to Starfall. “He would be if he still had blood to lose. And I’ll be alright. His guard shouted and it was like my hands stopped working. I think I need some of that salve you used on your shoulders when we get back.”The draugr was clawing at the ground and crawling towards them at a snail’s pace, still bleeding, but a slow trickle of black ooze instead of bright blood. He gurgled and wheezed something unintelligible at them. “Uh… cover your ears. I’m not entirely sure if just hearing it does it, or if it’s like the others and has a cone of effect in front of me.” Kaidan frowned. “Maybe just keep a lid on that one like the one that turns you into a ghost.” “Well, I’ll have to test it sooner or later.” Kaidan stood a bit behind her with his hands over his ears and watched her take a deep breath. “KRII!”Violet summoned as much will as she could towards it, though she didn’t feel much of anything towards the already dying creature.Curalmil screamed as everything from his flesh to his armor deteriorated, as if all the millennia of staving off his mortality caught up to him at once. The black armor rusted and crumbled to dust. His already leathery white skin rotted into grey paper, then ashes. The light in his eyes went out within seconds. His voice withered into nothingness. She poked Kaidan’s hand to let him know the worst was over. “Not even the dragons have used that one, though they’ll probably consider it if I become too much of a problem for them.” “By the Nine…” Kaidan was still staring at the dusty skeleton in the middle of the floor. It wasn’t as brutal as turning someone into an ice statue and then making it explode, but this was close. Though he also hadn’t seen it used on a living person... yet. “Hey, you chopped his legs off and left him to die. And honestly, it probably wouldn’t work on anything other than other mortals. Dragons don’t even understand what true death is, since they can just come back, and then become a part of me.” “I… Hm. Fair, I suppose.” He sighed and pointed to the chest. “Want to see what you’re sitting on?” She got up and leaned against the now silent wall, while he pulled out a large cache of gold, gems, and some deteriorated weapons and armor. If he’d had somewhere to display it, he would have kept the ornate, Merethic, elven glass greatsword, but it would’ve been too much trouble to haul it and all of his other weapons around as well. “Well, we’re not poor anymore. That’s something.” Violet said. “Until you send most of it to Lydia… Oh. I can do that, then.” He reached back in and took the sword, making Starfall wonder what he was talking about. “I like this but didn’t want to drag it all over the place with no intention of using it. She can have the blacksmith shine it up a bit and put it on display in the house like a trophy.” “Ugh. We need to figure out a way to send her back to Balgruuf without seeming ungrateful.” He turned an emerald the size of his thumbnail over in his fingers, then claimed it since she got the last several treasures. “But you are being ungrateful. And you need her to keep the house from falling apart from us not being there most of the time.” They both rested and healed for another few moments before they finally went down to check the secret room under the wall. A stone bowl carved with braided designs sat on a pedestal in the center of a ruined room.“This must be for the solution that Nurelion gave me.” She brought out the bottle, swirled it, and poured it out. “Wow, it didn’t even break in all that chaos. Which is good, because it would have absolutely ruined everything in my bag.” “What even is it?” Kaidan asked, not wanting to actually get too close to the ancient bowl of glittering sludge. “Alkahest. The universal solvent. Except it’s useless because anything you try to mix with it becomes inert sludge. Shouldn’t be possible to make this either, but he did say he’s been trying for this his entire life, and he looks like he’s at least three hundred years old. So hey, it kept him busy.”The green liquid filled the bowl absolutely perfectly, and without any sort of cue that she and Nurelion had gotten everything correct, caused another door to open up in front of them. It all made her wonder if the amount was planned or just a coincidence. She couldn’t even test the bowl’s lining or see if it was enchanted because coming in contact with the alkahest would melt her hand, bones and all. Violet’s eyebrows went up upon seeing a white, leaded crystal phial sitting right there on a pedestal in the back of the room. “Huh. It is real. And we just killed the creator, or at least the owner. Oops.” Violet gave a short, broken laugh. “Not like he would have told us anything about it, anyway.” “True.” She shrugged and went inside. It was a small alchemist’s workshop in immaculate condition. None of anything inside made sense. Rare, potent, and fresh ingredients lay on shelves, in bowls, on the worktable, and strewn around the room. There was fresh, green, living ivy making its way over the bookshelves and along the walls. More potions of various colors and sizes sat alongside the ingredients.“Didn’t you say that draugr don’t leave the barrows?” Her eyes were drawn all over the room, unable to fix on any single thing. “They don’t. They can’t. Pretty sure it’s part of whatever their curse is. I’ve tried to lead one or two out a few times, the sun hit them, and they ran back in.” Kaidan followed her, picking up some flowers. He recognized the blue mountain wildflowers easily enough; they were still soft, fragrant, and colorful like they’d just been picked. “Then where did all this come from? Did someone bring him ingredients to work with? Why would they need any of this? They’re all undead.” Violet had finally unstuck herself and was now filling her pack. Everything in this room was worth a fortune, not counting the white phial itself. Some of it was even part of her medicine. There were two more apothecary satchels; she tied one to her pack and made Kaidan carry the other. “I guess I have to carry the chaurus eggs.” He grimaced at the bowl of slime balls. “Please and thank you.” Once she was done looting the room, she went up to the pedestal holding the fabled phial.“Damn, well I was wrong. It actually exists. Kind of plain for what it is, though, not even any gild— Aww, fuck!” He ran up to her. “What? What’s wrong?” “It’s broken! We did all that and the damn thing is cracked right on the bottom so it can’t hold anything!” She snatched it up and turned it over so he could see. He lightly smacked her on the back of the head. “Bloody… It’s a good thing that the pedestal wasn’t trapped like the rest of this place! And I’m guessing that your reaction means that you can’t repair it.”“Oh god, that old bastard’s gonna blame me for this. Harrumph! Grumble! You broke it, you daft little cow! What am I supposed to do with a broken bottle?! My life’s work! Blah blah blah!” She was well into his future rant when Kaidan shushed her.“Alright, alright, don’t panic. Not that you should care what he thinks, anyway. He knows you to be a great alchemist or else he wouldn’t have asked you to come out here. Tell him you wouldn’t have any reason to break the phial and ask him if he knows how to fix it. I’d hate to have to get even more involved in this, though. But I guess something that’s several thousand years old and physically impossible probably needs more than just a bit of glue.” “And if it does, it’s going right to the bottom of the work pile. I did what he asked. He’s getting his precious bottle. I already told him it wasn’t likely to work in the first place because of the logistics of having an endless font. He’ll get to see his life’s work before he dies.” “At first, I thought you had a soft spot for him since you went through all this. But I guess that soft spot has a limit and it’s called effort.” Kaidan patted her on the shoulder before taking a quick look out around the main chamber to make sure they didn’t miss anything out there. If the draugr had anything, it was now ashes. Good job, Starfall. *They made their way back out through a series of tunnels in the ice, emerging from the cave to see a cloudy sunset. Tiku had been busy while they were gone; there wasn’t any foliage left in the area, and a couple of dead wolves lay off to the side with their ribs and skulls crushed in.“Good pony.” Violet hugged around the giant horse’s muzzle and gave him a bit of dried apple, then checked him for injuries. A few scratches and a bite, but nothing horrible.“Even the horse is willing to fight.” Kaidan said as he moved their packs onto the saddle. “Aren’t you glad we didn’t sell him?” She grinned slightly. He rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. You can keep him.”“You like him.”Kaidan said nothing as he helped her up into the front of the saddle, then sat behind her. He could tell she was already starting to run out of energy. And as predicted, she dozed off on him on the way back to Windhelm. They rode up to the stables in the middle of the night, paid a little extra to stay until morning, and were able to make their way inside the city walls first thing in the morning. “Meet up with you in the evening? I’ve got some work to do, and I know you do too.” Kaidan asked. “Mm. Remind me to buy you one of those awful ales, tonight. And I need the extra ingredients.” Violet held her hand out for the other satchel he was carrying. He draped the heavy pack over her arm. “Alright. Here you go.” “I’m hoping that after he’s done staring at a broken bottle, I can at least see what the catalytic lining is made of and have a little side project at the college.” “Good luck with that.” Kaidan waved her off and went straight to hunting for breakfast. Violet decided to treat herself at the market since it was right in the square with the White Phial (at least the name would make sense now) and filled up on little apple tarts, which only improved her mood as long as she stayed outside of the alchemy shop. As soon as she went inside, the harsh coughing and swearing brought her right back to her unhappy place.“Master Nurelion, please! You’re only going to aggravate—” Quintus ducked a flying cup as he came downstairs. “Shut up! You know damn well she’s not coming back! Probably halfway back to Hammerfell with it!” Nurelion shouted down the stairs. “Wow, I can only imagine the meltdown if I’d actually decided to take my sweet time. I was due at Winterhold months ago, and he can’t wait a couple days.” Violet scoffed. “Oh, thank the Eight, you’re back! What happened?! Did you find it? He’s been like this ever since you left, and I’m wondering if it’s because of his health… it’s getting worse.” Quintus rushed the rest of the way down the stairs and gestured to the chair by the door.Instead of sitting, she set her pack on the chair and fished out the Phial nestled in her spare clothing. As she unwrapped it, she watched his eyes grow wide with amazement and joy, until she turned it upside down, and it all fell apart.“Oh. Oh no…” He whispered. “What happened?”“Several thousand years of neglect. This was made during the Merethic era or even earlier, and parts of the place were caved in. He’s damn lucky it’s only a crack and not leaded glass crumbs.” She gingerly set the Phial on the counter so as not to make the crack worse. “I don’t know how it was made exactly, just the theoretical because every master alchemist has heard tales, we just dismiss them. And now I know it’s real, and it’s sitting right here, but there’s nothing I can do about it because, how would I? I doubt he’s going to let it back out of his sight, even if I could. And really? This was just a quick side project because it was on the way up to Winterhold. I won’t be coming back here for a very long time. …I hope, anyway.” Quintus rubbed his forehead and paced back and forth for a minute, racking his brain. “Damn. Well, he at least deserves to see it. Maybe he’ll have some insight.” She nodded at him, then carefully made her way up the stairs. She wasn’t good at dodging. “Master Nurelion. I didn’t run off with it. It just took a while because it turned out that Curalmil, the creator, wasn’t quite dead and didn’t want to part with it.”“What?” Nurelion turned away from the fire, his eyes lighting up from what must have been a daze. “You have it?!” “Yes. But please. I need you to temper your expectations. Time got to it.” The White Phial was passed from one master alchemist to another. His reaction was about the same as Quintus’s, though the heartbreak went deeper and turned into fury.“This... it matches every description of the Phial that I've found in lore. But if it can't hold liquid, there's no way of knowing. Did you do this? What did you do?! This is what I get for not retrieving it myself!” He shakily turned it over and around as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.She started fidgeting her hands. “I didn’t do anything. Like I told Quintus, it’s been sitting in a crumbling ruin for several thousand years. It may be miraculous (in theory, anyway), but it’s not invincible. I’m sorry. Does any of your research have clues on what it’s made of so it can be fixed?”Fatigue seemed to hit him and instantly drained him of all of his hope. “I… It doesn’t matter. You did what I asked you to, and that’s the end of it. Here. Just… show yourself out.”He handed her five septims from his shirt pocket and hunched over the little white bottle with shaking hands. Violet desperately hated that she knew why it suddenly didn’t matter, and the tightening pain in her own chest. As grouchy and miserable as he was, he didn’t deserve that for hundreds of years of work. She turned away from the room and went back downstairs where Quintus was looking just as grim. He approached her quietly. “It is what it is. But thank you for what you’ve done. I know how difficult he gets.” Violet shrugged, but then had her own little moment of surprise as he took her hands and put a sizable purse of money into them. “And you’re always welcome here. If you need to work, go ahead. I need to see that he’s comfortable.”She took up his previous offer to sit; all the tarts and heartbreak were upsetting her stomach. Instead she brought out her book and got to work on all the other solutions she took from the ruin to distract herself.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Kaidan decided that while they were still in the city, he wanted to be rid of the heavy load he’d amassed (and Starfall’s little arse was useless for carrying anything more than books and bottles) before anything else, so he changed into normal clothing and decided to play trader for the rest of the day. A lot of moving things around, chatting with the blacksmiths, and a trip to Sadri’s Used (and definitely procured legally) Wares, he had enough to box up the glass greatsword plus a few other items and hire a courier. Just to make it easier, he also sent the amount that Starfall had agreed to give Lydia and a small progress report. He’d just get Starfall’s share of all this from her later. Since Sadri was right next to the New Gnisis Cornerclub, he decided to stop in. The damage Starfall had done was still there, and possibly looked a little worse. Ulfric sure wasn’t going to use any funds to fix it, and the residents of the slum probably didn’t have enough between them to do repairs. Hopefully the bartender wouldn’t remember them and demand payment… He went inside to gather news and gossip, only to learn that one, the civil war situation was getting worse and Imperial soldiers were seen in the region (not that they had any intention of telling Ulfric), and two, that damnable captain going back and forth between Solstheim was back and ranting about all the trouble going on over there, and thus were giving the Windhelm locals a hard time. “As if that’s got anything to do with us, like we’re all in on it or something. S’wit.” Ambarys grumbled while pouring him an ale. “I mean, it’s been so long since the Red Year that everything is probably different back home, and he thinks we have any idea what’s going on on that isolated island halfway there?” “What was he saying?” Kaidan asked, throwing in a tip for information. That was where those cultists came from… “Some of it was whining about the East Empire Company, but something about Raven Rock going to Oblivion because half the people have lost their minds.” He threw his hands up. “Is he still down by the docks?” “Bah. Yeah. Regular trips hauling goods to Raven Rock, and somehow it costs me forty septims for a good bottle of sujamma. One bottle! I mean, I understand needing to make a profit, but for Azura’s sake! What is going on over there? Is the ash going to people’s heads?” “Anything you can tell me about Solstheim?” “Nah. Never been there. Just know it was just slightly cheaper to get leftover goods from there instead of from Morrowind. Might as well just get it directly now.” The bartender sighed. Kaidan stayed a while longer for the idle gossip before making his way to the east gate and down to the docks. Maybe the captain knew something about those cultists. * The Northern Maiden was moored on the far end of the Windhelm docks, with its tiny crew beginning to bring barrels aboard. They were all Nords, which stood out as everyone else there besides Kaidan was an Argonian. He ignored everyone’s suspicious stares and approached a man making notes in a ledger. “Are you the captain?” He asked. “Aye, Outlander. Captain Gjalund. What do you want?” He regarded him warily. “I’m asking about some passengers you brought here a few weeks ago. Maybe written in your logbook there. An elven man and woman in brown robes, maybe scary masks.” He thought for a moment, then clutched the ledger hard enough the pages shook. “Eugh. What about them?” “You brought them from Solstheim. Do you know where they came from exactly? Did you catch any of their conversations?” The jitters got worse. “That’s… That’s the thing. I don’t know. I don’t know anything. Did they even pay? They aren’t in my logbook. Two people in ridiculous outfits and horrible masks just boarded the ship without asking and the next thing any of us know, we’re right here in Windhelm. Me and my crew, whole days gone out of our memories, just like that. …’s not right…” Starfall said that the cultists managed to charm the village, and everyone woke up still thinking it was the same day. Shit. “Those two managed to find my companion all the way at Ivarstead and tried to kill her. I’m trying to figure out who they were and why they’d go on such a long trip just for one person.” “Oh… oh gods… Look, you’ve gotta believe me. Ask Lygrleid and Sogrlaf. We had no idea who they were or what they were meaning to do. And between that and the other weird goings on at Raven Rock, I think we’re good and done with Solstheim.” Gjalund ran his hand down the side of his face and sighed his relief at having made the decision. “…Yeah. Can’t go back there.” “It’s about time you came to your senses, cap’n.” Sogrlaf grumbled as he hefted a crate onto the ship. “Fuckin’ would’ve been us, brain dead, slavin’ away next on the next trip, I swear.” “Wait, what?” Kaidan called the crewman over. “What’s going on over there?” “We dock over in Raven Rock, and at the edge of town is a big shrine to some old god, but not one of the Dark Elves’. The Nords there call themselves Skaal and got different gods than us, so it’s probably theirs. Past few times we’ve been over there, there’ve been both humans and elves over there, chanting nonsense, chiseling it, building over it, working on it day and night. Except nobody knows what they’re doing! Asked the Councilor who oversees our shipments about it, and he said he can’t stop them. Like they’re in a spell, or something. He’s part of one of those powerful Dark Elf magic houses, so you know it’s scary stuff if they can’t figure it out. More and more people, goin’ dead in the eyes and cursed to work ‘til they’re either exhausted or dead.” He shuddered. This was worse than he had imagined and who knew if Starfall would actually want to have anything to do with it. She was so close to Winterhold now and would probably strangle him if he even suggested another detour. But they said they weren’t going back, so it’s not like any more cultists would be able to come over, right? “There aren’t any other ships that go from Solstheim to Skyrim, are there?” “Don’t think so, no. We’re contractors under the East Empire Company, so they’re going to have to find someone else to do it.” The captain said. “Bastards were starting to cut us out, anyway.” “Holding you to that.” Kaidan warned him. * After Violet had gone through all of the potions she took from the barrow and updated her notes, she gave them to Quintus for his own studies. Then she refreshed her own supplies and made a few extra resistance potions since Kaidan had requested them. The whole thing took the entire day and emptied her head of everything else she was supposed to do. It was almost dark by the time she went back to Candlehearth and Kaidan hadn’t come back yet, so she got a room and tried to process all of the information she’d amassed over the past week. A horrible, if not incredibly convenient, spell that made the victim shrivel up and die. Ancient secrets of alchemy, including a few recipes she’d never seen before. That made the trip worthwhile. The gods were watching. Now which ones? Kaidan had been in a Daedric Prince’s favor at one point and either realized it was a mistake, or he’d done something to lose it. It explained some things, but not all. But he hadn’t been struck down, so that was something. And Mehrunes Dagon, of all of them. That definitely should have gotten him killed; you don’t just walk away from the higher Princes. Not that it couldn’t be much worse. He could have been a vampire or something. Though in most instances, he wasn’t especially devoted to the Divines, either. He said that he would tell her the whole story, so she would just have to be patient, as much as it itched.The noise murmuring around the inn began to work its way past Violet’s earplugs until she was tempted to ask Kaidan when he returned if the place in the slums was quieter. She’d hidden in her room and considered packing everything up when he knocked on her door. “Oi. Done for the day?” “As much as I can stand.” She yawned. “Come on.” He went in and found her lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling with an open book face down over her belly. “Are you alright?” “As I can be, anyway.” “What happened at the apothecary’s?” He took a seat next to the bed. “I showed him the bottle. There’s no way to see if it works, and he doesn’t have enough time left to find a way to repair it.” “Oh. Sorry. I’ll hold off on the other bad news, then.” He cleared his throat. She thought about taking him up on the offer, letting the air sit quiet for a few minutes. “Might as well do it now. Having breakdowns on Tiku is damn uncomfortable.” “You’re telling me…” He muttered under his breath and quickly moved on. “I went down to the docks and found the ship that brought those two cultists here. They charmed the crew into bringing them here just like they charmed the village. The crew doesn’t remember anything for the days it took to bring them here, either.” Oh. That. She sighed, “So, what? It’s a dead end until we actually go all the way out there?” “Something like that. The crew was so shaken up that the captain said he flat out wasn’t going to go back to Solstheim at all. So, there shouldn’t be any more cultists after you. …But there’s something else, and I think it’s related.” “I don’t like the way you said that.” She frowned. “One of the crewmen said that every time they went back to Raven Rock, a shrine on the edge of town kept gathering more and more people, who were under some kind of curse or spell to do something to it. Like they’re charmed and forced to work themselves to death.” Violet closed her eyes and exhaled a curse. “That is absolutely terrifying, but all that is at the bottom of the work pile with the scary mask and the murder cult, so too bad. You can send a letter to Delphine if you like, but we’re still going to Winterhold.” Just as predicted. “Just thought you’d like to know.” “Well… thanks for looking into it for me, I guess.” She reached up and lazily patted his arm. “Since we're leaving tomorrow, did you get everything done that you needed to? I sent a box of supplies, treasure, and a few notes to Lydia and paid her four hundred, so I wouldn’t have to come find you for your share.” “To be honest, I got all wrapped up in studying all the potions I got from the cave. Techniques nobody’s used in centuries. How to draw out some of the poisonous effects of potions so they don’t conflict. I made safer versions of some of my more dangerous formulae for you, and started work on something that doesn’t want to come back up every time I drink it.” She slid a silvery-green bottle towards him. “Interesting. …Don’t suppose they taste better so you'll stop gagging every time?” He shuddered.“A little? There’s a few more in my bag.” He set it on the nightstand for later. “I’ll take it. Did you go see Wuunferth?” Violet smacked her forehead. “Damn.” “First thing in the morning before we leave, then.” “Thank you.” She said, grabbing her journal and writing it down. “I also forgot about your hands. Is there any pain still?” Kaidan looked down and flexed them a few times. “They’re alright. I just need to not get into any fist fights for a few days.” “Since you’re here and you’ve finally got your armor off, bring me my bag.” She pointed to it across the room on the dresser. He fetched it for her while she sat up and bookmarked her other book, setting it on the nightstand. She had him sit on the edge of the bed facing her. “You know how to tape your hands, right?” “Yeah. Just don’t now that I’m now a respectable knight and not a hired thug who gets into brawls and breaks people’s arms for money.” He grinned. She scoffed at his idea of respectable. “We started this whole thing off in prison and everyone since seems to want to either kill or arrest us.” He tried not to flinch his hands away while she turned them over and examined them. She wasn’t particularly rough, just… “Only the bad ones. You are a Thane, you know.” Her voice went flat. “Kaidan. We can’t go back to Markarth and we were only there for ten minutes.” “Like I said. Only the bad ones.” After testing his hands to make sure he wasn’t hiding how bad it was, she wrapped them in healing light until his wrists and forearms glowed. “What did you do, reach under a moving cart?” “No.” He said simply. She shook her head and pulled out some of the salve she’d used on her shoulders. It smelled spicy and alcoholic, and when she rubbed it in, his entire hand warmed up and felt like it was made of jelly. “Is it supposed to do that?” He tried clenching his hands a few times and found he couldn’t. She started working on the other one. “Yes, and it’ll go away in a few hours with your hands feeling a little stronger than they did before. For a little while, anyway. I can’t do much about old injuries.” “Guess I’m not doing anything with the rest of my evening.” He coughed. “You could stay still for a while and rest like a normal mortal.” She stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed. “And you are the perfect person to give this advice.” “As your healer, I order you to both rest and shut up.” Violet flopped back over and shooed him away. “All done. Just don’t stick your hands in a wheat mill anymore.” “As long as you don’t stick yours in a Daedra’s mouth.” “Sure. Next time we can all watch what happens when you solicit monstrous gods without anyone to bail you out. I hear Molag Bal is always down for that kind of shit.” She grabbed her book and went back to it. He winced, but instead of leaving, he lay down beside her. “Guess I should thank you for saving me again, then.” She only glanced down at him for a moment before returning to her book. “Honestly, don’t even know the tally for life debt anymore. Not that I was keeping track in the first place.” “Me either, to own the truth.” He shrugged, then tried her suggestion, closing his eyes. “What are you reading?” “A book I got from upstairs. It’s… something. Sort of wondering how it got published. Here…” Violet read the book explaining the differences between Alduin and Akatosh, mostly in oversimplified and badly misspelled Nordic. She even supplied a very bad Nordic accent, and soon Kaidan was clutching his stomach and gasping with laughter. She coughed and wiped the tears from her eyes. “This is what passes for literature in Skyrim? Godsdamn.” “This isn’t exactly making my case that Nords don’t have snow between their ears.” He groaned. “Who even thought that this should be published, anyway?” “I don’t know. Maybe this is just one of those sorts of books that was badly translated.” He said. “That has to be it. I can’t find any good reason for this.” She found a slightly better book and kept reading to him until her voice started to weaken. When she put the book down to get some water, she realized that Kaidan had drifted off to sleep beside her. ‘I meant in your own bed.’ She considered sending him back to his own room (‘or did he not bother...?’) or at least climbing over him for the water, but indecision and tiredness won. There was still a din throughout the building, but it was too late to do anything about it now. Maybe it would cancel out the buzzing in her head. She gave up and lay back down, concentrating on the slow rhythm of his breathing until she fell asleep as well. * First thing that morning after they’d cleaned up and packed their things, Violet and Kaidan went to see Wuunferth in the hopes that he was even up around dawn. He wasn’t, and they both had slight grins on their faces for the chance to wake him up. As predicted, it set him in a horrible mood (not that it wasn’t already a given anyway, or that they cared), but Violet was able to trade the powerful and dangerous scroll for an unused tome about wards against the undead, and even a little profit. It probably wasn’t enough against the likes of a draugr lord, but it would do for the odd skeleton. It was a start. She sat in front of Kaidan on the journey north, reading passages to him. “It turns out that restorative light can be concentrated into fire and burns undead because there’s nothing to restore. The magicka has nowhere to go and burns up.” She wanted to make notes, but Tiku’s shuffling through the snow was too bumpy. “If that’s so, why does it burn us like a cattle brand?” Kaidan looked over her shoulder for the answer in her book. “We’re not undead.” “I’ve got to remove the dead, rotting, and scarred flesh to build new flesh. But that dead flesh is covering new, raw flesh that gets exposed to open air and pure energy before the bond. And then comes the healing itch from the body discovering new flesh that wasn’t there before and integrating it back to your whole.” “Stop saying flesh. Ugh.” “You don’t strike me as the squeamish type.” She smirked. “I’m not, it’s just a gross word. Like that Dunmer word for people they don’t like.” She didn’t know much of the Dunmeri language and shook her head. “ N’wah .” Kaidan said. He’d had that leveled at him a few times… “Oh, that. In Yoku, one word for that is keeti .” He grinned. “The Khajiit must not like that one.” “First of all, you of all people don’t get to make fun of my accent. Not kitty. Kay-ee-ee-tee-eye. It’s a tiny, invisible sand flea. They get up in your everything if you’re out in the desert without protection.” “Eugh, fleas. Now I definitely know the Khajiit hate it.” “Well, you’re not wrong. Anyway, tell me if anything is off, I’m going to study this.” They rode in relative silence for the rest of the day, and found themselves right back at the Forsaken Cave when the day’s wear and tear hit them. Tiku was allowed to sleep inside the mouth of the cave, and Violet and Kaidan went into the antechamber. It was still as silent and empty as they left it a few days ago. Violet checked to see if there was anything left inside and there wasn’t, but they took turns keeping watch anyway, and kept a brazier full of embers that they took from inside. The icy cave wasn’t the best sleep, but it would have to do versus being caught outside on the trail. They moved on at first light and went north on the barely visible trail. As they went, there was less and less for Violet to look at other than mountains and snow. The Rift in the south at least had plenty of trees and wildlife. Kaidan told her that animals were there, just camouflaged, and she noted that it must’ve been like the desert, which was full of hidden life. Sure enough, small flames of rabbits, foxes, birds, and goats flitted around them warily, some underground, some tunneling through the snow, and some up in the mountains. Sometime in the afternoon, they came up to a fort on the side of the road that was too quiet. When Violet went to check who was occupying it and hopefully stop for a rest, a few skeletons charged down the walls and fired a volley of arrows at them. An arrow hit Tiku in the shoulder, panicking him and nearly throwing Kaidan off. Violet charged up after the undead, both angry and itching to test the new spell she’d just been reading about. One of the skeletons ran back to get some space and fired an arrow into her thigh to slow her down. Since she’d put her Ironskin up, the sting didn’t slow her down and only served as a catalyst. She summoned a large flame of restorative light, but shaped it into a curved blade and swiped in the direction of the two monsters. Without any kind of practice, the exact magnitude wasn’t apparent, so she simply used what would be sufficient healing light to heal a moderate injury, thinking harming an undead would be the reverse. * Kaidan immediately dismounted and tried to calm the horse. He quickly suggested that he shoot the snipers back so she could heal it, but Starfall had already run off with a head full of murder. He had just managed to calm it into lying down out of the way when a blinding flash and small explosion went off, spooking the poor thing all over again. He wasn’t even facing it, but pain seared his eyes for a few seconds and had him seeing stars. “Motherfucker!” Starfall screeched above and behind him. He jumped out of the way of the horse stumbling all over himself and tried to see what that insane mage had done now. The skeletons were gone, replaced with splintered bones blasted all over the fort. He couldn’t see where Starfall had gone, but it couldn’t have been far; maybe she’d fallen down up there and he just couldn’t see her shortness. “Starfall?!” He called out. “Shit…” She muttered her breath. “I’m never going to hear the end of this… Help!” He looked back and forth between the horse and where Starfall’s voice had come from. There didn’t seem to be any other enemies around, so he left and joined Starfall up on the wall. “What happened?!” Starfall was sitting with her back against the wall, rocking back and forth with her hands over her face. “Used too fucking much! Shit!” “You think?!” “Shut up! Are they gone?” She growled in his general direction. “I don’t hear any others.” Kaidan quickly ran past her to make sure there weren’t any other undead hiding further inside the courtyard. Just more bones completely shattered all over. On the all clear, he went back to find she hadn’t moved from the spot and was still hiding her eyes. “…You didn’t .” He kneeled in front of her. Violet pulled at her hair and let out a flustered curse. “Oh gods. Let me see. Open your eyes.” Kaidan took her cheeks in his hands. The light hadn’t burned her face, but her dark brown eyes were wide and unfocused. He briefly wondered what was with the hole scar between her eyes. Taking one hand off of her face, he waved his fingers in front of her. “How many fingers am I holding up?” “Are you fucking serious right now?!” “FUCKING YES, NOW COOPERATE, WOMAN.” He shouted, then corrected himself. “Quick, before whoever summoned those skeletons comes out here to investigate.” “I just need some time. It’ll go away in a while. It’s not as bad as it looks… or sounds. But you’re holding up five fingers because one hand is on my face and you’re waving the other one like an idiot.” She quickly swatted his hand away and covered her face again. Kaidan’s mouth flattened into a line. “Whatever...” He picked her up and took her back down the wall, setting her in front of where the horse had been shot. Tiku nickered and scooted away from them, aggravating his leg. “Can you heal him without looking? We need to get out of here.” “Yeah. But I need one of my potions. After that, just… put my hand in the correct spot, then when I say, remove the arrows from our legs and try to hold him down. Say you didn’t pull his arrow out already because then he’ll have lost blood, making this more difficult.” “I’m not an idiot.” He grumbled. “Then on three…” Kaidan passed her one of her restorative vials to take, then pressed one of her hands to Tiku’s shoulder and the other to her thigh. A less intense light streamed from her fingers, this time focused into and absorbed by living flesh. Poor Tiku whinnied loudly and struggled against Kaidan, who used the reins and his leverage to just barely pin him to the ground. Sure enough, within a few minutes, Tiku was on his feet again, confused and fidgeting badly. Violet hugged and petted him, her soft voice and changed demeanor being much more effective at calming him than Kaidan’s gruffness. “Okay, that’s enough, we’ve got to go. I don’t feel like defending you two from whatever necromancer trash made those things.” “Yeah.” She nodded. * “Aren’t you supposed to start with a low dose and work your way up? Why would you start with such a powerful explosion?” Kaidan asked her as they rode on. “Who told you that?” “ You told me that, O Mistress of Alchemy.” She tried to remember and shook her head. “I did no such thing. Alchemy and magic are two different beasts. That’s the preferred method for alchemy, but with some types of magic, using too weak a spell and when time is crucial (like when you’re being shot and hacked at by the undead), it’s better to start at mid-level.” “How was that mid-level? You’re blind now. What happens when you put all of your power into it? You wind up properly raising them from the dead and killing yourself?” “Ha. No. I mean, I hope not. Maybe the reverse… And not completely blind. Just… mostly. Anyway, it still worked well for a first try at converting a spell. I think reducing it by half would work well for skeletons. I still don’t know the magnitude for draugr, especially if we come across the ones who can use dragon magic. Anyway, the sun will be setting in a little while. Is there anywhere close we can rest?” Kaidan was about to hand her the map since he was already at the reins, then growled to himself. “Right. Never mind. There’s supposedly a cave nearby; it would make good shelter provided we clear out whatever’s inside. …Stillborn Cave. I don’t want to know what happened for it to get that name.” Violet looked around as best she could. She saw a lot of white, some grey which was probably rocks, and something very tall behind one of the mountains. “What’s that up there?” Kaidan glanced up. “The shrine of Azura. No, we’re not going up there. She may not be wholly evil, but there’ve been quite enough Daedric shenanigans. And anyway, it’s just a statue. There’s nowhere to rest. “There is, actually. Interesting. An Outlander and a Redguard drawn to the grace of our lady, Azura…” A Dunmer man in drab robes said. He waved as he sat on a rock at the trail junction.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"Who's there?" Violet created a spear and pointed it towards the voice, despite the fact that she couldn't see past Tiku's nose.The Dunmer man introduced himself carefully, seeing the large, spinning needle of ice in her hand. "H-hail, travelers. I am Faldren, a pilgrim of Azura. I was told by the priestess Aranea at the summit that the one She wanted to speak with was near. And by Her Divine Truth, here you are."Kaidan looked down at Starfall, who was still squinting in Faldren's direction. Damn it. He was still in control of the horse, and all he had to do was turn away and keep going. He raised his hands to flick the reins when Starfall grabbed his wrist."Be specific. Who wants to talk to who?" Violet asked. She could maybe have a word with another mortal, and that wouldn't be so bad. Getting in front of the actual Daedra is where trouble starts.Faldren nodded. "Sorry I wasn't clear. The 'Goddess of Dawn and Dusk' would like to speak to the 'Blessed of Akatosh'."Both Violet and Kaidan said their respective curses at the same time, startling the man."And just what would a Daedra want with an Aedra-Marked?" After Sanguine, it didn't seem like there was much reason for it except to trick them. Her. Kaidan still wanted to believe deep down that he wasn't an integral part of all this. He wasn't a demi-human, or blessed, or even that badly cursed. If anything, he seemed to get in the way half the time."That is for the priestess to explain. Come. It's not too far, and you must be weary. This is also the time when the goddess is at her most powerful."Kaidan whispered into Starfall's ear. "It's your call, but I'd rather not have any more Daedric marks.""Just what does a mark do, exactly? I'm not exactly read up on this, yet.""They get your soul when you die." He said through grit teeth.Violet immediately paused and looked around at him. All she could see was two dim red spots that were completely unamused. "Oh.""Yeah. Though I'm thinking now I could just hide in your plane of Oblivion when Dagon comes calling. They don't seem too keen or able to invade each other's spaces.""Okay, but then wouldn't more marks be a good thing? That way they're all too busy fighting over who gets to torture you for eternity while you figure out a way to remove all of them.""How the f-" Kaidan quickly stopped himself and growled. "Starfall, no.""Is everything alright?" Faldren was starting to worry about these two muttering and arguing."Can we come back to this, later? Maybe a few weeks?" Violet asked."I'm not sure that's how destiny works." The elf said."That is absolutely how it works, it's called having a choice and I'm surprised you're even considering this, considering how much and how often you complained at me for two months about not getting to be on our way to the college. Or is it that you're soul-starved again and back to making odd decisions? It's been a few weeks since Riverwood, now that I've thought about it. Anyway, do you even know about Azura?" Kaidan asked her.Violet thought for a moment. "Just that she's one of the Dark Elves' gods and a Daedric Prince. But a lot of their gods are less about virtues, and more about powers. Anyway, here's the thing. That cave just ahead you want to explore? If it's occupied, you're either going to have to not do that thing you're prone to doing where you try to run in front of me trying to protect me or do it all yourself. And while I still can't see much, I'm not comfortable with making you do all the work. I'm not completely out of my mind again, yet. It has been a while, though.""It's got Falmer in it." Faldren warned them. "We see a scout come out every once in a while to get travelers on the road, but they're repelled from coming up the other side of the mountain by Azura's divine protection."Violet ran her hand down her face and growled. "I'm not going down a Falmer cave to perpetrate a massacre just so we can have a really shitty four-hour nap.""Fair enough." Kaidan sighed."Besides, like you said, I don't actually have to do anything but listen, if that." Violet shrugged.He hesitated a moment before finally giving up and following Faldren up the snowy trail, arriving at the statue just as twilight was ending. At the summit, there was a set of carved stone platforms and alcoves. Violet let Tiku rest under the lowest alcove, and while she was perfectly fine with letting Kaidan stay behind, he didn't want to leave her alone to be lied to or tricked again. The top tier of platforms was where a Dunmer priestess stood in dark grey robes, her hands outstretched in prayer and reverence to the towering statue."Azura has seen your coming. It was not curiosity, but fate, that has lead you here." Aranea did not turn away from the altar.'I literally had to come this way to get to the college.' She thought to herself. Something about the massive statue was unsettling and made her want to hide from it. Kaidan had said back at High Hrothgar that it was so large, it was visible on a good clear day, but she wasn't about to look out over the edge to check. "Would have been nice to have some kind of warning of what happened a few months ago…""Unfortunately, while Azura has given me the gift of foresight, I can only access it here in Her presence. She showed you to me, walking up these steps long before you were born.""So, there was more than enough time for warning, you just didn't want to do anything about it. How benevolent.""She has only shown me that you would come here, not what circumstances would bring you this way. And whatever happened… could not have been changed." The priestess said."Of course." She rolled her eyes. "Okay, so why me? I barely know who she is, or who you are. I do not worship Azura, or Daedra, or even Aedra. I have no gods at all. She should have found someone who actually cares.""You may not worship Them, but They still see you. You will be Her champion, as you have chosen yours beside you. And I am Aranea, a faithful servant."Kaidan glared at the elven woman. "Wait a minute, who exactly is 'They'? Just how many of the gods are watching her?" He knew perfectly well that the Princes had their own politics behind the scenes, and Divines help everyone if they schemed together. Speaking of, the Divines were still silent…"I can only speak of, and for, Azura. Though She has seen other threads of your fate. You are the Blood of Akatosh, the Last who will receive his blessing. She saw your dalliance with the Passionate One. That is only the beginning of 'They.'""Getting reeeeal tired of all these 'gods' who can't seem to do shit on their own and need a lowly mortal to do their jobs for them." Violet hissed under her breath.Aranea heard her anyway. "You are hardly lowly. You are recognized as a mortal of Divine power, and thus given unique access to power, knowledge, experience, and even entire realms that neither Those trapped in Oblivion, nor us mortals trapped on Mundus may access. This is your fate.""Fffuuuck fffaaaate." She drawled and started shouting upward at the statue. "You gonna curse me too if I say no?""No." A woman's voice said firmly.Violet's unfocused eyes went large as she tilted her head at the giant, blurry, grey tower in front of her. Now she really didn't want to be anywhere on the mountain. "What?""But you will do my Divine Will, anyway. It only serves us both.""She's talking to you, isn't she?" Kaidan frowned."You can't hear her?""No." So much for keeping her from being tricked or lied to…"Fuck."Faldren winced. "I don't suppose you could stop blaspheming?""That's just the way she is." Kaidan said.Violet pointed at Aranea. "Again, you couldn't just bless her? She seems pretty faithful. How long have you been here listening?""Around two hundred years.""She is my messenger and conduit to you. That is her blessing."Violet ignored the statue. "Oh, that's far, far too long to be standing under a creepy statue out in the cold by yourself. Even if you are an elf."The priestess hung her head. "There were others, but they became weak. Tired. Unfaithful. Afraid to know their own future. But I refused to abandon the shrine. The visions are a gift. Azura warns me of tragedy, war, death before it happens. I won't leave Her guidance.""How have your arms not fallen off?"Kaidan covered his mouth. "Starfall. Focus. What did Azura say?""Just that I'll wind up doing whatever she wants anyway, and it'll be mutually beneficial to not fight it.""Such is the nature of fate." Aranea said.She turned back to Azura. "Do you know about the dragons? And why I have too much to do already for yet another 'god' breathing down my neck?""You exact Divine Judgement. She is only sending you to do what you were sent to do, anyway. These threads weave as a tapestry.""When you are successful, you will have my blessing against the dragons.""What do you get out of this, then?" Violet was starting to get confused by all the voices."Besides your soul?" Kaidan grumbled."Okay, everyone who is NOT divine, please stop. I'm tired and my head hurts now." She groaned."I led my children away from Vvardenfell. There will be nowhere to go away from Akatosh's children.""So, I do this for you, the Dunmer are saved and can keep worshipping you." Stupid dragons. Stupid prophecy. Stupid gods. She turned to Aranea. "I suppose this will enable me to fulfill any other prophecies that 'they've' also lined up for me.""That is not for me to know. Only that you will receive Her blessing. And to receive blessings from the Goddess of Dusk and Dawn is priceless." The priestess smiled.Starfall rubbed her face and made all kinds of hemming and hawing and whining before giving up and emptying her head out. "I'll figure it out in the morning."As she and Kaidan turned away from Azura and Aranea, he whispered to her. "Whatever happened to 'I don't want anything to do with them, good or bad'?""I still don't. Sanguine was an accident. Azura's hiding something.""…It shouldn't matter. We should move on at first light."*Kaidan watched as Starfall went to one of the lower platforms and started to leave with her."Outlander." Aranea reached out and had almost grabbed his wrist, but thought better of it after seeing all the spikes and claws. "A word."Kaidan looked at her, then down the stairs. Whatever it was, Starfall would hear. He didn't want to be involved anyway. "Whatever it is, the answer is no. This is all her decision."The priestess turned grim. "This is about your fate, as well."The Dragonguard drew a deep breath and grit his teeth. Gods, damn them all. "I don't want to hear about it. I'll go my own way.""She wishes to warn you, as well." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "As her champion, your attempts to keep her from becoming her own ruin will only—""Leave him alone, Aranea!" Starfall shouted from the lower platform.Her eyes drifted down in that direction. "She can hear over the wind between the mountains. No wonder she can hear Lady Azura."Kaidan headed down the steps, choosing to rest away from everyone.His sleep was always light in unfamiliar places, and under the statue, it shouldn't have come at all. So, when a small star looking much like one of Starfall's magelights streaked across the sky and towards him growing larger the closer it got, he knew he should have immediately woken up. He couldn't. Instead, he held his hands out and caught it, only to be burned alive by a small sun.*Starfall's sleep under the goddess's watch was filled with dreams of home; starry skies over glittering sands. She'd learned a tiny bit of her ancestors' vestigial magic: the stars watched while the winds and sand carried every speck of knowledge from every corner of Nirn. Standing out in the middle of the Alik'r at night, reading the stars' blinking messages in code and the swirling patterns and portents of the dunes was one of the few things she'd wanted to try more of before she was dragged away to try (and fail at) the more modern and practical warrior's art. But if Skyrim had any sand (and Kaidan said that it did,) it was likely by the frozen ocean or buried under ice and snow. The winds were caught in the mountains, cursed to go around in circles and never reaching the rest of Tamriel. But maybe Skyrim's wind, sand, and sky were all she needed, since that's where she was right that second.Was this supposed to be comforting? Teased with the memories of home, possibly never to return? No, she was going to go home after this, if it took a year or fifty. Or in an urn."I can lead you home, just as I will lead my children home someday. But they must survive." An unearthly, beautiful woman said behind Starfall. Azura looked much like her monument: a Dunmer woman, bathed in moonlight and draped with sheer silver. The sun and moon spun slowly behind her shoulders, trapping the world just after sunset. Starfall didn't see any of it; she was absorbed in her dream."You're saying this like I could turn my back on Alduin. I'm already being forced to. Now what do you really want?" The Redguard sat at the top of a sand dune and idly pointed at the sky, moving stars around to change the constellations. The Thief grew big and bright, making the Serpent slither away before she could change it."You take the souls of dragons. I'm telling you to take a man's. He has stolen and defiled my treasured star, and you have the power to cleanse it. Judge him as you have judged the dragons.""I don't know if I can. My curse is to absorb dragon's souls. I can certainly remove his soul from his body, but after that… And I certainly know Daedric Princes are strong enough to do their own work. Especially since you're here in my dreams." She spat, unravelling the Warrior, then thinking better of it and setting it low against the horizon."I could. But it would take so much time that We do not have."Starfall finally stopped playing with the sky and turned around. "Who is 'We'? What are you talking about?"Azura was gone and so was the twilight. Violet was alone again in the expanse of sparkling gold and black.*Violet awoke to a blustery, bright morning. Snow had piled up on her bedroll until she wound up crawling out of a little snowbank. Kaidan had a fire going on the lowest platform and had a rabbit and potatoes roasting over it."Finished communing with the gods?" He asked her warily, his voice rough and tired."How did you know?" She squinted and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.He wouldn't look at her. "You didn't seem pained in your sleep like you sometimes do. And the priestess up there said that it's the first silence she's heard in hundreds of years.""She tempted me with being able to go home to Hammerfell." Violet said, sitting beside him in front of the fire and immediately writing everything into her book. She had to lean over it so it was a few inches from her nose. "Old, old, old magic from Yokuda says that we could read the stars, and on migrating to Tamriel, we could combine it with reading the wind and the sand. I dreamt I could move the stars. And then Azura said I have to find her star. Someone stole it and corrupted it. Take his soul like I take the dragons. But I can't eat human souls… I don't think.""Azura's Star. Sounds like another cursed thing like the staff Sanguine gave you." He eyed the giant rose now tied to one of the horse's saddle packs and wrapped so the thorns didn't dig into him."You must go to a fortress, endangered by water, yet untouched by it. Inside, you will find an elven mage who can turn the brightest star as black as night. It is cryptic, I know, but Azura's signs are never wrong. I believe the fortress may refer to Winterhold. Ask if they know this elven enchanter." Aranea had come down to their level, tempted by Kaidan's cooking. Faldren had taken her place above."Well… at least we were going there anyway. I make no promises. I'm not keen on any of this. And I don't like it when people keep information from me." She stared directly at Aranea."I only know what the goddess tells me." She said simply and placed a pot of freshly fallen snow into the fire. "But She does not guide Her faithful to their ruin.""What about those who don't follow her?" Kaidan gave Starfall a potato and a sideways glance.She took her pot of hot water back and dropped herbs into it, getting Starfall's attention ('I wonder which herbs she uses considering there weren't many plants here and the ones that were, taste awful...'). The steam wafted up around them to cloud their vision. "Then she can only watch as they become lost in shadow."Starfall clenched her fist and a bright fireball appeared in her open palm. It burned away the steam and was almost blinding in the daytime, enough that she didn't see Kaidan flinch. "Seeing as how I have to do all this shit myself anyway…"*Violet and Kaidan set out after their meal, heading back out to the main mountain pass. It barely took any time at all before the trail opened up to cliffs of pure white."Your vision still blurry?" Kaidan looked out over the sheer drop off into the ocean, with blue and white islands bobbing in the distance. It was endless. Desolate. Something far off tugged at him, but he ignored it like he always did.She looked out where he was looking, but only saw a sheet of light grey over a darker one. "A bit, yeah.""Figured.""Why?"Tell her and have her start fidgeting and panicking? Maybe later when her sight clears up. "You wouldn't like the view, is all. Boring white and grey for miles."Passing by the Falmer cave in the daytime showed that several footprints had trailed out and back into the cave during the night, and were already almost covered up again by fresh snow. A grisly looking totem had been placed out front, made of bones and bug chitin. Kaidan felt like maybe they should have taken their chances down there anyway. In the other direction was a small iron mine. The smelter oven was hot, and the mine's doors were wide open with the clinking of pickaxes and chatter echoing from within. They had no reason to be there, and a lone guardswoman warming her hands at the smelter told them as much, so they passed on."You are missing an incredible view of your college, though." He said. 'What's left of it, anyway.'"I see a dark grey tower. Is that it?""Mm hmm. Should probably arrive around the late afternoon if the weather keeps stable.""Fucking finally!" She groaned and leaned against Kaidan's back. "Maybe I can finally get some damn work done and slow down for five minutes."
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As Tiku shuffled through the broken gates of Winterhold, Violet tried to peer through the blowing snow to see the college. She’d studied and moved on from Elinhir a few years ago feeling like she couldn’t get anything else from them. She had enough to keep herself alive and functional, but there was always that undercurrent of disagreement with how she should proceed. She wanted to get to the root of the problem. Her mind betrayed her often, and the school of magic that dealt with altering states of consciousness were almost as reviled as disrespecting the sanctity of life and death. Maybe this college would be less conservative, or at least offer a compromise. But the way these Nords were just as disdainful towards magic, things weren’t looking too hopeful. Then she actually laid eyes on the town. There was no town. She’d read about the Great Collapse in one of her history classes as one of those cautionary tales. But this…“Where’s the rest of the town?” Violet asked incredulously.“At the bottom of the sea. I thought you knew there was nothing left of Winterhold.” Kaidan sighed. “It’s been almost a hundred years! It still looks like the city fell yesterday!”“Nords already weren’t keen on magic before. You think they’ll want to move right back into a place completely wiped off the map with thousands drowned horribly in an instant?”“And there’s only one building left of the college.” Elinhir wasn’t big since it was both nestled between Hammerfell and Skyrim, but at least there was more than one sad building about to crumble into the ocean. Just as Aranea had described. But that wasn’t at the top of her list.They dismounted beside the inn, set Tiku in the little stable, and immediately took refuge against the stinging snow blowing into anywhere it could find.“Well that’s great. They probably don’t even have a resident diviner or theologian.” Violet sighed as she shook melting snow from her cloak.“There were perfectly good priests in Whiterun and Windhelm. You just didn’t want to talk to them.” Kaidan did the same and kicked his boots against a post to knock off the snow.“Visitors? Finally! Welcome!” Dagur the innkeeper was already fishing two mugs from behind the counter.“Thank you. I just need a mug of water, please.” Violet needed warmth immediately and took a seat in front of the hearth. She wanted to try that recipe from Aranea, though she didn’t have much in the way of herbs that weren’t poisonous. “A priestess is different from a theologian. And what would I care about what Kynareth and Talos say about Alduin?”“Just water? Huh. And you?” The innkeeper shrugged.“Fair enough, then. Cider. So, what happens if there’s no leads here?” “Then I stay here for at least two more weeks for other tasks and research, then go dragon hunting to buy myself a few more weeks. Someone here should be able to point me in the right direction towards another library or archive, but I’m hoping I can get at least something out of coming all the way out here.”“Great...” As if being trapped with a bunch of crazy wizards wasn’t enough, she wanted to possibly stay long term.“I had to sit through weeks of boring history talk, most of which went in one ear and out the other. You can take a rest here in the ruins if you’re so set on not going inside.”“You really couldn’t be bothered? After all that work? Did you even hear the bit about you being able to lay claim to Empress of Tamriel?” Even though he knew full well she wouldn’t have anything to do with such an idea, it was at least intriguing…Dagur’s wife, Haran, stopped cooking behind him and raised her eyebrow.Violet scoffed. “The Empire would collapse in a week.”“I doubt you could do worse than Pelagius the Third.” He smirked.“Starfall the Cursed. …Honestly, the only thing I’d definitely want done is personally burning the fucking Aldmeri Dominion to the ground. I’d at least get some gratitude from that.”Their drinks arrived and Kaidan tipped his mug towards her. “I’ll drink to that.”Violet took a handful of roots, herbs, flowers, and a green potion from her pack and poured them all into the mug. She wrapped her hands around the sides and whispered into it; within seconds steam and a heady scent wafted across her nose. “Taste this.”Kaidan eyed her and the mug. “I, uh, don’t have your poison tolerance.”“Good thing it’s not particularly poisonous, then.”Particularly? Fuck’s sake. “I’m good with my cider, thanks.”“Suit yourself, even though alcohol itself is a type of poison and you drink like you’re dying in the dunes.” She breathed in the vapors and just that was enough that she sank down into her chair and purred. Kaidan stared somewhat discomforted.“I’ve only ever seen that done by skooma. That better not have been skooma. I’m not here to deal with you getting itchy for a fix out in the middle of nowhere.”“It’s not skooma.” She sipped it and breathed out a small cloud of mist. “And yes, you are. You absolutely are. Remember, the soul timer is ticking.”“At least when you kill dragons, you’re good for a month or two instead of a day. Also killing dragons usually gets us money instead of bleeding us dry.”Now both Dagan and Haran were trying not to stare.“Why are you so afraid of anything that’s not a health potion? I’m not going to poison you, or turn you into an addict, and I’m not one myself. If I’d wanted to poison you, it wouldn’t be so slow, easy, and mundane as with skooma or nightshade and deathbell.” She cackled quietly to herself.He glared at her. “Because I’m not trying to go back to that life and I need to be careful, alright? Gods, you can be simple-headed, sometimes.”Violet finally realized what he meant by ‘poison tolerance’. She got quiet and stared down into her mug. “Sorry.”Her words about knowledge being kept from her kept getting heavier on his own mind. “…Even though he taught me everything he could, I was lost when my godfather Brynjar died. He was one of the few people whom I could trust. I did everything as the Nords did, and they still call me ‘Outlander’. I’d been alone since. Like any miserable bastard, I numbed it with alcohol and skooma. And then the skooma led to something even worse.” He set his mug down and put his head in his hands.“…Wow, did Akatosh ever fuck this whole thing up.” She sipped the strange concoction. “No noble goals, no pure hearts, barely enough sanity for one person between us, enough guilt for several people, one’s a recovering addict, and the other's on so much borrowed time saving Nirn itself won’t pay it back. Two broken souls versus the dragons, the world, and at least one god. If we actually manage this, no one will believe it. History books are just going to say, ‘well, a lot of things happened’.”“And yet, we persist.” Kaidan shook his head.“I mean, it’s not like we have a choice, anymore. Fucking gods are watching, and at least one of them is laughing. I don’t know about you, but being driven by spite and the opportunity to murder one of them in petty revenge is looking better and better. I at least want that on my tomb. ‘She hated the gods so much, she fucking killed one of them.’ And you have to make them write exactly that. Promise me that.”Kaidan sank lower until he was doubled over with his hands covering his head. He told her at the very beginning that she didn’t have to become a monster, and not only was she seemingly warming up to it, he was doing a terrible job at trying to stop her, let alone getting between her and the true monsters using her as a pawn. Violet watched until she couldn’t take the tugging at her heart anymore and hugged around his arm (carefully avoiding the spikes on his bracers). “Fine, I’ll stop before you fall on me crying. Though I suppose I owe you as much for back in Windhelm. …I’m sorry, Kai. I’ve just been dragging you along behind me through this horrible mess and I haven’t been thinking enough about you, or what you want, or what awful toll this is taking on you. “I don’t know if it’ll mean much, but I don’t want to imagine doing any of this without you. Which means all of my trust and power is yours, for whatever that’s worth. As soon as we’re done here, you become our priority. We will find out whatever questions you haven’t found the answers to. I will make authentic Yokudan food and blow the last of my money on expensive imported spices because it will heal our souls and this evilness where Nords eat dogs and horses is just wrong. We’ll hunt down the Thalmor and teach them to fear and run from us. I won’t leave you alone for a while. There’s still plenty to do. Hopefully we’ll find where you really belong before… We’ll find it.”“Mm.”“No more gallows humor?”“A lot less, at least.”“Soon, I’m not going to have anything left to say. No whining, no complaining, no attempts to lighten the situation, no magic talk, no drug talk…”‘Tell me more about how much you need me.’ He looked her over. She still had that deceptively innocent look about her chubby, slightly childish face, though right now she looked worried for him. “I never said no magic talk. I just mean that I’ll have no idea what you’re on about.”“I desperately want to help you with that, but I know you’ll never agree to it.”“Not in this era or the next.”*They drank and he listened as best he could while she outlined what she planned to do once they were inside. She’d saved up enough money that would hopefully pay for some master tutelage from one or two professors. If not, she could scour the library. Once they’d gotten the road slush off and food in their stomachs, they headed for the college. There was no point in exploring the town as it was only a few homes, a tiny general goods store, and the jarl’s keep. The poor keep and inn looked as if they were the only newer buildings, which meant the actual keep or castle was at the bottom of the ocean with the rest.“This is just depressing. And eerie.”“This is the final result of magic.” His stomach churned.“Magic is a tool. Same as your blade. The havoc I’d cause trying to swing your sword would be just as bad as giving you a basic fire spell.”“You can’t burn down a whole village with a sword.” He muttered.“You’d be surprised. You just don’t have much in the way of creativity, which is a major prerequisite for the arcane arts.” She patted his back, which made him tense up. She raised her eyebrow, but let him go. Must be still shaken from earlier.At the far edge of town was a long, crumbling, stone bridge. A lone Altmer woman greeted them on the ramp.“Halt. Students of the College of Winterhold only.” She said.“You’re not accepting visitors?” Violet asked.“Only new students. We’re not here to be ogled and bothered with making sure some yokel doesn’t wander into a class and get themselves disintegrated.”“That’s fair, I suppose. I’m Violet Starfall. Graduate and Master of Elinhir College. I’m also a healer and member of the Mages’ Guild in Dragonstar. I need to speak with your Archmage and use the library.” If there was still a guild, but she kept all of that to herself.‘Scholar, healer, master, savior.’ Kaidan thought.“A Redguard scholar and visitor from Elinhir! We’ve not had a rivalry with them since before the incident. Interesting. I am Faralda, Master of Destruction. So what did you master, then?” She smirked at the little Redguard.‘Being underestimated.’ She rolled her eyes. “Master of Alchemy and Destruction. Expert of Restoration, Alteration and Conjuration. …Apprentice of Draconic.”She laughed. “And so young! What, no Illusion?” “You see I’m a Redguard. And I’m in a bit of a rush. Some of us don’t get several hundred years to sit on our thumbs.” She said flatly.“And you?” She nodded over at Kaidan. “Bodyguard?”“Sort of.” He cleared his throat.“He’s here to chaperone and make sure I don’t summon the end of the world.” She said, which made Kaidan groan.“Well you’re certainly dressed the part. But Archmage Aren said I have to see demonstrated skill before I let anyone in.”“Of course you do.” She grumbled. “Don’t suppose I can do it inside where it’s not freezing?”“I wish.” Faralda at least agreed with that.Violet thought for a few seconds before shrugging.“FUS!”The single word wasn’t enough to hurt Faralda badly, but just enough to knock her on her rear several feet up the bridge. Her eyes widened in shock, then turned to annoyance. “Oh, you little bitch.”She coughed and tried to catch her breath. “You thought I was lying about the Draconic?”Kaidan stayed well out of this, though at least there was entertainment to be had. He had no desire to get in between a couple of pissy witches. If magic started flying, he was out. He could go stay in the inn until this whole thing was over in a few weeks.“Ugh. Now I have to go see Colette.” The gatekeeper pulled herself upright again and rubbed her back.“What, no Restoration?” Violet mocked. She drew a circle on the Altmer woman’s back and wisps of yellow light swirled around her, relieving most of the soreness. The unintended effect was that the seal of Winterhold she was standing on top of activated and glowed blue.She looked down at the seal as if it had betrayed her. “…I suppose I deserved that. Follow me, then.”Kaidan followed them both up the bridge. How many of these little pissing matches was he going to have to watch? Or even worse, if Starfall had one of her meltdowns and decided not to play nice anymore?He lightly smacked her shoulder. “Oi. That didn’t look much like ‘true need’ to me…”“I needed to prove myself in the quickest way possible.” Violet grinned impishly.As she led them over the bridge, Faralda stopped at a focusing well, dropped a magelight into it, and changed it into a beacon. Pillars of light signaled to the college that she was returning. Along the middle of the bridge, powerful wind shears blew crosswise to the bridge, the stone sides had collapsed, and the walkway itself was currently sprinkling crumbs of dust into the icy waters below. Violet looked in disbelief at the death trap as Faralda ignored the obvious danger and went on ahead.“How long has this been broken?!” Violet had to use every ounce of her control not to look over the edge and start screaming.“About a hundred years. No big deal. It still works.”‘Shit.’ She was frozen to the spot. ‘Think think think think…’Violet looked back and forth between Faralda and Kaidan, then quickly rebuilt the walkway using the surrounding ice and snow collected along the top and sides. She still hated it, but it wasn’t as obviously terrifying. “Maybe in the next fifty years or so you’ll be able to afford a mason to come out here and fix it.”“You’ll get used to it and not want to bother doing that every single time you come out here.”‘Or maybe you could stop being lazy and fix the bridge. But if they couldn’t or wouldn’t restore the town, I guess I shouldn’t have hope for that.’ She grumbled and still took care crossing the part she’d built back up.Kaidan looked over the edge where she had built up the walkway. The drop was almost dizzying, and he understood why Starfall was angry. If they couldn’t even be bothered to fix the bridge that they used every day for a hundred years, what kind of foolishness was going on inside?Faralda walked up to the big wrought-iron gate and parted her hands; the gates followed her motions and shut after them. The college was a little more impressive on the inside; there were a few little hothouse buildings in the courtyard, but that just made it feel more cramped with the large statue and strange fountain of glowing blue plasma in the center. Kaidan had never seen a mages’ guild or even a school up close, and he kept quiet about being impressed by the tall central building and pillars of light. Faralda was talking about meeting the Master-Wizard or someone when he spotted a black and gilded robe behind the statue. He grabbed Starfall’s shoulder and whispered in her ear.“They have a Thalmor agent here.” He whispered.“Damn it. I am not leaving.” She pulled him and Faralda aside. “Why are the Thalmor here?”The fire mage lolled her head back and groaned. “Believe me, if we could figure out how to get rid of him, we would have done it. But because we’re the last remaining magical institution in Skyrim, they sent an ‘emissary’ to see what we’re up to, and possibly ‘advise’ the Archmage. He’s been harmless, so far. Bloody annoying and meddling, but harmless.”Violet growled. “Ugh. A simple disguise spell would be great about now.”“I’m not letting you change my face.” Kaidan scoffed. He simply pulled his hood up so it shaded his eyes.“I would never. Too pretty.” She tied her hair down and stuffed it all in her hood, then pulled part of her robe up across her nose and mouth. Kaidan rolled his eyes and shook his head.“Oh gods,” Faralda rubbed her forehead. “What did you two do?”“Exist.” Violet said. “Where is Master Ervine?”“Talking with the Thalmor. He is Ancano, by the way. I probably don’t need to tell you both to not tell him anything.”“I think we’ll wait for him to leave, then.”“If I were to simply snipe his skull with an arrow, would any healer on the premises be obligated to heal him?” Kaidan leered across the courtyard.“One, I didn’t hear that. Two, yes, they would. Three, we haven’t killed him because he is tasked to report back on our activities daily, and him not doing that would bring more Thalmor.” Faralda said, leaning on a column.“I was kidding.” Mostly.“No, no, it’s called making it look like an accident. Maybe Divine Providence.” Violet said, swirling one hand so the light snowfall directly above them strengthened until it rumbled. “Can’t heal a pile of ashes.”Faralda squinted upward. “Are you doing that?”“…No.”She smirked. “Nicely done. But seriously. We can’t kill him. Stop it.” ‘If anyone other than a dragon could stand to be completely charred beyond recognition, though…’ Kaidan gently nudged Starfall’s shoulder. “Oi. We’ll just have to avoid him as much as possible. Besides, maybe he doesn’t know about us considering we’re nowhere near where we were, and he’s probably been here for months since we’re in the middle of nowhere.”
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They watched as the Breton woman quietly argued outside of the main building for a few more minutes before the much taller Altmer man waved his hand dismissively and excused himself. Once he had gone inside, Master Ervine rubbed her face and turned towards them.“You can come out now.” She sighed.Faralda nodded and led Violet and Kaidan over, introducing them to Winterhold's Head of Affairs.“Sorry you had to see that. Archmage Savos Aren does not seem to be inconvenienced by his presence, and so we all must endure. I am Mirabelle Ervine. Welcome to the College of Winterhold.”“Thank you. I’m Violet Starfall and this is Kaidan. We’re not actually here to enroll in the traditional sense. I need to speak to your Archmage and use the library. And if you have quality enchanting and alchemical equipment, I need to use it.”Mirabelle hesitated. “Archmage Aren is… predisposed at the moment. I’ll be happy to help with your inquiries, though.”She side-eyed Kaidan, who wasn’t very reactive or interested. Never mind. “We’re investigating the resurgence of the dragons. My home school at Elinhir wasn’t exactly… well rounded when it came to Draconic lore. I'm hoping Winterhold has a better idea of what I’m dealing with.”“Does this mean that the dragons have appeared in Hammerfell as well?” She asked.“At least two. And unfortunately, all of my work was destroyed.” She nodded in the direction that Ancano had gone.Mirabelle’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “I don’t know how much you heard a few minutes ago, but it might be a good idea if you kept your studies as private as possible, then. We’ve had trouble before with him interrupting others’ work. But for now, I’d like to get you familiarized with the college, introduce you to the faculty, and get you settled in.”*Master Ervine gave them a small tour of the college. Violet quietly absorbed everything, hiding her disappointment at how little there was to work with. At least the library was half-decent. Two floors, perfectly neat, well kept (as far as she could tell through the blurriness), and the gruff Orc librarian behind the counter made it immediately clear that he would cleave her in two if she so much as dog-eared a page. She respected that. Kaidan thought that was overkill. Mirabelle noted that even though they were older than the apprentices, not students per se, and Violet was already a master, they would have to stay with the students in the Hall of Attainment anyway, as the Hall of Countenance was full. Violet wasn’t very happy to have been put with the students, but it seemed that she didn’t even really have to see them since she and Kaidan had quiet basement rooms, the heavy ancient stonework absorbed any noise, and there was an incredibly advanced alchemist’s station right outside of her room. There was another room on that floor full of blooming flowers and plants, but it was taken by the resident alchemy master. Mirabelle assured her that the Argonian woman was amicable, just wanted to be left alone, and honestly caused everyone the least amount of grief of everyone at the college. Violet nodded and would have to find her later. They set their packs down in their rooms, grabbed some drinks from the refreshment table, and Mirabelle invited them to sit in on a class to get a feel for how they operate.“This isn’t, like, fake conjured food, is it?” Kaidan tilted his head and examined the bottle in his hand. Plain ale. It didn’t glow in the bottle like half the stuff Starfall tried to give him, or Daedra-tainted. Strangely cold, even though it wasn’t especially cold in the living quarters and wasn’t likely to have been brought in from outside recently.“Now you’re just being paranoid. If it makes you feel any better, you’re under my protection, so no one can really do anything to you, or if you did manage to piss someone off enough, I could put you back together.” Violet said as they walked over to the main building.“That’s not reassuring at all.” Kaidan took a swig and a few seconds to savor it. Tasted real enough. At least he wouldn’t dry up.* A small class was in session where the Master of Alteration was teaching safety basics, and the two sat on a bench near a window. The students were young, eager, and stupid.“Good times,” She jokingly whispered over to Kaidan.“If you say so.” Master Tolfdir asked the students questions about the power of wards, when to use them, and different types, but a Khajiiti man kept complaining about how that wasn’t what he came here to learn, soon inciting the others into wanting to skip the lesson. The professor sighed.“Take the safety lesson. You need to know how to counter each other’s magic.” Violet called from behind Tolfdir. “J’zargo needs only to be faster than you.” He scoffed and waved his hand at her.“J’zargo will never be faster than his own blood freezing solid and bursting out of his veins.” She retorted.Brelyna, the Dunmer woman beside J’zargo, blinked at her. “Wait, what?” Tolfdir rubbed his beard and wagged a finger at Violet. “Ah, the visiting master. Maybe you would help me with a demonstration, then?”“And that’s what I get for speaking up.” Violet tsked herself.“I feel like it would have been more amusing to let them skip the lesson and then watch them blow themselves up later. But at least there’s a safety class at all.” Kaidan mumbled to her, then glanced over at the movement near the door. “Don’t. Cause. Trouble. He’s watching.”Violet’s eyes scanned the room as she went over to Tolfdir. The Thalmor from earlier was standing in the entryway and passively watched the class. A beginner’s class couldn’t have been any kind of interesting to someone who’d been there a while, so she quietly stood where the Alteration master set her. Nothing more, nothing less.“Good. Right there. A simple ward spell, please.” Tolfdir held up a palm sized fireball.She nodded, then held her hand out to distort the air in front of her. He soft-lobbed a small, simple fireball, and the distortion sucked up the energy and harmlessly absorbed it.“Aren’t you… supposed to be teaching flesh-augmenting spells? Where is the Restoration master for this?” She asked.“Well, it’s not an Alteration class as such, but a Defense and Safety class. Our Restoration master, Colette… well… her methods are not for beginners.”Onmund sighed. “We are not beginners. I know a good bit of magic already, which is why I came here and how we all managed to get in the door.” “True as that may be, all of our students have a core curriculum they must complete before being allowed into the more difficult courses. Now I need all of you to study the ward books you were given, and we can talk about them tomorrow at Saarthal. Class dismissed. Master Starfall, you are welcome to attend as well, if you aren’t busy. …I have a feeling your expertise might come in handy, as Faralda says you’re well versed in Restoration.” Tolfdir side-eyed his new class with some disappointment.She instantly went on guard. “What is Saarthal?”“It’s one of the first Nordic settlements by the Atmoran people, the Nords’ ancestors. They settled here in the early Merethic era, only to be attacked by the Snow Elves, who were then slaughtered in the Night of Tears. We believe there are artifacts of great importance for study.”‘Godsdamn it.’ She ran her hand over her mouth. “Mm. And you’re going there tomorrow.”“First thing in the morning, with an all-day expedition and returning at sundown.”She looked over to Kaidan, then shuddered. “Then I guess we’d better go prepare. I need some more paper and charcoal, and some potions. Merethic ruins… they don’t agree with me.”As Kaidan approached behind her to follow her back to their rooms, Ancano blocked their way after everyone else had gone. College or no, if this fucker made one wrong move, his head was going to roll.“Oh, don’t give me that look, Outlander. Do not worry, I’m not here for whatever foolishness you’ve gotten up to previously. I’m here to make sure that Archmage Aren is acting in the best interests of the college. That is all.” Ancano said dismissively, then looked down his nose and narrowed his eyes at Violet. “But please be aware that I am making sure that there isn’t anything suspicious happening.”“I’m too tired to be suspicious. Suspicious is work. Hell, I should have said no to whatever thing he just asked me to chaperone. I just got here and they’re already trying to make me babysit.” Violet rolled her eyes and she and Kaidan went around him.*They hurried back to her room and she locked the door.“Fuck. He’s got to go. He’s going to snitch, and I am not leaving until I get what I came for.” Violet growled.“You shouldn’t panic. You said to get to us, the Thalmor would have to risk disturbing the college. We should first find out what Ancano is really after.” Kaidan said as he took a chair by her bed.Violet covered her face with a pillow and screamed into it, then threw it back on the bed. “Too many things. I only wanted a new outfit and the library.”“Every few minutes, it’s this. Gods. Okay. Put those aside for a bit. Those can happen after we get this sorted out. Saarthal is happening tomorrow. Saarthal being Merethic will likely mean there is a Word Wall there. You should go. You will have me, and at least some of the other mages.”“Stop being rational. Rational is how Bleak Falls happened.” She flopped down onto her bed.“First attempts are always terrible and most useful to learn from.”“I know.” She showed him a scar along the inside of her forearm. “First attempt at ice magic. Wasn’t kidding about blood bursting out of his veins.”“Then you also know we have to keep going. And we didn’t do too badly at the Forsaken Cave.”She covered her face with her pillow again, this time making exasperated grunts and cursing. “Ffff... fine. I’ll see if the others have anything I can take with us tomorrow.”“Just don’t swear in front of the children.” He grinned.“I make no promises if I have to save them from being murdered by draugr.”*Violet tried looking up the Masters' office hours, only to find that they didn’t have any, per se. ‘How organized.’ She grumbled and tried the dorms. Thankfully, she ran into Faralda in the Countenance atrium, meditating and siphoning magicka out of the well in the center. Violet wasn’t great with elves, even though she spent enough time with them in Elinhir. They had a way about them that put her on edge and made her think she’d said or done something stupid. “Master Faralda, are you going to Saarthal tomorrow? Can you tell me anything about it? Or better yet, can I get any supplies or reagents in case there’s anything down there?” Violet asked. Faralda opened a gold eye and rolled it up into her head. “Ah. You. As a fellow master, you can just call us by our names. Going with the kids tomorrow? Though I suppose you’re barely older than them. I suppose Tolfdir asked you? And gods, no.”‘Yes, yes, elves are long-lived.’ She nodded.She turned and leaned on the magicka well. “You have nothing to worry about. There’s nothing down there but bones and broken pots. I mean, when we first went in, there were a few undead, but Phinis took care of them because that’s what he does. Someone found a corundum circlet once and it only had a basic protection enchantment on it. Tolfdir just drags students down there for a boring, one-sided history lesson and to pick a small piece of junk to write a report about.”“Then why in the world would he invite me and say he could use my Restoration experience?” Someone here wasn’t quite telling the truth…“Probably because last time, someone set off a trap and they were impaled.” She rubbed her temple.Violet winced. “Oh gods. What about the Restoration—” “We don’t talk about Colette.” Faralda said quietly through grit teeth.Violet's eyebrows went up. Just what had happened with this woman? She was going to have to visit her sooner or later and it was starting to be doubtful she’d get anything useful out of her. "Ohhhkay."“But you want supplies? Sure. You definitely could use a new outfit.” She scoffed. “Let’s get you to the storeroom.”The Redguard picked at where she’d sewn the arm back on after the whole Falmer incident outside Whiterun. “My stitching isn’t that bad, is it?”“Your stitching is fine. Everything else is wrong.”The storeroom turned out to be an alcove on the first floor, piled high with crates and scrolls listing portals to the actual storeroom. She could get an essential or two now, and if she could sneak an artifact or two out of Saarthal, she could pawn them off in town and get more. Faralda suggested she also pay a visit to ‘special acquisitions’ for some harder to get items, and they found her a more fitting robe that already had the enchantments she needed. Violet asked if it came in something other than white, and was told the color coding was tradition and ‘teal’ wasn’t a part of it. Nord fashion still hadn’t grown on her, and it probably never would. At least the hood, boots, and gloves were lined with fur. It would keep her warm without magic and the fur in the hood would dampen some noise. Since Kaidan had disappeared somewhere (either back to his room or sneaking back to town was her guess), Violet took another look around. It was awfully dark in the Countenance dorms, with most of the light coming from the magicka well or candles from someone’s open room. It looked like it was designed so that everyone’s time not sleeping was either supposed to be spent studying in one of the laboratories, or in a class at the main building. The top floor led out to the upper walkways of the college. Since there was nothing up there but unused practice areas and some neglected astrology equipment, there was a decent chance she’d be up there often to get some peace and space. She looked out at the Sea of Ghosts’ horizon and found she wasn’t particularly disturbed by it since she couldn’t actually see the distant perspective. She settled down on a bench and found the sound of the ocean proved to be calming. Dragonstar and Elinhir were landlocked mountains, and she’d never been to the west coast of Hammerfell, so this was the first time she’d ‘seen’ the ocean. It was so strange and disconcerting. She didn’t dare look down, even if she was half-blind. Choppy, grey water as far as the eye could see. She supposed it could be like the desert, just grey surges instead of yellow dunes and you drown in minutes instead of dehydrating in days. Ice floes lazily bobbed on the water, the smaller ones bumped and cracked against stationary ones the size of small islands. And there was an entire city down there. Were there any ruins left, or did the ocean claim things the way the sands did? Had anyone tried to salvage anything since? Had anyone solved the mystery of why an entire city was wiped off of the map? Her mind drifted until it felt like she’d been carried out to sea.Once the sun had gone down and the blowing snow had finally managed to sap the heat from her bones, Violet returned to her room. She checked next door and Kaidan still wasn’t there. She’d hoped to have a little planning session before Saarthal. Bleak Falls had shown that it was only going to get worse if they just did their own things and turned into bickering messes after a few hours. Forsaken Cave was a huge improvement (in that no one almost died), but there were still moments. How did Tolfdir manage to turn one of those nightmares into a day trip? Would anyone else besides him have any experience in a barrow? What would happen to her if anyone else saw her go into a trance and start absorbing the wall? They’d start asking questions, obviously. She didn’t want to answer questions. Did the rest of them know not to gossip or otherwise snitch to Ancano? And then there was whoever was guarding the wall. Instead, she merely made plans for herself, writing in the nice quality paper she’d taken from the storeroom. There were endless stacks and Faralda said everyone could have as much as they liked. She even got a paper wrapping for her charcoal so her fingers didn’t stain anymore. Little things that Kaidan probably wouldn’t understand or appreciate.Kaidan did come back eventually, sometime in the middle of the night. Probably when he thought everyone else was asleep. She didn’t ask. He was a grown man and he did it pretty frequently, and everywhere they went, now that she thought about it. Night hunting? Not every time, surely. Prayers? He said he wasn’t really religious, though. Aimless wandering? He couldn’t possibly know every location they went to that well. First thing in the morning, she washed and dressed, pinned her dreadlocks up in a bun, packed lunch, potions, and papers, and went to see if Kaidan was ready. He seemed to be invested in some mystery he’d imagined to be at the end of these places. Never mind the answer to that mystery was pain, curse(d) words, and near death. She knocked on his door.“Kaidan? You coming with me today or wandering off again?”After a few minutes, he came up to the door, fully armored, but still half-asleep. “Mm.”“Are you sure? You’re still tired because you feel compelled to wander around in the middle of the night doing gods know what instead of sleeping.”“You keep odd hours too. Don’t know why you seem excited for the death pit.”She rolled her eyes. “Because I like field trips.”“Field trips to death pits.” He said.“I talked to Faralda yesterday and I bought some actually fitting and properly enchanted robes, so my powers won’t be so stunted. Anyway, she said that there actually isn’t much down there, so we should be alright, this time.” She showed off her new gold-embroidered white garments, knowing full well they were soon going to be smudged and caked with corpse dust and whatever stone and clay the old Nords used to build barrows.Her powers had been stunted this whole time?! He ogled her a moment, then came back to himself. “You look good in white and gold. Dumb thing to wear when we’re going underground and elbow deep in corpses, though.” He moved past her and went to find breakfast, grabbing some fruit, stuffing it in his bag, and choosing a few hard-boiled eggs to eat on the way.She looked at him confused. “I… already asked if I could get it in another color. She said no.”“Sort of surprised that there isn’t some kind of magic spell to make things turn colors. Magic dye or something. Probably turn you green or something stupid.”“…Are you alright?”“Could have done with more sleep.” He shrugged. ‘And less harassment from a goddess to make you do your job.’“You don’t have to go. I’ll have other people with me this time, working as a group.”“I don’t trust them or you unsupervised.” As Kaidan reached the door and opened it, the young Dunmer woman from yesterday’s class bumped into him trying to enter at the same time as him leaving.“Oh!” Brelyna bounced off of his chest plate and blushed badly, then noticed Violet behind him and instantly shifted her attention. “Sorry! Master Tolfdir sent me to ask if you were still coming with us. He’d like everyone to travel together, as it takes a bit of time to get to the digsite, and the weather’s made visibility a bit low. We’re leaving in a few minutes.”Violet hadn’t heard a thing she’d said, as Kaidan’s mouth was running into dangerous territory. While it was fair that he didn’t trust mages (honestly, she didn’t trust these people yet either), and by extension her, she thought she’d proven herself by now. This was not going to be a one-way street. “Okay, sure. Just a minute.”She excused herself and Kaidan, before looking him over. “What’s with the stinging honesty this morning?”“There’s something wrong here.” He rubbed his face. His eyes were strangely dim and flitting around looking for something she wasn’t privy to.“Besides the Thalmor, the absence of the Archmage, the way there’s very little organization and I just sort of have to wander around until I find who I need to talk to, there’s several kinds of excessive magical energy under our feet that may or may not be malevolent, everyone seems to hate the Restoration master even though I have yet to even find her, and while yes, this is a college, this much alcohol and magic do not mix?” She pointed to the food table full of meads, ales, and wine.On top of all that. “…Let’s go before I decide to take a cart back to Windhelm and just wait until you’re done here.”She sighed and rolled her head back. “We’re not going to fucking open an Oblivion gate and summon a bunch of Daedra. They’re a bunch of apprentices who can barely use a defensive spell, I’m not that stupid (anymore), and Tolfdir seems to be sane enough. You don’t get to be that old as a mage if you’re stupid. Nothing is going to happen. If you’re really so miserable when we just fucking got here, we can handle this without you. You can stay in and sleep or relax over at the inn. Tolfdir said we’ll be back around nightfall. I’ll even bring you a souvenir. A nice ring with the draugr’s finger still in it. Maybe a helmet so the bad and scary magic can’t get to your head.”Kaidan covered his mouth, grumbled, and went back into his room. It wasn’t any of her business what he got up to, but he was being ridiculous, now. And if she had to be held upside down off of a cliff, he should have to learn how to deal with some eccentric people who knew how to, and possibly liked to, burn things. But shoving his face in it wasn’t her way, so she just gathered her things and left to go find Tolfdir’s group.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Violet found she was the last to arrive, likely from talking to Kaidan. Tolfdir, Onmund, J'zargo, and Brelyna were talking about yesterday’s lesson, so Violet decided to let them finish before walking up. They still thought they were too good for things like defensive spells and being cautious. Let's see how far that shit would get them once the draugr woke up.“Oh good! Thank you for deciding to join us, Master Starfall. Now that everyone is here, we can get going. It’s only a few hours to walk to Saarthal. I need everyone to travel together. This morning's snow is lightening up, but there’s always frost trolls and wolves on the way.” Tolfdir had a walking staff and pointed it at the college gates. The Alteration master took point since he knew the way, with the students in the center chatting amongst themselves, and Violet bringing up the rear to listen for danger. A little over an hour along, she hesitated letting them know that there was a well camouflaged frost troll watching them to make sure they didn’t get too close. The apprentices would probably be eager to use it for target practice. They safely made it past and she hoped it wouldn’t change its mind on the way back. Other than that, it was uneventful, stark, and boring enough her mind decided it was safe enough to worry more about Kaidan getting paranoid and cranky. He'd been like that since they left Azura's shrine...*The Saarthal digsite was carved deep into a rocky crevasse with wooden support walkways all leading down into a pit. Huh, Kaidan was right. Crates, tables, chests, pottery, and artifacts were just out in the open as if grave robbers weren’t an actual concern. Which made Violet bite her lip because she sure as shit was going to fill her pack again. “Alright, which way to the shinies? Maybe one will give J’zargo even more power…” The Khajiit chuckled and rubbed his hands together.And so was J’zargo. She realized she was going to have to keep an eye on him in case he picked up something attached to a trap and ran her hand over her forehead.“You can’t take anything,” Onmund said gloomily. “We shouldn’t even be doing this. My ancestors…”Violet patted Onmund on the back. “Your ancestors were dragon worshippers who are going to get up and start stabbing you in the face because they wouldn’t know you from anyone else after a few thousand years. Though they’ll probably stab Brelyna here several times because she’s an elf.”“Why would you say that?” She whimpered.“Please, Starfall, don’t scare them. Besides, we cleared out all of the draugr months ago.”“Faralda says there’s still traps, though.” Violet said. Tolfdir cleared his throat. “Yes, well, we disabled as many as we could. But everyone should take particular care in the far ends of the antechambers. Don’t touch anything with runes or animal carvings on them. Just come tell me or Arniel, who is already inside.”He unlocked the door (requiring everyone's cooperation to get the heavy doors open) and ushered everyone inside. It was similar to the other barrows. Carved stone architecture, candle-lit (‘Why are they not using better and brighter magelights?’ she thought), and crumbling to pieces. The first hallways they traversed were fine, if not a little cramped for all of them. Then the path opened up to a large cavern, and the only way down was a set of crumbling, narrow, stone pathways and creaking, sparse scaffolding. Violet pulled her hood over her face and whispered something under her breath. She couldn’t look up or she’d slip off the edge. Looking down was worse. She stared at Onmund’s back, following a little too closely, her fists curling and flexing with the urge to hold on to him. Instead, she kept a hand against whatever wall or post she could reach.‘Don’t scream, don’t slip, don’t start crying or panicking—Fuck, fuck, fuck…’ Her breathing was starting to turn labored, but the others must not have heard her. The entire time Tolfdir was droning on about the history of the site and doling out assignments.“Starfall, are you versed in enchantments? Would you like to check in with Arniel?”She'd only heard some of what he’d said, but she cleared her throat and hoped her voice wasn't cracking too badly. “I’m actually only adept at reading enchantments. Will that do?”“That will be fine. He’s in one of the inner chambers, working on cataloguing a new hallway we’ve opened up recently.”Once they reached the bottom of the antechamber, she sighed quietly and suppressed the urge to hug the ground and dirty up her robe. This place must’ve been in really bad shape because there were support struts everywhere and everything was still half buried. The only place to go was a cramped side hallway where a man at an enchanting table had his back to her. ‘Guess this is him.’“Arniel?” Violet asked as she slipped past him and looked over on the table. He had a gold ring up for study in the center. “Tolfdir asked that I should assist you today. …And keep an eye on the others.”He kept turning the ring over without looking up. “Ah, yes. You... You're going to help? That's fine. Just... Just don't make a mess of my work. I've only looked through a portion of this section. You, uh, you can look around in the chambers just north of here. Try and be careful, all right? We don't want to damage anything.”Violet shrugged and decided to explore, and if she actually found anything, all the better.The dimly lit halls didn’t look like anything special, and nearly everything had already been picked clean. Probably boxed up and sitting outside. She ran her gloved hands along the walls and watched them crumble. Seeing the dust fall to the floor led her eyes to a little glint in a pile of debris.“Here we go…” She mumbled to herself. A simple, delicate, enchanted, gold ring was uncovered and studied for a minute before being pocketed. “Mm. Weak. What else is here…”She picked around for another half hour, finding a few more pieces of junk quality jewelry before she wound up at the end of the excavation hall. A side room, barren save for underground vines, an empty coffin and throne, and a suspicious amulet hanging on a peg on the wall. The peg obviously looked like a switch. “Fffffuck.” Violet sighed heavily and slumped her shoulders. After taking a look around for what might possibly look lethal and finding nothing, she grabbed the longest stick she could find and poked the amulet until it fell off the wall, jumping away when the peg bobbed upward without the weight. The doorway behind her had a row of spears that slammed upward before she could reach it and the noise made her jerk backwards with her hands over her ears. Once she got her bearings, her earplugs went in.“At least it wasn’t the spike wall. Arniel?! Tolfdir?!” She whined loudly.Tolfdir showed up almost immediately, probably because of the noise from the gate slamming shut. “Starfall! Are you alright? Oh, my. Let’s see if we can’t get you out of there…” He immediately turned and looked for the release mechanism.Arniel didn’t move, despite being closer, which made Violet shake her head. ‘Why did I think he would notice?’“I didn’t notice a switch before I came in, and I doubt putting the amulet back will open it.” She leaned on the gate.“Still… have a look around the trap itself for anything else unusual. And maybe you can make a log to put in with the rest of the reports.” He said as he went back up the hall.And so, Violet found herself locked in a small room in a barrow, growing more annoyed by the minute. Fucking Nords. Though she supposed this was more a problem with the Atmorans, as they hadn’t had a chance to establish themselves as Nords yet before the Snow Elves decided to try and put a stop to that. Which is why she was here. She went back to the trap as Tolfdir suggested and felt around, looking for cracks, putting the amulet back, bothering the giant sarcophagus (of course it didn’t budge), trying to break the spears (they turned red-hot and warped, but not enough for her to squeeze through), and finally sitting on the broken throne and picking at the amulet. It didn’t look like any of the other jewelry she’d found and wondered how the leather cord hadn’t completely disintegrated over the ages. It was made of teeth. Teeth of what, she wasn’t sure. The damn thing looked cursed. But feeling it around in her fingers, the enchantment was actually pretty good, if not completely worthless in magnitude. She shrugged to herself and figured if it really was cursed, it could just go with the rest of her collection. The enchantment was barely a whisper through her body, but the main gold tablet piece reflected its design in the alcove where it had been hanging. It looked like a door.“Good job not trying that sooner.” She chided herself and walked up to the alcove, tracing the light. There was a weak flow of air passing through now and a distortion of light. “Now if only I knew what that design meant.”“It’s one of the ancient Atmoran symbols for ‘magic’. So I suppose that it is looking for a sign.” Tolfdir had come back, initially to tell her that he couldn’t find anything. So for her to have found something was a pleasant surprise.“Well that’s incredibly vague. Magic’s come a long way in the past couple thousand years, there’s so much— ….Oh.” She remembered what barrows were for and gave a heavy groan. “Tolfdir, if you could cover your ears for a moment.”“Whatever for?”She blinked. “Faralda didn’t tell you?”“Tell me what?”“Huh. Just… cover your ears.”The older Nord man shrugged and did as he was told, only for it to make very little difference when she used two Words of Unrelenting Force and shook up the upper half of Saarthal. He stood there staring, amongst the dust crumbling down all around him, the panicked screams of the students in the antechamber, Arniel swearing in the next room, and Violet heaving and coughing with one hand on her knee and the other sleeve blocking the thick cloud of dust. She’d blasted a door-shaped hole into a sealed off path, which, for some reason, also dropped the spear gate. It took him a few seconds to get his own voice back. “…Incredible! The ancient magic of the dragons! How?!”She simply shook her head and leaned on the wall. “Cursed.”“I see. That did look to be rather strenuous for how powerful it was. But you’ve opened up an entirely new part of the site, my girl! Who knows if the college would have been able to open that without you. The amulet and seal alone will be worth a year of research.” Tolfdir said as he squeezed past her to look down the new path.“Maybe… later…” Violet wheezed. The tiny, cramped passage led to a small chamber with two sarcophagi and a podium.“Aww ffffuu…” She made a sort of half-hearted effort not to swear in front of the kindly old professor. “Fffound some draugr.”“Can’t say I’m pleased about this myself. But they haven’t moved yet, so we might have a few seconds to prepare.” He said and turned his skin to iron.Just as she was about to do the same, the air became heavy and what dim light there was from Tolfdir's magelight lost all color. It was as if something horrible was happening in slow motion, except the only thing that did happen, was that a man appeared. He was ghostly and dressed in a mage’s coat that she’d never seen before. But he wasn’t an Atmoran (supposing they looked mostly Nordic), so something else was going on.“Hold, and listen well.”Well she’d have to; she was frozen to the spot by whatever this spell was. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, either. She tried to check over with Tolfdir only to find he was completely frozen solid with no reaction.“Here we fucking go. I hate barrows!” She didn’t bother hiding her annoyance since she couldn’t even smack her palm to her forehead. “Gods damn it!”“Know that you have set in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped. Judgement has not been passed, as you had no way of knowing. Judgement will be passed on your actions to come, and how you deal with the dangers ahead of you.” The apparition warned her.“Ah, great. What’s down here that’s just as bad as Alduin and will kill us all?” She grumbled.He kept going without even acknowledging her. “This warning is passed to you because the Psijic Order believes in you. You, and you alone, have the potential to prevent disaster. Take great care, and know that the Order is watching.”“That was incredibly vague and unhelpful… Is this something recorded long ago and placed as a ward? And only me? Is this because I’m Dragonborn? This better not be tied to that. Oh gods, please don’t be tied to that.”The man vanished without even saying goodbye. Mm-hmm. Ancient ward seal, and she broke it. Fuck. Shouldn’t that have gone outside of the tomb?! And it was by the Psijic Order. She’d only learned a little about them in history class, and what she’d learned about them was that even staying out of politics, all they ever did was complicate matters or make them worse. Just as quickly as the world had stopped, it all jumped back to normal. Tolfdir beside her looked around startled.“Did you feel something just now?”“My sense of dread hitting the ceiling. We have to get out of here now and reseal this place.” She grabbed his wrist and turned back the way they came.“Whatever for? What’s happened?” Tolfdir was even more confused now as to him, she had simply paused for a second and was now anxious and upset.“The Psijic Order. They left a message ward and I activated it like a ffff…ool. I don’t want anything to do with whatever they’ve got down here.”He stopped and resisted her retreat. “The Psijic Order?! Are you quite sure about that? That's very odd. The Psijics have no connection to these ruins, and no one's seen any of their order in a long time.”“I know. Which is why if they’re watching me now, they should know now that I do not have the time or inclination to—”The two sarcophagi at the opposite sides of the room fell open and two draugr stumbled out. Her skin was still hardening to iron when one’s rusty axe smacked her in the face and sideways into a wall. Tolfdir quickly blew it up with a fireball to buy her a second to recover, and dodged the one coming for him.‘I should have made Kaidan come. He couldn’t possibly be any angrier than I am right now. But then we both don’t need to be down here snapping at each other, again.’ She turned to get her bearings and electrocuted the one swinging at Tolfdir.“Fascinating! I really must bring Phinis back here later so he can research the inner workings of these draugr.” He stared down at the two smoking corpses. “This one was protecting the way forward, as well. Look at the giant chamber through here! Come, Starfall! You must unravel this mystery with me!”She wanted to swear. Instead, she spoke slowly and loudly. “Tolfdir, please. Did you not hear the part where I said the Psijic Order was watching? They can watch me walk away from whatever nonsense is about to happen, just like they walked away from the whole world ages ago. Besides, your students are now in serious danger, and I do not want to be responsible in any way for them dying to a swarm of draugr, or traps, or ancient apocalyptic relics.”Tolfdir rubbed his beard. “True… True. I’ll just run back for a minute, tell them the lesson’s over, and send them back to the college with Arniel. You absolutely must press on, though. If the Psijic Order has sent you a vision and revealed themselves after all this time, that means that you truly must be worthy! Of what, can only be found deeper into the tombs. Once I’ve seen the others to safety, I’ll catch up with you.” And he jogged back the way they’d come.‘Ugh. Worthy.’ Then she looked around. She was by herself. In a tomb. Full of monsters. And looking into the next room, there were twelve sarcophagi already waiting to pop open and an entire horde of leathery jackasses would try to chop her to bits. “FUCK!”“I heard that!” Tolfdir called down the hallway.*“Well. No Kaidan. No Tolfdir.” She stared into the next room. “Accomplished master of varying arcane arts. Dragonborn, for whatever that’s worth. They probably won’t instantly die if I bleed dragon’s blood all over them. They will die if I shout at them. But I don’t want to do that.” She touched her face as if somehow it had gone somewhere. It was still made of iron. She had her pack in case she found anything good, plenty of water, a full set of potions, a new journal, and her robes were already picking up every speck of dust. “A little rusty…. Okay, a lot rusty on physical combat. That’s what Kai was for. Ugh, I can hear him now.”She mocked his accent and dropped her voice a couple octaves. “Y’ wouldn’t be, if y’d just trehned wið me like Aye asked y’ to.”She paused and really wished he was there to tell her to quit stalling and being a dumbass. “Okay. So. Last one wasn’t a complete disaster. Not defeated, but could have gone better. But I can take my time, now. No rules. …Except that everything in here dies. No need for the truce. Oh fuck, what if there’s spiders?”She quickly cast both Detect Life and Death spells in hopes of seeing what she’d be dealing with. Draugr. Obviously. Nothing came up alive except for the human shaped flames above and behind her, getting further away. Tolfdir telling everyone to pack up and go. She came here on the assumption she wouldn’t be left alone. But being honest with herself, the draugr weren’t particularly threatening, just creepy, smelly, and angry. They burned like paper. Their brains were probably so shriveled they could be lured into traps. They weren’t slow, but she could easily slow them down by crippling them, or just flat out killing them before they got to her. Only the one in Bleak Falls who knew how to use the Voice was a problem, and whatever happened… Kaidan…She slapped her cheeks a few times, readied enough white-hot fire that it looked like giant water lilies were growing from her hands, and went in.She was not counting on the gate locking behind her. But at least all the coffins didn’t open at once! That was something! Four monsters stumbled out, raised their axes and went right for her. The closest two caught the fire lilies to the face and found themselves without heads in seconds. The two behind them weren’t deterred in the slightest, but did slow down from being engulfed in normal flames until the only thing that reached her were two charred skeletons. …That was so much easier than trying not to scare Kaidan witless. She could do this.At the opposite side of the room, the door was double barred, but she felt out two ring pulleys to open them. The barrow couldn’t have been this small, so this must have been Saarthal proper. Pulling on each one opened all of the gates, including allowing her to go back if she needed. But she didn’t. Tolfdir said he'd come back for her, though.“Let’s see what ruin I’ve brought on myself, this time.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Stepping down into Saarthal proper, Violet was instantly greeted with the whispering of the memorial wall. Lovely. She hadn’t quite thought about how to navigate a wall by herself if it had a guardian (and it seemed all of them did), but since these tombs were built to intern entire cults, she’d have a little time to come up with something. But there was something else down here: a low, constant hum. Something akin to if she were to jump into a magicka well. She couldn’t decide if it was unpleasant or not, yet. That Psijic mage did say as much. The antechamber was empty and undisturbed though, which gave her another chance to gather herself. She just had to be a little more careful about the traps. Her vision was slowly coming back now, it was just that details were blurry. A raised runed rock on the floor or those animal puzzles shouldn’t be much of a problem. As long as she didn’t have to read any ancient, time-ruined texts, she’d be fine. Maybe hold off on testing the turn undead spell again until her eyes were completely healed. Fire’s good and reliable enough, but blades are fast and silent. She already knew there were a few draugr in the next room, so she readied her armor and spear and snuck in, hoping she could catch them sleeping and kill them before they woke up. Two sealed sarcophagi were on either side of her, and one draugr slept out in the open ahead of her. She couldn’t open the heavy stone lids without waking them up, so the one ahead of her had to go first. Maybe she could kill it quietly and bypass the other two entirely. She went up to it and slashed her spear across its neck so its head was instantly separated from its body. It worked and died instantly, but the head rolled off and tumbled to the floor while she held the body against the wall. That one little thump was enough to wake the other two, anyway.“Really?” She quietly groaned and turned around as the two lids clattered open and crashed onto the floor. She heard yet another growl far around the corner above her coming to investigate all the extra noise. “Okay, that’s not fuckin’ fair.”She was now trapped between the three and performed the same trick in the previous room with the fire lilies until there were three more terrible smelling, charred skeletons on the ground. She’d just picked the sooty funerary tokens off their corpses and was headed around the corner, when fast moving heat crackled under her foot. She gasped and tried to jump backwards, except that had made it worse; her aetheric shield appeared under her feet to block what she thought was a fire jet, but instead it was an explosion. The fire ward launched her up and several feet backwards until she landed hard on her back amid the skeletons. Her right arm got a shot of ice-cold steel as a secondary shock; thank … fuck the sword she landed on was flat against the floor instead of tilted edge up.Violet lay there, shaken to the core, for several horrified minutes. Her entire body felt like a broken doll’s and she swore she heard something break in her pack. Again. The air had been knocked out of her lungs and the sense out of her head. She slowly came to realize that she’d set off a trap that nearly blew her damn legs and arm off. She couldn’t see it because she couldn’t see the threads of a ward on the floor. She shakily raised her arm and drew a short fire thread between her fingers to see if she really couldn’t see it, or if she was just careless and stupid. The thread was too dim and fine for her to really make it out, even a few inches from her face. Knowing did not help either way, other than to point out that her sight wasn't healing as fast as she thought it was. Maybe she should’ve gone back and gotten Kaidan or even Tolfdir to be her guide. That suddenly hurt just as much, feeling like she couldn’t do it alone. The Psijic Order was watching (and probably laughing; she sure would’ve laughed if she could’ve seen herself flying backwards through the air). Both the physical and mental hurt turned to rage, determination, and spite. Divine cursed demi-mortals don’t cry. …Shut the fuck up, Kaidan. She creakily sat up and healed herself with all the magicka she could spare, drank water and restoratives from her pack to regain it and her head about her, poured out four broken potion bottles, and cracked her back and shoulders. Time to be an actual master of life and death; there were far too many people and evidently gods depending on her to die by stupid and simple traps. Slow. Deliberate. Methodical.Fuck everyone involved in this five-thousand-year catastrophe in the making, including herself for caring about all this but being too stubborn, simple-headed, and doom-driven to give in to the fact that she was most likely not going to succeed at the end.*If she couldn’t see as well as she thought, and she wasn’t going to go back for help, she’d just have to create her own. At Elinhir, a lot of mages (mostly the elven and Breton ones) had familiars. Some of them were physical, enchanted animals, and others were aethereal summons. She vaguely knew how to summon an animal, but never did because technically, summoned familiars were Daedric in nature, though not remotely as dangerous as actual Daedra or atronachs. Plus, she didn’t have the mental and physical space for a pet or companion; she could barely keep up with her studies when she was starting out, and for several years she lived in a cramped little room even smaller than the ones at Winterhold. Then there was the fact that canines were not her friends. Though she could probably make them another shape if she tried hard enough.She could also maim a Daedric Prince, go back and forth between Oblivion and Mundus, and reform physical matter if she tried hard enough. ...But not make all this go away. Anyway.No one was watching. No one had to know. She didn’t need much, just extra eyes. Familiars were one of the first creatures baby conjurers could summon. She pointed at the ground in front of her with both hands, pulled energy from Oblivion through herself, but instead of a big, ugly, slavering dire wolf, a pair of ghostly birds only a little shorter than she was flapped into existence. She briefly wondered if making them that shape was a good idea. One, touching Daedric summons was generally not something one was supposed to do, because there were certain rules unless you wanted to lose control of them. Hopefully her memory imprint didn’t include them demanding to be pet and scritched. Two, if (when) they ran into a trap or monster and died, she knew she’d feel guilty and awful even though they weren’t actually her babies. Too late now.They chattered that familiar clacking noise with their beaks and ran around her. She felt just a little bit better, and a lot of homesick. “Find a door forward.” Familiars needed simple commands, and she needed to not get distracted by touching and contemplating everything.The two birds skittered up the creaky, wooden ramp and split up at the top, one going left and the other going right. She could easily tell the difference between them and when they both returned, the one that had gone left clacked excitedly that it had found something.“Béynu.” She almost found herself petting it. Don’t ever show gratitude, give your real name to, accept gifts from, or make deals with Daedra. Idiot.Violet followed Béynu up the ramp, where it led her to a door with a chest likely belonging to the draugr that had run around the corner earlier, and several bits of junk around it. She helped herself to all the treasure.“Almost have enough gems to start a collection.” Violet held the ruby up to the candlelight, making little red lights sparkle against her already filthy robes. It was going to be a lot of annoying work trying to get it clean. She should have bought the Destruction master robes, except they were expensive, and she didn’t like the red and gold. Necromancers probably had it right in wearing all black, cliché as it was.Pulling open the iron door made a horrible amount of noise, and she was surprised after seeing the dozens of tomb shelves that none of the draugr woke up. Even though there were candles, there weren’t enough of them, and it was hard trying to trust the familiars to not lead her into a trap because she didn’t give them clear enough instructions. She didn’t dare send a magelight in, someone would notice it immediately. She paced in the doorway for her options. It was going to have to be strategic since she realized she couldn’t sneak anymore. Her familiars didn’t understand what stealth was, and they were going to stir up everything they passed. They were pacing right along with her and waiting for her next directions.“Nabé. That undead. Bring it here.” The mage whispered, marked the one she wanted by bringing up her bow, and shot the nearest draugr in the throat with a fire arrow so it couldn’t call for help. The monster flailed in surprise, and on trying to climb out of its shelf, was pulled the rest of the way out by the surprisingly strong bird creature and dragged towards the door. Violet decapitated it. One down, more to go.It turned out there were far fewer draugr than the room suggested. Nearly everyone else in the tomb had actually died and decomposed. The last draugr waiting for her died when Béynu ran over a runestone on the floor trying to lure it back up the hallway to her. Dozens of needles tore the draugr to shreds and made the bird screech, fizzle out, and disappear. The mage growled at herself for letting it happen, but that was what they were summoned to do…*All Kaidan knew was that the “field trip” that Starfall had gone on was going to be over at sundown, so he had plenty of time to stew and overthink that damned recurring dream over a couple of ales. But when Onmund, J’zargo, and Brelyna all streamed into The Frozen Hearth chattering loudly and anxiously sometime after midday, and without Tolfdir or Starfall, he growled to himself and nearly crushed the bottle in his hand.Onmund saw him first and tried to avoid him. “Oh! Uh…you… erm.”“Kaidan.” He grunted. Not that he had told them his name in the first place.Brelyna was far less wary and more curious. “Kaidan. Um… how do I put this…? Just what sort of mage is Master Violet?”“An alchemist, healer, and ice mage. Why?” Kaidan raised his eyebrow.“Because that one screamed something terrible and nearly brought down Saarthal on top of us.” J’zargo leered at him. “J’zargo wishes to know where one gets such powerful magic.”‘I knew it, I bloody knew it.’ Kaidan ignored the question and turned to Onmund. “Where is she now? Where is Tolfdir?”“After she shouted, Master Tolfdir came running from the tunnels, told everyone to leave immediately, and then locked us out. I think they found something down there, but he wouldn’t say. I swear I heard something else down there just after she shouted and before Tolfdir came and got us. …Are the stories about draugr real?” Onmund asked nervously.“Yes. Is there any way to go there and get Tolfdir to open the door?” Kaidan was already on his feet and moving towards the exit.He shook his head. “If he went back down into the tunnels, no. Once we were inside, we couldn’t hear anything on the outside. And the door itself is heavy bronze and iron. It took me, J’zargo, and Violet to get them open. If they could withstand an army of elves and several thousand years, there’s no point in one person trying to open it.”“Does anyone else at the college have a key?!” He was starting to lose his patience. How could mages be so powerful and still so stupid?!Onmund stumbled over his words. “You could try asking Master Ervine or Archmage Aren, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen either of them even go—” “What on Nirn is all that racket? I’m trying to study back here.” An Altmer man in ratty grey mage robes leaned out of his room beside them.“Ahhh, Nelacar!” J’zargo turned his attention towards him and started rooting through his pack. “This one has the star book you asked for. You were right, the Orc is all bark and no bite.”“Keep it down, Khajiit.” Nelacar chided him. “And thank you for the book. Come back later for the gems.”‘And now the elven mage in Winterhold studying stars. One thing at a time.’ Kaidan paced nervously for a moment trying to figure out how he could get into Saarthal. He knew full well he shouldn’t have let her go alone, but just being near her right now…“With that sort of magic, Outlander, she can probably take care of herself. And she has Master Tolfdir. He obviously went back for her. Next to Master Mirabelle and soon to be J’zargo, he’s the best at magic at the college. No need for this one to worry himself sick.” J’zargo waved him off.“Though whatever it is that they found, it kind of made me feel sick going down there. Did any of you feel it?” Brelyna rubbed her arms.J’zargo shook his head, while Onmund could only shrug.“Nothing other than the general unease of going into a sacred place we’re not supposed to be because it was the site of bloody and confusing battle ending with some kind of genocide.” The young Nord mumbled.“Here he goes…” The Khajiiti man sighed. “This one is going to get pie and go back to studying. The pie does not complain of everything that came before it, or that J’zargo is eating it.”Brelyna giggled under her breath while Onmund gave her an ugly glare. Kaidan shook his head and tried to calm himself down, finishing his ale on the way out. Maybe he could go find Mirabelle and see if she had a key, or at least ask someone what the college had found down there so far…*A small mage and a large bird stood at the end of a long hallway. The bird didn’t really care about where it was and milled around on tall, spindly legs, while the mage tried to make a few notes in her journal. The room was lined with three different kinds of alcoves. One for upright corpses. One for those lying down. And separating them, three sets of two animal totems across from each other. It wasn’t that the totem puzzles were difficult; they were anything but. It was that they wasted time and insulted her intelligence (‘These places were created for thu’um users, right? Powerful, and hopefully with more than two grains in their hourglass?’). She wanted to go; the chanting was starting to ramp up, which meant there wasn’t far to go. This barrow was rather short compared to the last two, at least. But wasn’t this supposed to be an entire city? Or was that all above but still buried under thousands of tons of ice and snow?Violet quickly studied each alcove for clues, wrote everything down, turned the pillars until they matched (‘a whale… I wonder if any come close enough to the college that I might see one?’), and watched the gate rattle open. The path led around and down into a large room with a high ledge overlooking where she’d just entered. A draugr woman happened to be above her and growled in annoyance at being awakened. This big empty room with only one draugr in it? What was this place for? “Nabé. Kill her.”As soon as the bird ran up to the undead warrior, she swung her greatsword into the bird’s face. It caught the sword in its beak and twisted its long neck in such a way that she struggled not to be disarmed. An ice spear jammed into her throat just as she opened her mouth to shout at it.“No.” Violet continued to use her remaining familiar as a distraction. ‘There are a lot of thu’um users in these places. But so few living ones out in the world. Just as well.’ This one seemed to be slightly more resistant to fire, or at least resilient. While the draugr struggled with the familiar, she didn’t see Starfall laying down her own trap. Fireballs and large spears pushed and pulled the draugr to maneuver it over her fire ward, giving the monster the same explosive treatment. It landed face first on the ground in front of Starfall, who was waiting with bright flames pouring from her hands. The draugr’s ancient grey flesh and hair finally went up after a few seconds, while her armor turned red hot.“I know some of you assholes have magic, but you shouldn’t be this difficult to kill.” Violet grumbled. If there were any more like this (and there probably were), they might have to get a face full of light, anyway. She quickly scoured the place thinking such a large room was full of treasure, but it turned out there really wasn’t much. She grumbled all the way through to the next room, nearly lost her familiar to a series of storm runes (the familiar was badly hurt, though she couldn’t heal it and figured the next good strike to it would kill it), and was surprised it was the Hall of Stories like in Bleak Falls.“Wait, I don’t have a key for this one. I wonder if Tolfdir has it.” But as she got to the other end of the hall, she found yet another one of those stupid totem puzzles instead of a dial door. “Eugh.”She studied the puzzle for a few seconds and started to turn the pillars, but when turning one turned all of the others, she rolled her eyes. ‘At least this one’s a proper puzzle.’ A few more minutes in her book, and several minutes thinking she had it but the bird stepping on one of the pillars reset it, she pulled the lever and covered her ears. Before she could go to the memorial room, she felt the floor rumble with heavy footsteps.‘Did something follow me down here?!’ She sent Nabé scouting back down the hall behind her, and on reaching the other end of the Hall of Stories, a giant ice atronach lumbered up to it and swatted it out of the way. “My familiar!”Violet gave herself a fire shield and lily and was about to throw it when Tolfdir came from behind the atronach. “Hold on, my girl! Don’t fire! Heh, fire, ahem. Sorry it took me so long to return! This is years of research, but I figured it was a good time to catch up with you.”‘Yes, after I’ve done all the work.’ Violet rolled her eyes. “Well, I suppose it’s good you’re here. There’s a problem.”“Whatever’s the matter?”“You can’t hear it, but there’s a lot of… things nearby. One is an ancient memorial wall. It’s got some kind of spell on it where it takes over my head and screams at me until I go and read it. It’s loud, and painful, and I can’t really stop it.”“Oh dear.”“The other problem, and I don’t know if you can hear or feel it, is that there is something very powerful nearby. It feels like—”“—Having a storm atronach hug you while you’re on skooma. Yes, I feel it. I have to say it’s not very pleasant.” Tolfdir mumbled while scratching his beard.‘Wow, that was exactly it. And that was a strangely specific description…’ She shook her head to bring herself back. “I don’t suppose you went back for help in all the hours you’ve been gone? Maybe sent a message with the students?”“Well, I locked the door after them. So even if they did tell anyone, they wouldn’t be able to get in. We’ll be fine, Starfall.”“There’s usually a draugr, or several, guarding the memorial. They can use the same Draconic magic that I can, which makes them extremely dangerous. I can’t really fight it because I’m too busy being entranced by the wall. Kaidan usually did the fighting. It takes a few minutes for me to read the wall. You’re going to need everything in that defense and safety class.”“Well! I’m still a competent mage in my old age, and my atronach here makes a perfectly good shield.” Tolfdir assured her, as he turned his skin to ebony. And without a potion, which impressed Starfall somewhat.“Just be ready for everything to go wrong. Things usually do, because that seems to be part of my curse.” Violet sighed and plugged her ears as best she could, drank what potions hadn’t been broken earlier, and prepared her weapons.Passing through the gate was a small, cramped, and trapped hallway that Violet easily avoided, though she did take the book from the strangely placed table in the corner, and watched as Tolfdir’s giant atronach nearly set off the trap and filled him full of needles. Violet was thoroughly ill now when they passed into the main chamber and everything was glowing blue as if they were underwater.“…What the fuck is that.” She stared down at a giant, glowing, spinning, buzzing orb taking up most of the room.It lazily floated over a plate made of the same material with runes carved into it. She couldn’t tell which energy invading her body was worse, the chanting, the buzzing, or the radiant energy of the orb. The wall wasn’t in this room; there wasn’t enough space with the orb in it. It had to be in the next room, which was incredibly bad in itself. It was already clawing all over her mind and damn if this didn’t look like a room that would take a long time to go over.Tolfdir decided to ignore her language. “Well… would you look at that.”“I am and I hate it.”“I was not expecting to find anything like this today! This is obviously magical in nature, so why would it be buried under Saarthal?”“Hypothesis later, please. I have to get out of here. Or stop that thing.”She took three steps into the room and directly below her, sitting on a throne, the Lord of Saarthal looked up at her and glared. Violet immediately dumped a lot of white-hot fire on his head.The artifact extended its light to him, creating a shield. He shrugged off the fire and marched up the right ramp towards them.“And there’s everything going wrong.” Violet quickly set up a wall of ice spears to slow it down.“That’s worrying. Keep it busy. I'll try to drain some of its power.” He spoke more to his atronach than to Starfall, leaving the ice creature to run down the left ramp and up the other side while he confronted the menacing orb.The draugr lord burned away at her ice wall easily and shrugged off the atronach punching him in the back. He raised his hand at her and summoned flashes of lightning down on her head. “Qiilaan us dilon!” ‘Any time now, Tolfdir!’ She threw up another wall and turned the floor into an ice slick, only for his own fire shield to melt the ice under his feet and the spears in front of him. Since destruction magic wasn’t working, she summoned her bow and put several arrows through his face, which only made the draugr angrier. It also made his aetheric shield jump over to her and eat through her own. “Die already, you cheating fuck!” Her scream of frustration rattled around in her head, making her swoon. ‘Bad idea. No more screaming.’Tolfdir nearly lost himself staring at the soft blue glow and hypnotizing hum until Starfall screaming at the draugr woke him up. “Oh! Hm. Let’s see here. I’ve never seen these runes before in any of my studies. It’s putting out an incredible amount of radiant magicka. It’s protecting that draugr for some reason. This plate seems to be holding it in place. I… I’ve got nothing. …Well, here goes nothing!”The old mage focused all of his energy into the storm element, pouring flashing lightning into the orb. The whole room strobed white and blue for several seconds, which didn’t do poor Violet’s already screaming headache any favors. But the orb dropped its shield protecting the draugr, and with several arrows through its head already, it slowed down and dropped to one knee. “Tolfdir, cover your eyes!”Violet ran up to the monster, covered her own eyes with her sleeve, put her other palm between the arrows and over his face, and pulsed concentrated arcane light directly into him. Her enchanted robes amplifying her Restorative magic plus her focusing nearly all of her magicka into this one spell blanked out the entire room in painful white light. The draugr disintegrated into a pile of ash all at once, and she heard several piles clattering and crumbling around the room still in their sarcophagi. Again, far too high of a magnitude, but at least she didn’t completely blind herself again.“What in the literal blazes was that?! Is it safe to look?” Tolfdir called up to her.“Yeah… Still trying to figure out the best dose of light to kill an undead. I’m more of a healer than a monster slayer.”“I… see. Sort of. A lot of stars here and there.” He rubbed his eyes.“Sorry. Also sorry for leaving you, but if I don’t find the wall nearby, I’m going to be sick, or maybe try to cut off my own head.” She stumbled down the ramp and leaned against the wall. Once she was on the ground floor of the room, she could see a small door behind the orb. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, I hope.”‘Fucking please, please, please don’t let there be anything else down here…’ She stumbled past the artifact, seeing small glittering sparks and motes of pure magic dance around her as she sidled around it. Being directly under it was so unnerving and she thought she really was going to be sick…At least her prayers were answered for once. The memorial wall sat at the back of yet another large room, this one overgrown with plants and flowers flourishing under a skylight. Fresh, freezing air poured down into the warm cave, covering the ground with mist. She could still see the familiar lights reaching out to her. She stumbled down the ramp and almost tripped on all the vines and roots sticking out of the ground. Hopefully Tolfdir was still studying that stupid ball and not watching her fumble around. Not that this next part wouldn’t wake him up.“HET NOK KOPRAAN DO
IGLIF IIZ-SOS WO GRIND OK OBLAAN
NI KO MOROKEI VUKEIN NUZ AHST
MUNAX HAALVUT DO LIIV KRASAAR.”Ice. IIZ. More ice. The kind of creeping cold that slowly sucked the heat and life from your core.Tolfdir was shocked from his second trance in studying the artifact by Starfall’s booming voice echoing from the next room and all over the main chamber. “Master Starfall?!”He went into the next room to see her on her hands and knees in a puddle of her own blood, panting and coughing for air. More ancient words of power that had not been heard for thousands of years. There were just too many amazing finds today!Starfall finally unstuck herself and sat on a chest of offerings and burial treasure. Well, these robes were already done in less than twenty-four hours…‘Please don’t ask about that.’“What was that?!” Tolfdir asked, his voice shaking.‘Fuck.’ She closed her eyes and tried not to sound too raspy. “My curse. All those old Nord legends about someone being born with the blood and soul of a dragon. Those things don’t belong in a broken little mortal. This is so dangerous and horrible and I hate it. I didn’t come here to show off. I didn’t know any of this was down here. I was hoping it wasn’t. I came to the college to see if there was a way to free me from this. If anyone asks, I just studied with the Greybeards, same as Ulfric Stormcloak, understand? In fact, none of this happened. Please!”Tolfdir merely stood in the doorway, studying her for several agonizing seconds. He finally agreed and nodded.“Thank you.” She took another deep breath and started collecting herself and anything that looked valuable.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
With the memorial wall no longer taking over Violet’s thoughts, the only thing left was the artifact. Every time she went near it, the deep buzzing ran up and down her spine and gave her the shivers. She preferred to stay on the other side of the room inspecting all of the treasure she’d collected. Some of the more interesting things were the amulet, staff, and writ of sealing found in the draugr lord’s possession. Evidently his name was Jyrik Gaulderson and he had been locked down there for being a criminal. Did whoever locked him down here know that there was a powerful artifact, or did they just push him through the front door and lock it again? She held the piece of paper at varying distances trying to make out the old text. It was written in an older version of Nordic, which in itself was hard to read because she barely knew any Nordic other than what was attached to Draconic. And it was in poetic verse. Ugh.“Be bound here, Jyrik, murderer, betrayer
Condemned by your crimes against realm and lord.
May your name and your deeds be forgotten forever
And the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward.”“Here’s another ‘fascinating find’ for you, Tolfdir. This pile of ashes was locked down here as a punishment. But whoever threw him down here couldn’t have known about the artifact or else it wouldn’t still be here. So this ‘Jyrik’ made his way past all the other traps and undead, found this thing, and either decided to guard it, or just rotted down here so long that the orb ‘latched onto him’ from proximity.” Starfall sat among her pile of treasure, writing in her book. Despite the pain she was in from the artifact and fighting, she’d calmed down considerably now that everything was dead and she could actually be an honest to gods scholar in relative peace.“Fascinating, indeed. But I think maybe it would be a little easier to do that at a desk back at the college?” Tolfdir stood behind her, looking over her shoulder.“It’s easier to write things down as they come to me, else I’ll forget. The hours long walk back would give me time to think things over, but it’s sort of difficult to write while walking. And it’s probably getting dark out. And there were ice trolls out there. …I probably should have warned the adepts about that earlier.” She thought about the students getting surprised in the dark by the one watching them on the way over and someone (probably Onmund) panicking while trying to kill it.“Be that as it may, we’ve well run over the time that I had expected us to be here, and I’m sure you could use the rest and healing? I’m surprised you haven’t said something about the burns.” He pointed to her arms.She looked down surprised that there were tiny fractal trees of char down her sleeves under all the caked dust and blood. She had her aethereal shield eating up almost all of the damage, but she guessed a few small bolts had crackled through when she’d reached through his shield.“Oh! Huh.” She rolled her sleeves up and there were barely visible little welts in the same pattern. “I thought I was just sore from using a bow that was too large and heavy for me.”“But then there’s the other problem. How in the blazes are we going to get that thing out of here?” He rubbed his chin and beard.Violet looked up wide-eyed. “What?”“We can’t simply leave it here! This is the find of the era!”She quickly shook her head. “Tolfdir, no. You have the key to this place. You can just lock the door after us, and the college can argue and committee to their hearts’ delight on whether or not to come get it later. And you know damn well the second that thing shows up at the college, Ancano’s going to attempt to confiscate it.”“You have a point, there. But it’s easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission.” The old mage winked at her.‘Oh gods, and here I told Kaidan that Tolfdir looked like the one with sense.’ Evidently the worry was plain on Violet’s face because Tolfdir patted her on the back.“Oh, don’t look at me like you’ve never taken a risk in your life. Sounds like being Dragonborn would be a lot more difficult, otherwise. Help me get it out of here, and I’ll look past the fact that all of the things in your pack are technically college property.” He waggled his eyebrows.Violet covered her face with both hands and groaned loudly into them. Change the subject. “That feeling we’re feeling right now from that thing? You want to subject everyone to the college to that for what could possibly be long term? What if it’s dangerous and that awful feeling is radiant aetheric energy slowly eating away at us?”“Wards.” He was already walking back down the ramp, eyeing it for something.Shit. Uhh… “What about the pedestal? I feel like maybe we shouldn’t just take the orb without it. Maybe it’s part of a set. What if the pedestal is what’s keeping it stable?”“Again, wards. Besides, we can always send a team to dig it up, if necessary. Now, the two options I’ve come up with are, we can either shrink it down and carry it out, or we can teleport it directly into the Hall of the Elements, as that’s the largest space we have that’s not out in the open. I have coordinates for the college, but I’m still going to have to do some numbers, here…” Tolfdir said as he pulled some charcoal out of his robe pocket and started drawing equations, measurements, and coordinates directly on the wall next to the orb.‘Oh fuck, he really wants to do this…’ Violet thought about all the ways the Psijic Order would blame her for not stopping him somehow. “Tolfdir, don’t. Please. The Psijic Order said that this thing could cascade into at least one disaster, and I have too much going on already to have to deal—”“There we go.” He double checked his work, burned it off the wall to cover the evidence, then started walking around the orb with a pale green thread trailing from his fingers. Several Grand soul gems were planted around it and pointed inward. “Be a dear and come help me. Hate to admit it, but I’m not as spry as I used to be and could use a little extra magicka behind me. You do know how to teleport, boost, and assist, yes?”Dwarven cogs started turning. Part of the whole ‘You can’t leave’ bit that her council of elders had placed on her probation was that she was absolutely forbidden from learning any methods of teleportation (and several other things), to at least slow her down if she ran off and did something stupid (like all of this). Someone with authority, permission, and a witness could make a portal for her. Taking it could only move her around the approved spaces (home, town, college, and elsewhere with permission). She could not do it herself. They didn’t say what would happen if she did or tried. Considering she got away with Dremora summoning with only a lot of pain and nausea (and really, that was probably the Hunger), probably not much. Sanguine had approved a portal for her, she had his permission, and Kaidan was a ‘witness’. Oblivion was nowhere, and thus technically an approved space. Tolfdir was creating the portal, was an authority, she had his permission and asked for her help…Now she could tell on herself and be good. It would stop him from moving this thing for a while. But he was about to teach her a master level spell for free because he was too excited to see the long-term consequences. She immediately realized the irony.Good was long gone with a third of Dragonstar.She threw her hands up in exasperation. “Fine. Show me how it goes. I obviously can’t talk you out of this. I have the potions and know how to boost and assist, but I’m not an Alteration master. I am, however, a quick learner. …Of a sort. And I’d have to see the coordinates.”Tolfdir winced. “I’m not supposed to give you those. Safety issue, you understand.”“How am I supposed to move this thing if I can’t calculate where I’m going? Also, I’m starting to realize what you mean about getting back to the college so I can rest...” She’d been using large amounts of magicka and drinking her potion supply all day, and was out of water after her fight with Jyrik.“I’ll be quick then. And hopefully we both still have enough magicka that we won’t end up stuck in a wall or on top of someone.” He chuckled. “So here’s how it goes…”‘Why are you so good-natured about all this?!’ She wondered if this was really worth it as she brought her book back out and started furiously scratching notes.*“What do you mean, you don’t have the key?!” Kaidan was trying his best not to shout. He’d only done it once when he first came in shouting for Mirabelle, and it echoed horribly around the Hall of Elements, making her jump up from her work and everyone practicing stop and stare at him.“The Archmage has it. And he’s currently in a meeting with Ancano.” Mirabelle nearly spat the name.“Then how is anyone supposed to get into Saarthal when there’s an emergency? And this is an emergency.” He stopped short of saying leaving Starfall to her own machinations in a dangerous environment was the worst idea ever, but that would be admitting that he’d done something equally stupid in not shutting up and going that morning.“I realize things might have taken a turn if Tolfdir had to send the students back here, but it’s barely sundown. Also, even if I did have the keys, it’s not as if I’d simply hand them to you; you’ve only been here for a day. No offense.”He growled and started pacing again. There was no point in going down there in the deep, blowing snow and setting sun to bang on the door hoping one of them heard him.Mirabelle studied him for a moment. “You seem far more concerned about this than a normal bodyguard would be, considering she’s likely a lot more powerful than you.”“That’s the problem. I’m not a normal bodyguard. She’s not normal, either. None of this is normal.” He grumbled. Saying that out loud did not feel right. More admitting that he’d made yet another mistake.Her eyebrow went up. “I shan’t press. But as soon as the meeting is done with, I’ll ask… what on Nirn?”A large circle of green ward threads started drawing itself around the magicka font beside them and under their feet.“Oh dear, that’s a teleport ward. Move to the vestibule quickly, please. The only ones who know the coordinates are the Archmage, myself, and a few of the masters, and it’s not to be used unless it’s an emergency. And considering everyone is here but Masters Tolfdir and Violet… they must have found something down there. It had better be good to risk this.”Kaidan and Mirabelle retreated back towards the front door and watched as bright threads similar to Starfall’s fire and ice wards slowly drew circles, arcs, runes, and lines all around the well. Mirabelle read the runes and leylines as they rotated.“Hmm. It’s from relatively close, which Saarthal is. The circles are more than large enough for two people, so there’s something else. And it’s got a containment ward built into it.”“What’s a containment ward?” He asked nervously.“It’s for if something is dangerous, unstable, or powerful. It keeps the thing from either escaping or affecting anything around it. And it’s the sort of thing that’s going to alert the Archmage that something's happened to the college and send him in running.” Mirabelle replied. “At least we don’t need to go get the key, now.”“Gods damn it, Starfall.” He smacked his forehead.As if cursing her worked for summoning her, she, Tolfdir, and a giant, spinning, glowing ball flashed into view, nearly blinding them. She and Tolfdir were holding the ball from opposite sides, and the containment ward made a bright, clear-blue wall around them. Even with it, Mirabelle swooned and took a step back and Kaidan leaned against the open gate, trying to push his stomach back down. “Okay, now pull your magicka away from it, and leave the ward slowly. Easy does it…” Tolfdir tried to lean over to see if Starfall was still with him on the other side.Starfall was too deep in her concentration to respond. The sparks and motes of magic emanating from the orb wove in and around her while she worked, which looked really distracting from Kaidan’s point of view. As soon as it was stable, she eased herself away from it and stepped out of the circle. She was wide-eyed and breathing heavily.‘Ha… first try sober and I didn’t kill us or destroy anything…’ She tried to take another step back and fell into a sitting position on the floor. “Is it good?”“No, it absolutely is not!” Ancano came through the gates shouting. Archmage Savos was right with him, though far less angry and more worried. “What did you do?!”“Mirabelle, what’s happ…ened…” The Archmage stopped beside her, gawking at the orb and the intriguing new visitor he’d only heard about in passing from Ancano. “Oh.”“I told him to just fffu— just leave it, but nooo. People don’t listen.” She groaned and turned to lie face down on the cool, hard tiles.“Including you.” Kaidan hesitated going near the ball at first, but came and plucked her off of the floor.“What was that about ‘suspicious is work’?” Ancano stared incredulously at her.“You have no idea how much work I had to do today. Hated every damn minute of it. Look at this sh— ahem. Corpse dust. Cave dust. Regular dust. Blood. Mine, by the way. Cobwebssss…” Violet shuddered deeply. “Believe me, I’m angrier than you about this, though I don’t know why you’re mad.”“Starfall, what is that thing?!” Kaidan watched as it harmlessly spun over the well. Well, more ominously to him.She scoffed. “See, that’s what I said. And I don’t know. Let it be known that I wanted to leave it at the bottom of Saarthal.”“You should’ve left it. Damn thing’s giving me the chills with all the buzzing.” He led her back towards the vestibule. “And some kind of sickness.”“Yes, yes, I’ll take full responsibility for this one.” Tolfdir finished completing the wards around it and joined everyone else in the atrium. “Archmage. You have to see why I couldn’t just leave this down there. You feel it don’t you? The sheer amount of magicka the artifact is emitting?”“I do.” Savos sighed and started to pace around it in inspection. “This is exactly what we needed right now. But at least no one’s disintegrated themselves, this time.”“It seems to like our guest, especially.” Tolfdir smiled at Starfall.“I see…” Both Savos and Ancano were leering at her.“It has bad taste.” Starfall growled and tried to swat the sparkling motes off of her. “It also needs to quit it. I think I’m going to be ill. Too much magicka fluctuating…”“I suppose we’ll need to put up stronger wards, then.” Mirabelle said, and went to fetch reagents.“Let’s get you back to your room, then.” Kaidan let her hold on to his arm, only for her to cling to his side.“Before that, I need you to hold my hair.” She said half-jokingly.Kaidan only groaned. *It took the entire night and half of the next day to get the artifact secured in the Hall of Elements. Violet was not interested in the process at all. She and Kaidan immediately felt better on going to the other side of the college and back to their rooms. Once she was in her room, she didn’t want to be bothered with finding the school’s healer for something so minor, so she healed herself. Her injuries weren’t bad, anyway; just the bruising that she’d already healed immediately after getting them and a few surface burns. A fellow scholar named Nirya was nice enough (almost suspiciously so) to show her how to use the extra rooms beside hers and Kaidan’s. One was a full spa with giant jars of herbal concoctions. Violet fell to her knees in the middle of the room and wept.“Could you be a little more dramatic? I think the bard's college is taking new students.” Kaidan mocked her.She was already turning knobs and pouring floral essences and oils into the giant stone tub. The entire basement rumbled as hot water moved through Dwarven metal pipes. “You had better not be mocking me for being happy over something as simple as taking a real bath like a normal, civilized person and not in the river or out of a little bowl. Of all the fucking things to be petty about, wanting to be clean is not one of them.”He frowned. “Oi, what’s wrong with a splash in the river?”“It’s ice cold, sandy, and fish shit in it. Also, far less effective against smelling like armor oil and blood.” She could do petty too. “Now get.”He ran his hand over his face and refused to dignify that spoiled city girl horseshit. Bah, it’s all she wants; it could be worse. After a while, she came by his room all cleaned up; glowing dark skin and smelling even more like she’d rolled around in someone’s garden after the rain. She dropped her pack full of Saarthal’s treasures off in his room and went back to her own.“Take your pick, I’ll be back for the rest after some sleep. Then we can talk about what happened today. I’ll tell you the same as them. I did what I could.”He found a ring, several in fact; thankfully they did not have the draugrs’ fingers still in them. He didn’t really need any more of those unless he could get them enchanted. He was in the right place to do that, so he took one and a ruby amulet, threading one through the other. She even left a staff. He wasn’t sure why she’d left him that. He didn’t know what it did and left it in the corner. More gold and gems. He took the book on alchemy; Starfall had probably already devoured it. He’d figure out what he really wanted after he processed the gold.As soon as Violet was awake again, she found everyone including Kaidan nearly banging down her door to start interrogating and nagging her. “Couldn’t wait until after breakfast, huh,” at which Ancano told her it was late in the afternoon and if this was her schedule, how could she have even passed an introductory Applied Aetheric Theory course? Of course, she bit her tongue and the Hunger gave her about five different ways to shut him up later that she really didn’t mind. “You will come with me. We’re going to get to the bottom of this, and I require your testimony. Tolfdir has already given his.” Ancano eyed her up and down. “After you get dressed.”“I am dressed. I’m just not wearing my mage robes because they’re half burnt and filthy. I have no intention of doing any kind of advanced magic for at least a few days. I’m going to go to the library and study like I planned when I first got here. And no, I refuse to be alone in a room with you. I trust you about half as much as you trust me.” Violet rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sidled past him into the common room to go find food.He clicked his tongue at her. “Fair enough. Archmage Savos will be in witness to your testimony as well. And you can bring your guard dog if it makes you feel any better. I’m sure he’d like to know what could possibly have been going through your mind to think bringing that thing back here was a good idea.”“I already said it wasn’t my fucking idea. After breakfast.” She started stuffing a sweet roll into her mouth while pouring a cup of milk. She couldn’t tell whether his look was of disgust or annoyance, but it suited him.“You have half an hour.” He turned and stomped back up the stairs. “And you will turn in everything you found, including all of your notes.”“Tobr’a keeti.” She said around too much cake and frosting.Kaidan glared after him and wanted so badly to nail his skull to the stairwell. Even after they were sure he was gone, they barely spoke above whispers. “You’re really going to go willingly to an interrogation?”She rolled her eyes since her mouth was still full. “Stop making me more anxious. If I don’t, he’ll get even more suspicious, if he hasn’t asked his network about us already. Look. He’s not getting anything about what happened down there except the usual draugr around every corner. It was actually even shorter than the cave we were in last week. That’s all he’s getting out of me. Get your gear on. Also, don’t move any of the stuff I gave you yesterday. He thinks I’ve got all of it.”Ah, so that’s why she left him the staff and artifacts. “Just come get them the first chance you get.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After stalling and cursing and needing Kaidan to calm Violet somewhat, they made their way to the Hall of Elements. The only ones in the main hall were J'zargo and Onmund sitting well away from the artifact and conversing about something to do with fire from scrolls. Kaidan didn’t care, and Violet didn’t have much knowledge or use for scrolls (‘like I don’t carry enough paper everywhere’) so she decided to leave it. The Khajiit was likely trouble, anyway. The timid Nord… not so much. The orb itself was much quieter, and far less nauseating. It didn’t even try to reach out to her like it did yesterday, it just slowly spun in place and sprinkled motes of magicka into the well. She still wished there was a way to send it back.Violet was finally going to get to meet the Archmage. Yesterday didn’t count. And today might not either if Ancano was going to interfere. And if Savos felt obligated or otherwise trusted the Thalmor, it wasn’t likely she’d be able to trust him either. Shit. Mirabelle was waiting outside of the Archmage’s Quarters. Before she allowed Violet upstairs, she passed her a note.‘Do not tell Ancano of your work pertaining to the dragons.’Wait, this was supposed to be about Saarthal. She looked at the master wizard confused. Not that she had any intention of telling him about that, anyway.She whispered, “Give him no more than he asks for, and stay on Saarthal.”Fucking wizard politics. She wasn’t even a student. The bit of paper burned to ashes in her fingers.Mirabelle unlocked the door for them (Kaidan wondered why the headmaster of a school would hole up in his office and keep it locked) and they went up the spiral staircase.He marveled at the round room large enough to hold Starfall’s entire house. There was even a magelight functioning as a sun, held in a metal cage on the ceiling. Violet tried not to get distracted by all of the devices, decorations, plants, and books by looking at the floor. Being in front of the Thalmor again was already making her nervous, being overstimulated by being in a large room full of too many interesting things was murder on her head.“Was wondering if you’d ever show up. Good to know Redguards still aren’t cowards, even if they’re stubborn and foolish.” Ancano accented his impatience by pointing to a set of chairs in front of a large, wooden desk. It stood out from all of the light grey stone architecture but seemed to also be half taken over by the small garden behind it. Mostly native plants obscured the edges as if they were looking for something to knock over. An ornately dressed Dunmer man sat behind it, writing something until Violet stepped onto the school’s seal in the middle of the foyer. The Eye flashed bright blue the same way the one outside on the bridge did when she affirmed her powers. “Ah, Master Starfall of Elinhir? Nice to finally meet you, despite the circumstances. You must be born under the Atronach if you require so much sleep.” Archmage Savos Aren chuckled and looked her over. “You’re looking better than yesterday, at least.”“I’m somewhat better, yes. And I’m not an Atronach, actually. I’m… a Thief.” She cleared her throat, which turned into a cough as she sat down. It immediately felt like a horrible mistake when she realized she couldn’t move from it, ignoring the fact that her feet didn’t touch the floor. Kaidan reluctantly took a seat beside her, feeling more out of place than usual. Three powerful beings, two of whom could probably ruin anything set in front of them short of the Divines themselves, at least two who would relish doing it, and here he was, barely able to resist the magic one of them was using to try and hold him down and quiet. What did Starfall expect him to do if Ancano decided to stop pretending to be civil, besides be a lot faster than all three of them? His chest tightened.Her voice hardened into a growl. “I came in good faith, and I’m not going to run. What are you doing?”“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Ancano sat just off to the side of Savos, pulling out his own scroll and quill. “You’ve been here for all of two days and you’ve managed to create a complete spectacle of both yourself and the college. Why did you come here? And with that heavy accent, all the way from East Hammerfell?”‘I’m sure everyone here said the same thing about you.’ She took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you what I told Masters Mirabelle and Faralda the second I got here. I just wanted to use the library and buy some new enchanted equipment. I still just want to use the library. And that has nothing to do with Saarthal.”He glared at her, then scratched out her answer and started writing something else. “Then why did you agree to go with Master Tolfdir to Saarthal?”‘You were right there watching, you bastard.’ Violet rolled the question around in her head. She knew she should have said no. “Because he invited me and said he could use the help keeping his overeager students safe. I’m a healer, and I’ve seen what happens to people who dig in those ruins. And the stories of the undead that most think aren’t real.”“Is that what happened to your face?” Ancano casually gestured to the bruises and marring, not bothering to look up from his paper.The temperature of the room dropped like a stone, but Ancano made a note and brought it back up again, plus some. Starfall’s blood went heavy, thick, and the heat went to her head. No one seemed to notice.
Not Destruction magic. That is too basic for him. He is an Inquisitor. Pull all of the secrets from his flesh, remove his tongue if he lies and reattach it so he can try again, and feed him to your thralls while he is still alive.
“Yes.”She heard Kaidan’s gauntlets clicking nervously beside her. The Hunger opened its maw and she quickly slammed it shut before it could utter his name. Not that one. Never that one. “Synesthetic Evocation. Interesting.” Savos looked around the room, seemingly uninterested in the interrogation itself.“Tolfdir says that you had set off a trap, which then turned into finding a path. Are you really so foolish as to get caught in one of those things? Or did you spring it on purpose?”“I sprung it on purpose. Arniel Gane told me to find and bring him any artifacts still lying around.” She reached into her smock’s pocket and dropped the ugly amulet made of teeth onto the table. She wanted to study it, but she figured if Tolfdir included this in his testimony, then Ancano was going to frustrate her until she gave it up. It wasn’t that useful, anyhow. “This was on a peg on the wall. I knew it wasn’t a lethal trap, so I sprung it to take the amulet off the peg.”“Then how did the path open?”“Because I moved the peg. Pay attention.” She growled through grit teeth.Ancano paused and his quill glowed just slightly. Kaidan and Violet couldn’t see it but could certainly feel the sharp edge of the quill drawing blood across their tongues as he put it to another paper and started writing a curse. Savos’s gaze drifted down to the paper and instantly stopped the glow. His voice changed to something terse and absolute. “Ancano.”The only thing saving this dim Red cow was the Archmage sitting next to him. She probably thought she had some modicum of power from being a healer that would protect her from him. He kept writing normally. “Then what happened?”She wanted to spit the blood in his face, but on opening her mouth, there was nothing but dry, dusty air. “...Tolfdir was interested in the new space that had opened up, and we moved through a path that opened into another room with a lectern and two upright sarcophagi. Because it was previously undiscovered, there were undead in it. Nords call their undead ancestors draugr. As far as I remember, there were no traps in the room, so they must have heard the wall moving or us talking and attacked.”He leered at her. “I thought Redguard were forbidden to deal with the undead due to backward superstition.” “Our honored dead. There is no honor in those cursed monsters underneath the ice.” She scoffed.“Fair enough. The Khajiiti man named J’zargo said that he heard you scream something loud enough to make the entire digsite shake.” He eyed her for her reaction. “Then Tolfdir came and told everyone to leave.”‘Gonna pull out his whiskers one by one, especially the fucking stupid-ass mustache.’ She rolled her eyes. “Like you wouldn’t scream like a girl when the walls burst open and two draugr with an axe and an ice gauntlet sucker punch you in the face. And the entire digsite is unstable. The path down was shoddy wooden planks and cave dust kept coming down from the ceiling. Kick a pebble at the bottom somewhere and the whole thing might come down.”“Sorry I missed that—” Kaidan chuckled under his breath but quickly caught himself. Ancano growled under his breath and prompted her to keep going. Violet wanted to punch Kaidan in the arm; Ancano allowed it.Violet proceeded to retell the entire barrow (in nauseatingly graphic detail about rancid, withered flesh burning), sometimes producing a few of the gold funerary tokens, a cracked gem, or an old book as ‘evidence’. They still had no idea that the Psijic Order had warned her about ‘the danger ahead’, that she had been visually impaired throughout, or that she could hear the chanting of the dead. If Tolfdir kept his promise, anyway. He must have because Ancano never asked. By the time she reached the final room with Jyrik, she was tired all over again and her voice was dying.“This Jyrik Gaulderson. He was a draugr as well?” Ancano was becoming frustrated that there was going to be nothing useful in this report.“Yes. But I think he was locked down there long after Saarthal had been abandoned. The only thing left after I used Restorative light on him was a piece of paper that acted as a sealing ward to prevent him from escaping. I gave that to Tolfdir to study. I don’t care about some criminal left to rot down there.”“Gaulderson… Where have I heard that name before…?” Without Aren bothering to get up, a book slid off of its bookshelf and floated over to the desk, cracking open in front him. He started flipping through it. “Please continue, don’t mind me.”‘What are you doing?’ Violet shrugged. “The artifact downstairs was protecting him… or he was protecting it; I couldn’t harm him while the artifact had its effect on him, and he did not want us going near the artifact. I don’t know if ‘it’ did it on purpose or if he manipulated it. It took Tolfdir pulsing electricity into it for several seconds before it would drop the shield around Jyrik. Then I used enough light to disintegrate him. Draugr, like other undead, are especially vulnerable to aspects of Restorative light, and he had an aetheric shield that absorbed Destruction magic.”“And you did not interact with the artifact at all during this time?” The inquisitor tapped his quill on the paper impatiently. It stabbed her in the back of the head repeatedly, making her twitch to his rhythm.“No, Jyrik was completely focused on me, and I on him. I kept him on the upper platform, and away from Tolfdir while he tried to deactivate the shield and artifact. Plus, without a containment ward, being in close proximity to it makes me violently ill. Even with Jyrik dead, I preferred to stay on the other side of the room. Because of that, I also suggested that we, Tolfdir and I, leave it or at least notify the Archmage so it could be more thoroughly investigated for safety later. What if the artifact turns out to be lethal, or hollow with something inside it, or sentient? But I suppose as only a guest of the college, I don’t really have any say. I was too tired to argue with him about it after fighting with Jyrik and had to drink the rest of my potions just to have enough energy to help him get it back here.” And as far as anyone else in the room besides Kaidan was concerned, the following room did not even exist.“Do you know what the artifact is?”“No.”“Do you know why it seems to be ‘attracted’ to you?”“No.”“What do you think it is?” Ancano asked. That question that made Savos's ears perk up.“Besides a mistake, highly noxious, and at least several thousand years old? No idea.”Ancano grumbled at his utterly anemic report. “Is that all?”“You saw the rest. If you still don’t believe me, go back down there yourself. There’s still a bunch of other junk down there that was too heavy, cumbersome, or irrelevant to gather for any kind of research. And feel free to touch everything. Especially any load-bearing rocks in the antechambers.” Her head was throbbing, her teeth and jaws were clenched, her throat was raw, and the Power was a blink from clawing its way out to get at Ancano. Talking to the Archmage would have to come later.He made her wait a while as he proofread the scroll from the very beginning. “Your testimony is noted. Go.”She slowly and shakily rose to her feet when Savos stopped her. “Interesting. We’ve not had a Redguard scholar, let alone a ‘master of your caliber’, in a very long time. Nor have I had any word from Elinhir, recently. We must talk later.” And he went back to his own writing as if nothing had happened.She wondered what she’d done to be noticed; she was only sitting there like a mannequin trying not to break out and tear Ancano’s head off. Or maybe the restraint was the test. She nodded to the Archmage and took Kaidan with her.*“Pah vahzah?” (1) Kaidan hoarsely whispered to her as they reached the vestibule and closed the door behind them. Mirabelle was gone. She nodded to him. “Mu fent bo sahsun.” (2)“Pruzah.” (3) He went to open the door for her. Once they were sure to be out of earshot, they switched back to Tamrielic. Violet finally felt like she could breathe again.“Fucking Thalmor.” They said together. Kaidan braced himself against a column and put his forehead to the cold stone while Starfall leaned on him. She shuddered and shared her healing light with him by holding his hand. “That asshole used some ugly Illusion magic. You see now why I’m not supposed to work with it? And I think the Archmage stopped him from doing worse.”Kaidan knew exactly what she was talking about and that bright, fiery hate returned to his eyes. “At least no chains and hooks this time.”“Just blood simmering heat and my bones all fused together.” Her neck and jaw popped as if to remember that they could move.He couldn’t help but check himself and stretch to relish the freedom. “Why would they send such a powerful and horrible Inquisitor to the college? Unless... they’re all doing something here that warrants watching?”“Well now there’s something to fucking watch.” She led him back to their rooms to get her cloak, and make sure their doors were locked up tight. Not that it would help if Ancano were really determined, but it would at least piss him off and slow him down.Kaidan took Starfall back to Winterhold proper to find something to calm her nerves. He meant to tell her about Aranea’s hunch being correct, but he figured that could wait a bit. That High Elf wasn’t exactly dressed like he could afford to go anywhere. He might have even been part of the college. As soon as he brought her around the back of The Cold Hearth, Starfall immediately hugged around her horse’s muzzle and went to buy him some treats from inside.“And I still haven’t made it to the library.” She sighed.“Doubt it’s open overnight.” He took a bench away from the fire and watched as Starfall took a quick look around, then came back and sat beside him.She spoke quietly, anyway. “There was another ice spell at the end, this time. Iiz. This kind freezes the victim solid, but doesn’t make them explode. But it’s still redundant because I can already do that by elven magic, though I suppose not as quickly.”“At least you were able to resist telling them about being cursed.”“And give that scrawny creep a reason to kidnap us in the middle of the night to question us more intimately? Oh fuck no. I would have had to kill him then and there, Archmage, civility, and discretion be damned.”“The Archmage didn’t seem very… uh… attentive, by the way.” Was being in some other place half the time part of being a mage, or had Starfall found a kindred spirit?“His head wasn’t even in the same room as us for most of it save for when he had to stop Ancano from doing… something. While I'm aware that my wandering off and getting distracted is annoying, that was not the time for it. Like as soon as Ancano started talking he was gone— oh. Oh no.” Violet put her hands over her mouth. “Ffffuck.”“You think he’s controlling the Archmage? I’m not all that smart about magic, but that doesn’t sound like it should be possible.”“Savos would have to be weakened considerably. And he isn’t if he was able to sense and stop Ancano from hurting us too badly. But something is wrong.”“Told you.” He grumbled into his food. He hadn’t joined Starfall in filling up on sweets as soon as she woke up and preferred the cozy inn’s food and atmosphere.“You being paranoid doesn’t count. I need to know how long Ancano’s been here.” Violet wished she’d brought some paper and her charcoal.“About a year. And Savos is just book smart. He’s a complete idiot concerning anything that isn’t magic and doesn’t know how to run a college. Mirabelle’s actually in charge, but I’m sure you figured that out already.” The mage that Kaidan had spotted before came up to warm his hands by the fire.Violet looked around at him. “Do you work or study at the college?”“Oh gods, no. I had to get out of there years ago.” The Altmer said. “Nelacar, sorcerer and enchanter at your service. You must be the one he was having a panic attack about, yesterday.”Kaidan scowled at the scruffy elf until Starfall poked him.“Was this, ‘oh gods, she’s going to walk into a trap and get her head taken off and then I’ll have to find a new job’ panic, or ‘oh gods, she’s going to find something down there and it will kill us all’ panic?”“Considering the second one is well underway, I think it was justified.” He mocked her and lightly swatted her hand away.Nelacar moved a chair to the end of their table. “So you did find something when your little group all marched out of the middle of town down into the wastes. I thought I was coming down with something with all my shivering since yesterday.”“And everyone out here can feel it, too. We’ve got to put that damn thing back.” Violet hoped that this was enough reason for the Archmage. Or Master-Wizard. Whoever actually wanted to deal with it sensibly.“I think it’s just me, actually. If the others could feel it, they instantly would have blamed it on one of my experiments.” Nelacar groaned.‘Experiments like doing dodgy things with Daedric artifacts.’ Kaidan looked at him suspiciously. “You’re not part of the college, but you still dress like you’re there, stay nearby, and perform experiments.” “I like to stay in contact with some of my old colleagues, but dealing with the Archmage whenever I needed permission, only to get denied because he thinks it’s going to tarnish the college’s already fragile reputation, was a complete waste of my time. And my robes are comfortable, thank you very much.” He waved the issue away.“Have you talked to Ancano?” Violet was already fitting little Dwarven gears together.“For all of two seconds before he saw my rags and called me a disgrace. So sorry for placing my work above fashion and finery. The others frequently complain about him interfering and doing a bit of sabotage here and there. Glad I don’t show up in his sights for anything.” Nelacar tsked.“Don’t suppose you have any idea why he’d be sent to spy on the College? I’m in no mood to cross his path anymore, but I’m hoping I won’t have to avoid certain people.”“Sorry, though if he’s still here after almost a year, he either hasn’t found what he’s looking for, or he was sent specifically to be a nuisance and stall them for whatever reason. The students aren’t quite adepts yet, and the private studies of the staff are nothing world changing… Were. But what of you, dear girl? Here for two days and already up to something enough everyone’s talking about you.” The Altmer's mouth curled into a mischievous smile.“Starfall. Aranea. Ek vahzen.” (4) Kaidan nodded in the curious mage’s direction. Maybe she could steer him into his work, instead.“Rok?” (5) She had no intention of telling him about her actual research if he was so easy to get gossiping (or maybe he just didn’t like Ancano and Savos). But it could serve as a temporary diversion…His eyebrow went up. “Not familiar with that language. The Outlander’s?”The Akaviri glanced at him. “Niid.” (6)Violet pulled a piece of paper out of her front pocket. “I’m actually doing research for someone else’s project. I was sent to find a mage who can, and I quote, ‘turn the brightest star as black as night’. I was told to try asking around the college.”Nelacar became very quiet and leered at the two strangers. “What was your name again? Who really sent you? I was told there wouldn’t be any more questions.”Kaidan felt his defensiveness was more than fair for snitching on him to Starfall. But it also meant that they were about to get into something ugly. That damn dream…“Azura did. And my name is Starfall.” She said, watching his reaction.Nelacar paused for a moment, frowning at the Redguard and Outlander. “And what would a Redguard and a…”“Human.” He growled.“—Two humans know of the Prince of Dusk and Dawn?”“Admittedly, not much. But she decided to nag me about this, not the other way around. She wants me to find her ‘Star’. And it can’t be about a literal one, so what did she make?”Nelacar got to his feet and nodded to his room around the corner. Once they were out of the main room and the door was closed, he brought out a book. “A soul gem.”That was too simple. But Azura did want her to find the man who desecrated it and take his soul… “What did she do to it?”He opened the book up to some old notes and showed it to her. “Azura's Star: a Daedric artifact that allows any number of souls to pass through it. It cannot be broken. It can be reused again and again. A group of us wanted to find out how. I was working under Malyn Varen, then. If only we knew what he was really planning...”Violet wasn’t much of an enchanter; she could make (not great, but passable) enchanted artifacts, but she didn’t like doing it because getting the gems drained her, and even before this dragon soul mess, poking around with killing things that weren’t already soulless insect pests or food supplies had her feeling like it was getting into forbidden territory.Kaidan had seen Starfall take the souls of a few undead here and there, not thinking much of it because as far as he was concerned, the draugr were already dead, and knowing that they had done …that… to themselves and it wasn’t the work of a necromancer? Well they had their chance at eternal rest and didn’t take it, same as the dragons. And of course, mages had found a way to make a problem worse. “And then it was too late. What could he possibly manage to do to a Daedric artifact?”Nelacar sighed and rubbed his face. “There are two types of soul gems. White gems, and black gems. White gems hold any soul that is not sentient like us. Sentient mortals can only be taken by black gems. Azura’s Star is… was... a white gem. But… He was dying. He thought he could store his own soul inside. Become immortal. So, he corrupted it. Turned it black. And that was his own breaking point. Azura’s magic corrupted him right back, driving him mad.”Violet took a deep breath. “She could do that, but not actually just kill him and take it back from him. Drive him insane, how?”“She probably could. But Daedra are petty monsters who only use us as tools and playthings. It started slowly at first. Malyn would see things that weren't there. Then he would yell at students over words they hadn't said. Then one day, I walked in and Malyn had… killed a student, and in a horrific moment of inspiration, he harnessed her soul for his work. The college quickly expelled everyone involved.”Kaidan shook his head in disgust. “Including you.”He winced. “Last I’d heard, they’d moved the Star to Ilinalta’s Deep, far west past Helgen. He’s probably still finding fools to feed to the artifact to sustain himself. If you manage to find it, don’t try to use it. Just… bring it back here so I can figure out how to put all this to rest. I want to do that much, at least. If I were to show up trying to take it again, they wouldn’t waste a second before feeding me to that thing. I wonder if Malyn would even recognize me after all this time…”“We bring it back to you to ease your guilt instead of taking it straight to its rightful owner, what do we get out of it?” Kaidan asked. Starfall might’ve been willing to help out here and there without any compensation, but whatever Azura was ‘paying’ her wasn’t going to help him any.“Hm.” Nelacar rubbed his chin in thought. “Well, besides being able to keep the damned thing, plus whatever Malyn’s cult has put together to sustain themselves—”Kaidan waved it off. “Bah, it’s probably all cursed just like him.” “I’m not sure what, then. You probably don’t want my soul knowledge. I’m just an enchanter, I get by doing things a little cheaper than in-house, if you know what I mean. Master level, because of my dealings with Malyn.”He pointed to Starfall. “Can you make a piece of jewelry to keep me from getting accidentally blasted apart during one of her fits?”“I’d be angry if I didn’t already know full well that’s probably going to happen later on.” She put her head down on the counter.“A simple charm to nullify magic? That’s all you want? Of course. For the magnitude I’m guessing you want though, you’re going to have to bring back a powerful soul. Probably using the Star.”Violet started flipping through the journal. She had a few pages cataloguing any particularly important artifacts or items they’d found. “I think I have a Grand gem in my bag, I don’t remember if it’s full—”Nelacar cleared his throat. “Not a Grand.”“Oh. Uh… Okay, I do have a Black gem, though I’m not keen on using it. …But what about bypassing all that and directly using a soul that won’t even fit in a gem?” She raised her eyebrows.“What could possibly not fit in a Grand or Black gem?” He looked at her confused.“Starfall. Don’t. Those are a part of you.” Kaidan whispered. “How do you know if I need them all? How could I possibly need what could add up to dozens of souls? What’s one or two?” Especially if they wouldn’t shut up and sit quietly in the corner.“Why would you have collected that many souls in the first place? What does he mean ‘a part of you’?” The Altmer’s dread and bad memories were starting to bubble up…“You’re the one with the impossible task. How do you know that’s not what they’re for? Wasn’t that one of your morbid questions? And I’m not sure I want to share in your… uh…”“My descent into madness?” She sighed.“I’m not sure I want to get involved with this, anymore.” Nelacar scowled at Violet.“I never wanted to.” Kaidan scoffed.“Look, we’ll figure all this out whenever I get around to actually getting the stupid thing. If I get it. This is more than Azura led me to believe.” Violet turned and went back out to the main room.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Before going back to the college, Violet went with Kaidan to explore the ruins of Winterhold. She was careful to stay away from the buildings hanging half off the cliff into the sea, but found they were good for a bit of privacy. There didn’t seem to be much of that at the college. The crumbled shell of a house behind the tavern had enough structure left to protect from the biting wind and was out of the way enough that only someone paying attention or deliberately looking for them would find it.Violet sat in the corner beside the cold hearth and looked up at the cloudy night and light snowfall. “I misjudged how much time I’ve got. I’m soul hungry, probably because of using my Voice so much recently. Looking at the memorial walls doesn’t slow it down or reset it. It might even make it worse? I’m not sure, yet. Either way, I think I’ve got a week or two before I can’t ignore it, anymore.” Kaidan nodded. “Makes sense. But what doesn’t make sense is how nothing’s come after you since Riverwood. You have been using your Voice a lot more. It should have awoken the other dragon at Kynesgrove, but it didn’t.”“I hope they’re not getting the idea that maybe it’s very stupid and unwise to make the tiny, crazy mortal angry. Because having to put effort into tracking them down on top of fighting and killing them is just going to make me angrier.”He didn’t like the idea of her temper getting even worse. “Still haven’t put my tracking skills to the test against one of those things. You want to give it a try soon after you’ve finally had your fill of being a model student? Maybe the Dragonstone map will show us a grave nearby we can start from.”“Yes. …No. Why can’t I just find one and it falls over dead without me having to fight it and wear myself out?” She whined.“The way you tear into them like a starving sabercat, I thought you found that to be the fun part.” He teased.“You mean the part where I’m blind with rage and agony because there’s a shadow parasite feeding off my mind? Or the little bit after where everything gets all bright, tingly, and publicly awkward for everyone involved before a sixteen-hour coma?” She said flatly.“Uhm—”“What did Azura say to you?”He closed his eyes. “Shit. Starfall, don’t.”“No. You’ve been really… tense since we left her shrine, and that’s not like you. You’re usually telling me to stop it. Aranea was about to pull you aside to drag you into it, and I knew you wanted no part of it, but now you’re upset anyway.”He sat down across from her on the hearth. “...Azura keeps showing me a dream. She won't let it go and I haven't slept since we were at her shrine.” “That was days ago! If she showed you your death or something equally awful, I’m going back there and breaking her shit off at the ankles.”“Don’t do that. And the statue doesn’t have ankles. But yes, she did.” He rubbed his face. “One of your magelights was a star, and I tried to catch it as it fell. It was a lot hotter than your candle lights.”“A star falling. Really. Oh fuck her, then. I’m keeping the stupid soul gem now.” Violet stood up and shook all of the gathered snow off of herself.And this is what he gets for saying something. “You really intend to keep it after hearing what Nelacar said she did to the current user?”“It’s not like I’m going to be stuffing my own soul into it after evicting him. I’ll probably toss it in the sea just to spite her. Anyway, she just said remove his soul. She didn’t say what to do with it after.”“Just because I said that Azura isn’t completely evil doesn’t mean you get to fuck around with her like you did Sanguine.” He said urgently. ‘Should have kept my mouth shut.’“I told Aranea to leave you alone, and Azura went and did that instead. What was that supposed to be, then? Let me fail? Too late. A cabal of elite mages watched me fail all up and down Saarthal and now they’re going to blame me for “letting” the college tap into forces they don’t understand. Or is it that I’ll be the death of you? As much as that’s a very real possibility, I’ve already decided that if you’re going to be a damn fool and stay, I’m going to do everything within me to keep you alive. And we’re both going to have to do better at things like not being at each other’s throats. Which is going to be hard if you’re going to keep trying to stop me from doing things like knocking over Azura’s stupid statue.”“You’re doing it again.”“What now?” She rolled her eyes.“Too much vague information at once and none of it makes sense. ‘Cabal of elite mages.’ What else was in Saarthal?” He narrowed his eyes.“Don’t worry about it, you don’t know who they are, nor could you do anything about them, anyway. I barely know who they are because they all decided to pack up their entire island and disappear a hundred years or so ago.”“You’re still doing it. You know what? Never mind.” Kaidan got up and shook the snow off as well, leading her back to the college.*They returned to their rooms in the late evening, after most of the college had gone to bed. They’d both checked that Ancano hadn’t tampered with anything and found nothing.“You’re taking on too many things at once, now.” Kaidan sighed. “It’s stirring up your temper.”“No, I’m not. I’m only concerning myself with getting my research done and finding a soul. That’s two items; one easy, one difficult. The Saarthal artifact is no longer my problem, nor do I want it to be. The Star isn’t going anywhere, and isn’t Ilinalta that lake where your camp was? It’d take another week to get back down there unless I try out that teleportation spell Tolfdir taught me, and believe me, it’s not pleasant. Everything else, I don’t even remember what they were, and thus must not have been that important.” Violet shrugged and went to her room to flop over in bed.“I feel like the Thalmor, Miraak, and Jurgen Windcaller might be important.” He went into his own room, collected the treasure minus the gold, and brought it back to her room. ‘And don’t forget about me…’She waved all that off. “Jurgen is only important if you want to go see the Greybeards again. I don’t right now. Miraak is not important because he is trapped on Solstheim or wherever. Ancano is going to be distracted by the shiny ball upstairs.”“More Thalmor coming to investigate the shiny ball means one of them is bound to finally figure us out.” He tried to pass the Saarthal staff to her and she had him put it on a set of hooks above the door.“And then we kill them and say the ball did it, so it has to go back where it came from. I might look into that if we’re still here awhile.”“I mean... yes, we could do that.” He said, slightly conflicted. What was that earlier statement to ‘do better’?“Do you want me to solve all these mysteries or not? I thought you wanted to know more about Akavir and your heritage.”He smiled a little bit. “So you didn’t forget about me.”Violet patted his hand. “You are important, both to me and all of this. My research is more than just the dragons. It’s our place among them. There’s got to be a catch. ‘Kill a bunch of asshole dragons and their leader’ is too simple for a five-thousand-year-old prophecy. … Where is Alduin, anyway? He’s supposed to be looking for me, but why didn’t any of the dragons who’ve seen me just go tattle instead of attempting to eat me themselves and figuring out far too late that that’s a terrible idea?”He chuckled. “Because you don’t look at all threatening until it’s far too late, despite what prophecy says. No offense.”“Only a little taken,” she grumbled. She almost reached for the bag that Kaidan returned to her, but gave up and collapsed back onto her bed. “The library tomorrow, sleep now. I used up more energy today than I thought warding off that damn inquisitor. …I shouldn’t have made you come with me, but I didn’t want to be by myself with them. Sorry.”“You were right not to trust them.” He said softly as he left.*The next morning, Violet gathered all of her work and made her way across the courtyard to the Hall of Elements. She stopped briefly in front of the west hothouse where the school kept their alchemical supplies and took a peek into one of the foggy windows. Exotic plants thrived inside and the warmth and mist leaking under the door taunted her. A few minutes to look wouldn’t hurt. Though she wondered who was using them, as it didn’t seem as if anyone other than herself and the alchemy master she never met even knew how to make a potion.The warmth was different from the heating inside the other buildings; the hothouse was kept so humid by an open steam pipe it was almost uncomfortable. The plants she kept in her house back home had to make do with her keeping them well watered.“Hello.” She whispered sweetly to the dozens of florae lining the walls. Some even reminded her of home. Everyone looked bright, happy, and colorful, and it looked like the Argonian woman who was hard to find was somehow still taking good care of them. Her hands brushed leaves and flowers and snuck a few fruits here and there. Disturbing the dragon tongues made a few butterflies flutter off in panic, and she left them alone. In the back of the bright, narrow room was a dark stairwell leading downward. She supposed that all the buildings had to have basements since there didn’t look to actually be much among the upper floors of any of the buildings. Maybe she was down there…She could explore more once she finally became tired of being in the library for hours and days, but for now, it was a small, appreciated respite from the endless white and grey of Winterhold.The Hall of Elements was buzzing with the energy of several mages, scholars, and students working and practicing their craft. Spells flew around the room, mostly aimed at warded stone plates lining the outer walls. Everyone was clearly avoiding the artifact… except Ancano, who was circling it like a vulture. Violet veered away from both and immediately turned right up the stairs before he saw her.The Arcanaeum was quiet as it should have been, and empty just the way Violet liked it. Urag gro-Shub, the librarian, glanced up at her for only a moment before grunting and going back to his writing. She took a moment to look at the front displays of some students’ past projects and the pretty orrery full of golden planets and sparkling stars. A large map of Skyrim (and part of Hammerfell, High Rock, and Cyrodiil; Dragonstar’s city map was even on it) took up the entire wall facing the entrance and required scaffolding to interact with. Looking at that map was a lot more intimidating than the one in her pack. She and Kaidan had already covered a good lot of ground, if one counted the weeklong ride of shame back from Markarth. She shook her head free and back to her goal. Her mind was getting easily distracted and impulsive. No, damn it. It took too many months to get here. She went upstairs to the worktables, set her stack of papers and books down, drank a small silver vial, then went down to get more books. Let’s start with history and theology. History of the Dragons. The ones chosen to fight with their magic. Akatosh, a dragon god who controls time (and yet she could not). And Alduin, who actually had a whole lot of different things going on but it seemed people couldn’t agree what. She started with a few books on Divines, making note that a few shelves down were several on the Princes and their legions. The doors on the bookshelves flushed the odor of aged paper up her nose and it took her back to days of just as much stress, but much simpler problems now that she looked back at them. No one was going to bother her here.Finally. Peace.*Kaidan had finally gotten a few hours sleep after confessing to Starfall, but still woke before her and went to find the Master-Wizard. There wasn’t much for him to do around the college except snoop around where he wasn’t supposed to be, drink, or go down to the beach to watch the ice floes. Thankfully, Ervine mostly tended to work around the main building near the Archmage’s office.“I have armor and weapons to keep up and there doesn’t seem to be a blacksmith in town. Isn’t there a forge anywhere around here?” He asked.Mirabelle nodded. “Ah, yes. Actually, we do have one, though it’s probably a bit dusty. Haven’t seen anyone go down to the Midden for a few weeks now.”“The Midden?” Like a trash heap?“It’s just the colloquial name for the basement and catacombs under the college. Though it tends to turn into one when some people don’t clean up their projects.”“Whatever. It’s better than nothing. Where is it?”“There’s a hatch just outside these doors on the left; there’s also paths under all the buildings, but I strongly recommend you stay away from those. Not only is it a labyrinth down there, without magic it can be extremely dangerous. Going down the hatch outside leads directly into the forge. As a guest and a non-mage, I implore you not to touch anything you don’t recognize.” She groaned. “I should also probably send someone to check to see if the giant ice wraiths and spiders have moved back in...”“…Right,” was all Kaidan could get out before leaving. Probably wasn’t worse than the barrows he’d been in, just more ward traps and less draugr. Hopefully.The hatch was right where she’d said it was, and opening it revealed a long, rickety ladder down into a dark cobblestone pathway. He wondered how many dead ends there were since there really wasn’t much space under the college after the Great Collapse. Going back to his and Starfall’s rooms, he gathered up all the gold she’d found, his own equipment, and stuffed it into his pack. He noticed the same sort of stairwell next to their rooms leading down into the darkness, and was almost tempted to take it to avoid breaking his legs trying to get himself and the heavy load down the ladder. Then he heard loud scratching at the walls. As bored as he was, he wasn’t ‘stabbing giant rats probably cursed with magic and disease’ bored. The college probably wouldn’t pay him enough for the job, anyway.As soon as Kaidan was down the ladder and in the tunnel, he was greeted by a dried-out corpse, half buried under a collapsed wall. It had obviously been down there for a long time (possibly even the Great Collapse itself), and yet no one had bothered to pull it out to bury it. First the bridge, now this. It had a key in its hand. “Hm.” He was slightly more inclined to follow directions now, but thankfully the forge was the first room he encountered around the corner from the hatch. It happened to be blocked by a locked iron gate, and when he remembered the key in the corpse’s hand, he shook his head and went back to get it. “Bloody weird-arsed mages.”It was indeed the key to the forge, and he made a note to ‘give it back’ when he was done. Candles and torches magically went up around the room to give him light and reveal a perfectly normal forge. A smelter sat in the center with a pile of coal, and workstations lined the walls of the round room. Finally, something to keep him occupied for a few hours that wasn’t out in the snow or drinking at the tavern.*Ancano paced around the artifact and wrote in his book, completely unaware of the world around him. ‘Shape: Spherical. Diameter: Nine feet. Weight: Unknown, resistant to gravity and propelled by internal arcane processes. Mass: Unknown. Composition: Unknown metal, stone, other unknown materials. Seams along the surface are cut in overlapping geometry, indicating that the artifact might change shape, size, or potentially contain something else. Color: Silver, glows blue from runes. Arcane Affinity: …Unknown. As per Tolfdir's testimony, reactive to lightning. Age: Unknown. As per Violet Starfall’s testimony, she estimates the artifact to be thousands of years old. Though her incorrect estimate seems to be based on the artifact's previous location. The condition of the artifact shows absolutely no sign of wear, age, or any other indication of time.
Origin: Unknown. Artifact is inscribed with an unknown language. Does not match known mortal, immortal, Daedric, runic, or primal languages. Without a strong containment ward, emits toxic and potentially dangerous amounts of arcane energy. Visible strands of radiant energy from the artifact seems to be attracted to the mage Starfall, and no one else. She seems to be genuinely displeased and distressed by the artifact’s presence or existence, and yet it has “chosen” her, for lack of a better word. She also denies this fact. I've sent an inquiry about her to the Embassy and await a response. Brutish Redguard are, on the whole, unfit to be mages. So for her to be a master of two schools, an expert in three others, and before her eightieth year, let alone her fortieth, is incredibly suspect. Not to speak of the “Outlander” she keeps as a guard dog.’
With the advanced wards in place, the artifact was completely benign: silent, dim, slow, and releasing hardly any energy. Living things could pass through the ward to interact with whatever was inside, at their own risk. Ancano finally finished writing, then took a glove off and put his hand through the ward to touch it. It was ice cold, as if it were sitting outside instead of the relatively warm hall. While his fingers traced over the moving seams and runes, he very slowly and gradually pulsed minute amounts of static across its surface, hoping to see or replicate what Tolfdir’s interactions had done to either activate it, or at least make something happen.Nothing. Heat? Nothing. Ice? Nothing. He strengthened his aetheric shield around himself, since in Starfall and Tolfdir’s testimonies, it had created a shield around the draugr trapped down there, and the draugr had its own elemental shield as well. It did not react to the shield. A few more notes in his book. Maybe something would come to him later.*Violet was several hours into her research and several of the students and faculty had come and gone. They all could see how deep she was into her work and deemed it important to not bother her. Except for Archmage Savos. After everyone had gone back to their own business, he silently went up the stairs to the study level and sat across from her.“Finally, a moment to chat.” He said quietly.“Archmage?” Violet was startled out of her work and was worried for a moment that she would have to disguise her work. But Mirabelle hadn’t said anything to her about him being a threat. Not that she could do anything against him if he was.“First and foremost, I want to apologize concerning Ancano’s behavior. I suppose that being a Thalmor agent, he doesn’t seem to care whether or not the rest of the college trusts him, but I still try to make him follow our rules. His purpose is more to make sure that we... I... do not change our stance of neutrality in Skyrim’s fight against the Empire, and advise me on such matters. That’s all. And I do not intend to get involved in it. Though your presence seems to have upset him. Not sure why. Now that that’s done, how’s Elinhir, by the way? Haven’t heard from them in years.” The Archmage’s demeanor quickly turned cheerful.“Um. It’s been a few months since I was there for a short research mission, same as here, but they’re faring well. As well as can be expected with how tense things are at the border. No large-scale disasters recently.”“Well, that’s good. Is Illebel in Aedric Studies still there, or did she actually go and be a priestess like she always wanted?”Violet thought for a moment, searching deep into her brain and rubbing her face. “Oh. Huh. It really has been a long time, but only a while for you, I guess. She left when I was starting my alchemist apprenticeship, and that was maybe… about sixteen years ago? I didn’t know her, as I didn’t study that, but she left because she got into a fight with a student’s family. She converted her or something and they were a very devout old house? I don’t know much about Dunmer religion. There was a lot of raining holy fire involved, which is pretty much the only reason I remember. I don’t think the student should’ve been expelled for what her stupid elders did. After that it was a bunch of rumors and gossip. I hate rumors and gossip.” She looked directly at the far older Dunmer.“Hm. That’s not what I was hoping for, but that sounds about right for Illebel.” He sighed and shook his head. “Thank you for the bit of news. …And for that wondrous artifact now sitting downstairs in the main hall. It’s all Tolfdir will talk about; you really made his day, if not his whole career. The man is absolutely obsessed with Saarthal. I haven’t seen him this animated in years.”“Good for him, I suppose.” She mumbled and tried to get back into her writing to signal that she didn’t want to go down that road.“The thing is, he doesn’t have much time to study it while he’s currently teaching classes. Since you were actually the first to discover it, as he tells me, that you should spearhead the research. And here you are conveniently already in the library deep into it.”Violet winced. “This isn’t for Saarthal. This is my private research. I hadn’t heard of Saarthal before I arrived here, and honestly have no interest in it or the artifact, despite whatever Ancano is thinking I had to do with it. I’d rather not draw any more of his attention.”Savos Aren nodded in sympathy. “You’d think he misses being an inquisitor. I’ll see to it that he doesn’t try that again. He’s a guest, and so are you. And to be honest, you’ve been more interesting in the three days you’ve been here than he has over the last several months.”“Didn’t mean to. Nor do I mean to stay as long as he has. I’ve got… very pressing issues.”“Ah,” He eyed her stack of books on gods and dragons. “I suppose you do. Though I fear you might not get any more information here than you would have at Elinhir. We still have a few volumes left dating back to the Second Era, but the Great Collapse decimated our collection, sadly. We saved what we could.”She finally stopped and looked around. “Archmage? What happened? With the Great Collapse, I mean.”The Archmage’s expression fell, and suddenly the old Dunmer looked every year of his decades on Nirn. “The history books probably don’t or won’t say it, but it was actually a natural disaster. I was here as a younger man, and I still don’t understand what happened. No one is sure of the cause. Some believe the eruption of Red Mountain had far-reaching consequences that were only felt years later. The Nords believe that, somehow, the College had something to do with it, since here we are, with everything around us completely under the sea.“But for several weeks, it was as if the Sea of Ghosts had come alive. There was a storm so awful, it was something out of prophecy. Entire weeks where it just stayed darker than nighttime save for the flashes of lightning. You see how far up from the ocean we are? Tidal waves managed to reach up here and claw the entire city back down into the water. Entire city districts gone overnight. As ancient and resilient as Winterhold was during those times, the sea was intent on taking it all back. By the time the waves stopped, there was nothing left but this one building. The few survivors rightfully abandoned the city and moved on to Windhelm and Dawnstar. But not the college. And here I’ve been… trying to salvage it ever since.”Violet listened closely to the whole story, but found that she couldn’t have come to any better of a conclusion either. She wondered if the same stories were going to be told about Dragonstar. So far, it sounded like everything had been blamed on the dragon, though she was sure that someone would be able to put the pieces together if given enough time, especially considering the dragon didn’t just up and die on its own. She flipped backwards a few pages and made a note.“Can I ask you another question? This time confidentially?” She whispered.Savos looked around and shrugged. “You can.”“Do you know anything about the Psijic Order?” Since he had to be well over a couple hundred years old and a powerful mage, he might have some knowledge…He paused a moment. “The Psijics? I don’t know them, personally. But a member of the order used to be an advisor for a little while when I first started studying here. They were secretive, even then. And while he said that they saw my potential, he never elaborated. They’d all been called back to the island of Artaeum before I even became a master. Haven’t heard from them since.”“Thank you. I guess I’ll look them up too, if I have a spare moment.” It wasn’t much, but it wasn’t like that was one of her primary concerns, anyway.*Kaidan stared through another iron gate just off of the forge. While he was working late into the evening, he heard more scratching. Probably those wraiths or spiders Ervine talked about. The doors were closed, so they couldn’t get in and he still wasn’t interested in going after them, even if they were being noisy and irritating. Then, while he was hammering down the gold and silver, the scratching became hoarse wheezing. But skeevers had little, shallow wheezes and wraiths hissed and chittered. These were long and deep, as if from a much larger creature.He narrowed his eyes, pulled the sword from his back, and started to follow the noise. A doorway (‘was that always there?’) and a cramped tunnel that he had to struggle to squeeze through turned into a hastily bricked up, crumbling wall and a locked gate. Inside was a dark room piled high with mummified corpses. At first, it looked like they’d been laid in there carefully, side by side, but as there were more than the room would hold on the floor, they were just tossed in there in piles. Dozens of them. Were they left over from the Great Collapse and forgotten down here? The path he took to get here was completely unused and hard to navigate. He cursed his curiosity and persistence.“Dear gods…” He whispered to himself. The wheezing was coming from here. Some of those things had to be draugr or some kind of undead. This was exactly the kind of insane horseshit he’d tried to warn Starfall about, but she had to come here and was upstairs somewhere happily scribbling in one of her books while this was under her nose. He growled into his hand and made sure the gate was locked. The key to the forge did not work on it. Rattling the gate to make sure it couldn’t be opened made one of the mummies sit up and stare directly at him. Its eyes didn’t glow the same blue that draugrs’ did. They were black and hollow. It said nothing, didn’t move towards him, it just sat there wheezing and staring. Normally, he wasn’t that bothered by the undead. This…? No. Just... no. He turned away to go back through the tunnel, vowing to come back later with a shit-ton of lantern oil and a torch. And possibly a lot of loud and unkind words directed at the head warlocks upsta—
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Violet didn’t even notice when Urag came up to her and started tapping his foot. “Alright, alright, wrap all this up, will ‘ya? You can continue this in the morning. I’ll even hold your books for you.”“What? Oh gods, what time is it?” The tired mage finally put her charcoal down and rubbed her face on her sleeve. Everything was stiff and aching.“It’s past midnight, which is longer than I usually give people before I kick them out. But since the Archmage seems to tolerate your presence a lot better than Ancano’s and you’re a lot better behaved, I figured maybe I’ll let you have this one.” The old orc grumbled.“Um. Thank you. Sorry for losing track of time.” She stretched and started to pack her things.“And tomorrow I’ll have the time to get together the information that the Archmage wanted me to give you.”“But I told him I wasn’t interest—” “Just hold on to it. And I have a feeling it’ll tie into what you’re working on, anyway.” The librarian picked up her stacks and took them back downstairs to his reference desk.Violet stretched and made her way back to the dorms to find nearly everyone else had already retired to their rooms. Now that she was out of the Arcanaeum, she realized she hadn’t eaten all day. There was some food left, and she took something light back to her room. Checking Kaidan’s room, he wasn’t there. Probably prowling around, or over at The Frozen Hearth. She went to her own room and managed to make it through half of her leeks before giving up on them and collapsing into her bed.*“So… let me see if I have this right. Mirabelle, the Master-Wizard, told you to stick only to the forge. But, being the big, tough, and might I add, incredibly nosy Outlander, you, being here all of three days, somehow knew better than her.” A Breton woman shook her head as she wove healing light around Kaidan’s neck.Kaidan only grumbled at who he assumed was Winterhold's Master Healer. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened when he turned his back on the locked room full of corpses that were staring at him, but the path back was gone and suddenly there was a cold, bony, shaking hand grabbing his hair and the back of his neck. None of the bodies he saw had their arms free; they were all wrapped in linens like how Nords used to mummify their dead. After a lot of the things he’d seen (and done) before his thirtieth year, it took a hell of a lot to scare him, and draugr weren’t usually part of that list. But when that painful clawing dug under the skin at the base of his skull and the wheezing turned into so many voices begging, screaming, and crying instead of the usual ancient, angry curses with weapons waving in the air, his heart went somewhere that wasn’t in his chest and his vision went black. He woke up to the old Breton in white healing robes standing over him with lips pursed, eyes rolled, and a magelight floating above her.“We'd lock and ward that path so fools can’t get in there, but that would require it to actually be there. I’m Colette Marence, Restoration Master, by the way. You must be the Outlander half of the two giving everyone something to talk about other than how much they can’t stand me.” She scoffed.He wasn’t about to get into all that, and groaned instead, “What in Coldharbor was that?”Colette sat on the forge’s grindstone, leaving Kaidan propped up against the stone wall that was the now missing door. “That, as far as I’ve been able to figure, is something left over from the Great Collapse. Winterhold is long gone, but instead of being at the bottom of the sea, they’re here. Sort of. Not really? Except the Collapse was a tidal wave, as far as Archmage Savos and records say. The whole phenomenon happens whenever someone goes near Old Winterhold. It gets worse the deeper you go into the Midden. So… don’t do that. Especially since you’re not a mage.”“Fuckin’ magic.” He put his hands over his face.“One, this wasn’t us. …I don’t think. Phinis and I have been trying to solve this for decades. We can’t find where it’s coming from, other than down here under the college. Two, ‘accursed magic’ just healed you. And Restoration is a legitimate school of magic. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Three, isn’t your friend a mage?”“She’s a healer, not some damned warlock. She’s been looking for you thinking you might be able to help her.”Colette was taken aback and clutched her medallion of Arkay. Someone was actually looking for her and needed her help? “Well! I’ll have to see to it tomorrow. It’s a while before dawn, now. You should go back to your room and try to get some rest, though I doubt you’ll be able to for a day… or five. You should be fine now; it’s usually nothing more than a horrible fright, a few blood-curdling screams, and some scratches. You might want to warn…”“Starfall.”“Oh, what a pretty name. Warn her about that, and to not follow the odd noises.” Colette sighed and went on her way deeper into the tunnels.As he pulled himself to his feet, he felt at the back of his neck. Even after Colette had healed him with her fire, it was still cold. He still wasn’t sure what had grabbed him. Were they ghosts? They weren’t draugr. They were terrified and begging for help. Draugr only knew hatred and violence. And Mirabelle had guessed that this was going to happen and sent Colette down after him. He didn’t know why that hurt, but it did. He gathered his belongings and trudged back to the dorms, wondering why it was so bitterly cold on such a clear, still night. Getting downstairs, he looked back and forth between his room, the boiler room, and the big stone tub next door. Maybe a hot bath would help…*The wards had to come down. That had to be it. Ancano paced counterclockwise around the artifact, lightly pounding his fist against its slowly reverse spinning plates with every step. It wasn’t reacting to anything he did to it, even following Tolfdir’s method of covering the surface with lightning. None of his other magic was getting through. It had to be the wards that Savos and Mirabelle had put down. Probably to keep the others out as well as keeping its power in. They could all feel it as soon as it appeared in the hall. This artifact held unknown power, possibly not seen for aeons. He'd sent his reports as soon as he’d finished them; hopefully the embassy would respond just as quickly.He only needed about an hour with the artifact unwarded. It was well before dawn, and everyone was still in bed. He was skilled enough that he could subdue any anomalies that came up.First, make a note to remember what wards were put down so he could reactivate them afterward. Two containment, one dampener. Honestly, they shouldn’t have been so afraid of it. Yes, the excess radiant magicka output was mildly uncomfortable, but maybe if they allowed the artifact to vent its energy instead of making it back up—oh… that was a sticking point. It was likely to release a burst of energy after the dampening ward came down. And if he still couldn’t manipulate the artifact when the barriers came down…Sod it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And hopefully being transferred out of this miserable wasteland spying on a bunch of neophytes and charlatans. He pulled up all three wards at once, telekinetically yanking the soul gems into his pocket and snapping the multicolored threads of the concentric circles.* There was a shift along the northern coast of Skyrim.The sleepy village of Winterhold proper got a rude awakening on Turdas morning. Somehow, every single human, elf, beast, and animal came down with some sort of illness. When everyone in the village realized that they were all experiencing the same thing, they streamed into the jarl’s longhouse, as if there was anything he could do about an instant plague. Jarl Korir immediately started cursing the college.Violet awoke far too early to a sudden splitting migraine; both an internal aura in her head and an aethereal aura around her, and the immediate need to stick her head in a bucket. The souls in her charge were all humming like dragon-sized bees. Kaidan was still exhausted, frustrated, freezing to death while boiling himself alive, and now wanting to dig out his own innards.The entire student body came down with the same vague illness, save for Brelyna, who immediately turned into a crying wreck. She hid in the corner of Onmund’s room, which didn’t really help either much as her being so afraid of something that he could only barely feel didn’t help him stay calm.Savos, Mirabelle, and half of the faculty had a pretty good idea of what had happened and rushed out of their beds and into the Hall of Elements. The other half was mostly confused and went to check on each other.Ancano was standing there at the center of the hall with his back to all of them, transfixed by the artifact. Pulsing enough pure arcane energy to completely drain him of magicka had finally had an effect! Starfall was unwittingly right about her other assessments. It was hollow. There was something inside of it. And it was absolutely heavenly. The perfection in the outer geometry! The tonal architects would sing praises of its song! The brevity in its endless inscription! Even his body racking itself to death was worth every second in its omniscience. The glowing seams became blindingly bright, then loosened enough to slide outward and let enough light out to nearly blind him, though he didn’t dare take his eyes off of it. There was a ‘large’ gap in its memory between now and about a few thousand years before the creation of Saarthal, but before that… Before everything… “Ancano! Why did you take down the wards?” The Archmage snapped.The Inquisitor didn’t even turn. His voice was breaking down as if he were looking into the smiling, beautiful faces of his Divine ancestors themselves. “Look at it. At least you have to be able to see it, Savos. How are the rest of you simply continuing on as if nothing has happened? Like we haven’t discovered the first link to the Divines?!”Mirabelle frowned and shielded her eyes. “Archmage. I trust you have an idea of how to shut it down before we have another cataclysmic event.”“Um.” He was starting to become lost in the glow as well.She only hummed her disapproval.“Oh, dear!” Tolfdir winced as he stepped up beside Mirabelle. His old bones were already annoying him first thing in the morning, so the artifact definitely wasn’t doing him any favors, even if it was like looking at the face of a god if you squinted just right. “What’s happening?!”“It seems that Ancano’s decided to include us all in his morning ‘self-congratulatory’ ritual.” Faralda sounded more annoyed and aching than afraid of what was actually going on. Not that anyone was paying her any mind, they were all trying to figure out how to snap Ancano out of it and shut it all down without getting too close and being mesmerized like he’d been, or him turning around and possibly doing something foolish.*Down in the lowest levels of The Midden, all of the strange anomalies and phenomena that Ervine and Marence had warned Kaidan about bubbled up to the surface. He clutched his chest and fell down the stairs out of the tub, trying to figure out if he was hallucinating the screaming, crying, and pleading or if it was actually coming from him and something had pulled him out of his own head. He couldn’t use magic, but he was in no way immune to it. Unless it had an express purpose like healing or hurting him, it just accumulated inside of him and he had no way to use or unleash it until someone took it or it seeped off slowly on its own, which could take hours or days. It dripped down the back of his neck into his chest, and it was making him even colder and jittery and fuck this, as soon as Starfall healed him somehow, he was leaving to go live at the inn until she was done with all these stupid shenanigans.“Starfall!” He shouted out into the common area. ‘Still fucking freezing…’“Little… ugh… busy.” She panted.He tried again while struggling with putting his clothes on. “What is going on?!” He was shivering even though he was blistering red from the hot water. Then he finally realized he’d done something terrible as the leather and wool going across his skin felt like shards of cold glass. He gave up on them and grabbed the towels around the room. Still hurt, but they didn’t press tight to his skin and weigh down like his clothes and armor.“I don’t know! How… are you being affected… by this?! It’s an… outpouring of magicka—aah, fuck. They’re… messing with that… damned thing… we brought back.” She made a high-pitched whine, which made her migraine aura flare and she put her face back in the bucket.Kaidan heard her retching and couldn’t decide which of them was worse off. He finally made his way into the common room and was hesitant to go see if Starfall was alright, but he needed to see if she could do something about his condition. He banged on her door, leaning heavily on it before yelping in pain and stumbling backward. “I don’t suppose you want to go see what in Coldharbor they’ve done and if it’s possible to either stop it, or escape?”“I’m not leaving!” She heaved.How?! How was this stubbornness still overriding her self-preservation and sense?! He finally opened her door without waiting for her and found her curled up in the middle of the floor, brightly glowing and throwing up like she’d just eaten a whole bunch of nirnroots. Whatever was in the bucket was glowing too. He cringed. This couldn’t possibly be any sort of good, despite all of the depictions of saints and gods having bright halos. Especially since none of them had been immortalized turning out their stomachs.Her voice was raw and gone. “Whoever’s fucking with that thing is going to get the worst beating of their life…” Violet made sure there was nothing left in her stomach and clawed at the side of her bed until she was upright and able to process what she was seeing, which was Kaidan covered in towels and redder than she was. “What happened to you?!”“There’s something in the Midden and it did something to me… I was in the bath trying to warm up. It’s so cold. It hurts… feels like I’m dying…” Kaidan pulled the towels tightly around himself, only to hiss and nearly dropped everything.“Fucking hell, you’re completely scalded! You probably are! Come here, at least I can spend some of this on you.” She reached out and grabbed his hands.He flinched away at first, but her hands were warm, and he fell to his knees so she could reach him without getting up. Finally! Actual warmth! It had to come from someone else! He grabbed her and found himself nuzzling her warm, soft, little hands on his face and throat, moaning in relief as his breath came and went in gasping clouds of frost. Just as he snatched her up in a hug, her aura swirled into bright yellow light wrapping around the two of them. And then it turned into healing fire crawling over every inch of his flesh to remove and rebuild his skin, sobering him up immediately to scream and dropping him to the floor. He swore she did that on purpose. Damn, Starfall, not even when a man is dying? Opening his eyes and looking up from the ground, her expression was flat, bordering on angry. Please be from that thing upstairs hurting them, and not his temporary loss of control. Her aura was gone.Violet studied Kaidan’s face. He was on the verge of panic, and his eyes were dead, dark, sunken, and starting to shadow over. Something had happened in the Midden and left him thinking he was freezing to death enough that he was, in some kind of way; his new skin was freezing and clammy and his breath was a strange mist. It was hot and humid in the basement of the Countenance dorms, no thanks to him filling the place with steam, and nearly killing himself trying to get warm. And now he was being poisoned with magic he couldn’t use. Every. Other. Mother. Fucking. Day. It’s this. Well, she did only ask for one day of peace. She should have asked for more. Of course, if only one day off left this kind of mess, what kind of backup would happen after a week? Alduin probably raising an entire army of dragons and unleashing all their terror everywhere at once. “The burns are gone, but I don’t know what to do about you being cold, at least until whoever is up there stops fooling with that damn ball. I’ll see how far I can get. …Put your armor back on and bring your weapons in case we really do have to smash someone’s teeth in over this.”*It was sunrise now and the students, the scholars, and some of the faculty were out in the courtyard chattering anxiously. They all stayed as far away as possible from the magicka font in the middle, which was boiling over with glowing blue slime that evaporated into bright white sparks, and made Kaidan give it an even wider berth. Since they were out here and not inside, it probably wasn’t going to be helpful to ask them anything. Violet and Kaidan went around them and tried the door, hoping they hadn’t been locked out for emergency reasons. It was unlocked, but opening the warded doors brought Violet’s auras back with a vengeance. The artifact lashed out and latched on to her with sparkling ribbons as soon as she got two feet into the vestibule, and the thick magicka plasma coming out of the courtyard’s font was also coming out of the Hall of Elements’ font, flooding the floor. The combined energies hitting her when the door opened made cold lightning hit everywhere; in her teeth, behind her eyes, along her spine, and into her brain.“AGHK!” Violet’s shriek vibrated the hall, drawing everyone but Ancano’s attention. All they saw was her collapsing onto the floor before Kaidan could let go of the door to catch her. The artifact still wouldn’t leave her body alone though, and wove around her, making her halo even worse.“Starfall?!” Kaidan sat her up and gently shook her, thankful that whatever this blue slime was all over them, it wasn't acid or suffocating or changed them into stone. It was just very dizzying, nauseating, and … fizzy. It obviously hurt her though, as she was out cold, and his hand passed through the magical ribbons streaming into her without even making them waver. The thought crossed his mind that she sort of deserved it for twenty minutes prior. He turned to all the mages standing around being useless. “TURN IT OFF! NOW!”“You could never understand, Akaviri, cut off from Aetherius as you are. Worthless slaves to beasts and brutes.” Ancano shuddered in agony and ecstasy. He didn’t even care that his eyes were betraying his rage. That was the last of Kaidan’s patience for the day and it was barely even sunrise. Powerful warlock with a dangerous toy or no, this shit elf was still a mortal full of himself. He set Starfall down against the wall next to the Archmage’s door, then shot past the other mages up to Ancano, grabbed the back of his head, and smashed it against the closest metal plate of the artifact. The overwhelming need to do it a few more times against the much harder stone base was worse than the desperate need to cling to Starfall and suck all the heat from her bones. The inquisitor didn’t even get to turn around before he was unconscious on the floor, bleeding from the scalp. With Ancano no longer having any influence over it, the plates calmly clicked shut and the artifact went back to “normal”, loosening but not releasing its grasp on Starfall. Mirabelle was the first to react, running over and searching Ancano’s pockets for the wards’ soul gems, with Savos taking a few more seconds to pull himself together and start spinning the containment threads and runes. The flood of condensed magicka quickly evaporated.“It wasn’t that hard.” Kaidan spat through heaving breaths of frost. “Fucking mages overcomplicating everything!”“Except you could have killed him!” Faralda shouted back. “And later he’s going to wake up and—”“—Not do a thing without incriminating himself in poisoning everyone here, including the Archmage.” Mirabelle said calmly. “Savos, he needs to be kept away from the artifact at all costs. And I’m starting to agree with Master Violet’s suggestion to return it to Saarthal. Is she alright, by the way?”Tolfdir bristled at the suggestion but said nothing, lest everyone remember that it was his idea to bring it to the college in the first place. “I’ll go check…” And he followed Kaidan back to the vestibule.Savos was still putting down the wards and deep in concentration. These had to be sturdier than the last ones. “Alright.”Kaidan knelt down in front of Starfall again and held her cheeks. Don’t think about her toasty warmth or she’ll tear your flesh off, again. “Oi. Come on. It’s over for now. You can finish healing me with the excess and then we can go sleep this off.”“I can hear them…” Violet breathed. She was only half conscious, but slowly waking up. “…coming.”He thought maybe the ghosts or whatever undead under the college were finally roused because of the artifact. “You already know about them?”The entire college jolted as if something incredibly large and heavy had just hit it, sending gasps around the room and stopping Mirabelle and Savos’s work.“FAAL MIINDOKREIN! NIDBO RUTH, RUTH JOORRE!!” (1) A deep, growling voice shouted just outside. The thick, frosted glass windows around the hall vibrated with every word. The noise was a whole quiver of arrows through the back of Violet’s head. She put her hands over her face and half whined, half cried.As Kaidan wasn’t given to making that kind of noise, he simply slid down to the floor beside her and barked a short, broken laugh. “Well, at least we won’t have to go out and hunt one down!”A second voice further away made everyone’s blood run cold. It made a high-pitched screech and the entire college jolted again.“And that fucking idiot attracted two of them! Maybe we should keep it and you can just open it whenever you’re Hungry! Godsdamn!”She breathed deeply. “We’re in no condition to fight…” “I know.” Kaidan was still nervously chuckling small clouds. He tried to wave them away. “I’m still freezing to death, and you’re… poisoned by that thing. It’s going to be a shite time all around, eh?”Master Ervine ran up to them. “Attracted two of what? What are you two on about?!”Violet sighed. “Dragons. One said, ‘The Eye of Magnus. Stop it, you fucking idiots.’ …In so many words. Other one is far below us and said a fire spell. I think that one is trying to break the foundation below and dump this place into the ocean.”Savos, Mirabelle, and Faralda all turned back towards the artifact. Magnus? No wonder Ancano was so taken with it. And now dragons. The Archmage and Master-Wizard vaguely knew what she was working on, but they had no idea that she was directly connected to them. Tolfdir knew of her curse, but still kept it quiet.Kaidan helped Starfall get upright and shrugged at the rest of the group. “But hey, if we were able to kill one by ourselves, you lot should do one, easy.”Faralda looked at the two of them as if they were insane. The Outlander (…Akaviri?!) had to be delirious.“And if not, the people of Old Winterhold that have been haunting this place will have a lot of new friends.” He pulled his cape hood over his face and hugged himself.The building took another hit, more forcefully this time.Tolfdir was doing his best to see what healing he could do for either of them, except they were both physically fine. There wasn’t anything he could do to draw out Starfall’s excess magicka that wouldn’t just hurt her further, and Kaidan’s affliction seemed to be another case of what Colette was working on. Where was Colette when she was actually needed? “But why are they still attacking? He stopped Ancano and that closed the artifact!”“I don’t know. I would be walking into the library about now, but noooo!” Violet pushed away from the wall for a few steps and nearly fell over. Oh, this was going to be fun. “Archmage. I know I’m just a foreigner who’s been nothing but trouble since I got here, but please. Either send it back, or lock it up, or lock Ancano up, or kill him, or something. I can’t… I— I have to finish my research, or this will keep happening everywhere!”Savos pondered her words, then walked out. “We’ll see. Faralda, see if you can get the apprentices to take haven in the lower floors of the dorms. Master Mirabelle, come with me. Tolfdir, do what you can to assist them and secure Ancano before he wakes up.”
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It took a little work for Violet and Kaidan to gather themselves enough to assure Tolfdir that they were fine, then they tied Ancano to a post and poisoned his internal magicka so he couldn’t escape. A containment ward that would be able to hold a master mage would take far too long, and like Kaidan had said, ‘stop overcomplicating everything’. Violet looked at the vial with a needle attached and smacked her forehead.“Do you have any more of these? We don’t have time for me to make some. We both need them, him more than me.” She almost got distracted by the clever design (‘push the rubber stopper to force’—FOCUS!) before she snapped back to the present.“I can check the alchemy labs and ask Sleeps-in-Blossoms… if I can find her…, but it’s not something we keep a lot of, you understand. Besides, until we get the wards back up, it’s just going to keep accumulating.” Tolfdir tugged his beard and went off with the vial.“Ugh, he’s probably not going to be able to get it to us before we’re well out of the way, and I can already tell without even looking at you that you find the idea of willfully taking poison to be an awful idea.” Violet put her hands over her face.He frowned at her. “Don’t really like that solution, no. But feeling like this isn’t great either. Can’t you just draw it out?”“I… hmm. I can run lightning through your body to ‘burn it up’. Even if I make the spell weak, it would feel even worse than the poison, and then there’s the restoring light running through my other hand. It might stop your heart. Or we could find a weapon enchanted to drain magicka and hit you with it. Take the poison.”The Dragonguard only sighed and walked away from the whole thing to take his chances with the dragons. Dragons made sense.While it was convenient for Ancano to have opened the artifact and attracted the dragons, it was offset by the artifact’s strange effects on them and Violet. They had commanded the college to stop the 'Eye' and were angry enough to try and destroy the entire building. Violet didn’t want to destroy the college, but wanting to beat Ancano clean to death to get the pain to stop was close enough. Dragons are innately magical creatures. She had their blood and the artifact seemed to want her specifically. Even though the Eye was shut, it wasn’t warded and was still pouring far too much magicka out into the world. How far was it reaching? Where did they come from that they were driven to fly all the way here?“The others need to distract both dragons away from the village so we can get to your horse, then make our way down to the building’s foundation. That one absolutely has to die first if you want to keep using the library. Plus, it should get us far enough away from the artifact.” Kaidan said as he took a peek outside. The first dragon was probably circling since there weren’t many places to land. “Tiku stays where he is; it’ll take too long to get him then turn back, go down to the beach and then I’ll have to make the ice roads thick enough for a horse with us on him. Plus, I don’t think he’s a warhorse.” Not to mention she’d come up with six different ways for Tiku to die since he’d suggested it only a minute ago.“We need to be able to move fast enough to keep up with a dragon flying around an island big enough to hold up a building as it’s trying to destroy both us and the college. Honestly, I don’t particularly care if they do sink this accursed place, as long as we’re not in here when it falls. But then you’d be angry, and we’d have to do all of this shit all over again trying to find another library. We’re getting the horse. Just put armor on it and it’ll be fine.”On seeing the coast was clear, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her outside at a dead run. The Archmage and Master-Wizard were standing in the courtyard, trying to figure out how to get to the dragon above and around the back of the college. It was beating at the windows trying to get to the Eye.“No, let it stay there while we move down to the shore. Give us fifteen minutes so it doesn’t chase us into the village!” He called over to them without stopping.The Master-Wizard opened the gate for them and shut it behind them, though Kaidan wondered if they’d be able to get back in later, given the emergency. They got to the magicka beacon and stopped. Starfall immediately went into blind panic and clung behind Kaidan, while he found himself hesitating as well watching the ice and stone of the bridge crumble and fall off into the sea below. He wasn’t afraid of heights, but again, this was an absurdly stupid and dangerous situation those lazy-arsed mages had put them in.The bridge wasn’t completely gone yet. If they were fast, and the dragon still hadn’t noticed them… “Starfall, hold on to me and do that sprinting Shout.”“Are you fucking insane?!” Too loud and too panicked. The noise made her head swim and her throat scratch.“For sticking with you? Yes.” And there it was. “Five minutes ago, you told me to drink poison! Now do it! And hurry up, we don’t have time for you to build it back up again!”“Why?!” She whined.“Because that’s just where we are, right now.” Kaidan hugged her tight to himself, half to comfort her, half to try and steal her warmth again. Neither was working well with his metal chestplate. “I’m starting to go numb, you’re overdosing on magic, and a whole lot of your new “friends” are in a lot of trouble. You’re Hungry, and killing the dragons means that’s at least two problems solved. Can we please just get this over with?!”“Stop making sense!” She cried, hugged tightly around his arm, and made thrice damn sure she was facing the right way. “WULD!”Just as he braced himself, the world around him was a blur, then a fraction of a second’s worth of falling (just enough for his heart to skip a beat), and they fell into the magicka beacon at the other side. He wasn’t sure if his arm felt missing because she’d squeezed all the blood out of it, or if the sudden change of momentum had pulled his arm out of the socket. No. He’d gotten his arm dislocated before. That was much, much worse than this. He looked down at Starfall and she was coughing and shaking with her eyes shut tight. She literally did that with her eyes closed. She could have overshot the broken railing and taken them right over the edge. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth and there were deep nail grooves on his leather sleeve. Gods damn it, this was going to be a disaster one way or another.He shook his arm to put some feeling back into it and wake her up. “Come on, you did it. …At least you didn’t piss yourself.”“Shut the fuck up.” She kept coughing and swallowed her healing light.There was a screech behind them, the dragon shouting, and dozens of loud crackling sounds; the dragon must have heard her shout, but the master mages were on top of it like he’d asked. He took off running again with her in tow, realizing that if he felt awful, the village probably wasn't going to be too friendly, either. Just avoid everyone and sneak through the ruins until they got to the back of the tavern. They cut through broken and abandoned houses until they opened the little stable behind the Frozen Hearth. Inside, they found Tiku and several other animals all lying down and looking pathetic.“Oh no, the animals, too. I told you we should have skipped this. We need to get him on his feet.” Violet went up to her horse and started making sure everything else was okay. Tiku looked up at her and grumbled.“Go inside and ask Nelacar if he has that poison, and I’ll ask the general goods if they have any.” This was taking too long. He looked up to check on the college. He could plainly see the dragon above, flying around and dodging different colored streams of light while returning ice and probably lots of curses. The mages seemed to be holding their own for now.Violet ran into the tavern and up to Dagur to get help, though looking around, everyone was looking about as miserable as Kaidan was. Most people without any kind of magical aptitude had just as little recourse concerning moving aether through themselves. Either take a dose of poison to drain it, or wait for it to dissipate on its own through natural life force expenditure. The hostler understandably hadn’t been over to take care of the stables yet, but she could still see to her horse on her own. The plague, as they called it, was only making the anxiety about the dragon worse. It wasn’t full blown panic yet since it was only attacking those crazy mages. They probably deserved it. She found Nelacar hiding in his room, frantically flipping through the few books he had trying to figure out just what had happened for the entire village to come down with the exact same symptoms at the exact same time. “Do you have magicka poison or know where I could get some?” She asked quickly.“No! What in Oblivion is going on?! What was that shouting a few minutes ago?”“Ancano’s absolute jackassery is poisoning everyone and attracted dragons.” She spat.He stared at her in shock. “He did all this?! How?!”“Later, I have to fight the dragons.” She said bitterly as she stomped back out.Nelacar could only stare after her. He wished for just a moment he could go up there and get better information than whatever scraps anyone felt like bringing him. Maybe not right now with the dragons tearing the place apart…*Kaidan ran up to Birna’s Oddments, and of course it was closed. He pounded on the door, and above him on the balcony, a woman shouted for him to go away.“Everyone’s sick! And there’s dragons! Go hide!” Birna leaned heavily on the railing.“I know there’s dragons, I have to fight them! I need magicka poison!”She stared down at him for several seconds before going back inside and locking the door.He rolled the idea around in his head of simply kicking the door down for entirely too long before Starfall rode up behind him. The horse was shaking his head in agitation and clearly angry about something, though Kaidan didn’t know whether it was because Starfall had replaced all of his flesh with shiny black metal and made him look like a living statue, or whatever she’d done to get him moving had been most likely unpleasant. Looking up at the two of them, her bright white and gold robes stood out even more against the perfectly black horse. “You found the magicka poison?”“Gods, no. It’d take something like a whole bucket’s worth to detoxify a horse. I didn’t have any choice but to use the lightning. I used a low magnitude as not to kill him, healed him at the same time, and the pain got him on his feet and ready to trample me. Poor thing is going to get so many treats after this, I’m so sorry.” She hugged the back of Tiku’s neck; he was not ready to forgive her yet and tried to shake her off.Good enough. Kaidan quickly mounted up behind Starfall and only barely resisted clinging to her this time, even though his armor didn’t transfer her body heat, anyway. “After this, we have to find a cure for whatever this coldness is.”“You’ll have to fully explain what happened, later. This doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever had experience with. Of course, the only reason anyone would have come to me crying about freezing to death in the desert was that they probably pissed off another mage.” It took a bit of arguing with Tiku, but they took off towards the beach. Kaidan had to guide them temporarily as being at the top of the path along the cliffs was steep, icy, and making Starfall’s head swim until she covered her eyes. Tiku would slip a few feet, panic, then Starfall would get Tiku stable for another few feet by stabilizing the ice into gritty slush, Kaidan would try to find a safer patch on the narrow path, and repeat for what felt like long enough for the dragon to have knocked the college down several times over.Riding under the crumbling bridge to the college, Violet heard a lot of stone grinding and regretfully caught a glimpse of just how horribly precarious the college’s position on top of the island really was. She wheezed a curse, and on seeing several rocks fall and finally the whole bridge tumble into the icy waters, Kaidan had to slam his hand over her mouth so the dragon wouldn’t notice them and simply shout them off the cliff. Once they were down to the beach, Violet could finally (and in a somewhat less panicked state) see what they were really dealing with. A large, black and orange dragon flying laps around a snowy, mountain sized island. It circled the pillar holding up the college, flew up to a narrow spot along the middle, and used its fire thu’um before smashing into the new weak spot. Fragments of ice and stone crashed into the water, and it fell to the ground, stunned. On top of the dragon and the new threat of collapse, the Great Collapse had made navigating over to the island so much more difficult than they anticipated. The ruins of Winterhold were trapped in a sort of suspended animation of tumbling and rolling into the ocean. Whole and parts of houses, furniture, strips of road, carts with horse skeletons still attached, pieces of human skeletons, tons and tons of trash, and endless stone ruins worn smooth by the rough waters went on for miles in both directions of the coast.“They didn’t even come down here to bury the dead?!” She started to scream before Kaidan had to stop her and tell her to lower her voice. “It can’t fucking hear us over all the noise it’s making! Stop it!”Kaidan had come down on the first night instead of getting some sleep before Saarthal, so this wasn’t exactly new. It looked much worse in the daytime, though. He also noticed that the formation of the pillar holding up the college was not natural and was spiraled exactly like how he’d seen some mages create barrier walls. Now wasn’t really the time to point that out. “Gods. Focus! We need to get to the island. We can’t fight it here; there’s too much debris from the old city. It looks a lot clearer up there.”“Try to find us a path, and I have a lot of extra magic built up inside me still, but I still shouldn’t waste it on just trying to get over there. If you find clear space or shallows to run across, I can make a path thick enough for Tiku to walk on.” Violet said, keeping her eyes on the dragon in case it finally noticed them. The college was mostly blocking a clear view of the sky, and debris was raining down. She had plenty of water to work with, and the air was wet from the sea and heavy with radiant magicka. She could do some damage.*The Archmage paced back and forth in thought as he watched Master Starfall and the Outlander run off to handle the other dragon somewhere far below them. He didn’t know anything about Outlanders (Ancano had called him an Akaviri; he’d have to look that up later), but Redguards were supposed to be Tamriel’s fiercest warriors at the cost of having no aptitude for magic and very little patience for scholarly pursuits. Evidently, no one had told her this. Although, she was running headlong into a dragon’s grasp…“I think we’ll have to draw it here into the courtyard, or onto the upper walkway.” Mirabelle said while thinking about what spell might be able to reach such an awkward angle. “Just a moment,” Savos nodded. His hands moved slowly, drawing so much of the radiant magicka around the college into himself, then made a tall oval with his hand motions. A portal opened between the two of them, and then he repeated the spell far off of the edge of the upper promenade. “Alright, focus a—” “WULD!”Violet’s Shout cut through Savos’s thought and before he could get it back, the dragon above them flew from the back of the college after her.“WO KOD THU’UM?!” The dragon shouted.“Was that Master Violet?!” Mirabelle looked towards where the dragon was headed.“I believe so! Very interesting! And you, my angry friend, do not need to worry about her! Now, Mirabelle!” The two portals Savos had created repositioned themselves and dozens of bolts of lightning streamed into one, and out of the other into the dragon.Scales were singed and wings ripped and melted. Electricity bounced all over and through the dragon, popping burnt scales off for several minutes until it faltered in midair and was forced to land on the upper walkway. The entire structure shook from the near crash landing. “Nice choice, Master Ervine.” Savos moved the two portals and ran through, appearing up near the dragon.She followed him through and was already weaving a more powerful spell. “Thank you. I suppose Kaidan was right, then. These aren’t too terrible…”“Kaidan?”“The Outlander.” “Ahh.” He shut both portals behind them, then dropped two summoning circles. “But I would think it would be a lot more difficult without magic, especially our power and skill. I’m curious as to how he plans to fight the other one.”“He must have his own unique skills. His armor and weapons are heavily enchanted, but I doubt he would part with any of them for study.”“KROOE…” The dragon growled. “FAAL MIINDOKREIN LOS NI HIN. OFAN NII MU…”Mirabelle already knew that Savos was going to forget what it said as soon as it stopped talking, so she committed its words to her memory. “We don’t speak dragon.”The lights from the summoning circles erupted into a storm thrall and a flame thrall. The two atronachs were much larger, ornately armored, and more vicious looking than normal and looked to their master for the word, though they already knew their target.“Kill it.” The Archmage pointed directly at the dragon.As soon as it saw the two atronachs rush towards it, the orange dragon flared its head fins.“GAAN LAH HAAS!”Both mages were only somewhat aware that dragons used spells by shouting them. But every report and study that they’d found from the past few months said that they only breathed fire or ice. They brought up their shields expecting torrents of fire, only to have those shields torn through in seconds, and their life essences ripped from them. Savos and Mirabelle dropped to the ground, while the dragon’s burnt scales shed and revealed new ones. The two atronachs were only slowed down and directed all of their lightning and fire at the monster’s face.“SAHLO...” It snapped up the fire atronach in its jaws and chewed on it until it exploded. It spat out the shell of empty armor at Savos.“I do wish those two had warned us about this.” Savos blinked in surprise for only a moment before waving his hand and wrapping both himself and Mirabelle in healing light.Mirabelle pulled a small vial from her pocket and drank quickly, then started weaving lightning through her hands. “It would have been nice, yes. And somehow, those two mean to do this while they’re both already unwell. Buy me a few minutes, Archmage...”*Tiku nervously went at a quick trot over the cold slush, his steps changing the slushy ice water into a hard, gritty path. There was no way they’d be able to navigate through all the debris before the dragon was either finished and everyone was dead, or it noticed them and trapped them in a corner somewhere. They moved around to the back of the island and found that the beach led up far better than trying to go through the ruins. The dragon lay in a pile of snow, breathing heavily and growling in annoyance.“Hmm. Maybe we can take it by surprise…” Kaidan whispered to her and held his hand out for her choice of poisons.“Iiznaaklah… Gahrot nii ont…” (1) The orange dragon looked upward for its companion, then became suspicious when it couldn’t hear it anymore. “Iiznaaklah?!”“You take Tiku. You’re probably better at mounted combat than me. Do not kill my horse.” Violet passed him a few bottles and hopped down. Before she moved away, she ran her hand over his sword, and the blade changed from black to white. She brought her hood up to hide her hair and ducked down low to blend in perfectly to the deep, white snow. At least being all the way down at the base of the island was far enough away from the artifact that the pain was down to just a vague idea of throbbing at the top of her head.“And here’s me and the horse wearing all black. I guess we’re your distraction, then.” He sighed. “Do not get run over.”“Of course I’m not going to get in your way.” Her voice was further away now. She even covered her path through the snow as she moved. “Get ready to move in, on my signal…”Kaidan maneuvered Tiku behind a boulder at the top of the hill and just barely caught the light of Starfall’s spell weaving against the blinding white of the snow. ‘Almost…’Just as the dragon stood up and started to move away to attack again, the snow all around it rumbled and ice spikes erupted from under the dragon like a bear trap. Its scream echoed upward and made the entire island shake. Kaidan kicked the horse into a full gallop.*Colette climbed out of the Midden’s hatch and started to dust herself off, only for more dust and debris to rain on top of her. A large piece of stone from the post beside her caught her on the shoulder, almost tipping her back into the hatch.“What is going on up there?!” She wondered as she quickly ran her hand over her shoulder. White healing light crawled around her arm, making her wince. There was so much commotion, she could feel the shaking deep down in the Midden and she had to come up to investigate.“Colette? Oh, good! Could you come up here for a bit? Mirabelle and I are dealing with something that could use your particular talent!” Savos shouted.“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” The master healer grumbled and made her way upstairs the mundane way.“Little faster than that—” Mirabelle was cut off by the dragon roaring at her.“Oh!” Colette frowned and started weaving powerful spells around herself as she hurried into the Hall of Elements. As soon as she opened the door, Ancano yelled at her. ‘Just a few words…’ He could still feel the excess magicka thick in the room but the poison wouldn’t let him pull it for even one simple suggestion. “Marence! Untie me, now!”She paused to stare at Ancano struggling. He was tied to one of the posts in the main hall, and he looked frantic and sickly. Was that blood? What on Nirn was going on?! “Somehow… I don’t think that’s a good idea.”‘You paranoid hag!’ The inquisitor only growled and kept working on the ropes instead.Colette turned and ran into the Arcanaeum; she didn’t even stop to say hello to Urag, who was running around trying to keep the books from rattling off the shelves.“Whoever that is, tell them to cut it out, out there!” He pushed one of the cabinet doors closed again and locked it.“Whatever!”“No, not whatev—” The door slammed above him before he could finish. “Damn it.”“By Arkay, everything is in chaos and Savos needs my help, and OH.” Colette stopped short as she opened the upper walkway door, and a giant tail spike nearly swiped across her midsection. “This must be one of those dragons I’ve heard so much about!”The clouds above were swirling and turning darker than usual. It was probably Mirabelle. Please be Mirabelle and not the dragon. The dragon hadn’t seen her yet, so she tiptoed off to the side and started casting. She could see Savos and Mirabelle slowly backing away from it while he was putting all of his energy into summoning all kinds of weapons and monsters from Oblivion itself. A Dremora Lord rose out of a black circle on the ground and looked particularly confused and angry about it.“Who dares?!” The Daedra bellowed.Savos didn’t even bother with the formalities of binding, he simply clutched his fist and a fiery collar appeared around the Dremora’s neck. “Slit the dragon’s throat!”Lords, believing themselves to be second to only their Princes, never followed the first direction, but this one was easily convinced by the dragon spitting bitter cold that nearly froze him solid.“The kin of Akatosh…” He easily broke out of the ice shell and completely ignored the pain meant to slow it down. “Stupid, weak beasts…”The dragon only growled at the creature from Oblivion. Deyra were nuisances at best. When it tried the same trick as with the fire atronach, the Dremora lord was a lot faster and was able to slip around to the side of its head. His sword fit neatly behind the dragon’s jaw and twisted to the hilt. The dragon’s beady eyes widened in shock and it thrashed the Dremora away from itself before it could finish slitting its throat.Colette frowned at Savos for using such an unsavory creature to do his bidding, but she supposed the circumstances called for some unorthodoxy. She saw her literal opening as the dragon started to bleed freely, and she drew her finger in a rune across her palm to summon a thick well of boiling blood. The dragon’s dark blood boiled too, trailing back into the dragon’s throat. In her other hand, a yellow flame lily pulsing restorative light kept her alive through the spell’s link to her own blood.When the dragon opened its mouth to shout again, the only thing that came out was a gasp and a lot of steaming blood before thunder rumbled. A column of lightning slammed it down to the ground and pulsed light and static into it over and over. Because the Dremora was still nearby, it shared the dragon’s fate, cleaning up any evidence that the Archmage had summoned it. Savos shielded himself and Mirabelle, while Colette put her wards up. Once the lightning barrage finally ended, Colette leaned heavily against the wall beside the door and stared at the very large pile of char still somewhat shaped like a dragon.“If you tell me that thing isn’t dead after all of that? Then I don’t know.” She ran her clean hand down the side of her face.Mirabelle drew the sign for Death over it, squinted for a few seconds, then tried again with Life, and shrugged. “It’s showing up for both spells.”“It can’t be both, Mirabelle.” Colette frowned. “Look, it’s bled out.”“See for yourself, then.”Colette did, having mostly the same reaction. “Are dragons supposed to be immortal? Is that what this is?”“That can’t be right, though. Their graves are all over. They were definitely dead.” Savos took a chance and walked up to it.“So necromancy?” Mirabelle asked.“Look at this blood, though. It’s not corrupted at all, beyond what Colette did to it. This is too good for that.” Without touching it, Savos scooped some up into a levitating orb to show the two Restoration masters.The dragon made a short, labored breath, which made all three of them jump.“M-miin… do… Kreinnnn… Vonuuun...” The dragon whispered.“Sweet Arkay!” Colette ran away from it and over to Mirabelle.“Hm. Since it’s not quite dead, I wonder if Master Starfall would like to hold on to it for study?” Savos rubbed his beard. He wouldn’t mind keeping it if she didn’t want it…“Oh yes, and let’s just get everyone else up here too for a class and dissection! We haven’t had one of those in ages!” She shouted.“Please calm down, Colette.” He sighed. “Here.”Savos summoned a ball of energy and formed it into a greataxe that looked like it belonged to some kind of Daedric titan. It levitated in the air over the dragon for only a moment before it slammed down with enough force to pass cleanly behind the dragon’s head and wedge into the stone floor, then burned up and returned to Oblivion.“There. The head’s off. Now it’s dead.” The Archmage lamented that he’d killed it, but maybe there was still enough left to salvage for study.“We need to get down to the foundation and assist Violet and Kaidan.” Mirabelle realized that the attacks against the foundation had stopped, but there was still a lot of loud droning and magicka flowing down beneath the college in powerful torrents…
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As soon as the dragon wrenched itself from the ice trap, Kaidan came out from behind the boulder to fire several arrows. He wasn’t going to put the horse in too much danger if he could help it; he'd never hear the end of it, never mind that she was the one who knew getting a horse was a bad idea from the start. Get the big scaly bastard bleeding out first, then once it’s too tired to fly anymore, get in close and finish it off.He hoped that all the movement and exertion would help with the bitter cold, but whatever had taken hold of him didn’t seem to care whether he was in a tub of scalding hot water or knee deep in snow with the winter sea air whipping at his face. The dragon looked in his direction, but instead of coming after him, it sneered and flew around to the other side of the island, behind the pillar holding up the college. At least the trail of blood was easy to follow.Violet smacked her forehead and started to run in the other direction, headed around the back of the island. At least she was in her element. She could easily shout and have it carry her around to the other side, but she’d already used it once and wound up bleeding from the throat. Only for emergencies from now on. Hold on, Kai and Tiku. The snow under her feet parted out of her way, and that was even faster. Just as she rounded the pillar’s outcropping, the dragon used its shout again, blasting the pillar with fire. This time, a huge crack and whole boulders came off when the dragon kicked the glowing-hot weak spot.“You’re the one who needs to stop.” She hissed under her breath.Before it could land back into the snow to rest, Violet started pulling all of the radiant magicka coming down from the college through herself. It wasn’t as much as she thought it was, or maybe she was too far out of range, but it was still more than enough to spring another ice trap large enough to snare the dragon. The threads quickly wove beneath it and the white lines were invisible against the snow. It finished and started spinning just as the dragon landed on it, sensing the magic just a second too late.Crystals, lances, and spears exploded and impaled the dragon, this time making it much harder for it to escape. The trap also gave Kaidan enough time to ride in and shred the dragon’s wings and tail still sticking out of the trap. His sword crackled with every swipe, burning holes and trailing lightning wherever it made contact.The Dovahkriid was a painful nuisance, but where was the kro? The dragon could feel her awful presence nearby. She was a powerful perversion of magic— and a dragon herself… Dovahkiin. Ruth. The Wuld, earlier. She was here somewhere. They saw a glint of black shining off to the side and at first, they thought it was a snowy rock, but it matched the Dovahkriid’s horse. The two were working together. Traitorous bitch.“GAAN LAH HAAS!”Violet’s eyes widened in surprise as she knew the Words, but didn’t understand what they meant in that combination. The relief of losing some of that excess magic was nothing compared to losing what little life force she had and the adrenaline that kept her going. Her world turned dim and started to tilt sideways. She watched the dragon wrest itself free of the trap and seal its wounds, then come bounding in her direction.‘Thieving fucker...’ She could barely pull enough magicka to heal and dive under the snow before it raced towards her and snapped its jaws where she’d been. The dragon spat out a mouthful of melting slush and thrashed around trying to catch her up in the wide swipes, then realized something was wrong with the arrows the Dovahkriid had fired. Their insides burned like fire and every movement was dozens of knives under their scales.“Starfall!” He brought the horse around and went full speed dangerously close under the dragon’s wing, putting several new gashes in the dragon’s side to stun it long enough to grab his partner. It was dangerous trying to find her on horseback, but there wasn't any time. He found her little magelight by the tip of the dragon's tail, leaned over, and held his hand out for Starfall to grab. When he had a solid hold on her, he swung her up in front of him in the saddle.“I wondered how they might heal themselves if they’re injured. They’re fucking leeches. …I want it!” She growled.“What for?! You’re a healer!” He shouted back. The dragon homed in on their voices and whipped around to tail swipe the horse, but Kaidan swung his sword arm over and through the monster’s tail, chopping the tip off. A heavier, though less deadly section still impacted Tiku's chest, tossing him over and backwards and throwing the two off of his back. Kaidan landed in a drift and rolled away from the panicking horse. Hitting the soft snow helped cushion the blow for Violet, up until the horse kicked around trying to get upright and clipped her forearm with a smothered crunch. Because she gave him armor, Tiku wasn’t harmed, but the real damage had already been done.
Take your life essence back, along with everything else.
Violet wished for a split second that the idiot tied up back at the college could open the Eye, if only for a minute while she completely ruined the rest of this asshole’s very short life. She sat up and quickly mended her broken arm by dropping her armor, screaming tears into her sleeve and making herself even angrier through burning light. Every flake of snow and drop of water around the island swirled up and around them, and Kaidan instantly remembered how she leveled part of her own city.“By the gods, Starfall NO!” He shouted at her and tried to get them away from the stinging whirlwind, but his voice was completely absorbed by the roar of the vortex. He got the horse to its feet and snatched Starfall up in a bear hug to put her in the saddle (and hopefully stop her), but it didn’t slow her down or interrupt her at all. Tiku saw the wall of ice blocking them in with the monster and ran around in a circle trying to figure out what to do.Violet’s aetheric shield expanded outward until it protected all three of them, and with one hand, she guided Tiku through the wall while ice needles and stinging sea water battered her swirling wall of light. Her voice hardened. “It pays. That’s the rule.”The vortex of ice, snow, and water picked up the dragon and dragged it screaming into the sea, then collapsed into a slab of ice locked to the edge of the island. It flailed around with its head just underwater, and they could hear it banging and scrabbling against the stone-hard layer. It tried to scream fire underwater to melt itself free or at least lift the new extension of the island’s foundation, but the ice was too thick and unwieldy.“Starfall, stop!” He grabbed her wrist, only to have his hand slapped away.She growled deep from the back of her throat. “Shut up. I know what I’m doing. Take Tiku and make your way back up to the village. I told you not to bring him down here, and look what fucking happened.”Kaidan listened to the dull scrabbling under the ice getting weaker. The ice was too thick to see it under there. He took a deep breath. “You’re torturing it. Just kill it. Stop being cruel.”Violet’s eye twitched. “How dare you have sympathy for these monsters. Anyway, I need to know if they can swim, and how long it can go without air. Since it’s not trying to move out from under the base, it probably can’t.”“You’re lying. You don’t fucking care whether they can swim or not. Or you know they can’t. And you haven’t been keeping count of how long it takes to drown them.” This was beyond stupid.
Tell him his place.
“Fuck you and get out.” She was shaking as she dismounted from Tiku to get away from them both. She pulled her hood back over her head and stomped out to the edge of the ice floe, then started smashing where it was anchored to the shore with white-hot fireballs raining down. After a few seconds, the entire floe exploded and the dragon flopped out onto the shore, shivering. It hacked and gurgled seawater but didn’t have the energy left for anything else. Violet merely sat on the shore a little ways from it and seethed.“Iiznaaklah…” They coughed.She couldn’t hear fighting from above anymore, and yet its soul hadn’t come to her. “Iiznaaklah mahlaan.” (1)They closed their eyes and whispered. “…Vokul kro. Krosis, Iiznaaklah.” (2)Sorry? These fuckers know the meaning of sorry? She scoffed. “Hi ni fod ni unt wa gahrot faal Miin.” (3)“Joorre fen krii pah voth faal Miindokrein. Vonun. Nu.” (4)She narrowed her eyes. “Faal Miin los…?” (5)The dragon opened an eye to look at the tiny Alik’r woman leering back at them. Such rahgol inside of this sunvaar. Dovah, yes. But joor and mey and vokul. Not worthy of faal Miin. Possibly worse. “Niid.” (6)“Gonna make me work for that secret, huh?” Violet stumbled to her feet and realized how tired she was, but since Kaidan had fucked off like she’d told him to, she had to finish it herself. The dragon wasn’t even breathing anymore. She summoned her Daedric sword and drove it in to the hilt through its heart, then pulled it out and did it again across its throat before sitting on her rock again to wait for her “reward”.*That didn’t take long. She was getting worse, or whatever that thing back at the college was, was making her worse. She hadn’t even taken the dragon’s soul yet and she was acting like one of them. That rage wasn’t blind. And she was lying. She still wasn’t willing to retaliate against him, but that wasn’t comforting at all, especially if she was willing to act out like that against anything that she was protective of.Trying to get the horse back up that slippery path back to the village was even more maddening without her magic and by the time he passed by the entrance to the college, he could only barely restrain himself from lashing out at the two mages and few guards who’d come down far too late to try and help them.“Kaidan? Where is Master Violet? What happened with the other dragon? Are you alright?” Mirabelle approached him, then stopped and backed away a step when she saw him shaking badly and his eyes blazing.“Dragon’s dead. She’ll come back when she’s ready, so go back inside. And no.” He growled and made his way back to the inn and stable.Tiku was relieved to be back in his little corner, and as Starfall’s spell finally dissipated from him, he went back to languishing or moping or whatever horses did. Not that Kaidan blamed him for feeling sick, scared, and angry, too. It was well into midmorning now and all of the other animals were still sluggish and pathetic looking. Going inside the Frozen Hearth, the people were still looking the same way, as well. He wasn’t up for testing the whole ‘misery loves company’ theory and retreated to a room, barely able to get his bloody armor off before collapsing onto the bed. Azura’s and the curse’s nightmares couldn’t deprive him of sleep this time.*Starfall managed to make her way back up to the college midday. Without the stone bridge, someone had conjured a sort of makeshift bridge across the gap. It was somehow worse than the crumbling bit that was there before, and now she didn’t have anyone to hold on to so she could cross. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the spell or whoever conjured it, it was more that it was completely see-through and she could see all the destruction underneath and why the fuck did she look down? She hung back at the first magicka beacon, making herself upset all over again while she tried to figure out what to do and getting more and more tired by the minute. She didn’t dare show her face over at the inn, at least until she’d come up with an apology.
He does not deserve an apology.
“Go away,” she sniffled.Somehow, it came to be even worse in her head if someone had found her out here cowering and unable to cross over because she was a complete godsdamned idiot and yet able to hold a dragon underwater to watch it drown. She pulled her hood over her face, screamed into it, and had Whirlwind Sprint carry her across again, though this time the angle was different, and the uphill ramp made her trip and fall into the third magicka beacon outside the gate.All this mess because that Thalmor piece of shit decided to touch the forbidden toy. Or to go back further, because Tolfdir was a meddling old man. And even further, because fuck the Psijic Order, the Snow Elves, and the Atmorans.
Kill Ancano and the Eye is yours.
‘Not until I’ve finished my other research.’ She pulled herself out of the magicka well and opened the door to the courtyard.She wasn’t sure where the second dragon was, just that it wasn’t in the courtyard, it wasn’t down on the beach, and it still wasn’t close enough that she could absorb its power. …She’d never taken two souls at once before. Taking one was enough of a rush. It could wait until she’d had a nap. The freezing cold here would keep it from rotting while she slept all of this off.She tried to sneak into the dorms as quietly as she could so as not to arouse attention from the students, who’d probably swarm her asking about the dragon, and the blood, and fuck it all… It was perfectly quiet. They had to be in another building, then, or maybe the sub-basement that Kaidan had mentioned. She put her back against the wall going down the stairs to keep from stumbling and breaking her neck, and was relieved when she made it all the way through her door without coming across anyone. All of her clothes came off, she managed to scrub the blood off of wherever it seeped under her clothes, packed her ears tightly, and curled up in bed.*The entire time that Violet and Kaidan were asleep, the debate raged tirelessly about what to do with her, Ancano, and the Eye of Magnus. Ancano was not leaving and wanted Starfall and her pet Akaviri turned over to the Thalmor. She knew more than she was letting on about both the artifact and the dragons that had arrived. The Akaviri were dangerous enemies of the Empire and if anything, he wanted Kaidan’s head after nearly cracking his open on the artifact. Tolfdir refused to let the artifact go back to Saarthal, and he argued vigorously in Starfall’s defense that not only had she done nothing wrong, she actually saved the college. Mirabelle agreed with Violet (and mostly spoke on her behalf) that both Ancano and the artifact should go. Ancano had caused more trouble in the last year than anyone in the previous eighty following the Great Collapse, nearly killed Violet, poisoned the entire college and village at once with radiant magicka, the village proper was thirty seconds to grabbing torches and swords against them again, and attracted two dragons that got entirely too close to finishing off the last of Winterhold. Everyone else just wanted Ancano gone, but for some unfathomable reason, Savos wouldn’t hear it. They were all gathered in his office around his desk and down to flat out bickering.“If not Ancano, then who’s going to be foolish enough to try and activate that thing next? What if one of the students gets it in their heads to be a little too curious?” Colette gestured downstairs. “I’ve got my hands full already, and I’ve got better things to do than hear everyone grumbling about me while not being too good for my talents.”There were a few groans around the room.“See?!”“I’ve already warded it five times over, so it shouldn’t happen again. Nothing gets in or out.” Savos said. “On that note, we still have far too much to learn about the Eye. And we can better protect it here than posting someone to guard it all the way back at Saarthal.”Faralda fidgeted, trying not to pace. “Even though it seems like all of this revolves around Violet and Kaidan because it didn’t start until they arrived, it’s more that we were lucky that they were here to mitigate these disasters in the making, including Ancano’s foolishness. Funny enough, the only one immune to being charmed by it was her bodyguard who can’t even manipulate magic and that saved us all. So at least he has a use.”Colette shook her head. “Except unfortunately, I think he might have become afflicted by whatever Phinis and I have been studying down in the Midden. Violet’s not going to be happy when she finds him mad and driven to suicide.”“And how long have we been at that and getting nowhere, Colette?” Phinis rolled his eyes. “Putting the poor bastard out of his misery would be easier.”“You just want a pretty new corpse.” She muttered.“No, no, I like where this is going…” Ancano mused. Savos had decided to let him remain free, but he would still have to be locked out of his own magic until he'd learned his lesson if he insisted on staying.“Ancano, you should probably be less antagonistic through all this, as this is entirely your fault. You're lucky you're not halfway back to the embassy in chains. Or maybe The Chill would be a safer place to keep you?” Mirabelle glared at him.He spoke slowly through grit teeth. “I can’t believe I still have to argue with you all as to the significance of the artifact. I had unlocked and shown you its power, and you still can’t be bothered to recognize it truly is Magnus’s creation.”“It doesn't matter what it is; if we're not able to keep it under control, then it stays off limits until we can figure out how to make it safe enough to study. Then we can marvel at it.” Savos said calmly.“I’m sad I missed all this,” The Illusion Master spoke up. “Maybe a more subtle approach to talking to them might be necessary?”“Drevis, don’t. You’ll just wind up scrambling their heads just as badly as you scrambled yours.” Faralda scoffed.“How about maybe, just maybe, we should be actually including them in all this? Hear their side of the story?” Phinis hadn’t even gotten around to meeting them yet, though he did see them for a brief moment as they ran through the courtyard and headlong into danger.“What case? She didn’t do anything. Before all of this happened, she was just sitting in the library reading nonstop for fourteen hours. That’s more than I’ve seen half of you all in there in the past week. She’d probably still be there if I hadn’t kicked her out last night.” Urag shook his head.“And what was the Outlander doing snooping around in the Midden?” Ancano had gotten out another bit of paper and started writing down everyone’s observations.“He was making a present for her.” Colette giggled to herself, then cleared her throat. “Guess that’s off the table, now…”They all turned to her with raised eyebrows and frowns.“Oh, for crying out loud. He was in the forge, carving a piece of ivory down and decorating it. Something must have startled him because he left all of it including several pounds of solid and molten gold and silver unattended and then that’s when the ghosts started getting agitated again.”“You had time to root through his things, Colette?” Ancano asked. Why would the Akaviri be in possession of that much gold?“I just said he left it all out around the forge when I found him by that hidden path with the… you knows…” she grimaced.“I told him not to wander around down there. Except I also told him that the spiders might have moved back in and that’s probably what he thought he was hearing.” Mirabelle pinched between her eyebrows.“And now he’s hiding from both Starfall and the college so we can’t cure him. If we can. Grand.” Savos sighed and rested his chin on his hand.“Well, she’s not exactly worried much about it, considering she’s been in a coma since the dragon. What did she do down there? Did anyone see how they managed to kill it by themselves?” Colette had gone to try and check on her before coming to the meeting, only to get no answer. All she knew was that Violet wasn’t dead because her soul flame was there, but was more like an inferno burning up the entire building, which made absolutely no sense, but probably something she shouldn’t be blurting out with Ancano right there.“They… Not only is the dragon dead, but completely decomposed. The scales, flesh, organs, blood… all gone without a trace.” Mirabelle had seen Violet sneaking back into the Hall of Countenance that afternoon, and remembering Kaidan’s expression, thought it best not to approach her, either. What could have possibly gone wrong down there that they were both still livid afterwards? Seeing the clean skeleton down at the foundation was alarming to say the least and made her feel better about her decision not to bother them.“So she incinerated it.” Faralda raised an eyebrow. Mirabelle usually had a better understanding of arcane forensics than what she was describing.“No.”They all went quiet. None of them could really figure which of their magics could completely strip down a dragon to bare bones and get rid of the evidence, if not incineration. Even if she used acid as an alchemist, that much acid probably didn’t exist in one place anywhere. Half of them realized that they had a clue, not knowing that all of them together would have the answer. But Ancano was right there putting his nose in it and they all knew better.Ancano was especially curious and very concerned. He still hadn’t received word yet from the embassy. “I told you they were dangerous.”“The other dragon is still intact, at least.” Phinis rubbed his hands together. “We can start rebuilding that section of the library, both with knowledge and leather backings.”“Gods, Phinis. No.” Urag scrunched his already creased face.“Alright, everyone. We’ll have an answer for you once the Archmage has talked to both Master Violet once she wakes up, and Ancano who will definitely not approach the Eye under any circumstances going forward.” Mirabelle said, looking directly at him.Ancano merely scowled and kept writing.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Violet woke up wondering why it was so hot and shoved all of the blankets off of her bed. There weren’t any windows and the candles were out, so she had no idea what time it was or even what day it was. She sat up and rubbed her face in the dark. At least she didn’t feel nauseous, anymore.“Ugh. Gods.” She had to slowly go over herself. Yesterday or whenever had completely thrown everything off. Her magicka was a little high, but not as horrible as when the Eye had first opened. She’d slept enough for her medicine to work and reset what the dragon (Yolnaaklah…) had thrown off of her already delicate balance. Then she remembered what she’d done. She groaned and put her head in her hands. She said she would start listening to Kaidan and trying to be better, but it was so easy to get swept up in getting revenge and rolling around in that cathartic violence. Punish the dragons; it’s their fault you’re in this mess. They’re trying to kill everyone and either destroy everything, or go back to enslaving everyone; that part still wasn’t exactly clear. Either way, fuck ‘em. But now Kaidan was angry at her, probably hiding back in the village, and gods knew if he was still suffering from whatever had happened down in the Midden with him freezing from the inside out. Please let him at least have the sense to come back and find help here. But probably not. She breathed deep and just sat at the edge of her bed letting her mind drift. Thinking of nothing was slightly less painful than having to confront all of that.After not nearly enough peaceful nothing, she wondered if she’d be allowed to go back to work. They were going to want to know her connection to the dragons. Ancano could get dragged to Coldharbor and chewed on by scamps, she wasn’t going to play twenty pointless questions again. They could know everything she knew if they just cracked a couple books open. Unless it wasn’t here either. She growled. Instead of lighting the candles, she flicked a magelight over her head and moved to wash up. There was an entire pile of letters and notes shoved under her door. “Aw fuck…” She whispered. Now she was really worried about how long she was out cold. Usually, it wasn’t more than a day. And just how many people had found out that she was here, unless these were all from the rest of the faculty and students (gods forbid)? Maybe everyone was frantic because something else had happened. She almost took a step towards it, but didn’t want to quite ruin the peace just yet. Besides, there wasn’t any screaming, fire, errant magic, or horrible pain. And if they really wanted, they could have come and dragged her out of her bed. Unless they were now terrified of her. She did just torture and kill an immortal monster several times her size while under the effects of the Eye. No, no, they were not going to let her just go back to work.There was no fireplace to put all that paper in. “Damn it.”Wash up. Put on clothes (the clean ones). Try to remove the bloodstains from the other ones. Why the fuck are Restoration robes white? Anyway. Maybe later. Stare at the pile of anxiety on the floor. Gather it up and put it on the desk. Stare at it some more. Figure out what day it is. She’d have to leave the room and find someone for that. Figure out what to do, preferably without leaving the room. She made a list. One, figure out an apology for Kaidan. Two, go through the mail. She checked around her room for a stash of snacks. Not even a stale pastry. Thanks for nothing, sick Violet from however many days ago. New one, find food since she hadn’t eaten in at least two days… no, wait, three. Four (three?), come up with an explanation for …things. Five (new two), see the Master Healer and convince Kaidan not to hate her and come back to get that… affliction cured. She raked her nails down her face and groaned. Why did this all sound difficult?She popped her head out of the door with her earplugs out. She could hear someone above. Take pity on a tired woman. She went upstairs and looked around; Nirya's door was open. Not the worst choice of people, but not great either. She saw the way Nirya and Faralda didn’t get along and had no inclination to get involved with that.She went to the room next to Nirya’s and nearly threw herself at the food table. Her stomach was stable and she was dehydrated. She took the whole pitcher of water and half a pheasant. There was a pie behind it and she wished she had another hand, or at least better balance.“Sounds like someone’s awake.” Nirya smirked from her doorway.“How long was I asleep?” She mumbled.“The dragons happened on Turdas morning. It is now late Fredas. So two days. Can’t say I've ever met anyone who needed to sleep so much after extreme magic use, but I’ve never met a Redguard mage or a dragon, either.” The Altmer started to study her, at least until she started to stuff a pheasant leg in her mouth and chased it with the entire pitcher of water. Uch, Redguard “manners…”She could sense the elf’s disgust and rolled her eyes. “I haven’t had any food or water for three days. And judging by how there was only mail and not an entire line of people outside my door waiting to drive me insane all over again, things have calmed down?”“More or less.” Nirya said, sitting down at the other end of the table. “Though everyone is still on edge, and they’ve been trying to figure out what to do with you, Ancano, and the artifact.”“Don’t suppose the Archmage kicked Ancano out of the college for nearly getting us all killed?”“Of course not. That would make sense, and we all know that’s not Savos’s way. Though I’d be remiss that’d be one less prospective suitor worthy of my talents…” She gave a sly grin.‘Oh, no. Oh honey, no…’ Violet paused so she wouldn’t choke, then side-eyed the Altmer woman. “I can tell you right now, never trust a … ‘c-c-cute’ face.”She scoffed. “Pff. Easy for you to say.”‘That was not easy. Eugh.’ Violet blinked a couple times before it clicked. “Oh. No, Kaidan is here because it’s his job. I’m paying him to be here, sort of. He gets fifty percent. He actually hates me and thinks I’m a monster. …I mean, I am a monster, but it’s not like I want to be. He knows this and stays anyway like a damn fool.” She grumbled and ate a wing whole, pulling the bones out clean.Nirya’s eyebrow went up while the corners of her mouth went down. “Oh.”“Anyway, I don’t suppose he’s come back to check on me, or at least find a healer for whatever he did in the Midden?” Violet hoped that the mood she’d put him in hadn’t turned into him being stubborn while he was possibly (alright, most likely) in danger.“I haven’t seen him around at all.” Nirya sounded more disappointed at that than anything else.She sighed. “I’ll go find him. After the pie.”*Violet went back to her room after stuffing herself full of pheasant and pie, picked up her bag, stuffed it with his favorite ale from upstairs, then trudged out into the dark, snowy evening to make her way back to the Frozen Hearth. At least that’s where she assumed he was. There weren’t too many other places she could think of nearby that he could go in his condition. The village was shut up tight with only a few night watch patrolling; asking them if everything had gone back to normal had gotten her some ugly looks, but ‘as much as we can get with you lot,’ would have to do.A quick peek in on Tiku and he was resting peacefully and taken care of. She’d have to dig in her bag to pay the hostler again. Inside, the tavern was understandably dead, but the hearth was still warm. Nelacar was fast asleep and she didn’t want to be bothered waking the odd elf up. She asked the night innkeeper if the Outlander was still here, and he grunted and pointed to a side room.“Whatever happened the other day with the dragon and the plague, the sickness still has him. He hasn’t come out since yesterday.” Dagur said.‘Oh no.’ Violet frowned and went over to the door, pounding on it with her fist. “Kaidan. I brought an apology and liquor.”No answer.“Is that ‘I’m still mad at you’ silence or ‘I actually succumbed to the curse or whatever and am sort of dead’ silence?”Still no answer.“I’ll be real fuckin’ mad if you died, especially before I can apologize.” She said flatly. Haran paused in the middle of sweeping. “He’d better not be, unless you can pay his tab.” She rolled her eyes. “I can. Kaidan. I will personally go to wherever dead Ak— Outlanders go and drag you back kicking and screaming so you can hate me some more. You’re the one who wanted in on this.”That should have brought him out to argue, but it didn’t.Violet growled, cast her Life spell, and yes, he was alive… sort of. Barely. The flame was weak. She swore again and rushed in. The entire room was deathly cold.Kaidan was laid out on the bed and either in a trance or asleep. His skin was turning grey, his breaths were shallow clouds of frost, and pulling his eyes open, they were shadowed over in black instead of red.“Kaidan! Fuckin’… I may be a monster, but at least I’m not stubborn clean to undeath.” Several seconds of her swearing at him in near panic woke him up somewhat. She sat on the edge of the bed and started pulling all the furs and blankets off. “Why didn’t you come back to the college for help? No, wait. You never woke up, did you? Godsdamn it. Can you even hear me?”His expression just barely changed to anger, then he passed out again.Violet ran a dim sheen of heat across her hands for only a second, then rubbed them over his forehead and along his cheeks. That seemed to work. The shadow over his eyes receded, but not enough to bring him all the way back.She almost put her hands around his neck, then remembered herself. Instead, she whined loudly and hugged him. “You absolute bastard. I’m sorry, alright? I’m sorry it took me so long to listen to you. I’m sorry I got so angry. I’m sorry I let those monsters get the better of me. I’m sorry that making dragons and murderers and assholes feel absolutely fucked makes me feel… something. I understand what I did was wrong and evil. You saved my life yet again and I feel like whatever I come up with won’t ever be enough.”“Old Winterhold…” He whispered through chattering teeth and frozen mist.“What?”“Ask mages...”“You’re going to have to come with me back to the college so we can treat you. I know you hate them, and hate me, and hate all of this. But I can’t do anything if you don’t move from here. They’ll know more than I do and crowding people in here isn’t going to help, especially if it turns out whatever’s got you is at the bottom of the sea.” Violet had to pull away as her discomfort was starting to get unbearable.That not quite dead part of Kaidan came out and he wrapped his arms around Starfall in a crushing hug again. She grunted and tried her damnedest not to reflexively hurt him. She knew he didn’t mean it and he was just absorbing all the heat and possibly life essence from her body, judging by how quickly she became cold, exhausted, and frightened as well. Why did it have to be hugging… “You can see him, right?” He breathed.She frowned. “See who?!”“Ask them about Old Winterhold…” And he dropped her as if just that one interaction had taken the last of his energy.She looked around. The room was empty. He said there was something in the Midden, which she supposed was under the college. His eyes were dead like an… oh, fuck no. Violet cast Detect Death and there was a child staring through her (at Kaidan?) from the corner of the room, somehow looking even more miserable than Kaidan.‘Fuck!’ Violet shied away from the unnerving little boy sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest, looked back over to Kaidan, and ran her hand over her forehead. “How the fuck did you manage this?!”“Shut up,” He mumbled. *Getting Kaidan upright and moving was difficult. He hadn’t eaten or drank anything, or had even been conscious in two days when he usually needed only a couple hours of sleep. His being haunted was killing his appetite, and the soup was cold (except it wasn’t). He couldn’t hold or manipulate objects in his fingers because they were numb and thus needed her to help him put his armor back on. At least the physical world became less ‘distant’ the closer he (or maybe the ghost) got to the college. They finally stumbled back through the gates and instead of going to their own rooms, Violet escorted them into the Hall of Countenance to look for the Restoration master. Colette was in her room reading before bed.“You lied…” Kaidan breathed a cloud of mist and leaned heavily on the doorframe.Colette’s eyes widened as she looked at Kaidan looking a lot worse for wear. “What did you do? It was just supposed to be a small echo of what—”“He’s being haunted.” Violet said. “I don’t know how to do exorcisms, or much of anything to do with the undead, only healing the living. Please say you can do something about this.”She flashed her Detect Death spell at him and paled at the sight. “Ohh, dear. Okay, that’s never happened before—”“Ssstop lyingggg…” Kaidan pushed off of Starfall and the doorway. “Almost one hundred years…”“Kaidan, please.” She tried to grab his hand again, but that different cold to hers froze her hand and she snatched it away. The little boy was holding his hand, instead.“Where. Is. Old. Winterhold?” He almost grabbed the Master Healer’s collar with his free hand, but he was shaking too much and he covered his face with it, instead.Colette pursed her lips and stood up. “Winterhold is gone. You know that. The furthest we can get under the college just leads out to the foundation where you fought the dragon. I can perform an exorcism. After that, the best you can do is to stay out of the Midden. For good, this time.”“Why him, anyway?” Violet asked her. “The little nightmare scares have happened before. I mean, every student at one point or another decides they don’t have to listen about getting lost in the Midden, or some scholar thinks they finally have the answer and they don’t. Thing is, they usually have nightmares for a couple of days and then they’re fine, or they go completely mad instantly andkindofwindupjumpingoffthecliffs…” She mumbled quickly. “Ahem. But it’s never been this. Also, this is another reason why we don’t let anyone without magical ability in here. You get into something because you don’t know what it is or what it does, then get mad and blame us.”Kaidan tried to shake his head clear, and instead, his eyes shadowed over with dull black. “HELP US.”“We’ve been trying!” She shouted.“Ugh. Colette, will you keep it down?” Drevis grumbled and peeked around from his room next door. “Ah, the new Draconic master. …No one said you two had a kid. Not really supposed to have them here. Little safety hazards.”Draconic master? That was probably what all the mail was about that she hadn’t bothered to read. That’s what they came up with? Great. Not right now. One thing at a time. Violet grunted and put her hand over her mouth. “You can see him?”The Dunmer tilted his head. “He’s right there.”Violet shook hers. “I can’t see ghosts unless I’m looking for the dead specifically, no. Do you know anything about Old Winterhold?”Drevis had to squint and blink for a few seconds before it made sense. “Ohh, okay. Kid’s dead. I was wondering why you were asking if he was visible and why they’re both looking all surly. Yeah, hauntings aren’t my area of expertise, illusions are. I can see him, but since he’s “real” and a type of undead, I can’t do anything about him. Fix it, Colette.”“The rudeness I have to put up with! Kaidan I understand; he’s having a bad time. You? You and everyone else? Always on my case.” Colette huffed and tossed her book on her bed.Drevis tsked and went back to his own room.“No, wait,” Kaidan slowly turned to him. “The path I found in the Midden, can any of you find another?”The Illusion master backed away holding his hands up. “I specifically stay out of the creepy business down there.”“Not another one,” Kaidan growled, coming back to himself. “Bloody useless mages!”“Yes, I know. I’m not even going to bother telling you to calm down, anymore.” Violet pointed at Drevis and Colette. Hopefully she could sucker the correct spells out of each of them without having to go through all the formalities or paying them. “Fine, we’ll do it ourselves; you can tell me how to see… hidden things, and you can tell me how to exorcise whatever all this is once we find it. But I can’t leave him, them, like this.” Colette gave Violet a look. “What, now? It’s—” “Both of us have slept for two days and now we’re wide awake. I don’t want to sit up all night hearing him whine about this.” Violet groaned.“Whining?! You don’t have to listen to the crying and screaming…” Kaidan started shaking again. “You don’t remember…”“What could you possibly remember, you’re not a hundred years old— Oh. Oh, no…” She covered her mouth. “Kai…”Kaidan shuddered and heaved frost. His eyes defocused. “I’m so sorry…”“What?” Colette looked him over. Maybe he was going mad.“…Don’t.” He eventually pushed it all back down and left. “Learn their spells, Starfall, then meet me at our rooms.”“But it would take years for you to learn everything necessary to deal with this, and that’s just from me, not Drevis. He’s got about a hundred years’ worth of knowledge to walk you through!”“I’m only seventy-four!” He called out.“Believe me, it won’t take long. Or just give me your most advanced and focused books. I’ll figure it out.” Violet shrugged.Colette looked at her incredulously. “That doesn’t seem wise. You could easily wind up burning Kaidan up accidentally, and Drevis is a few gods short of a Tribunal, and he’s a master.”“I heard that.”“I’m also a master of both Alchemy and Destruction, and an expert at Restoration, Alteration, and Conjuration. We’ve already been through the burning and blinding stages of new spell experimentation. Unless you both want to come with us.” Violet sort of didn’t want to bring extra people along, but if someone agreed, she wouldn’t turn down the help.“Already said I’m not going down there.” Drevis shut his door again.“I could accompany you, but again, I’ve been trying to figure this out for years and haven’t come up with anything. Kaidan is the first case where anything new has happened since… oh, maybe 178? I wouldn't have anything useful and would probably slow you down.”
Take it by force.
“You two will give me all the notes and books I need, and I won’t simply finish what the dragons started. You’ve got an hour. Wake the librarian for the books if you have to.” Violet closed her eyes and her voice dropped into deep growling. “Ruth krooe.”“Excuse me?!” Colette stared at her. It was the language of those giant beasts outside, and her soul flame… Oh, gods…“He’s not the only one possessed.” Violet rubbed her face on her sleeve and left.*Violet went back to her and Kaidan’s rooms to find him and make sure that whatever he was alluding to upstairs hadn’t taken over. They would have plenty of time to talk down in the Midden, as everyone kept calling it. Back home, the sub-basements were just called the catacombs, and these were probably just as annoying, filthy, and winding. While they were waiting, she gathered up the mail and showed it to him. It seemed that in order to keep her and Kaidan safe from Ancano, Savos and Mirabelle had decided to make her part of the faculty. As the Draconic Master, as she not only was the only one in known existence, she demonstrated a knowledge and power far deeper than the apprentice level that she had shown Faralda and Tolfdir, whom she was going to have words with. She was getting sloppy again about keeping all this garbage to herself. The stack of papers was a contract and information, including all the new rules she’d have to follow. Damn it. But at least there was a stipend and tenure.“What’s that?” Kaidan asked. More scholar and mage words.“We get paid on the regular and they can’t get rid of me unless I leave on my own or do something incredibly dumb.”Kaidan grunted. “Hmph. We’ll see how long that lasts.”“I’m not the one who wandered where they didn’t belong and now have a dead child clinging to me.” Violet took a quick look with her Death spell again. The boy seemed a little less frightened and sluggish, but still silent. “The gods just don’t have any mercy left, do they?”“Don’t. Please.” Kaidan couldn’t even look in that direction.“Sorry.”After a little over an hour of waiting (at which Violet grumbled) for Colette and Drevis, and after flipping through all the notes and books quickly enough she couldn’t have actually looked at any of it, she put it all in her bag with some supplies and had Kaidan lead her down into the Midden.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As soon as Violet joined Kaidan at the bottom of the rickety ladder to the Midden, she put the hood to her robes up, summoned a small magelight to hover over their heads, and started flipping through all the notes that Colette had given her on the phenomena. Most of it was nonsense that she couldn’t use. She was already observing Kaidan’s symptoms, some of which matched what was written, but she couldn’t do anything about them except let him cling all over her to her annoyance. It seemed like they were looking for paths and doors that didn’t exist. How Kaidan managed to find one without any magic didn’t make any sense, unless it was all completely external, and something (or someone; she glanced in the boy’s general direction) wanted him to find it. Or dumb luck. Yet, not lucky enough to show him the path he found in the forge the first time so they wouldn't have to wander around in the cold, grimy catacombs. Stupid dumb luck. Unfortunately, neither of them had been in the Midden before, and of course no one had a map. “It’s all straightforward, anyway,” Colette wrote, which was unhelpful considering they were looking for something that contradicted that. The first hour of walking around was pretty linear, though. They couldn’t get past anything that was caved in, and it all looked very normal, except for some abandoned projects left to rot. A skeleton lay chained to the middle of the floor with candles around it, and various effigies were randomly left in corners and on walls. There were far more dungeon related items than should have been anywhere near a school.“I feel like if the kid weren’t already dead, I’d be compelled to cover his eyes.” Violet stared at the collection of chains dangling from the ceiling in one corner outside of a bloodstained prison cell. There was a small table and chair outside of the cell with a quill and inkpot.“I see Ancano’s been here…” Kaidan growled.Cramped hallways, magelit candleholders that activated when they came close enough, and worn smooth stairs left slippery from leaky walls and ceilings led to a large open room where the sewers converged. There was a lot more under the college than it looked like from the outside.“It could take days to search all of this.” Violet frowned. She was hoping to have this kid off their backs and on to Aetherius in a couple hours.“Hope not.” He mumbled. “Don’t know if I’ve got that long…”“You do. And worse comes to worst, we can try just exorcising the ghost, though if I botch it, it’ll just come back later and haunt us again or someone else until it gets what it wants.” The ghost child was holding one hand, so she took Kaidan’s other hand. She could see spiderwebs plastered against the corner they needed to go around.“Like it drove everyone before me insane?”“You never told me what happened to cause this.” Violet said and quickly burned up a lot of thick webbing. Kaidan had his sword, but he was a lot weaker from the curse. Time to be a big girl mage, she shuddered. She stopped Kaidan from entering the room, and flooded the entire area with fire, structural integrity and flammable spell components lying around be damned. He had to stop and lean against the wall for a moment. “I was working in that forge where we first came in, melting down all the gold you brought back from Saarthal. Mirabelle said there were spiders down here, and I thought I heard them scratching at the walls. Then it turned to heavy breathing. There was scratching and wheezing at a door on the far end of the forge, so I went in, and there was a small path and a gated off room. The room was full of… corpses. Not draugr. Corpses. Mummified and laid out in rows for a bit before whoever did it got lazy and started tossing them in piles. Dozens of them, all years and years old.”“What the fuck?”“One of them sat up and started looking at me.” He ran his hand over his face and his eyes turned black again. He slid down to the floor and hugged his knees. The ghost fidgeted and looked a little guilty, not that either of them could see at the moment. “When I tried to leave, something grabbed me… Hands around my neck… clawing at my head… the screams…”Violet got to her knees beside him and put her hands on his shoulder and hand. She realized she’d been obliviously working in the library while that was going on. “Gods, Kaidan… I’m sorry.”“Colette found me in the middle of the night. The door was gone. She said I was fine, but it was so cold…”“And then all the shit with the Eye happened. We’ll keep going when you’re ready.” She rested with him for a few more minutes while he gathered himself and willed the curse down enough to move again. “So we’re looking for a door, that’s either out of place though we’ve never seen any of this before, or will show up or disappear where there was, or wasn’t one before if we loop back. Right.”He shook his head. “When you put it that way…”Violet found a set of stairs and went down first. “Can you interact with the child, at all?”“He’s looking around. He won’t respond to me trying to talk to him. He doesn’t seem to like you.”“He can get in line.” She scoffed.“Probably because you and Colette keep threatening to banish him.”“It’d be better if he helped us instead of slowly draining your soul out through your hip, then. …Huh. They have an atronach forge.”Kaidan and his charge stayed well away from the circular platform headed with a Daedra’s skull and firebox. “What is that?”“It’s a spell circle powered by an infernal alchemical furnace… Think of it like a magic forge. You throw magical, alchemical, and physical items in, and you get different items out. So named because you can summon atronachs from their elemental salts.”“We don’t need it.” He turned away from it.“No, we don’t.” She made a note of where it was anyway. It seemed that there were people here who did dabble in those arts, though she hadn’t met them, yet.Going around the corner showed Kaidan what they were looking for. He could instantly tell because they were what had to be directly underneath the college, still above the sea level, and yet, they were standing in front of a giant cathedral wall and door. It was pasted against the rest of the catacomb with ice. There shouldn’t have been anything behind it since it would have just led out to nothing. There wasn’t a cathedral attached to the outside of the pillar holding up the college, either.The boy let go of him and went through the door.Kaidan followed him. “This is it.”“What is ‘it’?” As far as Violet saw, they were staring at a brick wall.“Didn’t you get a bunch of notes from the Dark Elf?” He asked.“So… yes. I did. But seeing as how he works illusions, I’m mostly starting from nothing. Maybe twenty percent if I pull what I know from all the other schools. I wasn’t counting on learning anything from him for another few weeks. What am I supposed to see?”“A bloody big church door at the top of some stairs.”“Okay, I’ll see what I can glean from all this.” She sat down and started to read, while Kaidan walked up the stairs and gave it a few knocks. To her, it looked like he’d disappeared behind a veil. It only made her read faster.“I think if you just stayed with me, you’d be able to go through the door even if you can’t see it. ‘Course I have no idea how any of this works. Never been haunted before… at least by ghosts, anyway.” He put his ear to it to listen for anyone on the other side and heard nothing.Violet finished flipping through the book, pulled out her waterskin and a small blue potion, had a drink of each, and took a few deep breaths. She went to the center of the room, knelt down, put her hands on the floor, closed her eyes, and drew a symbol on the floor with her forefingers. Kaidan couldn’t see it, but smoke rose from the floor in a line that looked like sparkling incense. It ran up a set of stairs that had just appeared and outlined the wall and door that Kaidan described.“Oh.” Her eyes were clouded over with white so now everything that was real was now faded and the hidden world that Kaidan could see was the new real. This wouldn’t become confusing and mind-destroying later, surely.She tried to get up too quickly and swayed a little on her knees. Using that one spell for only a few seconds was enough to drain her. Kaidan watched her feel around confused as if she’d gone blind. “Are you alright?”“Not bad for my first attempt at illusory magic. But it’s draining, and now my head hurts. Is the door locked?” “No. Come on up.”She went over to where the Clairvoyance spell had shown her where the bottom of the stairs were, then put her foot on the first step. It was solid. “Huh.”Kaidan wondered if he looked just as overcautious and ridiculous whenever he was trying to feel out aethereal objects. She finally joined him in front of the door.“Ready?” He asked and held out his hand. She nodded and took it.*Starfall took much more time than was reasonable standing in the doorway, staring at the room they’d just been in and the cathedral’s vestibule piled to the high ceiling with rubble and trash. The two spaces didn’t make any sense; it was as if the door was more a portal than a physical barrier. Maybe it was a portal. “Starfall.”“Sorry.”The only thing they found in the completely blocked off room was a sewer grate in the corner. It was heavy and loudly creaked open, revealing a deep, black pit. Violet dropped her magelight down the hole and she didn’t know if it was a relief or not that their fall would be cushioned by water. It didn’t smell like a sewer, so that was something.“Umm.”“What now?” Kaidan’s head dropped back.“Funny thing. I can’t swim. But I can breathe water.” She frowned.“You’re kidding me.” He put his hand over his forehead.“Where’m I gonna swim in the landlocked desert, Kaidan? The bathhouse?”He opened his mouth and paused. “I… Oasis? How can you breathe underwater but not swim? How would you even test that?”“Shouldn’t swim in oases because it contaminates the water. And… I don’t know, but I just assume it works because the gills are moving.” She shrugged.“…Gills.”She formed a little spell of green light in her fingers, then pushed her hood back and raked her nails across the sides of her throat. Lines opened up like cuts and the flaps of skin started to rise and fall with her breathing. Kaidan watched them for a second and shuddered in obvious discomfort.“Well, what else am I supposed to do? Flail around until I drown?”“Gods.” He sat down beside the grate for a few moments to rest, then moved over to it and pushed off down the hole. After a few seconds, he called up to her. “Oi, it’s safe. Come on. I’ll catch you.”Looking down, he was just beside the hole with the magelight illuminating him. The water seemed to be clear and not actual sewer water. Once Starfall fell into the water (and went into shock because it was ‘fucking cold you ass why didn’t you warn me’), he (‘we’re in fucking Winterhold and I’m still numb’) pulled her back up so her head was above water and pointed to a door.“Angle yourself so you’re a little bit sideways, then walk your legs and move your arms like this.” And he moved a few strokes towards the edge. “You should be a little more buoyant than me in my armor, at least.”It took a few minutes of uncoordinated flailing, but it got her where she needed to go. She dried them off quickly with enough heat to steam the water and make sure they didn’t freeze to death. And then they looked around to see they were back in the Midden again.“Just how far down are we now? This can’t still be underneath the college.”“I don’t even question whatever magic does anymore. I have a feeling by the time you’re done with all your research and mucking about up there, you really will have tried to end the world. Someone will have.” Kaidan scoffed.Violet could only sigh and keep going. More exploring put them at another large door, but this time there was only a little classroom in it. She looked at the date on the discarded entry exam, smirked at how much more difficult it would have been to get into the college (and how her first attempt to get into Elinhir at eleven years old nearly took off her own fingers), then pocketed it for a laugh, later. She thought she wanted the various ratty books, but looking over them, they were outdated things she already knew and replaced. So they actually were still within the Midden, somehow. Or maybe they weren’t close and this was part of some kind of shift?“Everything’s a dead end from here.” Kaidan came back from looking around while she sat and reminisced about her own entrance exam over twenty-five years ago. “Did you find anything?”“Nothing useful. What about the ghost? Has anything changed? You look a little less grey.”He turned to the boy still clinging to his tunic. “Oi. Come on. Are we close?”The child finally looked up at him and nodded.“So you can understand.” He couldn’t bring himself to be angry. The boy was dead. And scared. And getting him so far away from here was probably what was killing them both (well, him at least). “We’re on the right track, anyway.”Violet went to the doorway of the classroom and had another dose of water and a potion before trying her new spell again. The incense trail looped around her and showed her another door in the corner where there was none. “It just points me into a wall. Is there a door in the corner?”“I can’t see one, no.”She gathered herself up and waited for her vision to come back, then went over and felt the wall. There was cold air rushing between the cracks and shoving on the bricks made them rattle. “I think I found something. Help me with this.”Instead of Shouting and possibly causing another Great Collapse, they simply took the wall apart, loose brick by loose brick. Once enough were out of the way, they pushed the rest down to reveal a cramped path made completely of ice. This time, Violet was prepared and cast a heat shield on them both before jumping into the second freezing pool.“Hey, there’s light in this one. What is that?” He looked up. High above them was a blue grate with that magicka slime flowing around in it.“I don’t know.” Violet lay back to just float on top of the water. “I don’t think that’s it. Here; since you can swim, you can see if there’s a path down there somewhere.”She splashed over to him and ran her nails under his jaws, which caused him to clap his hands over the new slits in his neck. It felt… It felt. He wasn’t completely numb anymore. It felt just as gross as it looked. But he was still cold. And he didn’t quite know how having gills worked.“Just breathe like you normally do.”Swimming down and around, he took a breath, and other than the horrible feeling of swallowing a whole lump of salty ice, he could still breathe. ‘This is seawater. Now I really don’t know where we are.’ Starfall bobbed around above him, so he swam down to the bottom and found seaweed blocking an underwater cave. He came back and grabbed her boot, which almost got him that boot to the face and a lot of flailing.“Will you stop it?! It’s me! There’s a path down there. Come on.” He shook his head and pulled her down.Kaidan had to help her this time, since it was much further than before and required maneuvering in a claustrophobic underwater tunnel. Finally crawling out of the water, they both had to stop and figure out what they were looking at. The light of the moons was shining down, wherever they were. It was underwater, and they were in a long hallway of clear ice that let them see more of Winterhold’s devastation. Far out in the water were shipwrecks and buildings; ruins as far as they could see. The steeple of a building was stuck through the wall and its church bell was still dangling there silently after a hundred years.“Oh, wow…” She put her hands to the ice wall to try and see what else was behind the barrier. “I wonder how far out to sea we are… ”“Incredible…” He went up to the church steeple. Water dripped from every spot in the ceiling and icicles hung from every surface. He snapped an icicle off to study it, then tapped the bell with it. It made a low, dull clank that was absorbed by the surrounding ice, but traveled far past the tunnel to signal them onward.As soon as they moved on and left the clear tunnel, the ghost finally let go of him and ran across a bridge. All at once, Kaidan’s body reacted to having all of his senses back again and he inhaled in blessed relief. He almost told him to wait while he remembered how his own body worked, but then saw what the boy so desperately wanted to show him.“Starfall… I need the biggest magelight you can make. A whole sun, as far out as you can put it.”She could barely see anything from the little light left from the ice tunnel, but Kaidan’s voice told her that there was something here. Something big. She started with a normal fist-sized light, then poured nearly all of her magicka into it until it was big enough to hum with energy and nearly the size of a dragon. She shot it out with the last of her energy and it latched to a stalactite to illuminate everything for miles.It was Winterhold. The whole damned city. The city walls and gates, churches and buildings, entire castles with parapets, little houses, and even the port and its ships. The parapet they stood on still had its old, rusty weapons pointed at the cave wall. The boy waved for Kaidan to come closer.“This has been down here all this time… There couldn’t possibly be anyone down here, you don’t think?” Violet moved slowly and cautiously, taking her earplugs out to listen for anything. She didn't know if she wanted there to be something out there or not.“Considering a ghost had to come find someone to bring down here, probably not.” Kaidan said.“Look at it, though. It’s almost completely preserved. The Archmage said he remembers it, and it was a terrible storm with weeks of tidal waves. A natural disaster. This is not natural. Tidal waves couldn’t have neatly brought everything down into a cave the size of a city.”“More magic.” He said simply and followed the boy down into the city.*Getting down to the ground proved to be time consuming, difficult, and allowed them to see that the city actually was completely ruined. Hours of exploration showed them ships lying broken on their sides, houses and businesses crumbled to pieces, and roads were everywhere that roads shouldn’t have been. And yet, she could find other buildings intact, whole statues untouched, walls and architecture still standing upright, and pieces of furniture and tools just sitting outside with only time rot and rust. It was all so eerie, and not at all helped by the crushing darkness wherever Violet’s sun couldn’t reach. The only sounds were the ambient cave noises and settling ruins. They were probably the first light, sound, and life down there in almost a century. When Violet tried to pass under an arch half submerged into murky water, her disturbing the water and leaning against the seemingly stable stonework made the arch collapse on top of her. “Kai—!” Her shout was cut off as the rumbling stones and splashing water drowned her out.“Hold on!” Kaidan shouted for her and dove into the water. Even if she could breathe underwater, it wouldn’t make any difference if she was crushed under a piece of stone or sank into the sand. Starfall was pinned by her foot between two pieces of stone with her head just above the cloudy water, so that was something. The pain on her face and clawing for any kind of way to pull herself out told him to hurry. ‘Damn it, we’ve only just found the place and she’s already stirring trouble…’He was still getting his strength back, but Starfall was able to help by creating an ice wedge to push the rubble apart. Eventually, they managed to slide one of the stone slabs aside in the soft sand to free her. He carried her out of the water and found they were next to a stable; it would do for shelter. He set her down and she set a small magelight against the ceiling.“How bad is it?” He didn’t want to poke or move it.She wiggled her toes and winced. “Painful, but I can still feel my toes. Um, help me with my boot, please.”So much for not making it worse. He tried to gently work her boot off until she rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to yank my whole foot off. Just slow and steady pressure.”He nodded and did as she asked, wincing when she bit into her own glove. Water and blood poured out of her boot, and her foot was already swelling in the center between her toes. “You should have bought ones with steel reinforcing. …Can you even get armored mage robes?”She tried to keep composed and talked around the pain, though she was breathing heavily and strained her voice. “Those are usually reserved for battlemages in the military. At least we got all the way down here with only a smashed foot between us. And you’re looking better, save for you staring at this gross, bloody mess. ...Okay, now I’m starting to lose feeling in my toes.”She brought her foot closer and used some of her waterskin to clean the brackish water and blood off, then drank the rest and ran fiery light around and through the wound. Once the waterskin was empty, she looked around for more water. The surrounding snow may have looked pristine and undisturbed, but with a cave ceiling covering the entire city, it didn’t make sense for any of it to be where it was. If it was salt water from the sea above leaking in, that would make everything much worse. Kaidan got up to look around and keep watch while Starfall finished fixing herself up.“Oi. Dunno if you can see the sign, but it looks like we found the original Frozen Hearth.” He squinted at it with the bit of light reaching across the street.“Wonder if there’s anything left inside.” She said between her grunting and pulling to reset her toes. “Maybe like an old pot I can use to boil this snow and see if it’s drinkable.”Kaidan made his way around it. “Completely buried in rubble. Ah, well.” He hopped down from the collapsed roof and kept looking. An empty well, a guardhouse, and a locked gate. Hopefully the lock or mechanisms were on this side. He stepped just inside the guardhouse, paused, then slowly backed out.Violet could just see him backing away. “What did you find?” She got to one foot and tested the broken one; it was still sore, but the swelling was slowly going down. She made little hobbles over to him with her boot in her hand.“The boy.”She hopped past him and paused in the doorway the same as he did. Two small skeletons lying beside each other around a long cold campfire with a few faded toys. The ghost sat beside his skeleton and the rusted gate lever, looking sad. She covered her mouth and sighed. “I knew it was coming, but this is still awful. Gods.”“Who’s that?” Kaidan thought to ask about the other skeleton, though if he hadn’t spoken in all this time, he probably wouldn’t start now.The boy walked over to the other skeleton, then pointed to the corner. They’d scratched something on the wall with an iron dagger. While Kaidan was trying to read the faded scratches, Starfall opened the toybox and picked out a stuffed yellow dragon. The box must have protected it because it only needed a few stitches.“Jolfir. Migna. Sister?” He said solemnly, and the boy nodded.“Where is she?”Jolfir pointed to the rusty lever.“I’ll be really surprised if this still works after all this time.” Violet and Kaidan had to combine their weight and strength, but it finally screeched into the down position and the gate rattled slowly up enough they could crawl under it. Jolfir didn’t join them this time. Violet looked to the wreckage of boats piled in the corner. “Can we rest here? I don’t know how long it’s been but I’m starting to wear down again. Sort of hungry as well. They could make good shelter for a bit.” Kaidan nodded and they camped out in one that was broken in half, using some of its boards to make a fire to warm themselves while they ate.Even though they were alone, she still felt compelled to whisper. “Kaidan, they’re the only two corpses we’ve seen down here. Everyone and everything else is missing. There were still dead horses and people on the beach. These children were deliberately left down here to die alone in the dark.”“And he made his way all the way back up to the surface, trying to get someone, anyone, to come down here for eighty fucking years.” Anger and sickness formed a heavy pit in his belly right where that magicka was still draining slowly.
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Violet and Kaidan had estimated that it had only been about a day, but being stuck underground with no natural sunlight or way to tell time made it feel like it had been several. Her magelight that was illuminating most of the city was starting to dim, so she made sure to always have a smaller one to scout ahead. Kaidan had her scan to see if there were any other corpses nearby to confirm her suspicion, and there weren’t. Definitely nothing living. It just made the whole thing even more disturbing and confusing. An entire city emptied out save for only little Jolfir and Migna. Not even any creatures like rats, fish, or insects. Of course, most of the population had to have fled during the beginning stages of the disaster. But the way Savos described it, it sounded like for some places, there wasn’t enough time. After they’d rested, Jolfir returned to them; he led them up a stairwell to another city wall and pointed to a church. It sat alone on a cliff against the far wall of the cave, and seemed to be one of the “better” preserved buildings, save for where the steeple didn’t quite fit and bent against the cave ceiling. Her dimming artificial sun cast all kinds of jagged shadows across it.“I don’t care if there’s no one down here, this is such a bad idea.” She said as she stared at the little building barely holding together. Didn’t matter which pantheon it was, she didn’t like any of them. They should have been able to prevent horrible things like this. Plus, it was a building that’d been left to rot for decades and was likely to collapse on top of them just like the arch from earlier. She wasn’t going to admit that being trapped alone, with a ghost, in the dark, of a deathly silent abandoned city, underground, with thousands of tons of water over their heads, with no visible way out, for days, was already starting to do things to her head. As much as she was used to Kaidan’s jabs, she just wasn’t in the mood.“If there’s no one down here, then it’s just you being paranoid.” Kaidan said, not moving any closer towards it himself.Jolfir frowned at them and marched in first, with Kaidan compelled to follow after. Violet groaned and had to work her courage up for a few seconds before following them. She still wasn’t sure why this child had dragged them all the way down there to show them his and his sister’s skeletons. The statue out front (perfectly whole, of course) suggested that this was a church of Talos, but the style wasn’t Nordic. Only Nords worshipped him as far as she knew, and their style of worship was minimalist temples. This looked more like an Imperial chapel. Going up the stairs, they could see off to the side that whatever did this had perfectly collected the church’s graveyard too. “This is horseshit,” she muttered.As soon as they opened the creaky door, Kaidan shouted for her to move and shoved her out of the way as the entire church rumbled. Parts of the rafters and façade came down, nearly crushing them. Starfall’s foot was still sore which made her even slower, and she lay in the middle of the central aisle shaking and covering her head and ears.“Are you alright?” Kaidan had jumped off to the side and landed behind a pew.“Just a hhheart attack; it’s fffine.” Her voice cracked. “Fffuck.”“I think we’ll have to be quick about this before the whole thing comes down.” He put his hand over the back of the creaky pew to pull himself up, and the corpse he didn’t notice lying across the seat fell onto the floor. He instinctively snatched his hand away from the movement, then stopped to breathe and chide himself.As soon as Violet picked herself off of the floor, she limped her way over to Kaidan to help him get out of the corner he’d gotten stuck in. She laughed nervously. “Finally found some people.”Kaidan’s expression went flat and he grabbed her hand to climb over. “How come you didn’t see them?”“I was only looking at the street level.” She said simply. “Didn’t even see this up here until Jolfir led us here.”About a dozen shriveled corpses were around the room, having died either in pews or on the floor. The front of the chapel was divided by an iron and glass wall with a little library, and a statue of Mara stood over a holy font. Off to one side was an even larger statue of Julianos. There were bottles of skooma everywhere. A thick layer of dust coated everything, with their intrusion making up the thin cloud now filling the room.“They’re not undead. Just regular dead. And yet, no ghosts. Other than Jolfir, anyway. Whatever had happened eighty years ago, these people had hidden in the church instead of trying to escape. They had to have died before it all fell down into the cave, or else they would have tried to find a way out down in the city.” She said as she went back into Colette’s notes to see if she’d observed anything related to this. She couldn’t have though; it sounded like no one at the college had even gotten this far, let alone seen this. Someone definitely would have said something if they knew all this was down here. She was nearing the last of the notes and there didn’t seem to be much else other than a couple new spells. One made her pause. From the way it sounded… it sounded like necromancy. Violet knew as a healer that in a pinch, she could move just a little of her own purified and denatured blood and life essence to someone else in a dire emergency, but only from herself because she was making a choice for herself between two living subjects. This sounded like she could steal… from the undead? But those two life energies were nothing alike and wouldn’t that make a living person part undead?“I don’t think this is what we’re after.” Kaidan took a look around, unaware that he’d cut through her train of thought. “Statues to Julianos and Mara with Talos out front? Those three usually aren’t worshipped together. Keep looking around.”Being careful not to touch the groaning walls or the corpses, they turned the little church over and found nothing but tons of religious materials, more skooma, and a small diary that must have belonged to the priest. Violet was absorbed by the account of the last days before the storm took the entire city, reading aloud to Kaidan as he took over the job of picking through the boring religious texts for anything useful.“…Great mountains of stone like the jaws of Nirn came up over the walls and crashed shut above the Temple. Everything went dark. It’s still dark. …Tirdas 9th: Those of us that were in the temple managed to collect a few bodies from the market, but the Palace district is gone. …Screams, barely human, echo through the ruins. …Are we to die here of starvation, thirst or suffocation? Or worse, fall victim to savagery? …They didn’t die when the city fell. He saw everything get dragged down here, and something was powerful enough to shut the way out to keep them from escaping. There used to be something or someone down there in the city, but they’re not there now. No one’s left but this little church. Kaidan, I can’t even begin to come up with why or how this could have happened to an entire city. We’ve got to get the fuck out of here. Now.” She noticed her breathing was going faster and paused to try and fix it. Violet shut the book and stuffed it in her pack as evidence when (‘if—no shut the fuck up we are not dying down here’) they returned to the surface, then went to check if he’d found anything. He was in the glass divider at the front, standing in a large pile of books. Jolfir was missing again.“Why did you…?” She went up beside him and grabbed him by the arm.He was possessed again, though this time his hands were locked around the holy font as the statue of Mara prayed over him. He was gasping for air but wasn’t getting it and black water dripped upward into his eyes, nose, and mouth. Ribbons of purple and black magic swirled around him before circling the inside of the chapel.“Oh fuck! Kaidan, wake up!” Violet grabbed him and tried to pull him away from the font, but he was stuck tight. She didn’t know who she was screaming to, but someone had to be listening. “LET GO!”*Kaidan was in the city square of Winterhold. Right behind him, a large fountain statue of Talos stared down at his back. Looking up, he knew it was daytime, but the storm was so severe that the clouds had blackened the world to night. The only lights around were lightning strikes, and he felt worse than stupid for being stuck outside while the storm of the era was tearing up the coast. Everyone else was in hiding. The wind and sleet stung as it whipped past his face. Everything from litter to whole wooden carts were being thrown around and smashing into buildings. An awning snapped off of a market stall nearby, barely missed his head, and took a chunk out of a stone building across the street. “Starfall…?! Where are you?!” He tried to call out for her, but the storm was roaring so loud, even she wouldn't have been able to hear him.When he looked out to the college, the lightning overhead had taken a special interest in the cluster of buildings; enough that the smaller and outer buildings were being pounded to rubble by the instant strikes of pure energy, and the main building was filtering that energy down trying to save itself by sacrificing everything around it. There was a swirling distortion of light around the main campus like Starfall's aetheric shield. The only reprieve from the nightmare was for half a second. The clouds parted and light came down, just long enough to spotlight a great blue and black dragon, and then closed after it like a gate slamming shut. The dragon screeched loud enough that the world shook, and seeing that this one stupid mortal didn’t have the sense to run and hide, dive bombed Kaidan with its talons out.He took a deep breath, grabbed his sword from his back, and waited for it to close in. He could do it without Starfall. There wasn’t any choice but to. He dodged out of the way at the last second and his blade caught the monster’s shoulder.When the dragon crashed into the statue of Talos, the world shattered to pieces. Lightning formed a giant blade and carved the city away from the land itself, and the ocean rose up high and wide enough to scoop the miles and miles of civilization down into Oblivion. Kaidan watched as if a giant yawning mouth swallowed everything. The storm turned to fire and blood, and all of the people who had hidden around the city now had no place to go. That screaming, begging, and crying he’d first heard days ago now had a source; a sea of people being dragged away not by Daedra, but others who’d already died violently and wanted everyone else to join them. Draugr. The last survivors were rounded up, tossed in piles, torn to shreds, impaled on pikes, set on fire, and Kaidan was helpless to stop them. Again. The chaos and terror were so deafening that he didn’t hear the dragon whip around and snap its jaws shut around him.*“Kaidan, please!” Violet screamed and had gotten between him and the font to try and wedge him away from it. He’d lost all his color and wasn’t aware of the fact that the dead behind them were all waking up. She’d locked the door to the divider and changed her skin to iron as soon as she saw the first corpse sit up and look at them with hollow, black eyes, but the damn divider was made of glass. And they were dead, persistent, eternally a pain in her ass Nords. Evidently bringing their godsdamned weapons into holy places was a thing that Nords did. One woman smacked the glass with an axe pommel, and the pane cracked into ugly spider-webs before crumbling into the little room. Violet could easily go out there and turn them all to ashes, but Kaidan was fading fast. Just when she was about to try breaking his fingers, he jolted out of the trance in the worst way possible. Mara herself struck him down with lightning and he was blasted across the room; he hit the divider at the same time as the horde of undead rushing the glass, and the whole building rattled. Violet was dumped onto the floor and more of the ceiling came down around them.“Kai!” She threw herself across the tiny enclosure and covered his head with her body to protect him from the falling glass and debris. The old, thick layer of dust on everything exploded and sent her into a coughing fit. “Wake… up!”He was cold again and now not breathing. Violet looked around frantically at the draugr closing in all around them. His flame flickered out to cinders, and her back, arms, and neck were scrambling her head from being crushed. ‘SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!’Kill the undead and save herself and Kaidan. She had to make both work at once. That spell. No not the dragon one, the human one. ‘Restoration is balance. Move Aetherius where it needs to be, as long as the life Aether you’re taking is worth the loss that Arkay would have been paid.’ – Colette Marence‘It’s not about the gods, it’s an open, interconnected font to all of Aetherius. It just exists. Just make sure you put back what you take out now or later so everyone can have a chance.’ This had better work, Colette.Violet was barely able to reach her pocket for her last cracked restoration vial, downed it, and nearly vomited. The room swam and all of the undead howling, moaning, and rattling were like paper cuts in noise form. All of her senses were raw, frayed nerves exposed to open air. Just as the horde of monsters crashed the divider and yanked her arms through the twisted metal and broken glass, the Master Healer opened her palms, drawing a giant runed spider web of blinding light all throughout the inside of the church.Golden-white fire erupted from the threads and, like a fire ward explosion, all of the undead burst into flames. She didn’t know if Kaidan could sense what was going on, but she caught herself praying he couldn’t. The dead flailed and howled in agony as the fire engulfed everyone and everything in the room, including Violet and Kaidan. A similar light to her absorption of dragon souls spun and wove around them, but now Kaidan was included in the miracle. Instead of the lights leaving their eyes, the draugr all screamed as the last drops of unlife siphoned out of them, and into the two mortals. The dust of the collapsing church mixed with the neat piles of the dead reduced to ash.‘…Well, I summoned a Dremora a few months ago. Killed a whole lot of people and dragons. Why not start down the path of the dead? Fuck me.’ Her head drooped over, and her voice was broken and hollow. “Kaidan.”It took him entirely too long to respond; maybe it was because Starfall was smothering him. No, that wasn't it. He painfully turned his head, coughed and threw up an unsettling amount of black water, and wheezed, “Dragon.”“Not now. Got to go. Church is falling. Can you move?” She shook badly as she used the water as a wedge again to shrug the weight of the ceiling and glass off, eased from over top of him, and pushed off of the door. The glass couldn’t cut through her iron skin, but the falling ceiling beams and stone bricks had left ugly dents in her arms and back. Probably on her head as well, but she couldn’t see that and the web of light worked fast to straighten it all out, anyway.Kaidan looked up at Starfall, the spiderweb of light on everything, the black water spilling endlessly from the broken font, and wondered if she saw the vision too. She couldn’t have or else she wouldn’t have said that she didn’t care. He struggled with sitting up and looked to her trying to pull the divider open. “What happened?”“Slight chance we’re part undead now.” She said. Once the door was open, she started looking for another way out.Kaidan sighed and wondered why he bothered, anymore. The last thing he remembered was seeing something reflecting at the bottom of the holy font, and then everything literally went to Oblivion. He checked to make sure everything was working, wondered why his chest hurt (“Lungs full of poison water, struck by lightning, and your heart stopped.” “…Oh.”), then sluggishly joined her in trying to escape. The doors were blocked off by rubble. Dust rained down in thick clouds and the hanging brazier dumped old incense and …bottles of skooma all over the floor. Violet had to stop and stare at them for a few seconds.“What on Nirn?”“Focus.” Kaidan gave her a few pokes.Just then, Jolfir reappeared and tugged at Kaidan’s tunic, pointing to the corner behind the statue of Julianos.“If you weren’t already dead, you little brat…” Violet scowled. She didn’t even need the Clairvoyance spell to know coming in here was bad. And yet, they were still following this kid. She and Kaidan pried the hatch open and carefully climbed down the ladder into the cellar. Judging by the stale air, this wasn’t actually a way out. “No, we need out, not to be trapped in the cellar until we either run out of air or dehydrate.”Kaidan ignored Starfall’s growing ire and followed them down the ladder. There was something in that nightmare that he had to finish. He wasn’t sure what, though. Peace for the dead, most likely. Maybe it would put a bandage on that gaping wound in his conscience. Everyone got dragged off by draugr. But then where were the draugr? This couldn’t possibly still be going on eighty years later, could it? They wouldn’t really have to go all the way down to Oblivion, would they? That’s just too far off track, even for Starfall’s easily distracted self.There was nothing in the little basement except for two sarcophagi, their burial treasures, and a large ceramic jar.Violet’s shoulders drooped. “And there’s a coffin for each of us. Thanks, kid. You shouldn’t have.”Kaidan picked up a piece of paper wedged under the jar and read it.“Blood of the traitor Beinaarkh / unwillingly taken, seat of the power that broke his head / Separate forever so bones lie dead / and blue wings ne’er again glide / Good friend for Ysmir sake abide / else burn like the souls who worshipped pride!” Kaidan read it a few times, trying to reason out loud what it meant. He rattled the sealed jar, and it was still full of thick liquid. His stomach rolled. Blood separate from this Beinaarkh traitor. Blue wings ne’er again glide. That dragon from his nightmare.“Is that what happened upstairs?”Kaidan nodded and carefully described everything he saw in the holy font, slowly becoming more and more pained as he went until he was shivering, but not from cold. “Well, it’s not like it was the first massacre I’ve been a part of. At least this one wasn’t my fault.” He covered his face with his hands.Violet only stared at him for a little while. “You scared me clean to death. Again.”“This is why I don’t fuck with magic.”“It sure seems to want to fuck with you, though. Probably because you're so pretty.” She grumbled.He grunted and looked away from her.“And yet you still seem to be invested in this, even though now we’re likely going to die down here. For good, this time. Speaking of, that jar is a phylactery. There’s a motherfucking lich somewhere in all this, now. Gods-fucking-damn it!” She wondered if she could simply throw it off one of the parapets into one of her explosive runes. She was a master wizard and could defend herself, but not a battlemage and had never gone up against any kind of necromancer. Wasn’t looking forward to it, either. Unless the monsters in the barrows counted. No. They didn’t have phylacteries, nor were they capable of raising each other. And they weren’t immortal, just ancient and angry.“A master necromancer?” The worst mage Kaidan had ever fought… wasn’t a necromancer. And he barely escaped with his life. And Starfall was sitting here sounding hesitant, when she had the power of the gods.Violet sat on the dais with the jar and studied the boy. “Yes, for the sake of simplicity. Now how does Jolfir here factor into this, besides being trapped down here by himself and possibly hiding from this monster for years and years?” “Monsters usually get bored and need fresh prey, so they need a way to lure it in. He was using Jolfir as bait. I think we’re the only suckers that bit, or were able to, anyway.” Kaidan said and pocketed the note. He could finally see how guilty the poor lad looked. He tried to pat his head, but it went right through him. “What are we supposed to do with this phylactery, then? This note says leave it alone. But leaving it here isn’t doing anything against the fact that he’s down here somewhere torturing an entire city’s worth of souls for some godsforsaken reason.”“Liches feed off of the pain and suffering of others for their own immortality. A whole city turned into a necropolis. Thousands of souls though, that kind of power…” She rubbed her face. Kaidan would not be able to defeat that on his own, even if he were completely immune to magic, which he absolutely was not. Violet hoped that he wouldn’t be averse to her unleashing all that power that he seemed to be afraid of her abusing, because if there was an undead master warlock capable of dragging an entire city under the sea with its population as an undead army somewhere down here... Well, it wasn’t like there was a city left to protect...Jolfir walked between them, pointed to the jar, then up the stairs.“The exit’s blocked off.” Violet rolled her eyes.“We’ll find a way out.” Kaidan patted her back, then looked into the small hoard of treasure. Actual usable septims that he wouldn’t have to melt down. If they could get it all out of there. Broken junk armor. And a book. He flipped it open, read a few lines of Daedric, then threw it back in the trunk.“What was the book?”“A Daedric contract. Don’t bother.” He said in disgust.“Why would there be a contract down here?” Her curiosity itched (‘he knows Daedric?’), but she didn’t want to hear his mouth. Too tired.“Why is there a phylactery under a church?”“The phylactery is here because one, pretty good place to hide a really evil thing that ill-meaning people would be looking for and would likely think more of dangerous or maligned places. Two, he wouldn’t be able to get to it himself. Though after seeing upstairs, I feel like the whole ‘can’t enter into holy places’ thing is a myth.” Violet went over and grabbed the phylactery jar to test how heavy it was, deemed it wasn’t very, and lifted it off the dais.They’d both forgotten about the two sarcophagi that immediately fell open and dumped two draugr out on either side of them.“NIID!” The female undead screeched at them. She lunged at Violet and the phylactery.“Yes.” Violet didn’t have to worry about Kaidan now and simply swiped at her with a hand full of holy fire. The draugr flashed and died with only a cut-off screech. No one was blinded this time; just left blinking in the darkness after. “Think I have a handle of magnitude, now.”Kaidan kicked his draugr back against the wall and used his superior reach to decapitate him. “I think they were protecting this, instead of waiting for you for once.”Violet sighed. “I don’t know what to do with a fucking lich, Kaidan. I’m a Redguard. We don’t fool around with the dead; we get someone else to do it because we have our own honored dead traditions, which is why I’m only just now learning that tree of Restoration and still studying the draugr. And I didn’t pack for ‘navigating an entire ruined city for days to hunt down death incarnate’. I packed for ‘an overnight mystery of finding some idiot student in the basement dabbling with trying to raise their classmate so they wouldn’t get in trouble for accidentally killing him and brought a stray kid halfway back as well’.His eyebrow went up. “That was very specific.” “You see everything when you suffer going to school for twenty-five years.” She turned and started to drag the phylactery back to the ladder. “I need you to go up first to check and then I’ll hand you the jar. We’re probably going to have to finish this place off by knocking a wall or window out and then make a run for it before it collapses completely.”“Your thu’um?”“Yeah.” She rubbed her throat.
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Because the trap door was in a corner, it was protected by the statue of Julianos holding up that one bit of roof left. Kaidan climbed out, then took a look around to make sure it was safe for Starfall to come up. The rest of the church was leaning over; pulled that way by the broken steeple still barely hanging on. As long as they didn’t fool with what had already come down, or do any extra damage, they still had a little time before the rest of the roof collapsed and finished them off.“We just have to be careful. Pass me the jar, and then come on up.” He said.She went up a few rungs on the ladder, then hefted it up on her hip, transferred it to her shoulder, and Kaidan was able to grab it from her.“Did you know that people normally have about five liters of blood in them? More or less depending on race, size, and health. Most of the weight here is the jar.” Violet said idly. Don’t think about the claustrophobia and the wood and stone creaking everywhere.“I think I’ve stabbed a few people who had a lot more than that.” He grimaced.“And I’ve treated a few who seemed to have less blood than a stone.”Kaidan pulled her up and set her next to the jar. “I hope we won’t have to open this. Blood stinks even when it’s fresh. Don’t want to imagine century-old, congealed—eugh.” He could still taste that black water. Bitter metal like blood or funerary tokens.“Probably will. Protecting this will be your job, by the way. I’m going to have to focus everything on fighting this Beinaarkh fucker, if that’s what the goal of all this is. You’ll have to stay hidden and out of the way, because the second he sees you and that big ol’ flame, you’re going to be a pretty corpse slave.” Violet frowned at him.“You still haven’t told me how you can tell my ‘flame’ apart.” To Kaidan, fire was fire. He hated all of it.“One, the flames are shaped mostly like the people they are. Like if you took a glass jar, shaped it like a person, then filled it with fire. Or maybe like if every person had a twin that was a fire atronach. Two, yours is… different. By your soul mark. I didn’t know why it was like that because I’d never met or seen anyone with one, even people who worship the Daedra instead of Divines. If we ever go back to Azura, I should look at Aranea’s; she seems to be much more deeply devoted than most I’ve met, so maybe she has one.”Her description suddenly had him quiet. But she didn’t seem to be afraid of it or him, so maybe… “Do I want to know?”She looked at him thoughtfully. There was a worry there that went a lot deeper than ‘I was dark and rebellious when I was younger’; enough she wondered if he understood exactly what was there. She rubbed his arm. “I doubt you’ll like it. I feel like I shouldn’t have said anything considering your reaction to remembering your past. But that’s how I tell.”“Maybe after we get out of here, then.”*“Where is Starfall?” Ancano walked into the Hall of Elements while Colette was teaching her class on Secular Restoration Methodology and immediately started speaking over her.“Don’t be rude, Ancano.” Colette hissed. “And I don’t know. As I was saying, when not attributed or attuned to the Divines, the formation of magicka can be shaped by—”“It’s been four days, and I have an incredibly important matter to discuss with her. I was told she was last seen by your room.”“Yes, well, in four days she could be anywhere, considering my room is also next to the Portal room. Please stop interrupting.” The Restoration Master waved him off and tried to bring the class back on topic.“Not while the Outlander was so sick.” J’zargo said, happy to have a reprieve from the boring lecture.Colette shushed him. “Pay attention, please.”“Oh no, what happened to Kaidan?” Brelyna asked.“Brelyna, no.” Colette said.“He was pale like a ghost before fighting the dragon and complained non-stop about being cold. Enough he used up all our hot water that morning.” He grumbled.“The plumbing was him? I thought something had happened because of… you know.” She tried not to bring it up with Ancano right there.“What did that brute do now?” The inquisitor grumbled and flicked his hand, thinking he was clever with the exaggerated motion.“No. None of that in my class.” Colette wasn’t fooled and turned on him, slashing her hand in his direction and cancelling his spell. “Out. Now.”“Then if you see her, I wish to know immediately.” He huffed with indignance and left.“And J’zargo, if you keep this up, you’ll be ‘volunteered’ as the test patient.” The professor smiled sweetly, which made his ears fold back.*Word had finally come back from the Thalmor. The Embassy was looking for them, her especially. About five months ago, Dragonstar, Hammerfell (which explained her guttural accent) was attacked by a dragon. The dragon was eventually killed, but most of the city had been frozen or burned in the process, including the nirncrux mine, which was still burning. Someone had killed that dragon, and not only killed it, but completely cleaned all the flesh off of it and smashed its skeleton to splinters. And now there was a dragon down on the beach, stripped of all flesh and half crushed under thick sheets of ice. The Mages’ Guild had been trying to find Starfall for weeks until they eventually thought her to be dead, as she had been deathly ill for weeks beforehand. She was under their supervision (by the loosest definition of the word) for being a latent danger, and then lost track of her a few days before the event. But she had been seen at Elinhir a few days after, in the college’s library. She was looking for something. Thalmor agents tracked her to Skyrim (she was headed here,) captured her at Helgen (the report was emphatic that the disaster there was only exacerbated by her presence, but she seemingly had no knowledge that Ulfric Stormcloak was present), and took her to an undisclosed location for interrogation. Instead, she killed an inquisitor and guard, then escaped with another prisoner. The Akaviri: Kaidan. Who, judging by his approximate age, is too young to remember or be aware of any of the efforts to exterminate his kind, nor does he seem to be all that concerned with the current affairs of the Empire. Just to protect her (and painfully good at it, as much as he hated to admit it).So much for latent. And now she was missing again. But she couldn’t have gone far, as both of their doors were still locked, and their horse was still in the village. Hmm…Ancano had learned within a week of arriving how to pick nearly all of the various locks and wards around the college to let himself into wherever he needed. The critical factor though, was time. Before someone chanced across an unlocked door creaking when the resident was just seen somewhere else. Before he would have to become invisible and hide his soul flame for a few seconds to keep from being discovered. Before Mirabelle, being a Master-Wizard, could find his presence by ‘other means’ and got on her toes to backhand him. Checking Kaidan’s room was completely pointless; he’d refused to even come back to the college and all of his things were gone. He’d rather stay back in the village with the other yokels who feared magic. The inquisitor sighed and put a finger to the lock to Starfall’s room, running a bit of telekinesis to turn the tumblers and… there. The door swung open silently and locked again once he was inside.It looked like the near constant storms outside had come through here, as well. Bloody slob. She'd certainly made herself at home; an unreasonable amount of potion bottles and bags of alchemical ingredients were on the dresser, blood and clothes were on the bed and floor (‘how in the gods’ names is her brassiere that big on a woman that small— agh. No.’), and messy stacks of books and papers were scattered on her desk. A stack of letters had the Archmage’s wax seal. He knew that Savos was incredibly curious towards her, mostly in a novel way. He’d have to ask what was so important about Elinhir. He already knew about his plan to protect her and was working on getting around it.Ancano was confused, suspicious, and disdainful that she’d just left something as important as her work journals out in the open in a place such as this, only to find they weren’t exactly work journals. Page after page of her whining about some ailment or another, various disturbing nightmares (‘should hold on to those for later…’), experimenting on herself with various drugs and recording the effects, and complaining about not being allowed to work in peace.‘Insufferable.’ Ancano muttered and closed the book, looking for another.The rest of them were filled with mostly the same things, with only a reprieve through incredibly detailed (to the point of obsession) analyses of dragons. The only one that was different was the ragged copy of The Book of the Dragonborn with dozens of scraps and bookmarks sticking out of it. The beginning scraps were names and words written in Tamrielic, dates, and some foreign language he didn’t recognize. The dragons’, probably. As the scraps went on, there was less Tamrielic, more foreign language, and some runes (directly under the foreign language, so it must be that alphabet) with some translated back to Tamrielic again. He wondered if anyone else would be able to translate her notes for him. One was visibly scribbled in anger with a broken charcoal and jagged strokes.‘Small. Weak. Mortal. Alduin is looking for you.’ Alduin? …Not that Alduin, surely?! He was defeated thousands of years ago. But so were all these others.He flipped through to find the latest scraps and was surprised to find an entire section of the book about the Akaviri searching out the ‘Dragonborn’. And how Kaidan thought it would be ‘good for a laugh’ if she became Empress, followed by a lot of very uncomfortable and angry self-depreciation (Starfall the Cursed?) and even more violent blaspheming against the Eight, particularly Auriel.Ancano was scowling hard enough that the walls and ceiling of Violet’s room were starting to warp and breathe, then snapped back to normal when he slammed the book shut.‘Damn.’On one hand, he’d finally found something interesting to do in this backwater school. On the other, he was now tasked with not getting caught spying on two volatile aberrations who could so thoroughly destroy something that took even an Archmage and two masters to kill.So, did they just let him play with them back in the Archmage’s quarters? He made extra sure every speck of dust was back where he found it before leaving.*“I’m going to use Unrelenting Force. Protect the phylactery. When you see the wall come down, run down the stairs.” Violet had gone over the plan in her head several times. It would’ve been nice if the church hadn’t been blocked on two sides and a cliff on the third. Just give them maybe one more option that might have been a little safer?“Alright. Whenever you’re ready.” He hefted the unwieldy jar under his arm and stood in the corner where the wall was starting to come away from the front of the church. It groaned from the weight leaning on it, and the stone cracked and crumbled.“Sorry about your ears.” She said.
“FUS RO!”
The side wall of the church was blasted against the wall of the cave, making the entire church groan loudly and start to sway. Kaidan made a run for it through the graveyard, only to find that running between the headstones disturbed the still occupied graves. Shadows covered his eyes again and he had to stop before he ran right over the edge of the cliff. The last thing he saw was that the red-eyed black ghosts had weapons in their hands, and with a short prayer, brought his sword around and hoped the angle was right. “Starfall!”“No no no no SHIT!” The mage ran up to him and blinded the corrupted shades as they did to him, making them disperse in wisps of smoke from the blade of restorative light in her hand. “Come on!”Violet grabbed his other arm and tried her best to not be so slow, but her body was starting to get angry about all the injuries she was building up even after that guardian spell. She was able to ignore her arms and back being sore, but her foot still sent up a jolt of pain with every step that made her stumble. Should have healed it more thoroughly. No time for that now. There was an ear-splitting crack and screeching from above them; the steeple’s angle finally pulled it so far forward that it snapped and slid down the roof.Starfall didn’t even have to look at it to know. The noise felt like someone had kicked her in the back of the head. “Hold tight!”
“WULD!”
Even though the Greybeards had taught her how to mitigate the pain of using her shouts in rapid succession, it didn’t mean they didn’t still hurt like hell. She didn’t have time to consider that either; grabbing Kaidan around the waist and rushing over the stairs ended with a short, but heart-stopping and knee-crunching drop beside the statue of Talos. Kaidan would have to do the next part because her head and legs were jelly now. The last of her energy went to clinging to his other arm as he got them far enough away to watch the rest of the church come down, then slide off the cliff into a crevice.“Are… we alright?” She coughed and checked to see if she’d lost anything else besides her voice and legs.Kaidan cleared his throat. “I… think so.” A quick check revealed his sight was back; whatever those shades did was only temporary. The jar was alright as well, not a single crack.“Fuck this deathtrap.” Violet wheezed.“Mm. Do you need another minute to heal?”“I need water, and to save my last potions. Rest would be nice, yes.”He looked around. Starfall’s temporary sun was just embers now, and he could barely see out across the cave. It was a silent sea of shadows. “I’ll find us someplace, then. I don’t think we can go back the way we came. There wasn’t anything down that way, anyway. Nor do we even know where Beinaarkh is.”“Rest first.”Just then, Jolfir ran down the stairs past them and waved his arms for them to follow him again.“Can we have… a minute?!” She coughed again.He frowned at them and disappeared.“Damn. I mean, yes… he’s been down here for eighty years. He can wait another few hours.” Violet made a small magelight and Kaidan found that the path inside the rampart was well sheltered and defendable if anything woke up from all the racket. She needed another quick sleep, and Kaidan did a little exploring, knowing full well that there was nothing else down here or else Jolfir would have shown him otherwise.Exploring the ramparts netted him a little more money out of a guardroom and a view of the last of the market district. There’d been a sale at the blacksmith’s, though he couldn’t make out the whole sign. He couldn’t remember what it said in his dream, either. He sort of wished he could have seen what the city was like before the disaster, even though big, crowded places weren’t something he enjoyed very much. Was it only a coincidence that his past made him care so much about all this?When it was Violet’s turn to keep watch, she did the same thing; she found a good sized soul gem in a far-off corner and looked out over the ruins. All it did was stir up her anger, so she went back and sat with Kaidan to write in her book and check what medicine she had left. A few healing potions and some to supplement her other schools. Her restoration magnitude potions were already gone, and who knew how much farther they’d have to go. She’d have to divide her power between herself and Kaidan if they were going to survive a confrontation with a lich. If she kept trying to heal herself now, there wouldn’t be enough for her to fight. Fuck. She’d learned a bit about various necromancers in her primary studies; enough to know they were out of their damn minds and needed to be put down as quickly as possible. To be afraid of death was natural. But it made no sense to get so obsessed with it that it would seem logical to actually fucking die and roll around in that death. Fucking necromancy. Now she was even angrier, partially at Kaidan and Jolfir for dragging her down here and getting her off track. She sighed and watched Kaidan propped up in a corner with his hood over his face. He was looking better, at least. For the time being. Until they got to wherever Beinaarkh was and Kaidan would get to see what it actually takes to sustain the level of death magic needed to hold an entire city hostage for a hundred years. She turned her palm down, pricked the back of her hand with an ice needle, and forced a coin’s worth of blood out of the wound. It froze into different shapes until it molded into a soul gem like crystal. Holding it up, it was already darkening from being exposed to air. Blood is mostly water, from the biggest dragons to the smallest bugs. And she knew blood magic was pushing it. Hers was human and supposedly dragon. They all looked exactly the same: Kaidan’s, hers, a dragon’s, her patients’, and victims’. She forced a tiny bit of her restorative light into the crystal and made… something. A bright, pulsing crystal. She thought a moment, then pulled it all back into herself. She could ask Colette later. Another short and unsatisfying nap and Jolfir returned to lead Kaidan to a set of locked doors set directly below the rampart.“Even deeper underneath the caves?”Jolfir nodded and hid behind Kaidan’s cape this time.It was the city’s Hall of the Dead. Of course it was. Where else would all this lead to? Violet took a deep breath, put her armor on, and headed down. At least the place was dimly lit and warm. She didn’t particularly like the harsh white lights of her magelights, but they did their job well, here. The first thing she did was cast Detect Life. Nothing. …Good, in a way. Detect Death was obvious, though she didn’t really want to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of people that could be down there. And there were a lot. She didn’t tell Kaidan exactly how bad it was.“There’s a lot of dead and undead down here, obviously. But I’m only a healer. I don’t do rites or preparations for the dead. I call actual priests and the like. So… if that sort of thing is necessary here, I can’t do it. Best I can do is cremate them so they can’t be desecrated anymore.”Kaidan didn’t respond. She let it go.The upper levels were picked clean; everything and everyone was taken down to the lower levels save for a few guards, who quickly burned in normal fire. Jolfir recognized the right path and helped guide them. On the lower levels, a few who hadn’t been dragged from their coffins and shelves were waiting for them. Violet tried not to whine the entire way, but when a draugr grabbed her arm and aggravated the socket sprain from the chapel all over again, she made a loud, indignant noise, gave up, and enchanted Kaidan’s blade with her light in exchange for carrying the phylactery.He examined the new enchantment on his nodachi. The black metal that had previously absorbed all light was now made of light. “I’m sure it’ll kill the draugr fine, but what about—” “I’ll take care of the actually horrible part; you just get us there.” She said, putting the phylactery under her good arm and running Turn Undead down the sore one. She needed strength to carry the weight a long time, but not to point at things to make them die (again).Because it was a Hall of the Dead, they didn’t actually think it would have traps in it. Then Violet stepped on a pile of thick plant roots and had to quickly bring up a wall of ice while jumping backwards. The grate of spikes smacked into the wall and got stuck.“Why is there a fucking trap in a fucking mausoleum. Who did this.” She hissed.“Probably the same bastard who turned all the dead people here into undead.” Kaidan sighed. “Please breathe.”“You’re being too calm about this.” She scowled.“You get too angry and you try to cause as much ruin as possible.” Rounding the corner, a black clad draugr stepped out of its sarcophagus and ran at them with an ebony greatsword waving. Kaidan tested his new sword enchantment by cutting off the draugr’s hand, then swiping across its front. The light blade burned up the draugr’s head and shoulders and cut cleanly through its chest armor, falling open and revealing cracks of light making spiderwebs through its body. It burned to ashes in seconds.“I don’t.”“You do. And you’re tired and sore as well. It’s just making you angrier.”“Well maybe I should leave you to this.” She huffed.His head dropped backwards. “Starfall. Please. I know you’re tired and angry and spent and we’ve been stuck down here for… days… I think. But the faster we do this, the faster we can leave, and you can see the sun for thirty seconds before going back into the library.”Violet only glared at his back before giving up and following him. The second they stopped talking, the room shook and they looked down into a pit to see an undead giant running up the stairs four at a time. The last giant she remembered moved a lot slower than this one.“Shit!” The mage immediately panicked because of the monster’s speed and threw a blinding flash out, making both her and Kaidan see spots. She could hear it pause and groan, then keep coming.“Why did you do that?!” The warrior clapped his hand over his eyes, then realized he could still hear it coming. Did she even do any damage to it? He realized it was still moving and ducked as he heard something entirely too close whistle overhead.“That should have worked! Bigger, stronger monster, higher magnitude!” She shouted. A half second later, she heard it close in and she quickly switched to ice hoping to slow it. Frost crawled up its calves to freeze it to the ground, and a wall of lances erupted all around it. She was still entirely too close to it however, as she normally made them for human sized targets, or if called for, dragons that usually dove in low to get at her tiny self. She’d never fought any giants before, living or dead, and didn’t know to account for their disproportionately long, corded arms, insane strength, and big weapons. A femur club the length of her entire body smashed through the wall like twigs, collided with her side, and she flew into the far wall. The phylactery bounced off of her and rolled into the corner.Kaidan heard her yelp and something heavy hit something made of dense metal. What did he just say about making mistakes? And if her skull wasn’t smashed in (‘please no’), she was going to get up and the frozen Oblivion gates would open. Enough of his eyesight was back that he ran around Starfall’s pile of crushed ice, ducked under a club swing, and swung his own weapon at the giant’s knees. Both the weaknesses of giants (very exploitable knees) and draugr (burn in light) made the swing go clean through the monster’s legs, toppling it. Kaidan brought his sword down through the draugr giant’s chest; the light leaked out along with black blood, and he made sure it was dead by decapitating it.“Starfall?!”He didn’t get an actual response, just deep growling and tiny needles of ice skittering around the walls and floor.‘Please don’t let that damn thing have knocked anything else loose.’ He went over to her and kneeled down over her. “You’re still conscious, so that’s good. Will you be alright?”Starfall looked up at him, blushed and rolled over to stare at the wall again.“And now you’re being stubborn. You’ll be fine. I’m not going to make fun of you for not knowing about giants. Come on. Just heal yourself and let’s go.” He reached over for her hand.“I’m going to have to use a lot of fire, if my light doesn’t work for larger and more powerful undead.” She slurred and rubbed her head. There were large dents at her skull and ribs, and she’d have to deal with it now or immediately die the second her armor spell ended. She put her hands over the side of her face and groaned with the mother of all headaches as the iron and bone reshaped itself. Stupid blunt weapons. There went even more of her internal magicka.“I won’t object, then.” He said hesitantly.“It’s not about you objecting. I was just giving you fair warning.” She coughed up a wad of dark blood. The migraine was going to follow her for a long time.Kaidan looked at Starfall for a bit, then went over to collect the phylactery. Maybe her nearly getting killed yet again reminded her that this place didn't give a shit about her whinging. He handed the jar to her and she put it back under her good arm.“We should buy rope.” She said.“Maybe the trader has some back in the village.”“I want to know what happened to your soul and back.” It wasn’t a polite inquiry.He could feel her eyes boring into his back. Right through the scarring. “I… I’ll try. When we’re safe.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Violet had to wedge the big iron grate in the floor open with spears of ice, then kept her back against the wall while she descended the spiral staircase. The phylactery bounced off of every step with thick sloshing inside as she went. Kaidan and Jolfir kept an eye out for her to let her know if there was any danger at the bottom. More than anything, she wanted this to be over. She hadn’t taken a beating like this in a very long time. And Kaidan was right… again… about her emotions getting out of control leading to making mistakes. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on just getting down the stairs. Slow, deliberate, methodical. Focus on what’s happening now.The only thing at the bottom of the stairs was a heavy iron door, with icy mist billowing from underneath it. As soon as they opened it, Kaidan inhaled sharply through his teeth and put his hands over his head and ears.“Kaidan?” She turned to him and grabbed his arm.“You know how when you go into a barrow, you start hearing things?”Even with her hearing, she couldn’t hear any voices. She couldn’t sense a Word Wall down here, either. One less thing to worry about. “Mm.”“I understand now.”“Yours is probably worse.” She waited for him to be able to move again. “At least mine, they’re not scared or in pain.”He took several deep breaths and pushed it all down. “No wonder no one could find any of this… we’re miles out to sea and under it.”“I have no idea how we’re supposed to get back to the surface, either.” She said.“One thing at a time,” he said slowly, putting all of his concentration into not clawing his own head off.“I know none of it works for me, but let me see if there’s anything in, uhm, the illusion notes. To take the edge off.”“No.” He almost growled at her.She thought for a moment. “Hmph. Your choice.”They wandered around in these new catacombs for what seemed like hours, though they were both thankful the rooms were physically empty. Kaidan kept quiet about how there was misery and pain echoing off the walls and some of the shelves still had remnants of their previous occupants. Starfall was quiet and either concentrating or suppressing everything, but at least the petulance was gone. He knew going down a long hallway of that same numbing cold returning that they were close.Kaidan’s speech slurred now and the world was tilting slowly. He heaved through clouds of frost. “’e knows we’re ‘ere.” “Good for him.” An ice spear tipped with lightning grew from her free hand. “I’ve still got a horrible migraine, but are you going to be alright? It’s hard to concentrate, isn’t it?”“Hn.” He readied his sword.They entered a grand hall; it was barely lit and full of dragon statues casting hideous shadows everywhere. Violet and Kaidan could finally see where the last remnants of Winterhold had been dragged off to. Corpses, thrown in huge piles, layered on stakes, burned, mummified, and rotted like from Kaidan’s nightmare. Bones littered the floor among rubble and trash. They both could sense so many eyes on them, and the noise in Kaidan’s head became deafening. Violet let it fuel her anger. All of this… the doing of one… thing. And for what? “Beinaarkh. Come out.” She was hugging the jar so tight to herself, it should have cracked open.Jolfir reappeared and frantically tugged at Kaidan’s cloak.“Y’r sister ‘ere?” Kaidan asked him.Jolfir pointed over on the other side of the room. The ghost of a small girl was caught in some kind of loop of trying to dig through all the bodies piled up. “Mig…na…?” His own bitter memories welled up in the form of bile and he covered his mouth with his hand. ‘Gods… no… no… not now…’“Hi drun daar gein, mindok Zu’u nis kod niin.” A hollow gurgle echoed around the room. “Daar krent sil so sunvaar arkh Deyra. …Ruthkiir.” (1)Kaidan looked down and Jolfir was gone. “Hmph. You’re old enough to know Dovahzul. How long have you been at this shit? And fuck you. At least mine is a curse, and he’s trying to atone for whatever happened. You’re just a pathetic piece of shit hiding in a hole like a fucking roach.” Violet spat.The throne of bones at the front of the room shifted, and half of them rose up and grabbed a greataxe leaning beside the throne. A draugr shook the dust and rot off of himself, glaring at them for disturbing everyone’s ‘sleep’. His eyes lit up and his entire form shook as he was trying to remember how to move, then his jaw went slack enough it looked like it would fall right back off.
“FO KRAH DIIN!”
Violet’s eyes widened. Kaidan said don’t panic. Easy for him to say. She dropped her spear, made the biggest aetheric shield she could muster with one hand, and jumped between the draugr and Kaidan.The light in Kaidan’s eyes was gone again, and he didn’t even realize that he was stuck to the floor. He was already so cold, so when the force of the shout hit him, he was more surprised that he was only slammed backwards against the wall. He fell to his knees and snapped out of his trance to see Starfall had absorbed the worst of the damage for him.“I can’t fight, defend, and hold the jar!” And she tossed it to him while he was still on the ground.Kaidan caught it before it smashed open on his armor and quickly got to his feet, then took the jar behind one of the furthest statues. He used his steel arrows on the draugr’s skull to break it up and remove his helmet. Aiming was difficult, and Starfall was in the way, but his pain and the dead’s cries only pushed him towards that hate that he was just telling her not to indulge in.With both hands free, Violet at least knew her undead ward spell would work on this asshole. She mostly had a handle on normal draugr now, even if they could use thu’um. She packed her light into a ball of blinding flames, aimed for where Kaidan had ruined its face, and burned the last of the papery flesh and bone clean off. The headless draugr fell to his knees, grabbed her shoulders, and slid down her front to lie at her feet.“Come out, coward.” She desperately wished for a whole barrel of water and a rack of potions at that point. Keeping her aetheric shield large enough to protect Kaidan took a lot more energy than she thought it would after that Guardian Ward in the chapel. “You’re bored of torturing souls down here and trying to figure out how to escape, yeah? Is that why you finally let that poor boy go and get someone?”Instead of the lich revealing himself, several of the corpses rolled off of the piles and rose up as draugr and skeletons. Violet growled deeply from the back of her throat as the group grabbed the various discarded rusty weapons and came right for them. Kaidan definitely shared the sentiment. Since he was behind her, she didn’t need to worry about cross-fire and unleashed blinding flashes of lightning from her hands, quickly and easily reducing them to ash.“If you don’t come out, I'll just take this ugly ass jar and toss it in the sea. Then you’ll never find it.” The giant, rectangular, metal cage hanging from the ceiling rattled. Wisps of shadow wove in circles, pulling strands of red, black, and white from the mess below until a wretched, shriveled thing wrapped in linens and a golden death mask crawled out of the sarcophagus inside. Starfall knew her undead ward wasn’t strong enough to work against a lich, so she rolled arcane flames around in her fingers until they were as nice and bright as her restorative light. Those ratty sheets he was wearing were good and flammable.Kaidan suddenly heard the phylactery start rattling beside him. He grabbed it with both hands and hugged it, only for both him and the jar to get dragged out into the open and pulled towards the lich. “Starfall!”“Oh, you fucker.” She released her fireball and was only mildly disappointed that he had an aetheric shield. ‘Of course there’s a godsdamned shield, he’s still a fucking mage.’Violet didn’t bother playing with that anymore and grabbed the other side of the jar just as Kaidan put his boot against a statue for leverage. One day, she was going to have to learn telekinesis. “Let go or I destroy it, Beinaarkh!”“Dreh nii, ruz.” (2) The lich cackled.“…Kaidan, let go of it.” She whispered.“What? But…”“Let. Go.” Her eyes narrowed.Kaidan hated that look. That look meant she was about to do something horrible, but he let go of the jar, anyway. Starfall dropped part of her armor, smashed the clay jar open with her fist, and stuck her cut up hand full of blinding holy light in the black, foul-smelling, congealed ooze inside. And he was absolutely right about how disgusting it was and so much more. ‘Gods damn it, Starfall, WHY?!’ The rest of the jar exploded and the blood hardened into a crystal, roiling with white and yellow light deep inside. Beinaarkh snatched it away from her and absorbed it, not realizing that her sticking her living, dragon god blooded, sanctified hand in it had consequences. It wasn’t until he burst into flames and screamed that he realized what she was and what she’d done. Her broken hand was covered in their combined blood and rolled with white wisps, while her spear reformed in her other hand for her to lean on.“SOS DO AKATOSH!” (3) The lich screamed at her.“Don’t call me that.”‘Blood warlock of Akatosh, more like.’ Kaidan’s already rolling stomach sank like a stone and he had to earnestly fight to keep from being sick. As much as she railed against necromancy…She could somehow hear the Dwemer gears turning in Kaidan’s head and her voice hardened. “Blood magic is not death magic.” Beinaarkh shouted as he leaned weakly against his prison. Corrupted or not, he had what he needed. Now to escape.
“FUS RO DAH!”
Violet had used up the last of her internal magic and didn’t have enough to create another shield, so she threw herself at Kaidan and pulled them behind the statue. The dragon statue’s head came off and just barely missed crushing her.“You want to shout? Then fff—!!!” She leaned around the corner and watched all the bones littering the floor start rolling towards each other. They smashed together until they created some kind of floating monstrosity with too many skulls, arms, and rib cages fused together: an Osso Domini. “Kaidan, I need you to hold that thing off while I try to rebuild my magicka.”“What—” The creature made of bones levitated around the corner to find them and waved its four hands, each with a spell in it. “Shite!”Violet slipped behind the broken dragon head and pulled out what potions she had left. The situation was bad enough now that she had to convert her blood into magicka in order to have something to spend. The healing potions would dull the pain temporarily and force her body to rebuild the blood she lost, but it wouldn’t do anything about her being so slow to pull any new magicka into herself. Better than nothing. Why wasn’t that asshole burnt up from the inside by now?! Kaidan hopped over the statue head and grabbed the monster’s crossed legs to swing it around and bash it against the stone wall. Its arms and a few ribs cracked and fell off, but that wasn’t enough to stop it. The creature started to open its front jaw, but Kaidan punched it and ripped it off, which only made it swivel its heads around to try again with a new one.
“FUS!”
One Word from Violet was enough to wrench the monster out of Kaidan’s grip, drop him to the floor, and smash it to pieces against the back wall under the cage. ‘Fuck’s sake, please let that be the last one.’“C’n you use spells ‘gain?” He panted as he dragged himself to his feet.“S-still need... a little more time.” She was doubled over. Kaidan put the fact that she was starting to look sick towards her blood loss, but couldn’t do much about it. She didn’t even seem to have enough magicka now to fix her hand…Above them, Beinaarkh roared in frustration and started to pour everything he could of his magicka into the piles of corpses. Bones of humanoids, beasts, trolls, giants, and Violet recognized a few pieces of dragons danced and bounced out into the middle of the floor to bind themselves together. A dense skeletal abomination, Osso Macello: bigger and broader than a giant, more teeth than a dragon and yet no head, and various other smaller skeletons chained to it to make armor. Violet swore up a storm with her remaining air and Beinaarkh laughed at her while making his escape. Shadows and ribbons of blood slipped under the door around the corner.“Fucking warlock. Figures.” Kaidan took a deep breath and raised his sword in a defensive stance. ‘He’s as creatively twisted as you, Star.’The Osso Macello lumbered towards Kaidan, then swiped at him to get him to dodge out of the way and went straight for Starfall. The lich had prioritized her as a target. Kill the mage at all costs; she was still too much of a threat. With its back to him, Kaidan jammed his sword into the monster’s spine and tried to pry the bones loose. “Come ‘n, y’ bastard, go d’n!”Instead, it gave chase after Violet, swinging at her. She’d learned her lesson after the giant though, and ducked into a small corner arch hoping it was too large to reach. Its body was too large, but it fixed that by starting to destroy the arches holding up the room. Dust and rubble started to rain down from the ceiling. One solid chunk of stone took off the top part of its torso, but it turned out the monster didn’t need it and that only made it angrier.“And that’s worse. Shit.” Violet could feel magicka flowing back into her, but it was still too slow and Kaidan wasn’t using the right tool for the job. “Kaidan! Get out of the way!”
“FUS RO DAH!”
He heard that spell again and dove away from it, landing behind a broken table and clenched his teeth. The bone golem smashed through the columns and rattled hard enough to make a horrible racket that echoed all around the collapsing room. When he looked over the table, the monster looked a lot easier to take apart, now. He ran over and tried again with trying to wedge the bones in its spine apart and found that he could even grab them bare-handed and crush them to splinters, it hit the wall so hard. His sword was still faster and tore through it, breaking bones, severing joints, and smashing it apart with enough force the pieces were flying across the room. By the time they were done with it, it was back to being a scattered mess everywhere.“Going to have fun stuffing Beinaarkh’s soul into a gem and violating his corpse with it…” Violet coughed. She was shaking with anger now as she was exhausted, aching, using herself up from the inside, and the lich was still around which meant they still weren’t done.Kaidan didn’t even want to stop her this time. He was pissed now too, and the fire had finally returned to his eyes. He went around the corner to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. The key was around here somewhere. Please not in the corpse piles. It wasn’t amongst the bones. Thank fuck, that first draugr on the throne had a key around his neck. It turned out that he was the jailor and they’d just released his prisoner out into the world.“Go on ahead. I have to clean this up.” Violet took a deep, shaky breath and brushed some of the crumbled ceiling out of her hair. More came down and replaced it.“Do you have enough magicka for a fire large and hot enough?” Kaidan knew full well the answer was no.“I’ll figure it out. Just… don’t look because there’s going to be a lot. …And tell Jolfir I’m sorry… for getting mad at him.” Her aetheric shield was visible now; the air swirled and distorted around her with glowing heat.He nodded and opened the door to see Jolfir and Migna lying in the corner. She was curled up in a ball and shivering in her brother’s arms. He sat with them and tried to hold their hands; it almost worked that time.“You heard her, right?”Jolfir finally looked up at him and nodded. And after a long while of sitting in the tunnel, all the horrible noise in his head, the crying, pleading, screams, pain, and everything just… stopped. Then the two ghosts faded away. His own pain eased up enough he could get up again, and he rushed over when he saw the doors open. Starfall stumbled out of the smoke filled room with her sleeve over her face and fell into his arms. The heavy iron door closing behind her muffled the sound of the room collapsing in on itself. He slid down to the floor again, held her across his lap, and used the last of his potions on her.“Thank you.” Kaidan said quietly as he wrapped her hand.“Hmm.” Violet mumbled.*They needed to find the lich as soon as possible, especially in his weakened state and despite their own. As they made their way up the winding path from the depths of Beinaarkh’s chambers, Kaidan read the sealing ward that was in Nofur the Jailor’s possession with the key.“Be bound here, Beinaarkh, traitor, defiler,
Condemned by your crimes against god and brother.
May the horrors you wrought be forgotten forever,
May no foul servant of evil come hither.
Be bound here Beinaarkh, murderer, betrayer,
Bled by Nofur in life and death.
Forever separate from beloved kin,
Corrupt none will thine foul breath!”
“Doubting there was anyone ever beloved in that creature’s life.” Violet coughed. If her poor robes weren’t bad enough before, now they were completely coated in soot and ashes along with the rest of her.The paper crumbled into flakes of dust in Kaidan’s hand. “He was underneath Winterhold this entire time, somehow managing to pull the whole city underground and waiting for ages so he could slaughter them all and escape.” “And we helped him!” She laughed. It was hoarse and frightening considering all the Shouting had started her bleeding from the throat. Kaidan was becoming afraid for her, but kept his mouth shut. She’d just deny it and there wasn’t anything else he could do for her, anyway.The path upward opened up to a more natural cold, along with plants, underground roots from the ceiling, and the lich’s burial treasures. Why he had any, neither of them could figure, but Violet took all of the gold anyway. They’d need it to pay for all the healing; she couldn’t fix all of their injuries herself in a reasonable amount of time now unless she had a lot of expensive alchemy ingredients. Kaidan took the large shield and strapped it to his back. It was black like polished ebony, but Daedric in style. He wasn’t given to using shields, but it was such a high quality that maybe either Starfall or someone back at the college could enchant it. He just needed a weapon to go with it.When they opened the door to the fresh, clean, night air of Skyrim, it helped both of them just a little, though Kaidan was starting to consider following Starfall back to the Alik’r so he’d never be cold again. Two steps out and an ebony axe clipped the top of Starfall’s hood off and wedged right into the center of Kaidan’s breastplate. He stumbled backwards and took the axe with him to disarm whoever did it.“Joorre! Oblaan het us Beinaarkh!” (4) The draugr lord shouted at them.“Oh, fuck off already!” Violet grabbed the draugr with both hands full of ice and tore it apart from the inside out. They were so close to getting out. “Kaidan! Hold on!”He was already getting back to his feet. The axe didn’t go deep, but he could still feel his leather under armor starting to go sticky with blood. “Don’t waste your magic on it. It’s not deep.”She flexed her hands slightly, but nodded and stumbled outside. There was a dragon mound billowing light and dark magicka from it. Beinaarkh had spent all that time trying to raise it. This must have been the dragon Kaidan was talking about. If he used that to escape… “Gods… damn… it!” She covered her face with her hands and shrieked into them until it was hacking coughs. When Kaidan caught up to her, he saw the light and remembered that dream. That blue and black dragon crashing into the ground and the world cracking open. ‘Burn like the souls who worshipped pride.’ Time to end this. The Dovahkriid’s voice roared loud enough that even the Dovahkiin had to take notice.
“KAH VO ZEIN!”
Violet looked over her shoulder. The shadows were gone from his eyes and that unsettling, bright, blood fury was back. Whatever happened in that dream must have been personal. “You take the dragon, then. I’ll try and kill the lich as fast as I can. And no, you don’t get to bust up my horse this time.”The fires and magic flowing from the ground heard Kaidan’s challenge, and a giant skeletal dragon slowly crawled from the grave, forming flesh and scales as it emerged. Except it was all wrong. This wasn’t the same necromancy as whatever was raising the others. Open sores patched its dull scales to show grey, rotten flesh, and it was already falling apart as if the lich’s spell hadn’t worked all the way. Even its roar was off; it was a beastly, inarticulate screech cut off with gurgling and distortion. Violet noted that it couldn’t have been a lich that was raising all those other dragons, then. It was something or someone else even more powerful than a lich. That was even worse.Kaidan unlatched his nodachi and held it out to her. “Can you use your restoration spells again?”Instead of blessing his sword with light, Violet reached behind him and enchanted his dragonbone arrows this time. She didn’t tell him that she was still using herself up and running out again; she was a Redguard, and magicka wasn’t even supposed to be in their blood. Going well past how far their bodies could carry them was. “Doesn’t that rush of hate feel good?”Kaidan looked away from her, grit his teeth, and switched his sword out for his bow. Before the dragon could take off, he nailed it between and in the eyes a few times and it screeched, shaking its head back and forth. “Go ahead and flail, you bastard. Get that shrapnel nice and deep in your brain.”‘Now where is Beinaarkh?’ Violet limped away from the Dovahkriid and his prey, and found the lich hiding off behind the ruins of the dragon’s grave. “Nowhere to go now. This is all that’s left after your stupid plan. A broken island out in the ocean.”Beinaarkh only responded with a thick, gurgling chuckle and pointed at the blood dripping from her mouth and bandaged hand, now black under the moonlight.Violet leered. “I’m going to beat your face so fucking hard, your teeth are going to wash up back on Atmora.”A ball of dark magicka formed in her hands and she shaped it into her Daedric bow. He wouldn’t be able to deflect the arrows, she wouldn’t have to get near him, and they bought her time to keep rebuilding her magicka. Her arms, shoulders, and back were still screaming at her, though, and she could barely keep it upright and steady. It had been long enough from Ancano’s incident and she was far enough away from the Eye of Magnus that there wasn’t nearly enough magicka left for her to pull. She fired several shots into his chest, the ironically light-tipped Daedric arrows wedging into the rags and leathery flesh. Each arrow burned the area around it to char, but it wasn’t quite enough; he was still regenerating too quickly. Shit. Kaidan was too busy with the dragon; leave him alone. The books never said how many Akaviri it took to kill a dragon, but now was going to be the time to see if just one was enough.*Ancano raised his head up from his work and looked around. “Did you hear something just now?”Savos did not. “No.” “I swore I just heard someone shouting.”“Probably someone practicing a spell on the roof and it backfired, again.” He said as he flipped through his research. He was close to figuring out what Starfall had come there for, and why the dragons were chasing her. Ancano said that she was something called a ‘Dragonborn’ and was extremely dangerous. He only knew the most basic details of Skyrim’s history from the natives at the college, but needed more. Were Dragonborn only masters of Draconic magic, or had it lent itself to her mastering her other schools? A lot of these history books were annoyingly focusing on the fact that most known ones throughout history had been royalty or leaders of the Empire. She did not act or carry herself like royalty; quite the opposite. It would explain her Akaviri companion and Ancano’s fear and anger, though.Ancano hummed at the disruption and tried to get back to work, only to toss his quill down a few minutes later. “You’re telling me you can’t hear—”A dragon’s screech clearly echoed around the room.“—THAT?!”“But I secured the Eye! It should be completely benign to anyone who’s even within a short range of the college.” The Archmage was disappointed at being disturbed, but set a bookmark in his book and went down to check on the artifact. It was fine and spinning slowly, warded from anyone tampering with it or finding it. The concentric circles on the ground spun in different directions and buzzed with irritating static when he came too close.He went back upstairs and out to the upper walkway to see if there was anything happening to the village. It was all safe, save for the torches of the Watch running back and forth. They’d heard it too. He tried the other side and there was the frozen corpse of the one he’d killed a few days ago. That was some relief. Then he saw the one flying around on that isolated ruin a few miles out to sea. The night was bright with the aurora and two moons, but it was still all very hard to make out what it was doing down there. If he lit a magelight, it might possibly see him and come up to the college.
“FUS RO DAH!”
Someone shouted from that direction. It barely sounded human and definitely not any kind of language he knew. …But Master Starfall might.“Oh, no.” He sighed. ‘And just when Ancano had calmed down for a few minutes.’He went over to the Astronomy station nearby and pointed the telescope towards the abandoned island just north of the coast. After a few minutes of trying to focus on whatever the dragon was attacking, he found Kaidan, who was definitely looking better considering he looked half-dead after the other dragon. Then where was Master Starfall? He scanned the rest of the island and followed a small army of undead chasing her away from some floating ...thing conjuring them with a staff made out of human arms. Savos stepped away from the telescope and took a deep breath. He’d been out to investigate that island ruin before, because it was the only thing left of Winterhold that wasn’t the college. But he wasn’t able to actually get inside; it was sealed tight and warded with something so old, that nothing in the Arcanaeum went back that far. Colette said that Starfall and Kaidan had gone down to explore the Midden, but that was days ago. And now they were out there with a dragon and some kind of undead. How? They couldn’t possibly have—“Archmage Savos, have you found the source of the noise?” Ancano had finally caught up with him and looked in the direction of the telescope. “Another dragon?!”An explosion of fire below shook Savos back to the present.“Yes.” He was leaning on the post now and watching as the mage and warrior were handling it on their own. But how long would it last? He had to distract Ancano. “Could you do me a favor and fetch Mirabelle? Since Starfall isn’t here with her expertise, we’ll have to do this one ourselves, as well.”Ancano raised an eyebrow. “You’re not possibly thinking of going down there, are you?”“Unless you’d like to come with me? You missed the last one, so this should be a good learning experience. Invigorating, especially when it drained our life essence to heal itself and ate an entire fire atronach.” Savos straightened himself out and started to conjure the portal.He frowned and left quickly. “I’ll see if Mirabelle would lend her talents. She is a Master of Restoration, after all. It sounds like that would be essential.”“Before it comes up here, possibly!” The Archmage called after him. Once Ancano was well on his way, he finished the portals, making sure to close them after himself. One to the college’s foundation below, one to the base of the island, and one up the cliff directly behind the ruins.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Those first enchanted shots that Kaidan had put into Kahvozein’s head, plus the lack of time Beinaarkh had to resurrect it had been a blessing towards slowing the dragon down and killing it. It could still fly, but not very far before either becoming exhausted and falling to the ground, or Beinaarkh lost control over it for a precious few seconds. A particularly good shot went right through its shoulder and it lost control and direction, sliding along the length of the island and smashing into the ruin. Kaidan ran away from the flying stonework and nearly wound up buried in the snow.The second the world stopped shaking, Kaidan ran wide away from its head and went for its wings so it couldn’t take off again, although it looked like there was no getting up from that. It was still dangerous under the wing, but far less than being in front of its maw or in range of its tail. Kahvozein meant to screech something at him, but it was drowned out by Starfall throwing out explosions and both kinds of curses.‘Worry about yourself, now. Starfall is so much tougher than she looks.’His sword went clean through the smaller wing bones and rotten, tattered webbing until it turned on him. The dragon’s teeth just caught his back as it thrashed around and pushed him into the range of its tail, which then smashed him into the ground. Thankfully, the shield he’d collected took away the bite’s danger by preventing it from closing its jaws all the way.“dov… ah… kriid…” was all it could wheeze as it tried to rise up and failed.Kaidan rolled out of the way and stumbled back onto his feet, hamstringing one of its back legs. “Shut it, monster!”“krii… dov… ah…” It shuddered. Thick, black blood oozed from its mouth and everywhere Kaidan had struck.He narrowed his eyes. He’d heard necromantic thralls begging for release from their torment a few times before. Either this wasn’t a very good resurrection, or Starfall was chipping away at Beinaarkh’s control, hopefully by tearing him into little dried up shreds. It was still in there, and it wanted him to kill it. It’s not like he could deny that request. He kicked the dragon onto its side to expose its chest and throat, then swung his sword with deep, broad strokes to slash it wide open.“Niid!” Beinaarkh turned his focus from Violet to Kaidan and Kahvozein.While he was distracted with stopping Kaidan from killing his thrall, Violet leaned from around a pillar and sent a blade of light that hopefully would take off the lich’s head. It missed that, but took off the arm with the disgusting staff, which was still better than nothing. Beinaarkh hissed loudly in rage as he was forced to deal with that damned Dovahkiin, permanently this time. “Gahrot ok laas!” (1)“GAAN! LAHHhhh—” Just as the Dovahkriid had slashed his sword across the dragon’s throat, it roared the spell that would have reversed their circumstances. Kahvozein could only shout two Words though, and neither was the one it needed. Those last Words still worked, however, and Kaidan gasped and dropped like a stone; his weight pulled the sword through and severed the dragon’s head, where it crashed into the snow beside him.“Kai!” Violet screeched a curse and made the fatal mistake of turning her back on the lich while trying to run through the deep snow.*Savos was invisible and watched from the entrance of the ruins, and his eyebrow went up that a master like Starfall would place herself in that sort of danger, even under the circumstances. He quickly went into the alcove so he wouldn’t be seen starting his own summoning spell; she was already shaky and barely standing as if she’d already been fighting for a good while beforehand. To be fair though, liches were probably worse than dragons, even with their ability to drain out a person’s life. So much for waiting for Mirabelle.Beinaarkh saw his chance, grabbed his staff with his other arm still attached, and waved it at the Dovahkiin. Several hands of skeletons and draugr burst from the frozen ground and grabbed her by the ankles, tripping her and pulling her under the snow as soon as she tried to jump away from them. Once they had her arms and legs, he dropped it again and chuckled at her, drifting over to her with a hand full of black magicka rolling around his bony fingers. One of the hands grabbed her throat and pushed her into looking directly at him. She could hear and feel the bones and cartilage in her neck starting to strain.“Niid! Niid! Niid! Gaar zu’u, hi ruth — FEIM ZII!” (2) She screamed in hacking coughs and scrambled out of the trap to her feet, light enough now that she could even stand on top of the snow. The lich ran over and tried to grab the back of her robe before she was completely gone.“What?” Savos stopped his spell and stared in awe as she quickly faded between worlds and crawled out of the lich’s trap. It wasn’t like an invisibility spell at all since she was able to move through and over obstacles without the effect breaking, but still just barely visible under the moonlights, and glowed with her own white aura that helped him follow her. Beinaarkh’s spell passed through her and left a melted puddle of ooze in her path. He paused to see if she would retaliate, and when she was still too preoccupied with getting to the Dovahkriid, he summoned another spell and turned to move towards him. “Hi drey krii dii zaam, nu Zu’u fen gahrot hin sinon!” (3)
THAT SOUL IS NOT FOR HIM TO TAKE. THAT ONE IS MINE.
There was the hate she needed to make that one spell work proper now. She brought herself back to the mortal plane, pulled a Grand soul gem out of her hip pouch, and clutched it hard enough that the points dug into her hand and bled freely. The entire island shook from her roar. “KRRRIIII!”The Archmage had to clap his hands over his ears. He watched as the Draconic Master roared a curse so foul at the lich that he gurgled some other word in their language, cracked open at the ribcage with bright purple light, and started crumbling apart. At the same time, the entire island rumbled and cracked open with him. Before the lich even hit the ground, Starfall pounced on him, ripped his golden death mask off with her claws and jammed the soul gem through his eye sockets. She was tearing a master necromancer apart with her bare hands and a single word. The gem flashed and the corpse she was pinning to the ground collapsed into dust. She sat there bleeding, heaving, growling, and looking like she wanted more.‘Ah. So that’s why Ancano’s so threatened by her being “Dragonborn”.’ Savos turned to finally come out of the alcove, only to see Mirabelle and Ancano coming up the side of the island. He was hoping that the inquisitor had found an excuse not to tag along. He made a short prayer to his ancestors that he wouldn’t need to protect them from her, then made himself invisible again, instead. “Master Violet?! Was that you a minute ago?! What’s happened?! Are you alright?” Mirabelle ran over to her with her hands already full of bright healing magic, only to get shoved out of the way. She only briefly registered that Violet was completely covered in ash and black blood.Violet shook her head in an attempt to clear it, pointing and staggering over to Kaidan, who was still with the dragon’s corpse. Once she fell to her knees beside him, she started shaking again and tried to use something, anything, but there was no magicka left to pull or for her to bleed. She opened her mouth to scream and nothing came out except hissing, sobbing, and bloody coughs. “Ugh, where in the world is the Archmage? Maybe he can explain better than this pile of hysterics.” Ancano rolled his eyes and wondered if he’d even come down to help like he’d said.As soon as Violet heard Ancano’s voice and her head swiveled in his direction with that inhuman growling, Savos reappeared behind her, snatched her up in a headlock, and quickly forced a dense, swirling, green ball of calming magic from his hand passing down her face. She started forward and fell unconscious on top of Kaidan, which made him grunt. “I’m right here,” Savos sighed in relief.“Archmage?” At least it felt safe to touch Violet now. Mirabelle checked them over and found they weren’t quite dead yet, but bleeding out. “Dear gods, what even happened to these two…?!”Savos turned grim as he stared down the inquisitor. “It’s been a very rough night, as you can see. And Ancano, this is something more dire than you could possibly understand, so I advise you not to make it wors—”A circle of fire erupted all around them from the dragon’s corpse, and Savos immediately moved to shield everyone else. The fire moved through his aetheric shield as if it wasn’t even there, and stunned them all when it formed into ribbons of light that wove around all of them and into Starfall. The now clean bones of the dragon collapsed and rumbled down the hill into the sea. They all stared back and forth between each other, the stripped, broken skeleton in the water, and the two dragonslayers out cold on each other.Savos had to remember to breathe as he shakily inhaled and dropped his shield.“By the gods…” The woman in Mirabelle’s arms hadn’t even woken up through all that. Though Kaidan was also still unconscious and she herself didn’t feel any different. Ancano simply grit his teeth and stomped off, and neither Savos nor Mirabelle could be bothered to stop him.Savos knelt down beside Mirabelle and started casting Grand Healing. “She killed a lich by herself, and he killed the dragon by himself. They’re both almost dead themselves, to be fair, but still.” Mirabelle’s eyebrows went up, but followed his example. “This explains why you’ve been rather lively, recently. What do you want to do with them?”“First, we need to stabilize them and get them to Colette. Then, we need to have a meeting. Without Ancano.” As they moved to collect Kaidan and Starfall, the far end of the island rumbled, and the cliffs and ocean started coming closer to them. “Quickly.”*Kaidan really didn’t trust anyone at the college, especially after everything that had happened, but he didn’t have much of a choice, now. As soon as he woke up a few days after the incident, Mirabelle dragged him to the Archmage’s study. He was thankful that the woman barely any taller than Starfall didn’t do it by his ear. He, Savos, Mirabelle, and Colette (Ancano had been locked out and warded away from spying at the door by Savos, and Starfall was locked and warded in her room) sat around Savos’s desk, trying to figure what happened, and how it all went so horribly wrong that Winterhold was lost all over again. Kaidan was already irritable from blood loss and the itching part of the healing process, and getting twenty questions shortly after waking up was not helping. At least Savos seemed slightly less distracted this time. But then, Ancano wasn’t there. Colette and Mirabelle, who were the two best healers to treat him and Starfall, were varying levels of confused and wary. The more Kaidan explained what he and Starfall had gone through and why they were in such terrible shape (getting angrier as he went), by the time he was finished, the small council of mages was absolutely horrified and more than a little embarrassed.He crossed his arms. “I don’t know why I’m cooperating with you lot at all. Your collective incompetence nearly got us killed, and you were sitting on top of a bloody lich holding an entire city hostage for almost a godsdamned century!” Savos shrank in his chair and Mirabelle quickly took over. “Yes, well, as much as we can try to apologize for that, it seems that going by what you told us, none of us would have been able to do anything, anyway. No one has ever seen the child, just told about the nightmares, which fade away after a few days. The hidden paths are rarely encountered, and never the same way twice. We had been searching for decades. And then you two found it so easily, I’m wondering if that child wasn’t looking for you specifically, for some reason.”“The Illusion Master or whoever could see him and the paths, you probably just didn’t believe him.” Kaidan grumbled. He withheld the part where Beinaarkh had cursed Jolfir for bringing him a pair of souls so broken and monstrous that they were worthless and thus able to resist him.Colette rolled her eyes. “The thing about Drevis is that half the time his magic works only sometimes, which is the worst part of Illusion. We ignore half of his ramblings for good reason.”No one felt like pointing out the irony.Savos kept flipping through his own research. “The point is, one, we’re sorry. Two, you’re going to have to cooperate because if you don’t, we’re not sure how to best keep Ancano out of your business, which probably would have been a little easier if we’d had warning that you were bringing a continuous parade of dragons, including the avatar of a Divine.” He levitated his (much better maintained) copy of The Book of the Dragonborn, showing a picture of Akatosh gilded with genuine gold leaf. The artist had stylized him with the body of a mortal and the head of a dragon.Now it was Kaidan’s turn to be defensive. “All those dragons at once has never happened before. Plus, two of them were after that thing downstairs, not her, and the third was that damned zombie’s pet.”“Do you happen to know what Master Violet is actually looking for?” Mirabelle asked. “Why the dragons have returned, why we were specifically chosen to stop them, how to stop them for good, and how to do it without it killing her. Everything else that keeps happening is noise. And she hates noise. Ironically enough, I, the one without the magic foresight, knew coming here was just going to be one disaster after another. But nooo, the warrior doesn’t know what he’s talking about and is just being paranoid!” He scoffed.“Ha!” Colette laughed. “Save for Ancano’s annoying snooping, it was actually pretty quiet before you two showed up.”“Save for the screams of the damned!” Kaidan slammed his fist on Aren’s desk and his eyes went bright; the desk itself now had a circular impact crack spreading across it. The two healers jumped at the noise, and the Archmage reflexively scooted back, then fixed it by reforming the desk back into one piece and sat forward again. Kaidan realized what he’d done, then looked away and sat back in his chair. Bloody warlocks.Mirabelle tried to bring the conversation around before things escalated. “Kaidan, please. We don’t know how long you two were intending to stay, but considering your reaction to Ancano when you first arrived, and his rapidly increasing agitation—”“She hasn’t done anything wrong. We haven’t done anything wrong.” He grit his teeth.“We know. In fact, you both have been invaluable in keeping the college safe from certain disaster. But as a neutral space within Skyrim, we can’t be caught directly defying the Aldmeri Dominion. And knowing Ancano, he’s very likely already reported to the Thalmor immediately after Savos told him not to.” The Master-Wizard explained.Kaidan shaded his eyes with his hand. “So you’re kicking us out instead.”“Not exactly. Not permanently. ‘Suspended’. She said she only wanted to use the library. She’s here for books. Then that’s what she’s getting. We’ll loan you two the books you need, and you find a place elsewhere where she can study in peace. We’ll send for you and the books once we’ve figured out how to get rid of whomever he’s called. And gods willing, Ancano himself. But I doubt that.” She said bitterly, not looking directly at the Archmage.“Why are you trying to ‘help’ us, then?” Kaidan asked.“Because, my dear, we are more dedicated to knowledge than to whatever in Oblivion is going on out there. She is a true master scholar and has been long before what brought you here. She’s resurrecting and reforming knowledge and magic that hasn’t been seen in thousands of years, let alone recorded. You two have something world changing on your shoulders. …Plus, it’s pure spite after putting up with Ancano for almost a year.” Colette grinned.Savos looked sideways for a moment and kept reading.And Starfall was still asleep so she couldn’t agree to any of this. Who knew when she would wake up? The two master healers in front of him simply said, ‘once she’d healed herself enough’. As helpful as ever. And whatever she did after he blacked out had scared these all powerful mages enough that they had locked and warded her in her room so no one could get in or out. Just like that damned thing downstairs.“I need to be able to ask Starfall what she wants. I’m only her bodyguard and she’d have my head on one of her spears if she woke up to find I let her get ‘suspended’.” He grumbled.“Do you think we’d still fall for that?” Savos asked idly as he kept scanning his book. “Or rather, do you really believe that?”Kaidan glared. “Believe what?”He almost sounded bored. “That you’re ‘only a bodyguard’. Who is capable of killing ancient monsters several times your size. Who is willing and able to walk unprotected and already sick into a radiant field of magicka that should have killed you, to stop a Master Illusionist powerful enough to make your mind leak out of your ears. A ‘simple bodyguard’ who is tasked by prophecy with protecting a demigoddess. Who she’s so protective of in turn, that she turned into a dragon herself, reduced a lich to dust with only a word, and sank an entire island because she thought they had somehow managed to kill you? A man of a race as rare, mysterious, and dangerous as the dragons themselves? Honestly.”This Archmage was as annoying as Starfall. It was as if more powerful mages pushed all the common sense and sanity out of their heads to make room for more terrifying creativity and esoteric horseshit. He scowled at Mirabelle and Colette side-eyeing each other at his ‘being dense’ about Starfall’s feelings. …Don’t do it. It’s not worth it… “What exactly did she do?”Savos explained that after seeing him fall, Starfall had thrown herself into a frenzy, stopped being able to speak in anything other than Draconic, and acted as if she was possessed. He had to render her unconscious with nearly all of his magicka to keep her from tearing Ancano apart as well, not to speak of the island itself cracking open. There was a whirlpool outside, now, draining into the cavern that held Old Winterhold. Kaidan lost all his color and put his head in his hands.“That reaction suggests that she’s not supposed to do that.” Colette said. She didn’t have any experience with anything of this nature. There would definitely be research papers later, but it was a shame that Violet couldn’t stay now for further examination.“Let’s just say that sometimes legends are right, sometimes they’re wrong, and they never prepare you for what is.” He ran his hands down his face. “If you’re going to help her, then I need help, as well. To contain… that. She’d meant to come see you, Colette, like I said the other day. But also the Master Alchemist, if you’ve got one, and the Illusion Master. Unfortunately, I can’t explain exactly what she needed from you lot because it’s all magic.”She frowned and shrugged. “If you’re looking for the Master Alchemist, good luck. Sleeps-in-Blossoms pretty much lives under the hothouses outside and it’s as confusing as the Midden down there. She probably doesn’t even know what’s been going on up here for the last week. And sorry, dear. I’ve never even seen anything like this before. The best thing for her right now is rest and to stop getting into trouble. I can imagine all of this is terribly stressful and that’s what broke her. I might have someone else I can ask, but not in time before you two leave, which would be as soon as possible.”*Mirabelle and Colette worked with him (after he’d had food and more healing) to figure out what to do for Starfall when she woke up, and he used one of her books to write everything down. He hoped that she wouldn’t mind that he borrowed it and left his godsawful handwriting in it, and that everything was translated from ‘Confusing and Grating Healer’ and ‘Posh Wizard’ to ‘Tired and Rushed Mercenary’. Then, he gathered the few things left in their rooms all together. Mirabelle saw the large rose staff in the pile, and Kaidan quickly lied and said it was for all the plant and alchemy work she did. Of course, they both knew that was a pathetic lie as that’s not how botany or alchemy worked, but it wasn’t so pressing that she couldn’t just overlook the unsettling thing bleeding red sap into its wrapping. Starfall didn’t wake up despite all the talking, rummaging, and moving through her room.“Do you have a place specifically in mind? Yes or no, but do not tell me.” Mirabelle asked him.“Yes,” Kaidan nodded.“Do you have everything? Because Ancano’s probably going to turn this place upside-down looking for evidence.”“Aye, mum!” He rolled his eyes.“Alright, alright.” The Master-Wizard smiled just a little and opened a portal, which looked like it opened to another part of the dorms. “Go on then, while he’s still trying to argue with Savos.”“Oi, Starfall. Don’t suppose you can wake up now, so I don’t have to carry you and all our stuff?”Violet didn’t even stir.“Of course not.” He scooped her out of her bed and as much as he was tempted to just toss her over his shoulder to make it easier on himself, he carried her the gentler way across his arms through the portal.Stepping through, he found himself in one of the upper floors of the faculty dorms, in front of a large wall lined with crystal balls. Each one swirled with dark magic.‘Where in Oblivion were these months ago when we were crisscrossing the whole bloody country by foot and carts?!’ He scanned the labels on each crystal’s base, then dropped two Grand soul gems provided by Mirabelle into the gem holders for Whiterun. So much for a quiet study in the library… *Violet awoke to bright bars of sunlight running across her face. She groaned in pain and started breathing in quick, shallow breaths, already trying to summon her healing magic in her hands. They flexed and shook as she tried to funnel it into the screaming pain all over. Her voice was barely enough to be raspy. “Kai...!”“Starfall?” Kaidan said from somewhere close. “What happened? I… I thought…” Her breathing was turning erratic.“It’s alright. You’re safe. We’re safe. Just breathe.” He was closer now and took her hand, ignoring the tiny embers of healing light pricking his hand. She immediately calmed down but still struggled with being disoriented.“Light.” She mumbled and shaded her eyes.“Oh. I can fix that.” His loud barefoot steps made Starfall flinch as he padded around the slightly creaky wooden floors. There weren’t any wooden floors in the college. Nor was there this much light in Winterhold even on a clear day. There were a series of clicks and wooden slats sliding shut until the room was much dimmer. “Better?”Technically yes, but… “What’s going on?”He hesitated. “…A lot. First, I need you to stay calm, alright? Please. Just wait until I finish explaining the situation. Breathe.”“Why?” Whenever someone says, ‘stay calm’, it usually means that things are bad.“Because you’re in a bit of a bad way. And it’s going to seem like something to throw a fit over. But trust me, it isn’t. I need you to focus on me, okay?”She slowly opened her eyes; Kaidan was sitting beside the bed and holding one of her journals. His armor was gone and switched out for his commoner’s clothes, just as her robes were gone and she was in a plain woolen dress. Nothing in the room was familiar, except for a little stuffed dragon on the nightstand. She groaned with some relief. “At least you’re alive. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”“No promises.” He started reading from the book. “Alright, so… we're back in your house in Whiterun. No, I did not put you on a cart and drag you all the way back here while you were still unconscious. No, this is not my fault. Entirely… Yes, we can go back to the college in a week or two, but not now. Your horse is fine and taken care of, but still back at Winterhold. It's been four days since we fought the dragon and the lich. From what Mirabelle and Colette told me, when you cleaned up Beinaarkh's curse and killed him, everything he touched either fixed itself or collapsed. The Midden under the college is silent now. The giant cave with Old Winterhold in it and the island on top of it collapsed. That island we were on is now a giant whirlpool, and the last of the city is finally and completely gone. “But Ancano saw the mess that we made and called the Thalmor. That’s why we had to leave. I’m sorry I had to make the decision without you. But Mirabelle and I figured it was safer to hide you here than trying to stay at the college and trying to fend them off. Only she sort of knows where we went; she sent us back here and told us to wait while they get rid of them. There’s some kind of portals she and Savos can open back and forth. When it’s time to go back, you can figure out the portal; Mirabelle gave me instructions to give to you. There’s more for you to read in here. She says you’re definitely powerful enough to use them. You’ll probably understand more of what she said than I did writing it all down. But for now, you need to heal. Do you understand? Can I continue?”She nodded, more confused than angry, but he wasn’t finished yet, so...“While we were down in Winterhold, you were healing yourself, but only enough to keep going, not fully. Colette says a lot of the injuries still existed, and then you made them worse all over again. You were bled out when they finally got you back to your room. Then there’s all the little things like your foot. Your arms and spine. You smashed your hand up and cut it open. Your head hitting a solid stone wall again—” He was still completely focused on the book, getting more and more agitated by the growing list of injuries and not paying attention to Starfall trying to stop him.“I know where I’m fucking hurting, Kaidan.” Violet croaked as she stared at the ceiling.He growled under his breath. “I see the bit of your brain that puts curses in everything is still working… At any rate, Colette and Mirabelle fixed what they could, but it’s still going to take even longer for everything to heal to full because you didn’t do it right the first time, and then there’s a bunch of things they didn’t have time to address. So just… stay put.” He handed her a cup of water from her nightstand pitcher.She gratefully took it and gulped it all at once. “I did do it right. It's called triage: when I don't have the time or resources to fix everything, so I have to do things in order of importance. Sometimes, it's hard to pick what's more important. Finding and killing that necro trash was more important than us. …But are you okay?” She only vaguely remembered that everything stopped being real again when the dragon shouted…Kaidan was quiet for a long while, but eventually pulled his shirt collar down to show a thick, pale line under his collarbone. “…Just a new scar for the collection. Anyway, we ended the curse on me, the college, and Old Winterhold. And that dragon’s shout only took the excess magicka and the last of my energy, knocking me out. The final word would have killed me, though. Small miracles, eh?”“You’re an official Dovahkriid, now. You killed a dragon all by yourself. So proud. You don’t need me anymore. Now I can leave all this to you and go home.” She wished.“Hah! No. And you may have gotten the soul, but it doesn’t mean I’m doing it for you from now on, either.” He poured her another cup, and she used that one to heal herself with swirling wisps of barely visible light. He put it towards her just waking up and needing more time and water.“Is Lydia still here or did she go back to Dragonsreach?” She couldn’t hear her nearby.“She was very helpful in taking care of you, and I’m thankful I didn’t listen to you trying to get rid of her.” He said. “She’s at the market getting extra food. You haven’t eaten in almost a week and I figured you'd wake soon from all the grumbling in your sleep.”Violet didn’t hear much of anything other than the word ‘food’. “Garlic butter potatoes, please. ...Oh gods, at least three. And covered in cheese. And another two pitchers, one water, one milk. And every sweetroll in town.”He chuckled, “I can do the potatoes. I’m not stealing a bunch of cake for you to gorge yourself.”“And now to lie in bed bored.” Her head dropped back to the pillow. The bed wasn’t all that comfortable, either. And the smoke was going to waft up once he started cooking. All that fucking work for months just to be able to use the library for one day. ‘Kaidan said don’t pitch a fit… Don’t burn the house down with you in it…’ She started to sniffle and covered her face.Kaidan got up, went to the opposite corner of the room, and pulled a large stack of textbooks and research volumes all tied together with thick leather straps from beside the table. He put the stack on the floor beside the bed to block her from getting out of it, then opened her nightstand and showed her a lap desk and a drawer full of parchments and charcoals. He started reading from her book again, this time making his voice gruff like an Orc’s. “Urag said, ‘This is a special loan on Savos’s orders. If I find one damn smudge, and I will check every page, I'll take your eyes so you can’t read anymore.’ Ahem. This is the first half of what they have on Nordic dragon lore, Akaviri history, and the remainder of what he had on that Eye of Magnus. The Archmage still wants you to look into that, and Urag gave us a location on where to find the other book whenever you’re feeling up to getting it. “Anyway, no one will bother you now because nobody important knows we’re here. Just don’t go days and days without sleeping or eating. …Now, wasn’t that much easier than going into a panicked rage and knocking yourself unconscious, again?”Violet looked at the stack, then at Kaidan with her eyes welling up. She nodded her finger for him to come closer.“What?” He frowned at her.“Just…!” She reached out for him.Kaidan rolled his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed. “You’re going to get all weepy on me?”Violet struggled to sit up and hugged around his arm, though she didn’t see his slightly worried expression. “Thank you so much, Kai. Now to try and remember where I left off a week ago.”“You and books. You should go bother the library Orc instead of literally trying me to death and back.” He took a deep breath and left shaking his head.