Rating: Rated T for violence, dark themes, and language.

Disclaimer: Skyrim is the property of Bethesda Game Studios.

This is the sixth installment in The Dragonblood Saga. Please read Honor Bound, Madness Rising, Into Ashes, Bitter Faith,and Night's Bane before beginning this story, as much of what happens here relies on events that occurred in the previous books.

The dovah crashed to earth at my Shout, skidding heavily across the ground and cutting a deep groove in the dirt. He lay there, stunned and growling dazedly. When he didn't immediately get back up, I stalked around his scaled form to stand before his massive snout.

Raising my sword, I pointed it at him and asked in his language, "Do you know who I am?"

"Dragonborn," he growled. "Vanquisher."

The corner of my mouth quirked up. "That's right."

He glared at me with yellow, slit-pupiled eyes. "Kill me and be done with this."

"No. You won't die today. Not by my hand," I told him shaking my head.

"Why?"

"I will not be responsible for the destruction of the dragons. There are few enough in the world." When he started to move, I tapped the flat of my blade against his nose. "However, there's something you need to promise me in return."

He growled again. "What would you ask of me?"

"Stay away from the humans. Their cities, their towns. Leave them alone. If you do, I'll make sure they leave you alone as well."

He stared at me and I stared back. Finally he relented, grumbling, "Very well, Dovahkiin. I swear that I will do as you ask and stay away from the mortals."

"Do you swear on your soul?"

"I swear on my soul," he said, reluctant.

"Good. Now go."

I stepped back. Even though I lowered my sword, I kept my eyes trained on him. The dragon got to his feet and shook out his long body. Then, with a roar, he launched himself up into the sky. I watched him vanish into the distance before turning and walking back down the road toward Whiterun.

It was a nice night. The early Spring air was cool, the chill of the frost mostly gone. Honestly, I'd learned over the past four years that there was no greater blessing than that. The sky was clear for the moment and, as the sun set below the western horizon, stars began to shine brightly in the sky while the moons rose in the east.

Not too long after Alduin's defeat, things started to change between the dovah, as they preferred to be called, and me. Did some of them continue to try to ravage Skyrim? Divines, yes. But Paarthurnax was right. Odahviing was right. I could reason with them. They respected me... sometimes. And sometimes, like the last one, they just needed a little persuasion.

I walked through Whiterun's front gates, nodding to the guards stationed outside, and stepped into the city. That was when I saw them.

Two robed figures stood on my doorstep. There was something definitely off about their posture, and it was enough to make me walk that much faster. The closer I got, the more nervous I became. Both of them wore elaborate gilded masks that shone in the light of the lanterns set out on the street. In my experience, those who wore masks were usually up to no good. I saw the shorter of the two knock on Breezehome's door again. Whoever they were, no one in the house was letting them in. That was also not a good sign. I approached them at a sprint by then, my hand twitching toward the hilt of my blade. It could have been nothing, but then again it could have been something really bad. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

"Hey!" I called, finally reaching the two strangers. "Do you need something?" My plan, whether they were friendly or not, was to try to draw them away from the house. I had to keep my family safe no matter what.

The shorter one turned to me and a woman's voice rasped through the mask. "You there! You're the one they call Dragonborn?"

Great. More people looking for me. That explained why they were at my house. "Well, yes, I am Dragonborn. But…"

"Your lies fall on deaf ears, Deceiver!" She hissed. "The True Dragonborn comes… you are but his shadow."

Both of them lifted their hands, which suddenly burst into flames. My eyes widened and I hastily drew my sword. Damn it, why did those things always happen to me?

"When Lord Miraak appears all shall bear witness. None shall oppose him!" She cried.

They threw their fistfuls of fire at me and I scrambled out of the way. I heard shouting down the street as others started to notice the commotion. I dodged another burst of flame and spun in to cut the woman down. She crumpled and her companion leapt over her, his burning hands heading straight for my face. I ducked, but I didn't really need to. He collapsed, dead at my feet, an arrow sticking out of his back. It had come from Captain Caius. The leader of the Whiterun guard ran toward me, not taking his eyes off the two bodies lying on the street.

"What just happened?" He asked.

I lowered my blade and shook my head. "I... don't know. They said something about me being a "false Dragonborn" before they attacked."

Caius snorted. "Everyone around here would say otherwise. The rest of Skyrim, too, I suspect. Don't worry, though. We'll handle this."

I nodded. While the Captain turned away to address the guards that had hurried over in the time since, I knelt down by the bodies.

Both of them wore identical masks and brown robes decorated with gilded plates made to look like patches of scales. Tucked into one of their belts, however, was a folded piece of parchment. Glancing up to make sure no one was watching, I hastily snatched it and stuffed it into my pocket.

I heard a door open behind me and a frantic voice cry, "Mara!"

Turning, I saw Ma standing in the open doorway of Breezehome. Lydia was visible behind her, looking stony-faced. I got to my feet and hurried over to them.

"Are you both all right? Where's Lucia?" I asked.

"In her room," Lydia cut in. "We made her stay in there after it was clear those two wouldn't leave. Who were they?"

I glanced back over my shoulder at the guards, who had started their examination of the bodies. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

Stepping into my house, I hastily shut the door behind me. Once the guards were out of sight, I fished the note out of my pocket and smoothed it out to examine its contents. Behind me, I heard Ma and Lydia's feet shuffling anxiously on the wooden floor.

"What is that?" Ma asked.

I didn't answer.

Board the vessel Northern Maiden docked at Raven Rock. Take it to Windhelm, then begin your search. Kill the false Dragonborn known as Mara before she reaches Solstheim.

Return with word of your success, and Miraak will be most pleased.

The paper crumpled in my tense hands. Whoever that "Miraak" they spoke of was, he was going to pay for putting my family in danger. The note implied that he was on Solstheim... I remembered hearing about the island when I still lived in Morrowind. It was off the northwest coast of Vvardenfell, if I recalled correctly. The assassins had gotten from there to Skyrim by ship through Windhelm. They knew who I was, but I was still in the dark about them.

Well, I clearly needed to pay a certain ship's captain a visit.

Stuffing the note back in my pocket, I pushed the front door open again. "I don't know when I'll be back. Soon, hopefully."

Ma gasped, "But the guards..."

"Can't handle this." I looked back over my shoulder at her, feeling grim. "I've got to deal with this problem myself."

I called to Odahviing, who dropped me off outside of Windhelm. It was much faster to get around the province by flying, cutting days off of the time needed to get there. Hopefully I'd still be able to catch the Northern Maiden, or at least find out where it went after the assassins arrived.

It was fairly late when I entered the city. Instead of heading to Candlehearth Hall as most travelers did, I turned east toward the Gray Quarter. It was in better condition than it had been before Ulfric's death and the end of the war. Brunwulf Free-Winter was a far better, more understanding man than that s'wit had ever been.

The instant I stepped into the New Gnisis Cornerclub, I heard several voices call out my name. Ambarys even gave me a smile from behind the bar before he went back to cleaning glasses.

Suvaris Atheron waved me over to the small, rickety table in the corner of the main room. "Mara! It's good to see you."

"Good to see you, too, Suvaris."

I sat down across from her and she looked me over with dark red eyes. "It's been some time. What brings you back to our frozen corner of Skyrim?"

I gave her a weary laugh. "Honestly? I'm looking for a ship. The Northern Maiden. It was supposed to have come in from Solstheim."

"Oh! Yes. It caused quite a stir on the docks. The captain's refusing to go back to the island, you see. The ship's still here."

I leaned forward a little. "Really?"

She nodded. Interesting.

Before I could say anything else, I caught the sound of raised voices coming from outside the cornerclub. Ambarys grumbled something. Suvaris cringed. My eyes narrowed in anger as I guessed what the commotion was about.

"Don't tell me that's Stone-Fist again," I growled. "Damn it, I thought we'd dealt with this ages ago."

"He's never around when the guards come through," Suvaris whispered.

I got to my feet, jaw set. "It seems that I need to have a word with Jarl Brunwulf. Until then, however..."

Throwing the front door open, I stormed out onto the darkened street. My eyes narrowed when I caught sight of the Nord, familiar by his leather cap. He turned at the sound of the opening door and his eyes widened when he caught sight of me. Before he could run, I'd grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pinned him against the street wall.

He struggled against my grip, shouting, "Let me go!"

"Not a chance," I snarled. "You're not welcome here."

"I can go wherever I damn well please! I'll call the guards!" He spat.

"Will you, Stone-Fist? Because I seem to remember those same Imperial guards telling you not to harass the Dunmer living here anymore on pain of being arrested."

He spluttered. "How dare–"

"But I don't need the guards. See, Rolff," I said, leaning in close, "I know where you live. I have ways of finding out what you really are. So unless you'd like to find out as well, I'd suggest staying away from here. Understood?"

"I... Yes."

"Then get out."

I let him go and he hastily staggered away and out of the Quarter. The street fell silent once again. A few moments later I heard the cornerclub's door creak open.

"Thank you, sera," Suvaris told me in a soft voice.

I continued to stare after where the Nord had vanished, frowning. "I just wish there was more I could do."

I went down to the Windhelm docks early the next morning to look for the Northern Maiden. It didn't take long. The ship was one of only a few docked, and it got sideways glances from many of the workers there. The crew themselves seemed harried. The big blond man I assumed was the captain rubbed his face and let out a long sigh.

As I stepped across the plank and onto the deck of the Northern Maiden, the captain lowered his hand and snapped, "If you're looking for passage to Solstheim, too bad. I'm not going back there anymore."

I crossed my arms and gave him a hard stare. "Why?"

"It's hard to explain. I remember those people with the masks coming on board, then..." He sighed again. "The next thing I remember, I was here and they were gone. That's not right, losing whole days like that. There's been something strange going on there for a while, but after this... I'm done. I'm not going back to Solstheim."

I laughed coldly. "Oh, yes you are. And you're taking me."

"Have you been listening to me? I'm not going back there."

I gave him a hard glare. "Those "people with the masks" you mentioned tried to kill me. You owe me for that."

He seemed to cringe a little and finally relented, "All right, you have a point. Taking you back to find out who sent them is the least I can do. Besides, maybe you can put a stop to whatever's going on over there. I owe them a bit of payback myself."