The snow swirled and billowed around them, pressing in close and whipping itself into a frenzy as the shifting air currents twisted it this way and that. It buffeted the tiny group trudging their way through the rising banks, forcing their heads down and turning each of their worlds into nothing more than an endless sea of white particles, bone numbing cold and the shadowed forms of their comrades.
"Gods, why is it so cold?"
Dragging her feet through the indentations left by her other companions, Sofia spared a glance upwards at the heavy furs and travelling pack on Lydia's back and sighed loudly to make herself heard over the roaring wind. "I don't know Lydia... Maybe it's because we're in the middle of a blizzard… In the Pale; the frozen butthole of Tamriel?"
Whether the housecarl had chosen to ignore Sofia's bitter sarcasm in her customary fashion or whether the words had been snatched away by the wind was uncertain but Lydia gave no reply. She instead continued every onwards in Kaius' footsteps. Literally in this case as the building snow was almost shin deep in places and Kaius' footprints offered a slightly easier passage.
Kaius' armoured form stalked only a few short metres ahead and the trio continued on. His vampirism seemed to allow him to ignore the increasing difficulty of the building snow, simply striding through it as though it didn't exist. While neither of them would admit it, he was allowing Lydia and Sofia in turn to follow in the minor trench he left in his path.
Visibility had been steadily decreasing with every minute that passed since they found themselves caught in the storm. What had appeared to have been a typical summer day in Skyrim had soon proven that the province truly was as dangerous as its reputation. The clouds had built over the Sea of Ghosts as the afternoon drew nearer, and soon they found themselves stuck in the middle of a late summer blizzard and a dozen kilometres or more away from the nearest village of Hob's Fall. Even the nearest moss and lichen covered hill that could offer the slightest hint of shelter was thousands of meters to their south and the way that they were being blinded by the snow left no doubt that if they turned away from the road that they would very likely find themselves in frozen graves.
In front Kaius a shadow appeared from the rolling banks, moving towards them with a strange gracefulness that was totally unmatched in the way that the three of them were struggling to drag their feet free with every step. While heavily dressed in furs like them, there was still the underlying hint of femininity in the movements that brought Serana closer to them.
"There's a building nearby."
Despite the fact that Serana was shorter than him, Kaius had to tilt his head upwards to look Serana in the eye. Unlike him and the others she stood almost entirely upon the surface of the snow, which was a fact that was making Sofia more and more jealous as her boots filled up with slush. The ancient vampiress had an incredible affinity with the cold, and while Sofia and Lydia were both born and raised in the heart of Skyrim, they couldn't contend with the ancient Volkihar vampire.
"How close?"
The thick woollen scarf and its outer wrapping of leather and hide was pulled down and there was the hint of porcelain-white flesh and blood red lips as she gestured into the white expanse before them. "About three hundred metres. Looks to be a tower of some kind."
Kaius' nod was barely visible in the sheer amount of furs he was clad in. Vampire or not, he seemed to absolutely detest the cold with a passion that was only matched by his hatred for the Thalmor and the Aldmeri Dominion. "Inhabited?"
"There's smoke rising from the chimney. I think…"
'Good enough for me. We won't last much longer out here."
Serana turned and began leading the way, the lengthy travel case for her bow swinging in the breeze on her back and bouncing off her travelling pack. In the weeks since they had left the Dawnguard she had proven considerably adept at using a bow that was not entirely her vampiric nature. She soon proved herself to be Kaius' equal in skill and ability, a fact that made him mumble something about 'not using a bow properly for decades' before allowing her to hunt for food during their journey. She had thrown herself into the role with an almost worrying zeal once Kaius had taught her how to use her vampirism to hunt and there had been more than one occasion where they had feasted on deer or wild cattle for dinner.
The other three continued to force their way in Serana's direction as she led them to the building she had spotted, each watching enviously as her boots barely sunk past the soles in the fresh snow with each step. It took them some time to retrace her path but soon the darkened mass of stone and mortar was visible through the whiteness.
It was enormous, over a dozen stories in height but seeming thin in width. It had been built a long time ago judging by how weather beaten the stones were that it was made from. Many years had passed since its construction and it had stood resolute through the worst storms that the sea of ghosts could throw at it.
"What is this place?" Serana said, loud enough for them to hear her over the howling wind as it noticeably increased in intensity.
"A lighthouse." Muffled from the thick scarf and mask, Kaius' voice was barely audible from the way that he had attempted to cover every centimetre of flesh from the howling wind and the rapidly dropping temperatures.
Similarly muted, the metallic rapping of the heavy ring mounted to the lighthouse's door struggled to be heard to the small group but they all pressed in close in an attempt to get themselves out of the wind. For what felt like an age there was no reply, and Kaius obviously seemed to be struggling to decide whether he should try knocking again or force entry as the tiny shutter was pulled open and a similarly rugged up face peered out at them all.
For a moment there was the obvious sight of fear in the woman's eyes as she beheld the four of them huddling near the door and the obvious bulges and shapes under their furs and cloaks that revealed that they were armed. She too was rugged up to protect herself from the cold that immediately assaulted the building's interior the second she opened the hatch, but the eyes were bright and calculating.
"Stormcloaks or Imperials?" She asked simply and the eyes turned to Kaius as he shifted forward slightly and dragged his mask down over his goateed face.
"Neither. We're travellers on the road to Winterhold. We seek shelter from the storm."
Despite the biting wind and cold, the others followed Kaius' example and revealed their faces to the woman behind the door and she nodded once before shutting the hatch. For a moment it was quiet and it was more than just Kaius who began considering kicking the door down before the sound of bolts being dragged back made themselves heard over the wind.
It didn't take them long at all to shuffle through the doorway into the lighthouse's interior when it was opened and even less for the door to be slammed shut against the biting wind. There was also not much space just inside the outer door as the space was little more than an entry hall with another thick oaken door separating the Lighthouse's interior from the frozen landscape surrounding it.
"Oh gods I am glad to be inside!" Sofia's exclamation was suddenly loud within the enclosed space as she practically tore her hood off and shook a considerable amount of snow off her cloak and travelling pack.
Kaius too pulled his hood away but had turned to their host who was standing near the interior door pulling her own scarf away. "Thank you. We're sorry to intrude like this but the storm caught us off guard."
"It's not in me to leave folks caught in the snow unless they mean to rob us." There was hardness in the woman that was as noticeable as her dark yokundan flesh. "And I guess that if you were meaning to rob us you wouldn't have bothered to knock first. I'm Ramati."
"Kaius." He turned and gestured to the three women taking off their packs and unclasping their heavy fur lined cloaks and outer layers. "My companions are Lydia, Serana and Sofia."
They each nodded or bowed slightly to the whip-thin Redguard woman who had permitted them entry. A hint of a welcoming smile was on her face but it changed to concern when she saw the way that all of them bar Serana were shivering and beginning to turn blue.
"By the breath of Tava. You all better get out of those clothes unless you want to catch your death." She moved closer to the interior door as the group looked about themselves and felt the way that the snow and traces of sleet had begun soaking through their furs.
As the interior door was flung open the tiny entrance was suddenly filled with light and a rolling wave of heat from a hearth large enough to roast an entire deer and Ramati stepped through whistling loudly.
"Yes ma?"
"Where's your father?"
The tall framed teenager shrugged his shoulders and gestured vaguely to the roof above their heads. "Upstairs seeing to the fire."
"Get your sister and grab all the spare towels and the cloaks from our room and bring them here. We have guests."
With a nod and a curious glance in the direction of the entrance he turned and bellowed a loud "Sudi!" at the top of his lungs that invoked an annoyed sigh from his mother as she turned back to the group.
"You're welcome to stay the night. These storms are usually short lived but they are dangerous. I expect it to be cleared in the morning."
"You have our thanks." Kaius said as he began pulling at the straps to his plated chest piece and pauldrons. Ramati's eyes were drawn to each and every one of them as they began shedding their layers. There was doubt just how heavily armed and armoured they were but it was equally obvious that they were no Stormcloaks or Imperial soldiers. "We certainly don't intend on intruding on you and your family for any longer than we need to."
Kicking her boots off next to the pile of discarded clothing and armour, Sofia groaned and tried rubbing the circulation back into her toes after her boots had filled with half melted snow. Unlike the others, her equipment had ended up wherever it had been dropped, which was in stark contrast to the perfectly neat arrangement that Serana was making on a clothes rank, the precise and efficient layout of Kaius' and the orderly way that Lydia had placed hers. The snow and slush had soaked most of them right down to their under layers and they all took the opportunity to remove their armour and chainmail that gleamed with moisture.
The teenager returned quickly, his arms filled with a collection of rough spun towels and with a younger girl half his size at his heels carrying some spare clothing. At the sight of Kaius and the three women he came to a skidding halt, especially as Sofia dragged her chainmail off with a series of expletives that left her wearing little more than a strip of cloth across the chest.
"Um… F-father's coming down." he stammered, his eyes almost falling out of his head as he found himself faced with three women in various stages of undress. Between Sofia and Lydia especially there was little in the way of modesty from either of them, but Serana was obviously hanging back with her damp cloak wrapped tightly around herself at the teenager and his sister's presence.
Ramati caught her son's expression and saw where his eyes were wandering as Lydia took one of the towels. The housecarl had a physique that could only be described as Amazonian that was also compounded by the way her head was half shaved. Several of her braids were hanging down where they had been cut short at the jawline, but it was obvious that her son was looking everywhere but the Nordic woman's eyes.
"Mani!"
The Redguard heritage they all shared was obvious as the sixteen-year-old darkened further with embarrassment and managed to pick his jaw off the floor. Like all mothers, Ramati had a very particular glare reserved for naughty children and rebellious teens and she directed it in full fury at her son.
Quickly stammering an apology with his eyes firmly fixed on the floor, the boy turned and vanished through the doorway with his sister following close behind. Between the giggle and the highly amused "you looked at boobies" from the younger girl, Sofia's face was broken into an enormous grin and Kaius too seemed to be holding back a smile of his own. Only Serana looked increasingly uncomfortable, as Lydia remained as cold and aloof as she normally did.
Between the collection of towels and the spare cloaks and tunics provided by the family, they were soon able to shed their soaked or otherwise damp clothing. More out of annoyance at her son's reaction to finding three attractive women in their home, Ramati had closed the door to allow them to change in peace while she went about setting up the drying racks near the hearth to allow their clothes to dry. By the time that the group of them emerged from the tiny entryway a handful of firewood had been added to the fire that went a long way towards thawing the cold from their extremities.
The Redguard family were hospitable enough with the sudden appearance of four heavily armed and armoured travellers arriving at the door in the middle of a storm but the initial tension was dispelled when Kaius supplied their latest catch of snow hares to be added to the evening meal. The family's larder was well stocked and prepared for the coming winter months and none of the group liked the idea of eating into the winter stocks.
Sofia's stash of mead and other assorted alcohol was also provided along with a considerable amount of grumbling from her. Months before they had left Whiterun to travel to Ustengrav she had utilised Farengar's services to enchant her travelling pack with various magicka that lessened its weight and the items within it. While Kaius ensured that she carried more than just alcohol there was a considerable collection locked away into her pack that most normal people would have struggled to drink over two or three weeks. For Sofia it was just enough to ensure that she made it between towns.
The wind continued howling for the hours after their arrival but those within could barely hear it through the thick stone walls. It allowed them all to talk and converse normally without struggling to be heard or to hear each other and before long they were all deep in conversation. Although Ramati's husband Habd was their lighthouse keeper, it was the family of four's responsibility to ensure that during the nights and storms such as this that the fire burned brightly. The cliffs that the Lighthouse was built atop may have only been a dozens of metres high, it was still dangerous that ships and their sailors would have met their watery deaths in the frigid Sea of Ghosts without its guiding light.
"You don't seem to be the typical travellers heading to Winterhold or the college. None of you have the look of mages about you."
Kaius nodded to Habd, Ramati's husband and father of their two children. He was much older in appearance than Kaius with his salt and pepper beard and the hint of grey hairs scattered through his scalp but only Kaius' companions knew just how much looks could be deceiving.
"I dabble a little. A bit of restoration goes a long way, as does being able to light a fire without needing a tinderbox or flints."
The expression on Habd's face was light, as was his wife's as they looked between the group sharing their table. Their son was trying his hardest to look without appearing to look at the women accompanying Kaius, a fact that Sofia was enjoying a little too much as she twisted in her seat and sat in a specific way to draw the male eye. She was however making her own attempts not to catch Kaius' gaze as she knew that he knew exactly what she was doing.
"I can fully understand that. No man would want to go without fire in the north. I might have had a few dealings with the College myself when they enchanted the light upstairs but I still have a professional dislike for mages."
"Professional dislike?" Leaning forward, Kaius slid a bottle of Black-Briar mead to the Redguard who nodded his thanks to the mercenary.
"Aye. It was a mage after all that holed my ship during the war. I don't think a man exists who appreciates swimming to shore as their home goes under the waves."
"You were a sailor?" Serana's voice was quiet in the room but her eyes were bright and gleaming with interest.
Ramanti nodded. "Until a few years ago we all were. Habd served in the navy during the war before joining the crew of a trader out of Gilane. We met on board the sprint trader Deliverance and sailed together for…"
Her glance to Habd made him stop in mid motion of swallowing his mouthful of mead and he wiped his mouth. "Sixteen years. Lived on board the ship for the majority of it. neither of us were getting any younger so we decided to plant roots."
"What in the Gods names' made you decide on Skyrim of all places?"
There was a pair of laughs from the Redguard couple at Sofia's exclamation. "The Deliverance sailed between Windhelm and Gilane trading spices and ebony." The expression on Habd's face was one of contentment as he continued sampling Sofia's mead. "We got used to seeing this lighthouse on the journey and decided that if we were to have a home anywhere, then we may as well have it near the sea. The benefit here as well is that the only damned elves we see are the odd one or two heading to and from the college."
"I can drink to that." Kaius' mutter was only just audible as he did just that, taking his own mouthful of alcohol. "I'm not one for the cold though."
"Speaking of cold." A chair creaked as the retired sailor leaned back and glanced in the direction of the living room and the hearth. "Those rabbits of yours should be getting close to defrosted. I hope you don't mind giving me a hand cleaning them."
"That'll be my pleasure." Leaning over and ignoring Sofia's yelped complaint, Kaius plucked another bottle from her pack sitting next to her chair with one of his usual amused smiles before following the aging Redguard in the direction of the kitchen.
"So, you were a legionary?"
Moving over to one of the benches, Kaius had placed the rabbits on the kitchen's chopping board in preparation for skinning and gutting them. "I was. A long time ago."
"Looks like it." Habd motioned to Kaius' ancient legion brand covered by the old and faded burn scars. "You have seen a lot as well."
"More than others." The knife was dragged from his belt and Kaius begun the process of skinning the creatures. "Although the last time I served the Empire was the battle of the Red Ring."
Stopping in place, the aging Redguard fixed Kaius with a stare that was almost entirely suspicion as he took in the younger looking man sharing the kitchen. "The Red Ring… You're a little too young to have fought in the great war."
Inwardly, Kaius cursed himself for the slip. His vampirism left him effectively ageless but he had noticed that over the two centuries he had lived his perception of time was steadily changing. The three decades since the end of the great war felt like a few years to him.
As the moment's silence dragged on, Habd's expression softened as he took Kaius' reaction in with growing realisation. "You were one of Mede's child legionaries."
Kaius didn't dissuade him of the fact, twisting the first of the rabbits around and pulling back the fur as he sliced the skin away. The old sailor nodded to himself, deciding that his judgement was sound and providing Kaius with a fatherly expression.
"Most Redguards hate the Empire for abandoning Hammerfell in the war, but I don't think that there are many that don't understand the reasons why. You're proof of the efforts that Mede and the Empire were taking to fight the Dominion. Recruiting kids and training them to kill? You don't do that unless the need is very dire indeed."
"What was your role in the war?"
"Me?" Habd scooped up a cooking pot and began filling it with water. A clever pipe arrangement allowed water to pour through from the watertank built into the walls above the hearth. It allowed the family to have access to water without much need for melting snow during the winter. "Ship's carpenter. Served on a Man-o-War for until she was sunk at least. By the time me and the others who made it to shore reached a city we found that peace had been signed. Walked away from the navy but couldn't walk away from the sea."
The first rabbit was skinned and with a few gestured Habd pointed out the portable rack that he had for hanging skins and carcasses. "So you joined a trading ship and met your wife on board?"
"Aye. That I did. She was the ships tailor and sail-maker. Somehow I caught her eye and before we really knew it Mani was born. For a year or so after he was born she remained in port but they joined me soon after. A few years later we had Sudi and it went well for us. Never did quite make it to captain but I retired as first mate."
"I've been a mercenary all my life." Kaius replied, cutting into the second hare. "For the most part. One day I might find some measure of peace."
There was no mistaking the inflection of sorrow and bitterness in his tone and Habd again looked almost fatherly to the man he thought to be his junior. "We all deserve some peace in our lives. Judging by the amount of scars you have you deserve peace more than most."
"It's not the first time someone has told me that."
"Then maybe you should listen more."
Both men grinned at the sarcasm and the rabbits were quickly deboned, their flesh sliced up into pieces and added to the stew that would serve as their evening meal. The old sailor spared little in the way of vegetables, spices and other materials for the meal, but it would take a few hours for the rabbit meat to cook thoroughly.
Hanging the pot over the hearth to heat and boil, the two men returned to the dining room where Habd's daughter was practically bounding around the room in excitement. At Kaius' appearance she practically exploded in his direction, skidding to a halt in front of him and bouncing on her toes.
"You're Kaius Desin! You're the Dragonborn."
His own look of surprise mirrored Habd's as they looked between the twelve-year-old girl and the other women sitting around the table. In particular, Kaius' eyes turned to Sofia, who put her hands in the air and laughed.
"Hey, don't look at me. She guessed it herself."
Seeing his reaction, Sudi giggled and bounced even more, turning to look at her brother sitting sullenly in his chair. "HA! Told you Mani!"
"Yeah, yeah. You were right. You can't be right all the time."
"You've heard of the Dragonborn?" Kaius asked the young girl.
"Of course! Who hasn't! I know of all of your stories, how you slew the Wyrm of Whiterun after it slaughtered a hundred soldiers!"
"It was more like twelve…"
"And the way you battled the dragon upon the hills of Kynesgrove for three days and three nights."
"Maybe not for quite that long..."
"Mani says that the stories aren't true, that they are just make believe. He says that you can't really talk like a dragon."
Seeing the exasperated expressions on both of her parents, he grinned and knelt down to her height. "Your father says that you all used to live on board of ships and were sailors, is that correct?"
The nod from the tiny girl and smile was even larger than she was.
"Well then." Carefully, he closed his eyes, lips moving of their own accord as he took control of his breathing and concentrated.
"Aal fin ven alun aak hi hofkiin." He said softly, the words making themselves felt through the soles of everyone's feet and deep in their belly's and left more than one bottle chiming softly on the table.
Sudi's reaction was one of pure glee, squealing in delight in a reaction that wasn't shared by her family. With one hand covering her mouth in shock, Ramati seemed to struggle with the decision to sit in her chair or to try to move her daughter away from the scarred traveller, and her son was sitting in the chair with his flesh going a waxy colour in his own surprise. Habd too was shocked and jaw fell open as he regarded the man who he had just been preparing dinner with.
"Did you hear that Mani? He can talk dragon!"
Her brother was too shocked to reply as Sudi continued to bounce around the room, her excitement and smile contagious as Kaius' companions were left ginning as well.
"You truly are Dragonborn?" Habd breathed as he moved over and resting a hand on his wife's shoulder to reassure her.
"I am." The expression of the aging Redguard couple's faces was obvious and he smiled warmly. "I don't like announcing it wherever I go. It tends to get me mobbed by the locals."
The echo of a laugh made itself around the room, but Habd and Ramati still looked uneasy. "Is it also true that you were made-"
"A Thane of Whiterun hold?" Kaius finished for them gesturing to the three women accompanying him. "Yes. Lydia is my Housecarl and Sofia and Serana are my travelling companions. But please, I'm just Kaius. The title is more honorary than anything."
Sofia's chuckle of amusement at the way Lydia's expression darkened was not lost on Kaius and he inwardly sighed. His relationship with his housecarl was still very much on shaky ground ever since Dimhollow and he didn't have any ideas on how to repair it.
