Chapter 3

So Close

Rona sat at the edge of the mountain, holding the Razor out and spinning it in her palm while she pressed the tip with her other hand. A steady trickle of blood ran down her finger where the blade pierced through her flesh, but she was already covered in blood. Blood that came from a dozen Dremora and one innocent man.

She'd done so many terrible things up to that point. At least she thought they were terrible. Joining the Thieves Guild had been an all time low for her. She hated stealing from others and it wasn't always thievery from the wealthy either. A lot of times she was tasked with stealing from people who were already struggling to make ends meet.

She often failed on her contracts back then, because she couldn't bring herself to do that to an innocent person, to someone who definitely didn't deserve it. But even when Delvin put her on Numbers jobs, on forging official paperwork, she still had trouble coming to terms with it. She knew it was illegal and she knew it was wrong. So she started to bury herself, to build a new identity. She was no longer Rona the honest mercenary, she was Jillian, liar and thief extraordinaire. She pushed her moral code deep down inside herself and ignored it and it was fine. She got along well enough pretending to be someone she was not.

But all of that never compared to this. Murdering someone, no matter how much she'd tried to justify it, went so against her entire being. This was not who she was, it was not who she wanted to be and yet here she was, a woman changed completely. A thief and a murderer.

She knew then that she would have to bury those feelings too if she ever wanted to end her journey. She'd been warned long ago that her path was clouded in pain and darkness, she'd even been told just that day by Jarl Ravencrone what would happen if she took the hilt of that cursed dagger and despite all of that, she gave in to temptation and took the newly repaired Razor anyway.

She stood up suddenly, tired of stewing in her own mind and sheathed the dagger to the hilt on her hip. She looked up at the crescent moon hanging in the clear sky and shouted, "OD AH VIING!"

Rona glanced over at Silus' body for a moment before quickly averting her eyes, choosing instead to lean against the stone table and stare at the ground while she waited.

After about five minutes she heard the tell tale roar of a dragon. She looked out and saw his figure illuminated by the low moonlight as he searched for her. She called again, "OD AH VIING!"

He locked eyes on her location and swept in, before lumbering down at the edge of the mountain. He greeted her, "Dremyollok, dovahkiin."

She replied in kind, "[Peace fire sky, my friend.]"

Odahviing looked over at the pile of dead Dremora and a throaty growl rumbled from him, "[I see you have been busy, young one.]"

"[Unfortunately]," she said sadly.

He looked at her curiously cocking his head but did not question her mood any further. Instead he asked, "[What can I do for you this evening Dragonborn?]"

"[I was hoping you could fly me to the Rift]," she said smiling up at him, "[I'm a bit overdue there already]."

He laughed a little, the way dragons do, making a deep noise that sounded more like a broken growl, "[I suppose I could accommodate your request]."

She grinned at him and said, "[I've got your favorite!]" She sifted through her pack and found the apple dumpling she'd stashed away for just this moment. She unwrapped the baked dessert and heated it a bit with her flames spell and held it out for him.

He seemed very pleased and opened his maw. She took a very brave step forward, as though it weren't a terrifying thing approaching a dragon with its jaw wide open and she placed the treat right on his tongue. She pulled her hand back and said, "[Go ahead]," he immediately closed his jaws and began to savor the delicious pastry, giving a low groan of pleasure.

Finally, he swallowed his food and said, "[You always know how to entice me young one... it is no wonder mortal males cannot resist the temptations of the females, for they make such delicious food.]"

Rona laughed and said, "[Anyone can make these, Odahviing. I didn't even make it, I bought it from a merchant.]"

"[Hmm]," he rumbled, "[I only wish I could learn to do the same]," he lowered his head then saying, "[Come along then. I shall take you to your desired destination young one.]"

"[Thank you Odahviing]," she quickly grasped his horn and climbed up onto his head. She held tight to his horns as he clambered off the cliff and took flight, soaring across Skyrim.

Rona leaned against his horn, feeling exhausted from her long day. She couldn't even enjoy the feeling of the wind whipping through her hair in that moment because her mind was bogged down with everything that had happened.

Odahviing seemed to sense it and said, "[So quiet this evening Dragonborn. What troubles you?]"

"[So many things, Odahviing, you already know this]," she was short with him. A bit too short.

"[Mortals seem to enjoy speaking with one another about their troubles, so I considered offering the same. If you wish to remain silent however, I will cease our discussion.]"

"[No]," she sighed, "[It's fine. I'm sorry, that was rude of me. It's just I... I killed someone today...]"

"[You are dragon kin. It is only natural that you would kill.]"

"[I may have the soul of a dragon, but I'm still human... I still feel guilt and sadness over it.]"

"[Yes... mortals feel many things that the dragons do not.]"

"[You never feel guilty about killing others?]" She asked.

"[Why would I feel such a thing for what is only natural to me?"]

"[What about sadness? Have you ever felt sad about anything?"]

He paused for a moment before he replied, "[When AleileAuryne died... I felt a great pain of loss. I believe I felt... what you call sadness.]"

She remembered him mention her a long time ago, when they first met. Aleile had been a half-Breton, half-Nordic woman who was once Dragonborn too. But she had befriended Odahviing much the same way Eira befriended Paarthurnax. She'd even taught him how to sing, something which was nearly impossible for a dragon. She wondered then...

"Did you love her?" Rona asked him in Cyrodiilic, because there was no word for love in the language of the dov, in Dovah-Zul.

Odahviing let out a breathy laugh and said, "No, dovahkiin. I am not like my brother Paarthurnax. I cannotcomprehend that haalvut... that feeling."

"Then what did you feel for her?"

"Hmm," he paused again, thinking deeply before he finally said, "Fahdon."

"Friendship? Companionship?"

"Geh," he nodded his head slightly, "Aleile was my fahdon, my friend. I enjoyed her company. It is not often that us dov can be in each other's company for long. Our desire to rel... to dominate is too strong. There were many times in which I was in the company of another dov and they would be overcome with their desire to dominate and claim my territory for themselves and they would attack me."

"You don't feel that way with me though?"

"Nid. It is different with the dovahkiin. As a joor you have no desire to take my territory for yourself and I sense no bah... no wrath from you young one. You do not wish to harm me and I am grateful for this. I enjoy your company well enough that I allow you to treat me like a steed."

Rona laughed and grasped onto his horn, leaned over his headand looked into his eye, "Sorry about that. Krosis," she added.

His jowls curled into a grin, "You are forgiven dovahkiin... so long as you continue to bring me your divine mortal foods I will gladly carry your tiny, wingless body across Skyrim."

She laughed again, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. She settled back onto his head and said, "I enjoy your company too Odahviing. I want you to know that. You've been a good friend to me. Aankulfahdon."

He did not reply to this, but he gave a low growl that reminded her of the pleased purr of a cat. It wasn't long before he spoke up again however saying, "We are near the Rift dovahkiin. I will land a short way outside the city so as not to... disturb the joor."

"That's fine," she said. She gripped his horns tighter as he dove downward and landed in the middle of a clearing among the Rift's forests about a half mile from Riften. Rona hopped off of his head and put a hand to his nose, "Thank you Odahviing."

"If you should need of me again young one you may call on me. I will linger nearby as always."

"I appreciate that," she said with a kind smile then she bid him farewell, "Erei mu grind."

"Pruzahwundunne," he replied and flapped his wings, lifting himself off the ground again before soaring away in the night.

She turned towards the path and started making the trek back to Riften. She was tired and ready to pass out, but knew she would have to speak to Delvin first and was not looking forward to the lecture she already knew he'd be giving her. She entered the city and immediately turned to the left, taking the back alley towards the hidden entrance. The moment she arrived at the mausoleum entrance she was hit with the colorful swirling light of a dragon's soul.

It startled her at first and then she scoffed and breathed a sigh of relief, glad that it hadn't hit her in the midst of a crowd, as it did a few times before. It wasn't the first or the last time she would take the soul of an unknown, nearby dragon. It had been happening a lot lately on her travels. She had a feeling, now that people believed that the Dragonborn was dead, they'd started learning how to kill the creatures themselves.

She was glad for it. Not only did it mean one less dragon she'd have to face off against, but it meant that people were learning to take care of themselves and not rely on some mysterious hero to come rescue them.

Rona allowed the light to fade and then felt around for a trick switch on the underside of the edge of the coffin lid and then pressed a hand to the diamond symbol in the center of the sarcophagus in front of her. Both switches had to be pressed at the same time or it would not open. In seconds, the whole thing quietly drew back, revealing a set of stairs below. She quickly descended them and yanked on the wall chain, resetting the hidden entrance for the next person. Then she dipped her index finger into a small bottle of ointment and practically basted her nostrils with the creamy gel.

The overpowering scent of mint permeated her sense of smell, but it was absolutely necessary for anyone hiding out in the Ratway because that place was a literal sewer and one of the most disgusting places she'd ever had the displeasure of living in.

She quickly descended the ladder into the vertical tunnel and came out the other side into the main headquarters and hideout of the Thieves Guild. It was an enormous antechamber underneath the Riften marketplace and they aptly called it the Cistern. She glanced around. It was pretty quiet that time of night, most of the thieves had already left for the evening to take care of some jobs, although a few others were passed out on some of the beds scattered around the room.

Rona did see Niruin, Sapphire and Etienne still up however. Niruin a Bosmer, was busy practicing his marksmanship in a corner of the room, like always. Sapphire never seemed to sleep at all from what Rona could tell. When the woman wasn't off stealing from and blackmailing her marks she would be hanging around the Cistern looking pissed off most of the time. She assumed it was to deter the men from bothering her, although it rarely worked as some still found the nerve to flirt with her before she'd throw them against a wall and press her knife to their throat and threaten to cut their balls off.

Etienne was a Breton she'd actually helped rescue from the Thalmor Embassy over half a year ago. She was worried he'd recognize her when she first arrived there, but his eyes had been nearly swollen shut when they last met and the man seemed to suffer from a poor memory after his horrible experience with the Thalmor.

Rona walked by Sapphire whose eyes widened at the sight of her and she said, "What in Oblivion happened to you woman?"

Rona looked down at herself. She was still covered in blood from her fight with the Dremora and muttered, "Shit… er… long story."

"Well, Delvin's been looking for you."

"Yeah I figured."

"He's pretty pissed off. Might want to hurry up and just get it over with short-stuff."

Rona nodded her head and hurried along through the Cistern, stopping by a wash basin with actual clean water in it. She quickly rinsed her face and hands off and then went through the tunnel leading to the Ragged Flagon. She came up to Delvin's usual table where he was seated, sipping on a tankard of ale, done with sorting through his contracts that evening.

She went around the table, pulled up a chair and sat down, quickly wiping the slimy coating from her hands onto her leathers. Delvin looked at her with half-lidded eyes and said, "Well, well. Look who finally decided to show her face round here."

"I know I'm late," she started but he held a hand up and stopped her.

"Late, doesn't even come close Jill. Those jobs were so damn easy. Shoulda been in an' out in less than two days, yet here you are six days later. So tell me. What was it this time? Some family get stuck in a burning house and you just couldn't resist rescuing 'em all and helping them rebuild?" Rona scowled at him and he gave an irritated laugh, "Oh wait, no, lemme guess, you found yourself stuck in the middle of a battlefield while the Imperials and the Stormcloaks came out of nowhere and started fightin' with each other."

"Hey!" She snapped, "That actually did happen once."

"Right. Sure," he scoffed, taking a sip from his tankard. Then he shook his head, "What am I going to with you, woman? You're damn lucky you're even still here, but you're walking on thin ice."

"Does Mercer know?" She asked furrowing her brows.

"No," he said firmly, "And he ain't going to find out. But if he does somehow, I'm done sticking my neck out for you," then he leaned in and said, "You know I took you in outta the goodness of my own heart," she looked at him with half-lidded eyes and he smirked slightly, "Well, whatever small amount that's in there. So be honest with me... was it dragons?"

"No Delvin, ugh," she scoffed, throwing her head back, "No, it wasn't dragons."

"Then what in Oblivion was keepin' yah?"

"I..." she drew the word out, hesitating and keeping her eyes off of him, "had to steal something..."

A wry smile started to perk at the corners of his mouth and he snorted a laugh, "You. Had to steal somethin'? Why do I find that so damn hard to believe? Oh right, because you're the most piss-poor thief I've ever known in my entire life!"

Rona was grateful then that the only people present were Dirge, Vekel and Vex and they were all smart enough to ignore the tongue lashing she was receiving at that moment.

"Alright then," he said, "So what did you steal?"

"Nothing," she said truthfully as she met his eyes that time. Delvin looked at her skeptically and she quickly added, blushing a little, "I didn't steal anything because I got caught."

"Oh. Well. At least that makes sense then," his tone was short and snippy,"You were late because you were wasting all your time, doing time." He paused a moment, taking a sip of his ale and then said, "Need to work on your straight-face by the way. Your tells are showing."

"I'm not lying," she argued.

"Oh and why not? Thought I taught you better than that," he chuckled through his tankard.

She slumped in her chair, crossed her arms and grumbled, "Because you'd have just heard all about it from Urfen since that idiot can't keep his mouth shut about anything."

"The 'ell were you doing in Morthal!?" He snapped at her, making her jump.

She groaned inwardly realizing her slip and mumbled, "Dragonborn business Delvin…

Their eyes met and she gave him a sincere look and then he sighed, exasperated and put a hand to his head. "Still scoping out those ruins then?"

"Yeah, but I need to keep practicing my lockpicking. I'm not as good with it as I'd like to be."

He smirked at her,"Perfect. I've got a coupla contracts that need just that."

Rona frowned at him and muttered, "But I just got back."

"Yeah, four days late. We've got piles of Numbers jobs and unfortunately you're the best we've got. So all our clients keep asking for you."

She scrunched her face at him. She'd wanted to stay there for a few days at least, take a break and practice her lockpicking with Vex, then she was going to stock up on supplies and make the trip back to Dawnstar and try her luck in the ruins of Mzinchaleft.

She groaned pleading with him under her breath, "Dragonborn business Delvin. This is important."

"So are these contracts," he said as he cheerily pulled out a stack of papers from a pile on the floor and started shuffling through them, "You can't keep using your damn little destiny as an excuse to get out of workin' for the Guild either. When I took you in you swore up and down you'd work. Well it's about time you did just that and no flouncing off to save people from dragons, or find their old boots they left in some cave, or whatever the 'ell else it is you always get distracted doing out there, with your singing and what-not."

"Send me to Morthal," she said quickly.

He narrowed his eyes at her, "What, so you can go plunging into that nasty Dwemer ruin over there? Yeah, I don't think so, Jill. Gonna get yourself lost in there for days. No, you're going to do these three contracts out in Windhelm and then you can come back and fuck around with Vex picking locks and shit to your heart's content. Then, after that, you can run off and take care of whatever you have to take care of. But for now, you owe me."

She exhaled sharply from her nose and pursed her lips, scowling at him. He handed her the contracts detailing the Numbers jobs she was meant to take care of in Windhelm and then he said, "Oh and if I were you, I'd get moving right now."

"But it's the middle of the night," she protested.

"Well these were due yesterday," he smirked at her, "So run along my little forger."

She grumbled, stuffing the paperwork into her pocket and glared at him. He only met her glare with a smarmy grin, showing off the gap in his teeth and then she stormed off, heading right back the way she came.

As soon as they heard the hidden door in the back close over, Vekel spoke up and said, "You're too hard on her."

Delvin sighed and said, "Well she'll never learn anything if I go easy on her."

"Girl's got a lot on her plate already being... well you know."

"Being what?" Dirge asked from across the way.

Delvin finished off his ale and replied, "Being too stubborn for her own damn good."

Dirge didn't seem to get it; he'd always been pretty thick in the head. He just grunted and continued his steady stare at the Flagon's entrance.

Delvin had recognized Rona the moment they met five months ago when she came to him asking for work and a place to stay. When he'd told her that he knew who she was, that she was the Dragonborn she immediately confided in him. The poor girl spilled her guts about everything. Her journey, her fate, the end of the world nonsense and all the utter insanity about the dragons and the World Eater. She'd told him every horrible detail and begged him to train her in thievery to teach her to lockpick and sneak around and help her with her illusion training.

He really had taken pity on the girl, distressed as she was and he hated the fact that he was starting to care about her, like a father would to his brat of a child, granted he felt that way about a lot of the thieves there. He wanted to see her do better and he worried for her constantly knowing who she was and what she had to do, especially when she'd come back doing gods knew what, covered in blood and ripped to shreds half the time.

He'd noticed earlier that she'd missed a few spots cleaning the blood from her face. Whatever had pulled her attention away from those contracts, it probably wasn't good. Of course he'd never show his concern, but she was family now and he'd swore to her that he'd always have her back. He could hardly believe the fate of the world had been dropped onto the shoulders of that tiny little elf.

Vex was the only other one who knew the whole story too, because she'd also recognized her. At Delvin's request Vex reluctantly took the girl under her wing, doing her best to train her in everything from lockpicking to sneaking and pickpocketing while Delvin trained her speechcraft. He showed her how to lie right through her teeth, which she did surprisingly well and mastered very quickly. Although it amused him that she seemed to struggle with lying to him, always letting her pathetic tells go in his presence, with the blushing and the averting of the eyes.

Vekel was the only other one who knew she was Dragonborn and only because he'd overheard her and Delvin talking about it so many times. He knew to keep his mouth shut though and kept it to himself.

Delvin pushed his chair back and stood up, yawning, ready to turn in for the night when the sound of a dog barking loudly from the Flagon entrance caught his attention.

Bishop was laying on his bedroll by a small campfire just staring at the slowly rotting corpse of the dragon he'd killed the day before. The waiting game was the worst of it. He usually gave it two or three days before he gave up because the smell and the vermin crawling around were too much to bear.

The farmer and his wife had been kind enough to feed him that morning and that evening while he waited around watching the thing, convincing them that it might actually spring back to life, which was a complete lie on his part. He'd never seen a dragon come back after he killed it. The only time that ever happened was when Alduin was around and thankfully in all his travels he hadn't come across the black beast of Oblivion.

They'd wanted to move the carcass off the Snow-Shod property though, cut it apart and start to bury it or something but he insisted they leave it for a day, lest it revive and attack them in the process of dissecting it.

With those things in mind the two of them left well enough alone and he got to hang around on their property just waiting. It was getting pretty late in the evening and he was slowly starting to nod off, but his desire to keep his eyes on the thing was keeping him up.

"Arrow?" An older woman's voice said above him. He looked up to see the farmer's wife, Leonara. She was holding a small plate with steaming vegetables and a piece of spice beef on it, "You're still awake? You've been staring at that thing all day and night. Are you really sure it will come back to life?"

"You can never be too careful," Bishop said as he pushed himself up and sat cross legged on his bedroll.

"Here dear, I brought you something. I thought you might be hungry," she knelt down and passed him the plate of food which he took gratefully and immediately started to dig into. Then she asked tentatively, "How much longer do you think we'll have to wait before we can move it off the property? The Snow-Shod family won't be happy to see it here and we're expecting Vulwulf Snow-Shod to pay a visit in the next day or so…"

"That's all I need is another day," he said adamantly, "Just to be sure. After that, tear it down and bury it if you want."

In that moment, however, they both heard a strange crackling sound and looked over to see the flesh of the dragon slowly starting to burn. Leonara shrieked in terror, throwing her hands up to her face crying, "Is it happening!? Is it coming back!?"

Bishop's heart was pounding in his chest and he ignored the woman completely. He threw his plate aside and started digging around his pack while keeping his eyes glued on the dragon carcass as its entire body burned up and its soul whisked off straight into the walls of the city.

"I fucking knew it," he muttered. He yanked out a tightly wound swatch of tanned pelt and quickly undid the band on it. In seconds he pulled out a bright red day dress from the cloth and he whistled sharply calling Karnwyr to him. He held the dress up for the wolf to smell and immediately Karnwyr looked back towards Riften and started barking. Bishop wrapped the dress back up, tying it tightly, buried it back into his pack and rushed off without a word to the very distressed elderly woman.

There was a guard standing by the gates eyeing him warily and Bishop just gave him a short nod, pulling one of the doors open and allowing Karnwyr to belt off into the city. The second he was out of sight of the guard and behind the door he kicked off the ground chasing after his companion. Karnwyr led him to the other side of the Hall of the Dead and into a stone mausoleum. He started wagging his tail, scratching at the stone sarcophagus in front of them and whining. Bishop's heart nearly tore in half – she's inside a coffin!? No… that couldn't be right. If she were in there, then why would her body take the soul of the dragon just now and not earlier?

He started looking around the room for a sign of her, for a clue, for anything. But Karnwyr just whined and whimpered at the coffin and sniffed at the strange diamond shape in the center. Bishop knelt down and ran a finger over the carving. He recognized it for what it was, a Thieves Guild Shadowmark. He'd never really made the effort to memorize them like he should have. He started thinking hard about the layout of the city and realized that if there were a hidden entryway in that room it would lead straight down under the city into the Ratway.

He pushed on the carved mark, but it didn't budge. He didn't have time to waste trying to figure out how to get into the hidden entrance. She was there, right now, under his feet down in the Ratway. She had to be. He whistled for Karnwyr again and quickly ran back towards the south gates and took the stairs leading down into the most well-known Ratway entrance.

He swept inside with Karnwyr beside him, although the wolf seemed to want to head back the way they came, no doubt because she was using their secret entrance and not the tunnels. He could hardly believe it. Rona was Thieves Guild. It was hard to imagine her doing that kind of work but desperate times called for desperate measures. He raced through the passages and stopped short where the bridge leading across the way was supposed to be, but it was currently up. He swore under his breath and looked around. He'd have to take the long way through the tunnels because he was definitely not athletic enough to try and pounce off walls like Rona could.

He carefully hopped down below and turned back, motioning for Karnwyr to jump into his arms. The wolf took a brave leap and Bishop grunted, catching his heavy friend then set him down. He hurried through the winding tunnels then and stopped short at the sounds of someone talking in an open room just beyond.

They were jabbering nothing but nonsense and Bishop grumbled to himself, "Of course… more lunatics."

He peered around the corner and saw a rather large balding man dressed in rags. One notable thing about him however was that he was wearing some glowing enchanted gauntlets.

He didn't want to risk Karnwyr being hurt so he looked down at his friend and firmly whispered, "Stay."

Karnwyr silently wagged his tail, affirming that he understood the command and Bishop snuck into the room, pulling his dagger from its sheath. He was nearly at the back of the lowlife when he slipped on some oil on the ground, "Shit!" He caught himself but gave away his position with his loud swearing. The lunatic spun around, swinging hard and caught Bishop right in the left cheek, forcing him to lumber back.

He didn't even get a chance to catch his breath when the man barreled in, fists flying and got him right in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. This man could hit hard. He knew it was because of those damn gauntlets too, it had to be.

As the bastard was preparing to come down on him with both hands, laced together Bishop rushed him, throwing his entire body against the man. They both slipped on the oil and slammed onto the ground, with Bishop still on top of the lowlife. The man was fast though, already bringing his arms up to punch him again. Bishop roared at the top of his lungs, "ATTACK!" as he threw his arms up, covering his face from the flurry of punches being thrown against him.

Karnwyr flew in, fangs bared, growling and buried his canines right into the swinging arm of the lowlife. That lunatic barely felt it though, grunting a little and then punched poor Karnwyr right in the nose, sending him yelping back.

"NOBODY TOUCHES MY WOLF!" Bishop roared as he slammed his blade right into the chest of the man under him. This time the bastard gasped, feeling the pain and Bishop was sure he had him until he met with another fist to the gut and then the lowlife grabbed him by the collar of his leathers and threw him off. Bishop rolled and slid through the slick oil on the ground, landing on his hands and knees. He looked over and saw the lunatic slipping and struggling to get up from the coated ground and then he noticed a lantern hanging up above in a clay pot. He quickly drew his bow and shouted at Karnwyr, "RETREAT!"

The wolf barked and ran back down the corridor that they came through and Bishop lined up his sights and sent his arrow flying straight through the rope holding the clay lantern up. It came crashing down and completely ignited the oil on the ground. The lowlife was engulfed in flames and Bishop carefully pushed himself off the ground, enduring the heat from the fire that was suddenly on him, but with his enchanted armor it did little damage.

He stood back and watched as the lunatic writhed in pain, rolling around on the ground only making it worse as he splashed through more lit oil. He'd have taken pity on the man and put him out of his misery if he wasn't so pissed off. The side of his face and his arms were throbbing like a bitch and he was feeling a little vengeful over that. Finally, after a few more minutes the man stopped moving and slumped over, then the fires went out as the oil finished burning up.

He was rubbing his cheek and looked over the burned corpse. The gauntlets were completely undamaged and still glowing from their enchantment. He knelt down and yanked them off the body and stuffed them into his pack. Then he whistled for Karnwyr and continued his way through the putrid sewers, luckily with no more obstacles. The minute they arrived at the door to the Ragged Flagon Karnwyr started sniffing around the area and barking madly. He'd picked up her scent again.

He pawed at the door, looking back at Bishop and barked as if to say, She's here. Bishop's heart was in a knot at the thought of seeing her again. He pushed the door open and stepped into the Flagon. It looked just the same as ever, although a little less lively at that time of night. Karnwyr immediately ran around the stinking cistern and padded up right past their huge bouncer. He started sniffing around a table and barked again.

Bishop noticed Delvin standing there, in front of his usual spot and the only other three people in the Flagon that evening were the bartender, the bouncer and the woman he remembered who killed the Thalmor Justiciar that had been looking for them months ago. Bishop slowly approached them, going up the wood planks leading to the bar area. Naturally he was stopped by the huge brute guarding the way, "Bit late to be conducting business."

"S'alright Dirge, let 'im through," Delvin said with a smirk.

Bishop sidled around the big guy and went over to the table. Delvin took his seat again, casually throwing his arm over the back and asked, "Been a while Bish. So what brings you down to the Flagon so late this evenin'? Lookin' to buy or sell?"

Bishop looked at Karnwyr who was still taking in the scent at the chair and he was really running his nose over it too. She'd been there recently.

Delvin was eyeing the wolf too and said, "Mind wranglin' your mutt so we can have a proper chat?"

"Sit," Bishop commanded and Karnwyr whined a little but immediately sat down at his feet. He kept sniffing at the chair from his spot on the ground though. Bishop took the chair for himself and sat down looking dead serious at Delvin and said, "I'm here to buy. You have information I want."

"Oh? And what information would that be?"

"Tell me where the Dragonborn is."

Delvin chuckled at him, "You 'aven't heard? Word is the Dragonborn's dead."

"You and I both know that's horseshit," Bishop said narrowing his eyes at the man, "I know she's here. So, how much do you want?"

Delvin chuckled, "For what?"

"For her. How much gold do you want to drag her ass in here and hand her off to me?"

Delvin laughed a little louder and called over to the woman standing by and said, "You hearing this shit Vex? Man's offering to pony up for a corpse."

Bishop slammed his fists on the table and roared, "She's not fucking dead! Don't you DARE peddle that shit to me!"

Delvin lowered his brows and said warningly, "I'd watch myself if I were you, Bish. Making Dirge a little antsy over there."

Bishop glanced back at the bouncer, who was staring him down and cracking his knuckles. He turned back to Delvin and said, "Name your fucking price you piece of shit."

"What? So you're just rollin' in gold now, eh?"

"What do you want? Five thousand? Ten? Fucking name it."

Delvin studied him for a moment and said, "Damn. You're really serious aren't you? The hell are you doin' these days to make that kind of gold?"

Bishop stood up then and yanked a heavy coin purse from his pack and threw it onto the table, "Fifty thousand gold, in full. Now where is she?"

Delvin just gaped at the pile of glittering gold that had spilled onto his table. Bishop could tell the man was seriously considering his loyalties then. Would he sell her out for that hefty sum or would he stay loyal to one of his own?

Delvin smirked, shaking his head a bit and sighed looking Bishop right in the eyes, "Really wish I could help you lad. Hard to pass up that much gold, but unfortunately, I don't have the information you're lookin' to buy."

Bishop was thunderstruck. He could hardly believe that this thief chose to protect her over taking an obscene amount of gold sitting right in front of him. Then he thought that maybe Delvin was trying to squeeze more out of him... or maybe it was something else. Rona always did have a way with winning over most people, befriending people that would have otherwise been her enemy.

Bishop took the coin purse back and stuffed it deep into his pack and said, "I appreciate what you're doing for her. That you'd choose to guard her secrets over taking the gold. But I am this fucking close," he held his forefinger and thumb up, barely touching them together, "to finding her and I won't let anyone stop me," he looked right at Karnwyr and commanded, "Find her."

Karnwyr barked and leapt up and started sniffing across the room, running right past Delvin, who'd jumped from his seat and threw Bishop back as he attempted to follow his wolf down the corridor beyond the Flagon.

Bishop reeled backwards, right into Dirge's thick arms. He started thrashing around, trying to escape the man's hard grip on him when Delvin snarled furiously, "Get him out of here. I don't want to see his ugly mug in my Ratway again."

"I KNEW SHE WAS HERE! YOU CAN'T KEEP HER FROM ME!" Bishop roared.

Delvin jut a finger at him and growled, "I see you down here again and I won't hesitate to gut you myself. You understand me?"

"KARNWYR! ATTACK!" Bishop was desperate, he'd even risk the life of Karnwyr to find her. He was so fucking close. She was right there. She had to be.

Karnwyr turned back, growling viciously as the bartender and the woman slowly approached the wolf. When he started foaming at the mouth though the bartender seemed to get cold feet and backed away, "I - I don't want to mess with this mutt. He looks rabid."

Vex scoffed and said, "Don't be such a pussy Vekel," she pulled a small diamond shaped dart from her pocket and dipped it into a bottle strapped to her belt. Then she grabbed Vekel by the arm and threw him forward, right at Karnwyr. He looked incredulously at her as he fell right at the wolf's feet, who made to pounce on him and then she sharply threw the dart right into Karnwyr's neck, making him yelp from the biting pain.

Vekel tried to scramble away when Karnwyr regained his senses for a moment and made to attack again, but the wolf immediately wobbled and his tongue lolled out of his mouth stupidly as he slumped over in a heap.

"KARNWYR!" Bishop roared, trying to pull free from Dirge's hard grasp, "IF YOU KILLED HIM I SWEAR-!"

"Oh shut it," Vex said crossing her arms over and scowling at him, "He's just paralyzed. He'll live."

"You fucking bitch," Vekel gawked at her, catching his breath.

"What? I needed a distraction and I didn't want to get bit," she smirked a little at him.

Delvin went over and stooped down, hoisting the wolf up onto his shoulder with a grunt. He joined Dirge in hauling both Bishop and Karnwyr back through the tunnels and tossed them right out onto the wooden walkway leading around the filthy river.

Bishop scrambled over to Karnwyr and looked him over. Aside from the dart in his neck he seemed fine, he was still breathing at least. He looked up at Delvin, glaring harshly at the man as he dug through Bishop's pack, yanking out the coin purse. Delvin took a handful of the gold pieces before throwing his pack and coin purse back at him and said, "I'll be takin' this. Consider it payment for makin' me haul your mutt's ass all the way out here. And don't you dare think about showin' your face 'round the Flagon again. I see you down there and you won't live to regret it."

Bishop scoffed and said, "You won't hurt me. You can't, because you know she'll roast you all alive if you do."

"Don't fucking test me ranger," Delvin snarled, his lip curling a bit, "Now piss off."

The two of them turned back into the tunnels, firmly shutting the door behind them.

Bishop caught his breath and leaned back against the slimy stone wall. He wasn't about to let this opportunity to go to waste. She was there in the Ratway, somewhere and he knew where she was coming and going from at least. He'd stay in the city, keep watch on that hidden entrance and wait for her. Sooner or later she'd be coming or going and he'd finally have her in his arms again.

Still... he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do once he had her. She'd already proven that he couldn't keep a hold on her, she had a shout that made it all too easy for her to slip away, not to mention illusion magic she could use to make herself disappear. If anything she'd just run away again... but he had to try. To just talk to her, to just see her again. He'd give anything for another moment with her.

Bishop looked over at Karnwyr, who was slowly coming to. The wolf panted a bit and looked around confused. Bishop got up and clicked for his wolf, leading him back up the stairs. He'd get a good night's rest at the Bee and Barb and then find a concealed spot to scope out the mausoleum from. He'd waited this long to find her, what was another day or two?