The morning sun crept into the cave like a wolf, pouring over the two Nord's feet warming them inside the furs that were lightly dusted with the fresh snow. Miraak was the first to wake, stretching his legs and slowly opening his eyes to see the girl nestled into his chest. Her face pressed against the old scars of a battle long since lost. His rough fingers ran across the smooth tan skin of the girl's arm, causing her to shudder slightly and move closer to his body and deeper into the furs. He slowly rolled from the furs, being careful of the sleeping Nord, the cold did not bother him as his feet disappeared into the thick snow at the entrance of the cave. He shaded his eyes with his hands, blocking out the bright rays of the sun while looking up at the blue sky that had once been clouded and dark. He looked behind him as Avari yawned loudly and sat upright, stretching her arms above her head. "Good morning." He smiled, stepping back towards where she lay and plucking his robes from the ground. "By the way the sun sets we have slept too late."

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, feeling him dropping her armor at her feet. "There is a town not far from here, we can take a carriage. They run through the night and stick to the main roads, we will make it there quicker. Being able to sleep while the driver takes it will help. It's about a days ride east, out of the way that we are going but not too far."

"If you think it is best, you know that land better than I." He looked over at Avari as he pulled his gloves on, he walked towards the horse and began to ready them for the ride.

Avari held the torch out farther as they approached the road sign, checking to make sure that they had not gotten turned around in the blanket of darkness. "Not much farther." She called behind her, straining her eyes against the darkness trying her best to see if she could make out the fires of Windhelm. Hours passed before they finally reached the stables, greeted quickly by a young boy who took the horses after the two dismounted. "Where is the carriage?"

"On a ride for the Jarl." The stable hand answered. "He will return with the sun."

Avari dug into her coin pouch and dropped the silvers into his hand before walking towards Miraak. "There's an inn just inside the main gates. Do you want to get a drink?"

"I could use a drink." He sighed, rubbing his chest.

She smiled up at him, stepping past him and up the stairs. Her heavy armored boots clicked against the stone as they walked. She pulled her helm off her head, taking hold of one of the horns and letting it hang at her side. The guards quickly pulled the gate open for the two, welcoming the Nord warmly.

"The people seem very found of you." He remarked, moving closer behind her to add more privacy to their conversation. He studied an elf, as black as night, as she passed. Her dark red eyes glaring at him as he watched her hurry past them, his brow furrowed before he turned back to his companion.

"I think it may be because they know that the treaty will soon be up and I will be the winning factor in their stupid war." She groaned, rolling her eyes. "But come" She pulled the heavy door open and motioned for him to step inside. "I wish to enjoy myself and not bother with these mindless talks of war."

Miraak followed her to a small heavy wooden table set in the shadows, he took his seat in one of the worn chairs while she disappeared for a moment before returning with her hands full of wooden mugs. He leaned forward on his arms as she set the mugs down in front of him. "I didn't expect you to haul so much over here."

She laughed as she sat down across from him. "I have food coming too." She chose one of drinks and put it to her lips, tipping her head back as she chugged the strong ale before slamming it down on the table. She burped loudly before pushing her now empty cup away and taking another, repeating the process. Her arm ran across her mouth, her eyebrow raising slightly when she saw Miraak slowly take a small drink from his. She pushed the empty away and reached for another, taking a small drink this time, already feeling the warmth of the ale in her body. She sighed and folded her arms on the table, leaning forward slightly. "Is it much different?"

He raised his eyebrow and looked over the rim of the mug, he set the ale back onto the table and looked around the inn. "It is, very different." He tilted the cup and looked at the dark liquid. "What is this? It tastes foul."

"It's ale. Have you never had ale?"

"Not that I can recall." His brow furrowed and he sighed, putting the cup upright. He watched the girl as she finished mug after mug of the dark liquid, her eyes half lidded and her laugh echoing through the inn. When the food arrived, she shoveled it into her mouth, throwing small pieces at Miraak. Her words became slurred and when she attempted to stand she quickly began to lean to the side, he had hurried out of his chair to catch her before she hit the ground. Throwing her arm over his shoulders, his arm around her back and guiding her out of the inn towards the direction the young woman had directed the two before they had left her inn. Now he attempted to guide the young Nord towards her home, her feet dragging along and catching the stones and causing her to fall forward. She pulled the large Nord down with her. Miraak quickly put his arm out in front of her, putting it between her and the stone stopping her face from slamming against it. The side of his face slammed against the ground, causing the skin on his cheekbone to painfully crack. He pushed the girl onto her back and pushed himself to his feet, wiping the side of his face. His breath hissing between his teeth when the dirt found its way inside of the fresh wound. He grabbed the girl roughly and pulled her to her feet causing her to yelp out, he plucked her off the ground and tossed her over his shoulders. Anger deep with in his chest began to cover his face, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed as warm blood ran down the cold skin and down to his neck. He stormed through the streets until he found the home with the dried blood outside the door on the wood, he twisted the metal knob and kicked the door open.

"Stop!" A man stood from a chair next to a large table, knocking a few dishes to the ground as he pulled out a large blade.

"Calder!" Avari cheered from over Miraak's shoulder. "He's with me, but I love your dedication!"

The man relaxed his blade at the sound of his Thane. "The room is up the stairs."

Miraak adjusted the girl on his shoulder and walked towards the stairs, tightly griping her thighs as he took each step. He dropped her heavily onto the large bed, causing it to protest against the girl's weight. His head jerked towards the door when the man from downstairs knocked loudly.

"I've never seen you before." He remarked as he stepped into the room.

"Calder, help me with my armor." Avari grunted out as she tugged at the straps.

"There's a bed across the hall, you can stay there." Calder glared up at Miraak as he walked towards the girl, breaking his eye contact to help her remove her armor.

Miraak left the room, giving the girl her privacy, he glanced over at the weapons that hung on the wall just outside the room. He stepped inside the open room across from Avari, finding a small worn bed pushed against the wall. He looked around the small area as he pulled off his robe, boots quickly followed, his gloves falling on top of a small table next to the bed. He groaned as he laid onto the bed, a nice change from the stone of the cave the night before, it wasn't long before sleep claimed him with no dreams to wake the dragon priest.

His heavy robe draped across Avari's lap, her slender fingers making quick work of the small tears and worn areas. Miraak's boots and heavy gloves lay at her feet, freshly cleaned until they reflected the fire in front of her. The sound of the Dragonborn's rushed footsteps as he found his items missing drew her attention above her, causing her to chuckle softly before continuing her work. "I thought they could use a bit of help." She answered his question before he could ask as he hurried down the stairs. She stood up and held the robe out in front of her. "Calder took our weapons to be dealt with, he should be returning shortly." She stepped behind the man, pulling the robe over his shoulders, walking around to face him. She pulled his belt, from where it was draped over the chair she had just been sitting in, and pulled it around his waist. Fastening it in place and adjusting his robes until they were right, she looked up at him and smiled before retrieving his boots and gloves. "I've refreshed your enchantments too. I wanted to thank you for getting me here last night, and apologize for my behavior." He looked up at her in the light of the fire, she wore a blue dress a brown corset tied tightly around her with her long black hair falling over her shoulder in a braid. "I've packed some extra things also." She turned and walked towards the large packs that sat on the ground. "I found some clothing that may fit you." She took a plate full of fresh fruit from the table and held it to him, he raised his eyebrow and looked up at her. "I already ate."

"How long have you been awake?" He took the plate slowly.

"Awhile. I had another dream."

Miraak began coughing on the piece of apple.

"There was a girl."

He quickly stood up, knocking the plate off his lap and to the ground. The fruit fell onto the worn wooden floors as the plate shattered. Avari quickly hurried into the kitchen area returning a moment later with a broom. He roughly grabbed her wrist, pulling her away from the mess that she had began to sweep. "Not only am I trapped with you but you are now taking over my memories, things that are nothing for you. It is bad enough that you force me to treat you like a child, to keep you alive so that I do not have to perish..."

She jerked her wrist from his grip and pushed him back. "You need to control yourself, Miraak." She ordered, glaring up at him. "Every time you chose to try to enforce anything with me you end up wounded."

"If you die, I die."

Anger filled her eyes. "I can see why she chose to stay faithful to your dragon masters."

"How dare you!" He growled, causing the girl to jump. "You know nothing!"

"I saw, everything!" She folded her arms against her chest. "She decided that you weren't worth it."

"She knew nothing else."

"I saw the look in her eyes, she didn't see you being worth betraying the dragons."

He grabbed her arms tightly, pushing his fingers into the skin until they felt like they were pushing against bone.

"The one thing you could never take. You loved her, and she hated you."

The two sat in silence in the wagon, Avari at the the end with her feet hanging off dragging through the dirt of the ground while Miraak watched ahead. The anger was still hot within his body, his hands still clenched in fists. She said nothing to him when they stopped at a small inn, she walked away and returned shortly after with a large apple, slicing it in two with her dagger and feeding it to the horses. When he slept she kept her distance, but when he would dream they were not his own they were hers. Some where pleasant, a lovely change from his usual nightmares he had seen every night since she had pulled him back into the world, others compared to his worst fears. She was always alone, and yet she never showed her fear. He had seen the dragons who had ruled him bow to her and treat her as kin, they protected her and she them. The anger he had felt slowly began to wash away the more he would dream of her memories, to see how she fought. The movement of her body when she would swing her blades, the way she breathed when she fired her bow, the way magic flowed from her fingers like it was water pouring from a pitcher. He saw himself through her eyes, she had hoped him to be something he was not, someone who could explain what was expected of her. He sighed and looked down at his hands, pulling the gloves off and tucking them underneath his leg. He looked up to her where she sat with her back to him, her legs pulled against her chest while she looked up at the sky. The growl of a dragon tore through the air causing his head to jerk towards the sound, quickly rising to his feet. The carriage came to a stop in the middle of a small town at the base of a monsters mountain. Avari jumped from the cart and walked over to the driver, dropping gold into his hand before returning to take her pack. Miraak's boots hit the ground with a thud and he quickly pulled on his gloves, staring up at the sky where he could see the silhouette of two dragons circling the top of the large mountain.

"They're waiting, and they don't take kindly to tardiness." Avari remarked before looking up at the dragons.

"You were bringing me to the dragons?" He asked, shocked.

"Yes. They asked to meet with you, it is the least you could do."

"You are delivering me to my death."

"They have agreed not to hurt you."

"And if they do not keep their promise, will you be the one to throw yourself between us?"

"Days ago I would have, yes. But now, no I probably would not. But if you die, I die and they would never hurt me." The cart pulled away and she began to walk towards the small bridge that would lead them to the beginning of the steps. "It's a twelve hour journey up these stairs, well that is if we do not run into anything." She began to climb the stairs, Miraak close behind and still watching the sky as the dragons became silent and he could no longer see the shadows in the dark sky. The chilly air bit at Avari's nose, causing it to quickly turn pink and then to red the further they walked the stairs. The grass soon turned to snow and the air turned almost intolerable for the two, even causing Miraak to tightly wrap his arms around himself to keep warm. Avari stopped, dropping her pack to dig through it and find her torches. Using the magic that came from her palms to ignite the flame that quickly light their way, the torch began to warm her face a bit. She threw the heavy pack back over her shoulder and continued up the steps towards the large stone structure that she knew was not far from them. The sound of the few goats echoed around them as they hurried from their safety away from the two Nords.

Miraak had read the many books Mora had on the old men who would teach the Dragonborns to harness their voice, and how Paarthurnax had come to lead them in a way. "He's going to kill me, Paarthurnax."

"No he is not. You do not know him, he is not the same dragon." She groaned, shaking her head.

"Oh I know. He was ruthless and unforgiving, exactly what you would expect a dragon to be."

"Paarthurnax would not hurt anyone without reason."

He shook his head, running his hand through his short hair as the large building came into view. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs that would lead them to the door.