Right! So the next chapter is pretty long, and I had fun writing chaps nine and ten. I hope you guys like these next few chapters as much as I do.


"Oh. It's you."

Nathan grit his teeth. "Nice to see you too, Urag."

The orc glared at up at him from his chair. Nathan approached the counter—not bothering to hide his newfound glowing eyes—and casually moved a book out of the way. Urag's eye twitched.

Nathan could practically feel Serana's curiosity radiating from her, but they didn't have time to go over his long feud with the College of Winterhold. He gave the old orc a forced smile. "I need to find a Moth Priest."

"Do you really think that you can just walk in here after everything and ask for something like that?" Urag demanded.

Nathan felt his blood pressure begin to rise, but he kept a semi-civil tone. "I. Need. A. Moth. Priest."

"What in Oblivion do you need a Moth Priest for?" the orc replied. "Don't you—"

"Oh, please," Serana said, stepping forward. Urag frowned when he saw her, and Nathan snorted when he realized that the librarian had been so focused on Nathan that he hadn't seen Serana come in. "If we don't get some information on this Moth Priest, we'll discover just how well spell tomes burn." She held up a hand that crackled with lightning for dramatic effect.

Nathan gaped at her. She was the one threatening the destruction of books? After she'd nearly decapitated him for getting a splotch of blood on one?

Urag had a similar expression. "You wouldn't."

Serana's face was dead serious. "Try me."

They locked gazes for a few moments, but eventually Urag looked away. "Fine, fine. Don't get your breeches in a twist." His voice sounded strangled. "The obvious answer is to go to the Imperial City. The Moth Priests make their home in the White Gold Tower." Serana glared at him, and he continued after a moment. "Sometimes they go out looking for Elder Scrolls. Lucky for you, there's a Moth Priest in Skyrim right now, doing just that. He stopped in to do some research in the library, then left for Dragon Bridge. If you hurry, you might catch him there."

Nathan's jaw dropped even further, and he couldn't resist staring at Serana with admiration. Had she really just pried information from Urag gro-Shub?

"Remember, boy," Urag added to Nathan. "If I ever see you here again—"

Nathan waved his hand in dismissal, but inside he was seething. "Yes, yes, you'll unleash angry atronachs upon me. You've said it before."

He turned to leave, but he heard Urag mutter, "That didn't stop you before."

Nathan felt his anger explode like a fireball, and the thing in his chest lurched along with the fury. He started to turn to face the orcish librarian, but Serana grabbed his arm tightly and dragged him toward the door.

"You are going to tell me what happened," she told him in an undertone.

Nathan took a deep breath to calm himself. "I need a drink first."

|||||||||—

The Frozen Hearth Inn was, essentially, the only point of interest in all of Winterhold. In Nathan's mind, at least. After seven at night, everyone gathered there, even the Jarl and his son. A fireplace burned in the center of the room, giving the room a warm, cozy feeling. In the corner, a bard played the lute softly, barely covering the individual conversations in the tavern.

Nathan made a beeline for the bar, which stood surprisingly empty. He sat down on one of the stools and heard Serana do the same next to him.

"What'll it be?" Dagur, the owner of the inn, asked them.

"Argonian Bloodwine," Nathan immediately replied, placing a few septims on the counter. Dagur hesitated for a moment before reaching under the bar and retrieving a tall, blue bottle. He popped the cork off the top and reached for a tankard, but stopped when he saw Nathan's glare. Nathan smelled the sweat on Dagur's brow as he realized what Nathan was, and after a moment the barkeeper placed the bottle on the counter for Nathan.

Nathan grabbed the bottle, lifted it to his lips, and took a long swig. Almost immediately, he felt the anger in his chest begin to soften as the sweet tasting alcohol made its way to his stomach.

Serana watched it all with a curious stare. When he came up for air, she began to speak. "What's the deal with you and the College?"

He took another drink of the bottle before he replied. "When I first came to Skyrim, I wanted to go to the College to learn more about magic. Faralda let me in, but Mirabelle Ervine tried to kick me out when she saw that I was a half-elf. It was partly because of Ancano, the Thalmor who was assigned to the College." He winced when he felt the angry fire rise in him once more, and drank again. "Eventually they let me in, after a week of furious debate. But when I went to the library, I was not allowed to translate spell tomes to Braille so that I could read them."

He paused, staring at a stain in the wooden counter. When he'd first come to Skyrim, he hadn't realized just how strong the stigma was against half-elves, on both sides. It still made him angry.

"There's more, isn't there?" Serana asked. She was a good listener.

Nathan shook his bottle of wine a little bit, watching the liquid inside swirl around, before he answered. "There was an…orb. It caused a big mess, and the Arch-Mage ended up dying. Since I was the one who discovered it, everyone blamed me for his death and the almost-destruction of the College. It didn't matter that I stopped it from happening when no one else could. All they saw was a blind half-elf who, in their minds, didn't have any right to be there."

He drank again. When he looked back at his companion, he found something surprising in her eyes. Understanding. He still didn't know that much about her—which made sense, considering that they'd only met two weeks ago—and he wondered if she'd ever had to experience some ostracism of her own.

"I'm sorry about that," she eventually said, sounding sincere. "Turns out people don't change much after a few centuries."

Nathan shrugged, feeling a slight buzzing in his mind from the alcohol. "I'm used to that kind of treatment. Live a couple years in Skyrim, and you become as thick-skinned as any Nord." His assertment was somewhat lessened by the large pull from the bottle he took. Drinking helped him not be as angry—which seemed to be the opposite effect that it had on most people.

Serana was silent for a few moments. She appeared to be figuring out what to say. Eventually, she said, "I hate people."

Nathan smiled grimly at her. People were, indeed, almost as bad as Daedra.

"So what now?" he asked after another minute or two of companionable silence. "Head to Dragon Bridge on the nearest cart?"

Serana pursed her lips in thought. "Maybe. Do you think Guy is still around here somewhere?"

Nathan thought about that for a second. "Possibly. Do you think he'd still be willing to take us? After all, we're going right back to where we started."

At that, she cracked a smile. "Nothing like a goose chase around the whole damned province."

No sooner had the words exited her mouth did one of the doors to the rooms burst open. None other than Guy came stumbling out, scratching at his bright red hair and yawning. He didn't seem to notice them, pulling out a small coin purse and walking toward the bar. Clearly, he intended to drink himself to sleep.

Unfortunately, Nathan and Serana would need to interrupt their boatman's sleep schedule.

|||||||||—

After a little bit of haggling (bringing the price up to a staggering ten septims), Guy agreed to transport them back to Solitude, on the condition that Nathan give him the rest of his Argonian Bloodwine.

Serana was barely concerned that their boatman was drinking and sailing. Before she'd gone to sleep for such a long time, she'd seen a lot worse (namely drinking and fighting with a dull iron dagger). So instead of worrying, she spent the boat ride with a ball of light floating above her head so that she could read her book, The Night of Tears.

For once in her very long life, she had a hard time focusing on her reading. She couldn't help but think back to Nathan's story, how he'd been shunned by the mages of Winterhold just because of who he happened to be born to. There'd been a sense of…hurt in his voice that not even the wine could cover up. And, surprisingly, she found that she recognized that hurt. She felt it inside herself whenever she thought of her upbringing, or her parents.

She'd been wondering whether or not she could trust him. Now, the answer was a little clearer. She could relate to him.

The sun was just beginning to rise as Guy piloted the boat into Solitude's harbor, switching to the use of a long pole to push the boat to the docks. Serana stuffed her book back into her satchel and started to stand as Guy tied the sailboat down.

She rolled her eyes when she heard a snore from Nathan's relaxed form. At some point during the journey, he'd pulled his hood low over his head, and had apparently fallen asleep. She should have expected that; for one, new vampires often found it difficult to adjust to a nocturnal schedule. That, and he had been piss-drunk when they got into the sailboat.

She sighed, hesitated a moment, then kicked him in the shins.

He was awake in an instant, drawing a small dagger from his ankle and slashing out with it. It was only a hasty step back on Serana's part that kept her from being sliced open like stag meat on a nobleman's table.

Unfortunately, this rocked the boat significantly, and both Nathan and Serana were forced to grab something to keep their balance. But Guy, who had been in the middle of stepping onto the dock with one foot still planted in his boat, was not so lucky. After a curse, the boatman crashed into the water with a large splash. Again.

Serana glared at Nathan, who looked sheepish as he sheathed his dagger. She only got a brief look at what looked like ice before it was gone. "He he. Sorry."

She rolled her eyes again as Guy climbed out of the water and onto the dock, spitting an actual salmon out of his mouth. His red hair was plastered to his forehead.

"I hope you're not going to make a habit of knocking me into the water," he told Nathan.

Unexpectedly, Nathan's face flushed red. Serana had half a second to think that it looked almost charming before she cut that thought off.

"Sorry," Nathan repeated, standing. Under his hood, his face looked haggard and tired, despite the fact that he'd just been asleep. He stepped out of the boat and onto the dock, offering Guy a hand to stand up. Guy grumbled something unhappily but took the hand.

Serana stepped out of the boat—making sure not to fall over—and winced as the bright sunlight touched her skin. It was going to be a long day. Maybe she should have done what Nathan did and attempted to sleep in the boat.

Not that it mattered. She knew that she wouldn't be able to get any sleep, not now, while they finally had a lead on the Moth Priest, but wasn't because she was scared of finding him.

It was what happened after that that scared her.


Yeah, so I'm not really a fan of these abrupt endings I have a habit of doing. Are they all right?

I have a joke for y'all today: What do you call a man with no arms and no legs under a bed?

Dusty.

Please review!