"I'm telling you, it will be fine. They've probably forgotten by now anyways and moved on," Aria reassured a rather nervous Tarric. They were leaving the open and tundra-like lands of Whiterun Hold for the frostier regions of Hjalmarch and further north to Haafingar Hold to Solitude.

Tarric, on the other hand of Aria's more-than-less chipper mood, was holding a cloak about his shoulders as they traveled into the Haafingar Hold, his eyes looking about warily and his body tense as a bowstring. He clearly didn't want to be here, and Aria refused to let him stay in Whiterun, where they had previously stayed. The two had gone south to Whiterun to retrieve the fifth piece of the key, finding it eventually in a long, winding cave made into a bandit den. Aria had been frustrated enough with getting through on her own, but she had also had to keep Tarric out of sight in order to get to the end of the cave and retrieve the key. They had eventually been discovered by Tarric sneezing very loudly, and instead of fighting through, as Tarric wanted they dashed out, Aria hauling the slashing former guard with her.

Now Tarric's mood was taking a dive for the dramatic, he was eating slowly and barely paid attention to Ragnar, who wasn't enjoying his foul mood in the least. Even Aria was finding she preferred the poking, prodding Tarric better than the brooding one.

It was an hour and a half before the walls of Solitude could be seen from a distance, another two before they managed to spot the farm outside the city and the tall tower. Tarric became increasingly nervous, even as they passed some hold guards on the road, yet they only kept walking or, on occasion, waved a friendly greeting.

What did I tell him? They've forgotten and moved on! These guards all have slow and short memory spans, it comes as no surprise. She sighed when Tarric jumped at a short 'hello' from one of the guards, Aria saved him the trouble of responding and nodded a short reply back. Her companion continued to become even tenser the closer they got to the city, until Aria finally turned in her saddle.

Ragnar's ears were laid back against his head, Tarric's hand gripping the saddle horn in front of him so tightly that his knuckles were white from loss of circulation. Aria sighed, "Tarric!" she snapped loudly, jolting the other up and forcing him to look at her.

"What?" his voice octave was higher than usual and his face was pale.

"By the nine, are you going to act like this in every city? Calm down! They wont recognize you, so take a breath and get a grip," her gaze was sharp enough to cut as she glared back at him from her saddle, "Besides, Fuzzy there looks like he's about to abandon ship, you're freaking out your own pet, Tarric,"

The other paused and looked down at Ragnar, who glanced up at him before shifting a little, his ears still pinned back. Tarric gently touched the rabbit's ears, smoothing them and rubbing one of them as his shoulders started to relax. "S-sorry…"

Aria sighed, "Better. Now we can't be saying actual names, so you'll be Tari and I'm Gale, we're just simple mercenaries come to do a little job hunting, alright?" she looked him over to see any bit of recognition in his face, "Right?"

Tarric nodded, his eyes coming up to meet hers, "Yes, sorry,"

Her eyes softened only a little and she shook her head, "Honestly, you'll be alright. You got me out of Windhelm, so I promise you'll get out of here alive, and with all your limbs and head attached," she grinned and scoffed, making Tarric smile just a little. "Besides, we're lying low in the market for one day, grabbing the key piece and supplies, and checking out. We'll be gone by midday on the third day,"

This seemed to help a little, the man appeared to relax a little more as they neared the first set of gates and dismounted, leaving the horses in the care of the farm owners they walked up to the city gates. Once inside they were met with a warm ray of sunshine and the smell of smoke and freshly baked bread. Apparently it was market day, all the normal stalls were chock full of produce from the farmlands around the hold, fish from the boats at the marina, weapons brought in on the ships and other merchandise like jewelry and potions. People bustled about, doing their shopping and preparing for winter ahead by purchasing salted meats, fish, vegetables and salt. It actually relaxed Aria to see so many people; her old memories of living on the streets with her brother came rushing back. She remembered picking people's pockets for extra septims, sometimes pulling stunts while her brother stole bigger things from stalls while the crowds watched her. She smiled at the thought, before waving it away like an annoying waft of pipe smoke in her face. The past was the past, and now she needed to focus on the present.

The both of them took up a small room in the Winking Skeever, setting down their measly bags of supplies and grabbing a table and a drink. Tarric was asked several times if Ragnar was a contribution to the stew, bubbling happily over a cook fire, but he hugged the little rabbit to him and promptly said he wasn't for eating, though Aria could disagree.

Managing to rest after so long being on the road, they enjoyed warm meals, ordered from the innkeeper and brought by his little daughter on trays. Tarric ate his slowly, offering one of the grilled leeks to Ragnar, who nibbled on it contentedly. Aria ate quietly in the corner, observing the door and all the goings-on from where she was sitting, making sure she could see a threat coming if it decided to appear.

Once finished with their meal Aria suggested they rest, it was early evening and they had been traveling almost non stop since the day before. She could barely remember the last time she slept on a soft bed, or a bed in general, since Dawnstar. Tarric had locked the door and shut the window, and even before that she was already drifting, her eyes drooping and her body finally relaxing as she drifted into a light, restful sleep.


The morning was cold and crisp, their breath clouding in front of their faces like tiny wafts of smoke. Aria remembered that when she was a child, barely over six, she would pretend she was a great dragon, blowing smoke from her nostrils and fanning her torn blanket as her strong wings. Now it was all but warm vapor to her, the world having hardened such an imaginative mind.

Though I like to think I've kept my imagination, I just use it for… other things, she grinned while they rode a little northwest of the Shrine to the Daedric Prince Meridia, a frigid breeze blowing new fallen mountain snow into her face and down her mask. Around the two companions rose thick walls of rock and ice; only strong pine and fir trees grew here, where they could survive the cold and unforgiving temperatures and climate. Aria could see a fox sniffing through the snow in search of mice in the bushes; the animal stopped and regarded them with its wily eyes, its dark orange fur standing out in the white and gray environment. The fox flicked its bushy tail and sniffed, going back to its hunting and ignoring the two travelers.

Ever since they had roused that morning, Tarric had grown less tense, allowing Aria to relax somewhat. She glanced towards him and smirked; he was riding close by with his cloak pulled up around him and half asleep since she had woken him up early. Ragnar was nestled around his shoulders and under the cloak, the rabbit's fuzzy little ears poking out from the collar of his cloak and making it look like Tarric had rabbit ears. Aria couldn't help but smile at the look of it, she turned and they continued on until she saw a rock formation ahead that didn't look like natural stone. Instead, they came up to the top of the snow-covered hill and looked down on a circular temple, spiraling into the ground and into the dark.

"Looks like we're here, different than usual huh?" she smirked as she pulled her horse to a halt, the animal bobbing its head and snorting a cloud of vapor into the air.

Tarric looked at it, his gaze scrutinizing and his eyebrows tucked in towards his nose in a frown, "Well, it's certainly interesting. A whole lot more intricate than the others we've been too," the both of them moved their horses down the slope towards the spiraling stairs, "Are you sure it's the right place?"

The thief held out the journal and tapped it, "Yes it says right here. Besides it's not like there's anything else nearby that's any more obvious, it works," as they neared the stone structure they stopped the horses, their hooves crunching in and stirring up the new snow. Aria swung down out of her saddle, landing lightly on the ground below while her dark cloak swooped around her to keep up. She straightened herself when Tarric joined her, the two companions turned and headed to, and down the stairs.

It smelled like water and moss on the outer staircase, the shadows darkening around Aria and comforting her. In the dark she was always safe, never did she feel threatened in the darkness for it cloaked her like a loving mother would wrap her child. Dark was truly the only comfort she had, a long time ago she would have counted her brother as a comfort as well, but that was long gone. Aria couldn't care much for remembering, but strangely since she had started traveling with Tarric it had seemed to come back to her more easily than it ever had. She breathed deeply while moving deeper into the blackness, the smell in the air changed to that of earth and roots, the stone around them damp from the cold but strangely wet. Aria glanced at the walls and realized that the air around them was warm, up ahead she even spotted a light glow on the floor. The tunnel was just another five feet above her head, leaving enough room to stand and enough on the sides to allow Tarric to walk beside her with Ragnar still sitting on his shoulders.

Walking further, Aria found her boots scuffing on what seemed to be a solid, cobblestone floor instead of dirt, and above them were stones instead of roots. As the passage continued, now dotted here and there with strange, glowing lamps that Aria had never seen before, she could hear something. The sound was faint and melodic, but it didn't come from any human or animal from the tone of it. Aria frowned as the light ahead grew a little brighter, the tunnel widening so that three horses could have passed easily through with room to spare.

"What on earth…?" Tarric muttered, the both of them stepping out into a large room and blinking in the glow of the many strange, flame-less lanterns. It was long and wide, the chamber, held up by long pillars of simple carven stone that were practically covered in roots from the vegetation that was above. Before them lay a set of stone steps, cracked in places and crumbling in others, that slid down the room to the floor that wound up to a large fountain. The fountain was at least the entire width of the room and situated at the far end, the water was crystal clear and poured in from two opposite sides, channeled from some underground river no doubt. The water was circulated through two metal grates on either side of a magnificent statue; it was that of a graceful woman, wrapped in nothing but a silk scarf and standing with her head tilted over her left shoulder, one graceful hand held to her breast and the other outstretched to hold something in her delicate stone fingers. Her eyes were cold stone, but Aria felt as if they were being watched, though she knew there was nothing else in the room but the three of them.

Aria switched her weight onto one hip and crossed her arms, looking at the sight, "It certainly is a sight, but I think she may need some more clothes. What do you think?" she glanced at him, the corner of her mask lifting to show she was grinning at him

"Oh sure, but I think she looks lovely the way she is," he shrugged, his shoulders almost knocking Ragnar off. The rabbit sniffled his own little comment, only for himself it seemed since neither of them could understand him.

A scoff escaped Aria, "Of course you would think that, you men…"

"Is that a comment against men?"

"Oh yes it is, all of you pig-headed old hacks, obsessed with nothing but bouncing breasts and sloping hips," she made her way down the steps, motioning to her own body and sliding her hands down her own hips while she did, making Tarric flush.

"That's not true! What about you women? With all your ideas about men with thick-arms and bushy beards with those deep, thundering voices?" he snaked his right arm with his left and followed her down towards the fountain.

"Honestly, what woman told you that fairytale?" she smirked.

Tarric grinned back at her, "Many women, I believe. What about you? Are those your ideas about perfect men?"

"Now, now… who said we were sharing ideal men and women preferences? No, not happening, my faithful doggy," she waved a hand and he laughed while they approached the fountain, leaving the subject to stew in Tarric's head.

When they got closer, Aria saw the tall mural behind the fountain, written with the same language as all the other riddles and carved with a relief of what seemed to be a faded, cracked map of Skyrim. Aria sat on the ledge and looked up at the woman, smiling as she spotted the key piece, dangling on a string from the outstretched hand of the statue.

She must have been a snow-elf deity, but it doesn't say which or whom. Long forgotten it seems, how sad. Aria looked at the root-decorated map where they could see the riddle they had to answer, immediately pulling out her translating book and matching letters and runes together to form the words of the riddle.

I am, in truth, a yellow fork

From tables in the sky

By inadvertent fingers dropped

The awful cutlery.

Of mansions never quite disclosed

And never quite concealed,

The tool of the dark

To ignorance revealed.

"Now if that isn't a mind turner, I'm not sure what is," she snapped the book shut and looked to Tarric, "What do you think this one could be?"

Tarric thought for a moment, "Well, it says 'tables in the sky'… could it be some kind of magical relic from a god?" he looked up at the statue, his hand beneath his chin and his thumb tracing his bottom lip slowly. Aria had to admit he looked rather studious and refined in the position, wondering if he would make a good nobleman with the way he held himself sometimes.

"It also says it's a fork… awful cutlery. But what is the rest of it? It doesn't seem to make any sense,"

"I know… but it says at the end it's 'never quite concealed', so it's obvious to see, but not all the time. At least I think it's what it means,"

Aria hummed as she crossed a leg and leaned back on both her hands, as she looked up at the fountain and the statue, liking the smell of the pure underground water. It was different, for a place like this, and it refreshed her. "But what kind of fork falls from the sky?"

Tarric paused, "Not an actual fork… it's not a literal fork, but it's a term used for something else,"

"What kind of non-literal fork falls from the sky in the dark?"

"Something yellow, Ah!" he jumped, "A fork in the sky that falls in the dark, never quite hidden but easy to see!" He looked at her, holding out a hand.

"Oh! I get it! Lightning! A fork of lightning has fingers, and only shows up for a mere second! And you're ignorant before seeing it, because it only shows up in random places," she smiled.

The former guard laughed, "Exactly!"

The both of them turned towards the statue and, in unison, shouted, "Lightning!"

Within seconds the fingers in the statue seemed to part and the piece fell to the foot of the statue with a clear chime. Yet, neither of them could reach it from the side. "Damn, now how do we get it?" Tarric looked down, realizing that the pool of water was deep and dark, and when his eyes scanned the dark he spotted a flash of scales. "Hold on, what was that?"

Aria frowned and watched the water, just as a massive fish swam by, mere feet from the surface. The creature looked ancient, it's gray-green scales battered and it's long, spines and fins looked like tattered and ripped cloth. The creatures powerful tail pushed it through the water with little effort, but even it's size couldn't distract from it's ugly face. The fish's jaw jutted forward and was filled with jagged, sharp teeth some the length of a two-handed sword and twice as thick, some longer. She instantly jumped away from the side with a cry, "Good gods, what is that thing?"

"Well, some kind of fish it seems,"

She looked at him, "Really?" he laughed and shrugged, while Aria growled, "Don't look at me, I'm not jumping in with that in there!"

"Then how do you propose we get the key piece? We should be grateful it didn't fall down into the water!"

Aria snarled and looked about, before spotting something, "I think I have an idea…" she moved over to a pillar completely covered in snaking, thick roots. The roots and stone extended up the pillar and across the ceiling, some of them almost as large as a small road. Aria grabbed hold of one of the thick roots and pulled, testing it to see how well it would hold, it barely moved. "I can climb up these and over to the statue, grab the piece and get back the same way,"

Tarric blinked, "Are you sure? One bad placed hand or foot, and you're fish food,"

"It's not that different than climbing a castle, you can always slip and die," she started to climb, climbing up the pillar and across nimbly, carefully placing each foot and gripping tightly with both hands. "Though, this death is something less-desirable than most, but if I do die then I can tell Nocturnal and my fellow Sentinels about my strange death. I'm sure it would beat most-others,"

He laughed from below her, though he was tense as a bowstring as her path took her up and over the ceiling and over the fountain. Her cloak hung down from her back and dangled like bat's wings. "Just be careful…" he held Ragnar, the rabbit also making a soft noise that somehow sounded like concern.

Aria grunted while she made it to the statue, "Why hello my lady," she smiled at the statue and snaked down it to snatch the key piece. "That wasn't so hard," waving the piece in her hand, Aria gave Tarric a smug look before stowing into one of her secure pockets and moving up the statue to climb back.

Her shoulders were a little stiff, having not done any intense, gravity-defying climbing for some time. Aria rolled her shoulder as she jumped to a thick root and began her climb over again, glancing down at the fish below as it swam circles around the statue. She saw it glance up at her with one bulbous, white eye, and cringed. Her hand reached forward and she took hold of another root, but instantly heard a crackling and hissing noise.

Heart practically stopping in her chest, Aria froze as she felt the root above her shiver. Her eyes carefully traced the smaller root she had grabbed, and followed it up to the ceiling, and her heart did stop. The root had been eaten away by years of dry summers and little water, it was brittle and thin and she cursed herself for not seeing it before. One wrong move and it would crackle and fall apart, sending her falling to a watery grave.

"Shit…"

"I don't like the sound of that, Aria," Tarric muttered.

She didn't even dare to speak, afraid that any vibration would cause it to break. Aria wasn't sure how long she stayed there, completely frozen, trying to calculate the most life-preserving move she could do and trying to do it as fast as she could. Her eyes scanned ahead and caught sight of a wide root that extended all the way to the pillar she had climbed up. It felt like years, hanging there above the water, before Aria growled. She couldn't stay there forever, so she decided on her path.

Tensing her legs like a spring, Aria paused, before launching herself towards the other root. A horrifying hiss filled her ears as the root she was crouched on crumbled and fell to the water, she raced towards the root before her as the smaller ones crackled and fell at her touch. Any prospective handholds vanished and she stretched her arms out to reach for the root. Managing to grab it, she sang in victory, before it suddenly broke.

She fell.

Aria couldn't even let out a scream, too shocked that her calculations had gone wrong, that she was going to die. Her own weight brought her closer and closer to the water, she prepared for the fish's jaws and teeth to close around her…

Instead she felt herself land in something warm, warm and dry. It took Aria a moment to realize that her eyes were shut; she opened them and looked up to see Tarric and Ragnar, the both of them looking just as worried as she had. Aria had somehow fallen to the side, and Tarric had caught her rather squarely in his arms.

Aria felt her cheeks flush and was happy that she was wearing a mask to hide it, the thief and the former guard stared at one another, before Tarric cleared his throat and gently set her down, "I-I told you it was dangerous. Are you alright?"

She nodded, "A little shaken, but thank you, again,"

"That's two you owe me now,"

"Shut your mouth, Skeever breath, let's get back to Solitude,"

Aria waited for Tarric, already having packed their travel packs she was sitting in their room at the inn, watching Ragnar as he sniffed about the room. Tarric had run out to grab a few more supplies at the market stalls before they left that night, feeling a little better about the guards forgetting him.

Though it had been a long time, Aria was getting worried.

She was just about to pull her hood up to head out and look for him when she heard a scream and a loud commotion outside the window. Aria frowned and tucked her hair back into the hood, picking up Ragnar and looking out to see a crowd on the street surrounding a small group of guards. She leaned a little out the window and saw a few people doing the same, and then she heard a shrill voice scream out.

"He killed him! Look! He's holding the knife and everything! He's murdered him!" Aria raised an eyebrow, a murder was always interesting, entertainment before they left.

The guards grabbed hold of someone's arm and yanked the person upwards, "Is it true? Did you kill this man?"

"No! No I swear! I didn't! It was an accident!" the man shouted desperately.

"He's holding the knife! He did it!" screamed another bystander. "Murderer! Murderer!"

"No I didn't!"

Aria found the man's voice to be familiar, and when she finally got a glimpse of him her heart sank. It was Tarric, restrained by one guard with his hands covered in blood, a look of sheer horror written across his face.

Good gods, this is not what we wanted! Oh by the nine… she watched as the guard hit Tarric in the back of the head and kicked his gut.

"Trying to lie to me, you're going to the dungeons you filthy little liar," the man snarled, "Take him away,"

"No! I swear! Please! Let me explain!" Tarric fought back furiously like a chained dog, his legs flailing and his head whipping about despite just being dealt a harsh blow. The guards holding him grunted and managed to hold him back before knocking the former guard unconscious. Tarric fell to the ground, limp and unmoving, a guard hoisted him up and another helped to carry Tarric away through the crowd.

"By the nine, how are we getting out of this one?" she looked at Ragnar, but the rabbit offered no reply. It seemed that no matter where they went, trouble seemed to follow them, and it had reared its ugly head once more.