So sorry for not updating the story for last few months. All my free time got caught up to the new games that were released But now all the suddenly i got lots of inspiration and ideas to keep writing.

Enjoy the new chapter!

"Shit, I told you to wait till I kill those two draugrs" Leiah screamed to Serana

"And before that I said that I can handle them" She answered to her as smugly as possible. Their great cooperation lead them to escaping from at least dozen draugrs.

"Create an ice barricade over there" Leiah pointed to the next corner as their enemies were about ten meters away. When they turned around the corner Serana started to freeze the walls and ice slowly built up a thin barricade that would hold the draugr back for few seconds. When the barricade was ready Leiah charged up a spell with both of hands and released a blue wave of energy over the cave.

The mindless draugr who were almost through the barricade stopped attacking and started to wonder around.

"Let's go" Leiah said and started running forward. After a few more turns they found a door. It led out from the crypt and to the mountainside balcony. Leiah leaned over to the terrace and took a deep breath.

"That was some wicked illusion magic for a Nord you know" Serana said and watched the young woman next to her catching breath.

"I learned some tricks in... WAIT, behind you" She shouted without being able to finish her sentence. Leiah kicked off the draugr standing behind Serana and it fell over the edge. After a moment of silence Serana started laughing.

"What the hell was that for, I just started to like this guy" Serana held her stomach in laughter.

"What do you mean like this guy" Leiah seemed puzzled

"Well haven't you heard of vampires using necromancy and manipulating people to serve under their command"

It now made perfect sense to leiah. She saw some vampires she killed before to raise their fallen comrades to protect themselves from her arrows.

"I did see something before but I've never been interested in Conjuration magic myself"

"Anyway, thanks for getting me out from there, I don't even know how long I was trapped. I got some catching up to do, so that's where our ways part" She patted Leiah on the back and jumped down over the edge.

Leiah shivered from the vampires touch and tried to see where she fell but the mist covered the mountainside under the balcony. She didn't know what to think of the recent events that occurred in the cave. But it was enough for her to be alive and still human. She noticed a small ledge going down the mountain, into the mist. She picked up her crossbow and started climbing down.

An hour had passed since Leiah and the mysterious woman parted their ways. In the midst of the cold she remembered why she went to that dungeon in the first place. She noticed a cave entrance and as much as she wanted to get pass the mountains it was her best chance to find cover from the cold wind.

She unwrapped her torch and lit it with flint. Except of the ceiling the cave floor and walls were covered in ice. She walked carefully deeper into the cave, trying not to slip. Her head was still filled with questions about the woman she had met. If she was sealed away, was it the right thing to release her at all and if someone had gone through all the trouble to seal her away, who was she anyway?

Leiahs thoughts were disrupted by the sobbing sound which was coming up ahead. She took her dagger and silently sneaked closer to the sound. She was about to reach the larger part of the cave, when some scrabbling and movements could be heard and the next moment a man appeared around the corner. Leiah couldn't react as the man was running past her and around the next corner. She stood still in confusion till she couldn't hear any more footsteps coming from where she came.

She entered the wider complex and the ice on the walls mirrored the light coming from the torch and lightened the rest of the room. There was a small figure sitting in the far corner of the room. Leiah saw a young girl looking at her with scared eyes filled with tears. The girl was sitting in a ball and was wearing a torn dress, her cheeks and nose were red from the cold. Leiah slowly went up to the girl, trying not to scare her even more. She was shaking from the cold and Leiah gave her a blanket from her pouch. When the girl saw the Leiah wants to help her, she let her guard down and forgot all about where she was. She crossed her arms around the legs and buried her face between the knees and started sobbing again.

Leiah sat down next to the girl and pulled her closer, trying to warm her up.

"It'll be alright for now. What are you doing in a place like this" She finally asked without knowing anything else comforting to say. The girl stopped the sobs but then continued without answering.

"Okay, well... ugh what's your name" She asked next but the girl showed no reaction so Leiah decided it's best to talk to her in the morning. She grabbed her arms into hers and shifted even closer.

After some time the girl fell silent, Leiah stood up and walked over to the other wall where she had noticed a small notebook. She took the book and crawled back next to the sleeping girl. The torch was still burning bright enough so that Leiah could see to read.

It seemed to be some kind of diary, probably forgot there by the man who ran away. After a shallow look at the entrances it was clear that the man was a part of some bandit group. The last entrance was written at the current date. It might hold the answer to what's going on. Leiah thought and started reading.

18th of the Rain's Hand

Last night the leader told us that it's the time to raid Ivarstead. We were all eager to see some serious action again.

In the mist we closed in to the village and when the first guard saw us we let loose our battle cry and started killing whoever stood in our way, when the resistance became shallow we started emptying the houses of valuables.

Boss ordered a pair to clean up every house. Jork nudged me and lead the way to the closest building. He entered first and the moment he stepped in, he was hit with a log. He fell on the floor and blood was coming out of his cracked skulls. I kicked the shocked man who hit him on the floor and stabbed my sword through his chest. On the stairs there was a woman crying and running upstairs. I followed her and carefully opened the only door to the left, I definitely didn't want to end up just like Jork. In the room there was a woman and a young girl. As I moved closer to them, the woman pulled out a small knife and tried to stab me but my blade was faster and I cut through her before she got too close. Her limp body fell in the pool of blood and gore. I was left alone with the girl. I've killed many people in my life without hesitation, but never a child. As I started to raise my sword, it stopped. I couldn't bring myself to it. The boss has a strict rule not to leave any survivors and so I stuffed a rag into her mouth, took her with me, sneaked past Jorks dead body and other brothers in arms.

We ran towards the mountains and to the first cave I saw ,I

There the log ended. Leiah closed the diary and put it on the ground. She was shocked, no wonder the girl didn't want to talk to her. She couldn't be left there so she decided to take her to Windhelm.

Little girl didn't seem to be so cold anymore, her hands were nicely warm. Leiah closed her eyes and leaned her head on top of the girls. She too had a long and eventful day, so it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.