Edna's hair smelled like juniper berries. The scent filled Asgeir's senses as he clung to her in the dark, and stayed with him even as his mind grew foggier with blood-loss.

His skin was numb with cold, his limbs dead weights dragging him down. He might have been shivering, but he couldn't feel it. His body was not answering to his conscious thoughts, and all around them, there was only darkness and the smell of juniper.

When Asgeir's knees finally gave out completely, the Dragonborn barely paused, barely slowed down; she took on his weight like she had strength to spare, and carried him forward with her thin arms wrapped around his broken body.

Asgeir didn't fight her; there was no fight left in him, and he allowed her to hold him up and walk him further down into the cold tunnel. He clung onto her shoulders, head bent, breathing in her scent.

Her hair smelled liked juniper berries, but her skin smelled like blood and sweat and fire.

"Don't sleep." Her voice pulled him from his dream-like state, her breath hot against the side of his face. "Talk to me."

Asgeir made a small noise from the back of his throat, finding it impossible to open his mouth and form words.

"Hey-" She said, her grip around his middle growing tighter. "-talk to me."

How typical of this woman, Asgeir thought in his fatigue-induced delirium, to ask so much of him without thought of the enormity of what she was asking, as if it were within her rights— as if there were no limits to what she could demand or take. Asgeir twisted his head to the side, buried his face closer to the hollow of her neck, and focused on simply breathing. Even that was becoming a difficult task.

The Dragonborn spoke again, but the meaning of her words was already lost to the fog of his muddled mind. Asgeir wished for sleep, and he knew there was not much longer until sleep would come, and it would not even be a matter of choice. The only question left was if he would ever wake up from it.

The thought of death once again filled him with terror and outrage and desperation, but his body was already too numb to respond to it. It was a miserable thing, to feel so helpless and weak, and were he a lesser man, he might have cried.

"We're almost there. Don't-" A ragged whisper filled his ear. "-don't you dare sleep."

But the pull of sleep was too strong, and Asgeir felt himself succumb.

…

…

…

Surrounded by cold stone and ice, Edna felt like she was burning. Her muscles were on fire with the strain of carrying all of Asgeir's weight, and there was another, more insistent burn, as she pushed her magicka reserves to the limit, and then past them.

The light of the spell tied around her wrist was dying, and with every step the Nord woman took further into the darkness, she felt the taste of blood in her mouth grow stronger.

Still, she didn't allow herself to slow down. Her body cried with the strain of every type of fatigue there was, but she pushed herself to ignore it. Survival was at stake, and Edna refused to die in a hole underground, a failure to her parents' name and to her ill-fitted legacy.

She might make a pitiful Last Dragonborn, but she would not become a failed one.

"We're almost there..." She choked the words out, as much for Asgeir as for herself. The woman could feel her vision start to go blurry at the edges, the trail of light in front of her shaking, twisting, growing larger.

She blinked hard, but the trail of light didn't return to its original shape no matter how much she tried to focus. Her eyes widened suddenly when she realised it wasn't her magicka that created the added light, but another light-source.

Edna inhaled shakily and tightened her grip on Asgeir as she sped up her pace; she could feel the other Nord breathing softly against her skin, and she knew he'd fallen asleep despite her attempts to keep him alert. There was no telling if he would ever wake up unless she got them somewhere safe fast, and she used that knowledge to propel herself further, almost running in the direction of the light. Her hold on Clairvoyance slipped by the time they reached the opening in the wall where the light was coming from, but that was probably a good thing. No longer focusing on forcing her magicka into the spell helped Edna get a better grip on herself.

Even so, she still went through the opening in the stone with the grace of a new-born calf, dizzy from overuse of her stamina and magicka, and weighed down by Asgeir being draped all over her. They ended up crashing to the ground in a tangled pile of limbs, and Edna hissed sharply at the pain coming from her side, where the troll had torn her open.

The jolt of the fall was enough to have Asgeir wake up, and Edna was grateful for that, at least. Untangling her legs from under her, she managed to push herself up on her knees and immediately leaned over to twist Asgeir in a position that put less strain on his injuries.

The man hissed and groaned as she arranged him so he was on his back.

"...you alright?" She mouthed uselessly, a bit at a loss when their eyes made contact. His blue gaze was glazed over, and she could tell he was confused by the sudden light.

She was too, after what felt like endless hours of walking in pitch darkness.

His mouth parted as if he wanted to speak, but no sound made it past his dry lips. Edna watched him close his eyes, shielding them from the light; she watched him swallow, and try again.

"Where..." His voice was rough as if he's not used it in ages. "...are we now?"

It was a good question, and Edna finally took the time to look around them.

The scene she was met with was far different from the cave before; there was a lot of green and foliage, and the ground was made out of dark earth, not ice or snow. There was light pouring down from somewhere far above them, and there was mist in the air, wet and refreshing. If she just focused hard enough, she could make out the sound of life in the background— insects and running water and movement—, and it put her at ease. Silence would have been far more concerning. True silence was unnatural, after all, coerced into being. A predator's layer was always silent.

"Not sure where we are..." Edna confessed, looking back down at Asgeir, forcing herself not to react at the sight of his bruised face and body in sunlight, an image she'd almost forgotten in the dark, where the man was reduced to nothing more than a warm body pressed against hers. "...but we're safe for now."

The man made a small sound, not of relief, but close to it.

Another quick study of the space around them and Edna noticed a small stone structure that they could use for shelter, not too far away from their opening in the wall. It looked like nothing more than a groove carved into the natural stonewall behind them, but it was deep enough for them to fit in comfortably, and it was surrounded by tall trees, shielding it further from view. And that was important, since Edna could hear a wolf's howl far in the distance, and in their state, the further away they were from view, the better.

She grabbed Asgeir and pulled both of them to their feet, mindful of their injuries. The man was still dead weight, but he was conscious, at least, and Edna would take what she could get.

"Alright?" She grunted as he pushed his arm behind her neck.

They made their way through the greenery around them slowly, Edna taking every precaution in this new environment. They ducked under the low branches of the trees and the woman laid Asgeir down inside their new shelter, propping him against the moss-covered stone.

The shelter space Edna had spotted turned out to be the space where two large slabs of stone collapsed from the high stone ceiling to create a sort of tent-like shape. The earth and vegetation had grown around the stone, making effort to swallow it, but fortunately for them, the space inside was still more than big enough to fit two people and a fire-pit. Setting up a fire would probably be a very good idea, and it would definitely help both their physical and mental state.

One last look at where she'd left Asgeir and the man was shivering again, far harder than he'd been before. His bare chest was heaving and his head was bent, lowered, as he fought to stay conscious. Too much of his skin was exposed and all of it was far too pale. Edna was suddenly, uncomfortably, aware of his state of undress, and she truly hated the Thalmor for taking even his clothes from him.

With a deep frown, Edna forced her eyes away. There wasn't much she could do, other than go and find what she needed to start a fire.

Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she took a steadying breath and went back outside. By the time she returned with firewood and a small rabbit, Asgeir was asleep again.

Her hands shook slightly as she once again took his pulse, but after she found it slow and steady, she set down to build a fire-pit.

For anyone interested, the cave that they stumble into is Shadowgreen Cavern, it's a beautiful place northwest of the Thalmor Embassy. I recommend looking up a few images of the interior, it really is so pretty!

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to review!