Author's Note:

~~~~HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!~~~~

Yes! That's right! A year ago today I stayed up till three in the morning and wrote the first chapter of this story, submitted it and nervously waited to see what would come of it. After a couple hours, I almost decided to just delete and forget about writing it completely. I would have never guessed it would gain even half the number of favs, follows, and overall attention it has.

I just want to take a second to thank everyone who has done any one of those three things because it really does bring a smile to my face.

That being said, this chapter was supposed to be much longer, but I decided to shorten it so that I didn't sacrifice quality for quantity.

So here it is,

Enjoy ^_^

Lydia

"Wait, what?" I ask in confusion. Markus and I set out from the cave maybe an hour or so ago, and he's been explaining rather poorly so far.

"Yeah," he says, looking over to me as we ride side by side, "since Whiterun I think; there's really no way to know for sure."

"How come neither of us noticed her then? Or sometime along the way? Or should I ask how come I haven't noticed her before?"

Markus turns his emerald gaze back to the road, a look of concentration on his face, "I don't know," he says after a few moments of consideration, "she only ever spoke to me when I was alone, that or in my dreams or in her realm…"

"Markus," I say in an unsure voice, my stomach begins to throb where my wound is as we ride, I try to hide my discomfort.

He looks back to me an unhappy frown covers his face, "C'mon, Lyd, I wouldn't lie to you about this." His eyes lock onto mine and I nod my head in agreement.

"Okay, I believe you," his gaze softens and he lets out a short breath of relief, "go on; tell me what happened."

"Alright, where to start…I guess the best place would be when I first met her; I didn't know it was her at the time of course, I didn't even think she was anything more than an old woman." He says as our horses begin to climb a steep hill.

"An old woman?" I ask in a half laugh.

He looks back to me, a small smile on his face, "That's the form she took at first, she wanted to tell me my future basically."

"Mephala came to see you just so she could tell your fortune?" He lets out a small chuckle, but ignores my question. "So, what did she say?"

"Well, let's see… how did it go…? Oh yeah, 'You will become a hero; a true son of Skyrim, a symbol for all its people.' And then something about wealth, land, love, you know that kinda stuff." He says quickly.

Wealth.

Land.

Love?

I look over to him to find his eyes staring intently at the road far ahead with his jaw set and his face void of emotion. "Anything else?" I ask uneasily.

His gaze snaps back to me, "No," he says after clearing his throat, "nothing else." He gives me a reassuring smile, "Anyway, she's been following us… I don't even know how long but every time I saw her she'd ask for the dragon souls."

"The souls? Like the souls in you?" he gives a small nod, "Why in Talos' name would she need the dragon souls?"

He shrugs, "I don't know, but she was pissed when I turned her down, really pissed." He looks back to me and bites his lip, deciding whether or not to continue, "And that's when Nocturnal showed up." He says in a sigh. I bite my tongue to resist interrupting again. "She told me to go to Riften, I'm still not quite sure why but she seemed like she wanted to help me."

"So that's why we set off to Riften in such a hurry." I mumble to myself.

"But," he hesitates, "but while we were in Riften Mephala showed up once again; she asked me if it seemed like a good day to die," our horses reach the top of the hill and a wide river comes into our view, "and then she said my uncle already knew the answer to that." His voice is quiet, barely above a whisper.

"Did she… did she kill him?" My wound begins to throb with a stronger pain now, and I try my best to keep a straight face.

His eyes glaze over before his bow furrows and he shakes his head, "I don't think so, I doubt she had no part in it, but she wouldn't have killed him with a knife." he glances down quickly at his arm. "She took you and brought you to that cave, you must've been knocked out or something and that's why you don't remember. She told me to come alone," he pauses, "and when I got there she threatened to kill me if I didn't give her the souls." He releases his reins and slowly begins rolling his sleeve up, exposing the marks on his arm, "And she left me with this."

Markus

"And when I got there she threatened to kill me if I didn't give her the souls."

That's a load of shit. But the last thing I need is her thinking any of this is her fault.

And how many lies does that make on the day? It's not even noon yet and I've already told more than anyone should. I look down at the marks briefly before Lydia speaks, "You should've told me about her before this, you should've told me when she first came to you Markus." Her voice is firm, angry.

Her brow is wrinkled and her blue eyes glare out from under her dark eyebrows, "You should have told me." She sighs and looks back to my arm, after a few moments she speaks, "It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Her face is still angry, but her eyes show concern. "I'm sorry, it's just at first I didn't know it was her and then when I figured it out, well, it didn't seem like a good idea to get you worried about something-"

"About something that was a threat to my Thane's life?!"

"Would you just STOP calling me that!?" In a flash, a pained look crosses her face and guilt races through me, "Lyd, I'm sorry," her hand curls over the fabric of her red tunic and she cups her stomach as she leans forward on her horse, "Lydia?" I say quietly as I put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Her breaths come out frantically, along with steady gasps of pain. "Lydia?" I ask louder this time as I reach over and grab her reins, bringing her horse to a stop before dismounting and coming to her side. "Lyd, grab on to me, we've got to get you out of the saddle." I take her arm and loop it over my shoulder; she reaches over with her other hand and slowly brings her other leg over the side of the saddle. "I should've known you weren't fit enough to ride a full day yet." I say as I carry her toward the river's edge.

"I'm fine." She says grumpily, "Just an ache, that's all."

Stubborn woman. Too damn stubborn.

The warmth of her skin seeps through her tunic, and her sweet scent makes me all too aware of her.

"That's not what it looked like." I say as I lower her on the grass by the bank of the river, as soon as her arms unwind themselves from my neck she wraps them around her stomach. "Here," I say in an attempt to get her to look at me, I kneel in front of her, "Lydia you have to let me see," I try peeling her arms away from her stomach, "Lyd you have to take off your shirt." I say as I sit back, giving up on trying to pry her arms away.

She looks up at me with a flustered gaze.

"What?" I ask in confusion, "Don't you have something on under that?" She shakes her head and suddenly I find it hard to keep my mind from wandering…

I shake my head and clear my throat quickly, "Well, just roll your shirt up then and I'll just take a look at it, though I don't think we should ride any more today if it hurts that bad." She just nods as another pained look crosses her face.

"Lydia," I place my hand against her back, "just lay back and relax, okay?" she nods her head and slowly leans back against the bank, bringing her arms to her rest at her sides.

"Alright," I say as I slide my arm out from under her, "we'll get you back in the saddle in no time Lyd, don't you worry." I slowly begin rolling her shirt up, exposing more and more of the bandages as I go. I whistle sharply for my horse when I see a fresh blood stain on the bandage.

My horse begins galloping over as I untie the bandages and carefully begin unfurling them from around her, taking my time to move her as little as possible. My horse comes to a stop at my side just as I remove the last of the bandage.

"How does it look?" she asks, looking at me with a plain expression.

Bloody and partially still mangled skin marks the spot where the spear was driven through and a familiar ache forms in my stomach as I look at it. There's no way it won't scar at this point. "Well," I say slowly, trying to think of something to say, "I've seen worse," though not by much, "I'm just glad you're alright." I say quietly as I look back to the wound as a drop of blood slowly begins to drip down her pale skin.

I look down at my palms, which are covered with dirt, "I'd better rinse my hands before I heal you, can't have you getting a wound like that infected." I say as I stand and walk to the side of the river, I crouch and quickly dip my hands in the cool water. The dirt having been washed away, I turn to see her watching me.

I try to ignore her gaze; try to ignore the sudden speed up of my heart as I crouch down and place my hands over her skin. She jumps back a little and gasps as my hands make contact, "What?" I ask as I draw back quickly.

She gives a small, weak laugh, "Nothing," she says with a smile, "your hands are cold, that's all."

"Oh, right, sorry about that." I bring healing into my hands, though the warm orange light seems…brighter than usual. I look to my marked arm, its sleeve still being rolled up past my elbow, and notice that instead of the blue glow of last night, the marks now glow orange.

My fire magic was stronger last night, so hopefully the healing will be stronger too.

I place my hands back over her wound and let the magicka flow.

At first, the magicka feels as if it's burning in my veins just as it did last night, but after a few moments it turns back into a tingling warmth. I heal her for a couple minutes before I pull my hands away to check how far the healing has gone.

To my amazement, the magic has almost completely healed her, though a rather large scar still remains, it's a much smaller one then there would have been before. "There," I say as I sit back on the ground, "how does it feel?"

"Hmm?" her voice hums. I look up from her wound to see her eyes are closed, a pleasant look on her face.

"Your wound, how does it feel?" Her eyes flash open and she sits up quickly.

"I don't know, it felt… different than the last time you healed me, stronger." She looks down at her stomach and then to my arm.

"Yeah, my magic has been more powerful since well, this..." I motion to my arm.

"Why would she give you stronger magic though? What would she get out of it?" I shrug lightly.

"I try not to think about it too much; I think it's better that way." I stand and reach down for her hand, "Are you okay to stand then?" She nods once and takes my hand. I pull her up with little effort and then take in the area around us. "Well, we could make camp up against that rock face over there," I point to the steep base of a small mountain, "that way we won't be completely in the open."

When she doesn't respond I look down to her, "Unless you're fit to ride some more?" Her expression is as plain as ever.

Great, now we're back to that big ol' wall of hers.

She shakes her head, "No, I don't think it's a good idea for me to be riding right now; it's still pretty sore."

I let out a dry chuckle, well that's better than a lot of people can say after being run through like that," I turn to my horse's saddle and grab some fresh linen wraps and hold them up, "I have some more bandages if you want."

"No, let's just…" her voice wanders off, "let's just set up camp." I nod and whistle again, this time Lydia's horse comes trotting down the path. As the horse comes to a stop, I walk to its side and turn toward Lydia, offering my hands folded together as a foothold.

She gives a small nod of thanks as she presses her boot in my palms and I hoist her up into the saddle. I walk to my horse and throw myself into my own saddle, "You should probably take it slow if your wound is bothering you."

I look down for a split second- just to grab my reins, and when I look up, Lydia is halfway down the path with her horse's hooves throwing dust back as it runs.

Too damn stubborn.

A Few Hours Later…..

We'd set up camp slower than usual, Lydia was obviously not feeling her best and I could tell. She had trouble reaching up to pitch the tents but practically tore my head off when I suggested I deal with the tents and she do something closer to the ground.

For someone who was trained to take orders, she has a hell of a feisty side.

So while she handled the tents I started the fire, which was easy, threw some ingredients in the pot for stew, unsaddled the horses and gathered some more water for our canteens. She finally got the tents pitched around sunset.

All light is gone from the sky is gone now, leaving an eerie feeling in the air. Lydia sits across from the fire, staring up into the pitch black sky, "Even the moon isn't out tonight," she says as she holds her untouched bowl of stew in her hands. I sit a couple feet away from her, sharpening my daggers on a stone I found near the river, "there's darkness all around us." She says in a small voice.

"What're you talking about? My fire burns like the sun!" I say in a mock Nordic accent.

She lets out a small chuckle, "The sun is dimmer than I remember, then." She gives me a joking smile that lightens her face. A slight breeze blows a strand of dark hair in her face and she turns as she tucks it behind her ear. A tree at my left shakes uneasily, catching my attention.

"It's going to rain" I say, returning to my dagger.

"How do you know that?" she asks as she takes a bite of the stew she's been neglecting.

"I just know; call it an 'elf perk'." Her eyebrows raise questioningly at that.

"An 'elf perk'?" I just smile and nod as I drag the stone along the short blade of my dagger. "And just how many 'elf perks' are there?" She asks in a playful voice that is rare from her.

"Well," I say in a smug voice as I decide to play a little game with her, "there's the deftness," in the corner of my eye I see her slide the tiniest bit closer, "the reflexes," she slides closer still, and I can't help but notice a single raised eyebrow on her face, "a healthy bit of magic never hurt anyone," her knee brushes my leg when she stops, "and the precision with weapons." I quickly flip the dagger up to the side of her face fast enough for it to whistle through the air.

She doesn't even blink, just stares at me with an unusual grin. After a moment she turns her head and looks the dagger up and down appreciatively. "hmm…" she hums as she looks the blade over, her dark lashes cast brilliant shadows across her face and her lips seem to call out to me.

Flashes of our last kiss- her sweet smell, her full, soft lips, her taste- cross my mind and I find myself leaning dangerously close to her, my eyes fixed on her mouth. "Your 'perks' seem a bit small." I look up in confusion to her deep blue eyes. She has a coy grin on her lips and I wonder…

Did she just…. Did she…?

Suddenly a gleam to my right draws my attention and I tear my eyes from her to see her sword clutched in her hand, its tip pointed upward to the night sky. I smile and let out a small laugh as I look at the much larger blade.

I can't believe this…she's playing along.

I turn back to see a content look on her face; she thinks she's beaten me at my own game. I lean in to her ear and let a small breath of hot air spread across her neck, I hear her inhale sharply, "You haven't heard the nord perks yet." I say in a low whisper.

I draw back and see her eyes flash open wide as she realizes my meaning. Her mouth opens in a shocked O shape and I almost fall back laughing. Her expression changes into a wide embarrassed grin as a blush spreads through her cheeks. "Oh, you be quiet!" she shouts as tears gather in my eyes.

"But," I try to calm myself with a deep breath, "Lyd, you should have seen-" I break out in another fit of laughter and I close my eyes as I try to wipe the tears away. When I open them again I see Lydia biting her lip as she brings her fist back and lightly punches me in the stomach before pushing me back against the ground.

"Stop laughing!" she cries as she herself begins giggling as she continues to punch my armor. I keep laughing as I grab her hips and roll us so that I'm over her now. I take a deep breath and she pushes against my chest and tries to hook her leg under mine in an effort to roll us.

I let her and she ends up above me, pinning my arms over my head against the ground. Her hands pin my wrists, though not in an unbreakable grip, and her legs sit astride my hips. I take a deep breath and she smiles down at me. For a moment I just lay there, gazing up at the strong, stubborn, beautiful Nordic woman above me. Her face twists in a mixture of confusion and nervousness. "This is the part where you fight back." She whispers in a soft voice.

I shake my head, a smirk on my face and an eyebrow quirked high, "Nah," I say after a moment, "I'm excited to see where you're going with this." Her eyes frantically look over my face, as if presented with a dare.

Suddenly the vision of her beautiful conflicted face is blurred as something falls into my eye. I squeeze it shut before another drop hits my forehead. Lydia looks up at the sky as raindrops begin pelting down. "Told ya'." I say smugly as she fumbles off of me and jogs to her tent.

"Saved by the rain, eh, Lyd?" I mumble jokingly to myself. I push myself up as the rain begins pouring down, extinguishing the fire and making it impossible to see. I bring healing into my hand and light my way to my tent.

As I step inside, I remember that my tent has a hole in the top after the snow incident. "Shit." I say to myself as I back out of my tent and run to Lydia's.

I step inside to see her sitting up, wrapped inside a thick blanket. Her eyes go wide when she sees me, "What're you doing in here? Your tent is over there!" I shrug as I lean in and sit across from her. The rain pelts the top of the tarp, making it hard to hear.

"Mine has a hole in it, remember?!" I call above the sound of the rain.

The rain pours even harder than before, and I look up to see the tarp is sagging sown under the weight of the water. But before either of us can do anything, the tarp collapses, trapping us both underneath. We fumble around for the opening and we push our way out of it.

Once outside, the rain almost instantly soaks through my armor, and I bring healing back into my palm as I grab Lydia's hand and lead her towards the cover of the tree by our campsite. I reach the trunk of the tree and push my back against it as I sink down to sit with my back to it.

Lydia plants herself down by my side with her blanket wrapped around her tightly. The rain is less noisy under the cover of the tree; though the occasional big raindrop falls on our heads I suppose it's better than nothing. "This is your fault." Lydia mumbles unhappily.

Somehow, I don't think she's talking about the whole tent collapse thing.

I give a small chuckle, "How is it my fault?" I say as I rest my head against the trunk.

"It just is." She says as she gathers her bundle of blankets up and pulls them tight against her. I look down to my arm, the markings glow orange, at least providing some light for now.

It's true; we wouldn't be here if I had told Lydia about Mephala…

I sigh, "I know." I bring frost into my hand instead and the markings change to a light blue glow. I look out at the horses, to see them standing in the rain eating grass.

A tired laugh escapes my lips and Lydia turns to me with an angry confused look that demands what's so funny about the situation. I point towards the big burly beasts, "Here we are, running for cover, and the fucking horses don't give a shit." I let out another laugh and Lydia joins in this time, probably laughing at me more than the horses though.

She inches closer and leans against the trunk to my left.

We sit like this for a long time, just listening to the rain as it falls all around us, neither one of us speaking. Lydia leans her head against me and brings my arm into her blankets and rests against it. For a moment, everything is normal.

Out of nowhere a gold light envelopes us, blocking any sight of the campsite, the rain, the horses….there's only gold shimmering light around us. We both jump back against the trunk, Lydia gasps and releases my arm. The orb of light that surrounded us is gone; its light fades slowly away.

The orb of light is familiar; I reflexively grasp at my neck, but find no talisman there.

I look down to Lydia who stares at me with fear in her eyes, "What was that!?" her voice is full of panic, but I ignore her question.

I reach down and pull the blanket away from Lydia; her nipples press against her thick tunic in reaction to the cold night air, I force myself to concentrate as she yells, "What're you doing!?" I reach up to her neck and grasp the chain; I pull at it until the talisman rests in my palm.

Lydia gulps and stares intently at the ground below us, refusing to look me in the eye. I slip the chain over her head and hold the familiar gold adorned crystal orb out before us, making sure to avoid touching it with my left hand which casts the light from the Frost magic.

"Looks like I'm not the only one keeping secrets, eh?" I ask in a flat voice as I turn the delicate necklace in my hands. "Guess I'm not the only thief, either." Lydia gazes up at me with a regretful look.

"I'm sorry Markus, I… I found it one day and I should have given it back-"

"Never mind that now, do you wanna see something amazing?" she stares back at me with her deep blue eyes.

"Wait, you're not angry?" I clutch the familiar shape in my palm and run my fingers over its cool surface.

"My mother gave me this talisman, said it was my father's. She was wearing it when she died." I open my hand and the crystal orb seems to gleam at me, "Her body was ashes and bones, the only thing that survived the flames was this. I thought I'd lost it and here it is."

I shake my head, "No I'm not mad Lyd." She opens her mouth as if to speak, but I bring my left hand up and pass the talisman into its palm. The Frost magic enfolds it in an icy blue mist and the gold orb surrounds us once more. "It needs to touch magicka to work." I explain to her.

Her hand reaches out and touches the orb's surface, "I can feel the rain outside of it." She says in a confused voice.

"It's only an illusion; our physical form stays where we are."

"Our physical form? What happens to-" before she can finish, I think back to Valenwood, back to my childhood.

The orb slowly paints a scene before us and I immediately recognize it as my old home. The space is small, but the air is fresh and clear, the scent of fresh slyfruit lingers in the air and the only light in the room comes from the small fire that my uncle built on the floor of the main room for the specific purpose of storytelling.

My uncle sits beside the fire in a wooden chair and a seven year old me sits across from him with wide wonder filled eyes as he speaks. "And just when I thought all was well after I defeated the band of thugs and rescued the lost maid from danger, she pulled a dagger from a sheathe on her leg under her dress and came toward me screeching like a demon!" my uncle's hands fly up, mimicking the woman' s attack.

Lydia

The younger Markus gazes at his uncle as if he's a hero, or something equally as remarkable. Markus really was more stocky when he was young, and his hair was long and tied back in a braid that I can't imagine him wearing now. He wears only a pair of hide pants as he sits on the floor staring up at his uncle.

Terran's face is that of a fresh adventurer; young, hungry, unafraid.

"And as she advanced, I learned two things: one is never let your guard down, even around seemingly harmless people. Two is-"

"That women make fierce opponents in battle?" A woman's warm voice interjects. A figure approaches the small fire until her form is revealed in the light. Her frame is tall, maybe even taller than Markus, and her limbs are slender and elegant. She too wears only hide pants and at first, I feel uncomfortable to look at her but then I remember that Markus said Valenwood was a very warm place, even at night.

Her skin is tanner than Markus's, and her hair is a deep brown. But her eyes are identical to his; the same glimmering green. The angles of her face are similar, too.

Terran chuckles at her comment, "Well of course, but I was going to say that when confronted while unarmed, it's best to allow your opponent to believe they have the upper hand and then strike at the right moment."

"A sound strategy," Nurali says, "but I think it's about time for bed now." Markus's head snaps to his mother, eyes wide and pleading.

"But I haven't heard what happens next! Please mom I can't go to bed now!" Nurali simply sighs and nods before she pulls a chair between the two and sitting with a smile on her face.

"So, there I was, my back pinned against the wall as she approached with her knife held-"

"You said it was a dagger!" Markus cries at his uncle's mistake.

Terran shakes his head, "Oh yes, right, with a dagger held high above her head…." The young Markus's pointed ears stick out against his black hair. His admiring gaze sticks to his uncle as he listens; I turn to my right to see a completely different gaze from him as he watches the past.

A smile clings to his lips and small tears hang in his eyes. He looks as if he's found a lost dream, and in a way I guess he has.

A moment later the scene slowly starts to fade, as does the golden orb that surrounded us. We sit there for a few silent minutes before I speak up. "I'm sorry, Markus."

He sighs deeply and leans back against the trunk once more, "Don't be." His voice is barely loud enough for me to hear over the rain.

We return to silence and eventually, we both fall asleep as the storm continues all around us.

Author's Note: I'll get to writing the next chapter right away! It's probably going to be an abnormally long one, but I'll make sure it's one of the best ones yet.

Quick question in honor of the anniversary: what was your favorite scene/ moment in the story so far?

Thank you all again for everything, it's really appreciated!