Kyra staggered when her feet felt firm ground again, swallowing as bile rose up in her stomach. Mage teleportation was a quick way to travel, but it certainly wasn't a smooth ride.

J'Zargo straightened up by her side, fur ruffled and dirtied. He was usually meticulous about his presentation, but now he didn't seem to care, staring at the cottage in front of them instead. These last few weeks had changed him, making him less arrogant, more mature.

"Do you reckon we should speak with Drelas?" J'Zargo asked. "He may have some supplies we can use."

Kyra hesitated, and then nodded. "It's worth a try. If he used to be with the college, he may even be willing to come along."

She carefully threaded her way around the vegetable plot, taking care to avoid the plants that emerged from the freshly turned soil, and walked up to the door. Quickly sending a glance at J'Zargo, she knocked on the door.

There was a sound from within - a faint crash - but no one came to the door. She knocked again, and was about to turn away, when J'Zargo suddenly leapt at her. She flinched, reacting on instinct, but wasn't quick enough to avoid his body. She stumbled to the ground, his body on hers, and sent a elbow strike at his head.

He recoiled, yowling in pain. "You idiot! We're being attacked!"

He scrambled off her, crouching beneath the window, and she could now see that a section of it was shattered.

A shard of ice shattered another part of the window.

She cursed, keeping low on the ground as she crept back towards the door. "Keep him occupied," she whispered to J'Zargo.

He nodded, lightening crackling in one hand, fire in the other, and sent the twin streams back through the window.

Kyra unsheathed her swords as quietly as possible, glancing at the door. She could use unrelenting force to break it down, and she hesitated, some part of her urging her to use the thu'um. But the other part of her - stronger for the time being - reminded her of the destruction it had caused.

Instead, she braced herself and kicked the door, using her Dov soul to lend strength to her legs. The door splintered and rocked on its hinges. She kicked again. The door tumbled in, and someone inside whirled to face her, a vicious snarl marring their face.

She leapt inside, avoiding the first shard of ice he sent her way, and deflected the second with her sword by flickering her wrist. J'Zargo sent more fire towards the wizard - a Dunmer - from his position outside, who only just managed to raise a ward in time.

Kyra darted closer, trusting J'Zargo to keep the Dunmer occupied for as long as possible. When the fire dwindled away, and the Dunmer lowered his ward, starting to turn back to Kyra as though he had only just remembered there was another threat, she swung her swords.

One caught him on the shoulder, causing a shallow cut, and he stumbled back. He lost his footing, tripping over his mage's robes, and his head came into contact with the alchemy station behind him. There was a wet crunch, and he crumpled to the ground. Kyra cautiously prodded him with a toe, rolling him over. His eyes were wide and glassy.

She sighed, sheathing her swords. "He's dead," she called out to J'Zargo, who poked a head up from outside. "He hit his head."

J'Zargo cautiously ventured through the door, stepping over the splintered door. "He must have gone rouge when he left the college," he muttered.

Kyra nodded, heading to the nearest cupboard. Food was stored inside - simple but edible - as well as several healing and stamina potions. Spotting a knapsack, she piled the supplies into it, helped by J'Zargo.

Her arms started itching. She grimaced, trying to resist the urge to scratch, and noticed the tremors in her hands get worse. "You should check upstairs for anything else that might help us," she said hurriedly. "I'll head out and see which direction the Labyrinthian is."

J'Zargo looked at her strangely, and she ducked her head, keeping her eyes on the ground. The gold around her iris was always more pronounced when the symptoms appeared, and she didn't know how well-versed J'Zargo was on the addiction signs for Summoning.

Except it wasn't addiction. It wasn't.

She hurried outside, dragging her fingers across her skin with an almost feverish intensity, until she was far enough from the cottage. It took her a while to peel off her gloves - her hands were shaking too much - and the crawling beneath her skin was increasing. She gritted her teeth in frustration, feeling tears prickle her eyes, until she finally threw her gloves on the ground and raised her bare hand to the air. With growing desperation, she reached for Oblivion, and pulled Kruuyal towards her.

When the pleasure had faded, and she had regained control of her senses, she raised her eyes to look at Kruuyal. He stood there, leaning casually against a large boulder.

Neither of them said anything for a minute.

"You're getting stronger," Kruuyal finally said.

She frowned, but he continued before she could say anything.

"When you threatened Ancano, you took control. You dealt with him skilfully. You let your dragon soul have more control, more power, and it made you stronger, more prepared to deal with the situation."

She cast her mind back, trying to fight through the perpetual fog that clouded her thoughts, and saw Kruuyal's sword draw Ancano's blood on her command in her mind. How was she supposed to be feeling about that? The sensation of power and control she'd originally felt had waned, and all that remained was a hollow sensation in her stomach.

Kruuyal seemed to know what she was thinking. "You did the right thing," he said. "He was a threat to you, and you took steps to ensure he wasn't. You need to relax your conscience, and stop being so infuriatingly human. Things aren't black and white, and you need to welcome the darkness as readily as the light."

She remembered a time when she would have recoiled at that. But now, she nodded hesitantly, murmuring a faint assent. "It didn't work though. Ancano still attacked me."

Kruuyal smiled, and she shuddered. "And next time, he will pay blood. What I drew last time was insignificant. He will bleed."

Kyra swallowed, but didn't object. Something hummed in contentment inside her.

She sensed someone approaching behind her, and she glanced around to see J'Zargo exiting the cottage. She turned to Kruuyal hurriedly. "Don't say anything," she hissed under her breath as she pulled her gloves back on. "I don't want J'Zargo knowing just how much I Summon you."

"I think he already suspects," Kruuyal said pointedly, but inclined his head in acquiescence anyway and backed away a few steps.

"J'Zargo has a few more healing potions," J'Zargo said as he approached them. "Better than wasting magika." He stopped, looking at Kruuyal for the first time as his fur stood on end. "Do you really have to keep him around?" he asked Kyra.

She nodded firmly. "The labyrinthian is only a few minutes walk away. We need to be prepared."

He sighed, tail twitching in agitation, but started walking. Kyra and Kruuyal followed, Kruuyal purposefully keeping his distance from her.


The silhouette of labyrinthian soon broke the horizon, the harsh lines jutting into the bleak sky. It had a measure of foreboding even when they were still some distance away, and now, as they stood staring at the steps carved into the stone, it loomed above them, sinister and oppressive.

Kyra moved first, placing a tentative foot on the first step, wary of the thin layer of ice. J'Zargo followed her, and they made their ascent up countless steps, the labyrinthian towering above them. A faint flurry of snow started as they reached what she estimated to be the halfway point, and by the time they reached the top, it had turned into a vicious snowstorm.

A large arch stood directly in front of them, cages hanging from rusted chains. A skeleton lay slumped in one, and as she passed underneath, a gust of wind dislodged a foot bone. It fell next to her, shattering upon impact, and she swallowed, passing under the arch.

The labyrinthian resembled something that could have once been a city. Large stone structures reached into the sky, collecting a think layer of snow. Sections of the stone were crumbling under the pressure of age, but the rest of it stood strong and immovable.

J'Zargo brought fire to his hands and moved in front, stepping silently on the snow. She unsheathed her swords, and as she did, she saw a glimmer of eyes in a dark crevice to her right. She didn't know what it was - probably an animal that was affected by Hircine's gift and therefore wouldn't attack her - but she didn't want to press her luck.

A faint pulsing caught her attention, and she stopped in her tracks. The familiar rhythm of a word wall cause a smile to creep over her face, but it felt different to usual. The pulses were occasionally overlapping - like hearing the distinct sounds of two clocks, and knowing one was faster than the other. There were two word walls.

She quickened her pace, passing a discarded cart - the owner no doubt dead - and met J'Zargo at a large door, the circular design reminding her of the door in the hall of stories.

J'Zargo was shaking his head, ears twitching at random intervals. "J'Zargo is going mad. He must be. Do you not see it?"

She frowned, following his gaze, but couldn't see anything. "What do you mean?"

"The ghost," J'Zargo whispered.

Her breath caught. "I…no. J'Zargo, there's nothing there."

"There is." Kruuyal's rumbling tone sounded in the whistling silence, and he was staring intently at the same place as J'Zargo was. "I may not be able to see it, but I can sense a disturbance. For some reason, it only reveals itself to the Khajit."

J'Zargo sighed, looking relieved. "So J'Zargo is not going crazy. He has had to wonder that many times, over the past few weeks."

"We should get the door open," Kyra interrupted, not wanting Kruuyal to speak too much. She didn't want their familiarity revealed.

She went to push open the door, but it was immovable beneath her hands. J'Zargo joined her in her efforts, and Kruuyal stood back and managed to look as though the mere idea of pushing a door open was beneath him.

J'Zargo gave up, kicking the door in frustration, snarling. He glared it, as though that would help, but when it didn't, he sagged against the door.

"Can't you shout it down?" he asked her.

Something inside her leapt at the chance but she forced it down. "No. I…I don't want to use the thu'um."

She could tell he was curious, but she stayed silent, thoughts started to muddle in her head. This had been happening a lot recently - disjointed thoughts and ways of thinking that were hard to follow, and harder to link back to the original prompt. She had learned by now just to let her mind do as it wished.

J'Zargo started suddenly by her side, and she cast curious eyes towards him. He was frowning at his pocket, eyes wide, and then reached it. The torque that Mirabelle had given to him was withdrawn, glowing slightly. It trembled in his hands, and then it gave a violent shudder and flew towards the door, latching onto it and forming a handle.

J'Zargo whooped in delight, the childish nature of his personality coming back in full force. "We're in!"

Kyra shook her head at his antiques, wishing she could join in with his laughter. Instead, she followed him into the blackness, Kruuyal by her side.

If she had been expecting a grand interior to match the outside, she was severely disappointed. The style of architecture was similar to every other Nordic ruin she'd been to, complete with a few skeletons littered on the floor - probably for dramatic effect.

She sighed, staying on high alert regardless, and crossed the room, continuing through the door and along several winding corridors. They walked in silence, each expecting something to attack them with each corner they turned.

And when it did, at least it was in a spectacular fashion.

They entered into a vast cavern, the expanse stretching far into the distance. Crooked pillars of stone held up a sagging ceiling, the lines of stone harsh and unforgiving. A foreboding sensation curled in her stomach and she shared a look with Kruuyal, knowing he was feeling the same.

They had barely set one foot into the room when the whole ground shuddered. She stumbled, instinctively catching her balance on Kruuyal. She withdrew her hand hurriedly, and made no effort to stop her mouth from falling open as she saw something rise from the ground in front of them.

It was a skeleton dragon.

A skeleton dragon.

She shook her head in pure amazement, her curiosity overtaking her warrior instinct for a minute, until an arrow whistled next to her head. Skeletons - this time humanoid - were approaching from all angles, and she cursed, whirling to the side to avoid another arrow.

"Deal with the skeletons!" she shouted at J'Zargo, and caught Kruuyal's eye. He nodded, no speech needed, and together, they advanced on the dragon.

Remembering the connection she had shared with Mirmulnir, she reached out with her mind, trying to sense any intelligence but there was nothing, not even a spark of life. It wasn't too surprising - it was a skeleton after all. Even better was the fact it didn't seem able to breath fire.

She circled around to the left, and Kruuyal went right. The dragon's skeletal head followed Kruuyal, seeing him as the larger threat, and dismissed Kyra entirely.

Briefly wondering whether it could feel pain, she aimed a quick slice at the dragon's ribcage, following up with another blow. Her sword bit into bone and the dragon snarled. It turned on her so suddenly that its tail caught Kruuyal with a heavy - if unintentional - blow.

She darted backwards, out of reach of snapping jaws, and then lunged in again. One of her swords attacked the head to keep it at bay, and the other buried itself in the dragon's empty eye socket. It roared, reeling back, and slashed its wing towards her.

She wasn't quite quick enough, and one of the smaller wing bones caught her across the chest. Her armour protected her from the worse of the blow, but it knocked the wind out of her. She wheezed, gasping for breath, and through blurry eyes, she saw Kruuyal attacking the dragon in a flurry of motion.

Her chest still aching, she gasped in a breath and ran at the dragon. She dodged another wing strike, and leapt up, onto the dragon's back. Kruuyal stayed on the ground, occupying the dragon to give Kyra the opportunity to attack its undefended back.

Swords raised high, she brought them down on the dragon's neck. It roared, voice filled with pain and whipped around, tail crashing into a nearby pillar. It trembled ominously. Kyra vaulted off, smashing into a skeleton as she did, and winced as her ankle twisted.

J'Zargo hurried up to her side, having dispatched of all the skeletons. She sent him a nod, before heading towards Kruuyal, who was still fighting off the dragon's attacks. The dragon was slower now, every movement slightly delayed, and Kruuyal was taking advantage of that.

In a similar move to Kyra's, he vaulted onto the dragon, but this time, he landed on its head. And as Kyra watched, he brought his greatsword down before the dragon could throw him off, and buried it in the dragon's skull. Bone splintered, shards flying up, as the dragon's legs trembled and it collapsed, mouth agape. Whatever magic had held the skeletal dragon together faded, and a pile of bones was all that remained, rattling faintly on the ground.

Kyra drew her eyes away from the sight, inexplicably sad. "We should carry on," she said to Kruuyal. "We can't afford to hang around."

"Do you need any healing potions?"

Kyra touched her chest gingerly, and winced. "I'll be fine. Save them for when we really need them."

He snorted. "Typical mortal. Too foolish to accept your weakness."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "I don't quite think you're one to lecture me on 'accepting my weakness'. You're the worst one here."

Kruuyal huffed and she smirked at him, before walking on, stepping over the scattered bones and continuing onwards. She could hear the muffled footprints of J'Zargo and the slightly louder thuds of Kruuyal behind her, but didn't turn around until she heard J'Zargo suck in a breath several minutes later.

Kyra turned around, and saw him staring at a pedestal and the space around it, seemingly oblivious to everything else. Kruuyal came up to her.

"There's another disturbance around here. The ghost he saw at the start is somehow connected. Wait for him to snap out of it."

It took a few minutes, but he eventually stirred, looking worried. He ignored Kyra's glance and continued on without saying anything. He didn't say what he had seen, and Kyra didn't ask.

They had been travelling for several minutes along winding corridors, when they entered into a small stone room. That alone wasn't cause for concern, but as soon as her foot edged past the threshold, something seized her. It felt immeasurably old and powerful, and the sensation caused her breath to stutter in her throat as her blood sped up, pulsing heavily through her veins. She thought she saw streams of pale blue light dance across her eyes, but she knew she was imagining that.

"Wo meyz wah dii vul janaar?"

The voice shuddered into her soul, and she struggled to regain control over her body. She knew the voice spoke in the Dovah-Zul, and was demanding to know who had come to here. And at the same time, she felt something draining from her, leaving her empty. She frowned, casting around a reason and then sucked in a breath. He was stealing her magika from her.

But she couldn't focus on that now. She swallowed, mouth dry, and tried to form words. "Zu'u los Kyra Nightingale," she said hesitantly, but the voice didn't reply for a few seconds. Then the presence fell upon her once more.

"Hi…hi los ni Aren?"

Her mind rippled, and she understood the words. You…you are not Aren? The voice seemed to think she was the arch-mage - he must have been here before, and visited the owner of the voice.

"Nid. Wo los hi?" No. Who are you?

The voice paused. "Zu'u los Morokei." I am Morokei.

Then the presence faded, the feeling lifting from her body. She opened her eyes, not realising she'd closed them while talking with the mysterious voice, and…did Kruuyal look worried?

"What happened?" he demanded.

"There was a voice. It spoke to me. It…it called itself Morokei."

Kruuyal growled. "Morokei? Are you sure?" When she nodded, he growled again and J'Zargo glanced over from the opposite side of the room. When had he crossed over there? "He's a dragon priest - an arrogant human who groveled at the feet of the Dov for a chance to hold a sliver of their power. Some of them achieved a Lich-like immortality."

"A dragon priest?" J'Zargo asked. "J'Zargo is suddenly less confident about the chance of success of this mission."

Kyra didn't let her sigh escape.

A pile of ash on the floor caught her eye, as did a scorch mark on the opposite wall that hadn't been there when she'd entered the room. "What happened?" she asked, unintentionally repeating Kruuyal's question.

"You walked in and froze when it started talking to you. And then there was another ghost - this time visible to your Dremora as well, and it wasn't quite so friendly," J'Zargo said distractedly. He was examining the door, tail flicking, as fire continued to crackle in his hands.

Kyra gritted her teeth, hating the fact that she had been helpless.

"Give me a hand with this door," J'Zargo said. "It's stuck. No surprise really, it's been a while since someone's been down here."

She nodded, and braced herself against the door, using her Dov strength to shove it open.

Gripping her swords tighter, she walked through the door, and they continued on.

As they headed deeper into the ruins, the draugr become ever more plentiful. They were weak at the start, but as the darkness grew and the silence became ever more oppressive, the draugr increased in both strength and number. Kyra was forced to banished and Summon Kruuyal several times when he became injured - apparently time in Oblivion, no matter how short, healed his wounds.

J'Zargo stopped at random intervals throughout their journey, staring at nothing. By now, she was used to the invisible appearance of the ghosts and waited patiently for him to wake from the trance, and every time he did, he seemed just a little quieter than before.

And when the same thing happened to her, when the presence descended on her once more and the voice whispered for her to turn back, to give up, Kruuyal and J'Zargo waited for her. She had tried questioning the voice - Morokei - but he refused to give any more details about himself, and chose to taunt her instead. The insults would have cut deep a few months ago, but now they brushed over her, somehow not seeming applicable.

The pulsing rhythm of the word wall grew stronger as they carried on, and she welcomed the familiar beat, feeling it resonate in her blood. The pounding was so strong that she almost missed the first glowing draugr. It was fluorescent and see-through, tendrils of glowing light weaving together to form a humanoid shape. A spectral hound accompanied it, the blue light binding it together in much the same way as the draugr.

Both Kyra and J'Zargo halted, taken aback by the sight, but Kruuyal held no such inhibitions. He charged at the draugr, swinging his great sword with an impressive ease, and smoothly lopped off its head. The hound hesitated, seeming to glance at Kyra, before it threw itself at Kruuyal. He casually smashed a fist into its face, and then impaled it. The hound whimpered as it died, and Kyra felt something stir in her. She told herself to ignore it.

They encountered more of the glowing draugr and their hounds, and the rhythm of the word wall steadily grew louder as they headed along. Letting her instincts take the lead, she unerringly navigated the corridors, led by the word wall.

She spotted the word wall in the distance, the pulse calling to her as a section starting glowing. Something inside her pulled her forwards and she obeyed, ignoring Kruuyal's hurried words of caution. They rebounded off her mind, not leaving an impression. The rhythm overwhelmed everything.

Crossing the room seemed to pass in a heartbeat, and she stood in front of the word wall - waiting, waiting.

And then the power rushed towards her, the pulsing increasing until it echoed in her soul, and understanding filled her. Ul, meaning eternity, to slow time down, to take the energy from speed, to watch the world move in thick molasses.

The pleasure followed soon after - weaker than a Summon but enough for her to draw in a breath as her senses became sharper, more acute.

It was with these briefly enhanced senses that she felt a motion behind her, a sudden gust of movement. Power still raging through her, she spun, raising her swords just in time to deflate the killing blow from hitting her.

The draugr deathlord growled.

She sucked in a shocked breath, glimpsing Kruuyal sprinting towards her from the corner of her eye. Kyra twisted to the side, disengaging, and Kruuyal took her place. He attacked, his greatsword a blur of motion, and the deathlord retreated.

J'Zargo was hurling spells at the deathlord, alternating between fire and lightening, although he was forced to pause on occasion to avoid hitting Kruuyal.

Kyra stood back, watching Kruuyal attack the deathlord, her senses still heightened. And as she did, something deep and primal woke inside her. It started as a sullen flame, but steadily built, becoming a roaring fire of instincts.

This was her kill. Mine, her mind snarled.

She rushed at the deathlord.

Kruuyal backed away, surprise clear in his features before his lips curved into a smile.

She didn't care enough to analyse his reaction. Every fibre of her body was focused on the threat in front of her, burning with anger. The deathlord advanced and she bared her teeth, leaping towards it. She slashed at the draugr, dancing around his counterattacks. Every strike of her swords made contact, severing muscle and bone.

The deathlord staggered back, and then swung its axe towards her head. She watched it come towards her, and something changed inside her. Something snapped into place.

And then she shouted.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The deathlord was thrown backwards, axe flying from its grasp, and it crumpled to the floor. She smiled.

Because why should she suppress something that was part of her? The thu'um was built into her, it was part of her soul, and she had been foolish to deny it. It had merely been an instrument when she slaughtered everyone at fort Neugrad.

She didn't give the deathlord the chance to recover, and smashed her foot into its knee. It staggered, dropping to one knee, and another kick sent it crashing to the floor.

She smiled viciously, and brought her swords down again and again on its withered body, fueled by a rage that burned deep inside as she imagined the swords were her claws tearing at the enemy.

And as she continued to drive her swords into her enemy, she thought she could hear Kruuyal whispering.

"Kill him. Give into your darkness. Embrace it." The last two words were growled with a low intensity, and it strengthened that dark, primal side of her - the side that was currently tearing the enemy to pieces. Her rational mind knew it was wrong, but it was starting to be overwhelmed by her dragon soul and-

"Kyra!"

It was only J'Zargo's shout, filled with shock, that snapped her out of her trance, and the dragon soul retreated a little. Reality crashed down around her.

Breath trembled in her throat and her grip on her swords slackened. The deathlord's body was almost unrecognisable, its face smashed in and ribcage cleaved clean. Shattered pieces of bone were scattered around its prone body.

Kruuyal straightened up by her side and she turned to face him, unable to say anything but trying to communicate through her eyes. She felt blood drip down her hands, sink into her skin, but when she glanced down, her hands were clean. Draugr didn't have blood.

She looked at the deathlord. But it wasn't the deathlord she saw - it was the broken body of Alaedra, blood spilling out of her wounds, her death wrought at Kyra's hands. This was the image that had tormented her dreams for so long, engraving itself into her mind. But then she blinked and the deathlord returned, and despite herself, the faint prickling of relief scuttled over her body - that it was just a draugr.

"What was that?" J'Zargo demanded, and Kyra flinched as she remembered Alaedra saying those words such a long time ago - but was it really that long ago? She couldn't remember. Her thoughts were so cloudy - in response to a similar situation.

"She was getting rid of a threat," Kruuyal replied for her, and she heard the dangerous tone in his voice.

"Kyra…you-you looked wild. You didn't need to stab it so many times." J'Zargo's tail twitched nervously.

"And what would you rather she did?" Kruuyal growled, stepping forwards to tower over J'Zargo. "Who are you, to presume the will of the dragonborn? Who are you, to control a dragon?"

J'Zargo backed down, but his fur was bristling. "Who is J'Zargo? He is a friend. And you are a dremora. J'Zargo actually cares about what Kyra wants, rather than pressuring her to become something she isn't." He turned to her, looking at her strangely. "But you're letting yourself be manipulated, all so you can forget whatever happened in your past. You aren't yourself, but you don't care. Because that's what you want, isn't it?"

Kyra swallowed, coldness creeping into her heart, replacing the fire. She seemed to be perpetually living in either one state or the other. Hot or cold. Angry or indifferent. "You don't know what I want," she said quietly, ignoring the fact that she didn't either. J'Zargo's words had struck a nerve. "And it was just a draugr. It was already dead anyway."

The strange expression didn't stray from J'Zargo's expression, but he nodded stiffly and turned away. He didn't wait to see if Kyra was following before walking off.

Kyra sighed, sheathing her swords and headed after him, thoughts whirling.

"It could have been a person, you know," Kruuyal said.

She stopped walking.

"It could easily have been a person," he continued, looking at her with a strange intensity. "And if it had been, would you really have reacted differently if the person was a threat? Would you really have killed them in a different way?"

She didn't reply. It was obvious that Kruuyal thought she wouldn't have cared about the difference between an emotionless draugr and a person.

And that was perhaps the most worrying thing - that she didn't know herself.