Avari fell to her knees next to the memory of Miraak, his hand clutching tightly at his shredded side. She reached to cover his bloodied hand with her own where he was trying to keep his blood inside his body as it poured out of the wound. Her hand quickly pulled back when the man turned to look at the wound, his dark hand pulling slowly away before wincing and covering the wound again. His eyes shot to dealer of the blow, his brow coming together as he pulled his body across the ground trying to put more distance between himself and the loyal priest.
"Do not do this Vahlok!" Miraak grabbed for his mask with his free hand, sliding it loudly against the stone. He glanced over his shoulder at the Black Book that sat on its pedestal, digging his heels in to the stone and pushing his body closer to it. "You're more than another pawn for the Dragons to use as they wish!" He groaned as he took hold of the large statue, forcing himself on to shaking legs. He spit the blood from his mouth, his fingers trying to grip the thick cover of the book and force it open. It opened with a thud as it slammed down against the stone, his eyes moving to the words.
The blade was quick, Vahlok moved faster than he had expected, Avari's eyes went wide as her hands went to her mouth. She watched Miraak's face as the man realized he was taking his last breathes, an enchanted dagger was dug deep in to his chest. Vahlok backed away, reaching for Miraak's sword that lay at his feet. The golden colored blade was brought above the priests, his hidden eyes watching the betrayers. She waited for the blow, but her mind was soon reminded that these were memories and she was not watching the death of a man she knew. The Daedric Lord quickly made his presence know, ripping from the book and taking hold of the broken priest's body and pulling it from the floor.
Avari watched the blade hit stone, the spot empty of the man it had wished to strike."I will see you pay for what you have done, Miraak!"
Avari slowly opened her eyes, catching sight of Miraak who sat on the edge of the bed. She carefully pushed herself upright, propping her back up against the head board. The duo turned to Tolfdir as he entered the room. The mage held a potion out to Avari without a word, waiting to speak until she had finished off the bottle.
"We couldn't get Miraak to link with you again." The old man sat in the chair next to the large bed. "What did you see this time?"
"Vahlok." Avari looked at Miraak when he groaned and pushed himself to his feet. He had been on edge since he had been unable to enter her memories as easily as she could his.
"That's the Dragon Priest who battled Miraak before?"
"Yes." Miraak spoke lightly as he walked away from them. "Avari." He turned to face her as he spoke, glancing over at the mage for a moment. "We cannot stay here any longer, the General is waiting on us and Edgster just received word that the Stormcloaks are beginning their push towards Whiterun. I do not have the time to sit here and allow you to dig through my past for something that may not even be there. We do not know what this is going to help. Your mages barely know what they are doing and I have not felt any different since we began this weeks ago. It's time to continue with this war now."
Tolfdir looked at Avari before he pushed himself to his feet and walked out of the room, leaving the two alone inside Avari's quarters. She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood, making her way over to Miraak. "So we are heading to Whiterun then?"
He paused for a moment before nodding his head. "We'll leave tonight, after sundown."
Avari sighed heavily before she followed after Tolfdir, better that she was the one to inform the mage that his experiments were going to be put on hold for the moment.
The crunch of the snow under the horses hoofs was the only sound that broke the silence of the night, an occasional whistle of the wind squeezing its way through the branches of naked trees sounding every once in awhile. Avari pulled herself closer to Miraak inside the small cart, the fresh snow that littered ground making the air seem even more cold than it already was. She sighed when he placed his arm around her and pulled her against his chest, adjusting her large cloak until it covered the girl like a blanket. Edgster had long since fallen asleep, the old man's head was resting snug on the Dark Elf next to him. Teldryn didn't seemed bothered by the old man, his own arms tucked tightly within his cloak and his head all, but hidden behind the collar of the heavy furs. It wouldn't be long before the carriage found its way out of Winterhold's cold climate and in to Whiterun's warmer lands. Avari's eyes moved to look down at the book that Miraak held in his hands, his fingers darting up to quickly turn the page before they settled again on its sides.
"What is this you are reading?"
"It is a book I found within the school. The large Orc gave it up after a bit of a fight and promise to keep it safe." He slowly closed the book and tucked it under his thigh before resting his head on top of hers. His eyes closed and he brought his arm around her shoulder, pulling her tighter against his side.
It didn't take long before the young Nord was fast asleep, the cold no longer bothering her exposed face. Avari was not sure how long she had slept, but when she woke the sun was beginning to rise and the sharp cold wind had transformed in to a more pleasant cool wind. The weight of Miraak's head upon hers kept her still, the steady rise and fall of his chest giving away his sleeping state. She closed her eyes and tried her best to lull herself to sleep, but it would not work and she found herself instead watching the trees as they passed. Soon the old man across from Miraak stirred and jerked awake, looking over at the Dunmer who still slept next to him. Teldryn's face still buried in his furs with arms crossed tightly against his chest. She gave the man a small smile when he looked to the two Nords, adjusting his clothes as he did so.
"I hope you slept well, Edgster." Avari whispered as quietly as she could while still loud enough for the man to hear.
He gave her a nod with a smile before looking around, a failed attempt at finding out where they could be. He fell back against the wooden seat, letting out a sigh before glancing back to the pair.
Miraak was the next to stir, tightening his arm around Avari and pulling her tightly against him. It took a moment for him to remember where he was. Slowly raising his head and freeing Avari to do so also. He began rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. "How far out are we, Avari?"
She looked around, blocking the brightly shinning sun with her hand as she did so. "Not too long, hour maybe more or less. Hard to tell."
The rest of the ride she listened to Edgster and Miraak speak of things that she found no interest in. At first she began kicking at Teldryn's boots, only earning a groan from the irritated Elf before she stopped and let the Mer be. Again she found herself just watching the scenery go by them as the wagon moved. Her arms folded atop the edge of the wagon, her chin resting on the top her fingers. She had began drifting off again before she caught sight of Whiterun. Miraak's men mixed with the Legion, the only thing making them stand out from the others was their uniform and the way they showed their respect to the priest as he stepped off the wagon. Turning to Avari and holding out his hand to her, helping her down and off the wagon. Edgster quickly woke the sleeping Elf, pointing towards the city when the man moved to curse at the older Breton.
"Lord Miraak!" A young man hurried towards them, coming to a stop before he made a fist and placed it against his chest. "We have been awaiting your arrival. Our men will be happy to see you and our lady have made it here without incident." He lowered his arms before holding out a piece of parchment out to him. "The General asked to see you at once. The Stormcloaks are a day out from the city, large camp. Our scouts have been sending word of their movements and they will be upon us soon. It is good you came when you did, my lord."
"And what of the Jarl's men?" Avari walked beside Miraak as they made their way in to the city, her arm linked with his, her hand resting upon his forearm.
"They have been spread thin for some time, my lady. They are helping where they can, mostly kept inside the city while we patrol the roads." The young man answered, glancing over his shoulder at her.
The trio made their way through the city and up the many steps that took them in to Dragonsreach. She could hear the arguing as soon as the door open, her attention turning to Miraak when he sighed heavily. Avari moved closer to him, taking hold of his hand with her free one and smiling up at him when he turned to look at her. They turned their eyes towards the arguing men, the conflict they seemed to be in involved many of the Jarl's court.
"General Tullius." The young man who had led them from the stables spoke loudly, braking through the loud voices. "Our lord and lady have arrived."
"Avari." Jarl Balgruff smiled at the Nord.
"Jarl Balgruff, it is good to see you, as always." She nodded her head slightly.
"It has been a long time. I believe the last time we had the pleasure of seeing you was after your victory with Alduin." He laughed, lightly, to himself. "I can only hope you are not looking to use my home to trap another dragon?" The Jarl teased, glancing to Miraak.
"I think Odahviing may protest against that." Avari smiled.
"The beast kept his word?"
"Yes. As did all the other dragon's who have turned to Paarthurnax for leadership."
"That is good to hear." He stood to his feet. "This is the Dragon Priest you spoke of, Tullius?"
"This is Miraak." Avari glanced up of the man's face and back to the Jarl.
"A Dragon Priest no longer." Miraak corrected, looking between the two men. "I believe we have preparations to make, unless we tend to stand here and share stories about my wife while the Stormcloaks take your city."
"I'm sure that would catch the Stormcloaks off their guard." Avari chuckled looking over at the two young boys who were cautiously making their way towards the pair. She smiled at the youngest boy when his eyes lit up at the sight of her, dropping his wooden sword and running towards her. Avari laughed as his arms wrapped around legs. She carefully pulled him away and crouched down to give the boy a hug. "Nelkir." She smiled, pulling him back to look him over. "Oh, you've grown a lot since the last time I saw you." She tapped the tip of his nose with her finger. "No more Lady?" He smiled and shook his head no. "Good." She messed his hair before standing straight and taking hold of his hand and letting him lead her towards the toy sword.
"I have another."
"You do?!" Avari overreacted, giving the young boy a wide smile. "I imagine we have to practice now, don't we?"
"Can we?" A large smile spread across his face.
She looked over her shoulder at Miraak who was watching them intently.
"I imagine I can fill you in on our plans when you are finished." He watched as the young boy pulled Avari away with Miraak's voiced approval, the two disappeared and he turned his attention back to the three men who were watching the two leave the large area.
Avari fell to the floor with a forced yelp, keeping Nelkir's wooden sword that was held tightly between her ribs and her arm. She made her body limp, her legs falling in to the dirt with a thump, a small cloud of dust rising up from the force.
Nelkir cheered for himself loudly, dropping to his knees next to the Nord and pushing her hair from her face. "You wont terrorize this land any longer dragon."
She quickly jerked up with a roar, taking hold of the young boy. Rolling her body on the ground with Nelkir held tightly against her chest. He laughed loudly, holding on tightly to the front of her dress. Miraak stepped out in to the training yard, glancing over at the guards who were practicing with their various weapons. He quickly spotted Avari with the young boy, raising his eyebrow at the two as they rolled towards him. She came to a stop on her side at his feet, lightly biting at the boy's arm as her eyes raised up to look at the priest's face.
"Ah, my faithful priest has come to my aid!" She cackled loudly, pointing up at the large Nord. "Come priest and destroy this hero!"
Nelkir screamed with a laugh, fighting against Avari until she pretended to be wounded. The young boy quickly climbed to his feet, leaving the Dragonborn in the dirt as he raced off for his sword.
"At least help me up out of the dirt?" She held her hand out to the man, who shook his head before taking it and pulling her up to her feet. "So, what's the plan?" She brushed the dirt from her dress as she spoke, picking dried grass from her hair before looking up to Miraak.
He nodded towards the charging boy.
Avari laughed as she stepped out of the boys way, taking hold of his arm and pulling him to a stop. "Whoa! Nelkir, I need to take a break. I need to speak to Miraak for a moment. Why don't you run inside and get cleaned up? You look like you could use a drink." She smiled as she watched the boy race off towards the keep before turning back to Miraak.
The two began to walk the yard, making their way away from the guardsmen before he began to speak of their plans.
"I'll go on the front walls with archers." Avari stopped with him, turning to look up at Miraak.
He shook his head. "I'd rather have you in the keep in case they break through our front line."
"No, I will be on that wall with the rest of them. I refuse to sit in the keep with a Jarl as just an 'in case' back up plan." Her eyes narrowed and she folded her arms against her chest.
"Avari." He groaned loudly at her protest.
"You out there fighting puts me in the same amount of danger. Did you forget that, Miraak?" Her face softened a bit. "I refuse to sit by when I am worth twenty men. Without me out there we have a greater chance of keeping the Stormcloaks out of the city. Less men that get in to the city will stop more deaths of those who are not even involved in this war. I'll take Lydia and Teldryn with me, they can stand with either men below the wall."
He sighed heavily before nodding his head. "I'll be leading the men with the Jarl's housecarl."
"Good, I'll be able to keep an eye on you. I do not need any more scars, at least not another one from a fight that I was not even involved in." She smiled at him, taking a step closer and lowering her arms. Avari walked forward until she was only inches from his face, she held her hands behind her back.
"I thought your mages may have done at least something for us with all those trials they put us through." He pushed her hair out of her face, resting his hand on the back of her neck.
"At least it will be a good test run of what has been broken." Avari leaned her face towards his, watching his eyes closely.
Edgster loudly cleared his throat, the Jarl's voice following the loud interruption.
"The Stormcloaks are only a few hours out, maybe less from our scouts reports."
Avari turned around to face the pair, pressing her back against Miraak's chest. "I guess we better get ready then, huh?" She looked up to Miraak.
"Edgster, get the men ready."
"Yes, Lord Miraak." Edgster bowed his head before hurrying off.
As darkness began to creep across Whiterun the first evidence of the Stormcloaks was caught. A young woman was brought to Miraak in chains, she stared up at him in shock, just as many others had when he had walked out of the gate with his mask in place on his face. He stood in front of the girl with his arms crossed, only looking away when Avari approached next to him. The young Nord at his feet changed her expression at her fellow Nord's approach. Her brow quickly coming together and her lips forming in to a tight line.
"Traitor." She spoke under her breath.
"Speak up girl. If you have words to say, I suggest you say them loud enough for all us to hear." Edgster spoke from he stood, giving the young man that had brought the woman to them a nod before the soldiers boot impacted with the prisoners back causing her to fall forward in to the stone.
She cursed the man before forcing herself back up and looking to the Nord in the black armor. Her eyes scanning of the Dragonborn's form before she found her eyes and connected with them. "You are nothing more than a traitor!"
Avari kept calm, letting the words glide past her as if they meant nothing, while inside they had more impact than she was willing to show. Her composure was quickly lost in one quick movement of Miraak. The woman she had been watching choked and gurgled as dark blood began to pour between her lips, her eyes never leaving Avari's until she fell to the ground. With a shaky breath she turned to Miraak who was handing Edgster's dagger back to him.
"Take her to the road and leave her, let their scouts see that Whiterun does not stand alone." Miraak spoke calmly before stepping over the woman's still bleeding body and making his way towards the stables.
Avari looked up when she felt a hand slip in to her own. Her face quickly changed at the familiar face that was smiling down at her, in a second she had her arms around the man's neck and his all too familiar laugh was vibrating through her armor.
"Couldn't even come say hello to us?"
She released the man to look behind him. "Vilkas?" The distance between them was quickly closed and she soon had the other brother in a tight hug. When she released him the man kept his arm around her waist while she reached to Farkas, taking his hand and pulling him over to her. Another quick hug was given to the both of them before she spoke. "You don't know how amazing it is to see you both."
"We could say the same for you." The larger twin spoke, looking down at his brother who still had a hold of the girl.
"And the others?"
"Around. We were sent to the front lines, thought we might find you here." Vilkas looked over her shoulder at the masked man that was approaching.
"Where have you been?" Farkas gave her hand a squeeze.
"Every where." She sighed. "But it's good to be home again."
"With The Companions I imagine?" Miraak spoke, glancing to the two men before his head moved down to look at where Avari's fingers linked with one man's and the other had his hand resting on her waist.
"Aye." Vilkas was the first to speak, his face hardening.
"This is Vilkas and Farkas." Avari looked between the two and smiled at Miraak. "And this is Miraak."
"Her husband." His face turned back to the other Nord's arm around her waist.
"Husband?" The twins spoke in unison, turning to look at each other.
"I didn't know you were the marrying type, Avari." Farkas laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck when his brothers face twisted in to anger and he glared at the man's face that was hidden behind the mask.
Miraak spoke before Avari had a chance, folding his arms against his chest tightly. "One of my men will be waiting down the road a ways, he will tell you where you will be needed." He held his hand out to Avari.
"Drinks after?" She asked the twins before taking Miraak's hand and letting him guide her next to him.
"Just like the old days." Farkas smiled awkwardly, nudging his brother forward.
"I dislike the smaller one." Miraak spoke as they watched the Companions walk away.
"You don't like anyone."
"I like some." He looked down at her.
"Other than Edgster."
"Teldryn."
"Since when?" A smirk pulled at her lips.
"Since I decided I don't like that Nord."
She shook her head, glancing down at the drying puddle of blood upon the stone. The feelings she had been having before the twins had distracted her from them.
Miraak followed her eyes, quickly turning back to her and gently taking hold of her chin. "I like you the most though." He frowned behind his mask when she forced herself to smile. He was quickly interrupted as he attempted to speak, their attention being drawn to the woman who was approaching them. He released Avari and turned to his scout, walking quickly towards her while she ran towards the pair.
"Spotted on the road, they've engaged the front line, they are asking for reinforcements."
"Call the men." Miraak pointed towards his own men that waited near the stables before turning to Avari who was pulling her helm over her head.
By the time they made their way to where the battle had begun it was turned to a full force assault against the Stormcloaks. She quickly lost Miraak within the sea of men, the only sound of him still being near to her was his shouts that snaked their way through the apposing soldiers. Her blade sank in to a Nords chest as he swung for her with his mace, her free longsword that was not currently occupying a chest cavity came to block the man's weak swing. The sound of metal on metal rang in her ears, almost causing her to miss the quickly approaching woman. The woman's shield was braced in front of her and she only gave her fellow Nord enough time to raise her forearm and brace herself for the hard impact. Avari hit the ground hard, her vision blurring when her helm tumbled from her head and her skull hit the ground with a crack. Quick thinking and her hand quickly snatched the shield of a fallen person, placing it in front of her moments before the mace came down with a crash, biting in to the wood. Avari groaned and pushed with her legs, sending the woman tumbling to the ground and receiving a quick blade through the chest.
Miraak's men cut through the Stormcloaks quicker than their Legion counter parts, who seemed to have taken quite the casualties from the fight. She had switched from her weapons, to a fallen Stormcloaks, to a Legion and finally to a well crafted blade that had quickly been passed to her by on of Miraak's men when she had lost her last by a charging Stormcloak. The clean steel was quickly coated in dark crimson in no time and the sound of retreat began to echo around them as the Stormcloaks pulled back. Miraak stopping his own men from pursing their retreat. There wasn't enough Legion left for them to even think of continuing without the priests soldiers, so they accepted his order as if it came from their own and joined Miraak's men to watch the wounded warriors pull back their numbers and escape as quickly as they could.
"I forgot what it was like to watch you fight." Teldryn walked up behind her, breathing heavily as he pulled his helm from his face.
"Its been a long time." She sighed, walking the short distance towards him.
He looked around them, pulling his gauntlets from his hands as he did so. "No sign of Miraak."
"Yeah." She joined him in searching for the masked face or robes. "We lost track of each other when it started." Avari looked down at her armor, running her armored hand across her chest piece in an attempt to try to rid it of the blood.
"We were just speaking of you."
"Good things I hope."
Avari's head jerked up at his voice.
His mask was splattered blood, his chest worse than the mask. It even dripped from his finger tips like rain drops. "You both okay?"
Avari nodded while Teldryn spoke. "Both seem to be in one piece at least. What about you, boss?" He nodded towards the blood that was running down his arms.
"May need a healer here soon if it does not stop on its own." Miraak looked at his arms, shaking his hands a bit to try to rid them of the blood. He watched Avari through his mask as she moved to him and began pulling up his sleeves. His breath hitching a bit and his jaw clenching tightly at the sudden pain that shot through his forearms.
"Holy..." Teldryn cut off his curse as his eyes went wide. "It looks like you shoved your arms in a dragon's mouth!"
"Worse than it feels." He shook his head at Avari when she looked up at him with a shocked look.
His arms where torn a part, flesh hanging from nothing, but bone in places. Others had large gashes carved in to them. Miraak winced slightly when Avari tore his sleeves, causing the pain to increase for a moment.
"Teldryn, can you?" She looked up at her friend.
"I mean, I can give it a go, but you're differently going to have a lot of ugly scarring if I do it."
"We should probably try to avoid that." Edgster cut in, motioning towards the healer that was following a ways behind him. "I figured at least one of you would need a bit of mending."
Avari gently handed over Miraak's hands to the older woman, she winced as the magic flowed over his skin. Pulling and tugging roughly at his skin and muscle, piecing them back together painfully. It didn't take long before his arms had gone from a horrific sight to large marks with raised skin that were pink in color. Miraak sighed heavily, pulling his sleeves down the best he could before taking hold of Avari's hand and leading her with him towards the General, Edgster and Teldryn not far behind them.
"Seems we have the bastards on the run." The Jarl spoke as he and the General began to approach the group, a smile on his lips.
"General." Miraak motioned with his hand, he paused and turned to face Avari. "Why don't you go get washed up? Get that armor and blood off and I'll see you after I speak with the General."
Avari nodded her head, watching the three men walk away before Edgster gently took her arm and linked it in his.
"Come, my lady, I will walk with you." The old man smiled while directing her towards the large main gate.
Avari made her way down the stairs, her boots clicking against the stone with each step she took. Her hair fell down her shoulders, pinned back just enough to keep it out of her face. The over sized tunic was tucked in to her leather pants, it made her look awkward, but all she wanted was to be comfortable and a dress was not on her list of comfortable clothes. Miraak stood from his chair when she stepped in to the large open area, making his way through the crowd and to her.
"I need to speak with you." His voice was low as he spoke, nodding over to the door that would lead them out in to the training grounds.
She nodded her head and let him take her hand.
He didn't speak a word till they were deep in to the yard, pulling her against his chest and kissing her deeply. "We are leaving." He whispered, resting his forehead against hers.
She nodded her head at first, taking a moment before she realized what he had just said to her. "Leaving?" She pulled back immediately to look up at the Nord. "What do you mean we are leaving? We just got here."
"There's a fort not far down the road, I made an agreement with the Jarl for it. Our men will continue to assist the Jarl's men and we are given the fort as our own."
"Fort Greymoor? Miraak, that place is an utter mess."
"Yes, I was warned. I did convince the General that having a unit of my men at the fort after we have won this war would be in favor of the Legion." He lightly began tugging at her oversized shirt, pulling it from the front of her pants. "They've agreed to see about repairs, at least making it comfortable for us."
"And how long will that take them?" She took a step closer to him when his hand ran across her bare stomach and to her back.
He shrugged his shoulders. "There's something else."
Avari leaned back, the priests arm staying wrapped around her waist and causing her to bend her back awkwardly. "What is it?" She raised her eyebrow.
"We are being escorted to Solitude, the Jarl has requested an audience."
"Why?"
"Her message did not say. Tullius insisted that we meet him there."
"Why do we not just all ride to Solitude together?"
Miraak sighed and released the girl, running his hands over his face. "Avari." He groaned.
"It just sounds a bit weird."
"We are leaving tonight. Edgster will be staying in Whiterun with Teldryn, helping pick up the pieces that the Stormcloaks left behind. You and I will be traveling under darkness from the city and make our way towards Solitude." He placed his hand on her cheek.
