Previously on the Legend of Varion…

Varion freed the spirit of Kodlak Whitemane from his beast blood, letting his soul go to Sovngarde. He was also named Harbinger of the Companions, and with this new title, he and his friends return to Whiterun, hoping for some peace. However, Varion's adventures are far from winding down…

Now, back to the story, in Season 2 of the Legend of Varion!

"So, Harbinger of the Companions huh? You've been busy" Delphine commented as Varion took a seat in her underground basement. He gave a humourless chuckle in response.

"Since we killed that dragon, I've become a werewolf, become Harbinger of the Companions and lost two good friends. Keeping busy is an understatement" he replied, sadness dripping into his tone as he mentioned Kodlak. Delphine gave him a sympathetic look.

"I was at the funeral" she said softly. "I'm sorry for your loss". At his surprised glance, Delphine chuckled. "I think we've made it aware that I can avoid standing out if I want to," she explained. Varion sighed and nodded before cracking his knuckles.

"You didn't call me here for small talk. What's the plan?" he asked, eager to get started. He'd found her note on his door about 5 hours ago and had immediately set off for Riverwood, telling Lydia and Aela where he'd gone. He'd already discussed with the companions that he'd be gone for potentially long periods at a time, so they'd be in charge of the day to day stuff until he got back. Really, it wouldn't be much different from when Kodlak was in charge. Delphine laughed at his words, causing him to frown a little.

"Sorry" she started. "I'm just happy to see you're excited," she continued. Varion grinned darkly.

"Anything that involves taking the thalmor down, I'll be up for it," he explained. She nodded, smirking as she did.

"Well, you'll have to hide that attitude for a while. You're going to a thalmor party" she said, and Varion's expression changed faster than one might have thought possible.

"I'm… what?" he managed to ask, overcoming his surprise at her answer.

"The thalmor holds parties where the rich and connected suck up to them. We're getting you into that party so you can slip out and look around the embassy for evidence" she explained and Varion frowned.

"I'm no nobleman. How am I getting in there?" he asked. Delphine smirked again, and he found it surprisingly annoying.

"I've already gotten you an invitation. The thane of Whiterun should be a welcome guest at the party" she said, handing him an envelope with his invitation inside. He pocketed it with distaste, the thought of being around those stuck up elven bastards was enough to make his blood boil. Being forced to interact civilly? Oh Talos preserve his sanity.

"Well, what now? I just make my way to Solitude?" he asked. Delphine shook her head.

"No, there's another step. The party is in a week, that gives us a bit of time. I've got a contact in the embassy called Malborn, hates the Thalmor almost as much as you and I. He'll smuggle in some gear for you" she explained. Varion frowned.

"I take it I won't be bringing anything inside myself," he sighed.

"Nope. Thalmor security is extremely paranoid. Besides the voice, magic and your muscles, you'll be defenceless without Malborns help. Meet with him, get your gear smuggled in and we'll meet up at the solitude stables. He'll be in the winking skeever inn" she finished, and Varion rolled his wrist absentmindedly as he glanced around the room, and his eyes narrowed at seeing something on the wall.

"I've got a favour to ask," he said. At Delphines raised eyebrow, he continued. "I need a weapon to take with me in there, and my Blade of Whiterun won't do. Not only is it a massive greatsword, but it's got Whiteruns symbol engraved on it". As he spoke, he drew it off his back and set it on Delphines table, pointing to the symbol. "If the thalmor saw that, they'd want retribution" he said, voicing his worries. Delphine nodded understandingly.

"So you'll need a different weapon. But why are you telling me this?" she asked in confusion. Vairon could understand this, she was no blacksmith. However, the grin that came over his face made it clear that he did have a reason for telling her.

"Well, I have my eye on a certain one" he continued, and pointed to a weapon on the wall. It was a steel blade, but unlike most that Varion had ever seen. It was curved and only appeared sharp on one side. It was truly unique, he'd never seen anything like it, and he wanted it. "If there's no objections, I'll be taking that" he declared.

X-X-X-X-X

Dressed in uncomfortable noble finery, Varion climbed out of the cart, gazing with distaste at the Thalmor embassy. He'd had his meeting with Malborn where he'd instructed the Bosmer to hide his gauntlets for punching strength, a few potions just in case and his newly acquired sword inside. Delphine had been more than happy to give it to him, seeing as it was the weapon of a blade and it would be retribution for all the blades that died at the hands of the thalmor. Varion didn't really care about all that, he just liked the way it looked. Of course, it was now resting in a kitchen closet or something until he could get to it, so he just walked up the path to the embassy and tried his best to look like a rich snob. On his way, he saw a man sitting on a rock, just gazing wistfully at the view. "Hey there!" the man called out, half slurred.

"Oh great. A drunk" he thought to himself, really not looking forward to this party. "Here for the party?" he asked, thinking that he should at least be polite.

"Oh yeah, just relaxing out here for a bit before going in. I like the carriage, you my friend, have style!" the man commented. Refraining from rolling his eyes, Varion simply grunted in thanks. The man, Razelan, continued to ramble on about everything and nothing, which of course Varion listened to none of it. From the brief snippets he couldn't block out, he learnt that Razelan wasn't a big fan of the Thalmor, he was a high up at the east empire company and he liked to be drunk a lot, though he could've figured that out alone. Brushing this off, he saw the elven guards wait at the top of the stairs and he approached them, doing his best to remain relaxed.

"Welcome sir. Invitation please?" the guard asked politely, though Varion knew it was an act. The tone of voice may have been friendly, the look in the man's eyes was not. Varion wordlessly handed over the paper, then allowed the guard to frisk him for weapons. "Everything seems to be in order. Go on inside" the guard said, Varion nodding in response. Razelan was behind him, still running his mouth and Varion took this chance to be free, getting inside. However, within seconds of entering, another thalmor came up to him. The extra finery on her robes and the unbearable arrogance with which she carried herself implied that she was someone important.

"Elenwen?" he theorised, trying to remember what names Delphine had told him, Thalmor to look out for.

"Ah, welcome to the embassy. I don't believe we've met before?" she asked in the exact same way as the guard outside had spoken, only her act was a little more believable. Varion still didn't buy it.

"I'm Varion. Thane of Whiterun. Nice to meet you" he said, keeping his tone carefully pleasant. No doubt Elenwen saw through it, part of being a politician was lying through your teeth. However, she would only see him as another party goer, she'd no reason to suspect his actual plans here.

"Good to meet you as well. I am Elenwen, Ambassador of the Aldmeri Dominion. Tell me, what brings you to this-" her face wrinkled in disgust before she caught herself and smiled again. "To Skyrim?" she asked, correcting her mistake. Thankfully, before things could get awkward, a familiar voice called out and got her attention. It was Malborn working bartender, and it was quite the remarkable change. The man Varion had spoken to back in Solitude was a paranoid mess. Here, he practically radiated confidence. He nodded to Varion who returned the gesture, and the dragonborn began wandering around, trying to mingle, despite his complete lack of experience in doing so. Aside from the celebrations of the companions, he'd never been to a party, and certainly not one like this. He looked around and saw several nobles, perhaps a Jarl or two and far too many guards for his liking. As he took a seat after about 5 minutes had passed, he heard a voice from behind him, his wolf senses letting him hear it clear as day.

"-see that brute of a nord? How did a ruffian like that become a thane? It shames me to share a title with that fool" The speaker was male, the voice was slurred and Varion was greatly annoyed. He glanced over at the speaker, a blonde overweight man talking to an older woman with black hair and ugly robes.

"I earned that title for my prowess in battle" Varion answered, walking over to the man who flinched at his presence.

"Hmph. So a barbarian. Becoming a thane should be a result of wealth and influence, not because you can swing a sword" the man replied egotistically, and Varions fist clenched. Surely starting a fight at the party would be sufficient enough of a distraction? But then again, every time he fought, he had his weapons on hand in case things went too far. Here, he had nothing.

"You want a taste?" the Dragonborn growled back, and the fat thane actually shrank back. However, the woman simply shook her head in frustration.

"Now now Erikur, play nice" she chided, arrogance seeping from her tone so much that Varion would've assumed she was a Thalmor. Erikur grumbled before moving off, mumbling something about a 'smoking hot serving girl'. Varion regarded the woman and she did the same, the pair of them frowning at the other.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Varion" he said carefully, breaking the silence. He didn't offer a handshake, and he didn't expect that the woman would've returned it anyway.

"Maven Blackbriar. Watch your behaviour around those above you. Wouldn't want anything unpleasant to happen" she said before leaving, a thinly veiled threat. Varion clenched his fist tighter, but kept his face carefully neutral. Deciding enough was enough, he made his way over to Malborn and ordered a glass of whatever.

"Not like I'll drink it anyway" he thought to himself. As Malborn poured him a glass, his voice dropped to a whisper.

"You ready to slip out?" At Varions nod of agreement, he continued. "You'll need to cause a distraction, get the guards attention. Once that's done, we can slip out" he explained and Varion glanced around the room. Starting a fight once again appealed to him, he wouldn't regret beating a single one of these people up. However, he then caught sight of a familiar drunk and smirked.

"One distraction coming up" he muttered before moving over to Razelan who was sitting there sulking. "Not having a good time?" he asked casually, sitting down beside him. Razelan groaned.

"Elenwen said that I need to 'dry out' before I can have another drink. Only reason I come here is to get drunk anyway" he moaned and Varion got an idea at this.

"I have a favour to ask. I'll give you this if you help" he offered, showing Razelan the glass of brandy. The man's face lit up.

"I'll do anything my friend!" he said gladly, taking the glass and drinking a large portion of the alcohol within moments. Blinking, Varion continued on.

"I need you to cause a distraction. Get everyone's attention for a few minutes" he requested and Razelan smirked.

"Oh my friend, you can count on me," he said, brimming with half drunk, half genuine confidence. As he stood up and walked to the centre of the room, Varion quickly made his way to Malborn and the pair ducked into the back room. In the back of his mind, Varion hoped Razelan would be alright. After all, he had been the only person at the party to not look down on him like an arrogant bastard.

"Alright, your gear is in here" Malborn said quickly, gesturing to some sort of food storage room. Varion reached into the chest the bosmer pointed at and retrieved his equipment, donning his gauntlets and attaching his sheath to his belt.

"Right, I'm ready" Varion announced, more confident sounding than he felt.

"Good luck. Make this count!" Malborn hissed as Varion walked out the back door of the kitchen, deeper into the embassy. He heard the latch click behind him and just like that, he was alone in enemy territory.

X-X-X-X-X

Fighting an entire embassary worth of guards would be suicide, and yet Varion would've almost preferred that to the stealth he was currently resigining himself to. Gripping the hilt of his sword, he drew it and began moving as quietly as he could. Despite his size and straightforward nature, he was somewhat capable at sneaking. As a hunter and bounty hunter, you tend to pick up these things, plus his wolf senses let him hear and see people coming ahead of time. He crept down the hallway and heard a conversation coming from a room on the left. He shrugged, as good a place as any to start. He slowly opened the door, but remained behind it, so it looked like the door had opened all by itself.

"What was that?" one of the thalmor asked.

"Go and investigate. Doors don't open by themselves" another one commanded and Varion heard the footsteps of a high elf headed his way. The man stuck his head out, looking around for the intruder. What he didn't expect was for Varion to grab him by the throat and pull him behind the door, leaving him barely enough time for a muffled shriek before his neck was snapped. The other two guards got to their feet and made quickly for the door, but they didn't get through it before Varion slammed the door shut, sandwiching the first guard between the door and the doorframe. He ran the guard through with his sword, killing him instantly before turning his attention to the remaining one who was appearingly stunned. They had all been dressed in robes, clearly not expecting an attack. They didn't even carry a weapon, Varion could see their gear lying against a wall. He growled and punched the last high elf in the face, knocking them off their feet. He snapped this one's neck as well, preferring to keep it clean. He dragged the bodies inside the room and shoved them all in a corner, though not before checking them for valuables or information on the dragons. Finding nothing besides a few expensive rings, he moved on. His hunt through the building was annoyingly uneventful. Apparently most of the guards were elsewhere seeing as he only had to kill one more person during his search.

"I'd been hoping for a little more bloodshed" he complained internally. Normally the thoughts would've disturbed him, but this was Thalmor. He didn't give a damn. Finding nothing, he made his way back downstairs from the upper floor he'd travelled to and walked out the door into a courtyard, though he immediately ducked back inside. "Ok, that's a lot of guards" he muttered. There were at least 5 patrolling men and women outside, and he didn't fancy taking them on in a straight up fight, not like this. Thinking about his options, he then came up with what he hoped was a good idea. He glanced outside again. It was nighttime and the moon was casting a pretty glow over the place. "Let's hope they don't notice one more glowing thing" he prayed, then shouted as quietly as he could. "Feim". As the words were spoken, the feeling of being ethereal came over him again. He'd practiced shouting quietly, though found that of all the ones he knew so far, only Feim really worked at a lower volume. "I guess speaking with enough force to shatter dragon bones isn't really a quiet power" he thought with a humourless chuckle. He slowly opened the door and saw the building on the other side of the courtyard. "WULD!" he shouted as quietly as possible and he was catapulted across the courtyard right in front of the doors. Thanks to his ethereal form, his movement made no noise and he hoped that all the Thalmor saw was a strange blue glow for a moment before it disappeared. He didn't hear any alarm bells sounding, so he assumed his plan had worked tolerably. He slowly walked inside the new building, willing his ethereal state to disperse. He heard voices mumbling, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. However, the ominous looking trapdoor that was just there in the corner of the room was something he could definitely make out, and something he was very interested in. He made a note to come back to that, but first he made his way slowly upstairs. He heard more of the conversation as he did, making out words like "results". "Impatient". "Failure". However, when he heard the words "torturing the prisoner", he decided he was done being sneaky. He ran the rest of the steps three at a time and burst into the room where the conversation was taking place. The speakers gasped in shock at his sudden entrance, but Varion wasted little time. He quickly grabbed the man closet to him by the hair and threw him to the floor before grabbing the elf, Rulindil (based on what he'd heard), and slamming his head into the table. He then swung his blade and chopped the bastards head clean in half before decapitating the other man in one swift motion. Despite himself, Varion chuckled. "I'm pretty good" he said to himself, patting himself on the back figuratively. He reckoned he deserved a bit of praise for all his sneaking around, he was sick of it. He made his way over to a chest that was in the corner of the study that he'd broken into and opened it, eyebrows raising at the sight of some books and a letter. He quickly skimmed through them. They appeared to be information dossiers, one being about Delphine. He chuckled as he read, clearly the Thalmor were just as hating of her as she was of them, and she'd butchered all attempts to kill her. "Maybe she's not so bad" Varion thought to himself, satisfied with what he'd read about her. He then saw one with Ulfric Stormcloak written on it. He couldn't stop himself from reading that one too, and what he read made his jaw drop. He'd never been a stormcloak supporter, but this was a whole different level of messed up. "Ulfric's a Thalmor asset?" he thought to himself, stunned. If what he was reading was right, the Thalmor had been in contact with the Jarl, though it didn't say to what extent. Varion quickly overcame this though, irritated at how easily he'd been distracted. Ulfric wasn't his concern for now, he was here for the dragons. Glancing over the letter, his stomach sank. "And just like that, Delphine, you are the worst" he thought with irritation. The damn Thalmor knew nothing about the dragons, they were probably just as lost as he was. Carefully preventing himself from clenching his fists in anger, he pocketed all three things from the chest and made his way downstairs, but not before stealing the jewelry off the corpses he left in the office. He approached the trapdoor and with a sharp kick, broke straight through it. He climbed down the ladder and dropped to the ground, gazing around for enemies. He was on an upper level and on the lower level was a hallway with cells on either side. Grimacing, Varion figured out where he was. "The prisons. Oh boy" he groaned internally. He made his way to the rail of the balcony and saw a thalmor guard walking out of a cell, not bothering to close it behind him.

"Perhaps when the interrogator returns, you will be more agreeable!" the elf shouted in frustration and Varion frowned at this. He knew he had to get into that cell, but first he had to kill this bastard. He sat up there and waited, hoping that the guard would get closer and not look up. Thankfully, the guard did just that, walking over to a table that was practically directly below Varion that had a bottle of wine on it. Varion watched as the guard took a swig of the liquid and smirked. "I always knew alcohol was bad for you" he muttered to himself as he vaulted over the railing. If the guard had heard him coming, he certainly hadn't done so in time to dodge. Varion crashed into the man and knocked him onto the ground with a sickening crunch. Feeling for a pulse, Varion knew the elf was dead. He had just been landed on by a 6'5 nord while being simultaneously punched with orcish gauntlets. He got off of the corpse and made his way over to the cells. What he saw sickened him, even with all he'd seen and experienced. There were bloodstains, vomit stains, several other kinds of stains all over the place. Various torture instruments lay around the cells and tables, also covered in blood. "They're torturing us" Varion growled in sheer fury. He had always hated the thalmor, but this was enough to make him consider shouting down the doors to the emissary. However, he turned back to the cell that actually had an alive person in it. As he walked inside, the man flinched away. He was shirtless, injured, terrified and cuffed to a wall via shackles.

"No, please! No more!" he cried, trying to get away from Varion, though he hadn't even looked at him. Varion sighed.

"I'm not a Thalmor. I'm getting you out of here" he stated, trying to calm the man. This apparently made him curious enough to glance at Varion and he relaxed considerably.

"Oh thank the gods. I thought I'd die here" the man practically sobbed. Varion released his restraints and caught the breton as he fell before helping him stand.

"Here, take this" Varion instructed, giving the man a healing potion. "Who are you?" he questioned.

"My names Etienne" the man answered. "You?" Varion shook his head.

"Not important. Why are you here? You aren't a nord" Varion noted. This man didn't seem like a stormcloak.

"They were convinced I knew about some old guy called Esbern. I think he's in Riften, but that wasn't good enough for them" he explained, wincing as he did. Varion growled.

"Right. That's something. Did they document your confession somewhere?"

"Yeah, in a notebook. They wrote at that table" he replied, pointing over to the table closest to Etienne's cell. Varion walked over to it and opened the chest that was right next to it. It contained another information dossier, this one on Esbern. He grinned, maybe this whole venture wasn't pointless.

"Thanks. Now we need to go" he commanded, and Etienne was only too happy to agree.

"Come on, I've seen them use this trapdoor to dispose of bodies. It must go somewhere" he urged, moving towards it as quickly as he could. He'd grabbed an iron dagger from the table, so at least he had armour. However, as they began to open the trapdoor, a voice rang out from the balcony.

"Halt scum!" Varions heart sank. He glanced at the balcony and saw three thalmor guards, fully armoured, and Malborn was with them. "You will surrender now and come with us!" the guard commanded. Varion laughed humourlessly.

"Yeah, as if! You bastards have hurt enough people, you won't get me!" he shouted in defiance, figuring that stealth was pretty much useless now. However, Malborn didn't seem eager to die either, as he thrust his elbow into the face of the shouty guard.

"GO!" he shouted as he jumped over the balcony, landing on the ground at the other end of the hall from Varion. He stumbled when he landed and Varion swore internally. He wasn't about to let Malborn die like this, not because of him.

"WULD!" He crossed the distance in an instant, grabbing Malborn around the waist and lifting him up. "WULD!" He shouted a second time, crossing back to the trapdoor. A slight burn on his throat was nothing compared to the pain he felt when he overshot the charge and crashed into the wall. He'd taken the full force of the impact, shielding Malborn with his body. His vision was blurry, but he could still move.

"Come on! Let's go!" Etienne shouted as he and Malborn jumped into the trapdoor. Varion sent one last glare towards the Thalmor guards who had started drawing arrows to fire. By the time they'd done that, Varion was already gone.

X-X-X-X-X

Varion breathed heavily when they made it out of the cave. In all honesty, it wouldn't have been so bad, except for the frost troll that was living there. He doubted that they'd have made it out if not for Malborn. He'd managed to channel his inborn gift to command the troll to sleep, though it had taken a lot out of him. Varion had ended up carrying him out of the cave, the guy was quite tired. He was thankful that he'd saved the elf now, he loved his new sword, but he wouldn't pit it against a frost troll while wearing no armour. Etienne was similarly exhausted. Varion had given him the coat of his outfit, not being bothered by the cold as a Breton would be. "Thank you" the Breton in question said. "I'd be dead if not for you," he added. Varion waved off his thanks with the hand that wasn't supporting Malborn.

"No worries. If it messes up their plans, it's all fine" he replied. Etienne nodded, then took off at a run towards Solitude. Varion didn't care where he went after this, it wasn't his business.

"Was it worth it? I'm a hunted man now" Malborn muttered, apparently conscious enough to stand on his own now as he stopped leaning on Varion. Feeling the books that he'd taken with him, Varion grimaced.

"Yeah, you have no idea how worth it this was" he replied solemnly. "This is bigger than the Thalmor. The entire civil war could change with this dossier" he reflected internally, unsure what to do with the new knowledge he possessed.

A/N:So, I prewrote this chapter before I'd even published the last one. It's 1:27am as I write this. I'm tired, but I don't regret this at all. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, that would make my suffering worth it.

So here we are with what could be considered "Volume 2" of the Legend of Varion. It's all one massive story with continuity, this is just where I consider the story to pick up into a new gear, hopefully that doesn't confuse anyone.

So, we jump back into the main quest for a little while. Varions found out some pretty shocking stuff and given Delphine a potential lead for what to do next. What will that next move be exactly? Stay tuned to find out!

Thank you all for reading, see you next time!