Half the Dawnguard squad dead, Skathi had found their weapons skill worthless. She had found the shield bearers at the entrance lack an awareness that would've seen her with dagger drawn. When the squad didn't take note of it, she just assumed they weren't the most perceptive bunch and wouldn't missed their leader. Well, that turned out to be untrue.

With no chance of sending an arrow through the ruins' stonework, Skathi had to move closer. She snuck down the cliff, keeping an eye on the soldiers all the way. They never moved from their positions and she was unaware if they saw her. Perhaps they would take note if she were in Vampire Lord form, but that form was always uncomfortable.

But as she approached, the huskies ran from the rubble and charged at her. Before they could pounce on her, she Shouted

"Kaan Drem Ov!"

And the dogs went from blood hungry to as calm as you can get a husky. The Shout was devised situationally, to sooth animals with murderous intent and keep them from killing. Kyne's Peace, it was called. Despite needing to drink blood to survive and having perhaps a hundred people fallen onto her blades, she couldn't hurt a dog. To her, dogs were wolves without the freedom.

Skathi knew her position was give away and the Dawnguards rose from their cover to strike her with crossbows. However, they hadn't taken the time to aim, so only one of them hit, staggering her to the ground. She pulled the bolt from her gut and threw it aside, looking to find the one who hit her.

And there she found Agata was amongst them. A cruel twist of fate that her sister would be on the other side of this fight, but not entirely unexpected. Still, Skathi couldn't find it within herself to kill her only family left.

The other two were less lucky. Skathi bolted to the closest one of the two with sword and dagger drawn and when he tried to smash her with his axe, he lost his hand midair. Without a second to grieve, his throat felt the dagger and he fell to the ground, dead.

Before she knew it, she felt two long arms wrap around her and pick her up with as much might as she supposed a young lad could manage. The young lad turned to face Agata and Skathi saw her sister terror in her face. The Dragonborn supposed there was reason in that, but her throat was still sore from the last Shout, so she was in that brief moment of vulnerability.

"Do it!" the young lad almost screamed, "Kill her! Kill her!"

Agata hesitated two seconds too long and Skathi knew it. She kicked the young lad's leg and his grip loosen just enough for her to slip out. Skathi punched him in the face, dazing him, and pushed him far enough so that she could grab her sword. She stabbed in the side, where he had no armor, and pushed hard enough to reach into his rib cage.

The last one alive was Agata. Skathi waited for her to act. She wouldn't do anything until her sister did. She ran faster than even Skathi ever ran. She didn't blame her; she didn't want to fight anyway.

Skathi entered the place the Dawnguards were protecting. It had what had to be the Moth Priest in a black and greenish bubble. She was mostly here because of the horn blowing, as it attracts a lot of attention and she wanted to know what the fuss was. It seemed she was right to check.

Searching around, she found a strange stone with turquoise veins on the body of an Orcish vampire. Considering it was the same color as the bubble, she assumed it was connected. There being an alter at the edge of the energy made that a fair assumption. She placed the stone on the altar and the bubble faded into nothing, leaving the Moth Priest open to the world.

"I'm not afraid of you!" he proclaimed, a hand on his sword, "Your kind are a blight upon Tamriel, monster!"

It was obvious he wouldn't go quietly. Skathi decided this was going to need a delicate touch. She used that hypnosis she heard vampires had, looking directly into his eyes, and focusing to find his will to shake it, being as uncomfortable as he was with this. The fire in his eyes lulled enough for Skathi to bite his neck with no resistance.

Not every victim of a vampire's bite killed them or bled them or turned them. There were subtle differences between them, like pressure, that caused different results. This was something Serana taught her, along with how to use the hypnosis. When Skathi pulled away, the Moth Priest was her thrall.

"By the divines! It's as if my eyes have been opened!" he proclaimed, "I am blinded by the light of your majesty. I, I must obey you. What would you have of me, mistress?"

Well, if that wasn't an ego boost. "I command you to travel to Castle Volkihar," Skathi ordered with a tone of a prideful woman.

"Certainly," the priest replied, "Where can I find this castle?"

Skathi figured that was fair, given the castle wasn't entirely well known. "Off the northern coast of Skyrim, due west of Solitude," she explained, dropping her façade.

Her thrall nodded. "I'll set out at once, then."

And so, he left to the castle. Skathi stayed behind to a moment to gather anything she found interesting in the ruins and discarded satchels. She didn't find much, and the dogs had run off with Agata. That was fair enough.

After she exited, she found Serana waiting by the pitched horses of the fallen Dawnguard. She chose not to interfere and Skathi chose not to fight that. If she were going to mess with the will of the lord's daughter, she would invite far too much scorn to be able to stay in the clan.

"Did you see that Dawnguard leaving?" Skathi asked.

"Yes," Serana replied, "That was Agata, right?"

"Yes," the Dragonborn nodded, "Did you do anything to stop her?" She asked in part to confirmed her cowardice, mostly to know if she had lost the last of her family.

"No," Serana answered, "I didn't think it was worth it to kill one Dawnguard who wasn't bothering me."

Skathi thought that was fair, but that nagging feeling that she wasn't doing it right came along. Perhaps it was because it was her sister, or because she was so inexperience with anything close to a military conflict, but she couldn't help but think she was doing it wrong.

The two vampires took a pair of horses and set the rest loose. Serana noted that the Moth Priest took one of the horses for his own journey. Skathi nodded, but she couldn't spare a thought about it. She was more intrenched in the thought that she was just out for herself, not the clan or the Dawnguard. She figured she was being selfish, not committing to either side really, only in a vampire for her own gain. She wondered if she'd meet some wretched fate for this or if planning to subvert this "conquering the sun" business would redeem her.

It was up to the gods if her soul was truly damned.

In life, Lucien Lachance was a loyal member of the Black Hand, and a servant of the Night Mother and his Dread Father, Sithis. He was a Speaker for Ungolim, the last Listener of the Spetim Dynasty and the Third Era. He served well but did come to die by the hand of his comrade. He never knew why.

But that was not the end of his service and he knew that. He went to Sithis upon death, but he didn't rest. Every servant of Sithis must be prepared to do his bidding at a moment's notice. And so, he trained and waited to be called upon again. He would often be summoned to Mundas, the mortal realm, to aid the brothers, sisters or otherwise of the Dark Brotherhood.

And he was called upon again. Once again, he was brought to aid in the death of a mortal. He never got used to the process of returning to Mundas, always feeling excruciating pain when he did so. Never did he learn why it hurt so much in the many years he was a spectral assassin, only that he did. He also never learned how long it had been since he first died. No one told him anything; it only had to infer things.

Upon reaching Mundas, he found his summoner was none other than Gabriella the Dunmer Sorceress. She had become a frequent ally of late, though he didn't know if frequent meant three days or three years. She had always proven a crafty mage and a dangerous assassin, so it was always a joy to work alongside her, unlike the recruits that used Lucien as a crutch.

As the late Speaker wonder who their target was, he heard a strange echo throughout their surroundings. "Listener! Is that you? Oh, I knew you'd come. Send the best to defeat the best. Astrid knew her stupid wolf couldn't slay sly Cicero."

A shrill voice said much. Cicero seemed quite mad to believe Gabriella was the Listener; even he as a ghost could tell she didn't have that honor. He also recognized Astrid's name, if it was the girl that used him once and never did again. Lucien wondered what in Oblivion had been going on in recent years. Especially since he could tell they were in the ruins of a sanctuary. Had things really gotten that bad?

Both mystic assassins went deeper into the sanctuary. Lucien couldn't recognize which one they were in, nor could he guess. Perhaps it was because he had only ever been in Cyrodiil, so that narrowed things down. It probably wasn't Morrowind because that was the Morag Tong's territory and it definitely wasn't Cyrodiil because he knew them as well as he knew the void at this point.

But no matter the province, Lucien knew the Brotherhood never left their sanctuaries for others to pilfer or utilize for their own needs. Even if you got past the Black Door, the ruin had the ghosts of assassins that once called this place home to defend it. And they were tasked with laying traps for fools to fall into. Right now, they could become fools.

Gabriella took one step wrong and spike came from the wall, nearly stabbing her. Lucien could avoid them with ease, Gabriella less so. She clearly wasn't as acrobatic as the spectral assassin, which wasn't a surprised. Once again, the madman spoke up.

"Ouch! Pointy, pointy! My home is well defended. I always have been a stickler for details. Get it? 'Stick-ler.' Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Oh, I slay me!"

Lucien became quite annoyed by this Cicero. He was clearly a member of the Dark Brotherhood, but his mind clearly had no mind in reality. What had driven this assassin to madness? These questions went through Lucien's mind, but he had no time to think of why, only to cut through them.

In the next chamber, they found it full of the sanctuary guards, the ghosts of the assassins. Now, they may be able to fight them, as their forms were easy to disrupt. But the floor was covered in oil, likely still good. Gabriella could summon flames to consume the wraiths in the very flammable liquid they stood in. And so, they did.

Gabriella threw a fireball into the center of the room and it burst into an inferno. The astral forms were quick to expire with the force and flames disrupting them. As they fell into nothingness, Cicero spoke up again.

"You're, you're still alive. Cicero respects the Listener's abilities, of course, but could you at least slow down a bit? I'm not what I used to be. Heh."

Once again, Lucien pondered what drove the fool to this madness. And what was this business with the Listener?

Further into the sanctuary, they found their path went through a shattered stain glass window, of what Lucien couldn't say for certain. It was likely Sithis. The window led to a frozen cave, and that's when the ghost realize they were in Skyrim. In fact, he noticed how often he had been called to Skyrim, so the fact it took him this long to realize this was surprising.

In the cave, they found a mighty troll. It was much like how Lucien understood the trolls of this region looked like, but this one was different. It had bright green eyes, green fur, and far fleshier skin. Lucien had heard of such a creature, the Uderfrykte of Solsteihm, but he questioned the likelihood of the creature's continued existence.

Gabriella chose to fight it, using her magics, but Lucien took pause. Something occurred to him, like Sithis was whispering in his ear. This never happens. It occurred to him that Cicero was the Keeper of the Night Mother. If he was the Keeper, he must be important to the Brotherhood's existence. These whispers told him the Brotherhood was less than ten assassins now.

Lucien then saw the future of the Brotherhood, and the past. It was all aflame, with brothers and sister laid dead. Men in Legion uniforms stood over them with barrels of oil in hand. All that was left was a woman of vengeance that walked through flames unburnt. Lucien didn't know what it meant, but he did know that Sithis was against Gabriella being here.

As the troll laid dead, the spectral assassin spoke up. "I will kill this jester if you so desire, but there is a disturbance in the Void. Our Dread Father does not wish this."

"What?" the Dunmer questioned. She was shocked by this, as she should be.

"The Keeper is a sacred position within the Dark Brotherhood," Lucien continued, "Ask yourself: do you trust the wisdom of our Lady?"

Gabriella didn't have the time to answer, as Lucien's time on Mundas was over once again. Once again, he fell into the Void and the pain of death burned through him. He hoped that Gabriella headed his words.

Upon Skathi's return to Castle Volkihar, there was much celebration over her actions. Though the vampires of this court would betray her and steal her glory for their own gain, they let her have this moment of acclaim. It was wise, for she would kill anyone who claimed her deeds were there's, damn the consequences.

Skathi soaked in the attention while Serana slinked into the shadows. The Dragonborn wasn't certain why. You'd think the lord's daughter would want attention more than the wild woman that was still getting used to regularly talking to people again. It was confusing.

"Well done!" Harkon congratulated, somehow not as stiff as when his daughter returned after more than an era, "Somehow I knew it would be you and Serana who found our moth priest."

"I have made the moth priest my thrall," Skathi replied, proclaiming it to the entire court as Harkon did.

"Yes, I see that," the Vampire Lord noted, "I trust his capture was not too difficult a task?"

"The Dawnguard tried to stop me, but they posed no threat." While her response was truthful, Skathi tried to hide her guilt for her actions.

"I wish I could have been there to hear the sounds of their screams," Harkon admitted, not like he confessed to evil, but as though he were jealous of Skathi, which was beyond her desire to experience.

The vampire lord tempered his flame, eying the Moth Priest. "Well, your thrall awaits," he remarked, "and we have given him the Elder Scroll. Command him to read it and let us hear the words of prophecy together."

Skathi nodded and turned to the Moth Priest. He was at the focal point of the court before the banquet tables. This was not just for the castle's lord to hear, but the entirety of Clan Volkihar. This was probably the most selfless thing Harkon has ever done in his life.

"Master, I have done as you asked and traveled here," the priest announced with pride buried by desperation.

"I have a new task for you, thrall," Skathi replied, using his new lot in life, as was expected.

"Oh, pardon my manners; I haven't even told you my name!" he said in remorseful shock. He bowed and said, "Dexion Evicus. What is it that you need me to do?"

The Dragonborn was sadden by the fact that his loyalty was stolen by her. "You must read an Elder Scroll," she explained, pointing towards the scroll in his hand.

"Ah, yes, the Elder Scroll!" Dexion beamed, holding the scroll up with excitement, "I admit, I'm looking forward to this."

"Then you may begin your reading," Skathi said only to establish unneeded dominance in front of the court.

Dexion nodded, "Of course, mistress."

He opened the Elder Scroll and Skathi stepped back to let him read. He read,

"I see a vision before me, an image of a great bow. I know this weapon! It is Auriel's Bow! Now a voice whispers, saying 'Among the night's children, a dread lord will rise.' In an age of strife, when dragons return to the realm of men, darkness will mingle with light and the night and day will be as one.

The voice fades and the words begin to shimmer and distort. But wait, there is more here. The secret of the bow's power is written elsewhere. I think there is more to the prophecy, recorded in other scrolls. Yes, I see them now. One contains the ancient secrets of the dragons, and the other speaks of the potency of ancient blood."

Dexion closed the scroll and said, "My vision darkens, and I see no more. To know the complete prophecy, we must have the other two scrolls."

That prophecy frightened Skathi. She did live "In an age of strife, when dragons return to the realm of men." She fought dragons like the Stormcloaks fought the Empire. If prophecy could be so accurate as to predict the coming of Skathi Wolf-Runner, the Dragonborn who slew Alduin the World-Eater, it could very well predict Harkon's desired ends.

"That was," Harkon remarked, "not as useful as I would have liked. Even so, you did well."

"Do you know where these other scrolls are?" Skathi inquired, knowing where at least one was.

"My traitor wife stole one of them away and then disappeared," he growled at the memory, "As for the other, the last I heard, it was lost in the bowels of a Dwemer ruin. It seems our work is not yet done. But I have waited this long, and we are so close now. I can wait a bit longer."

The entire court heard this and began to discuss many things. Places that a vampire could hide for centuries, Dwemer ruins yet to be fully explored, underlings they could throw away on fools errands, rivals they could finally gain the advantage on with this. Skathi approached none of them, not wanting to owe any of them any loyalty.

Instead, Skathi went into the shadows to await Serana. If the lord's daughter had no desire to earn favor in court, she was the most likely to trust. And if anyone knew where the Elder Scroll her mother stole was, it had to be her. And she did approach Skathi.

"Do you have a moment to talk?" she asked as though it was embarrassing or shameful.

"What's on your mind?" Skathi said with an attempt at fake surprised.

Serana winced at the attempt. "That Moth Priest, Dexion," she stated, "He said we needed two other Elder Scrolls. I think I know where we can start looking."

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" the young vampire asked. She was tempted to know a thing or two about Serana, even if it wasn't needed.

"Didn't want that lot getting wind of it," she explained, "Especially my father."

Especially? "What is it between you two?" Skathi wondered out loud. Honestly, the question was rhetorical; she could figure any man like Harkon would drive everyone who was ever interested in anything other than his power away.

"Ever since he decided to make that prophecy his calling, we kind of drifted apart," Serana disclosed, "I don't even think he sees me as his daughter anymore. I'm just," she stopped for a moment to prepare herself to say it, "a means to an end."

Skathi wanted to hug Serana but wondered if she even wanted it.

"So, where is this Elder Scroll?" the Dragonborn asked.

"We need to find my mother, Valerica," Serana explained, collecting herself, "She'll definitely know where it is, and if we're lucky, she actually has it herself."

"You said you didn't know where she went," Skathi noted.

"The last time I saw her, she said that she'd go somewhere safe," the vampire explained, "somewhere that my father would never search. Other than that, she wouldn't tell me anything. But the way she said it, 'someplace he would never search.' It was cryptic, yet she called attention to it."

"Sounds like she was being cautious," the younger vampire remarked, trying to sound wise, but she actually had no clue what that meant.

"Maybe. What I can't figure out is why she said it that way," Serana pondered, "Besides, I can't imagine a single place my father would avoid looking. And he's had all this time, too. Any ideas?"

Skathi had a length amount of time hiding from people. It was why she became a wild woman. She knew from experience and common sense what were the best places to hide. She assumed Valerica wouldn't go to the Dawnguard, as they had only just returned to form, and searching tombs would take too long to find anything. She did have one theory, a mostly terrible idea she would feel silly to suggesting it.

"How about right here, in the castle?" she said and immediatedly regretted it.

As Serana was midway through rolling her eyes, she looked stunned in realization. "That almost makes sense!" she almost cheered.

Skathi was shocked something she thought was so dumb to say was actually helpful. She was almost tempted to say more dumb stuff to see what else was hidden wisdom.

When Ravani returned to Mercer, she told him all she knew, including the part about being "Where the end began". He knew what that meant and told Ravani to meet him in the wastes of Winterhold. There was a ruin there called Snow Veil Sanctum where that was significant. That is where Gallus died, where the end began. Ravani mostly obeyed because she'd likely get paid for this, even if Mercer seemed a little stingy.

Back in the tundra of the northmost hold was bittersweet. This is where she escorted recruits to meet the ice wraith in single combat, true, and she saw Fort Kastav, where their commander would constantly make crude jokes about her finally finding a lover. At the same time, she knew she could never return to Fort Kastav's garrison again. The cold didn't help matters. The only time Winterhold's chill helped anyone was making armies rethink invading it.

Out in the untamed wastes, she did find a ruin. It looked a tomb, partially in the ground and all. She dismounted from her horse, Faen, and approached the entrance. And there was Mercer, stood there looking colder than the snow itself. Ravani knew how that felt; she was stood in it and swam in it. Winterhold would never be known for being warm.

"Good, you're finally here," Mercer remarked, his voice shivering, "I've scouted the ruins and I'm certain Karliah is still inside."

"You saw her?" Ravani questioned. The idea this man could restrain himself for that long was impossible.

"No, I found her horse," the thief corrected, "Don't worry, I've taken care of it." He gestured toward the corpse of a horse. Ravani would beat herself up for not noticing it, but the cold both dulled her and dulled the smell; no one notices a corpse unless it starts smelling.

"She won't be using it to escape," Mercer continue with a grin on his face, "Let's get moving, I want to catch her inside while she's distracted. Take the lead."

An odd request. "You want me to lead?" Ravani would've thought the leader of an organization would be willing or egotistical enough to take point, but this was the Thieves' Guild, not the Companions of Jorrvaskr. The difference was the location, the name, and the philosophy, but little else.

"I'm sorry," Mercer snarked, his grin faded, "I was under the impression I was in charge. You're leading and I'm following. Does that seem clear to you?"

Ravani nodded. She understood her place as a pin cushion. If there was anything that would kill someone the instant they stepped on the wrong tile or a trip wire neither of them saw, she was going to be the one to die first. If there were draugr in this place, it would be so much worse.

"Just make sure you keep your eyes open," the guild master continued, "Karliah is as sharp as a blade. The last thing I need is you blundering into a trap and warning her that we're here."

She didn't need to be reminded. However, she was interested in one thing: "How did Gallus die?" However it happened, it might be useful in the extremely near future.

"Twenty-five years ago I was standing outside these very same ruins," Mercer recounted without emotion, "Gallus told me to meet here but he wouldn't say why. When I arrived, Gallus stepped from the shadows. Before he uttered a sound, an arrow pierced his throat. Before I could even draw my blade, her second arrow found its mark in my chest."

An emotionless response can be both a mournful memory and a lie performed by a bad actor. Ravani was deciding which it was. "So, Karliah took on both of you alone?" she noted.

Mercer nodded. "Karliah was a master marksman and her greatest weapon was the element of surprise. I was lucky," he paused, putting a hand to his chest, "she missed my heart by mere inches. I staggered away from the ruins and my vision began to blur. It's then that I realized the bitch had poisoned her arrows."

The motion could be considered a sign of truth if absent minded but could be a ploy if he knew what he was doing. "And Gallus?" Ravani continued.

"The last thing I saw was Karliah dumping his body into an opening atop the ruins," Mercer was quick to say, "an unceremonious end for a remarkable man. To this day I've regretted allowing her to escape, even if it meant I had died trying. I owed Gallus that much." His voice dripped with spite at the words.

Mercer's vile was true as the sun in the morning, but Ravani wasn't certain he was ever in mourning. "What happened after Gallus died?"

"The Guild was thrown into disarray," he stated, "Several stepped up and tried to Gallus' former position as Guild Master. Sides quickly formed behind these men and the Ratway became a bloodbath."

The part Mercer was least likely to lie about was the part Ravani was certain wasn't fabricated. Still, she'd ask someone about this. "And you were a part of this?"

The guild master nodded. "I saw what they did to Gallus," he recounted, "I wanted to use the Guild's resources to hunt down Karliah. The others didn't even care he was gone. Fortunately, I persevered, and the other groups were either killed or they left Skyrim."

That explained what happened to the guild. But if groups were killed, she wanted to know if he did any of the killing. "And what of Karliah?"

"The infighting had taken months to subside which gave her time to go into hiding and carefully cover her tracks. I spent thousands of septims and used every contact at my disposal, but it was as if she had simply vanished," he paused, as though in remembrance of something, "like I said before, she was the best."

Ravani wasn't certain Mercer was telling the full truth. He was a thief, so he could also be a liar. She knew she could be if the situation demanded. However, she wanted to know the truth before saying anything. She knew there had to be, but not what he was hiding. If only Men were as easy to tell they were lying as Argonians.

Mercer approached the intricate door to the sanctum. "They say these ancient Nordic burial mounds are sometimes impenetrable," he remarked, "This one doesn't look too difficult. Quite simple really, I don't know what the fuss is about these locks. All it takes is a bit of know-how and a lot of skill."

He pressed around the door, but Ravani saw as he put what seemed like a key into a hole in the stone. The entire craftsmanship operated as though something missing was there.

"That should do it. After you."

Ravani moved into the tomb, blades in hand. Her dagger was forward, her sword was backward. Should Mercer try to stab her in the back, she might be able to stab him first. Hopefully.

As it turned out, Skathi had no clue how accurate she was. Valerica had a garden in the castle her husband would never go, for it was far too peaceful for his liking. Like a villain in a storybook, that was. The garden was mostly for alchemy ingredients, but it was apparently a lovely place just to spend time in. Skathi knew places like that. She never lingered there.

The garden wasn't an easy place to get to. The way was barred, probably Harkon's attempt to remove any memory of his wife from his mind. That resulted in an entire wing being abandoned, one that you had to enter through the unused docks. In was a difficult to make it through the catacombs, but not impossible; they just needed to slay the undead and the odd gargoyle.

Skathi and Serana would eventually come upon Valerica's garden. The novice vampire supposed it looked beautiful in its day, but it didn't today. The trees lack their leaves in the branches as well as in their shadow. The bushes were just as bare and looked as though their dead forms were left to the garden's detriment. The grass and some flowers were still alive, but they were the exception to the rule.

Serana was in grief at this sight. "I used to walk through here after evening meals," she recounted, "It was beautiful, once. This was my mother's garden. It," she paused to try to keep from crying, "do you know how beautiful something can be when it's tended by a master for hundreds of years? She would have hated to see it like this."

Skathi guided her senior to a bench by the side. She decided that maybe some talking may help. "You seemed to know your what around those catacombs," she remarked, "Did you spend a lot of time down there?"

Serana collected herself to think back. "I like to explore," she shrugged, "My parents almost never let me off the island, so yeah, I poked around down here a lot." She looked into nowhere in particular. "It was a little quieter back then. Guess a little vampire girl was enough to scare off the rats." She finished that with a smirk.

To Skathi, it was reminiscent of her time in wild. "That sounds pretty lonely," she noted. Every once and a while, the solitude would get to her and she lost the ability to cope.

"It was," Serana nodded, "But I got used to it."

Skathi wasn't sure what else to talk about that was wise to bring up. "Do you still feel lonely?" she asked.

The senior vampire tilted her head for a spell. "A little bit. That's," Serana started before warily continuing, "one of the reasons I wanted to come with you."

That was something the Dragon of the North wasn't sure how to take that. She hadn't had that many people want to be around her for such reasons. Rena wanted to help her on her quest, the Greybeards and Blades wanted her to fully realize who she was as Dragonborn, Agata was her sister estranged for twelve years. No one wanted to be with her because they were lonely.

"But what about you?" Serana asked.

Skathi was taken off guard by that. "What about me?" she responded, feeling some heat on her cheeks.

"Do you get lonely? Are there," the vampire stopped, seemingly to pick the right words, "people in your life?"

Skathi wanted to pick her words right. "I try not to rely on others," she said, trying her best to hide who Agata was to her.

"Does it bother you that I'm here?" the vampire asked, looking as though she didn't want to hurt her.

"No," Skathi was quick to say, "I've been alone too long."

Serana had herself a little smirk. The Dragonborn had no clue what it meant.

The senior vampire looked around the garden and turned her focus to its center. There was a strange device there, made of some golden material. It looked a lot like a sundial, but the times of day were marked with reflective decorations made to reflect the phases of the moon. Skathi had never before encountered such a device, she was sure of that.

"Something's wrong with the moondial here," Serana noted, getting up and approaching the device, "Some of the crests are missing and the dial is askew. I didn't even know the crests could be removed. Maybe my mother's trying to tell us something?"

Knowing the now obvious purpose of the device, Skathi looked around for the garden for these crests. The missing ones didn't seem to have any relationship to each other. She looked high and low before find them, depictions of a crescent moon, a half-moon, and a full moon. She went to the dial and placed them in what she felt was their appropriate places.

When the last crest was placed, the ground shook. Skathi recoiled to behold the stone floor around it giving way by craftsmen's design. It fell into steps to bellow the moondial. Of course, no normal person doesn't have secret passageways!

"Very clever, mother. Very clever," Serana remarked, "I've never been in those tunnels before, but I'd bet they run right under the courtyard and into the tower ruins. Well, at least we're getting closer. Let's go."

They passed through more catacombs left unoccupied by anyone but undead and gargoyles. The two vampires could handle themselves well enough. Skathi had gotten plenty of practice with her sword arm, and Serana was crafty with a knife if anyone got past her magics. It wasn't too long before they fought their way through the ruins.

At the end of all this, the vampires found themselves in what appeared to be a study. Skathi only knew of such things from her time at the Thalmor embassy and the lodging of a court wizard. Not only did it have bookshelves with a lot of reading material, but it also had an alchemy table with numerous materials you could probably use on it around it. At the center was a design of circle going deeper and deeper in the ground.

Skathi wasn't certain when this would end, but it was certainly beginning again.

As Ravani and Mercer descended into the sanctum, it was clear Karliah was here. If not her, than someone had killed draugr and left the bodies strewn about the floor. Funny thing though, the traps still worked. Mercer supposed that Karliah had reset them, but Ravani figure she likely didn't trigger that many. If she was skilled enough as Mercer said, then she could surely avoid trip wires and pressure plates.

Of course, if someone has the skill to avoid ancient Nord booby traps meant for grave robbers, they can sneak past the sleeping dead. There were still draugr ready to fight them, as the thieves discovered when they rose from their sarcophagi to fight them. It was fortunate Mercer brought a sword with a flame enchantment or else things would be woefully one sided.

There were a very many draugr through their path. While Ravani and Mercer would occasionally get the advantage on them, they were thieves, no warriors. This wasn't their calling. Neither were shabby in a fight, but then neither did they have a desire to. Well, at least Ravani didn't; no clue about Mercer. He was likely here for revenge, but Ravani didn't wanna say anything.

And because she didn't wanna say anything, she kept Mercer at within her notice. She couldn't gage if Mercer were telling the truth or not, especially since there was a possibility. He could very well stab him in the back, or worse. Things could go wrong, and he could easily throw her under the bridge for it. It was like some invisible sword was hovering over her head and she had no clue who would cut it down.

Eventually, they came upon a door Ravani was certain they couldn't get through. There were symbols depicting numerous animals over a plate with indentation of a three-pronged claw. Above the claws were three holes. Ravani could identify that this was some sort of puzzle, one they weren't equipped to solve. Given some time, Ravani figured she could think of something, but the situation lacked the patience for this.

"Ah, one of the infamous Nord puzzle doors," Mercer remarked, taking a good long look at it, "How quant. Without the matching claw, they're impossible to open. Since I'm certain Karliah already did away with it, we're on our own."

Ravani was annoyed with that. She already knew it was a bad situation, but essentially saying to try would be useless is in fact useless. They could figure out something!

"Fortunately," Mercer continued, "these doors have a weakness if you know how to exploited it. Quite simple, really."

And just like that, the door was open. Ravani checked Mercer's hands and she did see some sort of key go into one of his pockets. At this point, she was certain he had a magic key, just not where it came from and it's full capabilities. She would very much like to steal that but trying to steal from an experienced thief is practically suicide. The perfect opportunity wouldn't just happen; they would have to be more engineered than a Dwemer construct.

"Karliah's close, I'm certain of it," Mercer stated, "Now, let's get moving."

Not a foot through the door before something struck Ravani, but the pain of its presence was quickly gone. She looked down to where the memory of that pain led her and found an arrow sticking out of her chest. Considering the lack of feeling, she was either dying or paralyzed. When she fell, she didn't lose consciousness, so she had to assume she was perfectly fine, just lacking any ability to move.

Mercer walked around Ravani's limp body, she could feel his footsteps, and approached figure at the edge of shadow. Said figure had a bow in hand with a fresh arrow drawn. The fact his didn't have his sword drawn was confusion. This figure could only be Karliah; a draugr doesn't wield poisons and there the murderer was through here. What reason could Mercer have? Especially since this was a roundabout way of meeting each other if the two were in cahoots.

"Do you honestly think your arrow will reach me before my blade finds your heart?" Mercer asked.

"Give me a reason to try," the figure, voice as quiet as a child, dared. She pulled the bowstring back.

"You're a clever girl, Karliah," Mercer chuckled, "Buying Goldenglow Estate and funding Honningbrew Meadery was inspired."

"To ensure an enemy's defeat, you must first undermine his allies," Karliah stated, easing the tension on the bow, "It was the first lesson Gallus taught us."

"You always were a quick study," Mercer remarked. Why was he talking to the enemy? She was acting more like she'd lost Gallus than Mercer did. Unless she did.

"Not quick enough, otherwise Gallus would still be alive."

So, that was it then. Ravani knew he was lying, just not about what. Mercer killed Gallus and lied to everyone else that Karliah was the killer. He did all of this for power and wealth. In all honesty, Ravani should've expected nothing less from a thief, but the way he went on about rules, she assumed he was the bloody Jarl. Well, maybe not the Jarl of the Rift, but a Jarl.

"Gallus had his wealth and he had you," Mercer spat, "All he had to do was look the other way."

"Did you forget your oath we took as Nightingales?" Karliah questioned, "Did you expect him to simply ignore your methods?"

Nightingales? Ravani wondered what she meant by that. Surely, she didn't mean birds, neither could she possibly mean the other alternative. Rumor had it that thieves with the blessing of Nocturnal, the Night Mistress, but they couldn't possibly exist. They couldn't.

"Enough of all this mindless banter!" Mercer declared, drawing his blade, "Come on, Karliah. It's time for you and Gallus to become reunited!"

And without even a movement of her hands, Karliah disappeared. "I'm no fool, Mercer," her voice stated, "Crossing blades with you would be a death sentence. But I can promise the next time we meet, it will be your undoing."

With Karliah gone, there were only two people in the room. One was Mercer, the other was a paralyze Ravani. And she heard every word of it. Mercer knew that; he had to, or else he still had his sword out for little reason. And when he approached the limp thief, she knew what would happen. She was going to die. No matter what he was going to do between then and now, she was going to die.

"How interesting," Mercer remarked as he grew closer to Ravani, "It appears Gallus' history has repeated itself. Karliah has provided me with the means to be rid of you, and this ancient tomb becomes your final resting place. But do you know what intrigues me the most? The fact that this was all possible because of you."

Crouched over the paralyzed thief, Mercer simply said, "Farewell. I'll be certain to give Brynjolf your regards."

And his blade cut across Ravani. Of course, she had to believe her eyes on that because she could feel the sword pierce her flesh. This is not how she wanted to die. In fact, she didn't want to die at all. But there was a simple fact to lie: If you can die, you will. And so, she embraced the emptiness.