Prologue
Several months had passed since Emily and Serana crashed through the roof of the Falkreath tavern, straight out of the repurposed flying vehicle driven by the Mad god himself and onto the table of two unsuspecting Nords enjoying a pint of mead. Shortly after returning to Skyrim and their home in the Falkreath forests they sent word to both the mages in Winterhold of their return as well as to the Skaal villages in the ashen wastes of Solstheim to let Lydia know that Storn would likely soon be returning to the Skaal village and to prepare for her return to Whiterun.
The first few weeks following their return home Emily had sunken into a kind of melancholy. Though she had concluded Maylene to be, in Serana's words, 'an evil shrew,' she could not ignore the fact that it was she who dealt the killing blow. Her death being more of less necessary had not made the decision any easier. She had once loved her. Serana gave her, her space as needed and offered her comfort and soft words. Serana's way of dealing with grief led her to seek solace in solitude and refrain from talking, even to those closest to her. Emily was in many ways the total opposite. Though she wandered alone from time to time, more often than not her grief caused her to seek the comfort of her vampire lover and to cry. During these times Serana would hold her, murmuring words of consolation as best she could find them. She was also prone to night terrors, thrashing about in the bed which often woke Serana and she could do little but sit by her head and stroke her hair until the shaking subsided and she fell back into restless sleep. Serana would take such measures as she could to try and distract Emily from her thoughts such as nights by the lake and hunting in the forest glens. And at last Emily began to come around.
For several weeks they remained in their Falkreath home, enjoying the quiet their woodland cottage could provide. They made frequent visits to the tavern, whom Emily felt obliged to pay for the damage to the thatching caused by their unplanned visit.
At times they went into the forests to hunt. Elk were a common sight, the majestic monarch of the southern glens. They made for a steady supply of blood and Emily and Serana sold off their pelts to the local Blacksmith and their meat to the tavern. The antlers and eyes they brought back for the use in alchemy experiments.
But at last it was time for Emily to return to High Hrothgar. Dragon sightings were becoming ever more common. She learnt several shouts, delving into various catacombs and climbing frigid peaks to learn the words of power, slaying dragons to acquire their meaning.
It was on a cold night late in First Seed as Emily and Serana sat in the garden under the spreading limbs of the old oak tree that they heard the Greybeards' summons, calling them to return to the monastery.