Chapter 28

The Lady and The Rogue

XxXxXx

4E 79, 28th Rain's Hand – Necrom, Morrowind

Necrom was not a city that Nevano ever intended to find himself in. It was a hugely grand city, with tall white towers that reflected the light of both the sun and the moon, thick walls that had scared murals carved onto every available surface and statues that reflected the city's celebration of both life and death. There was nothing wrong with the city per say. In fact, it was a lively city, a port city, filled with people from all over Tamriel.

Nevano could barely stand being near it, let alone walking its streets.

Thanks to Nerevar's soul in him, he was a bit more sensitive to the souls of the dead and this city had just as many spirits walking the streets as living bodies. He couldn't see them, but he could feel them, an icy curtain that splashed against his body like a cold bath whenever one would brush against him. They were not malicious entities, those manifested themselves in the massive graveyard west of the city, but those who simply found comfort in the afterlife by keeping with the same routine they had kept while they were still alive. All the energy in the city made Nevano feel shaky and nauseated.

Still, he couldn't leave just yet. He had come all the way across Morrowind for one reason and he couldn't leave until he at least caught a glimpse of Lady Hlervu, the lovely wife of a low level Redoran councilor. He hadn't cared to learn the name of the councilor; the man himself was of little concern to Nevano. In fact, Nevano hated the mer. He could barely stomach seeing the councilor's name written out. He had been completely heart-broken when he had seen the last name Hlervu following Sorosi's name instead of Arobar, but in the end he could only blame himself. He had let her go and run away and she had been married off as planned. From what he heard it had been a grand celebration, taking place in Blacklight and lasting for a full day. He had also heard, from several tittering girls whispering behind their hands, that, though the bride had been the very picture of serene beauty, she had been crying before appearing to say her sacred vows. One more knife twisting in his heart.

It wasn't that hard to find the Hlervu manor. A few inquiries around town got him pointed in the right direction. It was, of course, located in the upscale part of town, where the large manors, well-guarded manors he noted, of the rich and influential were located. The guards at the gates of the manors gave Nevano a suspicious look but none stopped to question him. Tourists were not uncommon here and Nevano did nothing to make them think he was anything otherwise.

The manor itself was nothing extraordinary. It was rather plain in comparison to the other opulent homes in the area, a rather obvious indicator that the owner was not as high in prestige as his neighbors. To Nevano, it was still an excessive display of wealth. Why have a house large enough to house twenty people when only two lived there full time? It made no sense to the mer who didn't have any property in his name.

The sun was setting when Nevano slipped around the back of the house, away from the suspicious gaze of the lone guard at the door and looked over the windows arranged neatly in front of him. He knew that bedrooms would be upstairs while the more formal rooms would all be downstairs. Carefully he climbed up the wall, thankful that this city was given to such extravagant carvings on the walls; it made climbing the walls almost as easy as walking on flat ground. He peered through a few windows until he found one that showed some promise. Lucky for him it wasn't locked.

Nevano leaped lightly through the window without a sound, stopping to let his eyes adjust to the rapidly diminishing light. Soon it would be pitch dark. He couldn't pick out fine details but he could distinguish large objects in the room well enough to navigate. He frowned a little. This wasn't the bedroom of a married couple, the bed seemed far too small and there was only one of everything instead of two. For a moment he thought he had gone to the wrong window. He glanced back at the window, considered trying another.

Footsteps interrupted his thought process and he quickly flattened himself against the wall behind the door.

His heart pounded against his ribs as the target of his whole quest walked in and locked the door behind her before leaning against the wood with a sigh. Something in that sigh, so tired and relieved to be alone, tugged at his heart.

Slowly Sorosi pushed herself off the door and went about lighting the candles in the room. Once the light was strong enough Nevano could see that his previous assessment was correct; it was definitely a single occupant room, and not that of the husband. Everything was decidedly feminine. From the jewelry on the dresser to the colorful, flimsy clothing women loved so much thrown carelessly on the bed, all of it had a woman's touch. There were no signs of any sort of male habitation.

"Separate bedrooms?"

Sorosi gasped and spun around, a dagger suddenly in her hands. Nevano noted with a twinge of pride that it was the dagger he had given her so long ago. He had never been able to teach her to fight, it had proved impossible to get that noble mentality out of her, but he had at least been able to teach her to defend herself until real help could arrive. "Who's there?" she demanded.

Nevano stepped out from the shadows into the feeble light of the candles. Instantly the fear and anger drained from her face, replaced by a look Nevano couldn't quite read, and the dagger wavered in her grasp. Nevano took the dagger from her unresisting hands and laid it on the dresser before holding her hands in his own. He noted they were shaking.

"Nevano…" she said softly, tears welling in her eyes though her face remained unreadable. "You haven't changed a bit."

He hadn't, had he? Neither blight nor age could harm him. That was what the prophecy said. Meanwhile everyone else around changed and Sorosi was no different. Lines crossed her once flawless face and a streak of grey shot through her raven hair. It hadn't been that long, had it? Those couldn't be the marks of age, she wasn't old enough. They were…stress marks, Nevano realized with a pang. He reached out and ran his thumb down her face. She closed her eyes and for a moment her face relaxed and the lines faded away, allowing her beauty to radiate through so strongly that he gasped.

"Why did you come back?" Her question took him by surprise. Well, not the question itself so much as it was the anger that wove itself through her words. "Why? Why, after all this time? Why did you choose NOW?"

Nevano stayed silent.

"You have nothing to say? You left me! You BASTARD! I loved you and you left me without a WORD!" Anger gave way to a long restrained rage and despair, her words punctuated by pounding a clenched fist on his chest. He did nothing to stop her; he just let her scream and beat on him. He deserved all that and more.

"Lady Hlervu? Is everything ok?" There was a timid knock on the door. "I heard shouting…"

"Everything is fine. Leave me!" Sorosi snapped.

They both waited a sufficient amount of time for the maid to leave before turning their full attention back to each other. The interruption had allowed Sorosi's temper to settle a little. Her eyes were still sparking in anger but she didn't hit him again.

"Well? What's your excuse?"

"I'm a fool." Nevano finally said. "I was a fool and I still am a fool."

"That's an understatement." Sorosi said, the anger finally draining from her voice. "I should hate you. I should be calling for the guards to haul you out. There are so many things I SHOULD do but…I can't bring myself to do it. I've missed you."

"Sorosi I…I should have…I wanted to…"

"No, Nevano, what's done is done." Sorosi stopped him. "We are here now. I'm married and you…"

"Regret everyday I left. I hated myself for what I did." Nevano said. "I'm alone and miserable and everything is so pointless without you. I can't even stand being around another woman because I keep comparing her to you and they all are…nothing."

"Oh really?"

"Are you…happy that I've been lonely without you?"

"More like amused that you can't find another woman attractive after me."

Nevano gave a small smile. "My gorgeous witch. You cursed me."

"Many times. Though that curse is MILD in comparison of what I SHOULD have done to you. Especially when I got married…you are lucky you can still consider yourself male."

"About that separate bedroom thing…" Nevano coughed a little, changing the subject quickly before she decided to actually go through with her threats. That dagger he had given her was rather ornamental but was just as sharp as it was pretty and it was well within her reach.

"And you say YOU were having romance problems."

"I hate to ask without turning crude in front of a lady."

"Like that has ever stopped you in the past. Nothing as bad as that though. He has me, rolls over and goes to sleep." Sorosi sighed and spun from his grasp, removing her jewelry and setting it on the dresser. "You've spoiled me, my rogue. This man is…nice enough, I suppose. I'm treated well and he's a wealthy man with many connections and…he's everything my parents wanted for me. In short, he bores me."

Nevano stepped up and removed Sorosi's necklace for her, careful to only brush his fingers against her neck as he undid the clasp, noting the goose bumps that rose in the wake of his touch. Slowly a smirk worked its way across his face, warmth slowly bubbling up in the pit of his belly in a way he hadn't felt in years. So her husband was so boring that they slept not only separate beds but in separate bedrooms? That was a practice that hadn't been seen since the first era. Very archaic but very fortuitous for him.

"You never answered me earlier." Sorosi said, turning around to look him fully in the eyes. His stomach flip-flopped as her bright red eyes captured his and held him there more efficiently than any spell. "Why are you here?"

"Because I couldn't go one more day without seeing you." Nevano said honestly. "I tried to stay away but I figured out where you were and…well, I found myself here. I couldn't live with myself if I walked away without seeing you again."

"And if I called my husband's guards?"

"I wouldn't blame you. I'd get away, of course, but I'd still love you." He answered honestly. "I think we both know that I have a lot of practice of avoiding guards while getting in and out of manors visiting a certain pretty girl. Your father can attest to that."

"If I asked you to stay?"

"I'm yours to command." Nevano stepped closer. "You've risen high in this world, pretty lady. I'm still a lowly commoner, far beneath you. Command me, my lady."

"So says the Nerevarine."

"Today I'm not the Nerevarine. Tonight, for you, I'm merely Nevano, a lowly, love-struck man come to worship the goddess of beauty. Dibella has nothing on you."

Finally she smiled at him, that gentle love-filled smile that melted all the years of age, stress and grief off her face so all he saw was the sparkle-eyed young girl he fell in love with all those decades ago. The muscles in his abdomen clenched and the heat in his stomach began to collect in his lower body. Slowly he gathered her in his arms and, after blowing out all but the farthest candle that he couldn't be bothered to reach, took her to the bed.


Much later Nevano watched her sleep, the pale light of dawn leaving her dark skin looking smooth and flawless. His gut ached and it had nothing to do with last night's activities. He stood up, buckling his belt back on and tugging his armor into place. He gently kissed Sorosi on the forehead and made for the window.

"Leaving without a word again?"

"Or leaving before I'm caught, castrated and quartered."

"Nevano…"

"Sorosi, I'll always love you. That will never ever change. However, I won't endanger you by sticking around and angering your boring husband. Just know this: if you ever need me, I will find a way to be there."

Before she could say anything that would make him stay or do something stupid, he slipped out the window and disappeared into the pale dawn light, feeling Sorosi's eyes on him until he was gone from sight, hating himself every step he took away from her.

XxXxXx

4E 201, 17th Hearthfire – Safepoint Adrusa, Morrowind

Those eyes. They were…orange. Veleth could barely believe what he was seeing. He didn't notice the glass shards at his feet. He hadn't meant to drop that vase or whatever it was he had been holding but when he had gotten a good look at the Churl, at those damned distinctive eyes, his hands had gone completely nerveless and it had slipped from his fingers to shatter on the floor.

"My name is Nevusa Hlervu. Sorosi Hlervu is my mother. I am your daughter."

Nevano had apparently already figured that out because he passed out on the floor before the Churl had even finished speaking, causing her to trail off awkwardly.

Veleth didn't pay Nevano's prone form any mind. The smaller mer would be fine. He just couldn't stop staring at the woman standing across from him. He couldn't help himself. He had spent most of his early military career in a direct parallel with the Churl, almost in competition with him…her. They had never met face to face but they had been compared and contrasted by everyone around them up until he had left for Solstheim and even then he still had to deal with the sighs that he could have been as accomplished, even considered for general, as the Churl. He certainly hadn't expected his counterpart to be this mischievous woman who, now that he could actually see her, looked to be around the same age as he was but half his size. Then he found himself looking at those bright orange eyes and he couldn't blame Nevano for fainting. He almost felt like joining him but clamped down on the woozy feeling. One of them needed to stay standing for gods' sake and he refused to be the one on the ground. Still it was hard to tear his eyes away. She was very much a female version of Nevano, the biggest difference, he decided, other than the eyes, was the hair. Nevano had dark red hair that couldn't make up its mind which direction it wanted to grow but this girl had short raven colored locks that curled more or less in the same direction. When she looked at him, her eyes sparkled with an amusement that she had caused two warriors of such renown to practically crumple at her feet by merely telling them her name.

"Of all the things I was expecting, this…wasn't one of them." Nevusa said.

Veleth bit his tongue at that. It took every ounce of his considerable willpower to keep his voice from rising an octave as he spoke. "By the gods, can you blame him? This was supposed to be impossible. You were supposed to be impossible."

"There's no such thing as impossible." Nevusa said. "Especially not in this bloodline. He became an immortal god-killer. It doesn't get much more impossible than that. After seeing those eyes of his for myself finally…well, there's no longer any doubt is there?"

Veleth took a closer look at her eyes. They were not a solid orange as he first thought; the edges were a deep reddish orange with gold bursting from the iris. If the color wasn't enough of a dead giveaway, they were also the same size and shape as Nevano's. If he looked right at the gold sunburst, it was just like looking at Nevano. Then it fully struck him like a bolt of lightning, nearly causing his heart to seize up. Nevano had a kid. Nevano…had a kid. Nevano had a kid.

"So…why hide?" He asked, fighting back a shudder.

"I thought you of all people would understand." She said. "You, who went all the way to Solstheim to create a division between yourself and your father. But to answer your question, I didn't want to be known as the Nerevarine's bastard child. I don't think my mother ever fully admitted to exactly who sired me but it was that secret that everyone knew even if no one talked about it out loud. Still, I wanted to be me."

Veleth frowned but nodded. "That's not why I stayed in Solstheim but I see your point."

"Oh? Then why did you stay, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It was a dangerous place and the people there needed my help. Not to mention the guard there was a bunch of hopeless fetchers in desperate need of training." She nodded but he could see that she didn't believe him for a second. However he didn't fully care right now. There would be time for truth later. He nudged Nevano in the shoulder with his foot, trying to rouse him. "So where did you learn to fight like that? Redoran don't usually favor light armor or short blades. It's impressive though. I can see why you got the nickname 'Churl'."

"When I was young a group of Ashlanders that had fled Vvardenfell came to town." Nevusa explained. "Of course, I was immediately forbidden from having any contact with them and, of course, I immediately disobeyed. As soon as they saw my eyes they tried to call me the Ma'Nerevaria, child of the Nerevarine, but I told them I was no one so they instead called ma Nammu."

" 'No-name'?"

"I preferred it at the time. My father and I didn't get along and my real father didn't even know I existed." Nevusa said with a shrug. "My mother refused to acknowledge either way so I was much happier being a no-name. Anyway, I asked if they could show me things from Vvardenfell, things that an Ashlander needed to survive in their harsh homeland. I didn't necessarily say 'show me how to fight' because I knew it would get back to my father and it would lead to a fight and there was enough bickering going on at the time. I didn't want to drag my new friends into something. Fortunately, they got the gist of it. I like to think they were rather pleased with the chance to teach me. They stayed for a few years before moving on but by then I could hold my own against any of them in a fight. They taught me how to hunt, how to survive in the wild and how to handle most weapons. They asked if I wanted to go with them but despite how much I wanted to, I couldn't leave, not like that. It would have broken my mother's heart."

Veleth silently nodded.

"Now my turn to ask a question again."

He looked back up at her, quirking an eyebrow.

"What's he like?" She nodded at the unconscious mer on the ground.

"That answer can change depending on who you ask." Veleth snorted, crossing his arms. "He's a lot of things. Most know him as a bastard, which is rather true. When I was a child I remember him as being the uncle that would do all the things your mother never let you do behind her back. When we re-met in Solstheim, I realized he was everything my father told me while growing up: bold and reckless, loud, brash, slightly touched by Sheogorath, but will do whatever it takes to protect those he cares about. He can't stand bullies, especially those in a position of power who abuse that power. It's never boring with him around, I'll give him that."

Nevusa had been snickering while he listed everything off. "Anything else?" she asked eagerly.

"I could go on for quite a bit but…" Veleth nudged Nevano again, this time eliciting a groan from the much smaller mer. "You'll find out soon enough. He's not a quiet person and around you he probably won't shut up. You'll get to know him fairly quickly."

Nevusa laughed. Azura save him, she had his laugh too. Now he was truly scared.

XxXxXx

Nevano slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling a moment, trying to piece together just what had happened. The last thing he remembered was seeing those fingers. Long, tapered fingers with a distinctive curve in the little fingers that caused them to arc like a sickle from the second knuckle up. He remembered feeling that curve when he held Sorosi's hand, feeling those adorable little fingers threaded through his calloused fingers like a hug. Then he remembered what had caused his mind to feel like ice had encased it. Those eyes.

He sat up and saw those unique orange eyes watching him curiously, waiting to see if he would get up or pass out again. So he hadn't imagined it after all.

"I'll leave you two." Veleth said, heading outside. Part of Nevano was a little relieved but another part of him wanted to chase after Veleth and drag him back in and not leave him with this woman who was his…his…he could barely handle thinking it. Daughter. His head spun a little when he looked at the orange-eyed girl and the word seemed to hang above her head like a signpost. Slowly he stood up so he could meet her eye-to-eye and noted, with a little bit of chagrin, that his own daughter was still taller than he was.

"I…I honestly do not know what to say." Nevano said awkwardly. "I don't know if I should apologize or not."

"Don't." Nevusa said. "Apologize, I mean. There's nothing to apologize for."

"I never knew you existed." Nevano said. "If I had known…"

"What would you have done?" the young woman cut him off. "Stolen a woman and her newborn child away? Taken them to where? Caused a scandal for everyone and caused more problems than solutions all because you think it was the right thing to do? My mother has never admitted to who exactly my father is, not publicly, not privately. She could have lied and said her husband was my father but I don't think she could bring herself to do it. So she simply held her silence, ignored the whispers and raised her child the best she could."

"Perhaps you're right but still…" I wanted to know my child. He couldn't say the words out loud. It was curiously painful to think about. He had never really thought about having kids, having lived with the assumption that it was impossible. To see that that was incorrect, to see an actual child of his, brought out a painful tug in his heart. She was grown, but he could easily envision her as a child as mischievous as he had been and the pain grew, desperately wishing he had been there to know her.

"She knew that one day I would meet you." Nevusa smiled gently. "I think it hurt her everyday she kept it a secret but she took comfort in the thought that this day, this moment, would happen."

"Is she…?

"She's still alive. Alive and well in Necrom. She'll be happy to know that you are as well." Nevusa said. "She never believed you left for Akavir, since she knew you hated being on water, but she was worried when you suddenly disappeared. I told her that it was my intention to look for you but she told me that I would never find you if you didn't want to be found, to be patient and you would find me. I never realized just how right she was going to be."

Nevano smiled. Sorosi knew him so well.

"I have many things I want to ask you, I want to know more, I'm desperate to know more but…" Nevusa sighed. "That will have to wait. General Garil has tasked me with helping you solve this and we should get going on that. I don't think these undead will wait for us to have the reunion we want."

"Maybe when this is over we'll have some time to talk." Nevano agreed. "You're right though. I'll get the Bull."

Nevano went outside and found Veleth watching the horizon slowly pale towards dawn. He stood next to him. Normally this area had magnificent dawn lights, orange and yellow and pink, but there wouldn't be visible today as the inky dark of night gave way to the pale grey of the clouds that seemed to perpetually hang over the area. Nevano sighed in disappointment and looked over at Veleth. "Whatever I was expecting…this wasn't it."

Veleth gave him a rather wry smile. "You weren't?"

"Undead attacks, Mournhold under siege and a daughter I never knew I had. Just a little on the unexpected side." Nevano gave Veleth a sidelong look. "Quit smirking. The next set of surprises could be on you. Any chance of you having a child you didn't know about?"

"Doubtful. Very doubtful."

"Straight-laced soldier." Nevano managed up a small smile. "Come. Time to get to work."

They went back inside and found that Nevusa had already pulled out a few maps. She didn't look up as they walked up. "I was thinking about Garil said, that you wanted to try to take down the barrier?"

"Correct." Nevano said, watching her sort through the pile with lightning speed.

"What is your plan?"

"I don't have one yet." Nevano readily admitted. Nevusa stopped and stared at him while Veleth gave a small, resigned sigh. "I'm no mage so I have no idea how to go about dispelling it. However I do know that I don't have to be a mage to take it down."

"Well, that's a start of a plan…" Nevusa said and tapped at a map. "I have a better one though."

"I'm listening."

"We have a…scholar of sorts here."

"Of sorts?"

"He's here due to an…unofficial pact. I don't know if you've ever heard of the Shad Astula…"

Nevano gave her a look.

"Right. It was the school of magic in Morrowind back during the second era. Well, its focus was on magic but it was actually a militarized school that prepared the children of the Ebonheart Pact for roles in the Alliance War. After the Alliance Wars were over, it refocused its purpose to mainly the study of magic. Over the centuries it melded with the Mages Guild, rather unhappily I might add, but the Mages Guild had the influence of the empire to force such a merge. When the Mages Guild disintegrated, the Shad Astula saw its opportunity to reform. However, that is easier said than done, especially for an organization that hasn't been in the public's mind for centuries. In addition to the Shad Astula, there are three other schools of magic: the College of Winterhold, the College of Whispers and the Synod. Each school was competing for the favor of the empire…well, the College of Winterhold isn't. They prefer to remain neutral and dictate their own course of study. But the Shad Astula wanted nothing to do with the other two. The College of Whispers and the Synod were considered Imperial lap dogs, no better than the Mages Guild that had swallowed them up and then spit them back out. The College of Winterhold has refused to openly form any sort of alliance or a show of assistance BUT they did take pity on the Shad Astula as they appreciated the want to remain an independent school so if a mage wanted to perform research or some sort of experiment outside of the college, they were indirectly directed towards the Shad Astula. The extra help was welcomed and slowly they've been building back up again to their former glory."

"So this scholar is from the College of Winterhold working through the Shad Astula?"

"Yes."

"Great. The mages at the College of Winterhold are even crazier than the Mages Guild…"

"What?"

"Long story." Nevano muttered. He could see the outline of Keening in his pack. If he stared hard enough he could see a flash of light. He quickly looked away. "Let's go talk with this mage and see if he's learned anything about this barrier and how we can work with this."

"The sun is coming up." Nevusa said, pulling her helmet and mask back on, her voice again becoming a muffled monotone. "Normally we don't have these attacks during the daylight hours so the mage goes to the barrier during the day to study it. If we hurry we can be there within an hour or so."

XxXxXx

"You said earlier that the undead haven't been attacking during the day?" Veleth asked as the three jogged down the road to Mournhold.

"Correct." The Churl said. "It's very odd. Most undead don't leave the area that they rise from and we've identified these Ordinators as having risen from outside Mournhold. You can actually see the disturbed ground from where they rose up. But there's so many! I don't know where they keep coming from. It's like they keep rising from a mass grave but we don't bury our dead like that."

"Given how decomposed those bodies were, it could very well be that they had been dead a long time, even as far back as when the city fell, and they were preserved somehow." Veleth mused. "Being raised again made them…pungent again I'm guessing."

Nevano said nothing as he pushed himself to keep up with the taller mer. He had already delt with a powerful conjurer once and even Ildari, as deranged in her power as she was, hadn't been able to raise ash spawn in such numbers and with bodies as intact as these Ordinators. He was incredibly worried that whoever was behind these attacks was going to be so powerful that they wouldn't stand a chance at beating him or her. He huffed; he might have just met his match.

"There's Mournhold." Nevusa said. Nevano looked up, following her pointing finger and saw the massive walls of Mournhold rising from the trees. Even at this distance Nevano could see a shimmer in the air surrounding the dark walls. His eyes widened a little. That was an incredibly strong barrier spell. The only such spell that he could possibly compare it to would be the great Ghostfence in Vvardenfell.

"The mage's name is Moric Beaufort. He's been here for about a year or so now." Nevusa said, slowing her pace a little as they got closer. "I'm not entirely certain what he was initially researching. I asked once but he has a very intricate way of speaking that lost me fairly quickly. I never asked again."

Nevano stayed quiet the rest of the way, keeping his gaze focused on the city. From a distance the city had seemed its usual grand and proud presence but as he got closer, he could see that the city was a mere shadow of its former grandeur. The walls were standing but just barely. The stones were cracked, many all the way through, and the mortar was crumbling. Vining plants grew from the cracks, further weakening the structure. The few buildings that peaked over the top were mere ruins now, somehow standing despite the elements doing its best to topple it once and for all. Nevano could only imagine just what it looked like inside those walls. The city of light and magic was now a city of darkness and death. All the while, that horrible green light still stretched up to the clouds overhead, shifting and swirling restlessly behind the barrier like an animal in a cage.

"There he is." Nevusa said quietly, pointing to where a robed man was examining the barrier. Nevano sighed internally and walked over, determined to get this over with as quickly as possible and hopefully minimize the headache he knew was coming.

"No, I do not know the origins of the undead, no, I do not know restoration so I cannot help you with your mystery rash and no, I cannot transport you from this miserable cesspool to Blacklight or Necrom." The mage said in a bored tone without looking up as Nevano approached.

"I can guess where the undead came from without your help, I'm free to walk wherever I want and last I checked my mystery rash was caused by talking to irritable mages." Nevano retorted. "Stress rash, you know."

The Breton man finally looked up at him, irritation written plainly all over his face. "Can I help you with something?"

"I hope so." Nevano said. "You're Moric Braufort, yes? The mage from…I guess I should say the Shad Astula. Or should I say College of Winterhold? Whichever, I'm not picky. I want to know about this barrier."

"Yes, yes, and keep quiet on that! I'm from the Shad Astula as far as you're concerned." Beaufort snapped, sounding flustered in addition to irritated. "Fine. About the barrier, unfortunately there's not much to tell. It's merely a physical seal, meant to keep out, not harm."

"Someone got brave enough to touch it?" Nevano asked dryly, only half joking.

"After a while, stupidity wins out over prudence, especially among bored, ignorant soldiers." The Churl slowly turned her head towards the mage, the invisible glare more felt than seen, but the mage continued without giving any sign he had noticed. "However, I don't know if it's a simple seal or a blood seal."

"Ok." Nevano laughed a bit. "The extent of my magical ability is lighting a candle when I snap my fingers next to it and even that takes some concentration. Magic is not among my many talents. You are going to have to explain this a bit more to me."

"If the seal constructed by the machinations of a magicka matrix." Beaufort said. "Or it if was built upon the weaving of a natural life force into the matrix, forming a living magic base from which the frame of the spell is built upon."

Nevano blinked slowly. "Right. Can we pretend for a moment that I don't have the education of a noble and was instead taught by those who often needed pictures to understand their contracts?"

"He means that if someone simply cast it or if they killed someone to gain the power to cast it." Nevusa piped up helpfully.

"Oh…so like a ward or a ghostfence?"

"Not really- oh forget it. Close enough." Beaufort sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He muttered something under his breath about uneducated fools.

Nevano sighed, choosing to ignore the unpleasant remarks for now. "Just tell me how to take the seal down."

"I won't have that information until I know what type of seal it is."

"I thought you just said what kind of seal it was! Just how long have you been staring at that seal?" Nevano narrowed his eyes, anger sparking in his gut. He had had enough dancing around with this mage. He wanted to get the information they needed and get to work. Time was ticking away and he was starting to feel rather impatient.

"I've been 'staring at it', as you so crudely put it, since it was first cast." The mage crossed his arms. "There are many types of seals, not just the two I mentioned earlier. Rushing leads to mistakes and I rather doubt you would want a critical mistake to be made in such a momentous undertaking."

"Look you fancy speaking s'wit!" Nevano flared up, his temper finally getting the better of him. "I don't have time to deal with you wanting to further your research or whatever it is you're doing here and I certainly don't have time to try figure out just what your damn words mean! If you have no idea how to deal with this then tell me so I can go find some fetcher who does know what they're damn well talking about!"

Veleth groaned when Trueflame and Hopesfire flared up, casting a red and blue light around them, grabbed Nevano by the back of his armor and bodily dragged him away, the Churl following, trying her hardest not to laugh.

"Put me down." Nevano spat after a few steps, twisting in Veleth's grip. He immediately regretted saying anything when Veleth readily complied and unceremoniously dropped him in the dirt.

"As usual, the resident mage isn't going to help." The tall mer said. "But then again, he doesn't want to. He's bored and he finally has something to play with and he doesn't want us to take it away. He's remarkably blind to everything going on around him. We got to find another solution."

"I was afraid this would happen. Fortunately I think I know of someone else who can help." Nevusa said. "We got to travel a bit though…"

"Do we have a choice?" Nevano grumbled, picking himself up and spitting out a mouthful of dirt.

"No, not really." Nevusa said with a smile as she walked away. "Come on, it's not far at all to Darvon's Watch. If we hurry we should get there before tomorrow evening. Garil already has pledged me to you so now he has to live with me being gone for a few days. Let's see if you boys can keep up with me."

Veleth shot a look over at Nevano. "This is your fault, you know."

Nevano responded with a rather rude gesture.

XxXxXx

4E 201, 19th Hearthfire – Darvon's Watch, Morrowind

"So who exactly are we trying to find?" Nevano asked as they walked along the rocky reaches of Morrowind's shoreline. He imagined that the hazy horizon was deliberately clouding Vvardenfell's southern shore, shielding the ruins of Vivec City from curious gazes such as his own.

"A witch." Nevusa said as casually as if he had asked about the weather. "She lives west of Darvon's Watch so we won't have to go into the town itself."

"A witch?" Veleth asked incredulously. Nevano raised an eyebrow in curiosity as well.

"Yes, a Bosmer witch to be exact. She specializes in mysticism." Nevusa explained. "I know it sounds strange but she is a highly accomplished mystic. If anyone can help us with this, it's her. I had actually petitioned Garil to let me seek her out for help when the undead first attacked but he prefers the direct approach of 'attack first, cast later'. Then the attacks grew more frequent and more intense and I couldn't be spared to make the trip. Stubborn old fetcher…"

"And just why would an old Bosmer woman help us?" Veleth asked. "What sort of favor will we owe her in return?"

"Oh, don't worry. I already have that taken care of." Nevusa said brightly. "Several years ago a pack of Argonians broke through and were determined to burn the town to the ground but she refused to evacuate with the rest of Darvon's Watch. I positioned myself by her house and made sure she stayed safe. It wasn't a favor I ever intended to have repaid but I think this whole situation is dire enough that I don't feel bad calling it in. Her name is Glathil but everyone calls her Auntie Glathil."

She led them to a small shack on a hill that overlooked the town of Darvon's Watch. It would have been just like a common wooden cabin found Tamriel over except that it was almost completely decorated with charms. A breeze from the not-so-distant coast gently rattled the array of trinkets and the air was suddenly filled with the sound of pieces of metal and glass clinking against each other and carved wooden symbols clattering. Feathers, fur and dried herbs fluttered, making the entire cabin seem as if it were a living creature.

"Charming." Veleth muttered.

"What's wrong, Bull?" Nevano asked. "Witches make your nose twitch?"

"Magic in general makes my nose twitch." The bigger mer grumbled. "Half of magic is guess work and the other half is dangerous."

Given that just about every encounter with magic Veleth had ended up in a bloody conflict, Nevano couldn't say he blamed him any.

"Would you two stop being cowards?" Nevusa said as she knocked on the door. "Magic is only as dangerous as the person wielding it, same as some fetcher wielding a sword or bow or a rock or even their bare fists. Stop clucking like scared chickens and get over here."

"Huh…just like her mother." Nevano grinned.

Veleth groaned, making Nevano grin even wider.

The inside of the cabin was just as eccentric as the exterior. Dried herbs hung in bunches from the ceiling, filling the air with a sharp aromatic scent. Small charms and trinkets filled the shelves on the walls amid dusty books in languages Nevano didn't recognize. A cat darted out from underneath a table, which was strangely empty in comparison to the general clutter of the rest of the cabin with the exception of a well-kept crystal ball. Sitting at the table was Auntie Glathil.

Auntie Glathil turned out to be everything Nevano had imagined a witch should be. She was a withered, tiny creature, easily the most ancient elf he had ever seen without the intervention of necromantic magic like what was practiced so often with Telvanni mages. Despite her frail shell, the strength of her spirit shone through her eyes with such a force that it made Nevano think that he shouldn't underestimate her for a second. Despite his misgivings, the old woman's smile was sincere enough that he pushed his feelings aside and took a cautious step inside.

"I had to just intrude, Auntie Glathil, but we need your help." Nevusa said, taking off her helmet. "You know of the barrier surrounding Mournhold, yes? Can you tell us more about it and, most importantly, how do we dispel it?"

"Hmm, yes, I can tell you about it but first let me take a look at our guests here." The old crone scrutinized Nevano carefully, making his skin feel like it was crawling. "Ah yes, the Nerevarine. You still are just as handsome as you were 200 years ago. That eternal youth becomes you…except your eyes. Your eyes have aged where your body has not. They carry the burden of a life that has frozen in place, watching the world as it passes by. They carry the burden of the lives you've had to sacrifice along the way, innocent and not. You carry their souls with you…and you try to ease that horrible burden by laughing. You tread the fine line of sanity every day, knowing that you can't go back to the life you wished you had, that falling to either side would mean not just your ruin but that of everyone around you so you must keep going ever forward, cutting your feet on the sharpened blade, hauling the burden of a life you never wanted in the first place. Such a difficult place to be in, this living on the brink of losing your entire self." She stood and walked across the room, picking up charm and slowly making her way back to her chair before continuing. "Your friend Jorun understands. He's old enough to have seen the consequences of life choices, of fate, and he understands the burden of death. These young ones do not yet have an appreciation for death. They've tasted of it through others but it's not something they can appreciate until they are old and are staring at its dark waiting maw every minute of the day and start to realize that its peaceful silence is preferable to the loud, pointless, onerous wheel of life. Unfortunately, you can only look into that maw and realize that the sweet release death will not come for you. One day, you will have to go to it."

Nevano found that he was shaking, rattled to his core as the witch cracked him open and read every deep seated fear he held close to his soul. He could barely breath as the horrible reality of his existence was laid bare for him. He couldn't run from it, he couldn't look away. Glathil was right. Death watched him, every day, every hour, unable to pull him into its dark embrace. He cheated death every day he was alive, feeding the beast the souls of those he killed in this seemingly endless life in place of his own. He clenched his hands into fists, struggling to push everything back into the mental box he had locked it in.

"We didn't come here for a fortune telling, which is nothing but guessing games anyway." Veleth growled. "Can you tell us about the barrier or not?"

"Guessing games hm?" The old woman gave him a smile so cold that Veleth actually took a step back. "Such skepticism. I should have expected nothing less than this from the stubborn child of Jorun and Drelasa. You earned the nickname 'Bull' after all. As much as I could let fate be cruel, I do owe my lovely friend here and a friend of hers is a friend of mine, no matter how rude. So I will give you this warning: you believe that the past is behind you and stays in its place but you are a fool to think so. The past is not dead, oh no, it is a living, often vengeful animal. It does not like to be ignored. The past will come back to haunt you. It will make your heart whole in a way you didn't realize was missing…then it will shatter into a thousand pieces with no hope of ever recovering all the shards. Brace yourself, boy, for you will need all the fortitude of a wild bull to make it through with your mind and soul intact."

"Auntie Glathil…the barrier…" Nevusa whispered, her eyes wide.

"Oh yes, that's right." The witch switched right back to the sweet little old lady act and settled into her chair, hanging the charm over the crystal ball. "The barrier."

Nevano continued to struggle to put Glathil's haunting message out of his mind and to focus on the subject at hand. It wasn't easy. He was still very shaken. Glathil had opened an old wound he had thought had scarred over and all the old doubts and hopelessness that had driven him away from civilization for the past twenty-five years welled up. Why was he still alive? Why was he allowed to live, to stay young, while the rest of the world aged and died around him? What was his purpose now? Those doubts and insecurities were a greater source of terror to him than any rat or body of water. He forced himself to stare at the swirling mist within the ball on the table, trying to let the amorphous swirls calm his disturbed thoughts.

"This barrier is an interesting one." Glathil said, her fingers dancing gently above the ball's surface. "It is a simple cast, not a blood barrier, and it was not cast with evil intentions. The barrier was meant to protect those on the outside, to keep them away from the dangers held within. Whoever cast it did so at great personal sacrifice. Very brave and noble but, ultimately, foolish. If the caster were to die, then the horrors that lie within the barrier will be released."

Nevano's mind, still half on the dark thoughts the witch had inspired in him earlier, began to turn over. Slowly the darkness morphed into dark tunnels, dank and damp, filled with monsters. He smiled as the tunnels in his mind began to look very familiar, the monsters turning from dark shapeless beings into something solid and clear. He remembered the stench of the sewers surrounding him like a hot, wet blanket as he plunged his sword into the maw of possibly the ugliest creature in existence: the Durzog. Suddenly everything made sense. Now he had a plan.

"I can dispel it but it will require reagents that I do not have so you will have to go…" Auntie Glathil was saying.

Nevano held up a hand to stop her. "Never send three warriors to do an alchemist's job, especially not with me in the group. I can't tell one plant apart from another. Besides, I don't want you to dispel it."

"You don't?" All three asked in perfect unison, in varying tones of incredulity.

"No, I just got an idea." Nevano said. "Can you tell me if that barrier stops at the surface or if it continues on underground?"

"You're thinking of going under it…" Veleth said.

"Remember back when we first arrived in Blacklight and I told you that Mournhold had the best sewer system I had ever had the pleasure of crawling through?" Nevano watched as understanding dawned on both younger mers' faces. "It's time to make full use of that."

XxXxXx

A/N: Bonus scene alert on this chapter. Whew, I didn't mean to take so long on this. I had to take care of some badly neglected school/house/yard/pasture/horse/dog/me work before I could get back into my writing zone. Speaking of the zone, after a lot of back and forth and deliberation….yes, all that just happened. To quote one of Jeff Goldblum/Dr. Ian Malcolm's most iconic lines "I'm simply saying that life, uh…finds a way."

All right, on a far more serious note, I was notified that I had gotten Trueflame and Hopesfire mixed up. My heart absolutely froze and I ran to look and, lightning strike me down, I mixed the names up. My first thought (after a good deal of cussing and cursing) was "Time to fire the editor!" but then I realized that there is no editor. Just me. Crap. I greatly apologize for this (rather major) goof. Usually I'm a huge stickler for things like this right but with everything going on my brain decided that that was the time to pull out the dyslexia. Honestly those two names mix themselves up and both ring very much correct in my mind. Again I apologize and I'm going through every measure I can think of to make sure it doesn't happen again. I can't believe I did that in the first place. UGH!

I also feel I should say this: I love all y'alls feedback. Yes, criticism stings but only because I think to myself "Well, duh, stupid, why the hell didn't you think of that the first time around?" and not because I feel like anyone is out to get me. Criticism is the most useful tool to a writer. I do the best I can but I know there is still so much to learn. The feedback only makes me a better writer and will make this story and future stories even better. I take risks sometimes, not always knowing if it will pay off or not, and it is your feedback that let's me know if I succeeded or shot myself in the foot (or hand in this case). I've talked to a bunch of you, talking about my clunky last chapter (ye gods I bombed that one. Good example of a risk that did not necessarily pay off), writing suggestions, story building techniques and generally just chit-chatting and those have been possibly the best, most productive conversations I've had in a long time (not to mention fun because I can talk shop all day long. I don't have many friends who are as into writing as I am). What I'm trying to say is, thank you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of you. I write for the love of writing and to make you, as readers, love the story as much I do and have as much fun reading it as I do writing it. Y'all are the best, simply the best.