I jumped back, stumbling into Bishop in the same movement. He rested a tense hand on my hip to steady me for a moment as his other pulled out the smooth wood bow at his back. An arrow had already been strung and released in less than a second.

The bolt struck true. From the ghastly women's chest protruded his black arrow, dark blood staining the white dress she wore. Confusion hit me, and most likely Bishop as well, when she didn't react. There was no blinking, no cry of pain.

I took a cautious step forward, clutching my silver swords tightly. Her head did not turn to face me, and her eyes continued to stare ahead. I let out a slow sigh and looked to Bishop. He seemed to have come to the same conclusion I did. "She's already dead," I said lowly, inspecting the corpse. It had been impaled on a tall metal spike, giving the illusion that a live woman had been watching us.

"We're not safe yet, princess," he replied, golden eyes darting all over the room. "Something lit those torches and killed the woman." He took a few steps closer and inspected the cadaver. "Judging from the fact that the blood spread after I stuck her, it couldn't have been too long ago." A chill struck me as I registered his words. "A day. Maybe two." He carefully touched her neck. "And there are Daedric runes carved into her neck." Fear shot through my chest, something I was now desperate to hide.

"So, chances are," I began, "we'll run into whatever that was? And whatever that was is dangerous and evil and probably affiliated with a Daedric Prince?" I kept my gaze on him. He reached up and scratched at his stubbled chin.

"Yeah, probably. And it most likely already knows we're here."

I threw my arms up in the air. "Fantastic!" I exclaimed, giving a shuddering sigh instantly afterward. "Anything else?"

"It's probably not alone." Bishop kicked a few bones on the ground. Some were stained with dry blood, others bleached white from time. Karnwyr growled at them as he paced back and forth, entirely uninterested in chewing on them. "And if I had to guess, ladyship, we've landed ourselves in a Daedra worshipper den, probably either Molag Bal or Mehrunes Dagon." Despite our dire situation, he snickered when I muttered 'fuck' under my breath.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to stave off the impending panic. "So..." I tried my best to keep my voice from shaking. Karnwyr must have noticed, padding over to me and licking my hand. I knelt and started scratching at the wolf's coarse red fur, trying not to think about exactly why I didn't want to-

I jumped about a foot in the air, startled by the hand on my shoulder. "You gonna tell me what's going on?" Bishop asked, obviously concerned. The gears in my mind turned as I tried to conceive a believable lie. Anything else, anything, I would have been able to fabricate something at the drop of a hat. But not about this. My brain wouldn't work with this. I opened my mouth to deny his assumption, but Bishop pressed his finger against my lips before I could speak. "And don't give me that 'nothing's wrong' bullshit. I know you well enough by now, sweetness, and I wouldn't believe a word."

"You don't know me at all," I growled, pushing his hand away. I stuck my nose in the air and glowered furiously at the ranger. I wanted to wipe that stupid look off his face, the one showing he thought he had anything over me. But he had a point. "Daedra," I muttered, not wanting to go any further than that. "Let's just say I have a bad history with them." Bishop's eyebrow swooped up in question. "I told you what's wrong. Now leave me alone."

"Are you scared of them, princess?"

"What does that have to do with anythi-"

"Answer the question."

I contemplated whether or not to reply. We were trapped together, and he wouldn't quit. He already knew the answer, anyway. The damnable man just wanted to hear me say it. "Not all of them. Clavicus Vile, Sheogorath, Meridia- no. Mehrunes Dagon... yes." I was not too fond of the way my voice trembled. "Yes, I am." Trivial as it sounded, it wasn't something I'd ever wanted to tell anyone. Even if I wasn't going deeper into it, just putting my fear out there made me feel too open, too vulnerable. Why was I even telling him? I barely knew this man. Besides that, I'd had over two years to get over this, but it still clung to my conscious like a parasite.

Bishop shrugged. "Nothing to be ashamed of. It's just best to know in a situation like this." He scanned our surroundings once more. "Looks like there's a tunnel over there." He watched me out of the corner of his eye. "If you're worried, you should take the middle. Karnwyr, take the back." The red wolf barked lowly, and I wondered not for the first time how they managed to understand each other so well. "I'll shoot anything that moves; Karnwyr can let us know if something's ahead. Hopefully, we won't have to deal with much." He didn't wait for me to reply, instead setting off right away.

What other choice did I have but to follow him?

Bishop's steps were silent, leaving me to wince every time my foot hit the floor. I wasn't the only one noticing, as he turned around to point at the ground in front of me and put his finger to his lips. "Careful, princess," he murmured, eyeing me pointedly. "Our footsteps will echo in every chamber and tunnel, so stop stomping around like a swamp boar."

I gritted my teeth and pondered various responses. "I'm trying," I hissed, my eyes darting around the room. The further we went, the more signs that this was indeed a cultist's abode. Alchemy lab, enchanting table, stacks of books with the conjuration symbol, signs of bodies once resurrected before crumbling into chunks of ash and burned body parts. I was constantly on edge, unease growing when Daedric shrines came into view- particularly those depicting the wicked Mehrunes Dagon. I knew it. His likeness appeared more and more the further in we went.

"There." I damn near jumped out of my skin when Bishop spoke up again and grabbed my arm in the same movement. He headed down a tunnel while I tried to calm the erratic beating of my heart. "Smell that?" I took a deep sniff and shrugged, unable to smell anything but stale air and dirt. "Fresh air." I trotted to catch up to Bishop, Karnwyr pacing beside me.

Somehow, the ranger ended up being right. At the end of the corridor, a wooden door sat seemingly unguarded. The faint scent of freshly fallen rain wafted through the air, much more pleasant than the inside of the old tower. Immense relief swept through me, and I pushed past Bishop. "Thank the gods," I breathed. "I-" Before I could so much as touch the door, the ranger's hand snaked out and held my wrist tightly. The rough calluses on his fingers scraped my skin lightly.

When I turned to look at the ranger, his eyes weren't even on me. He was staring to my right, analyzing the door. "Hold on, princess." He released me and picked up a rock from the ground before tossing it at the door. The stone barely touched it before crumbling to dust, electricity surging through it. "Be more careful." My hopes for escape had fallen all too quickly.

"So, what now?" I queried, sweat breaking out on my forehead. "How are we supposed to leave if there's a trap on the door?"

A new voice, dark and grating, sent shivers up my spine. "Easy. You're not." I slowly turned around, eyeing up the new threat.

A stunning blonde-haired woman, absolutely exuding power, was suspended in the air. Her stance said grace while her eyes said untold malice. A loose-fitting robe hung from her shoulders, nearly sweeping the floor. It wouldn't be easy to fight in, so it would be unlikely for her to intentionally engage in direct combat. If the Daedric shrines were anything to go by, she was a devout follower of Mehrunes Dagon and would summon Dremora from his plane of Oblivion.

Bishop was just as tense as me, his bow already strung with an arrow. "Who are you?" he growled, words full of warning. The woman was unfazed by his display of intimidation, gaze wandering back and forth between us.

"No one of consequence," she purred. Her voice was like poisoned honey, sweet at first until you dug a little deeper and found the vicious intent. Her already exposed skin showed a little more as she raised her hands. "No one you'll need to remember." A laugh burst from her fine plump lips. "You won't live through today anyhow." She fixed her enchanting sky-blue eyes on me, considering me for a moment. She wagged a finger at me, and I found myself tugged towards the wicked woman against my will. Bishop's attempt to hold me back failed, ending with him on the ground. Karnwyr was crouched down, growling at the witch.

She lifted me into the air with her magic, still not physically touching me. "You've been there, haven't you?" she whispered. "You know what it's like."

I clenched my teeth, trying not to hyperventilate. I surprised myself with how steady my voice was when I spoke, though I was quite certain this woman knew how terrified I was if her wicked smirk was anything to go by. "I don't know what you're talking about," I bluffed. Her brows furrowed with anger, and she threw her hand down. I crashed to the floor in the same movement.

"You're not going anywhere, handsome." I took that as a guess that she'd frozen Bishop when he'd tried to come for me. "As for you...

"Tell me." Her voice was urgent as she faced me. "Tell me about it, worm." Her blue eyes were ablaze with a mixture of malice and curiosity- an odd combination, I noted. "The Deadlands." That single word brought back horrible memories, crushing my mind. I was unable to control a single thing that went through my head.

The fire, the magma, creatures of death all around...

My chest tightened, quickening my breathing.

Experiments- just let me die! Please, please let me die... I can't take this! Trapped in a cage, suspended above bubbling lava and crackling flames the color of freshly-spilled blood...

"I knew it." All at once, I was brought back to the present, shocked by the sight of solid gray brick instead of glowing brimstone and iron bars. A buzzing in my ears meant the presence of magic. Had the woman brought me back? Had I even gone to the Deadlands? Or... "Then you belong to Dagon, little one."

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force the crushing terror down. It's happening again, this can't be happening, I can't take this! Through all my writhing about, I slowly became aware that nothing was happening. My spirit wasn't being ripped from my body. I wasn't even in pain. What was she trying to do?

I cracked a single eye open, trying to figure out what was going on. The priestess still had her arm extended toward me, though the strained look on her face showed she was failing in whatever she was trying to do. A vein popped out on her forehead, accompanying the sweat that had already broken out. "Damn you," she hissed through clenched teeth, seething with anger. The priestess raised me again. With full force, she threw her hand down and forced me to strike the rough stones below. Pain shot through my body, bringing a cry from my lips. Her blonde hair, which had been so perfectly in place at the beginning of our encounter, was now frayed and graying.

She at last released me, leaving me to collapse on the rough stones below. No sooner had I touched the bricks did a pair of hands settle on my biceps and pull me away from the crazed woman. Her pupils were dilated as she glared at me with the fury of a thousand suns. "You can't! You-" She let out a scream, apoplectic. "Why can't I take your soul?!" she shrieked vehemently.

An arrow suddenly protruded from her neck, followed by gashes in her leg caused by a vicious wolf's attack. Instead of falling dead, she ripped out the arrow and kicked Karnwyr aside. The red wolf let out a yelp but quickly got back up and shot toward her again. He never reached her, the woman having frozen him as well. She glowered at us three, once-perfect lips now thin and cracked. Her skin was wrinkled like an old hag's, while her hair looked unkempt and gray. "You haven't won," she snapped maliciously, eyes darkening with hatred. "This... you've only delayed it, little warrior. You will return to the Deadlands. You will belong to Dagon!

"You can't save yourself in the end!" My chest tightened, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe. I clutched at my throat, trying desperately not to suffocate. The woman watched me struggle and shot a venomous smile my way. "You can't run forever!" she screamed into the air. The malevolent priestess lifted her hand, and a swirl of fire- the scent entirely reminiscent of Dagon's realm- enveloped her. I shielded my face as an explosion rocked us, throwing us back. The wall exploded as we hit the stones, the tower itself soon following. Within seconds, the entire building had crumbled to the ground just as the original entrance had. Dust and debris had been thrown all around, giving us all cuts and bruises from the impacts.

As soon as the woman had vanished, I found myself at last able to breathe once more. I gasped frantically, trying to fill my lungs. I couldn't stop coughing, but the relief of air overcame the discomfort of the dust inside it.

I ached all over, and once I had managed to fully catch my breath, I couldn't help collapsing where I was. I looked around for my companions. Vertigo was shaking my world, and though I could barely see, a pained whine from Karnwyr was a sign he lived. I stared in the single spot, still waiting for my vision to clear. Karnwyr was indeed nearby, the red wolf having slid on the rain-slicked grass. I whimpered lowly as I pushed myself to a crawling position, one hand clutching my right side. I didn't know if I had broken any bones or not, but it sure hurt like it. "Bi-" My words came out as barely more than a rasp, and I was instantly struck by another coughing fit the second I spoke. "Bishop?" I wheezed again, almost shocked I managed to get it out. No answer.

I used a nearby pine to support myself. "Bisho-" A wave of nausea hit me, and I lurched forward before emptying my stomach. I had to use every bit of willpower in my aching body to stand, but the dizziness that took over me was too much. The world was spinning while every inch of me felt broken. "Bishop..."