Chapter One: Hidden in the Hills
High Rock was vastly different from the plains and mountains of Skyrim. The hills formed a deceptively calm-looking landscape: until you were right into them, it was hard to imagine how much area they concealed. As the two were finding to their great annoyance.
"Are we still heading the right way?" Drizzt asked in an undertone.
Ravenlight consulted her wayfinder compass for the fifteenth time. "Miraculously, yes," she answered, just as quietly. "Hopefully the hills won't get any steeper, trying to find our way through them if we can't go over will probably get us completely lost faster than threading the canyons in the Reach."
Then they both fell silent, dropping to a crouch in the bushes. A voice had shouted, some distance ahead.
An Altmer voice.
They exchanged grim looks, then slowly crept forward, making sure to stay low and close to the ground. In a few more minutes, they heard the sound of picks and shovels striking the ground. Both reached for their weapons. They'd found the dig site.
"I'm impressed," Nevano murmured, watching the busy digging below, fingers running along Bonebiter's string. "I was starting to think you had lost your mind running out this far. Should have called you Hound instead of Bull."
"Boethiah was...emphatic about this." Veleth groused.
"Big words." Nevano grinned. "So, Boethiah doesn't like Thalmor playing in the dirt. What's the plan?"
Veleth shifted uncomfortably. The tree they had pretty much slid into down the steep hill was digging uncomfortably into his hip. Though he was pleased they weren't running through a volcanic landscape this time, he mildly cursed the Thalmor for not picking someplace a bit… easier to traverse. "Too many to just charge in. I'm not convinced all those digging are here willingly. Not all are mer. Some look local. We might need to distract them."
A thoroughly frightening smile slowly spread across Nevano's face.
"One that doesn't announce our presence to the entire damn province..." Veleth grunted.
"So what's in there?" Drizzt breathed, barely half a foot away from Ravenlight's ear. They'd managed to find a sheltered location to look down on the activity below.
"Something called Wrath of the First?" Ravenlight answered. "I have no idea what it was, but Serana definitely sounded panicked-and anything that could put that horrified expression on Isran's face is definitely something we don't want surfacing. Ever again."
They looked over the activity. Drizzt frowned. "Not all those workers look like Thalmor," he murmured. "Some of them may have been coerced into digging."
"I was thinking the same thing." Ravenlight considered. "We're going to need a distraction."
He smiled a little, pulling out an onyx figurine. "She can handle that well enough. Hit them from three sides?"
Ravenlight pulled her bow loose and grinned. "Give me a minute to get into position first. I'll whistle once I'm ready. Then send her in."
"Don't destroy the place!" Veleth hissed. "Something is here Boethiah wants. I have no idea what."
"Nice to know Azura isn't the only one who is annoyingly vague." Nevano snorted, sighting along his arrow. "Something about having divine powers and speaking in riddles. Is being a god really that boring?"
"Nevano..."
"See that rock face across from us? It's shored up with a few boards. It's unstable and all the miners seem to be avoiding it. I hit that, the face comes down, causing all sorts of commotion. While they are busy there, you go roaring in there like the demon-from-hell warrior you are. I'll back you up from up here until they start to group up and then I'll bring more fire."
"Bring down the mage first."
"What mage? There's no mage here."
There were no tell-tale robes, no staff to be seen, but the rage beast in his belly was growling. There was a mage down there. And one with no small amount of power. Veleth narrowed his eyes. This wasn't going to be as easy as they hoped.
Chirr, chirr, chirr.
The call was almost identical to the chatter of the birds already in the region. Almost, but not quite-and the ranger who'd been listening to them for the past seven days heard the difference. He couldn't see Ravenlight-but that was as it should be. When she didn't want to be seen, nobody could see her. Not even him.
Drizzt stroked Guen's side. "All right," he whispered. "Go stir them up." The panther flicked her tail, then slipped off, skulking through the brush until she'd found the best place to make her entrance.
"On your call, Bull." Nevano murmured.
Veleth scanned the gully below, his anxiety kicking up. There was something very wrong but he couldn't see a thing to say otherwise. He ground his teeth together in frustration. He reached over his shoulder and shook his sword loose. Nothing he could do about it and he wasn't staying in this damn tree any longer. He could hear the birds mocking him at this point. "Do it."
Nevano released his arrow.
Things happened far more quickly than they'd expected. Guenhwyvar made her entrance, springing into view with a snarl like the Wild Hunt unleashed, at the exact moment an arrow sang through the air and smashed into a rock face neither of them had noticed. The Thalmor sentry she'd targeted went down with a scream, half a second before several tons of rock and clay started sliding.
It had one good effect, Ravenlight thought grimly, sighting down the length of her arrow at the Thalmor soldier rushing toward Guen. The non-combatants were definitely getting out the area as fast as they could, clearly not sure which they were more terrified of: the Thalmor, the rockslide, or the demon panther, who'd finished her first target and was whirling on another. She let out the second signal-a long, clear seeeet!, and let fly.
Veleth leaped from the tree and started his charge the instant Nevano's fingers had twitched. He didn't even flinch as the magically driven arrow flew past his ear. By the time any of the guards had even begun to notice, Bonebiter's magic had done its job, rock flying everywhere but, most importantly, sent crashing to the ground. Suddenly no one cared about yet another body running. Several tons of bouncing boulders tended to capture attention.
He pulled his sword loose, letting the rage build in his belly. He could hear a faint rushing sound along with many rapidly firing patters. So many hearts beating wildly, blood rushing through veins. The beast roared. It wanted Thalmor blood.
Then another roar answered his own, shattering Veleth's concentration.
"Nivisu Sharmat'molamer!" Nevano yelled. "Bahlar...cat?"
"Little late on that warning!" Veleth couldn't stop. He called on the other power deep inside him, bringing his rage up with the fury of the volcano that dominated his homeland. They would need a bit more...firepower after all. Vith.
"What the-" Drizzt momentarily halted at the sight of the black-armored warrior charging in from the other side of the gully, not sure which side the stranger was on. "Essiel?!"
A few seconds later, he heard the answer. "Grah-zeymaziin, uhiel! Concentrate on the Thalmor!"
"Right!"
The startled fighters hadn't known which direction to go at first, but that was about to change. He drew his blades and charged in.
Veleth allowed his fury to burst forth, flames erupting around him. His momentum helped his sword punch through the Thalmor armor. He ripped it free, ignoring the spray of blood that hissed furiously in the fire around him. Another Thalmor quickly fell as he whipped his sword across the guard's neck. The third seemed distracted, glancing across the gully. Enraged at the lack of full focus, Veleth buried his sword almost to the hilt into the Thalmor.
Another arrow flew overhead and wooden scaffolding exploded in a shower of splinters. A pulley that had been perched on top toppled down, it's boulder counterweight swinging wildly, causing the Thalmor below to scatter in panic. Even through his red haze, Veleth heard a sound he recognized.
"Luhn-silvar! As horses!"
He got the wonderful satisfaction of watching that arrow fly by and destroy the pen that was holding a rather large herd of thoroughly panicked horses.
Whoever that berserker was, he was doing a good job. Ravenlight picked another target, this one pulling out his own bow, and dropped him with a swift shot. The flames surrounding him were off-putting-but she'd used Flame Cloak spells often enough to recognize it. At least this one shouldn't have the side effects J'zargo's variety had... The thought made her smile, even as she dealt with another archer.
Another arrow flew down and burst, this one freeing a pen of horses. Recognizing her opportunity, Guenhwyvar let out a spine-chilling sound, halfway between a roar and a scream, and leaped forward to land among them. The horses, already terrified, went mad at the appearance of an ancestral enemy and bolted in every direction. One of them headed directly for Drizzt, who was matching blades with an unusually skilled Thalmor. He heard the hooves just in time, and vaulted up and to the side, avoiding being struck or trampled by inches. The Thalmor was not so lucky.
Something odd about that bow, Ravenlight considered, trying to spot where the other archer was. Almost like Taumaril, but...not the same. And I could swear it's somehow familiar.
Then she froze, alarm prickling across her skin. Something was...wrong. Very wrong. It almost felt like the warning she received before a dragon appeared, but somehow...fouler. And…
She swore, springing down from the tree and drawing the Dawnbreaker as she realized what she was feeling. Vampiric energy, nearly as powerful as Harkon Volkihar. And it was coming from the ruins the Thalmor had been unearthing.
So that was the large cat Nevano had called out about. Veleth blinked. He had never seen anything like it before in his life.
"We aren't the only ones who are making the Thalmor regret their life's decisions." Nevano appeared at his elbow in a shower of dust, his eyes glowing gold. "Ignore it for now. Do you feel that?"
Oh, he felt it alright. The rage beast was screeching in a way Veleth had never felt before.
"Amer'kon, vvarden daesohn." Nevano's voice deepened, Trueflame's fire leaping bright. "Finish the Thalmor."
That Veleth could and would gladly do.
Ravenlight wasn't the only one to feel the coming...abomination. Guenhwyvar stopped chasing the horses and turned, her eyes flashing bright as she snarled. Her fur bristled all along her back and shoulders, making her immense frame seem even bigger. She glanced from Drizzt to Ravenlight, apparently unsure of which she should aid.
Ravenlight inhaled deeply, holding Meridia's blade ready and slicking it with a particularly nasty fire-oil. "I'll be fine," she called. "Help my brother." Her voice grew resonant, her eyes changed from amber to garnet, the pupils becoming slitted. "This...creature...is mine."
She noticed the stranger appear as she approached the ruin: a Dunmer, more lightly armored than she was, and also carrying a flaming blade. Their eyes briefly met; his eyes were oddly flamelike, in contrast to most Dunmer eyes, but somehow...familiar? No, she didn't know him. But something in her did. And that something was pleased to see him. She inclined her head slightly, then raised the Dawnbreaker into position as their enemy made his appearance.
Nevano smiled. So...they weren't the only ones to have been called here. He really was going to have to change Veleth's nickname if he kept leading them to these sorts of situations, especially when they led to a...reunion of sorts.
'Pay attention,' a voice echoed in his mind. 'It's coming.'
"Then come out and play," Nevano said.
He held Trueflame out and tried not to shudder as it felt like his skin was peeling itself off his bones. The sensation was fleeting, fortunately, but well worth it. Their reward for bringing Nerevar's soul back from the brink of Oblivion; Nerevar coming forth for a short while. Nevano could fight easily with just Hopesfire. "Bull...that beast needs to be walked."
"No need to tell me twice." Veleth rolled his shoulders, his eyes glowing hot.
Nevano inhaled sharply, his eyes widening. "Good...because that is going to make us sweat more than climbing those damn hills."
Drizzt finished the last Thalmor and turned, his eyes widening in absolute disgust as he saw the...gods, what did you call something like that? Fouler than a draugr or a lich, reeking like an old battlefield under a summer sun: he supposed it had been...humanoid at some point. But now it was just a… a rotten, reeking, moving corpse-that, unfortunately, was not a shambling, awkward thing, but moved as lithely as a Drow warrior, and held a black-glinting blade in its half-skeletal hands.
But it wasn't the weapon that was...powering it. It wore a strange armor: plates bound together with either fine chain or metallic cloth to form something almost feminine in appearance. It might have seemed...attractive, if not for what it was clothing. And the fact that it somehow hurt to look at.
It opened its mouth, revealing canines two inches long on top and bottom, and let out a long, breathy scream.
Drizzt fought with the entirely instinctive desire to run like the entire Abyss was after him, gripping his blades in both hands and moving forward a little. Ravenlight was not running, and he would not leave her alone with that thing.
It screamed, and the Bosmer shuddered in sudden terror. But the Dov reared up in defiance. She did not fear these things, not after destroying the Volkihar. And she answered the scream-with a Shout.
"YOL TOOR SHUL!"
A series of slightly unnerved and rather colorful curses wafted to Nevano's ears as the...thing came out. Ordinarily, he'd toss a quick tease that a big, bad demon warrior who could set the world on fire was absolutely terrified of all things decaying and undead, he had to say in this instance he rather agreed. Whatever it was, it made Dagoth Ur look downright normal.
"Stay strong, shield brother." he murmured.
Then it screamed.
Nevano grabbed Veleth's arm, his nerves shattering completely. The only thing that kept him from running was Nerevar stepping in front of them, Trueflame flaring brightly in response. Veleth was shaking underneath his grip but his feet stayed firm on the ground.
"YOL TOOR SHUL!"
Pain erupted in his head as if someone had hit him with a hammer. He dropped to his knees, clawing at his ears as the pressure built to where he thought they would simply explode. He heard Nerevar yell and felt something solid against him. Then he felt the heat of fire build around him. Boethiah would have been proud of the sudden explosion of pure rage.
Ravenlight wasn't sure what she'd expected when she blasted the creature with a torrent of fire. No, that wasn't true. She'd expected it to go up like a torch. This was all three Words of the Thu'um, something that the undead should not have been able to resist. Volkihar vampires would have caught and blazed at that. This thing...didn't.
The flames certainly had some effect: the stench intensified, and it sizzled like fat dropped into a too-hot pan, screeching with outrage. The Bosmer noticed the fire-eyed Dunmer go down in response to her shout-and was therefore prepared to leap in front of him, the Dawnbreaker lashing out to block the stroke it launched toward them. The third figure, who was...definitely not a Dunmer, whatever he was, joined her, fighting to keep the thing off of them as it struck, hard and fast.
She saw Drizzt circling from the other side. Part of her wanted him to join in and help. The other...did not want him anywhere near this thing. It can shrug off a Thu'um! What the hell is it, anyway?!
Nerevar had leaped in head first along with the Bosmer girl. She seemed a bit rattled but he felt it as well seeing as how that damned Shout did about as much good as swatting the thing with a willow switch. Far from weakening it, the flames only pissed it off.
Trueflame was able to fend it off but Nerevar, who was normally incorporeal, staggered as he was hit. Nevano could feel the shock of being touched at all resonate through the bond they shared.
A growl echoed over the sound of weapons clashing. Nevano looked up. The solid thing he had been leaning against had been Veleth's leg. Fire was flickering around him and smoke was rising off his armor. Nevano pushed a bit off him and felt him still shaking though there was no doubt in his mind that it was not out of fear. Oh no, no, no. This was rage. His skin seemed to blacken from the fire around them, the claws on his armor fused with his fingers and his eyes burned a bright red. Nevano had called him a warrior from hell but he never expected him to find a depth to his rage that would actually turn him into something from hell.
"Boethiah nesid eal wina!"
Nevano felt his jaw drop as Veleth snarled like a demon and, impossibly fast, dove straight into the fray.
Ordinarily, discovering that she was suddenly fighting alongside a damn Daedric lord-or what looked like it-would have unnerved or alarmed Ravenlight-much like what happened whenever Serana's reanimated corpses came up beside her. In this case, however, she welcomed it, because wherever it had come from, it was as angry to see the hideous vampire-lich thing as she was. And he, at least, was doing some damage to it.
She fell back briefly, calling healing into her left hand and casting it at the Dunmer she'd nearly flattened with the Shout, half in apology, half because they'd need every sword they could get to bring this thing down. She dodged out of the way of a blow that nearly knocked her sprawling, went low, and swung with everything she had at the creature's leg. The fire didn't do anything-but the steel, at least, took a chunk out of both flesh and bone. She hadn't severed it all the way through-but she felt a glimmer of hope. It could be hurt. And if the Divines were on their side at all, it could be killed. Again. And hopefully permanently, this time.
The sheer relief from the pain almost made him forget what they were doing. Almost.
"Nerevar! Come back!"
He gritted his teeth as Nerevar slipped back in. He didn't settle though. He was bothered. That thing hit him. Something powerful was behind it. It was...bad. Nevano took that under advisement as he stood. He did not possess the physical strength needed to beat this thing but Veleth, in his demon rage, had that covered but where other things would have been in ribbons, this thing still fought with equal strength. It needed to be pinned down before Veleth ran out of energy. He pulled out Bonebiter and lined up a shot.
"Eyn!"
Veleth twisted to the left, giving him a perfectly clear view. He let his arrow fly.
The arrow struck and burst, rocking the thing back. But it didn't fall. Drizzt darted in from behind, his blades lashing in swift succession, biting at unprotected spine and neck. It shuddered and screeched, but it didn't fall. Ravenlight took another blow at it from the side, digging into its ribs, but it didn't fall.
Bad. This is bad. There are no words for how bad this is.
The Daedric-looking person tore into again, leaving huge rents in it. They were doing damage. They were all doing damage. But they weren't doing enough.
There's got to be something we can do to-
Her mind caught on that thought. Something. Something was sustaining that thing. A spiritual power. A soul.
"Get behind me, all of you!" I hate this Shout!
But there's no other choice. She looked at the Dunmer again. "Cover your ears!"
She turned back and faced the creature, drawing in breath for the Shout she hated most. Durnehviir's Shout. Soul Tear. "RII VAAZ ZOL!"
Veleth had taken a single step back, raging at how she dared give him an order. The urge to snap at her was almost overwhelming. The sheer force of...whatever that spell was she was bellowing sobered him up a bit. Enough for his common sense to sneak in and slap the rage beast back into order. He wouldn't put the collar back on as long as it attacked the target it was supposed to go after!
He didn't wait once the echo faded. It was staggering. Time slowed and his focus narrowed in. He could see how to end this. It was off balance, its arms flailing in the air. He took a step not towards it, but to the side. He flipped his grip on his sword and drove it sideways, through the thing's armpit, through ribs, through whatever decaying matter filled its chest cavity and erupting out the other side. He gripped his sword tightly and, putting every last bit of his strength and that of the rage beast, hauled his sword straight out as if he were swinging an axe, taking the spinal cord with it.
Ravenlight staggered, breathing hard. Most Shouts didn't take this kind of toll on her. But that one wasn't a normal Shout, and it felt as though it drained more than just her vocal cords. Drizzt came up beside her, ready to shield her if needed. But he didn't need to.
The Daedric-looking berserker slammed his blade into the creature, tearing it in half in a thoroughly disgusting spray of decayed flesh. Ravenlight let herself sink to her knees, weak from relief as well as from the drain.
It the Divines, it worked.
Veleth dropped to a knee, leaning heavily on his sword as his rage bled out, leaving him feeling drained. Well, drained was putting it mildly. He wanted to wash the stench of decay and gods damned undead off him and then he wanted to sleep for a full day. He was...going to pay dearly for the depths he had pulled out. But he hadn't been able to help himself. Nevano had dropped and…
"Nevano!"
He nearly fell flat on his face as he scrambled over. Nevano wasn't moving. Blood was oozing from his nose and ears but, Veleth noted with some relief, he was breathing at least.
Ravenlight idly followed the man's motions, and stiffened when she saw the Dunmer. "Oh, gods." She jumped up-a bad idea, as the ground suddenly bucked under her and nearly pitched her to her face.
Drizzt caught her before she could fall and steadied her. "Careful. Are you all right?"
"Weak. Not as bad as he is." She tried to walk. Her legs felt like putty. "Can you get me over to him, I think I-that damn Shout, I think it did something to him, too."
Drizzt followed her gaze and frowned a little. "All right. But you're taking a few potions yourself, too."
"I will. I will." She had to try twice to summon the healing energies. "Hurry. Please."
The berserker glanced at the Bosmer girl. "What did that...thing you did. What did it do?"
"Soul Tear. It's-a Shout." She shuddered with revulsion as Drizzt set her down next to them. "Commands the will of the fallen. Among other things. Cuts through flesh, shatters the soul. I hate that one. Just learning it made me feel filthy." She fumbled in her pouch for a magicka potion and swallowed it, grimacing at the taste, but finally able to focus her will enough to pour the healing light into the man's body. "I didn't want to use it, but...I couldn't think of anything else that would...break through whatever was protecting that...thing."
Veleth felt his stomach turn to ice. 'Shatters souls'. There was more than one soul in Nevano. They had just gotten Nerevar back...it still wasn't healed...oh gods.
"There's two." He forced past suddenly numb lips. "In him. Two souls."
She blinked at him, puzzled. "Two-him, too?"
Veleth nodded. "You saw him. It hit him. He won't let Nevano go down in a fight. Your...shout? It got him."
"Oh, no." She shuddered. "I..." No. Don't waste time on 'should have' or 'could have'. She turned to the Dov. "Is there some way to help him?"
The figure in her mind stretched out her neck. Let me see him, Other-self. Ravenlight nodded, and mentally stepped back, allowing the Dov to come forward. She bent over the unconscious Dunmer, examining him closely, touching his chest and sniffing.
Veleth raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Between Nevano, the twins and Nevusa, he was fairly certain he has been witness to every strange/stupid/oddball behavior out there. He was just proven wrong. Good thing he still had an immunity to it. As long as it saved them both...sniff away. He just hoped she avoided the boots. Nevano should have just weaponized those boots first.
She could sense them both. As the berserker had said: he had two siil within him. One was his; the other...not quite an Other-Self, but very near to it. They...belonged together. Friends. Allies. Perhaps more. She glanced back at her zeymah, recognizing the bond she'd glimpsed. To lose his...his zeymah-siil... No.
They had not been torn apart completely, not just yet. He had not been struck directly, though the mey joor likely would not be in this situation if he had heeded the order to get behind the Bosmer. But they had been...rent, at the same time. It was a wound. A soul-wound, inflicted by a Shout. She could think of a way to heal it...but there would be a cost. She looked at her Other-Self, who was staring out at the injured Dunmer anxiously.
"Can we help him?"
Reluctantly, the Dov nodded. "I know...words that can undo this. But you do not. For one to speak without the aid of the other..."
"Will it kill me?"
"No. But there will be pain. Much pain."
Her Other-self touched her torso. "I think I can handle pain to help someone I nearly...worse than killed. Just let Drizzt know first, in case I pass out after the shout."
"Geh." She turned back out, looking first at the berserker, then at her zeymah. "I can aid him. But it will take a toll on her."
Veleth had been afraid of that...nothing was ever easy. He did his best to shove his personal feelings aside but really...he was willing to sacrifice quite a bit to save his shield brother. "Anything I can help with?"
Garnet eyes blinked at him. "She will need to rest afterward. In...safety. Not here."
He almost laughed. Almost. Instead, he gave her his best 'unamused guard captain' look. "It reeks of bloody Thalmor and undead here. I wouldn't leave a shuned here, much less these two." He pointed over the hill "There's a shallow cave up there. It'll protect them from the storm that's coming."
Drizzt nodded. "That'll work." He looked more worried than she did. "I'll get her there, once...well..." He fell silent, putting his hand on her shoulder.
He understood. She'd done something she regretted, something she was willing to do anything to mend. He'd been there. He just wished he'd be the one taking the consequences, not her. She glanced up at him, her hand rising to rest on his for a moment. Then she turned back to the prone figure in front of her and inhaled.
"SIIL..". Okay, she knew that one, it wasn't too bad. "RII... And she knew that one, too, so... "VAHRAAN!"
THAT hurt. That...more than hurt. She understood now why the Dov had been reluctant to do this: normally, both souls Shouted in unison. She hadn't even realized her Bosmer half had joined in until it couldn't, and power without understanding was...ripped out of her. And the worst part was she wanted to give it, wanted that...
It felt as though someone had dug...a hook, or claws into her entrails and ripped, but…
Her soul was screaming, how could a soul scream? But-
But she felt it take effect, felt the horrible wound she'd inflicted on him draw back together, felt it knit like flesh and bone, and that, that made it worth it, worth the pain...
But worth it or not, she'd reached her breaking point. She hadn't known she could will herself to faint...but all in all, she was glad she could.
Veleth winced as he watched. That was...agonizing. Watching her face twist from determination to shock to agony was as bad as...he shoved the thought away. She was still alive. She was breathing. Nevano was still breathing. The color was returning to his skin. His kidney was aching. They needed to get to the cave. He did not want to be caught in the rain in these hills. He glanced over at the...Dunmer? "Let's go. If this is anything like a storm in the mountains, it'll be impossible to go anywhere once the rain hits." He picked up Nevano's weapons first but hesitated. "That...cat. Yours?"
Drizzt nodded, gently lifting Ravenlight into his arms. "Guenhwyvar." He looked up, noting as he did that she was picking her way toward him, and it occurred to him to wonder why she hadn't intervened at any point during the fight with the...vampire. "Yes. She's a friend of mine, a very old friend. But I can send her home if we need; or ask her to keep watch." He looked up at the sky. "Let's get to this cave; then we can get to know each other."
Veleth nodded and easily picked Nevano up. This was definitely one of those times that Nevano being as small as he was was a good thing. "Just making sure I wasn't about to have some giant wild cat try to eat me. I have enough claw scars. This way."
He took off, eager to leave this gully but...he was bothered still. Unsettled. They weren't done here. Damn.
(Authors' Note: Once upon a time (technically, last March), two authors got together to chat and try to stave off a case of writer's block that they were both dealing with. To that end, they played a little game of 'What If?: specifically, what if the two main characters from their respective fanfics met up with each other. This was a cute idea, so we spitballed a scenario that would bring the two together, came up with an artifact, moved it to a location not in either one's main stomping grounds, and went at it. Things...exploded. But we hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy writing it!)
