A little late for the anniversary, but all the same, I hope everyone enjoys it. A hand for xTRESTWHOx and NaanContributor for fixing it up and filling in blanks.
Chapter 68: There Impending
16th of Evening Star
Ruby lifted her head and smacked her lips before pulling herself out of her sleeping bag. Weiss and Lydia weren't in the tent, which wasn't too much of a concern. She was pretty sure they were nearby. Lydia could've been hunting, and Weiss might have joined her to get some fresh blood. As she stumbled out, she looked out into the foggy morning, hearing the crash of waves on the nearby shore. As she did though, something strange seemed to prick at her from the air. She squinted, trying to peer through the ethereal fog, and began seeing shadowy shapes form before her.
Ruby stumbled back as she realized what she saw was incoming longships, each with a hull black as ebony and a dragon head carved on the head of the stempost. Their keels hit the sandy shores and men and women began to jump from off of them, holding weapons of a more ancient make and wearing unfamiliar armor. Ruby then began to spot, to her surprise, draugr amongst the living warriors, marching as though they were just a normal part of their forces.
When the beaches seemed covered with the fighters, masked beings fell in behind them, magic outstretching from their hands to assist in their landing. Each mask was extremely similar to the Dragon Priest masks her friends had found so far, but what really sold it was the undead versions who hovered down and above the waters and sand.
Then, everything was still. The army ceased its approach, and no one spoke as Ruby stood frozen before them, wondering what to do or where her friends were. Then the crowd began to part, and another ship came. It was almost like a phantom among the heavy beasts that had landed before it. As it stilled, a gangplank was lowered from the ship, and two dragons took off, having been hidden on its deck. They hovered overhead as a single figure walked down from the ship and towards the beach, the men and women, both living and undead, bowing as they came. She, for the figure was female, wore another mask over her own face, looking as though a starry night had been painted on its surface. She stopped at the edge of the beach, only a few yards away from Ruby, who stood and waited for someone, anyone, to make a move. After a few moments of nothing but the waves moving or making a sound, the Dragonborn steeled herself and took a step forward.
"Who…are you?" she asked.
"We've come from Atmora," the woman said while reaching up to her face, "to live on lands warmed by the sun. But I…have come from further."
She pulled away her mask, and Ruby gasped as she saw the silver eyes hidden behind it and an achingly familiar smile.
"Hello, Ruby."
Ruby gasped as she woke up from the warm bed. She was breathing heavily, a sheen of sweat trickling down her body while her eyes were narrow like pinpricks. Her heavy breathing roused Weiss, who groggily rose from the bed to look at her partner. Upon seeing Ruby's panicked state, Weiss shot awake immediately, and jumped up to rush over to her partner's side.
"Ruby?!" Weiss said in concern, leaning over her and holding her shoulder. The redhead looked over to her best friend and blinked. Slowly, she remembered where she was, in the College of Winterhold, sleeping in Weiss' room. She sat up and looked over to see her housecarl rousing herself from the sofa set up as a temporary bed, concern evident on her face. Ruby took a deep breath and released it slowly.
"Are you all right, my Thane?" Lydia asked, wondering what the commotion was all about.
"I'm fine," she tried to assure them. The looks on their faces told her it was unconvincing. "Really, I'm fine, guys."
"You're not fine," Weiss argued, brushing her bangs back to feel her forehead and then turning her face towards her and looking in her eyes. "Not sick as far as I can tell. Were you…having a bad dream?"
"Was it another one of those dragon dreams?" Lydia tacked on, now standing. Ruby shook her head.
"No guys. It was…" Ruby paused, then sighed and looked down. "Can I…go ahead and get dressed?"
The two nodded their assent, and Ruby climbed out of the bed. She slowly put away her nightclothes and bundled up with warmer winterwear, leaving the outermost coat off as she rejoined her fellows out in the Hall of Attainment. Both were fully dressed and looking to her for an explanation.
"You ready to talk?" Weiss carefully pried. Ruby shuffled her feet and looked around before indicating back to the room. They followed her in, closed it up, and without prompting, Weiss cast a muffling spell over the room.
Everyone was silent for a moment as Ruby tried to figure out where to start. Finally, after collecting her thoughts, she sat on one of the wooden chairs and began telling them about her dream, starting from how she saw the ships coming in and ending with the Atmoran leader unmasking herself.
"And when I saw her face…it looked almost like mine, but…older and… I recognized it after a second. It was…my mother."
A stretch of silence hung over the three women as the two took in the tale and Ruby awaited their response.
"Ruby, I…" Weiss started before sitting on the edge of her bed. "You miss her."
The Dragonborn nodded and then looked up as she felt pressure on her shoulder to see Lydia there. The housecarl gave her a gentle squeeze and pat.
"It's all right to miss someone you've lost," the Nord assured her.
"I know, but…ever since we learned about JNPR, Capric, and that Nerevarine guy…I've been kinda hoping." Ruby looked down and sniffled, holding back her tears. "My mother…went missing and never came back. If I could disappear and turn up in Tamriel, why couldn't she?" As she fought against her sobs, she felt something else above her and looked to see Weiss having stepped forward and kneeled before her. The heiress' hands gently held her arms.
"Ruby, it's okay. I can… I can't say I understand exactly what you're feeling, but with what we've gone through, what we know…" Weiss gazed down a moment before meeting her eyes again. "There's no guarantee that your mother could have come to Nirn. I won't tell you it's impossible, but if… If we're being realistic, the chances are slim." After pursing her lips for a moment, Weiss then pulled herself forward and wrapped Ruby in a hug. The younger girl seemed frozen a moment, but then reached around and hugged her back, laying her face against her shoulder. Weiss felt a little wetness where Ruby's eyes were, but she didn't mind it. She just stayed there and held her friend close.
The three women took a few minutes to calm down and for Ruby to clean herself. Once they were all ready, they headed down for breakfast and began planning out their next move. As they were drawing up the trip south, Ruby suddenly snapped her fingers.
"Elder Scroll!" The other two looked at her blankly, and she answered their unasked questions. "I need to find the Elder Scroll to use the Time Wound to learn the Dragonrend Shout."
"Ah, yes, that," Weiss stated, internally chastising herself for not thinking of it earlier. "Are you sure you can't use the one Serana has?"
"Paarthurnax said it has to be the same one the Tongues used to banish Alduin. I don't think the one Serana has is the same one.
"How will you know if you have the right one?" Lydia asked as she chewed on a forkful of eggs.
"I… I don't know, actually," she admitted before resting her chin into her palm and tapping her fingers against her lips in thought. "I guess I'll either feel it, or I'll keep trying until I find the right one."
"There's possibly hundreds of Elder Scrolls," Weiss reminded her. "Scattered all across Tamriel. Trying to look at all of them could take years, decades even."
"Yeah, but… I have this feeling the right one isn't too far away." Ruby shrugged. "Either way, I have to try. So, where should we start?"
Weiss thought for a moment, tapping her chin before coming to a decision and nodding.
"I suppose we should ask Urag," the heiress figured. "At the very least, he could give us the right reference materials."
"Right, back to the library," Ruby said before getting to her feet, the other two following after her.
"Arcaneum," Weiss tried to correct her.
"Whatever," Ruby retorted petulantly, waving her arm around while not even looking at Weiss. For her part, Weiss merely rolled her eyes in soft annoyance, while Lydia personally agreed with Ruby's broader point. What even was the difference between a library and an Arcaneum? Not much, in the housecarl's opinion, but she doubted Weiss would want to hear that so she kept quiet.
The walk to the Arcaneum wasn't long, but most of it was spent crossing the frozen courtyard. Even Weiss was sent into small shivers passing through the chilling wind that had decided to blow by. They then entered the Hall of Elements and went up the stairs to the Arcaneum itself. Olivia was complaining about something to Eleanor, but Urag was straight ahead and caught all of their attentions. Ruby happily skipped up to him and flashed him her sweetest smile. He groaned, but turned towards her, ready to serve.
"Do you need something?" he asked gruffly.
"Yes sir. I happen to be looking for an Elder Scroll."
He frowned and his brows furrowed. "And what do you plan to do with it? Do you even know what you're asking about, or are you just someone's errand girl?"
"Hey!" Ruby cried out indignantly before puffing her cheeks. Weiss sighed and walked up to her side. "I know what I'm doing! Do you have one or not?"
"Ruby, that's hardly appropriate," Weiss quietly admonished her.
"He started it," she whispered back.
Urag then scoffed. "You think that even if I did have one here, I would let you see it? It would be kept under the highest security. The greatest thief in the world wouldn't be able to lay a finger on it."
Ruby crossed her arms and smirked at that. "What about…the Dragonborn?"
"What about… Wait. Are you…?" He leaned over his desk and peered more closely at her. "Were you the one the Greybeards were calling?" At her nod, he stood back up straight and stroked his beard before nodding himself. "I'll bring you everything we have on them, but it's not much. So don't get your hopes up. It's mostly lies, leavened with rumor and conjecture." The Orcish librarian then went from behind the counter and walked over to one of the shelves protected by a large, locked pane. He thumbed across a few titles, muttering something under his breath, before grabbing two books next to each other and setting them out on the counter before the girls. "Here you go. Try not to spill anything on them."
Ruby took up the copy of Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls while Weiss picked up and leafed through Effects of the Elder Scrolls. While Weiss was reading how someone with minimal knowledge could be blinded from trying to read the Scrolls, Ruby groaned and lowered the book from her eyes.
"Are you okay?" her partner asked.
"It's the Pantheon of the Magne-Ge all over again," she complained. "What is this?" she asked the librarian, who chuckled.
"Aye, that's the work of Septimus Signus. He's the world's master of the nature of Elder Scrolls, but... well. He's been gone for a long while. Too long."
Weiss blanched a little. "Is he…dead?"
"Oh no. I hope not. But even I haven't seen him in years, and we were close." He gained a thoughtful look and crossed his arms while humming. "Became obsessed with the Dwemer. Took off north saying he had found some old artifact. Haven't seen him since. Somewhere in the ice fields, if you want to try and find him."
"The ice fields, huh?" Ruby nodded at that and set the book back down. "Thanks a lot, Mr. gro-Shub. We'll let you know if we find him."
"Thanks. And if you do see him, tell him Urag's still at the Arcaneum. We can talk about old times over some ale."
"Will do."
Now that the trio had an objective, they left the College of Winterhold and went north. The only problem was that Septimus had been gone for so long that any trail he might've left behind had long since disappeared. They had to start from scratch. In an icy tundra such as Winterhold, that was proving to be a hassle.
"Brrr, why did we come out here again?" Ruby asked through the cold.
"Elder Scroll," Weiss reminded her while blocking the wind with a magical ward. The fact that her teeth were chattering wasn't doing much to instill confidence in Ruby, but neither said anything.
"Mm, starting to really resent these things. S-s-stupid scrolls taking us out into the middle of nowhere to f-f-freeze our butts off... Why can't they be on some tropical beach where it's warm and sunny, not cold and snowy?"
"I have to admit," Lydia said while hugging herself tightly, "the cold is getting even to me. And I'm wearing two coats."
"Well, I'm cold, too. We'll just have to stop and try to get warm somewhere." Weiss looked around, taking note of the ancient column sticking out of a large glacial mound. Hopping over ice sheets, she made her way over to the cold shore and looked around for a way up, Ruby and Lydia right behind her. As they started to ascend, an animated skeleton suddenly rushed down to meet them, only to be quickly smashed apart by a Bolide spell from Ruby. A few more skeletons appeared, but each were quickly dashed into scattered bones by the women as they came up to the ancient ruins. Once they reached the old, stone building, they started searching around for any clues, but none were forthcoming. As Ruby looked around the top of the mound, she noticed something to their north and then looked at it through Crescent Rose's scope.
"Hey Weiss, I see a boat." The vampire immediately came to her side, and Ruby pointed while offering the sniper-scythe for her to view it through.
"Yes, that's a boat," she confirmed. "Looks like it moved recently, too." She handed the weapon back and nodded. "Let's investigate."
"Right. Hold on," Ruby warned her while grabbing her hand and then Lydia's. The three suddenly burst forward in a tri-angled set of rose petals. She carried them most of the way towards the boat before landing on a particularly large sheet of ice, three different colors of rose petals falling around them.
"You know, I'm beginning to enjoy moving around like that," Lydia remarked. Ruby beamed at the praise but another gust of icy wind forced her to curl up and shiver. It was then that she got the bright idea to use fire magic to heat herself up, and so she formed a small ball of flame between her hands. At once blissful warmth spread through her hands, and she sighed in relief. It wasn't much, the heat not even radiating out enough to warm her face without holding it up that high, and trying to increase the size only threatened to take out her eyebrows. Still, it was something.
It was almost a literal hop, skip, and jump over shaky ice chunks floating in the seawater that brought them to where the boat was moored. It was a large glacier of sorts, but with a makeshift door set over a hole with two extinguished torches on either side of it. The three walked over to the door and pried it open with a loud creak to find it led to a ladder. They climbed down and looked around at the smooth, icy cavern they had found, and cautiously walked into the place. A light illuminated much of the cavern from deep within, letting them see clearly as they ventured further. At the end, it opened up into an almost circular chamber with a stone ramp that seemed almost too deliberate to be natural leading down. At the bottom were some bare essentials for living, such as a bed and some cooking implements, including a pot currently holding some steaming stew, along with a few additional things like a bookshelf and a table with a lantern set atop it. As they circled down, they saw a robed man standing before a large, brass cube-like object. The faces of the cube were circular, and the one facing forward seemed to have rings arranged in some unknown pattern with the glass-like lenses arrayed just off-center. The man turned to them and smiled welcomingly.
"Hello," Ruby greeted him, making sure to sound as nice as she could. "So, what're you doing out here?"
"The ice entombs the heart," he answered, immediately setting them all off-kilter. "The bane of Kagrenac and Dagoth Ur. To harness it is to know. The fundaments. The Dwemer lockbox hides it from me. The Elder Scroll gives insight deeper than the deep ones, though. To bring about the opening."
Ruby blinked, trying to comprehend what the man was trying to say, then shook her head as if to empty it. "Is this what that Kirkbride guy sounded like?" she muttered. Weiss decided to step forward before her friend got an aneurysm.
"You must be Septimus Signus," she began. "We actually heard you know a good deal about Elder Scrolls."
"Elder Scrolls. Indeed. The Empire. They absconded with them. Or so they think. The ones they saw. The ones they thought they saw. I know of one. Forgotten. Sequestered. But I cannot go to it, not poor Septimus, for I... I have arisen beyond its grasp."
Weiss could feel a migraine coming on, but she pressed ahead, "So, you don't have one here?"
"I've seen enough to know their fabric. The warp of air, the weft of time. But no, it is not in my possession."
"Are you well?" Lydia interjected bluntly. At this point, they were all pretty sure the man in front of them was a few arrows short of a full quiver.
"Oh, I am well," Septimus all-too-joyfully proclaimed. "I will be well. Well to be within the will inside the walls."
"Filtering. Filtering," Ruby said robotically.
"Right." Weiss closed her eyes and took a breath. "Moving on, do you know where an Elder Scroll is?"
"Here," he indicated before pausing a moment and looking thoughtful. "Well, here as in this plane. Mundus. Tamriel. Nearby, relatively speaking." He laughed at that. "On the cosmological scale, it's all nearby."
Weiss narrowed her eyes but then started to count to ten inside of her head. Once she counted down completely, she opened her eyes to see Ruby looking at the man with a blank, utterly lost expression. Lydia looked ready to physically intervene if whatever was wrong with the man proved to be a danger to her charge, but Weiss could see that was just the housecarl's over-protectiveness coming in. Irritatingly insane or not, Septimus Signus seemed harmless enough.
"Can you help us or not?" she pointedly asked, and Septimus nodded enthusiastically with a toothy smile on his face.
"One block lifts the other. Septimus will give what you want, but you must bring him something in return." He walked over to the giant cube and waved his arms over it. "You see this masterwork of the Dwemer? Deep inside their greatest knowings. Septimus is clever among men, but he is but an idiot child compared to the dullest of the Dwemer. Lucky then they left behind their own way of reading the Elder Scrolls. In the depths of Blackreach one yet lies. Have you heard of Blackreach? 'Cast upon where Dwemer cities slept, the yearning spire hidden learnings kept'." He laughed again, and this time Ruby was recovered enough to talk to the madman now.
"Where's…Blackreach?" the Dragonborn asked.
"Under deep. Below the dark. The hidden keep. Tower Mzark. Alftand. The point of puncture, of first entry, of the tapping. Delve to its limits, and Blackreach lies just beyond. But not all can enter there. Only Septimus knows the hidden key to loose the lock, to jump beneath the deathly rock."
"Okay," Ruby said. "Then how do we get in?"
"Two things I have for you," he said while going over to his shelf and opening a drawer. "Two shapes. One edged, one round. The round one, for tuning. Dwemer music is soft and subtle, and needed to open their cleverest gates." After fishing them out he turned toward the women again, holding a cube and a sphere, both seemingly made of the bronze-like material. "The edged lexicon, for inscribing. To us, a hunk of metal. To the Dwemer, a full library of knowings. But... empty. Find Mzark and its sky-dome. The machinations there will read the Scroll and lay the lore upon the cube." He walked over to Ruby, placing the objects in her hands but looking directly into her eyes while keeping hold of them. "Trust Septimus. He knows you can know." He then let them go and walked around her, going back to the massive box. Ruby looked at both objects in interest, but it was Weiss who spoke up next.
"How do we use them?"
"The deepest doors of Dwemer listen for singing. It plays the attitude of notes proper for opening. Can you not hear it? Too low for hearings?" Septimus then shrugged and continued on. "For the cube, to glimpse the world inside an Elder Scroll can damage the eyes. Or the mind, as it has to Septimus."
'Which explains a lot,' they thought as one.
"The Dwemer found a loophole, as they always do. To focus the knowledge away and inside without harm. Place the lexicon into their contraption and focus the knowings into it. When it brims with glow, bring it back and Septimus can read once more."
"And what will you do with these 'knowings'?" Weiss asked him.
"Ooooh, an observant one. How clever to ask of Septimus. This Dwemer lockbox," he indicated the large object once again. "Look upon it and wonder. Inside is the heart. The heart of a god! The heart of you. And me." At that, Weiss felt herself freeze up a little. "But it was hidden away. Not by the Dwarves, you see. They were already gone. Someone else. Unseen. Unknown. Found the heart, and with a flair for the ironical, used Dwarven trickery to lock it away. The scroll will give the deep vision needed to open it. For not even the strongest machinations of the Dwemer can hold off the all-sight given by an Elder Scroll."
"Huh," Ruby mumbled while looking at the object in thought. She then held up the smaller cube and compared them for a moment. "So, how does an Elder Scroll get you in there?"
"You look to your left, you see one way. You look to your right, you see another. But neither is any harder than the opposite. But the Elder Scrolls... they look left and right in the stream of time. The future and past are as one: Sometimes they even look up. What do they see then? What if they dive in? Then the madness begins."
"Right. Don't look up." She pocketed the two objects and then patted Weiss on the shoulder as she started toward the ramp. "Well then, we'll get right on that. Thanks for the help, Mr. Signus. Urag says hi."
When they reentered the icy seaboard, no one said a word. They all just stared blankly into the distance, their eyes focused on the warm lights of the College torches as they slowly made their way back. Ruby didn't even bother using fire magic again, as her mind seemed to just fly in all directions at once. Slowly, they coalesced, and only then did Ruby come to a firm conclusion.
"Guys," Ruby spoke up halfway back to Winterhold from Septimus' little outpost.
"Yes, Ruby?" Weiss responded.
"That was weird."
The girls started heading south that day towards Windhelm. While they were afraid the snow might slow them down, it turned out that the road had been trampled fairly well by travelers. As they approached the city on the second morning, Ruby and Weiss both noted the strange ships at port and the hustle and bustle within the city itself. As they'd been told, people were readying themselves for the New Life Festival. Stalls were set up with interesting merchandise from all around the continent and some things from even further. Red and green lights were strewn about above doorways and shop signs. Wreaths and trees were being propped up in certain spots around the streets, with brightly-colored cloths tied to them. One merchant they came across was a dark-skinned man with a shaved head, stacks of cages behind him that each held a small, red creature that seemed to be a cross between a lizard and a chicken.
"Come one and all! Treat your family to a hot meal unlike anything else you might taste! Bantam guars fed a strict diet of almost all hot peppers! Taste the spicy, white-hot meat infused with flavor throughout!"
"Ooh, we should try that!" Ruby indicated.
"Maybe later," Weiss half-promised. "Let's just get what we need to head down to Riften for right now."
"It's a pleasure to see you, Thane Weiss," the Nordic man greeted his landlady. "Thank you again for putting us up. I was beginning to fear no one would ever allow my family a room in the city."
"Well, I'm only happy to help," she honestly told him before his two sons rushed past them, one greyer and taller than the other. His wife walked in calmly after them, holding their infant daughter, who looked at her with curious red eyes. Weiss instantly felt her heart elate while stopping herself from gasping. "Oh, how adorable!" She certainly did not squee. She was more dignified than that.
"Sooo cyute!" Ruby gushed, not having the same level of dignity as her best friend. Even Lydia was smiling at the half-elf babe.
"Mama!" the younger of the two sons suddenly yelled as he ran back in from outside. "Can we have a treat from the stalls?"
"The eastern islanders brought their candies!" the elder added.
"Ooh, candy!" Ruby joined in, a little bounce suddenly added to her stance. She then looked at the two parents and gave them a smile. "I'll watch over those two for you. Promise not to spoil them too much."
"Well all right," the father acquiesced. "Just don't get cross with any lizards," he warned them before they sped off. Weiss frowned a moment at that, but put herself back to a pleasant expression when her thoughts led her to believe that it was likely well-intended. The boys were half-Dunmer, after all, so Argonians targeting them wasn't completely out of the range of possibility. Still, she was sure the reptilian folk were going to be on their best behavior during the short time they were allowed in the city for holiday shopping.
"We should probably head out and make sure they don't get into too much trouble," his wife stated while going back to their room. "I'll get my coat."
They stepped out soon after. The couple were looking at different objects for sale in interest but were window shopping for the most part. Weiss stepped away from them to check on Ruby and the boys and caught sight of them not too far away at a stall with an odd being with large ears, a flat nose, and thin fur on most of his visible skin. Said being had scooped up something that Weiss was almost too shocked to process, but the fact that Ruby was soon licking it from a sort of cone let her know that it was, indeed, ice cream. She then gave the two boys and her housecarl a cone each and they were soon all enjoying it. Weiss thought to join them, but a man wearing the Courier's Guild insignia approached her.
"Thane Weiss Schnee?" he asked while taking out a letter.
"Yes?"
"Here, from the White Phial."
"Ah, thank you," she said as he handed her the note. Passing him a septim for a tip, she unfolded and quickly read it.
During Nurelion's convalescence, I've been studying the legends of the Phial. I don't know enough enchanting to make one anew, but with the proper materials, I may be able to repair the original.
Please come and see me as soon as you can.
Respectfully,
Quintus Navale
Weiss looked in the direction of the alchemy store and frowned. She remembered bringing that artifact back, unable to restore it on her own or even with the help of the brightest minds in Winterhold. Still, if he thought he could do it, then it was worth looking into.
"If you'll excuse me, there's something I'd like to look into," she said to the couple.
"No worries. We won't keep you," the man assured her. With that she headed over to the White Phial. Inside, the din of the crowd was muffled and no decorations had been set. If anything, the holiday joy seemed sapped out of the place. The apprentice came up from the back after hearing the bell ring, and relief showed on his face when he saw Weiss.
"Good, you're here. You can be difficult to find, but it looks like you came to Windhelm right as I was ready to send for you."
"Yes, that was lucky." Weiss nodded and crossed her arms. "You think you know how to repair the White Phial?"
"I have some thoughts," he admitted. "There are three crucial elements. Some may be harder to find than others. On the top of the Throat of the World is a patch of Unmelting Snow. No heat can touch it. Then we need the tusk of a mammoth, ground into a fine powder as only the Giants know how. The final step is tricky. It requires the briarheart from a Forsworn of the Reach. If you can bring me these materials, the Phial can again be made whole."
Weiss stroked her chin and nodded. "Interesting ideas. I can understand the snow, even if I'm not sure how there's Unmelting Snow. What about the tusk powder?"
"The ivory produced by those beasts is as hard as iron. But the giants have found ways to make it yield. They're able to grind it down so fine that it can be infused into the lattice of packed snow. The finished material has the delicate nature of fresh powder snow, but the strength of the hardest steel."
"Interesting." Weiss figured keeping that in mind for future endeavors could prove useful. "And I suppose the briarheart will be used for the unique magic that flows through it."
"Yes. The nearest modern incarnation of the old magic used to temper the White Phial is likely the strange rituals practiced by the Forsworn. With the heart of one of their Briar Warriors, I can lock the Phial's magic into its physical form."
"Yes. Their magic is old and-" A loud series of coughs interrupted her, and Quintus rushed to the back. Curious, Weiss followed along and watched as the Breton tended to the old Altmer, giving him something to drink which seemed to calm down his coughing fit. She stepped back as the man exited the room, and he looked at her sadly.
"I know I'm already asking you a lot, but…with Master Nurelion as he is…"
"How long has he been like that?" Weiss asked. The alchemist rubbed his neck and sighed.
"A week now. He's been steadily getting worse ever since…he saw the state of the Phial. At this point, I'm beginning to believe that only the restored White Phial could possibly save him, in body and soul. I don't even know if he'll make it to the new year."
Weiss closed her eyes and nodded. "I…see. I promise, I'll get you those ingredients as quickly as I can." Her resolve steeled, she quickly took out her scroll and began typing up a message. "Do you know where the nearest Giant clan might be?"
"Hm, keep an eye out for… Forsworn briarhearts?" Blake read aloud in confusion.
"Oh hey, I fought some of those guys. Wait, does she mean the warrior, or the weird fruit thing that they have in place of hearts?" Yang soon got her answer and hummed in thought. "Oh okay. Ingredients. Shoot, I remember ripping one right out of one of their chests before, what even happened to that...? Did we sell it…? Oh, there's a dying guy's life on the line? Man, Weiss, lead with that next time!"
"Uh, so we…" Blake started before reading more of the message. "Wait, Unmelting Snow?"
"Yeah, sounds weird, but Ruby's been up there. Maybe her dragon teacher buddy knows where it's at." Yang shrugged after that thought, then began sniffing the air, smacking her lips moments before Rumarin walked in, carrying a tray with what looked like a steaming poultry on top.
"One fully-cooked, over-priced bantam guar, ready for your consumption," he announced while setting it on the table. Serana set her book aside and walked over to the dining table. Iona then began setting down plates and silverware for everyone to use. Both Huntresses and the Altmer were looking forward to trying out the spice-infused creature, but Blake's housecarl and the vampire princess seemed far less enthusiastic. As Rumarin started carving off a thigh, Yang's scroll rang, and she answered.
"Hey, Ruby."
"Yang, they have ice cream!" her younger sister loudly broadcasted. While Yang was slightly reeling from that, Ruby continued, "They only have some fruit flavors and one called egg crème, but it's really good, like that fancy stuffed imported from Argus."
"Aw man, that does sound good. Where'd it come from?"
"Intesly or something like that. The guy selling it also wasn't like anyone I've ever seen before. Kinda looked like a man-bat."
"He was an Echmer," Lydia's voice told her from off-screen. "Bat elves."
"Huh, neat," Yang contemplated. "Wish they'd come down to Riften. Well, we're about to dig in to one of those hot pepper bantam guars. At least they're selling those down here."
"Ah, I wanna try that too, but I'm afraid it'll be too spicy," Ruby ruminated. "Hm, well, it's forty septims each, so maybe…"
"Forty? We paid fifty for this one!" Yang complained.
"That's likely what travel costs added onto it," Weiss' voice came up before Ruby angled her scroll to show her. "Did you get my message an hour ago?"
"Yeah. I think we can get the stuff," Yang relayed to her. "Might take a minute to get a briarheart, though."
"I could use my shortcut to get to the Reach quicker," Blake offered. "Don't know how well I can find one of those things, though."
"We may not need to get one from them directly," Weiss figured. "Sometimes mercenaries and sellswords take them as loot and sell them to alchemists. We'd be hard-pressed to find any east of Whiterun, however. Still, we'll focus on that when we get there. One of the easier items would be the mammoth tusk powder. We just have to find some Giants willing to trade it. Which shouldn't be hard, given Ruby's reputation among them. Then there's the Unmelting Snow."
"Which I can also get!" Ruby helpfully supplied. "Weiss said Quintus told her that the Greybeards apparently taught some snow how to not melt. Doesn't sound like something they'd do, but we've run into weirder stuff. Still, if anybody knows where to find it, they would."
"And then you can use this stuff to… Wait, what's the stuff for, again?"
"Repairing the White Phial. Even if seeing it back to functioning form doesn't revitalize Nurelion's spirit back, the fact of the matter is that the Phial's purpose was to create an infinite amount of a substance in its purest form from as little as a single drop. With that, it should at least make a medicine capable of saving him from the tonics he's already made to treat his condition."
"Okay. Not sure what all that's about, but I can roll with it," Yang decided. She then looked at the guar breast on her plate and set the scroll on the table. "I think we can fit it between our scheduled dragon-tyrant fighting and keeping the vampire terrorists from taking a priest hostage." She cut a piece off and brought it up to her mouth, letting out a noise of gratitude while nodding. "Hm, yeah. This is spicy, but I think it's right in your range, Rubes."
"I'll keep a glass of milk on hand just in case whenever we try one. In fact… Weiss, let's buy two and take them with us!"
"Sure, but transporting them is not going to be… Never mind. Anyways, we should be down shortly. You were going to report to the Dawnguard soon then go back into Riften?"
"Yeah, wouldn't want to risk bringing you up there, too. I think Serana's presence already stretched their goodwill. Gotta wait a while before we introduce-" Yang recalled Iona's presence and cut herself off. "They are really big on your clan, you know?"
"Well, I can hardly blame them," Weiss acquiesced. "Still, we should iron out any misunderstandings as quickly as possible. Once you've…cleared it, let me know."
"Cleared it. Yeah. Not sure there's a real way to do that," Yang muttered.
Yang, Blake, Serana, and Rumarin headed up to Fort Dawnguard in the dark of morning, arriving right as dawn was breaking across the valley. Most of the defenses were now in place, so there were small waiting periods as portcullises were raised to allow them entry. After passing through the gates and walking up to the fort's doors, Yang made a beeline for where she suspected Sorine to be, luckily finding her at a little makeshift workshop. Just as Yang had hoped, she was practically ready to throw together the new and improved version of a crossbow with the Dwemer schematics set in front of her. Even better, Yang was able to throw her own two cents into the mix. After a few hours of tinkering, the two stood up with a prototype and headed over to a nearby firing range, which consisted of a straw target and twenty feet of empty space.
"All right, testing the improved crossbow design," Yang announced before leveling it and shooting a bolt. With a single movement, she pulled a lever that reset the string and then moved a mechanism from beneath the weapon. While Sorine was on the right track to making a quick-to-reload crossbow, Yang had thrown in her own idea that resulted in a cartridge connected to the bottom that turned it up to rapid reloading. The mechanism pulled up another bolt from the spring-loaded cartridge and set it in place right in front of the bowstring. She fired again and again, only having to crank the lever to reload. As the motion became ingrained, she was able to reload a little faster than before. In the end, just before the cartridge was spent, she was firing a little faster than one bolt per second.
When it was emptied, Yang smiled and lowered the weapon while looking at the bolt-filled target. Sorine's eyes were practically saucers, and her own smile went ear to ear.
"This is better than even my wildest dreams!" she declared.
"And mine," a voice said from the door. They turned to see Isran there, with a look that Yang took to be approval. "I suppose it was worth you going on that extended retrieval mission. We even got thanks from the Rift for getting rid of the vampires that had taken those schematics."
"Just doing my job," Yang said as she handed over the crossbow. Isran looked it over a minute before looking at the massacred target.
"Need to work on your aim as well. Or get the sights set right on this. Still, a good advantage to have. Ah yes, your friend is on his way back. Some scouts saw him coming."
"Uh, you'll have to be more specific," Yang confessed.
"Big fellow with the bear."
"Oh! Yngvarr! Sheesh, he wasn't back already?" Yang knew that complications could cause unexpected delays, but she had honestly thought it wouldn't take Yngvarr but a day to clear up the vampires where he was headed and another day for the trip back and forth. Still, she wanted to be there to greet him on his return, so she started making her way towards the front. "I'll go see him in. He could probably use a drink or two dozen." Yang waved to the two as she left Sorine's workshop and headed toward the entrance. She was out just in time to see Yngvarr coming past the last portcullis, and she had to admit, he looked ragged. Bjarni wasn't with him, but she caught a whiff of the bear on the breeze, along with good bit of blood, from vampires, Bjarni, and Yngvarr alike.
"Yng, are you okay?" she asked him in growing concern. He looked up at her, labored breaths racking his body a moment.
"Yang," he got out, "you're here. Need…Isran."
"Whoa-kay, dude, we'll get him," she assured him while holding him up from his right shoulder and helping him inside. "First, you need to take a seat or something. I'll bring him to you."
Luckily, as she set him down, Isran made an appearance of his own accord with the rapid-fire crossbow held in his left hand. He walked over to the exhausted Nord and took in his form.
"What happened out there?" he asked Yngvarr, getting straight to the point.
"I ain't…ever seen so many," the large Nord started. "They just kept coming. Mindless, like beasts. I know they were vampires, but…even vampires can think."
"Attacking mindlessly," Isran noted. "Were they using weapons?"
"Eh, no," Yngvarr recalled, as if just noticing the detail himself. "Well, most no. A few had swords and axes, but most came at me with their hands like claws. The couple with weapons… They were a bit smarter, I think."
"Damn, I didn't think they would go for something like this," Isran cursed. "Bloodfiends. Not particularly strong, but they turn quickly and obey their masters like mindless thralls. A vampire would only be raising up a number of those as throwaway pawns. We'll have to smoke this one out."
"Wait," Yang noted, looking at the old Nord, "how long were you running from them?"
"All day," Yngvarr answered. "But…there's more. I know they've been tracking me."
"Tracking?" the Dawnguard commander asked.
"Aye. Those things… They've been hounding me. I've had to keep them on me, too. Too many places the vampires could've attacked if I let them. I've been…leading them here." At Isran's glare, Yngvarr scoffed. "Don't look at me like that, boy. This fort more than anywhere in Skyrim is the best place to hold off invading vampires. I wasn't going to let them drain Shor's Stone or Onsen."
"I suppose I could understand. Where are they now?" the Redguard demanded. Yngvarr shook his head.
"Not far. Probably hiding from the sun. They attacked almost only at night. A few attacked me under the sun, but not many. I was constantly moving just far ahead of them enough to keep their interest."
"Then we're going to check. Xiao Long, with me." Yang followed along with the man, giving Yngvarr a nod before she went back outside. As Isran passed a man, he held out a hand to get his attention. "Get the Long-Distance Detect Undead scrolls and bring them to the second tower."
"Yes sir," the Dawnguardsman answered before hurrying away. Isran continued towards his destination, eventually heading up some stone stairs to the turret of one of the castle's flanking towers. Yang started peering across the distance, but didn't see any signs of unusual activity. She was too far to smell anything past the peaks of the small mountain range enclosing the Dayspring Canyon, so finding anything through that sense was even less likely. However, one thing that really caught her attention was the sight of quite a large number of corvids flying around.
A few minutes later, the man Isran had stopped joined them, a bundle of enchanted scrolls under his arm. Isran took two and passed one to the Huntress while gesturing for the gopher to pass more out to the men working the tower. Isran opened his and it went up in magical dissolution before filling him with its power.
"Damn," he muttered. Yang followed his footsteps and felt the spell sink into her as well, and her eyes went wide. Not far beyond the defensive mountain range, a pink glow had begun appearing and spreading back towards the distance. Scattered dots moved around at the nearer edge, slowly milling about as the pink mass seemed to inch ever closer.
"Oh…my god," she said in shock. "That's…"
"An army," Isran finished. "An army of undead, coming right for us."