"So, where are you taking me?" I hummed and turned towards Serana, who I had to say was just absolutely stunning. Her hair were incredibly long and reaching the back of her knees, probably because she spent centuries without being able to give them proper care.
Her clothes were also slightly tattered, but again, that's to be expected. I do feel sorry that she is covered in dust, but luckily I'll be able to let her have a nice bath once we get back to Whiterun.
"I don't want you to think that I am kidnapping you. I don't know precisely how your father will react to your return, but I'd rather not risk it in case he decides to imprison you the moment you come back." I tell her gently as we finally step out of the cave through the secondary secret entrance, making her wince slightly as the sun hits her skin. "If you want to go, I'll let you. But I don't think I have the strength necessary to free you in case Harkon decides to imprison you just yet, even with Auriel's Bow." Serana gazed at me with a complicated look, looked towards the sky, then sighed and nodded her head slowly, making me smile gratefully.
"What about my mother? Do you know what happened to her?" She asked hopefully, making my smile twitch slightly before I sighed and scratched the back of my head.
"Your father tried to kill her for hiding you and stealing two of the Elder Scrolls, so she ran away and hid herself into the Soul Cairn… Where she became the prisoner of the Ideal Masters." Her face paled more and more as I spoke, then she turned away at my last words and stomped the ground hard enough to crack it as she swore loudly. "We can try and save her once you recover and after we deal with your father, but we'll have to thread carefully." She bit her lower lip angrily, clenching her hands into fists before she sighed and ran a hand through her dusty and incredibly long air.
"Thank you." I nodded with a smile before turning towards the cave entrance, then tapped my staff onto the ground and used Quake to make the entire cave collapse on itself and bury Serana's seal under the rubble.
"This should buy us a few weeks at most." I hummed, then created the Teleportation Rune under our feet as I pulled Fenrir back into the Pet Space. "Now, let's take you home where you can take a nice hot bath." I state, chuckling at Serana's mock glare as we disappear in a flash of purple light, then reappear before the Waystone in Whiterun.
"What the hell is that…?" Serana instantly asked as she gaped at the massive Daedric Gate standing not that far away from us. This pretty much tells me that the Daedric Gates were somewhat recently, maybe either at the end of the Third Era or at the beginning of the Fourth Era. I should really look up their history.
"That's a Daedric Portal. It leads you inside a Realm full of monsters related to the Daedric Prince that created it. This one was created by Mephala so it's full of spiders." Serana made a disgusted face when she heard the spider part, but whatever else she was going to ask was interrupted by loud cheering and whistling as almost every adventurer that was going towards the Daedric Gate stopped to point and cheer towards me, making me chuckle nervously when Serana turned towards me with an amused and curious look.
"You could say I am somewhat famous." I state simply before leading her into the guild, where everyone starts cheering towards me too. Guess my feat of stopping Alduin has already spread far and wide. Oh man, this is going to be so embarrassing!
"Flora!" I don't even have time to greet Ariana as she tackles me in a tight hug, causing the Guild to break out in wolf whistles. Then everyone went quiet when I called out Fenrir. Good. "Thank the Divines you're okay…" The mature elf woman sighed and pulled back with a fond smile, then sent a curious look towards the dusty Serana.
"Ariana, this is Serana, she's a good vampire don't worry. Serana, this is Ariana, she's the Master Alchemist of the Guild." The two shook hand with friendly smiles, making me sigh in relief when Ariana didn't react much at the fact that Serana is a vampire. Not that it can be hidden since her eyes are a dead giveaway.
"A new friend of yours? Or are you going to heal her the same way you did with the werewolves?" I blinked at that, then face-palmed myself for not thinking about it sooner as Serana looked towards me with a raised brow.
"I don't know if it will work, so I'll try it out later if she wants. Where are Aurash and Dinara?" I stated before cutting straight to the most important question. I missed those two so much and right now I want nothing more but to see them and hug them tightly. And of course Ariana catches on fast and she shoots me a teasing grin.
"They should be back home, don't let me hold you." I gave her a grateful smile and one last hug before leading Serana out of the Guild, then I had to turn around and call out Fenrir as she was now busy stealing food from the tables with people too scared to move. This Hellhound is becoming a menace.
"What did she mean by 'Healing' me? You can turn me back into a human?" Serana asked once we were out of the Guild and after I had managed to drag Fenrir back outside.
"Not really? Basically, I came up with a spell that removes the harmful effects that some Daedric Princes inflicted onto people's souls. I used that on the werewolves, thus getting rid of their constant desire for blood and freeing them from going to Hircine's Hunting Ground once they die. I think that if I'll use it on you, it might erase your weakness against sun and your constant need to drink blood." Serana could only gape at me as I explained to her what my 'Purge' skill could do. I'm not sure that the effects I said will happen if I use it on her, but there is a high chance that they might be. "We can try in the future if you want. Of course, only when you are sure you can trust me." I assured her, receiving an unreadable gaze from her as an answer as I turned away to wave at over a few of the Priestesses of Kynareth while we walked by the temple, which was right next to my house.
"Could you accompany Danica over to my house please?" I asked them gently, smiling sweetly when they all nodded eagerly before speeding off. They are such nice girls.
"Ah, home sweet home…" I finally sighed once me and Serana stopped in front of the large house, then my smile grew wider and excited when I could obviously feel two presences inside the house. One in the kitchen and one in the living room, and the one in the kitchen was the one to walk towards the door once I knocked.
"Surprise!" I cheered loudly when the door opened, revealing a slightly frowning Aurash. A frown that instantly melted away and turned into a massive smile as she scooped me up into her arms and hugged me as tightly as I could handle, which still made my bones ache. "I missed you too!" I laughed as I pestered her face with kisses while kicking my legs in the air, meanwhile Fenrir was happily howling in the background. Which meant she was happily releasing a stream of fire into the air.
"Come on, let's go inside! I bought a friend over!" Aurash rose a brow as she stared at Serana, clearly recognizing her as a vampire pretty much instantly, but she still moved aside while holding me in the air like a sack of potatoes and let Serana in.
Dinara had also rushed over once she heard my voice, but before I could go over to give her some love and hugs too, she ended up getting tackled down by a charging Fenrir.
"First, let's get the introduction over with." I clapped my hands together while trying to wiggle myself out of Aurash's grasp, but to no avail of course. "Aurash, Dinara, this is Serana, she is a vampire that was sealed away back in the Second Era because her father was and still is… well, an idiot." Serana tilted her head, mulled over my words, snorted, then nodded her head in agreement. "Serana, these two are my lovers, Aurash and Dinara. Aurash is the big girl holding me, Dinara is the one currently getting mauled by Fenrir." I feel Aurash squeeze me more tightly once I said the word 'lover', and I looked up at her to see a massive satisfied grin spread across her face.
"Now that the introductions are mostly done, let's give you a much deserved bath." I finally wiggled out of Aurash grasp to grab some spare clothes for Serana, then led her to the underground pool and warmed the water for her before adding a Pollen Garden to the mix, then left her alone to relax and think over anything that happened as I joined Aurash and Dinara in the living room.
Of course the first thing I did is give Dinara some love and smooches too as I hugged her tightly, then went to sit on Aurash's lap after changing out of my armor to finally relax with them after all I did.
"So, who wants to hear the epic tale of what I have done in these days?" I finally spoke up after we settled down on our large couch, with me leaning against Aurash while having Dinara's head on my lap. Aurash of course just yawned then faked falling asleep while Dinara simply hummed with her eyes closed as I stroked her hair.
"Well then, here's what happened. First, I passed Kynareth's Divine Trial and obtained a smaller copy of the Eldergleam Tree, then I went and stopped some cultists from bringing back Potema, used a few scrolls I made on the way to capture and bind Potema to me just to be safe, then went off and took a stroll in an ancient and lost region where the Snow Elves used to live. There, I met Paarthurnax daughter, Folizbrii, a very kind ice dragon that is almost as big as Alduin herself, asked her for directions, found a castle with a vampire Snow Elf, fought against two dragons and said vampire Snow Elf at the same time, killed them all, met the last Snow Elf alive, acquired Auriel's Bow, then came back to free Serana from her thousands year old seal before coming back home." I released a slight breath after finishing my quick recounting of the facts, a massive grin spreading over my face as both Aurash and Dinara are left gaping at me with wide and shocked eyes.
"W-wait, first of all, did you say you bound Potema to yourself?!" Dinara sat up and stared at me with wide eyes, and I simply opened a portal to Oblivion with a single thought and let Potema walk through, making Dinara tense and hiss at the sight. "Okay yeah, that's the bitch alright." She released a breath and glared at the beautiful woman as I dismissed her, not really caring about being nice towards such a vile creature.
"My turn, did you say you met a dragon almost as big as Alduin? And then you fought two more by yourself and won? Without me?!" Aurash sounded offended that I picked a fight against two dragons without her, which just made me chuckle and peck her cheek as an apology.
"The two dragons I fought were fairly weak and small, definitely weaker than the first dragon we fought. And yes, I believe that Folizbrii is very close to Alduin's size, and she also said she had a brother, and I feel like he's the same size as her." Dinara hissed at that, understanding just how bad it could be if two dragons of that size decided to wreak havoc over Tamriel. I don't know if there are more dragons like them, but I'd rather not risk it so it's best we start going after the Valkyries as soon as we can and collect the Dragonslayer armor. That's our best course of action so far.
"What about Auriel's Bow? I thought that thing was a legend…" Dinara asked with trepidation in her voice, and I simply raised my hands and summoned the glowing platinum-gold bow into my hands, causing it to fill the room with a bright shine that somehow didn't blind us.
"Auriel's Shield was around there too, but it would have taken too long to find and I was missing you two too much so I just hurried back." I shrugged and tossed the bow back into the inventory, receiving a loving flushed smile from Dinara as she leaned in and pecked my lips while Aurash kissed the top of my head, making me feel fulfilled and happy.
Our moment was interrupted by a knock on the door, but I simply smiled and stood up while checking on Serana's through my Domain, but found her swimming at the bottom of the pool so I let her bed.
"Hey Danica!" I greeted the woman with a large smile as I wrapped her in a gentle hug, my heart aching at the sight of her elderly face, white hair and hunched back. I thanked the two priestesses as they left and helped Danica walk inside and led her to the couch. "I'm glad I came back right on time." I sighed out softly as I helped her sit down, receiving a confused look from her.
"Don't tell me you forgot my promise to you?" I asked with an amused grin, then raised a hand to pull out a small vial with a glowing purple liquid inside out of my inventory.
"Is this…" Danica asked softly, glancing between me and the vial as her shaky hands reached out to hold it. I smiled softly and knelt down in front of her, letting her open it and down it in one go after my approving nod.
The effect was instantaneous. Her pale skin grew healthier, softer, beautiful. Her wrinkles disappeared and her hair grew longer and gained a platinum-gold luster to them. Her back went back to normal and her curves recovered and filled out slightly more as she seemingly reverted back to her twenties. Albeit right now she looks more stunning than a supermodel. Did I give her too much sap?
"Oh wow…" Danica panted, checking her hands, touching her face, then finally stretching her back and causing it to release a loud 'pop' that had everyone flinch. "By Kynareth, that spot had been bothering me for the past few days…" Danica chuckled, making us all laugh with her before she pulled me into a tight hug to convey her gratitude.
"I keep my promises." I assured her with a smile as I helped her get back up on her feet. She was a bit shaky at first, but swiftly recovered and soon managed to walk normally once more. Now I could finally relax since I was able to heal her and avoid her death. "I'll have to see if Ariana is capable of making Potions that regrow limbs with this sap…" I hummed to myself, shooting a secret glance towards Dinara and giving her a wink that had her smile softly. Of course I didn't forget to make some for her too, but I'll give it to her later.
"So I guess that now you are the Champion of Kynareth." Danica suddenly piped up with a teasing grin, making me blink, then groan loudly as I slumped on the couch while they all laughed at me.
I'm never going to escape this hell!
The rest of the day went by quickly, and I mostly spent the entire time together with Aurash and Dinara to relax while also going into more details about what I did and about the Snow Elf I met since they were incredibly curious about him. I did go out with Serana to buy her anything she wanted, and I was glad that she looked more relaxed and less cautious too. I ended up buying her a lot of books about all the history of the Second and Third Era, then anything else that caught her fancy. Most of the magic books she was curious about were already back home in my library, not that they were that useful since they don't get into too much detail about anything.
Of course that's very normal. Mages cheat others to make money while keeping valuable information for themselves, so to avoid helping other aspiring Mages surpass them in power. That would be the greatest insult to them, and also a major loss of money and future jobs, because the more Mages there are the lower their jobs get paid, because they'd be more common.
I highly despised this way of thinking, and in fact wish to create my own School of Magic in the future to teach anyone, from kids to adults, how to wield Magic. Perhaps me and Aurash could also start spreading the Mana Awakening Potion her little brother created in the past.
I actually wanted to join the College in the past, but then recent events made me realize that none of the Mages there are deserving of their recognition and title. They are just disgusting cowards that only care about themselves.
Serana was very similar to me since we both loved studying and learning more about Magic, and I also ended up finding out that she knows how to Enchant equipment. Not on my level of course, but I bet she's definitely more skilled than Farengar is currently. I can only guess that the Psijich order started stealing everything about Enchanting slightly after she was sealed while erasing all the records they could find. But of course they didn't stop just there.
"Grand Spells?" I questioned with a raised brow as Serana gave me her own equally confused look as she nodded. We were currently walking back from the market after we bought a lot of things, with both me and Serana attracting a lot of attention.
Me because… well, my clothing is becoming more and more revealing. While Serana is just that stunning. She was now wearing more formal clothing and had cut her hair to the middle of her back, and even though it was clearly visible that she was a vampire, very few people acted uncomfortable around her, which was a huge shock on her. Vampire hunts were a common thing in the Second Era, but luckily that was thousands of years ago and people can change.
"You never heard of them? It's the highest and most powerful type of spell out there, and also the one with very few spells for each School. While Master Class spells could wipe out an entire city or more, Grand Spells are known and feared for reaching the Continental Scale in terms of power. Even Master Class Mages would barely be able to unleash even a tenth of their full power since their Mana cost is horrendous." I whistled at that, my eyes wide in pure shock. I've never found anything like that in all my researches about Magic, and even Farengar never mentioned something about them.
I wonder if the College has some knowledge about these Grand Spells. I'd love to put my hands on it and learn as much as I could.
"I can't believe so much has changed…" Serana sighed, making me smile softly and pat her shoulder in comfort. Anyone would be disoriented and stunned after seeing the state the world is in after thousands of years.
She looked so happy when she realized that she didn't need to hide her eyes, especially when she saw many werewolves walk around, some with children on their backs or just playing with them. Seeing all of this made me so happy and proud.
Whiterun was slowly being expanded more and more while becoming more rich thanks to the blooming Potion business. Life within the walls was now very cheap and comfortable, any kinds of herbs or food that needs time to sprout and grow had been taken care off by me, allowing the city to fill up their stock and reserves for the coming winter.
I accomplished so much and helped so many people, and I know that I can and will accomplish even more. I want to make life more comfortable for everyone while also pursuing my desire to study Magic and explore the world once everything has finally been settled down.
"It will take a while, but you'll get used to it. I speak from experience." I chuckle at her as she gives me a confused and curious look, but simple give a cryptic smile and don't explain further, much to her slight annoyance.
We soon reached my house and walked in as I called out for Aurash and Dinara, but of course the first to answer was the very excited looking Fenrir, who instantly charged towards me to tackle me to the ground.
But then Fenrir just vanished into thin air as a wild gust of wind rushed past me and Serana, slamming the door of the house shut as several miserable pained screams echoed out.
My blood ran cold and I instantly flipped around to see Dinara standing over the legless bodies of three men in dark and red robes, her large butcher-like blade in her hands and a murderous look in her eyes as she stood over them.
What the fuck just happened?! Did she use Illusion Magic to make herself look like Fenrir?
"Flora, please never let your guard down while you are outside." Dinara begged me softly with a pained gaze as her hand clenched around the handle of her blade, making me gulp slowly as I realized who these three man were.
Assassins from the Dark Brotherhood. I barely paid attention to my Domain while I was outside and thus didn't even notice as these three fuckers approached and followed me and Serana home, and I didn't even have Fenrir with me else she would have instantly bathed them in fire.
"Why were they following me instead of killing me when they had the chance?" I asked as I healed their stumps, stopping their bleeding as Dinara knocked them out and let me tie them up with roots from the Eldergleam Tree.
"Because they didn't have a chance." Serana was the one that answered me as she narrowed her eyes towards the three unconscious assassins. "We were in a crowded place, and I was close to you. If they attacked they would have revealed themselves as the Invisibility Spell would have crumbled, thus letting them be surrounded by the people and the guards stationed around the area. They needed a clear shot at killing you in one blow without alerting anyone to make their escape, and your house would have been perfect." I nodded and turned around as Aurash came up from the underground pool, worried and with wet hair. I grasped her hand and stopped her from slaughtering the three idiots, letting her hug me to relax and calm down.
"I'll be taking them away to… 'learn' who their contractors are. I'll be back home as quickly as I can." I nodded and gave her a tight hug and quick kiss before she grabbed the three tied assassins and dragged them outside the house as I quickly burned their amputated legs and cleaned the bloodstains from the wood by simply replacing it with new one.
"I'm sorry I didn't sense them sooner, but I'm still weakened from my many years of starvation." Serana apologized softly, but both me and Aurash shook our heads at the same time to let know that it's okay. I was at fault for letting my guard down and thinking that I was completely save within Whiterun.
But who sent these assassins after me? The Thalmors?
[With Dinara]
She had grown too soft and let down her guard.
She instantly forgets all of her training and rules when Flora is around, and that almost made her lose the woman she loves.
The only saving grace in this were actually the assassins themselves! They are experts and well trained assassins, so they didn't instantly stab her with a poisoned dagger when her guard was down. No, they want the perfect silent kill.
Her heterochromatic eyes narrowed and her fists clenched tightly as she stared at the three pieces of thrash that were now tied and each seated on their own chair. She knew very well how much hiring these assassins costed, and she knew very well that when multiple assassins appear, it means only that multiple people wanted the same person dead.
She already had an inkling on who two of them were, but not the third. But she was fine with that, she'll learn of them soon enough.
She removed a brick from the wall, then inserted her arm into the secret hole that was hid by said brick and pulled out a large bundle of cloth that she placed on the only table inside the large and empty hidden room.
It had been a while since she did torture, so her skills might be a bit stiff. Last time she did torture was to those disgusting Thalmors that targeted Flora when they first met.
I smile spread across her face the moment she thought of Flora. She had very few crushes after she became apart of the Blades, and she never pursued any of them before, that is until she laid her eyes on Flora.
She was beautiful, breathtaking even. She had a unique charm to her, perhaps because she is a Nymph. At first it was just a crush on first sight, but then it bloomed into full on love when she was the first one that didn't flinch or cringe at the sight of her scars, but instead promised to heal them.
Perhaps it was silly of her to have fallen for such a silly action and promise, but perhaps that was what she had been looking for all the time. Someone to trust and to rely on, someone that aren't her Sword Brothers and Sisters.
Since she joined up with Flora, she enjoyed her time away from her duties as the Vice Leader of the Blades. It was peaceful, and it was amazing just spending time with the one you love. It allowed her to discover so many things about herself, like that she is very shy around Flora, and that sweet adorable girl can somehow make her go from a feared warrior to a submissive panting mess in seconds.
She shook away those thoughts and decided to get this over with so she could go back to her lover and spend some quality time with her. Perhaps even be able to do some nightly activities to deepen their bond.
Should she start wearing the Amulet of Mara around the house perhaps? Or was she going too far? Wait, didn't Aurash buy one yesterday?! Damn it, she had to step up her game!
A series of groans pulled her out of her thoughts, making her expression turn chilly as she turned around and stared at the three assassins that were just now finally waking up.
"I hope you had a pleasant nap." She made her presence known, her voice chilling as she stepped away from the table, making them all snap to attention and try to break free from their restraint, but quickly gave up with a defiant glare. "But don't worry, you'll be sleeping for eternity soon enough." The assassin on the left scoffed, but she merely ignored him and focused on their temporary leader, the assassin in the middle.
"So what, you expect us to talk now and tell you anything? We're dead anyway, so why should we babble?" She snorted, a cold smile over her lips as she slowly put on her gloves and opened the sealed cloth on the table, revealing her many torture tools.
"Because I can make it quick, and painless." They gulped, and she smiled, enjoying the fear in their eyes. They should be glad that she is even giving them a chance to talk and didn't start torturing them on the spot when she caught them. "I don't need much, just the name of your contractors, then you'll be free to join your God. Oh, I already took away the poison pills you idiots hide inside your mouths, so that won't work." Their faces paled even more as they shared glances, but they soon calmed down and put on a resolute and determined look on their face.
"Do your worst. We may have failed, but more of us will take up this mission." The lead assassin grinned, a grin that could make children cry with how sinister it looked. "You should know how we work, right? The more times we fail a mission, the more the pay is doubled! Three of us failed at the same time now, so the pay is six times greater than before! There will soon be mercenaries and assassins from all over Skyrim in Whiterun, too bad we won't be among those that will enjoy having fun with that sexy bi-" A blast of wind shook the whole underground room as blood and teeth flew through the hair, some splattering all over the assassin on the left as the leader released wet pained coughs from having half of his face almost caved in from a punch.
Blood poured out of his mouth, his right eyeball having been completely destroyed by the blow, and a nasty dark purple bruise was now covering half of his face, making his companions hiss and cringe away in fear.
"You know, I was going to use those tools on the table on you lot, but I've changed my mind. I'll use something much worse." Dinara hummed, walking to the table and pulling out a small bottle from her Spatial Storage, then smeared the liquid inside the bottle on three small knives under the nervous watch of the assassin as a pungent stench filled the room. "Let me enlighten you. This is the most lethal poison in all of Tamriel, it comes from the tail of a Chimera, which is a serpent. What does it do? It makes it so that anything you do causes you horrifying pain, then makes said pain several times worse." She explained with a smile on her face, then walked over to the struggling assassins and stabbed each of them on their shoulder with the knives.
And the effects were instantaneous. They started screaming, then the more they screamed, the more it hurt, making their screams sound more and more hoarse before they faded into pained and whimpering grunts. Their leader was faring much worse as bloody foam was pouring out of his destroyed mouth, his body spasming and twitching from the pain.
"Now then, back on the topic of who your contractors are…" Dinara clapped her hands after a full minute, and smiled when the assassin on the left raised his head shakily, that simple movement bringing him immense pain as his bloodshot eyes met Dinara's heterochromatic ones.
"C-college of Winterhold…" The man hacked out, making Dinara's eyes gleam as she smiled. That was one of the contractors she expected, the others being of course the Thalmors. "T-the guy on the right… h-his are the T-Thalmors…" And there they are, the most idiotic people in all of Tamriel. Well, right after the Khajiit of course. Those idiots really believed the bullshit the Thalmors spouted about how they stopped the Void Nights and bought back the moons.
"And what about his?" She asked, kicking the still twitching man on the ground and making him release a wet pained cough. "Come on, you are so close to eternal rest, don't give up on me now." She kicked him again, this time harder, mostly to vent her still present anger. But to her surprise, the man laughed through the pain.
"You're such an idiot…" He hacked out, receiving a much stronger kick to his chest as a reward, the chair holding him exploding into splinters as he flew across the room and smashed against the brick walls.
"Mind sharing what's so funny and enlighten me then?" Dinara mused, turning around and taking a seat on the table as she grabbed a jagged rusty knife from her torture tools. This one had many little tiny spiky barbs all over it, making for a very messy and painful cutting tool.
"Nadira." The man spat out with a chocked cough, making her freeze for a second before her narrowed gaze landed on him. "It's an honor to be in your presence… Nadira Mede." The man gave a bloodied grin that was made even worse by his many broken and missing teeth as he gave Dinara a crazed look.
"I threw away that name many years ago, and very few people know that the daughter of the Emperor is still alive. My 'Father', the leader of the Blades, some of the Thalmors, Jarl Balgruuf and… Jarl Elisif." Her eyes soon widened, a murderous fury rising within her as she realized why Elisif would want Flora dead. Flora is trying to stop the war so that the people of Skyrim could focus on protecting and fortifying their cities from the dragon invasion. But Elisif was obsessed with trying to avenge the death of her husband Torygg, and so of course she doesn't want the war to stop.
"I have all I need, so I will soon end your sufferings." Dinara jumped off the table, but stopped when the leading assassin started laughing again, lifting himself up on his knees.
"You won't be able to stop her assassination… there are many of us, all hidden away in our secre-"
"Roughly two-hundred meters south-east of Falkreath, that's where your secret base is hidden." Dinara cut him off as she removed her gloves, a large smile on her scarred face as the assassins paled. "Your leader, Astrid, tried to assassinate me a couple of years ago. She started babbling after just five minutes of torture and quickly became a tool for me to use and spy on you guys. The majority of your contracts are from the Blades, but that's because we are too lazy to do them ourselves… guess my Sword Brothers and Sisters will have more work to do soon enough." And with that, Dinara pulled out her butcher-like blade and executed the now useless assassins, then walked out of the secret room and let her Sword Brothers walk in to clean it.
"Tighten the security around Flora's house, ask for some assistance from the werewolf community and the Companions, they'll gladly help." She ordered as she put on her baggy hoodie and scarf, then walked out of the empty small house they had bought in Whiterun as a base.
She paused and stared up at the darkening sky, wondering if she should tell Flora the truth about herself. That she was a princess and next in line to the throne, but her real father thought of her as dead after the Thalmors kidnapped her and tortured her for weeks before she managed to run away.
She ended up joining the Blades, bleached her hair, and slightly changed her name so to hide herself. Only some of those that she had met face to face before being kidnapped managed to recognize her, and now she'll have to remove one of them.
"I'm overthinking, of course she'll accept me…" She smiled and relaxed, but didn't walk back home just yet. She had to first eliminate the Dark Brotherhood, then tomorrow she'll pay Elisif a visit to iron out some things.
[The Next Day, Flora]
I was very worried and barely got any sleep after Dinara stopped by to tell me she'll have to be out the whole night to tie up a loose end. I know she is incredibly strong and has my Enchanted armor with her, but I can't help and be worried and hope she'll be back soon.
Thankfully I had both Aurash and Serana help distract me, with me and Serana teaching each other about magic and some of our tricks. I taught her how to make her Enchantments much better and stronger, while she not only gave me an ancient book about magic of her Era, but also taught me a lot of spells that were both incredibly powerful and also very useful.
Like elemental clones for Destruction Magic, or just blasts of hot air instead of fire, and so much more. Things that I didn't even think about.
She also managed to easily win Aurash over by giving her a book of different way to forge metals, ways that Aurash didn't know about. Guess a lot more things were lost to history than I thought.
The bad thing is that Serana revealed to us that now she was incredibly weakened because of her many years of starvation, something she mentioned before, so she was very vulnerable and needed to drink a lot of blood on a daily basis until she recovered. I offered to give her mine since Restoration Magic can restore it easily, but Serana instantly refused by saying that my blood tasted like the finest and most delicious wine in existence to her, and that it was far too addictive to just drink constantly.
This information actually made me not want to go to the Soul Cairn anymore. Why? Because if even my blood is so special and precious to vampires, then what about my Soul? It might have changed once it was placed inside this body, or it's still the plain Soul of a plain human girl, but I'd rather not risk having the Ideal Master attention on me. Hell, even my scent is actually quite special since many of the werewolves praised it, saying something about smelling like a field of thousands of flowers or something.
But I wasn't going to go back on my promise to Serana, and I'll still help her get her mother back one way or the other.
"Oh right, you have an alchemist friend right… Ariana was it?" I perked up and turned away from the book Serana gave me to stare at her while she was reading her own book, this one being very large and holding the history of the Third Era. "I have a few herbs and plants in my Spatial Storage, and since I am no Alchemist I think I could give them to her." I blinked at that, before I slapped my own forehead. I forgot about the Ice Giants bodies I have in my Inventory! And some of the Ice like herbs and other stuff I gathered in the Forgotten Vale. And also inside the underground cave where a branch of the Eldergleam Tree resides.
"Do you mind if we go to her right now? I also have some stuff I want to give her but I forgot." Serana gave me a thankful look as she instantly shut the book and threw it aside, making me laugh and realize that she was using that as an excuse to hopefully get out of the house and stop reading. Not that she really needs permission to go outside.
I quickly got ready and left the house with Serana after giving Aurash a quick kiss, but she was too focused on devouring all the information on the book Serana gave her to even notice. I guess the saying changed from 'Bros before Hoes' to 'Swords before Hoes'. Well, I'm not afraid, after all I am the sheath to her sword, if you get what I mean!
I smiled when I saw Danica being hit on by a guy near the temple of Kynareth, the poor woman now being quite famous after she regained her youth and grew more beautiful thanks to the Eldergleam sap. Too bad for those fools that she is under an oath of chastity, like all Priestesses of course.
I waved at her as we walked towards the guild, then watched as a passerby werewolf scared the very forward and pushy guy away with a menacing growl. Funny how werewolves have now become the most well known guards around Whiterun once I healed them. They needed a job since they transferred over, and Whiterun was expanding so it needed a lot more guards inside the cities, and Jarl Balgruuf made the quick and smartest decision to just hire them.
Pretty sure crime rates have gone down a lot since the werewolves started patrolling the streets. I mean, who wants to get mauled by a giant bipedal wolf for just a few coins?
"Flora!" I perked up once I entered the guild, then almost got tackled by the sexy redhead known as Aela, but luckily I managed to not fall down. "Heard you got back yesterday! Glad to see you are alright!" She checked me up and down, giving a sexy purr when she saw my revealing clothing, simple tight shorts and tank top that showed arms and cleavage, but still very light clothing that didn't bother me a lot. "Let me know when we can do our thing, am not a very patient woman!" She purred again, nodded her head towards Serana, then walked away while laughing after spanking me.
I didn't need to wait to learn what the hell was going on with Aela as Farkas and Vilkas soon charged past me to take her away, shouting something about being drunk and having had enough mead. So that's a drunk Aela huh? That's terrifying. She's literally fighting off Vilkas and Farkas without breaking a sweat!
"Let's get away from here before things get worse…" I whisper to Serana as I watch Aela throw Farkas across the guild with a backhand while laughing and chugging down another bottle of mead. Serana hastily nods her head as a fight breaks out in the guild, and soon entire tables, chairs and even people are being thrown around the place. How does this shit happen when they aren't even having a party!?
"Oh hey Flora! First guild brawl?" Ariana asked without even looking away from her alchemy table, and I can't understand how she even knew it was me that came in! The whole guild shook, making me jump, but none of the alchemists even reacted to it so I just… accepted it.
"Yeah, this is the first time I saw that happen…" The loud screaming and battle cries could still be heard through the walls. "Anyway, I bought some materials for you! Some should be rare, others might not be!" And that made her stop whatever she was doing to pay me and Serana her full attention. Why am I surrounded by women that pay more attention to their job than to people?
I showed her the Frost Giants bodies, which were actually thought to be extinct apparently. Then I had also found a lot of Ice Herbs and flowers that were apparently very rare and needed specific conditions to actually sprout, like constant cold and whatnot, then more rare stuff that will allow Ariana to make Potions of Frost Resistance that are several times stronger. Anything that can help us against dragons is very welcome.
Luckily, a few of the herbs that Ariana needed to make stronger Mana Potions were also among the batch of things I grabbed in the underground cave, so soon enough I'll have Potions that restore even more Mana. And best of all is that now she can also make the Potions that fortify spells and allow me to regenerate Mana much faster, things that I really needed to make high level scrolls. And also for raising my Skill levels at a much faster rate, especially Enchanting and Alteration.
Once I have everything I need, I think I'll go around the cities and holds to not only connect to their Waystones but to also fortify their walls. I feel like the dragon invasion will start soon, and that's going to be bloody and disastrous.
The herbs Serana had were all very rare, and one was an herb that even Ariana didn't know about. Luckily she had me making massive batches of all the new herbs we bought so that she could experiment with it and see what it's effects were.
Serana promptly called me an abomination when she saw how I made the stock of herbs for the guild pretty much infinite.
"Ariana, I don't want to put pressure on you and the others, but I'll need the new Mana Potions ready as soon as you can, I feel like time is running out." I asked her softly, something that I hated. I always hated asking people for stuff, and I would rather work for it than gain it by asking others, but grinding the Alchemy skill to an adequate enough level would take far too long, and I don't even know if I have such skill.
"Flora, you can ask for anything. We wouldn't have this business if it wasn't for you." Ariana said softly, even giving me a headpat that didn't feel good at all, but it did help me relax a great deal. I mean, all the Potions they make are kinda already mine since I'm the one making and growing the main ingredients.
"Oh right, can you help me with something else?" I suddenly perked up as I got a stupid idea I want to try out to help Serana.
So now here I am, groaning and using a Restoration Spell to recover all my lost blood after having filled a large jar with it. Man do I feel lightheaded now! But at least my idea is kind of paying off.
It was a simple idea: Use the blood extraction tool the Alchemists use to extract blood from mosters, but instead use it on me to extract a lot of blood while I constantly heal myself, then dilute said blood to make it so that Serana can drink it without getting addicted.
"Hope you are enjoying yourself over there…" I gave a mock glare towards Serana, who simply winked towards me while holding a wine glass filled with my diluted blood. It still tasted like fine wine apparently, but it didn't have that incredibly powerful addictive flavor to it anymore.
"Hey, you are the one that did this, not me." She shrugged, making me groan and sit up as I felt like my whole body was tingling and incredibly cold, kind of like when you cut off the blood flow to one of your limbs or fingers.
I jumped when the door suddenly burst open, the loud bang making Serana almost drop her glass and send a murderous glare towards the guard that had just opened the door in a hurry.
"Lady Flora, I finally found you! Please, hurry to Dragonsreach!" The guard panted, hands on his knees as I felt my stomach drop. The day just fucking started, so what could have happened? Did the dragons start their invasion earlier than I expected?! Please, I hope not!
I had Serana stay there as I rushed out of the guild as fast as I could on my weak legs, then flew myself up to Dragonsreach and through the doors. Then ran up the stairs and found Ulfric standing in the hall with Jarl Balgruuf, Farengar and Irileth, with Ulfric looking furious and on the verge of exploding.
"What happened?" I asked, not beating around the bush as I stopped beside them, receiving a nervous gaze from both Farengar and Irileth while Balgruuf looked equally pissed off.
"The Imperials attacked Dawnstar early this morning, razing half of the city to the ground before we were able to push them back." Ulfric explained, making my fist clench and face pale at the horrifying news. "The command wasn't issued by Tullius, but by Elisif! She clearly took advantage and attacked the city while our guard was down after our fight against the Dragon Priest." Our request to put the war on hold should have reached Solitude by now since it was sent a few days ago, yet she ignored it and still attacked Dawnstar! Is that fucking bitch crazy!?
"I am sorry Lady Flora, but I cannot go through this peace treaty after so many innocent people were slaughtered in the assault." Ulfric apologized, bowing his head towards me and making me bite my lower lip in anger. These damn idiots can't understand that if they don't stop then Skyrim won't survive the coming assault!
God-fucking-damn-it!
"Flora, it's not your fault…" Irileth tried to console me, but my anger turned to fury. While I know I can't be everywhere during the coming invasion, I know I can make it easier for others to survive, but only if they can fucking listen and put this war aside for a bit!
"Elisif won't listen." A familiar voice spoke up, making me turn towards the stairs to see Dinara join us, a furious look in her eyes. "I just came back from dealing with the Dark Brotherhood and learned what happened to Dawnstar. She sent assassins after Flora because she knows that she can stop the war, a war that she is using to avenge Torygg. The Thalmors and the College of Winterhold sent assassins after her too, spread bounties for bounty hunters and mercenaries. I don't think I need to remind you that if Flora dies, then the Dragonborn won't lift a finger during the coming invasion." Everyone's face paled at the news, while Ulfric just grew more and more furious. As for me? I was just done.
"Ulfric." I spoke up with a calm voice that sent chills down everyone's spine. "Take all of Dawnstar survivors back to Windhelm, I will come to fortify and expand the city as soon as I can. If you could, then please receive Winterhold's people too. These two cities will very likely face an assault from water dragons so they are a lost cause, Windhelm instead can be fortified against it." I didn't wait for his answer as I turned towards Farengar, my eyes cold yet furious. I don't know how I wasn't shouting and screaming right now since my fury had reached a whole new level.
"Farengar, please release the news that one week from now I will erase the College of Winterhold from existence. We don't need cowards like them anyway, as I doubt they would even protect their city when the time comes." Farenga's eyes blew open at my words, but he didn't hesitate and nodded right after before walking away. I was giving them a chance to get ready and fortify themselves, or see if they would get cocky just because I am an Adept Class mage. But this is also to let the innocent students get away from the College before I throw my assault.
"I'm going to take care of Elisif now, so please excuse me." I nodded at them, then walked off with Dinara. I'm done playing nice now, I tried to put a stop nicely, but instead the bitch sends assassins after me!
I'll give her a choice, and if she doesn't take it, then I'll just kill her myself and put a stop to this bullshit. I can't let thousands die because she wants revenge.
"Are you sure about this?" Dinara asked me, and I grasped her hand tightly and gave her a sweet smile and kiss. She literally killed the entire Dark Brotherhood just for me, and that isn't really something romantic but I'll take it either way. She pretty much did something I wanted to do myself, now the Emperor is safe from assassination attempts and I can focus on other stuff.
"I'll be back soon." I assured her, quickly changing into my gear once I get back home and sharing a long hug with her since I missed her a lot while she was gone during the night.
"When you come back, I want to tell you everything about me." She said with a glowing and worried smile, but I simply kissed her again and handed her a small vial with Eldergleam sap inside of it. Much less than the one I gave to Danica, but still enough to heal her scars.
"Then I better come back soon! Tell Aurash what happened for me please!" I pointed at said woman, who was still immersed in her book and has fully forgotten about the outside world.
I didn't waste more time and exited the house after grabbing Fenrir, mostly because the more time I spent there the less I would want to leave.
I quickly reached the Waystone, took a deep breath and clenched my armored fist around my staff, then let the Waystone teleport me to Solitude in a flash of light that had me appear beside the Daedric Gate within the soldiers training ground.
Guards and soldiers went silent and still the moment I appeared, but I paid them no mind as I waked forward with the shrunken form of Fenrir beside me. Elisif will soon know that I am here, but she won't be able to run away so she can only wait and wallow in her fear while I slowly walk to the palace.
"Stop right there!" Several guards pulled out their swords and stood in my way, stopping me from leaving the training grounds, and I stopped myself from flinging them against the wall and simply let Fenrir grow to her full size and make the temperature skyrocket as she growled furiously towards them.
"I'll kill anyone that stands in my way." I warned, tapping my staff on the ground and making the ground and walls shake and crack. The guards gulped and slowly moved aside, keeping their swords away as I walked past them with Fenrir.
More guards appeared, but none of them had the guts to charge forward as I walked towards the large palace at the end of the long straight road. What was it's name again? Blue Palace?
The guards and soldiers that didn't stop me instead followed far behind me and Fenrir, still armed but too scared to charge forward even if they numbered in the dozens. I didn't really pay them too much attention as I ripped apart the gates that kept me from entering the courtyard of the palace.
Cracks started appearing all over the ground and palace as I slowly released my anger. The ground started to shake and the windows exploded one after the other as I crumbled the large doors apart, then entered the large hall and walked up the long circular staircase that led me to the throne room, and to Elisif herself.
"I'd apologize for coming in without permission, but I don't really care about manners right now." I hummed, ignoring the armed guards standing between me and the very terrified Elisif. My gaze then landed on another woman beside her, a Thalmor. "You lot really are filthy worms. You still manage to sneak your way into Skyrim." I clicked my tongue and shook my head as the yellow skinned woman scowled at me, but I just ignored her and flicked my wrist, sending the many guards standing between us flying through the already broken windows, thus removing my last obstacle and making me walk forward even more.
"You really have some nerve to call to u- glrk!" The Thalmor started speaking, but I simply chocked her with Psychokinesis and slammed her against the wall hard enough to crack it even more.
"I do not remember giving you permission to talk." I tightened my hold over her throat, then broke her hands when she tried to cast spells, causing her to release a choked scream of pain. I wonder, is this bitch Elenwen? "I'll come pay you filthy Thalmors a visit too in the future, so don't tempt, else I'll come sink your whole island much sooner." Hopefully the dragons would do that themselves as I don't want to dirty myself with dealing with these filthy bastards, but then again, I want to help Aurash gain her revenge for what they did to her brother.
"Who do you think you are?!" The annoying bitch choked out, making me roll my eyes from how persistent she was at trying to talk down on me. "We are the most ancient race in all of Tamriel, we are the-"
"Sorry, but I am a Nymph." I cut off her idiotic back talk with a yawn, making her eyes go wide as I revealed my race. "Nymphs and dragons are the most ancient races, you all are newborn compared to us." I rose my hand and created a Comet, then hurled it at her, sending the idiotic woman flying through a melted hole in the wall before the Comet exploded far in the distance. I should have done that sooner actually, it's very satisfying.
"Now that the distraction is gone, let's talk." I turned my full attention towards Elisif, then walked forward and stood right in front of her throne as her entire palace started crumbling away.
I leaned forward and placed my hands on the armrests of her throne, then smiled at her as she tried to inch away from me.
"Can we put this war on hold? Or do I have to turn Elisif the Fair into Elisif the Cripple?"
A.N.: Sorry for the wait on the chapter but life has been killing me and I've been really stressed recently, luckily I was able to get out another chapter and am getting back into my usual writing speed. Thank you all for your patience on this chapter, I appreciate it!
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