STARDUST

The Harbinger

The room was in pandemonium. The last I remember of our encounter with the Night Mother were the most painful memories of my life. The thieves were being killed one by one. Eve, always the central focus of the Night Mother, was thrown into the lake behind us. I used Grimsever to try and go after the Night Mother, but she kept throwing sparks at me. Therefore, my hold on my most prized weapon was shaky.

I went down screaming, the power was frighteningly painful. Fire was racing down my nerves with each lash. I could not control my trembling and when I could, did I see one of the worst things imaginable. The Night Mother fights off Vilkas, the bravest warrior I knew, until he was panting on the ground. Brynjolf was searching for Eve. So, the only person left to fight her was my best friend.

He gave a valiant effort. So much so, that I feel terrible for underestimating him before. He wielded magic as good as she, although he was using fire and ice while she used sparks. It was no use. He went down after a few minutes of this fighting.

I screamed with the movement. She must have broken my legs. Nonetheless, I rose to my knees, and pulled out my bow and arrow. I readied it, drew the string, and breathed. This was my only chance, once she was hit, I knew she was going to send all she has at me. But I had to distract her from Aerin.

The arrow flew home, right to her neck. It pierced and she let out a satisfying scream. I kept watching Aerin before she dislodged it from her neck. "Not smart, dog." She snapped it, her hair was covering most of her face but her bright eyes were still frightening.

"Just for that, we take your mutt friend." She nods to the jester who brings chains for a disoriented Aerin.

"No!" I yell. I crawl. I can't use my legs below the knees, but crawling was good enough. In a moment I will have the strength to change. The strength to send thoughts to my companions.

After that, all was a blur. I remember trying to change over, calling to the moon with such ferocity that I'm surprised Hircine didn't show up to help me. When I was a wolf, a strong but injured White Wolf, did she strike.

Electricity lashed at me. It was so strong and so debilitating I fell unconscious in a moment. When I opened my eyes again, I knew what I had lost.

I was back in my mortal body. Vilkas is hovering over me. Most of the thieves were either dead on the ground or running around to find the others.

"Aerin." I gasp out.

"We can't find him, we are looking." Vilkas whispers at me to calm me. I am absolutely shaking with rage. The Night Mother was there! We could have taken her down! I fume as I think back on my powers. I could have called in backup. I could have turned spectral. Anything that would have helped.

Mjoll…. Aerin gasps.

Aerin! Where are you?!

Mjoll. What happened? Aela asks.

Aerin? What did he get into this time? Farkas chimes in.

Vilkas strokes my cheek. "Can you hear him?"

"I can if they stay quiet." I whisper, Vilkas chuckles. I remember back to what Kodlak said to me. I just had to shut everyone off and listen. "Aerin?" I whisper.

Nothing comes through the bond but pain. So fierce and violent I stiffen up just to bear it. "What is it?" Vilkas sounds worried.

"He's in great pain." I whisper. Then I finally open my eyes and focus on Vilkas the best I can. "Where is she?"

"Eve? We're looking for her right now. Brynjolf is going insane, so is the other man, Delvin was it?"

"No Vilkas." I grab one of his hands before he can stroke my face again. I don't need to be comforted. I need to be searching for my friend. "The Night Mother, where is she?" I say more firmly.

"We are looking for her too." He says.

This is not good enough for me. I sit and rise on still injured legs. The change seems to have mended them the best it could. I nearly fall but Vilkas is there to catch me. "Not now." He says. "You need rest."

I begin to protest. I protest the whole way to one of the small rooms in the Cistern. Vilkas remains firm on his stance. It is something isn't it? I am finally in the belly of the Thieves Guild, the place I was meaning to root out from this great city. And here I am focused on more important things. That woman who was so concerned with petty criminals is now hyper focused on what she lost.

"My friend." I whisper.

"He will be safe, we will get him, Mjoll. I promise you. You are going to rest." He lays me down in the bed, tangles me up in so many blankets it hurts to breathe. "I'm going to get some potions. You stay here." He gives me a look, "And you might want to get in touch with Farkas and Aela. They must be frightened."

I want to bite him out for that remark. What about Aein? Isn't he just as terrified? Isn't he just as worthy as the other companions?

I know Vilkas doesn't mean that, and I know I'm not in the right mind to be thinking such things myself. But I can't help it, the fear and desperation are clawing at me just as much as it is them. The only thing that takes me into a peaceful sleep is not one I anticipated. But I'm glad for it, in my dream the stars are alight and dancing just for me.

"Mjoll." His voice is louder here, stronger. It could be because he's so much larger. I sit, cross-legged on the rock I found him on the time before. He towers over me behind the receding mountain range in the star covered sky. There is not a cloud to blot them out.

"Hircine." I nod to him.

"Things did not go well." He says. I bite my tongue to keep from shooting out any quick remarks.

"They did not." I finally settle on, "Where is she? Where is my friend?"

"Ah, Aerin. The man that I saved for you. He's safe for the time being. She is taking him to her Castle." The large Prince crosses his arms. "For what? I don't know. But I do know that you want him back." His face is covered in a mask, but I can still feel him smiling down at me.

"I do." I stand. "I not only want him back. I want Eve safe as well. And then I want her gone."

He doesn't get the two confused, he knows who I'm talking about. "So does everyone else." He sighs. "My siblings are having a rough time. That was not part of the plan for her to ambush us."

"Did you help at all?" I should not have said that, but I needed to know.

"We couldn't, we can't interfere with mortal squabbles." He says in a hollow voice.

"You are kidding me!" I yell up to the starry ceiling, "You've helped us with everything before!"

"Yes, but that was when we needed our Artifacts. We claimed champions and our champions are then sent out to do our biddings on the mortal plane. We could not interfere even though we wished to." He seems to sense I am not quite through with my outburst. He hastily adds this, "Your friend has his Artifacts though, we are scouring to find them and will speak with them soon."

My head snaps up at this. "He has the Artifacts? What about Eve?"

"She has one of them. She will need the others. And we cannot take them to her ourselves, we need someone to deliver them."

"I'll do it." I say immediately.

"And get taken into the Castle?" He laughs.

I consider. "No. If I can contact Aerin, I can have a drop off somewhere for him to get the Artifacts."

"That's assuming they let him out, much less keep him alive." He laughs.

I glare at him. "If she harms a hair on his head…"

"I know. You'll do what everyone else wants to." He wants to speak more, continue the somewhat superficial conversation on violence, when he pauses. "It is time for you to wake up. I'm going to try and find them at the Castle. My siblings will consult you, but first." He reaches over to the neighboring stars, the glimmering orbs are then taken in his hands and crushed. I watch in amazement. Aerin once told me that stars are distant suns, so far away that they seemed miniscule in comparison. What Hircine just did is nothing short of impossible.

"It is not the star I crushed, but the light from it. Stardust, if you would." He waves a hand over me and I am soon surrounded by the glimmering specks of light.

"What is this?" I ask when I'm enveloped. There is so much light I can barely see the Prince anymore.

"A new power. I need to grant you more abilities, so you succeed. You already have many abilities. Imperviousness to the cold, the ability to call your Ice brethren, detecting life, and turning spectral. Don't forget your telepathy." He laughs but the amusement is lost in the light. I marvel as the specks begin to meld with my skin. "Now, you have the ability to control minds around you."

Even though I am surrounded by the most beautiful of sights my body goes rigid. "What do you mean?"

"Anyone who is gullible enough, in your vicinity will be susceptible to your will. This includes humans and their animal counterparts." He chuckles.

I really shouldn't be surprised. It's a gift from a Daedric Prince, of course it would end up being nefarious to others. I almost ask for another gift, anything that won't make me queasy while using it. But it's never wise to look a gift horse in the mouth. "This will be useful. When I awake, I will set out for the Castle at once." I settle for.

He laughs again, "Just as I anticipated."

When I wake, I tell everyone of my dream. Those who would be skeptical are too shaken by the fight we had to question it. Vilkas and Brynjolf are more than happy to hear of the new development. They agree with me, we need to leave for Solitude as soon as possible. When the conversation dwindles, I tell Aela and Farkas of our plights.

The Night Mother was there? Aela gasps.

Yes, she fought all of us, took Aerin and Eve to the Castle. She wanted her and wasn't taking no for an answer. We need to get the Artifacts to them as soon as possible.

Any way we can help? Farkas asks.

I thought about bringing the both of you in, she knows what Vilkas and I look like, but I don't want to add targets to her list. Now that I have this new skill, I should be able to get the Artifacts to Eve and Aerin without any problems.

We can still fight with you. Farkas retorts. I sigh, the man would take any chance at a fight even if it meant his own death.

No, the two of you stay there. You need to be ready.

For what? Are you even sure she is going to take Whiterun Hold? Aela questions. I pause, she is correct in saying that the Night Mother is distracted for the moment. But. Stay. She might be dealing with Eve and Aerin as we speak but the Dark Brotherhood can operate without her watching over them.

They agree, thankfully, so I shut off the connection and watch Brynjolf pace the room. I was asleep for nearly twenty-four hours healing and spent maybe an hour with Hircine but the Ragged Flaggon had been busy.

The dead were taken to a separate room, there was no time for a burial at the moment. So, they will have one once the others were safe. It looks like the major players survived, Vex, Delvin, Brynjolf, a Redguard named Tonilia, a face-changer Galathil, and few others were still alive. And enraged.

Bryjolf punches a wall when Vilkas tells him how long it will take to get to Solitude. "Not enough time." He groans.

Gabriel enters the room. He's sweating and shaking from all the recent events. "I'll drive, we can make a clear cut below Whiterun then straight north from there. The roads would be clearer."

Brynjolf walks over and claps Gabriel by the shoulders. "That would be good, lad. Thank you." He then pulls him into a great bear hug.

I raise a brow at Vilkas. He gives me a somber look. The man fell back into the drinking the past few hours. Brynjolf was angered at this, he thought Gabriel would be no more than dead weight. It took Vorstag talking to him to bring him back.

I nod at this. I thought he was sent to Markarth.

Vilkas gives me a sly smile, He had a day and a half to get back here once he got word. He is very quick.

And I've taken a long time to heal. I avert my eyes from Vilkas's amused ones. I know he didn't mean it that way, but out time is precious. Vorstag then enters the room. "We have everything ready." His eyes are bright and alight with the thrill of the hunt. I could feel it myself.

"Then let's not waste any more time." I say.

Miraculously, a few days later, we were on the western shore of Skyrim. I was just as impressed by Gabriel's driving and directions as I was for our undetected entrance into Haafingar Hold. We were not ambushed, and I don't believe we were being watched. But one can never be too careful.

I had Vilkas change into a wolf to prowl ahead, with his darker fur, he would be more camouflaged by the woods. I took the lead with Brynjolf following me. Vex was behind him and further back Vorstag was keeping Gabriel up to pace. Delvin stayed back with the others to protect Riften. I'm grateful for that. Even though everyone I care for the most is in this Hold, there were still good people back in the city. And if the Night Mother could make it in there undetected, as we were now, then I have no doubt the Dark Brotherhood can infiltrate it again easily.

Now, we were under the cover of the roots of a tall tree. It had just enough room for three of us, the rest needed to stay near any of the vast foliage. The Castle was larger than any of us thought. The only person to see it before now was Vorstag and his description didn't do any of it justice.

It was beautiful. Very expensive brick was overlaying the island while the rest created a maze of taller and taller towers. I also noted how they were placed. The man who built this was no fool, it was a castle as much as it was a fortress.

Aerin, we are here. I say to him.

His words are very faint. The last two days they've been quieter, and it only made me push us further. She was doing something to him. Mjoll…

What is happening? I ask again. I used to get no answer, just the deafening silence. Until now.

So cold…so many chains…I'm so weak, Mjoll. I can't even lift my head.

I clench my teeth and flinch when my nails dig into my palms. That pain is nothing compared to what my friend is dealing with. For hours now we've been staring at the top of the towers and the ground right next to the fortress. I counted five Brotherhood initiates.

"We go now." I say.

"No. We need to wait." Vilkas grabs my shoulder. "We don't know how many are in there or if she is even there."

They've been toying with ideas. If the Night Mother is there, it would be best to try and find our friends covertly, and if we can't to drop the Artifacts off to them as closely as we can. If she isn't there, we just break them out.

"I doubt she would show herself so soon." I say again, inching out of from my lover's grasp.

"Mjoll. Trust me, I am in as much pain as you are." Brynjolf whispers from his perch on a higher root. "But if we go in there while the Night Mother is there, we may as well kiss our lives goodbye."

I bristle at their words, but I stay quiet. For minutes we watch the Brotherhood members mill about, until I get an idea. That power Hircine told me about. Let's put it to the test. I try to do what Kodlak said, to open my mind. It's like a channel, a link to the other members in my pack. But instead of opening it to them. I try to…reach out over the water separating us.

Turn. I speak.

One of the Brotherhood members. The male closest to us, immediately turns around. I relax my jaw. That took more than I thought it would but maybe I am too far away, just…

Who are you!? I hear an unfamiliar voice in my head.

My heart goes into overdrive as I grasp for another thought. Dive. I think.

No more than a second later does the man go freefalling into the ocean. Other members run to see where he landed but he is now swimming with the fishes. The companions in my groups whisper exclamations. I just smile.

It worked. All we have to do is pick off as many as possible before making the crossing. I reach out to the others and on no will of their own they are stabbing one another or falling from great heights into the sea below.

"What's happening?" Brynjolf whispers to us.

"They are dropping like flies!" Vorstag nearly yells, astonished. He's leaning over in the dirt to get a better look. His readied sword is piercing the ground.

"It's Mjoll." Vilkas says in a calm voice behind me.

I almost laugh out loud as another member falls to the ground, head split open on the pavement. This is what they deserve for taking my friends. For torturing them. Another member comes running out of the Castle and I latch onto them too. Instead of making her run off into the great ocean I command her to run into the wall as fast as she can. Over and over again. She screams as I direct her to stand, just once more, to run straight into the wall and fall down a bloodied mess.

"Mjoll!" A sharp voice pierces my dark thoughts.

I gasp when I snap out of it. Vilkas is in front of me, he's got my arms pinned to my sides and from the feel of it, he's been shaking me for a while.

"I'm sorry." I gasp.

"Mjoll. What did Hircine do to you?" He bites out each word.

I forgot… I thought I told them. "I can control the actions of others now." I spit the words out. Not to berate Vilkas, but to get them out of me. Those poor people…

"Mjoll. Just calm down." He whispers.

"Vilkas, we can do this. I don't know what I was thinking. I should have stopped but they deserve it, do they not?"

He shakes me, gently. "Mjoll. Look at them." I peer over his shoulder to the two Brotherhood members sitting in pools of their own blood. One with his skull split open and the other with the whole front of her body in tatters.

"What of them?" I ask. I am at war with myself now. They do deserve whatever they have coming but this power is something else…

"Come with me. Watch the perimeter." Vilkas commands the others. Brynjolf nods and the others go back to the ready.

I want to pull away as Vilkas drags me across the way and deeper into the woods. "Vilkas. I was told to use this power."

He spins me. "I don't want you to think yourself as good as a Prince. I don't want you to get into greater danger than you can manage." He's not saying it in a startling voice, just calm and collected.

"I'm not. Aerin and Eve are in there! They need our help!"

"They'll get it." He says evenly. "We have to do this smartly now. Now everyone in that Castle will be on alert because of what went on outside. It would have been easier if you made them walk off the shore instead of running their damn bodies into the wall!"

I recoil. "I'm sorry." I say again, the horror of what I did is trickling in. Almost as bad as the cannibal I ate. "I'm sorry. I just can't let them hurt Aerin."

His beautiful face softens. "I know. I know you want him safe, but we need to do this in a clever manner." He rubs my arms in a slow and caressing way.

I don't know what else to say, and neither does Vilkas. We stand there for a few moments before he asks me the most terrible of questions. "If it were me, would you be so desperate?"

My eyes snap up at that. "What do you mean?"

"If I were taken by the Night Mother." He says in a soft voice. I can tell this is something he would never ask in front of the others.

"Of course, Vilkas! I would for anyone!" I say.

His face hardens a bit. "I know. And I love you for that. I just wonder sometimes. It's as if you're more concerned for your friend in there." He nods in the way of the Castle.

I go rigid. "Vilkas, do not be a fool. Aerin is not as strong or as clever and wise as you in matters of fighting. Of course, I would be more concerned for him. You saw him that day." I nearly choke on the memories of my friend dead, under one of the Silver-Hands trying to taunt me.

I'm pulled into a hug by Vilkas. I hold onto his strong body for comfort. This keeps the memories from swallowing me whole. "I'm sorry." I say again. "I hope I'm not making you feel like you come second. You don't. You never did. Aerin is my best friend, but you are the one I was destined to be with. I love you, Vilkas." I let the words spill out, words I've been mulling over. The thoughts I never knew how to say and here they are.

He hugs me tighter before letting me go to grab my face. "I love you, Mjoll." I don't have a second to wait before his lips find mine. A searing kiss is always what he gives, but this is more. It's as if all the frustration, all the anger, and all the fear boiling out of him into this moment.

I'm lost. I return his kiss with just as much ferocity. It's as if I've never done this before and finally have the courage. Like I finally found the person I'm meant to be with. We move back until I hit the root of a tree, Vilkas keeps a good hold on me but we are melding together.

I clutch him as if holding on for life. His lips speak a language I forgot, so soft and firm. A very powerful language. I want to pull his armor off. Pull mine off too and show him how much I truly feel for him in the only way we can without words…

MJOLL! Aerin yells.

I let go of my lover. He pulls away immediately at the cold reception. "What is it?" He pants.

"Aerin." I say. I race to the edge of the forest to see the Castle beyond. Nothing is going on outside, but the looks are deceiving.

Mjoll! He yells again. He sounds in worse pain. Tears burn my eyes. Who am I to sit out here in the comfort of my lover's arms while my friend is facing something horrible in there? It should be me.

"Stay here." I tell Vilkas. I can't take it anymore. I need to get in there.

"Mjoll. No. I don't care what he's saying, for all we know it could be a trap to lure you in." Vilkas gets an iron grip on my wrist. Tears spill over and onto my cheeks when I look at it. There's no way he'll let me go in without a fight, but there is something I can do now to change that. No matter how much I hate myself.

I reach out to him. Our minds always seemed to find each other when we needed each other the most. And now it takes no effort to connect with him. He squeezes my wrist in a comforting way. Gives me a small little smile trying to say everything will be alright.

Go to sleep. I say.

It pains me so much to see that command fall over him. His eyes become vacant, all that warmth and kindness is replaced by a cold and apathetic person. He says nothing when he drops my wrist and curls up on the leaf covered ground to sleep.

I take one last look at him until the tears subside. They won't blind me anymore. "I'm sorry." I say again, not even sure if he hears me. "I'll come back soon." Then I race down the mountainside to swim the whole way to the Castle.

The water is frozen and jarring but I can withstand it. If I can just get in there and save Aerin before anything worse happens. Even if I don't make it out right away, if I can just assure his safety, I will be at peace.

Cicero's Journal Entry

2nd of Last Seed, 4E 202

There were strange sounds outside. Strange screams. Cicero went to investigate and from the window he saw members with their heads caved in! What could be the meaning of this? Cicero knows they are a foolish bunch, but they could not be that foolish, could they?

They must be surrounding us. We might be ambushed. Cicero told Mother and she is not pleased. Now, we wait. Cicero is by the door…ohhh dear Sithis, please let someone come in. Please let there be a foolish nobody to breach the Castle walls! There hasn't been a good kill in days.