Jul
Lucius
I continued my stare down with the Daedric Prince of Knowledge, his endless swarm of eyes locking with mine. My hand tightened around Serana's as she stood just as unafraid at my side. It seemed odd that even now, after almost a half dozen years apart, the two of us could stand eye to eye with what was essentially a demon god. Never mind that. It was more odd that I was surprised. "How long have you been watching?" I asked Mora, a scowl deepening on my face.
I could basically hear the smirk in his words when he responded, voice still annoyingly slow and with the tone of a whale. "Please, Dragonborn. You of all mortals should know, I... am always watching."
"Oh, good. That's what I'll be thinking about next time I fall asleep," Serana muttered dryly. "Tentacles and eyeballs everywhere."
"How delightfully pithy, Vampire," the Ancient God groaned mockingly, his words like flowing jelly. "But your attempts to defeat your nature do not interest me. I have come to make a deal with the Dragonborn."
I shook my head. "I'm not interested. You see, Hermaeus, you have nothing I could want."
"Please. You are not stupid enough to believe that, Archmage..." The god's physical form disappeared, then appeared once more behind us. The tentacles reached out, brushing against our armor and causing both Serana and me to jump forward and away from Mora. We spun around to glare at the Daedric Prince. "Heh... Heh... Heh. Lucius, we both know I have knowledge you need."
I shut my eyes. "And what knowledge would that be?" I asked, playing dumb. It was clear that Miraak had given himself over to Hermaeus Mora millennia ago to act as the Daedric Prince's agent in exchange for forbidden knowledge. Miraak had wanted to seize power from the Dragons, and in doing so had spat upon the Divines who had given him his power and Destiny. He was much like Thera in that respect, trading favors with demon gods in exchange for power.
"The Words, Dragonborn."
I didn't respond. Serana, actually, was the one to respond, knowing as she did how all too often I had been forced to be the one to speak with the enemy of my enemies. "The Words of Control. I'm willing to bet you taught them to Miraak in the first place!"
"Who and how Miraak learned those Words is neither here... nor there," Mora responded simply. He laughed slowly. "No, what matters is that I can teach them to the Dragonborn."
"And why come to me? I thought that she was more in line with what you would want," I growled. I gestured at nothing with my free hand as I referred to my mirror image.
"What knowledge could I possibly gain by only telling one of you?" Hermaeus Mora inquired, somehow sincere when he did. Th eyes within the formless void shut in disappointment with me, then opened full of mirth. "No, Little Mortal, I seek a much greater prize."
"But you are giving them to her." I looked over at Serana as she said, "You're going to give the Thalmor the Words, if you haven't already."
"Indeed."
"You're not even going to lie," Serana noted angrily.
The void gave an audible 'shrug.' "You know me well enough, do you not, to know I would do so? Why bother lying, then?"
"What do you want?"
Serana looked over at me. "Luc..." she cautioned quietly.
I glared at Mora. "What. Do you want?" I repeated, remaining resolute more against my own fear than in the face of Serana's warnings. This was... a bad idea. But a bad idea was usually better than no idea, in my experience. I let go of Serana's hand and pointed at the writhing mass. "Answer the damn question, Daedra."
"The price may be too high," Serana whispered.
"It probably will be." I shut my eyes and let my hands drop to my sides. I waited silently for the Prince's response.
"Such resolve for a mortal..." Mora groaned. There was a momentary pause, then: "You know the Shaman of the Skaal."
"Why?"
"Because..." Mora's voice dropped an octave and the light within the tomb seemed to disappear for a moment. The pace of his speech picked up and became like thunder. "He hides his secrets from me!"
Serana laughed dryly, causing the eyes within the void to grow enraged and turn on her. "Wait... The god of forbidden knowledge doesn't know something?" she asked, relishing in the opportunity to mock the Daedra. "What would your supplicants think?"
"Do not mock me, Vampire. I have seen an abyss that would cause your small mind to writhe in agony, to implode under the weight of nothingness."
"But you haven't seen the secrets of the Skaal." The eyes turned on me and I could see the Prince considering trying to kill me. I smirked at the Daedric Prince.
After a few moments, the void began to laugh ponderously. The light returned to the room and the voice returned to normal. "Bravery only seen in the hands of a mortal," he said quietly. "I wonder if your bravery is capable of defeating her cruelty?"
I frowned at that; it wasn't a question I wanted to ponder. "You know that it is not my decision as to whether you receive the secrets of the Skaal."
"Semantics..." the Daedra noted, uninterested in the validity of my argument. "You know that almost any mortal would do as you request, especially with Miraak's influence cleansed from their stones. You are their... heh... their hero."
"And you their ultimate evil." I threw my hand across my chest. "I tire of trading one apocalypse for another."
Mora shrank for a moment, thinking this through. Finally: "My purpose is not destruction, Mortal. I cannot amass knowledge if your Plane does not exist, and what would the god of knowledge be without his Sphere of Influence?"
The void disappeared, leaving behind only words running through our minds. "You will bring me their knowledge or the other one will. You will both receive the knowledge you seek, but my favor will only belong to one of you."
Then Hermaeus Mora was gone. "Well, that was a mood killer." Serana noted dryly. She looked over at me and placed her hand on my cheek, pulling my gaze over to meet hers. She was frowning sympathetically as she asked, "So, what are we going to do?"
I stared into her glowing eyes. I had to get the Words, not just to defeat Miraak, but to defeat Thera. I had to stop them and the only way to get the Words I needed to do it was to give that over... Or did I need to? I smiled at her. "There has to be another way to learn the Words," I said. I shook my head. "Miraak doesn't create any knowledge, he never has. He always records it from someone else."
Serana grinned. "Otherwise he wouldn't need you to give him the Skaal's secrets. Clever boy."
I shook my head in amusement. "And that means the knowledge exists, probably on this island. And I can find it."
Serana smiled for a moment, then sighed and shook her head. "Just to play Molag's advocate... how?"
I grimaced. "Um... I'll figure that out, too."
Serana thought about pressing the issue, but instead just sighed wearily. She softly kissed my cheek and then tapped her open palm against the place where her lips had been a moment earlier. "We can worry about that later, Luc," she said. Her hand drifted down to mine and wrapped around my fingers. "For now, we should head back."
"Wait," I said, yanking at her hand and pulling her into a hug. I placed my lips on the top of her head and took a deep breath, losing myself in the countless memories that flooded to my mind. Our first night together in Honeyside manor, another keeping watch while she slept, her face before she woke up and the sunlight was glancing off of her skin, and finally our last the night before the battle with Lamae. The memories slowly drifted away, leaving me in the now with the woman I loved. "I don't remember or care if I said this before, Serana, but I missed you. Like the waves miss the sea, or a Nord his homeland. It actually burned on the inside."
I could feel a wet spot growing on my chest, but I didn't bring it up. "You're too emotional," Serana said, the emotion in her voice muffled by my body.
"I know." I smiled into her hair and let the memories of our time together repeat in my head. "I need my big, strong Vampire to keep me from doing anything too stupid." I shut my eyes and smiled. "Gods, I love you."
Fahiil
Thera
I considered Hermaeus Mora's words as he disappeared. Only one of us would be given his favor though both of us would be given the Words. Lucius... I smiled. Lucius would refuse. Not only was he made of softer stock as a human, but his pet Vampire and child had lived among the Skaal for years. Even if he had ever considered betraying the Skaal, he would never do it lest he risk losing them again. He was nothing if not a sentimental fool.
I was not far from the Skaal village, and was likely closer than my Jokaar was at that same moment. I had decided to cleanse the Stones closest to the Skaal Village and had finished that job recently. If Mora's message had been any indication, this was likely the reason he had decided to communicate with us at all. We had the potential to defeat Miraak, otherwise he would never have come to see us. I began to walk towards the village, keeping one hand on my blade.
Unfortunately for me, there was a problem that I would have a small amount trouble getting around. Lucius had demanded that I be refused entry into the home of the Skaal without him present. It was a shame, but I had to admit that we had been doing this dance for long enough that we knew each other very well. The Skaal had erected a wall that no Dragonborn could pass without their consent, and he was certainly their favorite out of the two of us. I wasn't sure if I could convince them to let me into their village without him. Perhaps... Perhaps I could convince them to open their walls to me if I convinced them there was no time to wait for Lucius to find some workaround. In fact, I would actually be telling them the truth. A novel concept, telling the truth to animals.
I decided I would worry about that problem when I came to it. For now, I had something else about which to worry. I had managed to send for Isran almost a week earlier. This meant that he would likely be arriving on the island soon, if he had not already. He had been programmed with a single goal in mind through years of torture – to hunt down and kill Lucius. He retained the intelligence and cunning he had displayed years earlier, but now in service to a being of worth. If he arrived in time, he would lay a trap for Lucius that could very well kill my enemy. However, if he did not... It was entirely possible I would be gambling with my life.
I stopped walking and scoffed at that mere thought. Lucius' inevitable appearance would matter little. No, it would not spell my death, even if my assassin failed to arrive. I would kill Miraak and steal from him his power, which would be more than enough to eradicate my opposite and, thus, his entire empire. He did bring the Bow of Auri-El, as well... A way to take the power of a god, delivered to me. It seemed that some sort of god was on my side, or at the very least against him. I continued to walk towards the village.
Some time later, I arrived to find a single member of the Skaal standing guard just within the wall. "Halt, Outsider!" the guard shouted, holding his hand up to me as I approached the wall. He studied my face for a moment. "Ah, you're the other Dragonborn. Apologies."
Other Dragonborn? Well, that was certainly a new and annoying term to hear. "... Yes," I muttered after the thought of tearing the guard's throat out left me. Not that I could, of course. He was behind the wall. "Let me in."
The guard shook his head. "I... I can't," he said, growing timid as my glare turned to fire. He gulped down his fear and raised his hands in an attempt to displace blame. "The Shaman is the only one who is capable of opening the barrier for anyone!"
"Of course he is," I growled. I shook my head. "Look, we don't have much time. The stones have been cleansed and I have a way to attack Miraak now. If we wait, it may be too late to do anything."
The guard glanced up the hill to his home, then back at me. "Go tell him," I growled. He took a half step back. "Now." He turned on his heel and sprinted to find his shaman.
I watched him go and muttered, "Humans."
I was left waiting for some time, likely a result of Lucius' – heh – 'bodyguard' trying to convince them that I wasn't to be trusted. The Skaal would likely elieve her, though they would also likely decide it was necessary to at least hear me out. Stopping Miraak was something we were united in doing, and even his bodyguard could likely attest that Lucius would risk the world for his conscience. I would not risk my world for anything so small.
Eventually, I learned that I was correct. The Skaal shaman was walking down the hill, his jaw clenched beneath his beard. On one side of him was the guard who I had been speaking with a few moments earlier, and on the other was Lucius' bodyguard. Her eyes were like embers at the start of a fire, hinting at an even greater hatred within as her eyes stayed locked upon me. It was nice to know I could still inspire such feelings in lesser creatures. The three stopped just within the barrier, inches beyond my reach. There was silence for a short while, then, "Well? Oslaf said you had something to tell us," the shaman stated gruffly.
"Indeed I do," I said. I reached into my pack and pulled out the Black Book.
The shaman cursed in his native tongue, flinching back and casting a disgusted look at the Artifact in my grasp. "You would bring this to us? A book of the Demon Herma Mora?" the shaman spat, a new fire in his eyes.
"Out of necessity." I tucked the book between my body and my arm and sighed. "Mora offered the Words we need to defeat Miraak in battle. To both of us."
The shaman glared at the book. "He seeks our secrets and asks those whose aid we require to steal them for him. A cowardly squid as ever," he growled. He clenched his fists at his sides. "Prophecy says one of our Shamans will fall and hand our secrets over to the Demon of Knowledge... I do not want that."
"Even at cost of Nirn itself? The entirety swept away by Miraak, all because you would not trade away your secrets of... what, how to skin a Horker the right way?" I snapped. I growled and tried to think of what would draw him in the best. "Children, women, your own daughter as his slaves?" He paled slightly at that.
"That's uncalled for, Bitch."
I looked over at the source of the voice; the bodyguard. "Don't you have a child to be babysitting?" I hissed. She just glowered in response, so I returned my attention to the shaman. "Think, for just a moment. If Miraak escapes now, without anyone knowing the words to defeat him... there will be nothing left. He will sweep your tiny village aside as if he were a tornado. Then the world. The world your precious All-Maker left you to steward."
The shaman continued to glare at me. "But, by all means, if you wish to risk the world for your stubbornness, be my guest. It will not be my fault if the people you claim to defend are swallowed by Apocrypha and -."
"Fine!" The shaman interjected. He glared at me for a moment, then let his gaze fall to the ground, defeated. "Fine." He walked out of the barrier and took the book from my hands. "You win."
"I'm well aware," I said dryly, keeping my eyes locked on the fury and horror evident in the bodyguard's eyes.
"No!" she snapped. The shaman turned around to her. She shook her head. "You can't do this! She's using you!" She growled and pointed at the shaman. "Lucius will get the knowledge another way. If she wants it to be this way, it's the wrong way."
The shaman looked at the ground, then back up at her. "Even if that were true, could you guarantee that your master obtains the knowledge before Miraak casts this world into shadow?" he asked.
"Father!" A woman sprinted down the hill. "No, Father, don't!"
"It needs to be one of us, my child. And it won't be you." He turned to me, ignoring his daughter's pleas that he not do what he was about to do. Looking me in the eye, he set his jaw. Finally: "Give me the book."
Jul
Lucius
Serana and I stood a few miles outside of Ravenrock, preparing to go our separate ways. She was going to ride for the Skaal's village on Arvak, while I was going to try finding the other Dragon Priest tombs. The one we had found in the mine had only contained a Word that would further draw out the Dragon's Blood granted me by the Divines, as well as a black book. I had taken both, only knowing that the Book could never fall into the hands of any mortal. "Do we really have to separate?" Serana asked while she loaded up Arvak's saddlebags. The ghost horse whinnied happily and turned to nuzzle her, still very happy at seeing her again. She laughed and began to rub the bony monster's face affectionately.
"Unfortunately," I said. I looked up from the map I held in my hands, then rolled it up and placed it back in the slot for my bag. I walked towards her and placed my hand on the back of the horse's neck. Serana and I were only a few inches apart. "Thera will try to get the Skaal to give up their secrets, and they trust you. If you tell them to wait, they will wait."
"That is true," Serana admitted, annoyed. She looked up at me. "I hate it when you're right, you know."
"Not every time," I said, thinking back to when I had woken up in the mine.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Not every time." She stood up on the tips of her toes before I could respond and locked her mouth with mine. Her hands reached up into my hair and mine slowly drifted down her back. She stopped when it became clear I needed air. "You mortals are such light weights when it comes to holding your breath."
"I'd try for longer, but then both of us would be dead," I pointed out. I shrugged. "I don't think I'd make it work nearly as well as you."
"I could always..." She put her mouth to my neck and pretended to bite.
"Ha," I said when she pulled her head back. I stared into her eyes and frowned sadly. "I haven't... I haven't figured it out yet."
"You will. If anyone can turn Vampires back into mortals, it's you." She patted my cheek and took a deep breath. Her kind tone turned mocking, "Just don't let the compliments go to your pretty little head."
"No, because if we both had big egos – " I felt all the breath leave my lungs, forcing me to stagger backwards. My vision blackened, tunneling until only a pinprick of light remained visible. Words came to my mind, the Words that could build an empire of slaves upon Nirn for any Dragonborn who knew them.
I woke up on the ground a moment later. "Is this gonna become a thing?" Serana asked.
I pushed myself up. "We need to hurry." I pulled the saddlebags off of Arvak's back, petting his head when he whinnied in confusion. "I'm sorry boy, but you aren't fast enough to get us where we need to be right now."
"Luc, what's going on?" Serana asked when I waved my hand and Arvak disappeared.
"The Words. She got the Skaal to hand over their knowledge to Mora," I said. I began checking my weapons and my pack.
"Thera?"
"Yes." I took my pack off and tied the saddlebags to it, hoping the knot was tight enough, then shrugged it back on. I looked over at Serana. I wanted to give her everything. Her and my son deserved nothing less. "Serana... After this is all over, when we have five minutes of peace... Marry me."
"M-marry? You know that temples and I -"
"I know. Just... Just think it over. At the end of the day, you're already the only woman I'll ever love. I just want everyone else to see that, to see I am yours and yours alone. You'd be surprised how many women hit on an 'eligible' Emperor." I smiled as her cheeks reddened with rage.
"You're baiting me," she growled.
"Is it working?"
She narrowed her eyes on me, eliciting only laughter from me in response. After a few moments, I sighed. Time to get back to work. I asked myself, "I wonder if he'll mind another passenger while we fly"
"Fly?" Serana asked in confusion.
