A/N: Sorry for how long it's taking to get new chapters out. It's been a crazy couple months in the King household. Hoping to be posting new stuff more regularly.

Sionis did his best to give a polite nod to the barmaid as she set his latest tankard of mead down on his table. He sat in a far corner away from all the other patrons in the Silver-Blood Inn. The dark-eyed mage looked haggard and very tired and now had a fair amount of stubble growing its way into a beard. He did not remember the last time he had bathed, but he didn't care either. The only thing he cared about was finding the man who had so desecrated Clairiss.

But it seemed that the Divines saw fit to test his sanity. It had been months and every lead he had chased down always ended with him dealing with frostbite spiders. Most had been those of normal size and not much trouble, but there had been a few instances when the creatures had been rather large and fairly dangerous.

The last one had been the worst yet. In what had to be a rare instance of him feeling some sort of obligation, Delvin Mallory had sent him a letter with a tip to reach out to a fence of theirs in Whiterun. Once the man there had been "persuaded" to talk, he had revealed that he had intercepted a communication between two agents working for the Cragslane cartel. It had mentioned experimenting with briar hearts to see if they could be used to increase the addictiveness of the skooma they manufactured.

That had sent him to The Reach in search of some kind of connection among the Forsworn. It had taken no small amount of persistence, but eventually he had learned from some of the city guard that there had been a small organized skooma trade that had operated out an old abandoned Forsworn redoubt called Hart's Crown. As far as anyone knew, it had remained uninhabited since the guard had cleared out the drug traders.

Sionis had quickly discovered that the old fortress ruins had not remained unoccupied. It had been infested with all manner of vermin. He had pressed forward hoping to find any clues and eventually ended up face to face with a massive frostbite spider. It was the biggest he had ever seen and killing it had taken every bit of spell flinging he could muster.

Every clue he had chased, every lead he had followed; every one of them had ended with the spiders. The first couple of times it had seemed odd, but now it was an all too familiar pattern. He was starting to wonder just how cruel the gods could be.

He had just lifted his drink to his lips when a voice intruded - a voice that was saturated with a purring kind of sensuality.

"May I join you?"

The mage looked up to see a woman so alluring that it couldn't be considered fair. Black hair contrasted strikingly against her alabaster skin as it flowed a short ways past her shoulders stopping just above the low neckline of her dress. The fabric was the color of midnight and clung to her curvy body with a long slit up each side to show off her legs. Her dark locks framed her face that held beautifully full red lips and eyes of the deepest indigo. She smiled as he looked at her.

"I'd rather you not." Sionis replied not caring how rude he was being.

"Any reason why not?" She asked.

The mage sighed. "If you're looking to offer me any Dibellian services, I'm not interested."

The woman giggled. "I assure you I am not one of those stuck up priestesses."

"I guess not," he acknowledged after taking in her attire once again. "What do you want, then?"

"Only to talk for a bit. Perhaps offer some help." She replied ignoring his rudeness once more.

"And just how do you expect to help?" He questioned as he looked down to his drink.

"You might be surprised, Sionis." She purred.

Sionis' gaze snapped back to her emerald eyes. "How do you know me?"

She smiled a demure smile and he now saw that while her teeth looked normal, he couldn't shake the impression that they were actually pointed somehow. He wondered if perhaps he'd had too much mead. "You have invited me to join you, then?" She asked.

The mage motioned for her to sit in the empty chair opposite him. "Now, how do you know me?" He asked again once she was seated.

"Let's just say that in my … neck of the woods there are some paying you much attention. But why don't you tell me what troubles you?"

"You know who I am but not my plight?" The mage asked incredulously.

"I want to hear it from you." She stated as if it was just that simple as she folded her hands together. Her fingers seemed unusually long to Sionis, but he pushed it aside not sure why something so innocuous would catch his attention. In the end, he decided there was no reason to conceal his quest. He had talked to a great many strangers already.

"I am searching for another mage." He began. At this, his visitor rested her chin upon her entwined fingers. He again took note of her unusually long fingers, but it was gone before he could think much of it. "A mage that was responsible for the desecration of one dear to me. She was reanimated and made to deceive me into thinking she was still alive and cause me pain and suffering." He looked up from his recollections for a moment to the woman's now brown eyes. Her eyes seemed to be always changing color, but once again he couldn't seem to hold on to the observation. It was gone as quickly as it had come.

"Continue." She purred, her hair now looking a bit frayed and tangled like cobwebs.

"The strange thing is that the mage that raised her corpse was nowhere near by." He said. "I've never heard of any mage with that kind of power. Generally, reanimation requires a close proximity in order to maintain the zombie. That means I'm probably dealing with some much more powerful than myself."

"Not necessarily." His visitor interjected.

"What do you mean?" The mage asked with urgency. "Do you know something about this?"

"Oops." She quipped. "Looks like I let it slip, didn't I? I might know a little something perhaps."

"Please tell me." He replied emphatically. "If you know anything that might help me find the bastard that so blasphemed the life of my sister, tell me."

"Hmmmm … I guess I could tell you a little something." She returned arching an eyebrow over one of her eyes – now red. "The mage you seek is not all powerful by himself." She offered after a moment of letting him silently beg. "He had help."

"What do you mean?" He asked irritation now finding its way into his voice. "I'm searching for a team of mages now?"

"Not quite." She replied playfully, her face had now become quite sallow and gaunt. Her teeth almost seemed pointed now, but just as before, these details vanished before they could really take hold. "Come to my home and meet me. I shall reveal more then."

Sionis started as if waking from a terrible dream. The woman was gone and he was sitting in the inn just as he had been. He looked down to his tankard to see that it was nearly full as if the entire conversation had never happened. He called the barmaid over to his table.

"This will sound strange, I'm sure, but what happened to the woman that I was talking with?" He asked when she arrived.

"What woman?" The barmaid replied, confused.

"I've been talking with a woman for at least 20 minutes." Sionis replied. "Surely you saw her here as you were walking about."

"I don't know what you've been through, but it must have been something quite unsettling because the only thing I've seen you do is just stare at the wall for the last 20 minutes or so." She countered. "No one has even approached you, much less sat down and talked with you."

"What!?" He cried. "You had to have seen her. Black hair, white skin, and eyes the color of … they were …"

"Ok, I'd hate to do it, but if you don't let me return to my duties, I'll call the guard and have you thrown out."

The mage paused a bit before finally letting the barmaid go. "Yes, I see that I must have been mistaken. My apologies."

The woman turned in a huff and disappeared back into the now crowded Silver-Blood Inn.

Sionis sat dejected and more frustrated than ever. Had it all been some cruel hallucination? It had seemed so real. Shaking his head he rose to make his way to his room. On the way, he questioned several other patrons of the inn and none had seen the woman with whom he had conversed. But he couldn't dismiss the episode. There was something in the back of his mind that nagged him about it and refused to let it go.

As he shut the door to his room, he dug his map of Skyrim out of his robes and opened it on the small table within. Perhaps staring at it for a bit would help him decide where to go next. Once again, his hope of finding the mage responsible for his sister had vanished and he had no idea what was next. His eyes roamed the paper without really seeing anything on it. Then his gaze snapped to a small detail.

There was a new mark on his map. He was sure it hadn't been there before. At the south most point of the swamps that made up a good amount of Hjaalmarch, a crude depiction of a house had been drawn. As he wondered how it got there, the voice of the mysterious woman invaded his thoughts.

"Yes, my dear mage. That is my home. Meet me and I will tell you all you need to know."

And then it was gone. He knew beyond a doubt now that she had been real; that her promise was real. Sionis made up his mind to head to Hjaalmarch as soon as it was light. He knew he would need to rest, but as he laid down on the bed, he knew sleep was unlikely to find him that night.

Sionis checked his map again. He was in the right place - he was sure of it - but it certainly wasn't what he had expected. Instead of a house or cottage or even a rundown shack, he stood before a cave running into the ground underneath the marshes. The outside was covered in the webs that undoubtedly belonged to frostbite spiders. Once again he had been led to those infernal creatures. This particular den must have been absolutely infested with them as he could faintly hear the scuffling of the large arachnids from inside. And as maddening as it was to have been brought to the vermin yet again, he decided to enter the cave. He couldn't explain why, but he just felt that this had not been some cruel joke and that he really would find the woman from the bar inside. It had only taken him a couple of days to make the journey and he wasn't about to leave without seeing it through.

He slowly made his way down into the cave. It was rather dark inside so he conjured a ball of flame in his hand to provide some light. He hadn't made it very far before he ran into the creatures. They were present in droves. Spiders hung on the walls and ceiling as well as skittered all over the floors.

Sionis felt a panic rise up as countless eyes turned in his direction. Frostbite spiders were usually not too difficult to deal with (provided they remained at a normal size), but the sheer number present here would overwhelm him quite quickly. They held him in their gazes for a long moment before making any move and when they finally did, it wasn't what he expected.

Rather than attacking or making any aggressive move, they gave way. The multitude slowly retreated with every step the mage took further into the cavern. There was only one tunnel leading ever deeper into the ground. As the vermin gave ground, he saw the walls were so covered with webbing that he couldn't see the stone beneath.

Still he pressed onward, further into the cave and still the spiders made no move to impede him, always scuttling backwards and drawing him further into their underground lair. Finally the tunnel opened into an immense cavern. The fire in his hand did not provide enough illumination to see the sides and ceiling, but it was enough to show that he had no hope of survival if the spiders decided to attack. So many glittering eyes were trained on him that it almost looked like a starry night within the cave. He briefly considered trying to flee.

Again the spiders moved backwards, still making way for him. Sionis remained where he was, not making a move while waiting for the suffocating numbness of anxiety to recede. He had no notion of how long he stood there before a voice infiltrated his mind. It was the voice of his helpful mystery woman.

"Welcome to my home, Sionis. Please come further so I can chat with you and tell you what you need to know."

Snapped from his trance, Sionis stepped forward and fell away into darkness.

It was dark and Sionis couldn't really move. As much as he struggled, he made no progress at freeing himself. If anything, it seemed that his flailing attempts to gain freedom of movement only served to constrain him even more. Eventually he tired and stopped fighting and took in his surroundings.

It was dark. There seemed to be nothing all around him, but as he looked out into the apparent oblivion, he began to see what looked like strands of white all around him. As his gaze swept over it all, it appeared to him that he was caught in a massive cob web. He now saw that he was wrapped in the same frayed and tangled strands of white that made up the web. With that revelation, he figured to burn his way out with some conjured flames. But, despite his best effort, he couldn't make a connection to his magicka and summon flames or any other spell.

Sionis began to wonder if it was going to be his fate to waste away and die tied up in the darkness when her voice came out of the air just in front of him.

"Ah, there's my hopeful mage." Her voice was playful and yet somehow malicious at the same time. "Welcome to my home, Sionis."

"You tricked me." The mage replied furiously despite his inability to do anything about it. "You're promise was just lies to trap me."

"Not quite." Her voice was now nestled just behind his right ear. "I did mean to trap you, though I did not lie. I certainly intended to tell you what you needed to know to fulfill your quest before devouring you."

"Devour?" Sionis answered uncertainly, his anger completely washed away. "What are you?"

There was a murmuring laughter now on his left side. "I am beyond you and your questions." Her voice teased. "But I will indulge you your inquiries."

There was silence for a moment and he began to wonder if his question would be answered when the voice startled him. "Many of you mortals call me Webspinner." It was right behind him and was devoid of its former playfulness. Now, her voice was calm and even in its malevolence, and the mage couldn't contain a shiver as it ran through him.

"Mephala." Sionis breathed.

"So glad you've heard of me, my magic morsel." Her voice had regained a delighted twinge to it. "But, perhaps you'd enjoy some conversation prior to my feasting."

"You still mean to tell me about the mage responsible for Clairiss." He stated in disbelief. He almost didn't want to know now if it meant only that he would die immediately afterwards. His mind began whirling, trying to think of some way to get out of Daedric Lord's trap alive.

"Of course," Mephala replied now back in front of him but still unseen. "After all," she continued with a most malicious laugh, "a promise is a promise."

"Tell me then." The mage urged.

"You do indeed seek a mage." She answered, her voice coming from above him. "The one you seek made quite the deal to acquire the power that enabled him to permanently raise your dead sister."

"Tell me how I would find him!" Sionis yelled out growing both desperate and frustrated.

Her initial response was mocking laughter before finally saying. "Would you like his location, or name?"

"Why not both?" The mage questioned. "Does it matter that I have all the information if you simply mean to feast upon me? Would it not make it much more torturous?"

"Hmm, you do have a point, don't you?" The Daedric Prince mused. "Though I suppose there is some little plan forming in that beautifully delicious mind of yours." She paused a long moment before reaching a decision. "It was a good try on your part, but I'm not the type to reveal everything. You'd need to make a deal with Mora for that."

"Perhaps I shall speak with him next then." Sionis replied defiantly.

She laughed and it floated all around him. It was awhile before she spoke again.

"I do so enjoy you!" Mephala cooed. "I shall savor you."

Sionis began to feel a panic rise up uncontrollably. It was somehow unnatural, as if it was being forced upon him rather than one that he himself felt. Then fatigue and a feeling of heaviness began to slowly wash over him. He felt as if his whole body was flushing and he had to suppress the urge to vomit. Apparently, the Deadric Lord's meal had begun.

"Wait!" He cried out. "You promised me information." He hoped to the Divines that The Webspinner would relent. The panic he felt was quickly becoming his own, but there was also shame and disappointment at not having fulfilled his vow to his sister to avenge her. And oddly enough, his thoughts turned to Sable. For some reason he could not explain, he felt a longing and a sadness that he had not been able to see the white-haired assassin one last time.

His thoughts were broken by Mephala's voice answering his plea. It no longer held the sweetly menacing quality as before. Now it was filled with annoyance and impatience.

"Does it matter that you have any of the promised information?" She spat. "You said that yourself, didn't you, mage. Why should I indulge you now?"

"I can indulge you in return. For all eternity." The mage replied frantically. He wasn't sure if it was true, but he had heard of mortals serving the Daedra beyond death in the afterlife. It wasn't something he found appealing in the slightest, but for now much of his rational thought was pushed aside by the need to get the information he needed to avenge his sister and then survive to do something with it.

"For all eternity?" the Webspinner mused. "You're offering your soul in service to me, then?"

"Yes, on two conditions." He regretted the answer almost as soon as he said it, but didn't care if it would put Clairiss' soul at rest.

"Name them." Mephala hissed excitedly.

"Let me go to live out the rest of my life and give me the information I seek."

"Done!" The Daedra shouted triumphantly. "You may go free and find the answers you seek at Mistwatch Keep."

"What about a name?" Sionis wasn't sure if he was pushing the terms of the agreement he made for his soul, but he didn't care.

"His name wouldn't be of any use to you," she replied, "He may not even know it himself anymore. At least not his original name."

Confusion clouded his thoughts at her reply, but before he could really ponder it, she spoke again.

"But, out of my great benevolence, I will give you a gift before you leave me. Enjoy it my champion, I will be watching with much eagerness."

As soon as she finished, he felt what seemed like a strong breeze blow over him. A strong vibration crashed over the webbing that was holding him and he screamed. He felt a white hot pain like two sharp blades had been jammed through the top of his skull. Then Sionis knew no more.