"What is this… Jagged Crown?" I asked the Legate, frowning.

"A legendary crown, dating back to king Harald's time, or before," she explained. "A powerful relic of a golden age long since passed. Legend has it that the crown is made from the bones and teeth of ancient dragons, and is said to increase the power of the wearer. Whatever the truth, if Ulfric gets his hands on it, it would be a powerful symbol around which to rally support for his cause."

That explained why Ulfric wanted it so much.

"And how do we know where the crown is?"

"Well, to be frank, we don't. Its location was lost with King Borgas when the Great Hunt killed him while off on his Alessian campaigns. Supposedly his body was brought back to Skyrim and secretly buried with the crown. Knowledge of that location was lost in the Wars of Succession. But my agents report that Galmar is pretty damned convinced Korvanjund is the tomb of King Borgas." She sighed. "I know Galmar. We fought in many wars together. He's not a sentimental man taken to fancy. If he believes the crown is there, he's likely found it."

"So you want me to go to this Korvanjund?"

"Yes. The rest of my men have already been ordered to assemble outside the ruin. I'll meet you there as soon as I finish up here."

Nodding, I turned and left the castle.


Korvanjund was north of Whiterun, out where the plains began to turn back into a forest. It was snowing when I arrived, and I kept my hood up to ward off the icy white flakes blowing around me.

Some way from the ruin itself was Rikke's group of legionnaires. One of them looked up as I approached and grinned.

"Good to see you, my friend," Hadvar said. "I knew you'd make a proper legionnaire. I'm glad you'll be with me in there. I don't like the looks of this place. And I'm not talking about the Stormcloaks."

I looked at the dusky stone pillars behind us. "I know what you mean about these old ruins." I'd spent too much time in them, and it never really got any easier.

"You too, huh? I'd much rather a straight-up fight than creeping around a place like this. But never mind all that. We're the Emperor's soldiers. We'll do our duty no matter what stands in our way, right?"

A gnawing ache settled into my chest. "Right."

One of the other legionnaires was pointing to the ruin as he spoke to Rikke.

"Stormcloaks were already camped out around the entrance when we got here," he was hastily explaining to her. "They don't know we're here yet, though."

"Well, that's something at least." Turning to me, the Legate said, "Looks like the damned rebels got here first. No matter. We have the element of surprise. Prepare to move out."

"Yes, ma'am."

As she walked away, I drew my bow. She stopped just before the hill that stood between us and the ruin proper. Facing us, she said, "Listen up, legionnaires. Those Stormcloaks are here for the same reason we are. Ulfric the Pretender wants that crown, but we're not going to let him have it. I realize that some of you may know men on the other side, but remember this: they are the enemy now and will not hesitate to end your lives either. General Tullius is counting on us to bring back the Jagged Crown, and that's exactly what we're going to do. Let's show these rebels what real soldiers look like."

The rest of the legionnaires drew their weapons and we followed Rikke over the hill. Korvanjund cut into the ground like a deep gash, with stairs leading down into it. Stormcloaks were everywhere. As soon as they caught sight of us every last one of them drew their weapons. I hung back, shooting down the rebels where I could and avoiding hitting the legionnaires.

When the last of them was dead, I followed the others to the door leading into the ruin. Rikke nodded at us.

"Well done. They never knew what hit them. But don't underestimate the Stormcloaks. Many are Legion veterans. They may be traitors, but they know how to fight. We had the advantage of surprise this time, but don't expect it to last. Let's move out."

The lot of us hurried into the ruin and quickly crouched low behind some fallen stone blocks. In the chamber ahead was another bunch of Stormcloaks.

"Everybody ready?" The Legate murmured. "We charge on my signal. Time to show what you're really made of."

We all tensed, waiting. Counting down from three, she leapt up from behind the blocks and charged, shouting, "For the Empire!"

The Stormcloaks didn't know what hit them. Within moments every last one of them lay dead at our feet.

Pointing to two of the legionnaires, Rikke said, "You two, stay and guard the entrance. We don't want any Stormcloak reinforcements taking us by surprise." To the rest of us she went on, "Everyone else, with me."

We followed her down further into the ruin. After a few minutes we reached another chamber. It had two floors, and the only way onward was through a short tunnel. The Legate held up a hand for us to stop. Her eyes narrowed.

"I don't like the look of this," she murmured. "Perfect spot for an ambush. Ten to one they're just waiting for us on the other side."

"But there isn't any other way through, Legate," one of the legionnaires pointed out.

She held up a hand, frowning. "Let's not jump to conclusions, soldier. The Legion always finds a way. I'd rather take a moment and look around than walk blindly into an ambush." To me she said, "Auxiliary, see if you can find another way through. We'll charge in to help as soon as we hear fighting."

Nodding, I hurried up the stairs to the room's upper level. Sure enough, there was a passage above the other tunnel. Drawing an arrow, I slipped through. It let out on a bridge overlooking another large chamber. Below, I saw several Stormcloaks waiting on a platform, watching the passage that the Legate and the other legionnaires would pass through.

"You hear anything?" One of them asked.

"No, but I know they're out there!" Another snapped. "No other way they can come. Now shut it or you'll ruin our ambush."

"I don't like it. What are they waiting for?"

"Maybe they're so scared of you they ran away."

I trained my arrow on one of them.

"Hardly likely."

"Just shut up and keep out of sight."

Before either of them could take a step, I shot one of them down and shouted, "Now!"

The others looked around wildly for the source of my voice and realized too late that the others were rushing in. Within seconds the Stormcloaks were overwhelmed as their ambush backfired on them. I hurried down to meet the rest of the legionnaires.


For a long time we saw nothing else. Then we came upon a small chamber filled with broken burial urns. A dead Stormcloak lay sprawled out on the floor. The legionnaire in the lead stumbled back with a loud oath at something I couldn't see.

"What in the nine holds is that?" Another asked.

I hurried forward to see what they did. It was a corpse, shriveled and twisted. Gray skin was stretched over its bones. Its gnarled hands were coated with fresh crimson blood.

"Is that what killed that that Stormcloak over there? Can't be. It looks like it's been dead for a hundred years."

A chill crept down my spine. The body reminded me of the ones I had seen in Bleak Falls Barrow. That didn't bode well for us.

"Steady now," Rikke told us. "The Legion has faced down worse than a few dusty old bonewalkers. We're not leaving here until we get what we came for. Now let's keep moving."

I nodded, but still kept my weapon at the ready all the same.

The tunnels led down to a long chamber that seemed very familiar. Carvings lined the walls, and at the end was a massive stone door set with three rings.

"I've heard of this," one of the legionnaires said from behind me. "These walls are supposed to show the history of the ancients who built this place."

"Too bad we can't read these carvings. Who knows what secrets we'd uncover?"

"One thing at a time soldier," Rikke told him. "Focus on our primary mission. We're searching for the crown. Looks like we weren't the first ones here, either."

Sure enough, two Stormcloaks lay dead on the ground in front of the door, arrows sticking out of their corpses from several angles. A torch lay nearby.

"Even if these carvings tell us where the crown is, I'm sure we're going to have to find a way through this door," Rikke pointed out.

I knelt down beside one of the bodies. He still clutched something. A claw, like the one at Bleak Falls Barrow. Only this one was made of ebony set with silver. I took it and held it up for the Legate to see.

"Here."

She glanced over. "What is that? Some kind of stone claw."

"It's a key," I told her. Glancing at the markings on it, I nodded at the door. "I need someone to help me turn these."

One of the legionnaires hurried over and together we set the rings in the right pattern. Inserting the key, I turned it and the door slid down with a loud rumble. Rikke laughed in surprise.

"Good job! All right, everyone! Keep your guard up. Let's move out!"

The next passage led into a large chamber lined with sealed stone sarcophagi. The exit on the chamber's other side was blocked by a metal grate. There was no lever nearby. The Legate shook her head with a long sigh.

"All right, legionnaires. Spread out and see what we've got. Auxiliary, do what you do best. See if you can find some way to get that gate open."

While the others searched the main chamber, I took a side tunnel that let up to some platforms overlooking the room. I searched the walls for some kind of switch or lever. Anything that would get that gate open.

"How's it going? Found anything yet?" Rikke called from below.

On one of the walls was some kind of handle. "I think so."

I pulled it and the gate slid up into the wall. Cheers rose from the legionnaires.

"Let's move, men. We've got more–"

There was a loud crack as one of the sarcophagi's lids burst open and a withered zombie stepped out. Then another opened. And another.

Shit.

I swung down from the stone beams I stood on to land on the chamber floor. The legionnaires were all busy shooting down the things.

"Watch out for the draugr!" one of them shouted. I shot an undead down. So that's what they were called. Strange.

The fight was over quickly. The draugr either had no weapons or very old ones and they weren't anywhere near as coordinated as we were. Soon they were all back to a non-living state, as they should be. Breathing hard, Rikke nodded to the doorway I'd opened moments before.

"Follow me. Let's see where this leads."

We did. Yet another winding tunnel led down deeper into the earth. At the end was a massive chamber whose ceiling was supported by carved stone beams. Massive piles of rubble littered the room from where pillars and chunks of the ceiling had fallen. At the center of the room was a platform ringed with standing coffins. At the far side was a throne. A corpse sat in in, its body hunched forward. Hadvar hurried over to get a closer look and I followed cautiously behind. I soon saw what he had noticed. On the body's head was an old crown spiked with large, razor-sharp teeth.

"Is this the one we're looking for?" He called back.

At that moment the coffins began to shake and I heard cracks as they opened one by one. I saw the corpse's fingers twitch against the arms of the throne.

"Hadvar, get away from there!" Rikke shouted.

He stumbled back was a curse and I fired an arrow at the one wearing the crown. It had little effect. The draugr stood and drew its axe. I circled around as the others charged, looking for a clean shot. The draugr roared at the others, knocking several of them backward to the floor. That was like what the one I'd found at the end of the crypt in Bleak Falls Barrow had done. That was like what I had done at the watch tower. Shoving the thought from my mind, I fired another arrow at it. It stuck in the draugr's eye. The zombie staggered and collapsed with a loud clatter of armor.

We stood around it, staring at the body. None of us seemed keen to go anywhere near it.

"All right. Get the crown off that draugr!" Rikke said.

Since no one else was willing to budge, I stepped forward and knelt before the body. It didn't move as I slipped the crown off its head. I straightened, careful to avoid stabbing my hands with the sharp spikes of the teeth that covered it.

Rikke nodded at me. "Take that crown back to Solitude, soldier. We'll stay here and see if we can find anything else that could be of use."


General Tullius was examining the map on the war table when I returned to Solitude, bent over it and looking it over with narrowed eyes. He glanced up at my approach, frowning.

"General, sir." I held out the crown to him. "I brought the Jagged Crown. Legate Rikke sent me to deliver it to you."

He took the thing and looked it over, inspecting every inch of it carefully.

"Excellent work, soldier. I have to admit, I had my doubts it even existed. Did you run into any trouble?"

"The Stormcloaks were there ahead of us," I told him.

General Tullius sighed and set the crown down on the war table, resting his hands beside it with palms flat. "Yes. Well, I didn't respond as quickly to the Legate's suggestion as perhaps I should have. But at least we ended up with the damn crown." He nodded to me. "You're dismissed."