The sun shone bright over Lake Ilinalta as Ria ran up to it. Maris was some ways behind her, with a couple of the older boys from town in tow. Nereus was a few paces ahead, already wading into the water.

A beautiful spring day was never something anyone liked to waste, least of all Ria and Nereus, and thus their mother had decided it was a nice opportunity to take them for a swim. And the older boys, Lod and Valdr, certainly seemed to enjoy the sunlight of the Rain's Hand morning. They had been invited along more for security than anything, as they were the two Maris trusted the most to help watch over the children and not slack off, and they seemed to enjoy taking the day away from their own duties anyway.

Trips like this were few and far between for the children, particularly after the incident in the woods. Most days, Ria and Nereus were confined to sitting about their father's station at the smithy, or, on rainier days, playing quiet games in the little house Pontius and Maris had built at the edge of town. And, when they did go out to play with the older children, Ria always felt the odd one out, but not now. Not on a day like this.

Somehow, even at the age of seven, Ria was still the youngest child in town. People came, people left, but never did she find someone as close to her age as her brother. When he went off to play with the older children, she simply tagged along and tried to keep up. A few of them were fond enough of her, enough to pay her some attention, but many of them tended to ignore her. Nereus, at least, tried to make her feel included.

And thus, she had to say that Nereus was her best friend. Of course, they fought like cats and dogs at times, according to her mother, but there was still no doubt that, on days when everyone else ignored her, Nereus was the one who would tell silly stories and play sword-fights when their mother wasn't looking.

Today, it was he who cried out, "Last one to the lake is a giant's toenail!" and playfully knocked Ria in the arm as he dashed past and jumped into the water. She knew that swimming today would be wonderfully fun, with her brother there with her.

The rules were always clear when their mother took the time to go off with them, and today's rules were that they were not to start swimming until their mother had already arrived, nor were they to swim past the little island with the large stones. And, as with any day, breaking these rules when their mother was so close was a dangerous idea.

Of course, rules were never something Nereus liked to follow, and he swam ahead at a rapid pace.

"Nereus, don't do that!"

"Why not?" he called back, splashing the water just a bit.

"Mama said no," Ria mumbled.

"And we always listen to mama?" Nereus laughed. "What she doesn't know won't hurt her, so I'm going swimming. If you wanna sit here and wade, then you can suit yourself, you big baby."

"I'm not a baby!" she called out after him as he swam ahead. "I'm not." Ria stomped her foot on the shore as she watched him. It was one thing to explore when their mother was out working the farm, but to disobey her when she was so close was a good way to get dragged home by the shell of the ear.

Her brother splashed away through the water, drifting further and further from view, becoming barely more than a dot on the surface. The boy swam like a fish, or so their parents said. Ria wasn't really sure what that meant, but they said it happily, so she figured it was a good thing.

She kicked idly at a pebble, knowing she wouldn't catch up with him before her mother got there. The pebble bounced along the grass on the shoreline, bobbing and rolling before landing in the water with a plunk. She kicked another. Another. And one more for good measure. Each one fell into the lake with its own pitch. She raised her foot to find one more.

That was when the screaming started.

Ria's head shot up in an instant. Nereus had all but disappeared, his head the only thing even remotely visible. No, not quite: one of his arms had shot up and was waving frantically, and but it was quickly descending as something dragged him under.

"MAMA!" Ria screeched. "MAMA, COME QUICK!"

A rustling came from the trees behind her, and Maris appeared, running at top speed. She stood by Ria's side immediately, "What's happened?" she asked, more flustered than anything else.

"Nereus!" the little girl said, barely able to form coherent thoughts, let alone sentences.

"What about Nereus?" For a moment, she seemed confused, until realization and horror slowly spread across her face. "Ria, where's your brother?"

Ria simply pointed in the direction he'd swum. The screaming had stopped, muffled by bubbling water. He wasn't visible. Not at all.

Without another word, Maris jumped into the water, not even bothering to take off her shoes. She swam fast, faster than Ria had ever seen her move in her life. Even as the boys appeared from the forest, the little girl refused to turn her head and take her eyes off her mother.

She wasn't exactly sure why, but Ria suddenly felt very frightened and very, very small. By the time Lod and Valdr reached her, tears were streaming down her face. The older boys seemed unsure about what to do, if they should comfort her or swim after her mother, and instead they just stood awkwardly by her side.

There was nothing to do but watch as Maris struggled out in the depths of Lake Ilinalta. Splashes and the snarls of slaughterfish echoed around the valley, out to the sunken tower and back again. Even the usually raucous birds of the area seemed silent in comparison to the fight going on in the deep water, and Ria was powerless to do anything about it.

It was over almost as soon as it had begun.

Maris made her way back to the shore, dragging Nereus along in the water behind her. He wasn't moving on his own. Ria couldn't quite read her mother's expression, though she could tell it wasn't happy.

"Don't let her see."

A few hushed tones were exchanged between the two boys as they moved in front of Ria and blocked her from the edge of the water. She tried to move around, just to know what was happening, but they were steadfast and sturdy, keeping true to the one order they'd be given thus far.

"Lod," her mother said quietly and solemnly as she reached the shoreline, "take Ria back to town. Now. Valdr, please help me." It was all barely loud enough for Ria to hear, clearly not meant for her ears. Lod quickly grabbed Ria's shoulder and turned her around while Valdr waded into the lake.

But they weren't quick enough, and Ria caught a glimpse of what they'd hoped to hide from her.

Nereus' body was a terrible sight to behold. He was mangled, torn, and his blood darkened the water around him. It was difficult to see clearly through her tears, but she could have sworn one of his arms had gone missing entirely. His face was no better: gruesome, bruised, and rid of some features. If she hadn't already known it was him, she wouldn't have been able to recognize him as her brother at all.

And then her back was to him. Lod prodded her along, guiding her back to the path and not saying a word. Her tears rolled down her cheeks in greater numbers now, her breaths turned into muffled sobs, and she could barely see straight.

The path through the woods seemed longer this time around. Longer, darker, more threatening. It wasn't the same sunlit retreat it once had been; rather, it felt like the type of path that fairy tales warned her against, even with somebody there to keep her safe.

"It's my fault," she said when they were about halfway back to Falkreath town.

"It's not," Lod said, his voice soft. "It's nobody's fault but the slaughterfish."

"I coulda stopped him." She ran her wrist across her nose as she sniffled. "I told him not to swim that far."

"And he didn't listen." The teenaged boy clapped a hand on her back. "Listen, Ri, it's not your fault."

"Papa's going to be angry with me."

"No, he won't. Your pa's a good man."

"But I let him go."

"You told him not to, and you stayed on the shore." Lod stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. He knelt, slowly and purposefully, to get to her level and look her in the eyes. "If you'd gone out there after him, I'd be helping your ma carry you back, too. And that would be too much sadness for one day. You got that, kid?"

Ria nodded as she continued sobbing. Lod wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug, letting her cry into his shoulder for a few minutes before they pressed on, where home and a day of sitting about in agony awaited her. It wasn't an easy walk, but it helped knowing that someone didn't think she was to blame.

The funeral was a quiet thing.

Runil said all the rites in his usual way, the way he had to for every funeral. People seemed to die left and right in this town, and yet Ria had always assumed it would never happen to someone so close to her.

There were a decent number of people there, considering how frequent the funerals were. Jorck and Irja both took the morning off and gave Maris a week to recover, Gowan and his wife and Lod comforted the grieving parents, and Valdr and some of his hunting friends came to watch the boy be buried. Even one or two of the town guards stopped by, mentioning how awful it was that a good kid like Nereus should go like that.

Maris and Pontius stayed by the grave for hours after the service ended, refusing to budge as they mourned their son. For her part, Ria spent the rest of the day in that little house at the edge of town, quietly keeping to herself.

It wasn't supposed to be like this at all. It was supposed to be a fun day at the lake, and Nereus was supposed to come home and still be her big brother. This wasn't what she'd wanted, and she would give up her little wooden sword and everything else she owned just to bring him back.

When Maris and Pontius did return, Pontius sat down by the fire with a bottle of mead and stayed quiet for the entire night. Maris, however, gently approached her daughter, who was crying silent tears in a darkened corner of the cabin. It felt like she hadn't moved in hours.

"Come here, love," her mother said softly as she gathered Ria into her arms. "Come here." Maris stroked the little girl's hair, holding her close, letting her weep openly and completely.

"I want him back, mama," Ria managed to choke out after a few minutes.

"We all do, dear." Maris brushed Ria's hair back behind her ears. "There's nothing we can do now."

"Why not?" Ria looked up at her mother, whose face now had a scar spanning the left cheek from where one of the slaughterfish got a bite at her. A pang of guilt shot through Ria, as though that scar was her fault, too.

"It's up to the Divines, now. They'll watch over him." Maris' shaking voice belied her confidence, and somehow Ria knew that she had to do something.

That night, she made a prayer to Arkay, because Runil said that Arkay was the Divine of life and death. If anything could bring Nereus back, it was Arkay. She prayed, and wished, and pleaded, that the day get a do-over, that she get the chance to catch up with him and stop him from going into that water and that Nereus be back in the cabin, talking and playing as if nothing had happened.

When she woke the next morning, he was still dead.