Chapter 17 – Reading the Scroll

"I'd be a lot warmer and a lot happier with a belly full of mead" – Quote, Guard

Tai grunted as he pulled himself towards the bank with well-timed kicks, Serana aiding as best she could. Tai still had a mouthful of the sturdy pack as his paw closed around a rock; he pulled on it as he rose. Serana's feet dangled uncomfortably until she placed her toes against Tai's hip joint, even his curves in wolf form fitted her body it seemed. The water sloshed around him loudly as his knees came out the water; he was shaking as his feet escaped the water, a black fog was streamed through the water as he shed his wolf form.

Serana smiled for a moment as she stared at Tai, his hair dripping wet, plastered over his eyes. His skin was paler, from the waters cold, his mouth appearing darker from his scruffy hair as he half smiled. The leather strap dangled down his chest from his teeth, covering his more personal areas.

Serana wanted to curse the pack as she bit the strap herself, Tai was startled as he released the pack. Serana spun her neck expertly, sending the pack flying. She then realised her mistake in her haste, her hands were still bound. Tai lurched on his feet again, his face losing more colour as Serana leaned in, using her nose to wipe away Tai's hair. His eyes rolled backwards in his head as his mouth foamed slightly, he then collapsed.

Serana yelped as she felt his full weight on top of her, he was heavier than she expected. There was no fat on his strong body, but his muscle weighed more than if he had been all fat. Serana cursed as she tried to move him, he may as well been a mountain for her success. His shoulder shifted then fell again, she noticed Tai slightly aware, he was trying desperately to move but then the curse was her arms, trapped around his neck. He finally gave up as did Serana.

Serana lay back with a huff as Tai's nose and foam covered mouth rested against her neck, his forehead weakly on the ground. Serana stared up at the grey sky, rain soon to fall in the dark looming clouds. Birds flew on occasion across the matted layer of grey and white as she took another deep breath. Finally she tilted her head into Tai's, tightening her arms around him as best she could before closing her eyes. The smell of mud and honey on the wind teasing her nose as the waters raging tortured her ears. Somehow she still fell asleep.

Tai woke a while later, aware of a perfect coldness against his mouth and nose; the fresh scent caused him to breathe heavily. He nearly cursed noticing the slight wet patch; obviously he had been drooling in his sleep. The slobber however was thicker; he groaned again remembering the arrows in his back. Tai rose slowly, bending his knees around the cushion beneath him. Tai froze, feeling the pinch in his back. His eyes widened as he stared down at Serana, laying there messed up beneath him. Tai's mind was blank as he struggled to remember what had happened, he looked down his own naked self and blushed.

"No. Warm" Serana mumbled, her arms still tangled around his neck. Tai sighed, as Serana opened her eyes, shock in her face briefly as she stared down him, where her attention fixed was undisguised. Tai drew a breath in, bringing his skin tighter still as he tried to hide his embarrassment. He winced at the arrows as Serana shuffled, sitting up to touch her nose to him with a soft sigh.

"I see you're awake" Serana smiled gently, Tai groaned at the pain in his back, the arrows still had not moved somehow. Tai assumed that was due to Serana's handling.

"Barely" Tai spoke through gritted teeth, noticing Serana's fingers gently rubbing the bones of his neck as she leaned in with a girlish laugh and kissed him quickly. Tai could have cursed the moment leaving so quickly had the arrows been vacant.

"How about now?" she asked, a cheeky glint as she leaned in again, Tai leaned away slightly, wincing at the sudden jolt of pain over the everlasting ache of whiplashes and memories.

"Serana. I have arrows sticking out my back" Tai explained at her nervous face, he noticed the confusion flood across her face before her eyes widened in memory.

"I can't be bound to a handsome man a while longer?" She let her lip quiver. Tai sighed as Serana laughed and she stood up, her arms leaving his neck to be bound before her. She roamed to her pack and began rummaging through.

"Any Forsworn come shouting when I was out?"

"None. I'm shocked those primal fools managed to injure you" Serana looked over her shoulder, Tai rolled his eyes.

"I'm just glad there were no Briar Hearts, and it was a more built tribe. Maybe from the prison break. The Forsworn recruit the wronged of Markath by the day, we're lucky those tribal fools were not better organised. Still several new members, I assume" Tai coughed.

"Wait… You're saying the Forsworn are a race, as well as recruiting from all races to take the Reach?" Serana looked horrified as Tai nodded. Again he coughed, then winced in pain. The arrows were taking their toll.

"How did we end up here?" Tai asked weakly. Serana smiled.

"You leapt off a cliff" She accused, averting her face as to not show her amusement. Her voice had been cold enough to fool Tai.

"Blaming me Serana? We followed your directions, I swear… A goat could navigate Dragons Reach better than you" Tai now laughed, Serana glared at him.

"Keep insulting the woman who's going to gouge arrow's out your back Tai" Serana spoke in a hushed tone as she pulled her dagger free along with several scraps of cloth and a thick leather strip she began to fold over.

"That bad?" Tai asked horrified, he couldn't control the fear in his eyes as Serana nodded, flicking the dagger through her bindings as if they were paper. Tai dreaded to think what magic infected the sharp blade.

"This is going to hurt" Serana whispered offering him the leather, Tai looked at her with confusion in his eyes.

Tai had never known leather to be a helpful thing in healing. Serana raised her brow as Tai stared at it. He felt her sit over his back as he lay on his stomach, still naked. Serana stared down; the black bruising around the arrows and ran her finger gently along them to one of the arrows. Tai screamed loudly. Serana jolted back with a sharp intake of breath.

"That…Hurts… really hurts" Tai groaned as his head flopped into the mud, instantly regretting his muddy forehead. He felt Serana's hand run gently through his hair as she shuffled up beside his head, her hands around his gently. She guided the leather up, using one finger to pry Tai's mouth open. She then inserted the folded leather and forced his mouth closed with her right hand, wielding the dagger in her left. She ran her sleeve over Tai's forehead softly, her usual softness followed by a sorrow. Tai knew this meant one thing for him. Pain.

"Bite down as hard as you can on the leather. It helps with the pain" Serana whispered gently, swapping the dagger to her right hand as she returned to sitting on the small of his back, forearms resting on his shoulders as she poked the skin with her dagger. Tai screamed out desperately, a muffled grunt was all Serana heard. His cries were lost into the leather.

Serana winced as Tai writhed beneath her, muffled screaming sharing his pain. The blood pulped from his wounds, thick and black. The smell that greeted her nose shook her further, infection. Again Serana dragged the dagger across, causing Tai to yelp again into the leather, black oozy blood rewarded her. Serana plunged her entire dagger into the wound, twisting it slowly as more and more of the black ooze rewarded her. Tai's screaming fell on deaf ears as Serana continued cutting. It was after several gashes blood rewarded her, she sighed as Tai slumped into the mud with a gasp and a groan.

"One down" Serana said satisfied, rubbing a cloth down his darkened back. Tai stared over his shoulder, spitting the strap out straight to Serana's foot. She glanced down then back to Tai as he shook.

"One?"

"You got shot several times" Serana spoke coldly, Tai winced. Then he cursed. Loudly.

The week Tai took to recover, with the help of potions was a slow one. Still Tai insisted they travel, the agony in his body slowly fading away. It was then they finally reached the cave. With a slow, releasing exhale Tai stumbled in, Serana right by his side.

The first part of the cave was tunnel like, snow and debris from the outside winds littered the floor. They walked, crunching in the ice before they came to solid dirt; Tai paused as he reached the crest of a small hill looking down into a trench, a log to cross.

"Humph. Not very impressive is it?" Serana half asked, half stated. Her fine, princess nose up in the air as her fist rested on her hip, her disapproving way. Tai grinned, his own expectations for a Moth Priest glade left wanting. This place however, was a playground for Tai.

"After been in a box for god knows how long, you're going to complain about a little dirt?" Tai joked; Serana gave him a tight jawed, disapproving look.

"If this ends up been a wasted trip, your friend Dexion and I are going to have some words when I get back" Serana's flowing voice made her threat sound somewhat unrealistic. Tai knew Serana though, her words would involve throats been torn, slowly. Tai silently preyed this wasn't a waste, the slow building in his blood as he came to a fallen log across the trench made him positive he was onto something.

They walked back into a dark rocky bend of the cave, around the corner Tai saw the blue of the skies above almost before Serana. She sighed, something tittering between relief and hesitation. The air was good, but the sun was bad. They came out to the top of a natural stone staircase.

The land was beautiful, a gem hidden in the darkness of this unseeming cave. The sun shone through the holes down in one stream of light which sparkled with something Tai could only describe as perfection. It bathed the hidden glade in a beautiful green tinged light, the pine trees fading into the water filled rocks, almost a shallow pool forming around a stone platform. Beautiful pink flowered trees grew in strange places, almost a pattern despite seeming random. The water falls led into a river, surrounding the drop from the platform.

"Wow… Look at this place. No one has been here in centuries…" Serana trailed off after her enthralled whispering. Her eyes flashed in wonder as she stared around the glade.

"I bet there's no other place like it in Skyrim. It's…" Serana whispered again, trailing off once more as wonder overtook her face. Tai smiled, she was so innocent behind her confidence, she just wanted normality in her life, trust and love. Her hair flew as she spun, still her eyes embracing the sites of the most beautiful place. Tai thought anywhere she chose to be was the most amazing place. Tai couldn't help dream, she was truly beautiful.

"Beautiful" Tai added, Serana smiled at him. She had missed Tai's point. Her eyes shone as she took his hand, pulling him down the path in her childish glee. Tai sighed and followed, finding her delight in this glade infectious.

Tai pulled Serana into a hug, spinning so fast her feet left the ground. She squealed as Tai turned on himself several times, feet pacing the circle calmly. Finally he stopped; Serana fell breathlessly into his shoulder, arms still wrapped around his neck.

"I'm glad I'm here with you" Tai whispered down into her ear, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek before releasing her. Her hand found his again as she gave it a squeeze. She didn't speak a word though as Tai saw the drawknife, floating in a circle carved into a tree, another half circle embracing the hole.

He gripped it, heading to the pink flowered tree he had just passed. He paused for a moment, placing the blade against the tree. Finally he dragged down, one fluid motion as a large portion of bark fell free. Tai stared as Serana grinned.

"Let's hope the moths like that bark as much as Dexion said they would" Serana grinned as suddenly a small swarm of moths, about the size of a man's hand swarmed Tai.

Tai stared, shock, awe and fear on his face as he started slapping at the moths, leaping like a feral cat to disband them. Serana was laughing as Tai ran into the water, sinking beneath for a moment. When he resurfaced his hair plastered to his face again, hair he whipped back. The moths swarmed him again; he slipped on the rocks with a yell. Serana jogged over, laughing loudly as she offered him her hand.

"Damn moths. Why are they doing this to me?" Tai sighed, sitting in the water as Serana laughed. It was a miracle Serana had not emptied her bladder she laughed so hard. Tai pouted like a child, brow dropped. It was a cute look for him, Serana thought, if not amusing.

"They've defiantly taken a liking to you. And unless I'm seeing things, you're starting to… glimmer"

"Great. Good thing I'm not a vampire. I doubt glimmering would do wonders for my complexion" Tai sighed, Serana wiggled her fingers until Tai took her hand. She pulled him to his feet with an astounding amount of strength, smiling as more moths came.

"I think we need more" Serana laughed, dancing back up the path. Tai groaned, following her as the moths fluttered around him. He coughed, their dust getting down his throat. More and more were drawn.

The abrupt rush Tai felt forced him to his knees for a moment, the gold dust suddenly erupted into light around him. Everything appeared golden, as if Tai was looking into the very essence behind everything. He couldn't help stare down at his own, brightly shining hands.

"Look! I think that's what we've been waiting for. Let's go down and try reading the scroll" Serana was in awe.

Tai stared at her, sudden doubt swept over him. He saw something else in Serana. A monster, black and hungry with eyes of fire. Venom dripped from its fangs, twisting into blood as she wore the bones of dead children. Inside the mass however was a small figure, chained and struggling. Heart seeming to bleed love. Tai however ignored what he saw and stared at her scars, for the first time he saw them. They were not random scars, but a message. A message addressed to him by name.

He walked, seeing the flaming heart in the centre of Serana once more, dead yet loving. Finally he reached the column of light, he shuddered. Serana handed him the scroll, noticing how Tai's hands shook. He took a deep breath and looked to Serana.

"Here goes?" he asked hesitantly.

"Tai. You'll be fine" she whispered back, obviously unsure. He saw the worry in her eyes, flaming beautifully with little black veins weaving in from the outside, a yellowish band surrounding the lower half of her pupil. He continued memorising the message, it felt so right to. How could he tell Serana though?

"If I'm not. If something happens... I love you" Tai had said those words a lot, still Serana acted like it was the first time every time.

"I love you too. In a way, I waited a long time for you" Serana's words simply melted Tai's heart. Serana had him wrapped around her little finger, but Tai couldn't help love her. He felt he couldn't trust his voice, so, instead of replying he raised the scroll and pulled.

At first the scroll went black. Then the bright blue pattern erupted from the scroll, into the air before Tai as he lowered his arm. The patterns pulsed a few times, the moths occasionally fluttering across before the vision faded slightly. Tai couldn't control his actions as he opened the scroll a second time, the pattern once more erupting forth.

This time however it took his entire vision away, only the pattern showed in his eyes as a bright dot begun to creep, following and splitting in a way Tai knew he had seen before. Damned if he could remember. He opened the scroll a third time. The line doubled, taking another route as well as showing the first one.

The vision pulsed again, a blue wave taking it into a coloured, detailed map. Tai blinked. The rivers. That's where he had seen the lines before. The mountains were suddenly drawn in, glowing brightly in a pale red. He squinted as a shape began to show; slowly it revealed itself as the crest of Solitude. A second crest appeared; Tai believed it was the symbol for Markath.

Then Tai's vision went white, save one little name. He was aware of his knees hitting the ground, hard. He felt the scroll roll from his fingers as he fell, face first into the shallow water. Somehow he rolled, saving himself from drowning. Serana's voice floated to his ears.

"Tai? Tai! Wake up!" She was begging, shrieking. Her hands were shaking him.

"My god Tai. No. Please… Divine's please not now. Don't take all I have left away from me, not now." Serana sobbed as she cradled Tai. He coughed weakly, Serana gasped, hugging him with all her might for a moment. Tai groaned.

"Can't breathe"

"Are you ok? I thought I lost you! You went as white as the snow." Serana panted out, kissing his forehead loudly. For one split second, Tai's heart had stopped beating.

"I know where to find the bow!"