Ok I lied. One more chapter after this. Truthfully.

"Vorstag!" I cry, spinning on my knees to face him. The ash scatters and billows into the air, filling my senses with its vileness. Coughing, I quickly crawl down the steps to him. He hasn't moved from where I left him, limbs tangled at the bottom of the steps, and chest down.

"Vorstag!" I say again, softer this time but more nervous. I reach my hands to him, shaking and hovering in fear of hurting him further. He's unresponsive and breathing raggedly. "Okay, I'm going to fix this, okay?" I spread my shaking fingers, gently resting the tips on the red stained puncture in his armor. I take a deep breath and cast the spell.

The yellow tendrils swirl from my being and around his, humming softly and casting a safe glow in the dark, blood drenched hall. I feel the energy leaving me instantly, but press harder, willing the life to leave me and enter him.

"Vorstag," I try again, "Please say something. Come on, you've taken worse than this."

Still no response. I feel my heart surge and a cold fear creep up my neck. Is he even healing? I halt my spell, unable to concentrate. "Dammit, Vorstag!" I cry, breath coming faster and chest hammering. "Why aren't you healing? Why—?!"

Then I see the deep black smoke curling around the armor.

Bohethiah's champion armor has a poison enchantment. The cursed mail was poisoning the fatal wound him just as fast as I was healing.

I frantically turn him over, grabbing underneath his shoulder plating, and begin ripping the ebony cuirass off his chest. "Come off, dammit!" I yell bitterly, nails clawing at the latches and buckles, becoming carless in my haste. I feel hot tears filling my eyes and run down my face, cursing more, and finally rip the lethal metal off. I'd never trusted that wretched thing.

His dirty cotton tunic is dripping with blood and sweat. I grab the rip where the knife came through and tear it further, revealing the narrow wound that cut through him. His face is pale, grotesquely flecked and smeared with red, and blonde hair matted. I thank all the divines when I hear his ragged breath continue.

"Vorstag," I say, fumbling for a potion in my pack, "I need you to drink this, okay? I can't heal you properly until that poison gets out of your system." I pull out a small pink vial with 'cure-all' hastily scrawled on in and begin pouring it into his mouth. Tilting his head up, I massage his throat, prompting him to swallow the sticky, pink liquid down.

"Okay." I breathe, tossing the empty vial. Tearing my eyes away from his face, I turn back to the still oozing wound and place my hands on both sides of it.

I take a deep breath, then throw all my energy into casting healing hands again.

Vorstag's lifeless expression tightens, nostril's flaring and brow creasing in pain. He feels the pain. I exhale in relief. That's a good thing; it means he's coming out of unconsciousness.

The wound begins to close, ever so slowly, and though the top has sealed I continue casting to make sure the insides heal as well.

Gasping suddenly, the light dissipates and I feel lightheaded. I'm almost out of magicka. Breathing in sharply, I press harder, willing the last of my energy, my life, to go into healing him. Beads of sweat prick my face and I clench my jaw. I'll heal him until I pass out. I don't care. I'll give him everything, every ounce of my energy, I won't—

My thoughts are stopped by his hand grasping my forearm.

Startled, I look down to him and feel a wave of warmth and relief flood my soul. His eyes are half open, looking up at me and a stupid little smile on his face.

"Saber," he wheezes softly, "You can stop now. Save your strength."

I choke, tears leaving clean streaks down my bloodied, dirt smeared face and gag as the lump rises in my throat. "You idiot." I manage, wiping my face and yielding to his request. "You proud, stupid idiot. Just let me heal you." I pound lightly on his chest, and fighting the urge to throw myself at him.

"It doesn't hurt anymore." he whispers, closing his eyes for a moment and clenching his jaw. "Promise. No use in both of us being rendered useless."

"You're not useless." I say, grabbing a semi clean cloth from the pack and wiping his gory face. "Please let me finish healing you."

"I've lost a lot of blood," he sighs, observantly noting the puddle his half naked body lies in, "So unless your magic can regenerate that, I'm going to have to lie here for a while. Go help Verulus."

"You're an even bigger idiot if you actually think I'm going to leave you!" I growl, angrily slapping the soiled cloth onto his chest. "And the priest is fine," I say, glancing at Verulus who's peacefully snoring on the demonic table. "He's getting that break he kept asking for during the trek."

I awkwardly sit by him for a moment, not sure what to do next. What I even want to do next. I look at him, a hungry feeling clawing in my stomach. I thought I'd lost him. If I was certain of once thing it was that I never wanted to feel that way again. I'm about to suggest moving him to a more comfortable place than the stairs when he begins to speak.

"When Eola put me into that trance, it wasn't like I just couldn't think or fell into a void, but rather was transported to a different place. Back to Markarth. I relived my worst memories, felt the pain I experienced tenfold. The worst part was I that knew what was about to happen but I couldn't stop it. I couldn't save my parents, I couldn't stop my brother from leaving. It all felt so real."

"I didn't know you had a brother." I whisper gently, feeling my fingers inch closer to his. I knew what's happened to his parents, however, and I knew it was not a subject he was willing to discuss with me. They'd been murdered by Forsworn. My kind. I gulp slightly, praying his brother hadn't met the same fate.

"I don't." he growls softly, "Not anymore at least. He left me after our parents died. But then she showed me something else," he said, drifting away from the subject of family once again, "she showed a something I have no memory of. She showed me you dying."

Note to self: don't bring up Vorstag's prodigal brother. "Well, I'm alive and well, for the most part." I laugh uncomfortably, my fingers dancing away from his. There are actual tears in his eyes. Heat creeps across my face and I can't understand how another person can care for me this much. I have no idea how to handle it.

"I know." He sighs in relief, closing his eyes. "But it seemed so real. Still seems so real. You were calling to me, begging me for help but I couldn't save you. I couldn't even move. I just had to watch as…as you died. It'll haunt me for the rest of my life."

"Well, I was begging for your help," I snapped playfully but refuse to meet his eyes. "You were being hypnotized and I was left to fight a horde of hungry cannibals by myself."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Vorstag," I reply, uncomfortable by his sincerity. "I don't expect you to be invincible. The divines know I'm not. But it all worked out." I pause, remembering the kiss. I grab my knees, drawing them closer to myself. Does he remember? Is that why he's acting this way? Is everything going to be different now? But I mask these feelings and instead quip, "At least we beat them!"

"Maybe you should go wake up Verulus." He sighs after a quiet moment, sounding disappointed for some reason. I grind my teeth in frustration. No matter how hard I try I always manage to say something wrong. "If you're not going to leave for help, maybe he can."

"Help?" I mock coyly, "I thought you were fine."

"I lied."

We laugh uncomfortably for a little until he winces, his face growing paler and contorting with pain.

I nearly fly up the stairs to wake our blissfully snoozing companion.

xxx

"What…what happened?" the priest whispers, surveying the carnage that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Umm…" I say, glancing at Vorstag. He's propped up against a wall, away from the dismembered bodies and gore. His eyes are closed and he has a permanent grimace on his face. No help there.

Whatever happens next is my call. And I want to tell Verulus the truth.

"These people were the corruption that needed to be purged…" I say carefully, gesturing at the dead, "they wanted to eat you, but we stopped them."

"These people?" He repeats, eyes wide as he stares at the blood and broken limbs. "Sweet breath of Arkay…were these the cannibals that were plaguing the Hall of the Dead?"

"They wanted you dead because of your devotion to Arkay." Vorstag mumbles from his spot, shifting to get more comfortable. "They eat the dead while you honor them. It would have been humiliating for the god and ironic for you."

"Oh divines!" Verulus gasps, clutching his heart and falling back onto the table. "I—I can't believe something like this could happen! To me of all people!" He looks at me, brown eyes wide and scared. "You knew they wanted to do this and still brought me here?"

"It was the only way to get them all together." I reply defensively, crossing my arms. "We turned their trap for us into a trap for them. You were in no real danger." Vorstag's grimace twitches into a smirk at my lie. I roll my eyes.

"Well, it appears we were successful then," Verulus says with a shaky breath. He stands slowly, knees wobbly, and tries his best to regain his composure. "You have my thanks and Arkay's blessing."

"You're too kind." Vorstag states dryly.

"I—I suppose you'd like a reward." Verulus gulps, looking to me sheepishly. He begins to fish out his coin purse when I reach out to stop him. He nearly flinches at my touch.

"That's not necessary." I say with a tight smile. "We have it out for the daedra. Destroying them and their followers is its own reward." I glance at Vorstag. "But there is something else you can do."

xxx

Verulus returns with a group from the Left-Hand Mine three long, awkward hours later. Skaggi, the orc named Gat, and a few other men eagerly followed him into Reachcliff to rescue us. Coming through the secret entrance, they pause upon seeing the carnage.

"Divines," Gat utters, his gravelly voice mystified. "You said it was bad, priest, but I didn't expect this. You two," he says, walking up to Vorstag and me, "You two did all this?"

"You saw them fight the Forsworn with us, didn't you?" Skaggi says, his good eye still surveying the bloody room. "Girl took on an entire flanking party. They're tougher than berserker orcs. Uh, no offense, Gat."

The orc grunts in response then bends down beside Vorstag. During the three hours alone we talked little. For the past few days it'd felt like we were never alone, and now that we were, paired with all the events that preceded it, we had no idea what to say. Every time we did talk, Vorstag tried to bring the conversation to a deeper level, bringing up how glad I was alive for the tenth time. In response, I'd tell him to get some rest or shove a stamina potion down his throat.

Why was he making it so awkward? Why was I making it so awkward? We were no longer in sync. We no longer had that harmony we'd honed in battle. This was what I was afraid of. Putting feelings into the partnership almost got the three of us killed. We needed things to go back to the way they were.

"Thank you for coming to our aide," I say, bowing my head, "we're in your debt."

"Nonsense!" Skaggi replies gruffly. "Your lot helped rescue our entire village from those dammed barbarians. If anything, we're still in debt to you."

I nod gratefully, but clench my jaw at the memory of the Forsworn. The memory of Sosia. Left-Hand Mine might be safe, but my battle was not over. "He's lost a lot of blood," I say, reverting my attention to the task at hand: getting us out of here. "He's too weak to walk and needs food."

"Thank you Saber for pointing out all my shortcomings." Vorstag sighs. Gat and another miner grab hold of Vorstag under the limbs and lift him up. "Oh, here we go."

They come over to me, but I wave them off. "I'm fine," I say, rising from my seat. "I didn't get beat up too badly." My legs nearly give out and I cling to the wall for support. Dammit. There goes my pride, too.

"I've got you," Skaggi says kindly, wrapping one of my arms around his shoulder.

He helps me walk out of the rotting dining hall and back into the purple twilight. I breathe the fresh, Skyrim air in greedily as they load us into a horse drawn cart.

Vorstag is laid down with a hay pillow and burlap blanket. We rub his arms and legs in order to keep his body warm and blood circulating. They give us food and water, and I make sure Vorstag eats the rations with the most sugar. He consumes it eagerly and the flush begins to reappear in his face as we clomp away from Reachcliff cave.