A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed! Just to clear this up, Velina is not Shadowmere. Two completely different horses. Velina was given to Lauraine before Uriel Septim died. The Player gets Shadowmere after his death. Thanks to my beta TimexHasxGone!
'Trusting our intuition often saves us from disaster' - Anne Wilson
The figure, covered in charred Mythic Dawn robes and hood, swayed slightly in the room. The crack of light coming from Martins lantern reflected a few feet into the room, but not far enough to reach the figure. Lauraine could see it. Its arm out, a finger was pointed towards Lauraine, a set of glowing green eyes emitting from beneath the hood. Although Martin could not see it, Lauraine watched as it collapsed to the ground, whispering something only Lauraine could hear.
Horribly loud, Lauraines high pitch shriek resounded throughout the caverns, sending shivers through Martins side as he clutched the scared woman's arms. She was struggling, her arms clawing into the skin on Martins arm. Her body was twitching, her arms making strange movements in disgust. Body facing the exit, several breaks in the dusty ground were visible, a result of her feet attempting to get her to run whilst being restrained.
"L-Lauraine! Calm down! It's dead!"
"No it was not! Those eyes! It was standing up!" Lauraine clung to Martin, a look of pure terror etched upon her face. Martin suddenly felt a pang of fear, knowing that if something scared Lauraine, then it truly was something.
"I saw nothing! Look, it's just a dead body." Martin proved this to her by kicking the charred mess, his lantern now filling up the entire room. The Skelton bones littered the floor, indicating that there was more than one person in the store room when Lauraine set the place ablaze.
"It was moving. How could you not see those eyes?!" Her grip, vice like on Martins arm, was starting to hurt Martin, her fear hitting its peak.
"Look, it must have been your imagination. It is dead. If you don't believe me, then look." Martin pulled the dead body up from the floor, all the bones and joints still connected, to his surprise. Pulling the hood back from the skeleton, Martin instantly threw the bones towards the wall, a shiver of disgust going through him.
"Okay, that's not normal... The eyes shouldn't still be in the sockets..." Martin moved closer to Lauraine, keeping his eye on the eyes in the skeleton. Still moistured, and still showing the deep green irises, the eyes seemed alive and fearful.
"Let's just grab the box and go. We'll open it outside, after I've burned this place to a crisp the second time." Pushing her way through the burnt wood and human ashes, Lauraine came across the part of wall she was looking for. Punching it in, her shaking hand went straight through the chalk-like cover, the dust from the small alcove floating up her nostrils. Sneezing violently, she roughly pulled the heavy metal box out, flinging it through the air and accidentally letting it collide with Martins face. The resulting crack was sickening, a look of horror hitting Lauraines face as blood freely poured from his nose. Loudly, Martin fell to the floor most ungraciously.
"Martin! Oh shit, I'm so sorry! You really need to stop standing so close behind me!" Lauraine promptly dropped the heavy metal box, her hands flying up to her mouth as she observed the bloody mess that was now Martins face.
"That bloody hurt!"
"Shut up!" Falling to her knees, Lauraine placed her hands firmly on Martins face, ignoring his struggles and moans of pain. Resisiting the urge to strangle him, she allowed her magicka to drain, placing all of it in a powerful bone healing spell. Cut and wounds could be healed simply, but it takes alot more magicka to mend bones. Feeling slightly light headed, she pretended to not hear his moans as she harshly rubbed the blood from his face, making sure the bones had healed nicely.
"There we go. Wouldn't want to ruin your pretty little face now, would we?" Gripping his wrist, Lauraine roughly yanked him up from the ground, pulling up the box in the process. Thrusting it into his arms, Lauraine cast one fear-filled look towards the robed skeleton on the floor, shuddering at the creepy shivers it sent up her back.
Spinning on her heel to face the closed door, another scream let loose from her lips, causing Martin to jump and drop the box onto his foot. With Martins loud cursing in the background, Lauraine kept her eyes fixed on the body that hung on a hook fixed to the back of the door. Scolding herself for screaming so loudly, Lauraine realized she should have expected the body to be there. After all, she had placed the screaming, dying Mythic Dawn acolyte there to suffer with a ripped stomach, instead of killing him instantly as she did the others.
"Mother of Uriel, Lauraine will you stop screaming! Crap, crap ow!" Martin hopped on one foot, massaging the other with his hand, whilst cursing a few of Sanguines personal favourites.
"Sorry... I'll carry the box." When said box was in her hands, Martin immediatly took a few steps back from Lauraine, his hands removed from his foot and placed over his nose.
It will come for you, it will never let you go.
Shuddering, the words echoed around Lauraines head, as she entered the inn with the strange feeling of being watched. Cloak wrapped tightly around her, she made her way towards the bartender, until her eyes flickered over to a man sat in the corner. Expertly hidden.
Changing her route, Lauraine scraped a chair across the floor, seating herself down and facing the male.
His jaw, still as defined as it was at thirty years old, had rough stubble coating it, helping in making his face darker and concealed. Eyes that were once a beautiful chocolate brown, now a blood red and pulsating in hunger. His smile, however, was still perfect. Warm and yet chilling, fearful yet welcoming. The absence of fangs showed that he had either just fed, or he had finally mastered control over his vampirism.
"Well well, what a surprise to see you here. I note that every time I see you outside the brotherhood, it is always in this inn. What is this, the seventh time?" Lauraine let her words out, watching as his lips twitched upwards in a amused smile.
"Who's counting? And it's actually the eighth, sister."
"Like you said, who's counting? You seem to like this inn, I note."
"As do you, sister, as do you. I do not, however, see why. The daughter of Roxy, drunk every night and barely able to tell you which room you wish to stay in. Drunks, theives and harlots. Whores and prostitutes sit on bar stools, attempting and failing to seduce the men who have no dignity. This is the last place one would expect a Daedric Princess, and a former empress to be."
"That, my friend, my brother, is the reason I prefer it here. Loud and busy, I would see any who walks through the door, yet be able to escape if need be. Drunks, harlots, prostitutes, theives and whores. All a worthy distraction. And, as you very well know, a place which is so busy, one is never disturbed." Lauraines smile mirrorred the assassins own, yet his was slightly less bright. He, after all, was not one to smile in public. Lauraine pushed his hood back, hoping to see if his hair was still the shiny, mezmerizing dark brown that it used to be. When she rejoined the sanctuary in her past life, after the events in the palace, Lauraine had never seen him with his hood off. Whereas when she first joined at the age of seventeen in her past life, his hood was up when he recruited her, but then it spend the rest of her time there down.
Grinning, her smile reached her eyes as she noticed it was exactly the same. Shining in the light of a flickering candle, it was pulled back into the style it always was, and had kept its thick, dark colour.
"What exactly brings you here, brother?"
"We have not spoken in quite some time, and I believe you are in quite a dilemma. Refusing to kill your target, and then having to help your son with an attack on the morrowind border. Sucks to be you, sister." Raising his glass towards her, he took a sip, his soft lips hardly touching the glass.
"And yet, your attitude never fails to amaze me. Your sister is stuck in many dilemmas, and yet you toast her and inform her that 'it sucks to be her'. You haven't changed one bit Lula."
A sharp kick was sent Lauraines way, the table hiding the action, and preventing it from being too hard a blow.
"Refrain from using that pathetic nickname! You kno- What are you doing?" He watched as Lauraine pressed her hand to the wall, watching her look around to make sure none was watching.
"I Have to go now. I hope to see you soon, Lucien. It was nice seeing you again. By the way, you have a little blood on the corner of your mouth. Best to get rid of it, before the barmaid see's it. She has been giving the eye. I wonder, if you sleep with her, will she be classed as a necrophilliac?" Another kick was sent towards Lauraine, yet it missed, going through the mist that was now her body.
"What in Sith-"
"Farewell, Lucien." Lauraine had slipped through the pink wall, into the swirling white mist that, amazing, no one had noticed.
Martin cursed loudly, the few legion soldiers that were behind him glaring at him for using such words. Rolling his eyes at them, Martin looked out of the wooden door slightly, narrowly avoiding a daedric arrow sent his way. It seemed a few worshippers of Hircine did not want him interfering with any plans, and had decided to attempt to kill him. A low, angry roar resounded throughout the carverns, chilling Martins blood and scaring the shit out of the soldiers.
Martin rolled his eyes sarcastically, tilted his head slightly and announced, in a fake tone of happiness and light anger,
"They have a cave troll." Slamming the door shut, Martin drew his sword, aiming it towards the door and standing in fighting stance.
"Um, sir? What should we do? There is no way out besides that door, and I am a bit squeamish at the sight of trolls. It's the green sir..."
"Just kill it... I have no time fo-"
Stopping mid scentence, Martin became aware of the fact that he seemed to be split in two. Numbness crawled up his legs, and around his waist, before he realized that the floor was dragging him in. Dissappearing from the sight of the soldiers, Martin fell through the ceiling of a very white hallway.
The pillars that adorned each wall were magnificent, letting off a bright white glow, yet allowing the building to seem much older than it probably was. The floors were clean, white and hard concrete. The resulting fall had no doubt injured his tail bone, as the bone in question was revolting to it's apparrent bruising.
"I left you three hours ago Martin Septim, how in the name of Akatosh did you manage to get locked in a room with a cave troll banging on the door?" Lauraines voice, soft and quick, floated to his ears, accompanied by fast footsteps. Turning his head around, Martin saw her coming towards him, her eyes not leaving the crumpled pages of a book.
"Where are we?" Slowly standing up, he was eye level with Lauraine at the moment she passed him, her scent infiltrating his nostrils.
"Follow me. Now." Her pace did not slow; Martin found himself having to half-run to keep up with her.
Turning many corners, climbing many staircases, and at one point having Lauraines hand shoved over his mouth, Martin followed her to a large white door. Obviously wooden, yet enchanted to make it fit in with the rest of the castle, Martin could feel the strong magic radiating from it.
"Don't waste time staring at my door. Inside." Her soft hand was placed in the small of his back, pushing him forward into a very large, very neat bedroom. Shining white in colour, the large bed was shoved into one corner of the room, not even taking up quarter of the space. A large glass doorway led to a balcony, yet was hidden by dark purple drapes. Transfixed, Martin simply stared around the room, noting the many drawings that littered the walls.
"Um... Lauraine, I Know we used to married and all, but don't you think it's a bit too early to-"
"Shut up, fool. I did not bring you here for the sole purpose of having sex with you, idiot. I brought you here because I have discovered Hircines plan to invade Tamriel." Eyes widening, Martin quickly approached the large desk, eager to find out what Lauraine had discovered.
"Let me see."
"Hush! Don't be so loud! The daedra are having a meeting in the floor above, and I'm sure Mehrunes Dagon would be delighted to see you!" Slapping him hard over the head, Lauraine muffled his cry of pain with her hand, before proceeding to show him the maps and plans.
"He'll open portals at the borders to Morrowind, Elsweyr, Skyrim and the south western end of Valenwood." Drawing squares on the exact locations the portals would open, Lauraine continued in a hushed voice.
"From one portal, werewolves. From another come the Alronacts. They are special warriors made by Hircine to entertain those in the Hunting Grounds. From another will come elemented Alronacts, same as before but specilising in certain magics..."
"And from the fourth?"
"A band of all three..." Lauraines face was paler than normal as she gave him the information, knowing that they both knew the possible outcome of the situation.
"When will they open?"
"Knowing Hircine? Most probably all four at once..." Lauraine watched as Martin paled at her answer.
"Attack from all sides, all will flee and... And corner us... No!"
"The Imperial City will fall to all four attacks should we fail to stop it."