Okay, here are the final three chapters of The Solstheim Conspiracy! I can't believe that I've been working on this story for four years, but I'm thrilled that I've completed it after all this time. Hopefully some of you have read the entire novel, so please leave a review if you can and let me know what you think!

48

The mining office was not any more organized than it had been last time I had visited, barely a week before. The entire main room was a cluttered mess of desks with stacks of papers in random piles. A few lamps lit the room, and I carefully peeked around the side of the door to take a quick look around. I crouched down and rushed inside, taking cover behind one of the desks across from the door. There didn't seem to be anyone hiding on the main floor, so whoever it was had likely gone upstairs.

Gaea crept inside and readied herself by the door, looking at me expectantly. I cautiously stood up and looked across the messy room. I thought I heard the creak of floorboards above me. Gaea entered the room, sword drawn and ready, and walked around the first desk, stepping in front of me.

From the back of the room, a figure jumped up with a huge crossbow held precariously in his thin arms. With a loud crack, the bolt shot out. We had barely a second to react, and I jumped forward as the bolt slammed Gaea right in the shoulder, the impact knocking her sideways. She lost her footing and fell into a desk, knocking it over, the papers fluttering wildly to the floor.

It was Carnius Magius. He attempted to reload the crossbow but soon swung it upwards and hurled it awkwardly at me. I held up my arms to block it, and it bounced heavily off my shield, knocking me a step backward, and then smashed into the wall. One of the oil lamps hanging there toppled from its holder and fell onto the nearest desk. With a brisk whoosh of flame, the papers ignited and the desk burst into flames.

Magius drew a short sword and thrust it at me, his face twisted into a mask of anger.

"You stupid little bitch!" he snarled. "I should have let them kill you!"

He was no expert in sword-fighting, but I was tired and my movements were hampered by the cramped office. Behind me, the burning desk sent flaming scraps of paper into the air, starting more fires each time they landed on another stack of paper. Since the entire office was loaded with paper documents, it turned the building into a huge tinderbox.

I blocked Magius' slashes easily, but I could not seem to get ahead of him. I couldn't move around freely and he effectively had me blocked. He was too quick for me to get close to him, so I let my wooden shield slip free of my forearm and then launched it at him. He ducked under it, but it gave me the time to jump at him and close the gap. I grabbed his sword arm and pushed him back, our swords locked together.

"If I die here, you die too!" he spat, twisting me around. The burning desk collapsed with a crunch, and burning sheets of paper fluttered away to spread the flames farther inside the office. I could feel the heat from the growing bonfire at my back, and the stink of burning paper filled the air, the smoke stinging my eyes.

Magius struggled and managed to pull our arms apart, with victory in his beady eyes. He fought to get his blade free as I pushed against him, and he was almost was able to pull it loose. As long as I kept his sword arm pinned, we were stuck in a draw, but I didn't have time for that. I had to improvise.

I swung my knee up and hit him right between the legs, and he screamed in pain, the sword clattering from his hand. Exhausted and panting for breath, I swung my arm back and then stabbed my sword right through his heart. He quivered weakly and stared at me in shock.

"Sasha?" he gasped. "You ..."

His legs went out from underneath him and he slumped downward, blood spilling down the front of his expensive blue shirt. I let his body slide off my sword and the former East Empire company administrator flopped to the floor, his eyes staring out at nothing.

I coughed heavily, lifting up the collar of my jacket to cover my mouth. The entire room was now billowing with flames, and the smoke was getting too thick to breathe. I wanted to open the windows to get some fresh air, but that would have only fed the flames even more.

"Sasha!" Gaea called out.

She was on her feet, standing by the doors with one hand reaching up under her shoulder armor, where the crossbow bolt had struck her. I couldn't be sure through the haze of smoke, but I thought I saw blood dripping down her arm.

"Come on!" she shouted. "We have to get out of here!"

"You go on," I said, waving her on. "I can't get back to the door. I'm going to go upstairs."

"But the entire building is going to burn down!"

"Falx is up there, Gaea," I said. "I know he is."

"Who cares? Let him burn!"

"I can't do that," I said, shaking my head. "I have to go after him."

Gaea looked at me pleadingly. "The Captain has the entire building surrounded, there's no way Falx is going to escape. And if he stays in here, he's going to die. He's not worth it. Just let it go, Sasha, please."

I walked over to the stairs, getting away from the blazing heat of the growing inferno. I pulled off my jacket, as the heat was too much. I coughed again and picked up my shield, which lay on the floor where I had thrown it.

"I'm sorry," I said, "but I have to do this."

"No, you don't," Gaea insisted. "Falx is a master swordsman, Sasha! You're not in any condition to try to face him alone! He'll kill you!"

"I won't be very long," I promised. "Just wait outside for me, Gaea. I promise I'll make it out before it's too late. And when this is over, we can finally spend time some together, I promise."

Gaea tried to protest, but the fire finally spread so much that she had to back out to the door. She cast me one final, scared look and then nodded in resignation before heading outside to escape the flames.

I paused at the foot of the stairs, my sword feeling heavy in my hand. She was right, of course. I was in no condition to go up against Falx now. I had already been tired before we even arrived at Raven Rock, and I had already taken part in the battle and then fought Carnius Magius as well. I was almost dead on my feet, I was so tired.

Falx would be ready and rested. And if he was half as good as I thought he was, then he was probably capable of defeating me easily. But that didn't matter. I had faced odds not much better than this many times before. If I was going to die in combat, then it certainly wasn't going to be against a deranged coward like Falx. Besides, it was a personal matter with him.

I climbed the stairs and headed up to my destiny.