Cayn P.O.V

…x.X.x…

"Outside of Solitude, about a month ago." The innkeeper said grimly, his eyes dark. "The Emperor Titus Mede II was assassinated on his ship in the bay."

Briani let out a strangled choking sound behind me, and I gasped. "No." I said, horrified. "That's horrible." I'd never been a strong supporter of either side in the Civil War. In fact, I had been raised worshipping Talos and frankly despised the Thalmor. But I had never held any hate for the Emperor in my heart, and his death was not only a terrible loss of life, but also the last thing the war-torn country needed.

I heard a rough sliding of the stool next to me, and saw that Briani had stood up suddenly. Her face was blank, and she turned her face away from me. "Briani? Are you okay?" I asked, worry filling my chest. She opened her mouth, her face still turned away.

"I-" She croaked, her voice breaking. She sucked in a breath, seeming lost for words. I frowned. I had never seen her so flustered, and something seemed very, very wrong. "Where is my room?" She finally whispered, directing her words at the innkeeper.

"Over there, but…" He said, his voice trailing off in bewilderment as Briani shook her head, retreating quickly away from us. She almost ran to her room, and before I could say anything the door shut, and I could hear a lock sliding into place.

"What's wrong with your lady there?" The innkeeper muttered. My frown deepened, my ears heating up the tiniest bit at his misplaced description.

"I've no idea." I said. "I'm going to go see if I can find out, though." I stood, leaving the table and approaching the door to her room. I knocked gently. "Briani?" I called through the door. I heard shifting in the room, but no vocal response. "Is something wrong? Please," I attempted again. Now I was beginning to really worry. Briani definitely wasn't an open person, but she had never completely closed me out. I stood for a few more moments, hoping for an answer. Finally I gave up, but the brief image of Briani's eyes before she had turned away burned in my mind even much later that night. I was startled by how quickly they'd changed from their light brown color.

Because before she'd turned, I'd seen that her eyes were black.

…x.X.x…

The next morning Briani didn't mention anything about her breakdown the night before. I didn't pressure her, but I noticed that she was hooding her face again, taking care to shield her eyes.

"Good morning." I said, trying to put a cheerful edge in my voice.

"Good morning." She said. Her voice was strong again, but there was no pretense of joviality.

We were back to the silence when we set out again that morning. I tried to analyze why she would bolt like that. Was she an imperial supporter? It seemed like an extreme reaction, but it was the only idea I had that made sense.

The weather was still nice, and our route south helped even more. Even with the hood concealing her face I could tell that Briani was watching and taking in the scenery, reminding me once again that she was foreign to Skyrim. Despite the nervous atmosphere around us I found it heartwarming to watch her take it all in; Usually so stoic and authoritative, she took in the landscape like a child leaving her small town for the first time. It wasn't long until we came upon our destination: Fellglow Keep, it's rocky wall crumbling in some places, stood forebodingly above the surrounding landscape.

"I think this is it." Briani's spoke up, confirming my suspicions. "Let's find an entrance. There doesn't seem to be anyone out here…"

We dismounted our horses, grabbing our packs and hitching the horses in a decrepit stable in the fort. I looked around. Now that we were here, I was suddenly unsure of what to do next. "I guess they'd be inside…" I muttered to myself, approaching the large front entrance of the fort. I went to open the door, to find it was locked. I tugged harder, thinking maybe it was just stuck.

"There has to be another entrance somewhere." Briani said behind me, scanning the dilapidated courtyard while I continued to pull on the door with all my strength. The doors may have been old, but this place was designed to withstand a siege. I doubted any human could open that door.

"There!" Briani called. She had walked the circumference of the fort, and was standing by a small side tower. "I think this door is unlocked."

I walked over as she tentatively tested the door. It resisted, and she tugged harder until it gave with a splintering crack. The door swung open, and I could see that an old rotted board had been placed across the door, and now lay splintered on the ground. I guessed that that was what had produced the cracking noise when Briani pried the door open. We stepped down into a dark room, and with a small fizzing noise a magelight formed in Briani's hand. Water had flooded this room, and I waded through it grateful that I wasn't wearing the simple mage robes but my hardened leather armor.

We splashed through the first room with no incidents. The sound echoed off the walls, and I unsheathed my sword. It would be too easy for something to sneak up on us. I'm glad I did, because in the next room we had an unpleasant surprise.

"Hey!" A figure in mage rooms was huddled in the corner, two frostbite spiders scuttling next to him. "You can't be down here!" He waved his hand, and the spiders rushed towards us.

I stepped forward swinging my blade across the first spider. In the split second between the first and the second I glanced over my shoulder to see Briani blocking an ice spike with a ward spell. I felt a freezing pain and realized that in my moment of distraction the second spider had taken its opportunity to leap at me, gripping my boot with its mandibles. I snarled, the dragon in my soul emerging in anger, and I thrust my hand out, a stream of white-hot flame engulfing the creature. It hissed and fell back, collapsing and filling the room with a vile smell. I whirled back to Briani, and saw her standing over the icy body of the mage. Her eyes were wide and she seemed almost shell-shocked.

"Are you alright?" I asked. "Did he catch you anywhere?"

She shook her head, her next words revealing her problem. "I… I killed him." She looked back up at me, than back down at the body. "He's dead."

I felt my heart swell sympathetically. I hadn't thought that she may not have faced having to kill anyone before. Unfortunately, I also had the feeling that there would be more mages in here, and she'd need to toughen up quickly. I put a comforting hand on her shoulder and realized that she was shaking.

"He would have killed you." I said calmly. "There was no other choice; and I'm sorry, but we'll probably face more of them inside."

She nodded slowly, shutting her eyes. "I'm okay. I just…"

"I know." I grimaced. "You just didn't expect it to feel so personal. I would worry more if you didn't feel anything. Let's just keep moving"

I downed a health potion for my leg and we continued in haunted quiet. Briani stopped in the next room to pick a chest, and I continued. I stepped through the next threshold and immediately felt sick. Several mages had their backs turned to me, and I cut them down before they could react. It wasn't the mages that were sickening though- this was obviously a torture room. Several cages lined the walls, containing hissing vampires… and ones that seemed much less alive. A human man lay stretched on an evil looking table, blood staining the wood and nasty tools lying around him. He had definitely been dead for while.

"Damn necromancers." I muttered under my breath, going to cover the body.

Briani stepped in after me. "Look what I fou-" she stopped short when she saw the room. "Oh gods." She muttered.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, anyone you kill in here was probably involved in this." I said, seeing her expression morph to anger. She nodded, a steely look flashing across her face.

The next chamber was almost identical. We picked off the mages that were occupying the room, and I stepped around to examine the cages. To my surprise a hooded Altmer stood in one of the cages, peering at us with a panicked look on his face.

"Please let me out." He begged. "I can help you!"

A single piece of information flitted through my mind. "Are you Orthorn?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yes." Now he sounded confused.

I sighed. "It's your fault we're here, then. I suppose I can't just leave you in there though."

Orthorn looked stricken. "Oh gods. Is this about the books? I swear I was only borrowing them-"

"I'm sure." Briani quipped, approaching the cage and standing beside me. "What were you going to do? Teleport out of there? Make a phantom key?"

Orthorn flushed, obviously embarrassed. "It was a misunderstanding."

I rolled my eyes, grabbing a key from one of the mages and turning it in the lock. The door swung open.

"Thank you!" Orthorn cried, stumbling out of the cage.

"Just don't go wandering off." I snapped. It was this man's fault we were here, and I wasn't in the mood to play nice with him. He nodded emphatically, not saying anymore.

We continued through the ruin. It seemed to go on forever. We were tiring, and things were not going as smoothly as I may have liked. Orthorn set off a rune spells, causing the hall to explode into flames, giving me a painful burn on one of my arms. A mage hit Briani with a shock spell when she had her back turned, and it had taken her almost ten minutes to recover enough to walk without a twitch. Orthorn stumbled into a poison dart trap, earning himself several deep lacerations and an unfriendly glare when I was forced to give up a cure poison potion. We continued slower, ascending into the main keep. The treasure we acquired was little encouragement, but we managed to amass a small collection of valuable stones and alchemy ingredients.

Finally we arrived at a much larger door, and Orthorn's face blanched. "This… this is the main chamber. The Caller will be in there."

I frowned. This information was new. "The Caller?"

"Their leader." Orthorn explained. "She's the one who locked me up."

"Then maybe we'll get along." I heard Briani mutter behind us, and Orthorn flushed again.

"Just… just be careful."

I turned the handle on the door, and it opened with a metallic creaking. I walked into the chamber, not knowing what to expect. It was a large, circular room. I could see it split into the sections in the back, and it was ringed with flickering candled. A necromancer's lair without a doubt. A tall woman stood in the middle. Her eyes sparkled with ancient malice, and she stared haughtily at us.

"I've been expecting you." She said. Her voice grated on my ears, and I met her stare. "A son of Skyrim and a daughter of the Empire. Blessed of Akatosh and blessed of Magnus." She sounded beyond snooty, and I had to resist the childish urge to throw something at her head. Probably save us some trouble, I thought sulkily to myself.

I saw Orthorn staring at us in shock out of the corner of my eyes. "Blessed…" was all I heard before his mumbling trailed into incoherency.

"We're here for the books." I said, steeling my voice. "Just hand them over and we'll go."

"You think I'm just going to hand over the books without a thought?" She laughed. "I'll require something in return."

Before I could say anything further something flew blinding white from behind me, striking the woman with a flash. The Caller stared at Briani, an ice spike sticking out of her chest.

"How about a death faster than you deserve?" Briani snarled, her fists clenched in rage. "You disgust me. The world doesn't need people doing things like you."

I stared in shock at her, ignoring the choking sounds coming from The Caller as she collapsed. "Briani…?"

She shook her head. "I don't like it, but there are people who don't deserve the life they are given. It's better to be rid of her now; she would only hurt more people if we let her live." Her voice was strained, her eyes flashing dark blue, but she stood firm. She strode across the chamber, past the dying woman, and grabbed the books, which were sitting on pedestals behind The Caller. Then she walked back to us, ignoring our awed expressions.

I attempted to open the door that seemed to leave the keep, but it stuck fast. I shook my head, not excited for what I knew came next. I approached the dead necromancer, searching through her robe. I pulled out a set of keys, and tried them in the door. It opened soundlessly, and I emerged into a small room. There was a trapdoor, and we swiftly ascended into the foyer of the keep, and from there making a hasty escape from the dreadful place with the books safely stashed in Briani's pack. When we stepped into the daylight, I turned to Orthorn.

"You're on your own now." I said, a bit of anger reverberating in my voice. "It was your fault we were in this mess, and now you can try to salvage what little may be left of your reputation."

He glared at me, but nodded wordlessly, turning and walking away from us. Briani turned to me, a guilty look on her face. "I hope I didn't mess anything up back there." She groaned, burying her face in her hands. "That was so stupidly impulsive. I'm sorry."

"It was definitely for the best." I reassured her. "I have a feeling it was going to come to blows anyway. I'm just glad you stepped in before anyone of importance got hurt."

She sighed. "Thank you. I just… haven't had the best time the last few days." She smiled tentatively. "We should get back before Urag starts mourning the death of his books."

I laughed. "Alright."

We went around the keep, finding our horses still hitched at the ramshackle stabled. Soon we were on our way, and I was excited to get back. I was enjoying the ride until something I should have expected came from Briani.

"When that woman said you were the "blessed of Akatosh"… is that because you're dragonborn?" She asked, her voice light.

I felt all the blood drain from my face. "I- you… you know about that?"

"Of course." She said, uncertainty clear in her voice. "Why?"

"How long have you known?" I asked, feeling as if the entire sky was plummeting towards us.

"Since I've known you. Thoric told me after I asked what you had been arguing about."

She'd known the whole time. I didn't know why she was treating this so lightly, but I felt incredibly stupid. I'd been trying so hard to hide it, and she'd already known!

"What's the big deal?" She asked, sounding perplexed. I felt a laugh bubble up from my chest, and I shook my head incredulously.

"Is that the only reason you invited me to go to the College with you?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"What? No!" Now she sounded incredulous, staring at me wide-eyed. "I'm not even completely sure what the dragonborn is! Why would I invite you just because you're dragonborn?"

I stared back, unsure of what to say. "You… you don't know?" She shook her head, and now the laugh exploded from me. "Everyone wants to 'befriend' me, just because I'm supposed to have a destiny." I said bitterly. "But they don't care about me- only about the dragon inside of me. They only want to use me, and I was afraid you were doing the same thing."

She looked hurt. "Like I said, I don't even know exactly what dragonborn is!" she said, a frown furrowing her brow. "Care to explain?"

I explained everything to her. The dragon outside Whiterun, High Hrothgar, the Greybeards, Alduin, and the Shouting. I found it difficult to look at her, keeping my eyes locked straight ahead on the horizon. When I finished I was startled to hear her chuckle.

"You thought I would use you because you can kill a dragon?" She said. I stared at her, not knowing whether to feel relieved or ridiculously confused. I settled on both. "I mean, I can see how it would be useful." Briani continued. "But it's not like being around you gives me the power to kill dragons. I actually feel a bit bad about the fact you had so much riding on you. Why try to influence you when you're obviously not easily molded? That seems a bit cruel."

I couldn't believe my ears. I opened my mouth, but for a moment no sound came out. "Thank you." I croaked finally. "You don't understand what a relief that is to hear from someone."

She nodded, concern flicking across her face. "I'm sorry you thought that. I promise not everyone is like that."

I grinned at her, letting the relief wash over me. "Clearly."

...x.X.x…

Little bit longer of a chapter for you guys today! It's probably going to be Cayn P.O.V. again next chapter, which I'm starting tonight. Hope you guys have a great weekend, and PLEASE review/rate/follow! Every time I see that 'review' number go up you have no idea how happy it makes me!

~ElderSkie