Leola whirled around in a swift motion, beginning to run back the way she had come. Her feet moved quickly over the bridges as she weaved her way back to the portal. When Aventus finally entered her view, he was standing between two demonic beings similar to Sanguine – their skin was dark as the void, they both had red markings on their faces, horns protruded from beneath their black hair, and they both wore spiked ebony armour similar to that which the Daedric prince had been wearing.
Both of the dremora lords carried massive reddish greatswords that sadly reminded Leola of the weapon wielded by Sond. They gripped their swords and brandished them at Aventus, who stood between the two creatures. In each hand he firmly grasped a black dagger with a sleek, slightly curved blade. He was facing one of the creatures, but his head was turned over his shoulder to look at the other. Leola could see his face, with a large gash on the left side of his face that ran from his temple to just below his ear. Blood dripped from the fresh wound and Leola felt her stomach tighten up.
As Leola began to draw near, the dremora that faced Aventus took a step forward. It went to thrust the sword forward, and in an instant, Aventus dove away from the creatures. He did a slight roll before jumping quickly to his feet, whipping around to face them again.
"Aventus!" Leola exclaimed.
The assassin's head turned as he heard her voice. The second dremora took this as his opportunity, lunging forward, blade held high above his head.
"Look out!" shouted the blonde, and Aventus's head snapped in the other direction just quickly enough to spot the blade coming down. He dodged quickly to one side. As the sword came down on the ground and the dremora shouted angrily, Aventus took a step forward, thrusting a dagger at what Leola presumed was a break in the armour – at the side of the creature's waist, where the chestplate likely ended and the leggings began.
The demon shrieked angrily as Aventus plunged the dagger into the weak spot. As it lifted the heavy blade again, the other one drew nearer. This one held its great sword over its shoulder, as if to come down for a side swipe.
"No!" Leola shouted, rushing forward.
"Don't!" Aventus said, stealthily dodging backwards as the sword came forward. The tip of the blade seemed to come within only an inch of his stomach, and Leola cringed.
The dremora creature, using the momentum it had gained, began to wildly swing the sword in the other direction, still moving forward, clearly hoping that it would catch him this time.
Leola, seeing the other creature lifting its blade again, knew that there was very little chance Aventus could easily dodge two blades coming at him at once. She ran close as the dremora moved towards Aventus, ducking and throwing herself in the demon's path, where it couldn't hit her with the sword but would trip over the small woman. Sure enough, her plan worked and the dremora let out a shout as it tripped over the blonde, the sword crashing to the ground.
Leola looked at the dremora as it fell and her eyes went wide. She saw, briefly, Aventus's dagger still protruding from between the plates of armour. It was gone from her view though, as the creature fell on it. A strangled sound that seemed to be a cross between a yell and a hiss escaped the beast before its movements ceased.
Leola stared in awe for a few seconds – had she just killed the dremora? – before shifting her gaze back up to Aventus. Somehow, in the time she had been tripping up the first dremora, he had managed to get behind his. His legs were hooked around the creature's waist, one hand gripped its spiked pauldrons, and his other hand had the dagger to the dremora's throat.
It took only one swift, fluid motion for Aventus to slide the blade across the large creature's throat. He barely seemed to need to think about it – it simply came natural, a motion with which he was obviously well-acquainted. Leola immediately looked away, but quickly looked back to see the monster fall in a heap to the ground with Aventus still on its back. Aventus rose to his feet, running the flat edge of the blade along the fabric of his tunic to wipe off the blood. His gaze fell on the other dremora and he moved towards it, kicking the demon so that it rolled over on its back. He withdrew his second dagger and wiped off the blood before sheathing both of them and looking at Leola.
"Are you alright?" he asked, moving towards her.
"We just killed those things," she whispered, and Aventus paused as if he hadn't really thought about it.
"We did," he said. "They were going to kill us though, Leola. They're just monsters."
"Still," she mumbled, looking away. She felt as if she was going to be sick. "It feels weird."
"Let's get out of here," Aventus said, nodding towards the shimmering of the portal. Leola nodded quickly, closing her eyes and moving into the magic. In an instant, her feet were against hard stone again and she opened her eyes, seeing that they were once again in the massive fortress.
Aventus appeared beside her in an instant, and then, the magic was gone. When Leola turned around again, she simply saw the rest of the chamber, and no portal to Misty Grove.
"Oh," Aventus said, and Leola turned in time to see him making his way towards a large chest. She watched quietly as he lifted the heavy lid, reaching down and rummaging around inside.
"Are you looting this place?" she asked, uncomfortably wrapping her arms around herself.
"I would be if there was anything worth taking," he grumbled, rising to his feet and looking over at Leola. "Let's get out of here."
"Definitely," she agreed softly. The encounter had been too much and she wanted nothing more than to get away from it all.
Dawnstar was a long walk, and it was dark when the pair finally arrived. It was small and quaint, and even though it was dark and not surrounded by walls, there was a strangely safe feeling about it. Leola smiled to herself as she followed Aventus into the streets, where he neared a house.
"Is this one of yours?" she asked teasingly, and Aventus laughed, shaking his head.
"Sithis, no," he said. He lifted a hand and knocked twice. He paused for a couple seconds, and then knocked twice more. Within seconds, the door opened and a Redguard man appeared, a bright grin on his face.
"Aventus!" he exclaimed, and the two men exchanged a quick hug and a pat on the back before the man stepped aside, letting Leola and Aventus step past.
The dark-skinned man was tall, clad only in trousers – his feet and chest were bare. He had bulky muscles that had Leola awestruck for a moment and his hair, which came down just below his shoulders, was styled into what appeared to Leola as hundreds of tiny braids, all of which were gathered together and tied into a simple ponytail.
"Leola, this is Alesan," said Aventus, plopping himself down into a chair and beginning to unbuckle his boots.
Leola smiled nervously up at the man, and he gave her the brightest, most genuine grin she'd seen from a stranger in a long time. There was something cheerful and endearing about him, and she knew right away that she would take a liking to him.
"Aventus's princess friend, then?" teased the man, outstretching one hand. Leola felt her cheeks heat up as she reached out to shake his hand.
"It's nice to meet you," she said to him softly.
"The pleasure is all mine," he said. His gaze fell to Aventus, whose boots had been discarded and who was in the process of removing his tunic. "Troki asked me to tell you to stop by next time you're in town – she's not all that happy you didn't stop by and see her last time you were here."
"Troki?" Aventus asked, sounding surprised.
"Yes – not sure why, so don't ask," Alesan answered, then looked over at Leola. "So, uh – I only have the one bed. Aventus normally stays with the Dark Brotherhood when he's here, he just wanted to stay here while he had you with him because he wanted to keep you safe from them…"
"What he's trying to say is that you get the bed," Aventus said, cutting Alesan off as his tunic fell to the floor. He stood to his feet, now also clad only in his trousers. His muscles weren't as bulky as Alesan's were, but were just as well-defined. It made sense to Leola – Aventus's main skills were his stealth and speed, whereas Alesan likely had a different skill set.
"Yes," Alesan said with a laugh. "The princess gets the bed. I've got lots of blankets – Aventus and I can make do on the floor."
Leola smiled shyly at him. "Are you sure?" she asked softly. Aventus, meanwhile, headed over to a dresser and knelt to open the bottom drawer, beginning to pull out heaps of blankets.
"Of course," answered the Redguard. "It's late. You should get to sleep."
"Of course," Leola said softly, smiling up at him. "Thank you," she added as she headed to the bed, carefully setting down her bag on the floor – it meant a lot to her, containing the next fragment of her mother's soul gem after all.