Peryite's shrine was, just as the Khajiit had told Leola, just slightly North-West of Karthwasten. They had decided that Aventus and Erith should accompany Leola, letting the others wait in Karthwasten until they returned. The three of them approached the shrine, and saw the elderly Khajiit hard at work, brewing some sort of potion.
"Kesh?" Leola asked in a soft voice, and the Khajiit turned.
"Ahh, friend, Kesh was starting to wonder that you might not come," he said, and Leola shook her head.
"No, I was always going to come," she said, smiling. "I've brought the shield."
"Ahh, excellent," said the Khajiit. Whether he was smiling or not, Leola couldn't quite tell. "Now, friend, come - you may speak with the Blighted Lord before you go."
"Speak with him?" Leola asked softly. "You mean there's more than just dropping off the shield involved in this?"
"Why yes, princess - the Taskmaster wishes to speak with you before you go."
"Er, alright," Leola said, nodding. "I'll speak to him."
Kesh nodded slightly, stepping away from the brew he had been working on. There seemed to be a smoky green cloud wafting away from it. "Come forward then, princess, and breathe in the incense."
"Is that what that is?" Leola asked softly, stepping forward. She leant over the brew and inhaled, cringing at the putrid stench of it. "It smells awful," she said.
"Ah, yes, but this is how we may commune with the Blighted Lord," Kesh replied.
"Inhale deeply, Princess Leola, and let the incense fill your lungs so that you may hear me as clearly as your mother did before you," came a deep, echoing voice that seemed to fill Leola's mind. Her eyes widened with surprise before she closed them, focusing on inhaling the putrid incense.
When she reopened her eyes, everything around her was a mess. Her vision was a mess of vibrant colours, lines that blurred together at the edges, and strange, ghostly fog. "W-what is this?" Leola asked nervously, afraid to move for fear that she might step on something that wasn't solid.
"This is the effect of the incense, and now, you can hear me clearly," Peryite responded, and Leola noticed that now that she incense was affecting her, the voice seemed to be coming from what looked like a cluster of ghostly skeevers nearby.
"Alright, and what did you want to tell me?" she asked softly.
"For a long time, I watched your mother. Her choices and her actions intrigued me, and it is not often I give up so intriguing a soul," said Peryite, and Leola was sure she knew where this was going. He was going to tell her that there was another price to pay…
"And let me guess, you want me to sacrifice something else for her soul? Other than just giving you back your shield?" she asked softly.
"Hardly…your mother, as powerful and intriguing a soul as she is, does not quite fit in my plane of Oblivion…she would be better-suited to the afterlife of Sovngarde, so while it is not lightly, I give you her soul to take there."
Leola raised an eyebrow slightly. "I, er…thank you? Is there no catch?" she asked softly.
"There is no catch…I ask only that should I require your services in the future, I can rely on you to respond," he said.
"That I can do," she said quickly, nodding. "You have my word. If you need anything in the future and you call on me to help with it, I'll help."
"That you will," he said. "Goodbye, Leola…"
As his voice faded away, so did the apparition of the skeever. Leola still felt dizzy and her vision was still a foggy array of vibrant colours, but she slowly turned to face Kesh. She couldn't quite tell, not having enough exposure to Khajiits, but she got the impression that he was smiling.
"I trust that the Blighted Lord has given you everything that you need?" he asked in a soft voice.
"He - he said that he would give me his piece of the soul gem," Leola said. "So yes, that's what I came for…"
"Wonderful," said Kesh, and he walked over to a table. From it, though Leola swore it hadn't been there when she'd first approached, he picked up a soul gem fragment and held it out to Leola. She took it gently from his paw, holding on to it just as tightly as she ever did when the fragments were in her clutch.
"Thank you, Kesh," she said to him. If you ever need anything from me - anything at all - you will know where to find me. Don't hesitate to ask, I am in your debt."
Kesh smiled back at her, and nodded. "Kesh will bear that in mind, Princess, but it is unlikely that I shall come for any reason other than the Taskmaster's bidding," he said.
"Of course," she said, nodding. "Thank you, nonetheless."
"Farewell, Princess," he said to her.
"Farewell," she replied, and she turned towards Erith and Aventus. She'd all but forgotten that they were there.
"Are you alright?" asked Erith as Leola approached.
"Of course I am," said Leola. "Why do you ask?"
"Your eyes," said Aventus in a low voice as the trio turned and began to walk away from the shrine. "They're all red and bloodshot."
"It's probably that - whatever it was, the incense," Leola said. "It was horrid."
"It was probably some sort of drug," said Erith. "I think it would be best that we have you sleep it off back in Markarth, and then we head tomorrow to see Dagon."
"No," Leola said quickly. "We still have plenty of daylight to reach Morthal. Please, Erith - we only have two more left before we go see Meridia. We can be finished this within the week if we hurry."
Erith gazed intently into Leola's desperate blue eyes before sighing. "Alright, alright," she said. "We'll go now, assuming it's alright with your father, but we're going to sleep when we get there and then see Dagon in the morning, alright?"
"Of course," said Leola, nodding quickly. "Of course, let's do that…"