Morthal was as dreary and drab as ever, and it was only accentuated by their purpose there.
Aeyrin and Bishop headed out towards the town the very next morning. They couldn't linger any longer. If the Brotherhood decided to strike before they reached Morthal, their reassuring backup in the form of Penitus Oculatus agents might never be able to arrive in time. Although the soldiers probably hadn't reached the town yet either. Commander Maro mentioned that he wasn't going to send an entire contingent marching down the road. He would send his men one or two at a time, each taking a slightly different route – all as to never attract too much attention.
The consideration and preparedness on the man's part was quite comforting. He reminded Bishop of Karliah in some ways. No matter what happened later, she was always prepared for anything and her missions were meticulous. Maro seemed to know what he was doing just as well. The only problem was – so did the Brotherhood. How many times had they already caught Bishop in their trap? He was only ever saved by either Aeyrin and Karnwyr, or by sheer coincidence.
And in some ways, it was making things a bit scarier to think about all these plans and gimmicks that Maro had. The Brotherhood could just as well have those same tricks up their sleeve. The clairvoyance spell was the most disturbing. When Maro had several of his trusted men, including Aeyrin, mark Bishop so that they could find him later, it was pretty hard to miss that happening. Bishop got enveloped by a bright light every time someone used the spell on him. It was a bit comforting to know that he wouldn't be able to miss something like this happening. Until he remembered the Imperial Courier Service. The man delivering them their letters mentioned marking them as well, but neither of them had noticed. How? Was there a way to hide that? And what would stop the Brotherhood from doing the same? Maybe they already had. Maybe that was how they often found him somewhere, regardless of rumors of his presence reaching them. Come to think of it, even if they couldn't hide the magical effect, the first time he got taken by them, he was knocked unconscious. It could have happened anytime during that.
Maybe they could already follow him anywhere.
He kept telling himself that the fucking Dark Brotherhood of all things had to have better things to do. They were just taking opportunities, weren't they? Who would ever bother with running around Skyrim, following him everywhere? And it wasn't as if they couldn't find him even without the spell. They had before. Quite easily.
It was all pointless to obsess over. He was basically at their mercy already, just waiting to be ambushed again. This was the first time he could take matters into his own hands and fight back, in more ways than just by running away.
This had to work.
The Penitus agents would arrive into the city gradually, all dressed as Imperial rank and file. Bishop and Aeyrin had no idea whether Maro had told the plan to Jarl Ravencrone or whether some soldiers were expected to arrive regardless and he just replaced them with his own after notifying the Legion. That part didn't matter. Maro surely knew who was the safest to approach about this. Their only concern was playing their part.
It couldn't look like they were waiting to be ambushed. It had to look like any other stay in a city for them. Not only that, it had to look like they were being careful after Dawnstar. It was unfortunate that it would make it more challenging for the Brotherhood to lure away Bishop, but it was necessary not to make them suspicious of the plan.
So they agreed. They would stay in the city during the evenings while they would roam the wilderness around during the day – adventuring. There weren't many places they hadn't picked clean before in this area, but surely they could still find something. During the nights, they would separate strategically at times. Never for too long – Aeyrin couldn't give the Brotherhood a head start, letting Bishop disappear without her knowing where he was for hours. So they had an agreement. Once he would be gone for longer than an hour, she would cast the spell from the scroll she had received from Maro, notify the agents and follow Bishop, wherever they would take him. In the meantime, to make themselves appear careful, they both agreed never to walk off somewhere alone at a complete stranger's urging, and to always trap the door to their rented room while they slept – that was one way that the Brotherhood could get a head start, by taking Bishop when Aeyrin was asleep.
It all sounded decently thought out. The Brotherhood would have a challenge on their hands, but nothing insurmountable.
Still, it was more stressful than any other mission. In this one, they couldn't decide when and how things transpired. They only had to wait and see what the Brotherhood would come up with.
They tried not to let their excessive nervousness show as they reached the town in the afternoon. They only set themselves up at the inn and ordered some food, intent on staying in that night and heading out for some adventures in the morning. The Brotherhood was unlikely to strike that soon, but it wasn't impossible. They still had to be careful. Their separation plan for that night only included leaving the other alone in the common room while one of them bathed. Most of the Penitus agents still weren't around after all, so it wasn't the best idea to give the assassins too many openings that night.
The evening was surprisingly peaceful and pleasant, were it not for the black cloud of anticipation looming over them. But nothing happened at all. Neither of them was sure whether to be happy about it. On the one hand, it really was too early to spring the operation without all of the agents in place. On the other hand, somehow getting this all over with was both dreadful to think about and desirable at the same time.
It was difficult to fall asleep the first night. No matter how much they tried to distract themselves or convince themselves of their own security. Every little noise was nerve-wrenching.
But eventually, they both fell asleep in their trapped room.
The next thing they knew, the rays of a somewhat sharp morning sun woke them up. They survived their first night – together and both alive and safe. It was for the best. And it did look like a relatively nice day for some adventure, regardless of how stressful the night that would follow would be again.
When Bishop noticed that Aeyrin had stirred as well in the morning rays, he started to pull her closer and stroke over her skin wherever he could. She still looked half-dazed, but he had been awake for at least an hour now. He didn't want to wake her too – she looked so free of worries as she slept – but now that she stirred on her own, he couldn't really wait anymore. He was getting bored. And anxious. He couldn't wait to distract himself by spending a lazy morning with her in bed. It always worked, even in the midst of this shitstorm. And they didn't need to hurry onto their adventures right away in any case.
"Hmmph," Aeyrin groaned a bit as Bishop started to wake her up even more adamantly by pressing his lips to various spots on her face and shoulders. It was always a nice way to be woken up, but she kind of wanted to sleep more.
Then again, not being alert made her a bit nervous, despite the traps in the room and the fact that Bishop was fully awake.
"Morning, princess," Bishop murmured when he noticed her eyes flutter open. He continued to run his hand down her back as she tried to get accustomed to the light. He always liked watching her wake up, especially lately. It was a brief moment of both contentment and lucidity before the thoughts of the world outside their room seeped in again.
"Morning," she mumbled in return before she leaned in to plant a brief kiss on his lips. Bishop looked calm and happy. That was good. The best part was that he was still there in the bed and not kidnapped somewhere. She really worried about the Brotherhood somehow circumventing their plan. Their best chance of getting through this was luring those assassins out on their terms. "So…" she slowly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and yawned again, before she started to ponder out loud. "We said you would go for some supplies after breakfast, right? That would take like ten minutes. I was thinking about waiting for half an hour. To be on the safe side. A whole hour seems like a lot when you're just going for road supplies and…"
Well… that was a brief moment of serenity. Bishop really didn't feel like obsessing over this just yet today. He ran his hand lower across her back as she continued to ramble, mostly to herself, until he reached her buttocks. She still talked, but he promptly interrupted her by a brief pinch to her flesh.
"Aah!" Aeyrin yelped out in surprise, finally interrupted in her trail of thoughts. She needed that too, he could see her getting too anxious about all of this already.
"First of all, we agreed on an hour," Bishop smirked at her while he began to soothingly run his hand over her cheek where he had pinched her. "You have one scroll. You shouldn't be wasting it and rallying the whole fucking unit here just because I can't find healing potions on a shelf or some shit like that."
Aeyrin only let out an indignant huff at that. He knew that she was just worried about him, but depleting all the cards up their sleeve because of exaggerated concern wasn't the way to go here.
"And second," Bishop leaned towards her face and before she could even as much as give him a questioning look, he promptly pressed his lips against hers. Only for a second – right after that, he took her lower lip in between his teeth for a while and flicked his tongue over it teasingly. Much to his satisfaction, Aeyrin did let out a temptingly low groan at his ministrations, right before he retreated a bit again. "Second, it's too fucking early to be obsessing over this. We should do other stuff right now." He punctuated the point by squeezing her buttcheek.
Aeyrin looked like she would say something. He wasn't sure if it was going to be a protest or an agreement, but she didn't get to speak at all before something interrupted her. A knock on their door.
Bishop noticed her tense up instantly. It was a bit… unusual. But the Brotherhood probably wouldn't just… knock, would they?
He only let out a sigh of resignation as he moved towards the foot of the bed to locate his trousers – tossed there the previous night haphazardly.
"M-maybe I should be the one to…" Aeyrin suggested as she clutched the blanket to her exposed body, but Bishop waved her off dismissively.
"It's fine. Just stay there. It's not gonna be that conspicuous, don't worry," he smirked. The assassins had been pretty careful about being discovered up until now. They were surely not going to knock him out and drag him through the common room, especially with Aeyrin right there as well. Nobody knew that she couldn't control her Shouts anymore.
Bishop finally pulled up his pants and moved towards the door. He was very careful about the barely-visible thin tripwire set up there. The door opened in the other direction, so he could freely manipulate it. He couldn't walk out of the room, however. And neither could anyone walk in until he decided to disarm the trap.
He could still see Aeyrin hiding under the covers out of the corner of his eye as he opened the door. There was a woman standing behind it, dressed in chainmail armor with a green cloth over it with the town's symbol. A guard. Or someone dressed like a guard. It could be a trick. The important thing was not letting her inside the room, or she would get poisoned, and also not to go anywhere with her alone, as they had agreed.
"Sir," the woman inclined her head at him briefly. She looked like she was trying pretty hard not to look at him standing there half-naked and she peered into the room instead. When she noted Aeyrin there, covering herself on the bed, she quickly averted her gaze again. To her credit, she did seem to hold herself somewhat composed. "Both of you, good," she nodded, looking anywhere but at either of them. "Jarl Ravencrone wanted me to relay a message. She would like to invite you to lunch at the Highmoon Hall today, if you are available." It was obvious from the way she spoke that she just wanted to get the interaction over with.
Bishop didn't answer and instead, he looked back over his shoulder at Aeyrin. Jarl Idgrod was sufferable enough company. The two of them and her had a good past relationship regarding a lot of their adventures around Morthal. And if nothing else, her 'gift' was interesting to hear about, even if it wasn't as specific as they would have liked.
Aeyrin didn't make a peep as she still crouched on the bed, wrapped in blankets and with her face slightly red. But she did nod at Bishop. Adventures could wait. They might be here for a long time anyway.
"Fine, we'll be there," Bishop turned towards the guard promptly. She only nodded silently too in return. She really looked like she wanted to run off, but Bishop didn't even bother waiting to see her leave. Instead, he slammed the door shut again immediately after that.
With the room falling silent once more and the traps still in place, secluding them from the outside world, he turned back towards the bed and Aeyrin still hiding in the blankets. Those needed to be disposed of.
It looked like their entire morning just freed up. And he had a lot of ideas on how to spend it already.
…
Bishop's shopping passed without an incident again after their breakfast. And once more it was both disheartening and reassuring. Aeyrin was certainly relieved to see him back at the inn, but the unpleasant anticipation never left. Though it did get a little more distant in her mind when they spent the rest of their morning in their room again.
The time for lunch came soon enough and they disarmed their room once more before they headed out towards the Highmoon Hall. The Jarl likely had a reason for inviting them beyond amicable talk. She probably needed to discuss something. It was also possible that she knew about the Penitus agents in her city and wanted to discuss the plan with them. In that case, it might get a bit more precarious.
The longhouse was somewhat quiet when they arrived. It was possible that most of the servants and guards were having lunch as well. But there were still some left.
Idgrod Ravencrone was waiting for them patiently on her throne, wearing the already familiar style – lavish clothes with plenty of adornments decorated with arcane symbols and accessories that may as well have been stolen from a hag coven.
"Welcome back to Morthal, friends. I am glad you could join me for a meal again," she smiled at them kindly, but her eyes studied them with palpable curiosity. It wasn't unusual for her to do – she often stared at people, or just into space, as if she was seeing more than anyone else. Maybe she was.
"Thank you for the invitation, Jarl Idgrod," Aeyrin smiled at her politely while Bishop only nodded in silence.
The old Nord's eyes went straight to him and, for a while, he wondered if she was actually waiting for a polite greeting from him too. That didn't seem like something that she would be concerned about. Granted, he couldn't claim to know the Jarl that well, but he was pretty sure they had spoken together enough times for him to know that she didn't mind him not observing whatever shit the nobles seemed to insist upon in the slightest.
"Young man," her eyes narrowed at him suspiciously, but a second later, the expression appeared a bit more concerned. "Shadows cling to you where you step. Watching, lurking, following."
The Jarl looked as if she was in a trance when she said those words, but she appeared completely present otherwise. Regardless, it made chills run up Bishop's spine. He was a little less skeptical about the woman's 'gift' ever since they found out about the Shout that was supposed to bring down Alduin – the one this very seer had actually predicted, as nonsensical as it had been back then. But he still wasn't sure how much of it he really believed. How much of it could have been just pretenses to appear more powerful and reliable. Maybe she did know about the Brotherhood from Maro.
Maybe it wasn't even about the Brotherhood. He fucking hated that his mind went there instantly.
"Is that a bad thing?" he scoffed, trying his best not to appear rattled by her words. "That's kinda what shadows do, you know? Sounds normal," he let out an involuntarily strained chuckle. Shadows 'clung' to people. Nothing to be concerned about.
"These are not your own," Idgrod looked at him with strange sympathy in her face while she still looked a bit less present than before. "Not this time."
"Can you… can you tell us more about these 'shadows'?" Aeyrin quickly interjected before Bishop could dismiss the Jarl's words again. She knew why he was doing that, she knew that disregarding her made it easier for him. But the Jarl had predicted something quite reliably before. She saw what they had no idea about back then – she saw Alduin and she saw something capable of 'clipping his wings'. Maybe she could see something that would help against these 'shadows' as well. There was only one thing that Aeyrin could imagine right now that the 'shadows' meant.
Jarl Ravencrone looked back at Bishop promptly at Aeyrin's urging, studying him. Her face was contorted in a permanent scowl, but it looked more like the scowl of concentration than anger.
"They… they do not wish to follow you." She sounded a little uncertain. Maybe the 'gift' couldn't really be forced. "But… but I think you provide the path of least resistance."
Aeyrin and Bishop shared a curious look at that. 'Path of least resistance'? He had done nothing but resist ever since this whole mess started. Maybe this wasn't even related to the Brotherhood. Or maybe it would still be made clear. Or maybe the Jarl just imagined seeing something.
As always, as interesting her vision was, it didn't really tell them anything for certain.
Then again, right now, throwing himself to the wolves like this, Bishop did kind of start providing less resistance. Maybe that was all there was to it. He just didn't get why they were following him if they didn't want to. That part made no sense.
The Jarl suddenly shook her head. Perhaps at herself. She offered the two of them another kind smile. She looked much more present in the moment again.
"Apologies. We'll speak more in private. Come, the food will be ready soon."
The Jarl rose from her throne and walked towards one of the side rooms with Bishop and Aeyrin in her tow.
They entered the familiar room and all three of them sat themselves down by the large dining table inside. Idgrod promptly nodded at one of the servants waiting there and the woman disappeared into another adjacent room. They all stayed quiet as two more servants emerged and started to place goblets of wine and plates with roasted chicken meat, grilled leeks and baked potatoes.
The silence remained while the servants scurried around, all before they finally disappeared into the kitchens. At that point, Jarl Idgrod raised her glass wordlessly to the two of them and took a sip.
"So, what brings you back to Morthal again?" the woman finally spoke. "You visit quite often."
It was true – Morthal was always a convenient hub for them. It was a crossroads for their preferred routes, away from Whiterun Hold, and it was always one of the places where they felt moderately safe. There were no Mercer's former allies there, no bounties on Bishop's head and almost no military presence by either side.
"We like it here," Aeyrin smiled at the old woman politely. It wasn't exactly that. The bogs were dreary and depressing, but still, they often felt safer than anywhere else. Maybe because they seemed to deter their enemies as well. At least some of their enemies.
"Truly? In the swamps?" Jarl Idgrod chuckled at her. "I certainly don't hear that often."
"There are a lot of places for us to explore here. Not many people delve into ruins in the marsh," Aeyrin explained. She certainly wasn't going to mention their true purpose here. Officially, they were here to adventure in the area.
"I suppose that's true," the Jarl nodded. "In any case, I am glad to welcome you back. My Hold is always a bit calmer when you decide to 'explore' around."
"So, why did you call us here?" Bishop asked. Maybe the small talk was customary, but it was hardly what the woman had invited them over for, was it? She must have wanted something more important.
"Hmm," Idgrod smirked at him. She always seemed to be somewhat amused by Bishop's impatience with decorum. "True, I haven't invited you to make idle conversation. Though I am not adverse to it, of course. The truth is, I had another vision about a month ago. I am… uncertain what it means. And I thought you should hear about it."
Another vision? Hopefully it would have something to do with Alduin. Aeyrin really wished that it would be another more or less hopeful one and not something that depicted her without all her powers dying under the World-Eater's claws.
Aeyrin only nodded at her soundlessly. For some reason, Idgrod's expression didn't look very reassuring, but hopefully it was only because she didn't know how to interpret the vision.
"It… it felt like before," the Jarl explained. "Like the last vision I told you about. The sights of wings, large and powerful, accompanied by the feeling of dread. There were those black wings again, speckled with gold. But there were others too. Many of them."
This was just like the last time – her premonition of Alduin's coming, though now depicting his army as well, it seemed. Before, the Jarl had mentioned visions of these wings being 'clipped' by a blue light. A spell. Or a Shout, as they now knew. But her scowl suggested that the vision took a different direction this time.
"But this time, there was no feeling of hope. The wings they… disappeared," the woman spoke slowly, either trying to recollect her vision properly or trying to make sense of it in the process. "Not… not entirely. I could feel them there, but there was something else too. A darkness, approaching. Hiding anything in sight. It felt… cold. Like life all around had been waning and scared. I felt… hunted. And the last thing I recall was tasting blood in my mouth."
There was silence in the room again as both Bishop and Aeyrin stared at her in surprise and uncertainty. They still expected her to continue, but she didn't.
"What does that mean?" Bishop scowled. It certainly didn't sound good. Everything about looming darkness right now just reminded him of the Brotherhood, but this… sounded like something on a much larger scale. He just had no idea what it could be.
"I have no more ideas than you," Idgrod sighed. "Perhaps another threat, more pressing than the dragon menace tormenting us. But I have no idea what it could be."
Aeyrin only frowned without saying a word, deep in thought. She still wondered if this somehow could refer to her demise – there was no light 'clipping the wings' this time. No sign of hope and defeat of the dragons. But she didn't understand what that darkness should be. It sounded terrifying.
"I am sorry for bringing such disturbing notions to you," the Jarl gave them a sympathetic look. "Ordinarily, I would not, but the first part of the vision made me wonder whether this was somehow related to the dragons' return. I… just wanted you to have the information. Though I realize that there was not anything perceptibly 'helpful' in the vision, sometimes knowing what is to come or what threats to recognize can make things easier."
"Y-yes… thank you," Aeyrin nodded absentmindedly. Maybe it would help down the line. Idgrod's last vision had all but confirmed that the search for the man-made Shout was the right lead to follow. She really shouldn't be obsessing over this. It would become apparent eventually. Or maybe not all her premonitions came true.
She only hoped as much. This was one she really didn't want to see come to life.
"Have heart," Idgrod gave her a sympathetic look when she noted her forlorn expression. "The people of Skyrim have endured much and persevered. They will do so again during these threats. And perhaps it is not what it seems at all. Even things that would be our salvation can appear frightening at first."
She was right, but it wasn't that comforting just then.
The last thing they needed was another looming threat on the horizon.
The rest of their lunch with the Jarl was spent in inconsequential small talk, once they've established that nobody knew what her vision actually meant.
It was still on their mind when they left Highmoon Hall, but there was really nothing they could do about some premonition. They just had to forget it for now. It was not helpful in the slightest at that very moment.
At least they had a good distraction ahead of them. It was still relatively early so they could resume their previous plan and use their time for some adventuring.
…
The next few days in Hjaalmarch passed in a pleasantly familiar manner.
The Brotherhood didn't strike the entire time, but their whole stay was riddled with nervousness and anticipation. Aeyrin was always on edge whenever Bishop and her were separated even for a little while and Bishop couldn't help but look behind his shoulder constantly when he was outside. And their nights were not very restful either.
But the traveling and adventuring always took their mind off things at least a little. There weren't that many places they hadn't explored yet in the Hold, but their best bet was the southwestern parts.
After their lunch at the longhouse, they tracked down a tiny nearby ruin with some undead roaming around out in the open, a few treasures, and an ancient grave in the middle.
The next day they headed towards the Stonehills. There was not much to do there for adventurers – it was a pretty frequented trade route and most of it was safe. But they did stop by a mining village there. Both of them decided to spend the day hunting together, just like they had in the Rift after the whole Guild mess. Aeyrin still scared off some of the prey, but she was getting better at being subtle in the wilderness. And by the end of the day, they had a pretty decent haul to sell to the miners there.
The day after that was spent in lazy recuperation and idle travels around. They didn't have a destination in mind yet, but they decided then to try and explore another area.
Labyrinthian. They had seen the giant ruins before. There were a few entrances to various barrows there, but they only made use of one in their rush to save the College. This time, they would explore more.
On their fifth day in Hjaalmarch, they headed south towards the snowy passes.
They found their first target – a smaller barrow somewhere in the large ruined complex. They just hoped that it wouldn't be picked clean by now. But if it was, there was still another entrance there that they could explore the very same day.
The dungeon, though small, was teeming with undead. But it was nothing that they couldn't handle. In fact, it provided a rather nice distraction. Both of them were quite eager to throw themselves into battle to relieve the current frustrations.
They were done with the place soon enough, picking it clean as much as they could. It wasn't very hard, given its size.
It was still rather early when they emerged outside again. Too early to head back to Morthal.
"You wanna check out the last door? We got time," Bishop asked as he stretched himself lazily. They had just left the dungeon and Aeyrin was busy rearranging things in their packs a bit so that their load would be more manageable with all that loot.
"Sure, sounds good," she nodded in response without even looking up from the packs. She wouldn't mind more battles. It was kind of reassuring during their entire stay. She didn't even once miss her Shouts. Not even one moment when she found herself in a tough spot and got hurt because she didn't have the powers she got so used to relying on. Sure, there were a few times when she idly thought to herself that the battle would have been already over, were she able to use them. But she didn't need them.
"That didn't sound good…" Bishop murmured.
Aeyrin got confused by his comment, but it took her a while to even realize that he had said something. She wasn't really paying that much attention to anything as she was trying to concentrate on her task.
What didn't 'sound good'? The next dungeon was his suggestion. But when she finally tore her eyes away from their packs, her heart sank. Bishop was already peering into the skies until his gaze settled on the horizon. She didn't even want to look that way to confirm.
Did the dragons never give it a rest? Circling ancient ruins was just a low blow – who else would be in such a place than adventurers, exhausted after their plunders. The beast was scouring the area and looking for anything that it might hunt. It didn't take long before it noticed the two of them – they weren't really hidden, out in the open on one of the platforms.
It wasn't just the annoyance of being attacked in their moment of respite between adventures. Aeyrin got instantly enveloped by an unsettling feeling. No matter what she kept telling herself, there was still a chance that her transformation into that monster changed her in more unpredictable ways. What if her blood wasn't just about controlling her powers? What if now she wasn't strong enough to withstand the absorption either?
But what was the point in pondering and worrying? She couldn't avoid dragons forever. Not even until she was cured. Who knew how long that would take, if it would ever happen? The dragons had never really given her much consideration before – their attacks were hard to avoid. And, so it seemed, would be this one. They could hide inside the ruins. But… at least now she was ready for battle, still heated from the adrenaline. If there was any time when she should find out for certain, it was now.
Besides, the dragon was pretty damn fast. It was already hovering above them.
"We could still…" Bishop called out just as he was unfastening his bow again, but Aeyrin interrupted him before he could finish the thought.
"No." She knew what he was going to say anyway. She didn't want to spend the rest of the day holed up in the dungeon, waiting for the eternal dragon to run out of patience. If it ever did. She wasn't going to find out what would happen to her during some unexpected ambush when she was tired or wounded, when it would be difficult not to pass out from the absorption even back when she was just her and not… this thing. And besides, this dragon could just attack Morthal if they were to leave it alone. It was pretty close. "I can do this," she narrowed her eyes at the beast above.
No Shouts. No powers. And an uncertain result. It wasn't as if she hadn't done this before. Bishop was right – she was fine before she knew that she was the Dragonborn. She was fine in that dungeon too. She would be fine again.
Bishop shot her a brief smile before he trained his bow on the beast. It was good that she was determined. That whole werewolf thing had rattled her enough already – it wouldn't be her if she wasn't charging dragons head-on. He definitely shouldn't mention how hopeful this encounter made him. She was eager to see that she didn't change at all – that she was still the Dragonborn. He didn't get it. Why was she hoping for that? Wouldn't everything be so much easier if she wasn't? If there weren't any prophecies about her and if she didn't have to suffer with every dragon they slew?
Was it bad that he was hoping that it was gone?
It had brought her nothing but misery and attention she never wanted.
The dragon was already opening up its maw. It was odd that it was actually a relief to see the frosty Shout form at the back of its throat. Aeyrin felt a little disturbed by how she tended to compare the Shouts according to what caused her the most pain. This one was definitely unpleasant – she hated the cold. But Bishop always made it his personal mission to warm her up afterwards until she was practically melting in his embrace.
It didn't manage to Shout. Bishop's arrow flew straight at it within a second, right into the beast's maw. It lodged itself at the back of it and the dragon let out an oddly gurgled roar of pain. That was one way to stop it.
Aeyrin felt very useless on that platform in the meantime. She had her mace brandished and her hand ready to cast a ward to shield herself and Bishop if the beast ever managed to Shout. But other than that, she could do nothing just then. She just watched as Bishop pulled on his bowstring again and notched another arrow.
This time, the dragon flew to the side fast enough to evade the projectile. But it didn't attack afterwards either. It looked quite panicked and it continued heaving as it hovered above them. Maybe it couldn't attack. Maybe Bishop's arrow prevented it from Shouting altogether.
The beast circled around them for a while in quick motions, trying to dodge the arrows. The disturbing gurgling sounds were still escaping its throat steadily. It was kind of satisfying. At least nobody could Shout in this battle. If only the dragon wasn't five times their size, the odds could have been even more even.
It didn't seem that patient for an eternal being. After a while of circling around, it decided to attack in another way. The dragon suddenly lunged, flying straight at them. Aeyrin barely had the time to jump out of the way as it plummeted towards the platform, but Bishop wasn't so lucky.
The beast's wing managed to collide with him, the bony part hit him in the stomach, sending him tumbling back to the ground with the impact. Bishop let out a grunt as dull pain spread through his lower ribs. He wasn't sure, but it felt like there would be some fractures. Or at least a lot of bruises. And he dropped his bow in the process.
Aeyrin didn't hesitate. She quickly rushed back towards the beast and smashed her mace into one of its wings with all the force she could muster. The dragon let out a gurgly roar of pain as the bone of its wing cracked, but it quickly turned around, letting its massive tail sweep across the platform.
She tried to jump up just when the tail would have collided with her. Her heavy armor, however, wasn't really made for such maneuvers. She jumped up only barely enough to evade the first impact, but she didn't jump high enough to evade it entirely. As she fell back down, her feet landed on the tail instead and she instantly stumbled, tumbling back onto the ground with heavy clanking sounds accompanying her.
Both of them were on the ground now and the dragon was eager to pick its next target. It turned towards Aeyrin, intent on using its maw to finish the job.
But as it tried to lunge against her, biting her, another sickening sound escaped its maw and a small spray of blood landed on her instead. The arrow was still lodged inside, preventing it from attacking. Luckily, Aeyrin didn't drop her weapon yet.
As the beast's face was near, she smashed her mace into it again. This time, it connected fully with its maw, cracking a few of its fangs in the process. The dragon could only gurgle in pain once more.
Bishop was up on his feet again, though it took considerable effort on his part. Everything hurt so fucking much. He located his bow promptly, but bending down to grab it proved to be a really painful chore. No matter. This thing had to die. Now. He fought through the pain, letting out a scream as he bent towards the bow, as if it would help alleviate it a bit. It didn't. But he managed to grab a hold of his weapon again despite the agony.
It wasn't any easier to pull the bowstring and shoot, but eventually, as the beast got another blow to its head from Aeyrin, he managed to let loose one of his arrows into its neck.
The dragon no longer seemed to like its chances. It didn't attempt another attack and, instead, it began to sore once more. It was a bit clumsy – its wing was broken, not enough to make the task impossible, but the beast's flight was definitely more than wobbly. Nevertheless, it managed to take off once more and it started to fly towards the mountains to the east.
Bishop instantly aimed his bow at it again, but a sharp pain startled him just as he let it loose. The arrow ended up nowhere near the dragon. But he wouldn't let up. He notched another arrow instantly – now ready for the pain that it would elicit at this angle – and he quickly shot it at the dragon. It was already pretty far, but not too far for the shot.
The arrow finally hit. Bishop couldn't really see where, but the dragon wavered in its already unsteady flight yet again. It turned on the spot briskly, but the motion made it stagger even more. The next thing they noticed was the dragon flapping its wings wildly, letting out gurgling roars as it half-flew half-fell towards one of the nearby peaks. It collided with the mountain heavily, letting a crumbling sound echo through the area, before it rolled down the rocks in a confusing mess of wings and tail.
Aeyrin and Bishop waited with bated breaths to see what would happen next. They didn't know if it was dead or not. It was too far for the absorption to start – all the way across Labyrinthian and somewhere in the mountains there.
"We could… probably… leave… if you…" Bishop panted while he clutched himself with his free arm wrapped around his ribs. He knew that Aeyrin was scared to find out whether the absorption would be different. He was scared too. But not knowing somehow seemed even worse.
"No," Aeyrin shook her head with determination. "It would recuperate and it could attack Morthal when we don't expect it to. And… I need to know." Deep down, she was somehow convinced that she was going to survive. It was a strange feeling. She wondered if she always had it in battles and life-threatening situations. There was a real rational chance that she wouldn't survive after all, even if the absorption was the same as before. She didn't understand where this feeling came from. Maybe everyone had it in them though and never really thought about it. Maybe it was the only feeling preventing people from just… giving up in face of danger.
She shouldn't really be obsessing over it now though. They didn't even know if the dragon was dead. And Bishop was hurt. She needed to make sure that it was gone so that they could lick their wounds in peace.
Aeyrin looked at Bishop with concern, but he only gave her a nod in return. "I'm fine. I can walk. Or run. It just hurts. I'll grab a potion. Let's finish this fucker." He did look determined, though there was obvious pain in his face and his voice was very hoarse.
She quickly ran off to where she had left their packs and rummaged around in one to find a potion. Bishop may have had one in a belt-pouch, but he might need that later to numb the pain even more. It was best to dip into their supplies now.
She was back within a few seconds and Bishop eagerly gulped down the potion she had brought him. The dull pain in his torso numbed pleasantly as he felt it going down. It would help him ignore it until he could get healed.
They didn't have much time to spare. Once Bishop was feeling properly numbed to the aches, they both ran off in the direction of the mountains. They left their packs back there – nobody was around to steal them and they needed to be able to move quickly.
Both of them ran off towards the mountains promptly. Bishop was a bit slower than usual, even though his pain was numbed. He still felt like he shouldn't aggravate the injury too much.
It took a while for them to get to the mountains and even longer to find the dragon. Eventually though, they spotted it in the distance, lying motionlessly in a large snowbank beneath one of the peaks.
It was… dead?
But… nothing was happening. No light. No pain. No soul.
Or just… no Dragonborn.
Aeyrin approached the dragon with trepidation. She wasn't even able to think straight. Think about what this would all mean to her. What this would all mean for the fate of the world. She wasn't sure if it was a bad thing. Could it really be true? Could Bishop have been right? Had she… lost the dragon soul too?
She felt sick. She wasn't sure why. Was this supposed to be a relief or was it supposed to be a tragedy? She couldn't even feel anything. Just… confusion.
But before she could make sense of it all, the beast suddenly let out another strained gurgle.
It wasn't dead!
It was mostly instinct. She unclasped her mace from her belt so quickly, she barely even registered the movement of her own hand. The mace connected with the dragon's head only a second later, letting more crackling sounds echo across the mountains.
It was done. It didn't even take very long before she saw the light, spreading across the beast's now dead corpse. Why was she relieved? She was going to be in pain again. Maybe it was just… because it was familiar. It was oddly comforting. As much as she sometimes loathed being who she was, at least she was glad that the monster inside hadn't changed her completely.
She watched the dragon get enveloped in the light with a strange feeling overcoming her. She didn't even panic. She wasn't even afraid this time. She barely even remembered that the agony would come, not until she felt Bishop's hand on her shoulder.
"Come here." He pulled her back into his embrace with a surprisingly somber tone in his voice. Maybe he was worried about what would happen now. Maybe he was worried that she wouldn't make it though. Strange, she wasn't worried about that herself anymore.
She nestled herself in his embrace to seek his comfort, though now she felt that maybe this was more for his benefit this time. It only took a few more seconds before she felt it.
It was like a small but very long icicle stabbing through her gut. It shot into her spine, letting freezing chills envelop her whole body, before it came out in the front. For a minute, she worried that the icicle made it through far enough to stab Bishop too with their proximity. But that was before the pain wiped that from her mind – another icicle stabbed into her shoulder, and another into the back of her thigh. There were more, freezing her, stunning her motionless. She couldn't even cry out in pain anymore. She could just chatter her teeth endlessly. Then, all at once, the icicles shattered. It felt like small shards of pure ice spilled around in her body, stabbing into every inch of her, flowing in her blood. It hurt so much. It was so cold. Like she was all ice herself now.
She couldn't move at all. Frozen to the bone. No part of her felt real anymore.
But she could still hear her teeth chatter.
She knew that it was impossible to be frozen the way she felt frozen yet still moving like that. She tried to concentrate on that. On the knowledge that this wasn't real. She knew that all along, but the sensation always won over. But now, it seemed to very slowly start to subside.
Soon enough, it wasn't just her teeth. Her whole body was shaking with cold. It was strangely comfortable to feel herself move again.
It took a while before she could open her eyes again. She was still shivering, but Bishop's tight embrace helped her a lot. She wondered for a while if he wasn't aggravating his injury, but her attention got torn away by his somber expression.
"Are you alright?" he asked after a second, brushing his gloved hand over her cheek.
"Y-yeah," she stuttered a little as she tried to calm down the shivers. "Y-you d-d-don't sound t-too happy about t-that."
"What? Of course I am," Bishop smirked at her, but his face fell soon after again. "I guess I was just… just hoping that… it might not happen at all."
She pressed herself into his embrace tighter. She understood that. She was kind of hoping the same, in a way. And also kind of hoping that nothing would be different. She still wasn't sure which one would have been the better option. But there was no need to think about that anymore. It was done. She knew now. Maybe she really was more relieved than anything.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. She wasn't even sure what she was apologizing for. Maybe for all that worrying her being who she was inflicted upon him.
"For what?" Bishop let out a strained chuckle as he pulled her closer. He really shouldn't be upset over this. There was nothing to be upset over. This was who she was. He had accepted that a long time ago, with all the danger that came along with it. He shouldn't have let himself get tangled up in the ideas of anything else. "Still you, like nothing changed," he smiled at her a bit. At the very least, this could have been comforting to her. She had been so worried about how much the werewolf thing would change her. And he couldn't really hope for more than for her not to despair about this shit even more.
"Hey, I noticed something before," he nudged her a little. Since none of this changed at all, it would be a good idea to explore the mountain a bit instead of that last dungeon. They could come back for that anytime. But now, he pointed atop a snowy mountainous path. In the distance at the peak, there was a structure. It was too far to see properly, but it looked like a familiar semi-circular Wall.
Aeyrin instantly noticed a small light where he was pointing and now that she saw it, she couldn't unsee it. And she could swear that she could already hear the drums.
Even if she couldn't use her Shouts reliably now, one day, she would again. There was no harm in collecting them in the meantime, was there?
She just wouldn't be able to test this one properly.