Chapter CXXXVII – Roam Free

It didn't matter how late in the night it was, or how early in the morning.

Even though they only woke up with grumbling reluctance, once the rest of the new Blade recruits found out what all the fuss was about, they forgot all about their annoyance.

There were nine Blades there now in total. Aside from Delphine, Esbern and Erik, and the informants scattered around Skyrim, there was the mage, Marcurio, who was quite enigmatic about his past, an Orcish warrior who wanted to break away from her clan, Borgakh, two Nord warriors who had apparently been Delphine's informants before they decided to join the fight against the dragons, Stenvar and Vorstag, a former East Empire Company representative, Adelaisa, who had joined after Erik and Marcurio helped her deal with some problem, and a miner, Annekke, that Bishop and Aeyrin had actually seen a few times before – she was from Darkwater Crossing, eager to learn how to protect her mining community from the numerous beasts circling the Eastmarch tundra.

The mead and conversation flowed through the night. Bishop and Aeyrin were properly introduced to all the recruits and to how they got there. Most of them were recruited by Delphine. For a careful, paranoid woman, she had a lot of connections and a lot of information about who would be willing to help. But soon enough, the introductions were cut short. Everyone wanted to hear about the Scroll.

This time, Bishop and Aeyrin could actually tell them all of it – everything that happened in Blackreach. Everything they'd been through down there. But of course, they didn't tell them everything – just the adventuring parts. They could tell them about the strange device that the Scroll was hidden in – unlike with Calcelmo. It was a bit disappointing back then. He would have surely loved to hear all about it, but they didn't want to risk anyone knowing that they actually had an Elder Scroll. That might raise questions. Especially if they were unwilling to sell it.

Despite the late hour, nobody was falling asleep at their recounting. The Blades all listened with rapt attention – about the Falmer hordes lurking beneath their feet, about the enormous complex filled with glowing mushrooms, beautiful crystals, which Aeyrin promptly showed off, and about the roads that the Dwemer had built there Eras ago. The two of them were sure to tell them all about the struggles, about the close calls, about the constant exhaustions and injuries. Especially the precarious fight up on the platforms near the glowing 'sun'. As much as neither of them wanted to relive that too much, at least the dangerous part, seeing them all listen with such wonder was kind of satisfying. Even Delphine looked impressed.

"I can't believe you dangled there like that for so long," Marcurio shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't think it was long. It just felt like it," Aeyrin gave him a wry smile. It could have been a span of a minute or two, but everything seemed to take forever in that predicament.

"Still," the mage snorted. "I'm just glad we only have dragons to deal with." It was a little unnerving that a dragon-slayer in training thought they were the ones exposed to insane dangers. But it was true. The dragons had nothing on Blackreach.

"It's a shame you don't know Shouts that could have helped you out of that mess," Esbern nodded at Aeyrin in sympathy. "The records speak of one that would turn the Dragonborn's body incorporeal. Prevent any damage whatsoever."

Delphine suddenly looked at her with a strange expression. Aeyrin wasn't sure whether she had used her ethereal Shout before in front of Delphine, but she must have to garner that look. This was getting uncomfortable. Through all their tales, they never even once thought of the fact that the lack of her use of Shouts might be suspicious.

Aeyrin didn't want to talk about this. She didn't want to admit to them what was going on, not until she absolutely had to. She didn't want Delphine disparaging her for her stupidity and naivety or Esbern lamenting the imminent end of the world. She had gone through these thoughts on her own plenty of times already.

"Using Shouts in Falmer-infested areas is not really smart," Bishop quickly jumped in. "We've done that before, it only made shit worse. Falmer react to sound, so it would just call more to the platforms and more down where she would fall. It would kill us both." It was actually a valid concern. Not that falling to death was a preferable alternative, but even if she could Shout, it may have all ended in tragedy anyway.

Aeyrin only shot him a subtle grateful smile. He always jumped to her rescue by brushing people off, whether it was annoying nobles or suspicious Blades, apparently.

"Hmpf. Hearing all this," Delphine shook her head somberly. "I have half a mind to lock the Dragonborn in here so that she doesn't die in your crazy escapades before she can save us."

Aeyrin let out a nervous chuckle in response. She knew that Delphine wasn't really serious. Or if she was, she knew that it was never going to happen anyway, but it was a little disturbing that the last part of the sentence filled Aeyrin with much more dread than the actual 'locking up'.

And did she really have to still call her 'Dragonborn'? One would think she would have learned her name after all this time.

"Yeah, and hearing that, I have half a mind to do the same to you," Bishop scoffed. "So you can keep that shit to yourself wherever you're 'locked up'." Capable and connected as she was, the world would definitely be a more pleasant place if Delphine became some kind of a shut-in. Well, she probably was that now. Still, poor recruits.

But Delphine only smirked at that response. She likely expected nothing less.

"It still all sounds so unbelievable," Erik promptly interrupted the exchange. He was still so awed about the tales of their exploits. He always had been, but this was on a whole other level. "I could only dream of adventure like that."

"Oh come on, you, who's running around killing dragons?" Aeyrin chuckled at him. He had plenty of adventures on his own ever since they met for the first time in Rorikstead.

"Not on purpose!" Erik laughed a little bashfully. He was the lead scout for the Blades though, even if he was still technically a 'recruit'. He was the one that ran into most of them."

"How many is it now?" Bishop smirked at him. He never would have thought that the boy would become this capable. He mentioned before briefly that he had a few more dragon kills under his belt, but not the specifics.

"Uhm… are we counting the ones we…?" Erik rubbed the back of his neck wryly under the attention.

"Yes, we are. You're the reason they're dead," Aeyrin smiled at him. Those two dragons he helped them kill were certainly going to be the end of them if it wasn't for him.

"Heh, alright… well… six. But never alone! Someone's always there to help," he quickly shook his head, as if that would make it sound less impressive.

"I haven't killed one alone either," Aeyrin chuckled. She wasn't sure if anyone ever did. But she didn't have a hard time believing that Erik could with all the progress he had been making.

"Yes, Erik has been invaluable," Delphine nodded with a surprisingly proud look on her face. "He has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. His scouting forced him to protect people attacked by dragons several times already. But everyone here is invaluable. And barely anyone without a kill." She really did sound very proud. Maybe she wasn't as bad with the recruits as she had been with Bishop and Aeyrin. Maybe the recruits didn't talk back so much.

"Hey, I'm new!" Annekke piped up with an indignant scoff.

"Don't worry, fresh meat. We can test out your mettle soon," Borgakh grinned at her. "Erik probably already knows about some places we could take you."

"She's been here for two weeks. Not yet," Delphine scowled at the Orc, earning a huff of disappointment from Annekke herself. It seemed like she was convinced that she was ready, but Delphine's wariness was a good thing, when it came to wide-eyed adventurers, currently pumped up on tales of incredible journeys and battles.

The rest of the Blades chuckled at the exchange before Vorstag stood up to pour everyone another tankard of mead. Faint light was already peeking out from the sparse thin slits serving as windows in the temple, but people didn't seem to want to wind down yet, even though everyone looked either drowsy or tipsy by now.

A swarm of hands with tankards shot towards the Nord, all of them eager to get more of the warming beverage. But as Aeyrin's hand remained outstretched, waiting for her turn, suddenly, Erik, who had been sitting right next to her, yanked her hand away. The rest of the mead she still had in her tankard sloshed around high enough to spill on both their palms a bit, but Erik didn't seem to care.

She didn't even get to put her tankard down as Erik dragged her wrist closer to his face and pointedly studied the engagement ring on it. It must have been obvious. The ring may have not been the most traditional one, but the gems, especially on that finger on an adventurer's hand, were telling.

Aeyrin only looked at Bishop with a wry smile and he shot her a smirk on his own with a noncommittal shrug. They weren't really planning on breaking the news to anyone yet, but neither of them minded people knowing.

"Are you two engaged?" Erik gaped at her with a bright smile decorating his face.

It became a little uncomfortable when everyone suddenly quieted down, waiting for an answer. It felt so unfortunate that Erik had asked the question so loudly.

"Y-yeah… we are," Aeyrin's face flushed under the attention. But it still felt oddly good telling someone that. It felt a little more real. So far, she still felt a bit like it was some dream. A good one, for a change.

The room erupted into another bout of loud cheers, much like several times during the recountings of their adventures. Erik did let go of her hand as he clapped for them excitedly and Bishop promptly shuffled a little closer to her with his chair and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as if to solidify the news.

"Congratulations, my friends," Esbern didn't really cheer, but he nodded at them with a kind smile. "It's encouraging to see life still continuing with all the pleasant parts, despite Alduin's attempt to shroud our world in despair and death."

Leave it to Esbern to make even an engagement sound ominous, but his sentiments were nice. It was one of the reasons both of them were so excited for this too – something actually good to look forward to.

"So, I guess we're not getting rid of you anytime soon, huh?" Delphine smirked at Bishop. This time her teasing tone was all too palpable, but she still couldn't help but jab at him.

"That wasn't a question of some ring, you know?" he scoffed at her, but he smirked at the quip too. It had been a familiar dynamic by now. Despite all the jabs and despite the many times he seriously questioned her insane plans, he knew that all she was doing was trying to protect everyone from the dragons. A little bit of insanity probably went along with that naturally.

"Well, congratulations, in any case," she smiled a little. "The old man said it – it is encouraging. But you know that we won't be able to come to the wedding, right? There's no way we can just march into public like that when the Thalmor could be skulking anywhere."

"No one even invited you," Bishop laughed at her. He wasn't sure if he was laughing more at the paranoia or at the presumption.

"Bishop!" Aeyrin smacked his thigh with a slightly uncomfortable chuckle. That was a little mean. Granted, she hadn't even started to think about whom they should invite, but he didn't have to reject her outright.

"What? It's true," Bishop shrugged. It was true, but he still didn't have to say it. On the upside, however, Delphine just smirked in amusement, unbothered by the comment.

"But I could come, right?" Erik piped up instead. "We've known each other for a long time, even before… this. I wanna come to the wedding." He gave them a bashful smile. It would be hard to say 'no' to him. And besides, both of them really liked Erik anyway. The other Blades didn't get involved in the debate, fortunately. Most of them had only met the two today anyway. That would have been a strange conversation.

"We're not even planning a wedding yet," Aeyrin chuckled at him a bit. "We haven't invited anyone. But sure, you can come. But we only just got engaged." That should make it obvious just how premature these discussions were. To everyone.

"It's all fresh then?" Annekke winked at them. "Tell us how it happened."

Well, since they had already told everyone about the rest of the adventures in Blackreach, there was no reason to leave this one out now.

No matter the dawn creeping in already, it was obviously time for at least one more story.

…

After a good amount of rest throughout the noon, and some lunch from the Blades' supplies, Bishop and Aeyrin said their goodbyes and headed out into the world again.

The Scroll remained at Sky Haven and they were pleasantly unburdened from all their loot. With new equipment to test out, they had a free hand for a change. There was nothing on the horizon just then. They could go wherever they wished.

Both of them were quite excited to be back on the surface, able to do whatever they wanted. They had only spent one night at a comfortable inn after their venture below the earth, but it was enough to have them crave the call of the wilderness instead. It was always what the two of them loved the most. They could spend time alone, reveling in the new stage of their relationship. They could enjoy the fresh air of the coming spring and they could also put that equipment through the ringer with some milder adventures. Hopefully with no Falmer involved.

There was always one place that called to them the most. And since Aeyrin really wanted to enjoy the slight warmth in the air, the most logical direction to take was anywhere south. She certainly didn't want to sleep in the snow again as they had by the Raldbthar lift.

With Falkreath being omitted from consideration almost automatically and the Reach swarming with Forsworn and possibly Silver-Blood plots, their choice was clear.

The Rift.

They had explored much of it together already, but there were always more places to go, more secrets to discover in the lush golden forests.

They took the southern road, quickly through Falkreath and around the mountain, carefully avoiding the roads in Whiterun Hold, until they stopped for supplies in Ivarstead.

They spent only one night at the inn there. And like Erik, Lynly promptly noticed the shiny new ring on Aeyrin's finger as well. She had been no less excited, but she didn't ask to be invited. She was likely too self-conscious to do so. That was fine though, they were far from starting to plan anything. They had agreed together after all that talk at Sky Haven Temple. There was no rush. Aeyrin wanted to have Master Therien by her side when it happened, no matter what, and they still couldn't even write to him. So in order not to burden the mind with all these issues again, they left things pleasantly open. They could just enjoy being engaged without jumping right into some planning of the event itself.

They first tested out their gear on a small group of bandits by the road south of Ivarstead. It was a little disappointing. They were hardly a challenge. But Aeyrin was certainly giddy about the new enchantment on her mace. Her assailants were wrecked with pain, screaming when the flames enveloped their frost-bitten skin, then shaking with the assault of electricity. It was an impressive sight, if a little disturbing. But the bandits were certainly not concerned about their well-being in turn.

The next time they faced some action was a bit more exciting. They came upon a small Dwemer ruin up on the surface – no more than two open buildings. There wasn't any treasure there to even warrant sending to Calcelmo, but there was a wispmother there, guarding the place. That battle was certainly more exciting.

Aeyrin got to test the sturdiness of her new crystal armor against the wispmother's magic. Especially when an ice spike shot right at her leg. It shattered completely without even damaging the crystal in any way. And the armor staved off most of the frost spells on its own. It was definitely money well spent.

On their fourth day of travels, they traversed all the way towards the south-eastern edge of the Rift, right near where the Jerall mountains ended meeting the Velothi range.

"Hey, you know what?" Aeyrin interrupted the comfortable silence of their leisurely walk around the area when she started to recognize some trees and buildings in the distance. "This is very close to that secret chapel we built around here."

"I wouldn't call it a 'secret chapel' out loud," Bishop chuckled at her. Sometimes it was kind of funny watching the priests like her and Jora navigate the intricacies of a conspiracy. He knew that no one was around. But still, he had learned a long time ago that it was much more convenient to internalize the subtleties in private too, lest one would blurt shit out by accident later.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. There's nothing there. It's just that we're close to this unimportant mountain I really like," Aeyrin smirked. If he wanted to be subtle, she could be subtle. Though she had a feeling that she was more conspicuous now than before. Maybe she couldn't be subtle.

"You wanna go take a look at how they're doing there?" Bishop asked after he chuckled at her attempt again. It was clear that this was the reason she had even mentioned it.

"Yeah. I think I do," Aeyrin smiled back at him. There was no harm in it – they were in the area anyway. And maybe someone else had more information about Brunwulf and what was going on in Cyrodiil.

"Alright. Lead on," he gestured with his hand and Aeyrin eagerly started to usher him forth towards the mountains.

They walked a bit closer towards the mountain. Aeyrin could see the familiar farm clearly some distance away – the path up the plateau should be in the other direction. But before she could head over that way, an unpleasant sound rang through the area.

"Shit," Bishop muttered as his eyes scanned over the peaks on the horizon. A dragon, without even a sliver of doubt. There was nothing in the world by now they could mistake that sound for. It wasn't visible anywhere, but he could have sworn he heard it from back where they came from.

"It's… so close to the chapel," Aeyrin scowled. Gods, she hoped it hadn't attacked the structure. At the very least, she knew that the temple was largely underground – people could hide there from a dragon attack effectively, possibly even inside the crumbled pass. But it was still uncomfortably close. And technically close to the farm where they housed them during the construction as well.

"Guess you wanna go take care of it, huh?" Bishop smirked. He couldn't even imagine her walking away, hoping the chapel simply wouldn't get attacked.

"We have to," Aeyrin scowled. Maybe the dragon just flew by and didn't nest here. But that was too big of a gamble to take.

"Alright. Guess we can test out our new shit on something bigger," Bishop chuckled. Going after dragons would always be a little daunting – more so because of those fucking absorptions. But there was never any deterring her anyway.

They might as well get this over with quickly.

…

FAAS

The Word seeped into Aeyrin's mind, echoing in her head like a chant.

The light finally eased. It had been bad since the middle of the mountain. It was a high peak – a long climb. But fortunately, there were hints of a trail, snowed under, but convenient. What was inconvenient was that there was a Word Wall at all at the summit of the peak.

By the time they reached the top, Aeyrin could barely see or hear anything. She only vaguely registered the shake of the stone beneath her feet and the shape in front of her. She heard a voice, as if from a distance, calling out to her to run. It was Bishop, she knew, but she couldn't actually recognize the voice through the drumming.

But she did run. No matter what, she needed to rely on him to cover her back and she ran towards the light.

Only now when the overwhelming light dimmed, she turned around to look at the scene.

The dragon was down on the plateau, snapping its jaws at Bishop. There was scorched ground and melted snow around, but Bishop himself seemed unharmed. He was constantly keeping his distance, sending arrows flying against the beast whenever he could. There was already one lodged in its eye and a few beneath the scales of its neck. Its aim was likely off by now.

Aeyrin quickly rushed into the fray herself. The dragon was down and completely concentrated on Bishop so she had an edge. She dashed towards its tail, trying at least a little not to alert it too much, though the echo of her heavy metal boots on the stone beneath the snow made her far from subtle. Still, the beast didn't turn around. She ran until she reached its flank and smashed her mace into its hind leg.

The dragon roared and tried to kick her with its leg, but it didn't hit. The next second though, it swished its large tail across the stone, right towards her. Aeyrin did try to jump, but with the heavy equipment on her, it was not nearly as high as it needed to be. She stumbled as the tail swept her legs, falling back down onto her back.

The beast was ready to swipe again, and this time, with the intention of shoving her off the mountain with that motion. But Aeyrin got ready. She was not going through something like that again after Blackreach.

The second the tail got near, she gripped it, as tightly as she could with her mace in one hand and her other arm wrapped around the girth of the tail. The dragon attempted to shake her off, but its tail didn't even reach the air above the ravine – it would have to really build up the momentum to toss her over the edge. And she wouldn't let it. When the motions eased, she started to shimmy up it, towards the creature's back. In the meantime, it thrashed and roared again – likely hit by another arrow.

Aeyrin made it up towards its back and she smashed her mace against its scales. One of them broke off instantly and her weapon lodged itself in the dragon's flesh. It would be quick work now. Another roar accompanied her next action. She outright jumped off its back with her mace firmly gripped and still lodged in. The weapon dragged through the beast's flesh, leaving a deep bloody gash in its wake, with several more scales falling off its hide. The dragon wouldn't stop roaring, not until the next sound from its throat was only a strangled gargle. Bishop must have hit the ultimate target.

The dragon slumped down only a few seconds later, succumbing to the multiple injuries. Aeyrin rushed towards Bishop quickly and only now she noticed the creature's maw. It was like a pincushion. There was an arrow in each eye among the others in its neck and jaw. She almost forgot what was going to happen as she stared at it.

That was before Bishop collected her into his arms and squeezed her to himself, pulling her down. It was always easier to be closer to the ground. She would fall anyway once the soul hit her.

She wasn't sure what was so different now. Maybe it was the edification of the last few days. She wasn't even scared. She was anxious about the pain, but the deep lingering fear seemed to be oddly eased right then. She nuzzled herself into Bishop's embrace as they settled themselves on the ground. She was enjoying the respite more than she was dreading what was coming.

But it came soon enough.

An intense heat spread through her body. At first, she thought it was just from their close embrace, but soon, the pleasant warmth became scolding. Painful. She felt like the new metal on her was melting into her flesh, each individual ring cutting in with the heat. It almost felt like she was dangling above the abyss again with her chain burning like fire in her grip and digging inside her. Except for now, it felt like it was happening all over her body. The so-called Godsblood seeping into her. Ironic really. Maybe it would help her control her Shouts. She almost felt like she could feel the strangeness, the foreignness of her blood. Like it didn't belong inside her. But not because of the ebony that poured inside. It was the werewolf blood that felt so wrong. The heat was almost a reprieve from that feeling. It was more familiar. She had been through this so many times before.

She knew that it would end. That it wasn't even real. Not like her curse.

But the heat was all in her head.

She could imagine the snow under her easily, chilling her. The heat felt softer with each second as she concentrated on that. She knew it had been snowing softly up on that peak and when she focused hard enough, she could feel the flakes fall onto her face.

It was pleasant. And soon, the heat became a distant memory.

She tried to open her eyes next. The snow blinded her a little, but she adjusted quickly. Her eyes went right to Bishop after that. He was watching her with palpable nervousness.

"You didn't scream," he scowled, as if he had just said a bad thing.

"I… do I always?" She wasn't sure. Sometimes she could feel herself scream, sometimes she couldn't.

"Yes. That was… unnerving. Don't fucking change the pattern on me," he growled, more out of frustration with the uncertainty than anything else. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah. It… wasn't so bad, I think. Or maybe it was, I don't really remember it rationally after," she chuckled a little. It always felt a little silly but also scary when it was over. It was scary every time to have her mind taken over by something that wasn't happening. Maybe she was getting used to it though. A similar thing has been happening to her now three nights a month.

"Good," Bishop pressed a brief kiss to the top of her head. "You got the Wall? You wanna try?"

She shrugged. It was going to be pointless, but there was no harm in trying. She disentangled herself from his embrace only very reluctantly before she marched some distance away, past the dragon's skeleton, until she could safely try whatever the new Shout was.

Faas.

Nothing. It only echoed in her head oddly, but nothing really happened. She tried again and again, but no sound came out. It was no use.

She stood there for a minute or two, still trying, before she noticed Bishop's presence by her side. He had a book in his hand – her book on dragon language with considerably warped pages after their ordeal in Irkngthand. He clearly already figured out that she wouldn't be able to Shout at all, so he tried to help out the other way.

"What's the Word?" he nodded at her. But as he peered at the text, it was clear that this would take him some time to locate. It was just long strings of symbols, transcribed down into Cyrodilic scrip and translated below that.

"Faas. Give me that," she gave him a brief chuckle. She could hear the word in her head, but it was much more reliable to find the runes inscribed into her brain like a vivid memory. "Hmm… here. It means 'fear'," she noted after she took the book from him and located the proper runes.

"'Fear'? So like a fear spell? Like…"

"Yeah, like what happened to me in Whiterun, I guess," she sighed. It wasn't the most pleasant memory. And she really doubted that such a tactic would work on the dragons themselves. If she could ever even Shout again, that was.

"Well at least it was easy to tell what it does," Bishop shrugged. She'd learnt much more obscure ones before. Like the one that calmed animals – they had only recently really found out what it did.

"Yeah," Aeyrin nodded. And the main thing was that the dragon was dead anyway. "We should head to the chapel. They might even want to know about the dragon. Maybe they could use the bones too. Sell them or use them to reinforce something or equip some guards. If there are any." She wasn't really sure how the chapel worked now, but she hoped that there was some security there.

"Right. Let's go," Bishop nodded. "I think we've tested that gear thoroughly by now."

…

"We almost let boulders loose on you!"

A voice called out to them from atop the plateau as they were ascending towards the chapel.

"You shouldn't come in unannounced. We're always on edge here," the voice chuckled at them as it called out once more.

"She makes a good point," Bishop smirked. This was a 'secret chapel' after all. It was good to see that they had some security here, but he didn't even want to imagine how this would have ended if the lookouts clearly hadn't recognized Aeyrin from afar.

"Sorry. We were in the area," Aeyrin called back, though that was a really bad reason to just pop by, now that she thought about it. She really didn't give this too much thought before. Maybe she should have.

Only when they almost reached the plateau proper did the chapel become visible. It was really well hidden up there in the mountains. And apparently well secured too. There were several people scouring around in the snow, talking to each other or just apparently stretching their legs. They were all familiar and some of them gave a small wave to Aeyrin.

The two of them spotted the woman who had been calling out to them after a while. She had a small station by the edge of the plateau with a tent and a chair there – clearly a substitute for a lookout tower which would be too visible. The woman – a Nord in heavy armor – waved them over promptly.

"Dragonborn, right?" she nodded at Aeyrin. "You're Lord Free-Winter's friend?"

"Yes. I helped out with this place," Aeyrin nodded in return while Bishop looked back at the chapel. It was just a wooden building, but it looked pretty sturdy. And it seemed to be fairing pretty well here, despite the nearby dragon and the strong winds.

"You built this thing?" Bishop smirked. "Impressive." It was definitely grander than what he had been building back then. But much less special, of course.

"I hardly did anything," Aeyrin chuckled a bit. She really didn't do that much building. Or at least it felt like it, among all those other people. She turned towards the woman a second later once more. "How are things going here?"

"Slowly. We're still trying to clear Gromm's Pass," the Nord inclined her head down, as if to gesture at the caved-in passages beneath. "It's gonna take a long time yet, but we're working on it. There weren't any new arrivals yet. Just me, after those folks from the list made it here. Lord Free-Winter brought me here as additional security. He's an old acquaintance. A good provider. And I was eager to get away from my home," she shrugged. "It's a bit boring sometimes, I guess. But I like boring." She stretched out on her chair as if to accentuate the point.

"So no dragons?" Bishop smirked. They might not have even heard it here – it was much further from that mountain than they had been before.

"Oh. Did you see it?" the woman straightened up. "It left us alone so far, but I think it's just because we have everyone go inside when it's anywhere near. If it knew there were people here…"

"We killed it," Aeyrin quickly reassured her.

"You did? The one there on that mountain?" The woman gaped at them, pointing into the direction they had just come from.

"That's the one. We can't lug the bones around, but they are useful for smithing or just selling. If you want to send some people for them," Aeyrin smiled at her. It seemed like a good idea to her at least.

"That's… interesting. I'll send some people to do that," the Nord nodded. "We'll decide how to use them later. Thank you for killing that thing. It was circling around for at least a month now. The Snow-Shods will be really relieved too." It sounded like the nearby farmers were concerned as well. No wonder. They were much more obvious targets for the creature than the temple.

"Good. Was it the only one?" Aeyrin asked, a bit concerned. The mountains tended to attract them.

"As far as we know. We only saw the one. It had the same color at least. Sort of green-bronze? From afar it looked that way," the woman gave her a look of equal concern. She probably worried that there were more around.

"That's the one we killed," Aeyrin reassured her again.

The Nord looked relieved, but the conversation seemed to die down a bit after that. She fastened her eyes onto the forest below once more, watching, in case anyone got near.

"Did you hear anything from Lord Free-Winter lately?" Aeyrin asked after a while of silence.

"Not after he took me here. He was on his way to Cyrodiil for some business. Apparently there's someone spying on some allies there? I think he's dealing with that," the woman shrugged.

Well, that was not helpful. No new information again. Aeyrin still tried to think back on his words, that things were going well, but it was getting harder the longer she heard nothing else.

"Yeah… thank you," she let out a sigh, but the Nord didn't seem to notice her disappointment.

"You're welcome to stay, if you like. However long. We have plenty of room here," she only smiled a bit, but she barely even looked at them anymore, just watching the horizon.

"Thanks," Aeyrin ended the conversation quickly. There was not much else to say anyway. She walked away, across the plateau, only vaguely registering Bishop following her. She stopped by the edge where the southern Province was visible beyond some of the rocky outcroppings.

It looked so peaceful like this. The White-Gold Tower peeking from its isle, visible even from this far away. She had spent almost her whole life there and no matter what, hale or storm, fog or clouds, the Tower was always there, always visible, even from all the way down in Leyawiin. It was an oddly ever-present symbol of her old home. She could only see it so plainly here, on the precipice.

"So close, huh?" Bishop's voice almost startled her as it rang behind her ear. His hand touched her shoulder then, squeezing briefly.

"Not really. We would have to plummet down the cliff to get any closer," she let out a weak chuckle. One day the pass would be cleared again, but for now, there was no way to reach it. Not right now at least –there was always the regular way, of course.

"You know, you can write to him," Bishop squeezed her once more, this time pulling her back against his chest comfortingly.

"I don't actually know if I can," she sighed. "Brunwulf told me not to. I don't wanna mess things up, Bish. I wouldn't… I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I'm not good at this… subtle investigation stuff."

Bishop only nodded. It seemed more suspicious to him if she wouldn't write to Therien for so long. It was normal that she communicated with him. She would just have to be careful about what she would write. But then again, he had already fucked up his part when he was supposed to be subtle. He didn't want to suggest this and have any potential tragedies on his head.

"I'm sure he'll write soon. This shit just… takes time," he pressed a kiss into her hair comfortingly. Brunwulf would ask for backup if there was something wrong, right? He must have known that Aeyrin would be back in Cyrodiil as fast as she could if she knew something was wrong.

She was silent, but Bishop did feel her nod slightly with her head under his chin.

They stayed like that for a while, watching the Imperial Province spread before them, visible only barely behind the rocks. It's been a long time for both of them since they had left. More so for Bishop, but it still looked just like it always had. Not even a dragon in sight – as if that place was shielded from the dangers of the North.

But even if that was true, they were both all too aware of the dangers within.

Of everything that lurked beneath the serene horizon, beyond the gaze of the watchful Tower.