"Your turn… What are your thoughts for all this?" Serana asked after taking a drink of her blood potion. It wasn't satisfying in the least, but her thirst burned less. Aela's blood only a few feet away was tormenting her.
Aela watched her with interest. Her thoughts blossomed in her mind in another direction. "Do those really help?"
Serana sighed thinking about how she wished it would. She downed the last of the vial before answering. "Yes and no. It's no replacement for the real thing. They're made with blood, but it's not really the same. Fresh blood holds so much more power… Why do you ask?"
Aela took a long drink of her mead, appraising the vampire in her simple emerald tunic and black linen trousers. Her wolf paced, watching through her eyes. Patience... "Just curious, is all. I haven't seen you drink from anyone since that disgusting vampire. I figured those might help, then again..." Aela set her bottle down on the nightstand and turned back to her. "I was wondering what it felt like."
Serana furrowed her brow. "What? Drinking blood?"
Aela smirked devilishly. "No. What it feels like to drink from another."
For a moment Serana sat dumbfounded. "I'm not sure what you're asking." Serana finally managed to make her mouth work.
"Come now, Serana. You're smarter than that. You're keen on drinking from Azriel. Is her blood different than say mine would be?"
Serana shivered thinking about how to describe it. "Very much so. She has the most powerful blood I've ever had. In a way, it's stronger than…" Serana stopped herself. She had no intention of speaking of Molag Bal or her ritual. Azriel was far more understanding of the two. After Movarth's comments, she knew it would lead to a discussion she knew she couldn't handle, especially with just Aela. "There's no real way to describe it. I think the closest I could come to it is like drinking molten lava straight from the source. It's powerfully addictive and anything else pales in comparison."
Aela mauled over her words carefully. "You are addicted to her blood?"
"This crown were going to steal determines the High King or Queen in Skyrim?" Azriel said stepping from the shadows alongside of Karliah.
"The Amulet of Kings was once a source of power for the Empire. It's not so different." Karliah said thinking about their conversation.
"If it's so important why didn't Torygg already have it?" Azriel thought the whole idea of objects invoking kingship was ridiculous. No wonder the world is crazy…
"It's been lost since the first era. I've been searching out unique items for the Guild and this one is worth its weight in gold." Azriel could hear the smile again.
"So, what's the plan?" Azriel could help to smile under her own hood.
"The plan is to break in and steal it, Lass. We're going to hold a little auction once we have it. We'll be rolling in gold in no time." Brynjolf answered from the darkness. "What took so long?"
Karliah giggled softly. "I had to wait for Azriel to reject the Jarl of Solitude's marriage proposal."
"Best not to tell your pet vampire about that, Lass." He said with a chuckle.
Azriel growled at him playfully. "Or Aela..."
Brynjolf stopped chuckling and cleared his throat under his hood. "You do keep busy. Shall we?" He added with a more serious tone.
"Only if you two are done making fun of me." Azriel countered. "Because I don't mind slipping Aela information about where you live, Bryn."
"That's not funny."
Karliah chuckled darkly at her threat knowing full well the story behind her taunt. "I'm not at all finished with teasing you. But I would like to hurry this along."
Brynjolf leaned close and whispered thanks into Karliah's ear as she stood in front of Korvanjund's picking the ancient lock.
"Let go make some gold." Karliah said, pushing open the door.
Damn it. I shouldn't have used that word. "In a way… yes."
"Either you are, or you aren't. Which is it?" Aela's silver eyes were tearing her apart. It was like she was looking for her weakness.
"I am." Serana relented. She didn't see a point in lying to her. Aela's piecing gaze would see right through it.
"I see."
"I know what you're thinking…"
Aela let the victorious smile spread over her face. "Do you really?"
"You still honestly believe that the only reason I wish to be with her is her blood?" Serana was incensed at the thought.
"You still haven't proven me wrong, vampire. You've just admitted that you are addicted to her blood."
Serana realized there wasn't any contempt to her words. It eased her-own outrage at the continued accusation, but only slightly. "Then tell me, how do I prove it to you?"
"If those potions do nothing for you, why do you not find something else to ease your cravings?" Aela was still considering her own curiosity. "Do you find it difficult to be close to her?"
Serana growled in frustration. Every conversation with Aela was one step forward and three steps backward. "I find it difficult to ease my thirst if it isn't her blood. Her blood makes my thirst go away altogether for a time. And yes, it is difficult to be around her, yet she always seems to know when it returns and it's her that suggests I ease it. Not the other way around. I will never harm her or let her be harmed."
Aela tapped her fingers on the bedding. "What do you do when your thirst is out of control, and she isn't around?"
"It hasn't come up."
"You've been thirsty. You were thirsty in that cave on the beach…"
"I can control it."
"And what if you can't?" Aela watched her carefully. She wanted an honest answer.
"I just said I can."
Aela picked up her dagger from the nightstand. "Can you?" Aela sat forward.
Serana's eyes went wide, realizing what was she was about to do.
"We'll see." She dropped the strap of her suede dress and lifted the dagger to her shoulder drawing it intentionally over her collar bone.
Serana inhaled the sharp smell of her frosty Northern blood. Like a snowstorm, the scent hit her nose, burning her and addled her mind. Serana's eyes hungrily watched the blood ooze from the wound as she licked her lips. Her thirst lashed out as the monster climbed forward. Her body burned; the hunger left her throat dry like the desert sands. She fought with her desires as she struggled not to move. She wanted to taste the wolf's blood and her monster raged within her. The misery of watching Aela's blood trickle onto her breast was agonizing.
"I want you to know, I am tempting you. What will you do as we lie bleeding and wounded at your feet? You craved Azriel's blood in that cave. I saw your weakness to it. But I saw you wanted mine just as much. Why?"
The only sound that escaped Serana was a moan as rivulets of blood dripped down Aela's breast, disappearing into the suede. Each droplet she followed compounded her need. She was losing her battle against her monster.
"You need to learn to control yourself and feed whenever possible. We are not fodder to be taken advantage of."
Serana dug her nails into her palms as another droplet rolled into Aela's dress. She whimpered, wanting to follow it with her tongue. She gnashed her teeth together, fighting her urge to tear Aela's dress from her body and feed freely.
Aela let the wolfish grin fix itself firmly on her face.
The monster within Serana screamed at her to take everything she wanted, and Serana screamed back. Serana backed up to the edge of the bed as Aela moved on her hands and knees across the furs of the bed.
"What's wrong, Serana? Is my blood not as tempting as Azriel's?"
Serana growled but felt the poster of the bed touch her back. "I hate your games, Aela."
Aela's eyes were just as predatory as Serana's. "What can I do to make it more appealing?"
"Get away from me. I'm warning you…"
Aela chuckled darkly at Serana. "No little vampire. I'm warning you… control it and I may reward you with what you desire. I'm no whelp and you wouldn't stand a chance if you chose to just take. You need to ask, for me to give it to you."
Aela got off the bed, and let the other strap drop from her shoulder. She pulled the dress off entirely and walked to the edge where Serana was and leaned down. "How badly do you want my blood, Serana? How badly do you want to mark me like you did Azriel?" She caught some of the blood on her finger and held it to the vampire's lips. "Answer me."
Serana ran her tongue over her teeth as she stared at the blood on Aela's finger. She was shaking, her mind was screaming for her to pin down the werewolf and claim her. Serana's body was rife with adversity amid her desires. "Please… Aela… stop!" Serana's body burned from the effort it was taking to hold herself in place. She crushed her eyes together and stopped breathing, trying to shut down her senses.
She could feel the heat of Aela's nude body so close as Aela pressed her bloody finger to her lips.
"Taste it." Aela whispered.
"I won't! Get away!" Serana screamed, shoving her away.
Aela laughed as she picked herself up of the wooden floor. The vampire trembled, standing at the edge of the bed with no place left to go. "You have more control than I gave you credit for."
Serana sank to the floor, shaky from her internal struggle. Aela knelt, observing her closely. She ran her fingers through Serana's hair and tilted her chin so she would look at her. "Open your eyes, vampire."
Serana shook her head.
Aela brushed the blood onto her fingers again and traced it over Serana's lips. "Taste it." Aela whispered again, this time sweetly. "I mean it." Serana's tongue followed her finger and Aela pressed the tip of her finger to Serana's tongue.
"Drink from me, Serana. You earned your reward. I will bear your mark."
The twin burning fires slipped open and stared at Aela. She could no longer form words. Her desire for the Nord had pushed her over the edge as she swallowed the icy heat of her blood. She picked up the shorter Nord from the floor and pressed her body into the bed.
This time, Serana was fully in control of her monster. Aela's own craving reflected in her sterling pools. "You're willing to let me, have it?" Serana purred softly into her ear and let her hands roam the werewolf's tantalizing frame.
"I am." Aela's voice was husky from her own lust. She didn't bother to hide her own hunger for the vampire any longer.
Serana nudged Aela's chin with her nose, kissing slowly down her jugular vein. "This is intimate for me… I want you to know that."
Aela wove her fingers into her ebony tresses, pulling Serana into a sweltering kiss. Her nails dug into the vampire's waist drawing the woman closer as their bodies adjusted to fit one another. Serana moaned into Aela's mouth as her hands traveled the naked woman's form. Every muscle and scar on the woman's chest imprinted into her mind. She broke the kiss working her way down her jaw, kissing Aela's tender skin on her neck. The smell of her Nordic blood filled Serana's nose with a wintery sting. Serana licked the closing wound realizing that Aela's blood was spiked with Azriel's own faint fire.
"I want it to be intimate for both of us. I want to feel your skin on mine." Aela's gruff whisper made Serana sigh as Aela pulled the vampire's tunic from her body. It was all she could do as Serana's fangs traced her collarbone. "Bite me, Serana."
Fire and ice wrapped in bliss as their skin touched. Hunger driven by their mutual lust danced in their minds as hands roamed and sweat formed. The frozen bite of the vampire made Aela cry out with pleasure when Serana sunk her fangs into her skin.
The black dragon roared victoriously from within the farthest reaches of both of their consciousness. Aela's wolf howled and filled Serana's mind as she swiftly sank into Aela's blood memories.
"That went surprisingly well," Karliah said putting the parchment down on the table.
Azriel set the head of the ancient king at his own feet and she adjusted his body on his throne. "I think old King Borgas looks better like this." Laughing as she bent his hand into a rude gesture.
Brynjolf stuffed the crown into his bag with a grin she couldn't see. "After that fight, I'll agree with you."
Karliah took the note that Azriel finished writing, read it, and laughed.
Looking for the lost Jagged Crown?
It's not lost anymore.
When you find this, you are steps closer to owning the real thing, depending on the coin in your purse.
We'll be in touch…
Azriel snatched the note back with a smirk. "Let's have a little fun, shall we?" Azriel folded the parchment into a crown and set it on the King's severed head.
Azriel brushed her hands together. "Much better now…"
Karliah shook her head at the amusing sight. "You enjoy winding them up, don't you?"
"More than anything..." Azriel laughed. "Now let's get out of here. I have another little adventure planned for the evening. Then I want to get home."
"Ah, yes… you have… friends waiting." Karliah mused out loud, satisfied by the growl that followed her statement.
Azriel walked to the ancient wall ignoring Brynjolf's laughter.
Its chanted song reached her ear and painted the visions in her mind as she read it. Here fell mighty Warlord Aaban. Child of the sands of Alik'r. Rest now in the soil of Skyrim. The old wall's song was hauntingly beautiful as she listened to it. She was usually too tired after a fight to truly appreciate them, but she always listened. The ancient Nords had once loved magic and it flowed through the walls and into her. She wondered if the dragons could appreciate their beauty the way she did. Then again, the dragons only fed from them. In a way, she could understand it. The ancient walls did have power in them, and it flowed through her as she listened to its story. But it wasn't the same for them as it was for her. It gave her the knowledge she thirsted for, knowledge of a language and time. Understanding of things, the way the Dov understood them. It only just sated the hunger for knowledge she possessed. Like the sigil stones, it was addictive.
"When we get back to the Ratway, we'll really spin them up. The auction letters will be sent out to the Jarls. We'll have more gold than we'll know what to do with." Brynjolf finished packing the last of the spoils in his bag. He looked over at her with a small smile. "I almost forgot to tell you. Astrid asked me to relay a message for her."
Azriel smirked at him. I wonder if she's pissed? "Well? Spit it out."
Brynjolf cleared his throat and mocked Astrid's sultry purr. "Get your narrow butt back to the Sanctuary and stop leaving your dirty paw prints all over my Province." He finished with a smile. "I think she has a thing for you."
Karliah rolled her eyes. "What woman haven't you slept with?"
Azriel tapped her chin feigning thoughtfulness. "Well, I think… just you, sweet Sister. And Astrid. And… wow thinking of it… I need to get busy. So much female conquest in my future… I forgot all about the other Provinces as I find my way skipping from bed to bed." Azriel rolled her eyes at Karliah.
"Let's leave me out of this, shall we?" Karliah laughed at her.
Serana pulled her tunic over her head and handed Aela her dress. Both women were quietly watching each other.
"You want to wait until Azriel returns…" Aela wasn't offended, but her primal lust was raging through her body as she ground the words out.
"Does it upset you?" Serana watched the wolf's expressions; her scent making her wetter than she already was. As much as she wanted Aela to pin her to the bed for the rest of the night, it felt wrong to her without Azriel there.
"No, but I won't lie. I'm struggling with not ripping your clothes off." Aela pulled the dress over her head and stood, letting it slide over her frame.
Serana grinned, she was glad she wasn't the only one struggling with the notion. She needed to change the subject before she let Aela drag her back into the bed.
"Is your thirst sated?" Aela asked, turning around to face her.
"It is. Thank you." She wanted to do more than thank her verbally. That needs to wait...
Aela walked to the mirror and looked at the bite marks on her neck. "You said that you saw things in Azriel's blood. Is that true any time you drink from people?" She ran her fingers over them as she spoke. Marked by a vampire… who'd have thought it would be so enjoyable. Aela smirked. It'd be more enjoyable if had led to something more.
"I do." Serana watched her with a feeling of satisfaction. Aela was definitely of ancient Nordic lineage. The ice in her veins sang to Serana of thousands of years of Northern blood as cold as the frozen sea gale and just as strong as the cliffs that faced them. The faintest fire burned her lips as she tasted the dragon's blood that resided within the woman. The hunger of the beast that flooded Serana's own mind linked her now to the faint call of Aela's wolf. The sound of an alpha and her mates… as if I am part of the pack. Serana grinned. She could only hear Azriel's wolf when she was close, but the thought amused her. Mother will be livid I'm with them and I really don't give a damn.
"What did you see in mine?" Aela moved away from the mirror and sat on the edge of the bed next to Serana.
"Memories mostly, but also your feelings and I heard your wolf. It's undiluted and pure, it gives me a deeper understanding about you."
Aela pulled the vampire's hand into hers. "Tell me what you saw."
The three shared in laughter and traded barbs as they walked out of the ruins. Each of them stopped only to reset the traps and stuffed Brynojlf's bag full of goods they had collected along the way.
"Bryn, keep me posted. I want to throw that twist into the works when the time is right."
"We have eyes everywhere now, Lass. We're going to make sure no Stormcloak supporter gets their filthy hands on this crown. But it's going to cost the Holds plenty of coin to even see it."
She looked at the sky, the stars and moons told her she only had a few hours left until daybreak. It would have to be enough. She gave a silent prayer that her friend was still alive.
"What bothers you?" Karliah asked kindly as they walked.
"It's nothing you and Bryn need to…" Azriel froze. "You two need to leave now!"
"What is it, lass?" Brynjolf set the bag down.
Azriel jumped at Brynjolf knocking him aside with her shoulder.
"FO!" The pale yellow and green dragon's frost hit the place where he had stood only a second before.
"Aim for its eyes, Karliah!" Azriel yelled rolling to her feet. She drew her sword and let lightning spark to life in her hand.
Karliah let the arrow fly as the dragon turned, narrowly missing its golden eye.
"Dovahkiin, hi los dilon!" the dragon roared as it swept over them.
Electricity arced from Azriel's fingers in an enormous concentrated blast. The arcs sparked between its wings and the dragon lost altitude.
"JOOR! ZAH! FRUL!"
The shout instantly crippled the dragon and it fell from the sky. It landed on the steps of the ruin in a crumpled heap. The sounds of its bones snapping rang around the ancient courtyard.
It squirmed in fury, trying to stand as the Nightingales ran forward to finish it.
"I saw the night as you do when you run as the wolf. I felt your thrill as you hunted with your pack-mates. I could smell the night air and taste the blood of your kill." Serana traced her finger over her lips absentmindedly as she thought.
"Was that all?" Aela prodded her gently.
Serana's eyes focused on her again. The Northern ice in Aela's veins was calling to her. "No. I saw Azriel through your eyes and I felt how you feel about her. The magnetism you both have, yet the constant struggle of it filled me. I saw in a vision how she jumped onto a dragon's head as it soared over a wall in Whiterun. Your pack was with you and your… father maybe? You called him Kodlak."
Aela smiled, listening to her. She could understand how Serana would come to that conclusion. "Kodlak was the Harbinger of the Companions before Azriel. I know which memory you speak of. It was the first time I spoke to Azriel and the first time we touched. I had been thinking about it earlier this evening." Aela stood and pulled Serana up with her. "Come, I'm famished. Tell me what else you saw as we find something to eat in this mess."
The dragon swept its right wing out towards Brynjolf. "Bryn, duck!" Karliah's booming shout made the air vibrate with a force that startled everyone, including the dragon.
The dragon swung its head and fixed a hate-filled stare on the Dunmer woman. "What devilry is this?!" The dragon inhaled Karliah's scent and roared.
Azriel stared at Karliah. In the years she had known the woman, she had never spoken above a whisper.
The dragon lunged for Karliah and Azriel pounced in front of her. "Karliah run!"
The dragon knocked the wind from Azriel as it rammed into her chest, driving her aside. Its eyes were fixed on Karliah, and it wanted her.
Karliah leaped at the dragon, grabbing onto the small horned fan on its head. She drove her sword into its neck over and over as Brynjolf attacked its wing.
Azriel scrambled to her feet, but the snapping sound caught Azriel's attention as Karliah pulled her hand away. Azriel lunged forward driving her blade through the dragon's jaw as it bellowed.
The dragon shuttered and collapsed from the final blows. Karliah had broken her ebony blade in its skull with a wicked thrust and Azriel had pierced its brain.
Azriel was stunned as she stepped away from the dragon. Her own blade slipped from her hand as Karliah triumphantly shouted into the sky. The ground trembled under Azriel's feet as she stared at the woman in awe. She now understood why Karliah's voice was always quiet. The smell of fire in her veins… Azriel had always thought it was because she was a Dunmer.
Brynjolf hugged Karliah tightly and Azriel needed to sit down. A tear happily slipped down her cheeks, as she watched the two hugged in victory. Exhausted beyond words, she let her thoughts roam in wonder at the gentle dark elf before her.
The dragon's body blazed, and its flesh burned from its bones. Azriel's eyes slipped closed as the dragon's soul entered her body. Its knowledge filled her completely. For a moment she kept them closed listening to the two Nightingales laugh and joke. As the dragon's knowledge surrounded her, Azriel felt the truth. She knew the dragon's thoughts as she claimed its soul and understood why it had chosen to fight Karliah.
Serana walked down the stairs with her and sat at the table near the fireplace, watching her. She found herself focusing on the way the younger Nord moved. Her body as she bent, the muscles that flexed and stretched. The way the dress rolled with every curve. Serana bit her lip wanting to tear the dress from her body.
Aela pulled cheese and bread from the shelves. "Well?"
Serana jumped with the question. "Um… oh. The way it felt when you first touched caught my attention."
Aela looked over her shoulder at her. "How so?"
"The heat between you both… I felt how alluring it was. How it burned you, yet how you desired it. In a way, it reminded me of how it is when Azriel and I touch."
Aela looked at the bottles not really seeing them. Her thoughts lingered on both Azriel and Serana. "Wine or ale?"
"Wine."
"Is it similar?" Aela pulled the wine from the rack and walked to the table, joining Serana.
"The heat yes, but there is also an electricity to her touch. It is like nothing I've ever experienced before with anyone."
"My mother told me I would know the person I was meant to be with the moment we touched. She said their body would burn hotter than any flame or the Skyforge itself." Aela broke the bread and took a bite. "It's odd…"
"What is?" Serana wondered about her small revelation.
Aela swallowed. "When we touch, your skin is cool, but the after-effect is like being burned."
Serana let a small smile play on her face. "When you touch me, you leave cold in your wake, yet your skin burns like sunshine against mine."
"DOVAHKIIN!"
Their voices pushed against Nirn. The air shook and the ground trembled with the reverberation of that single word through time and space. The Greybeards shouted for the world to hear them and all Nirn did. Nothing with senses could ignore their call, nor could any Dragonborn they specifically called with their voices.
Azriel could feel only joy in her heart. For the first time in her life, she had a true sister.
"Azriel, why are they calling you?" Karliah's voice betrayed her nervousness.
Azriel stood slowly. The tears rolled down her face as she opened her eyes. "They aren't calling me, Karliah."
Karliah took a step backward as Azriel walked forward and hugged her tightly. Brynjolf pulled his mask over his face to stare at the pair.
"They are calling you… Dragonborn."
Karliah let Azriel pull her close, the warmth of the young woman and her tears made her hard to resist. "Damn it," Karliah mumbled weakly.
Azriel chuckled but didn't let go. "I know the feeling."
"By the Gods, Karliah… what is she talking about?" Brynjolf stuffed his sword into its scabbard, being careful not to stab himself in haste.
"I thought living in the shadows all these years would hide me. Only Gallus knew of my lineage. I guess now, everyone will."
The entire manor shook with a single word that merged with the very air.
Aela and Serana held onto the table until the shaking stopped. They stared at each other in surprise.
"Why are they calling her?" Aela stared back down at her food.
"What was that?" Serana nervously wrung her hands together.
"The Greybeards. They're summoning Azriel to High Hrothgar." Aela reached across the table, resting her hand on top of Serana's. "I wonder… what's happened? They wouldn't summon her without cause…"
Serana was worried. She looked at the fire thinking. Azriel has been gone most of the night already...
"I see your concern and I share it." Aela's voice pulled her thoughts away from the fire.
"I just worry with so many things happening around us. We're not with her." The weakness of her own words made Serana shudder. She hated feeling helpless. "She is attracted to getting hurt."
"Stop, you'll drive yourself mad. We have to place trust in her. Tell me what you saw in my blood. You said you felt my feelings as well?" Aela gave her hand a squeeze before letting go. She was also worried about Azriel.
Azriel shook her head. "They don't have to. That dragon only knew because of your voice. The Greybeards must have heard you… felt you… like they did with me. The strength of it shocked me. Your voice is powerful!"
Brynjolf looked between the two women as if he were watching a dual. "Ladies, talk to me. What's going on?"
Karliah let out a very long breath and rubbed her hands on her thighs. "Barenziah had an affair with Tiber Septim when she was seventeen. My mother wasn't the last-born child… she was the first. Her mother gave her to a midwife to raise and they concocted a story for her, to hide her from the emperor. He had wanted my mother aborted, but the Altmer that was to do it tricked him. The Priest knew that Dunmer women at most only have four children in our entire lives… if we're lucky. My grandmother was very young and to take her child, he thought she may never bare another."
Karliah started to pace, fiddling with her gloves. "He lied for her and showed proof of the deed another way. A bastard child would be a terrible scandal for Tiber Septim and Barenziah."
"I thought your mother was the daughter of another man," Brynjolf mumbled.
"You were supposed to think that, Bryn. Barenziah did have an affair with the Nightengale, Drayven Indoril, one of the Sentinels at the Sepulcher. My mother knew who her father was, but the Septims' would have killed her for making the claim of a bastard child. Instead, she chose to seek out Drayven and he accepted her as his own." Karliah pulled back her mask and rubbed her frozen cheeks. "I always wanted the quiet life of crime…"
Azriel gave her a crooked grin, trying to lift her spirits. "I wanted a farmhouse and a gorgeous wife…"
"With the way you bed women?" Karliah snickered, but it didn't detract from the absolute dread she was feeling.
Brynjolf laughed at her. "I don't mind the gorgeous wife part, but a farm?"
Azriel shrugged. "Get stuffed, Karliah. It sounds better than fighting dragons. Sex all day and no one to bother you. Be a smith for extra coin…"
"Poverty sucks, Lass." Brynjolf pulled his mask up to wipe away the tears in his eyes from laughing.
Azriel ignored him and kept talking. "Peace and quiet with no one around to bother me, no one to ask me to fix their problems…? Trust me, I could handle that." Azriel smiled. "You have no idea how I long to just be left alone to have my own life... in a very large bed."
"Have you met Nord women? Your wife would kill you for leaving her on a poor farm and you hounding her for sex all the time." Brynjolf laughed.
"And for having affairs behind her back…" Karliah let herself laugh but stopped just as quickly. "This is exactly why I never wanted anyone to know anything about me."
Azriel threw a playful glare at Brynjolf. "Thanks for crushing my dreams, Bryn. You'll be fine, Karliah."
"What will they do if I don't answer?" Karliah wondered out loud, calming herself.
"They'll keep calling for you. It's better if you just go." Azriel thought for a moment about things. "Son of a skeever… everyone on Nirn heard their call. It means Delphine has too."
"Who's Delphine?" Both Brynjolf and Karliah asked the question at the same time. They laughed at themselves, but Azriel's serious look quieted them down.
"She's the Grandmaster of the Blades." Azriel rolled her eyes.
"You're kidding, right? I thought they were disbanded at the end of the Third Era." Karliah started to pace, finally tearing off her gloves.
"Nope. They're still around until I can kill them. You walking there is definitely out." Azriel shuffled in place, thinking. "But…" Azriel looked up with a huge grin. "That doesn't mean she won't think they're calling me!"
The smile lit Azriel's face as she looked at Karliah. "I know someone that can take you there. That way no one will see you go up!"
"Who?" Karliah was more nervous now.
Azriel let the wolfish grin bloom happily. "You are going to meet the eldest dragon. I know he'll do it."
"Azriel, I don't think…"
"PAAR THUR NAX!" The shout made Brynjolf and Karliah's bodies vibrate as it radiated into the sky.
Azriel turned to look at the other two. "Bryn, take off. Get that crown home and get it up for auction. Make sure life is business as usual. Make excuses for Karliah if someone asks for her until one of us can get back to you."
Bryn nodded. "Shadow hide you both." He disappeared into the shadows.
Azriel smiled at Karliah and took her hand. "You have no idea how much I prayed for another Dragonborn. There are so many things I need to tell you, but it has to wait."
Karliah hugged her. "I'm a little more than scared."
Azriel laughed. "So am I, all the damn time." She pulled away from her. "Listen to me, he's coming. I mentioned Delphine and the Blades… don't trust them. They are not the defenders of the Empire under her. They want me and every dragon dead. They'll try to twist you to their cause, and I am trying to save a race as old as Nirn."
Azriel looked to the sky. In the distance, she saw Paarthurnax flying. "Remember, they are neither your friends nor your protectors. Stay with the Greybeards, Paarthurnax is their leader, and learn our tongue. I will get back there as quickly as I can, and I promise you are safe with them. No one will know you are there; you will remain in the shadows until we can figure this out."
Karliah nodded and Azriel kept hold of her hand as they watched Paarthurnax land.
"I finally understand the reason behind your anger. I thought you were over being jealous at the college. But the way you acted after, and then at that cave where we found Dexion…"
It was Aela's turn to stare at the fire. "Azriel and I haven't had an easy friendship. My egotism pushed her away on more than one occasion." She took a drink and looked back at the fire. "I was jealous of how she looks at you. Knowing the two of you have known each other for only a short time… it didn't make things easier."
Serana sat back in her chair. "It hasn't been easy for any of us… My own jealousy has made things difficult as well."
Aela shook her head. "You don't understand. When I first met Azriel, I treated her worse than scum. But you show her respect. She has done everything she can to show you how much she cares for you. Even if it isn't obvious to you, it is to me. When she offered her blood to you, it was the final straw. The look in her eyes when you knelt in front of her… she never looked at me like that, because I never gave her a reason to in the beginning."
"Why did you treat her poorly?" Serana's finger traced the rim of her goblet. She had thought the two women had shared a solid friendship from the start.
Aela looked up at her sadly. "When I met her, I hated everything about her. The war had raged in stalemate, Kodlak refused to join the Stormcloaks cause. Ulfric Stormcloak was captured by the Legion after killing the High King. A dragon had attacked Helgen and he escaped during its destruction. Then an Imperial was made Thane of Whiterun after a dragon had attacked. I had heard of the Dragonborn, but that she was Imperial and a mage… I couldn't respect her. Even after I heard her voice when she saved Whiterun a second time, I refused to believe she was Dragonborn."
Aela took a drink and settle deeper into the chair, letting her thoughts drift as she spoke. "That memory you spoke of was only part of it. When we returned to Jorrvaskr, Vilkas and I argued with Kodlak. I remember telling him it was a mistake inviting her to join us. He refused to listen and told us to leave. After that, we made sure to make her life with us impossible to bear."
"That doesn't make any sense. Why would you do that to her?"
"Kodlak was the first Harbinger to accept races other than Nords. Though we followed the old man, we didn't like it. We already had an Imperial and a Dark Elf, then Azriel. You must understand that Nords are prideful… the Dragonborn we grew up with was supposed to be this Nordic warrior. A great man and an ultimate fighter like Ysgramor. The ultimate dragon slayer and born leader of the races of Tamriel. Instead, this little brown girl crossed our borders, slinging fire and waving a sword at dragons. Everything about her was wrong, even the way she spoke. At first, for me, it was like torture to listen to her or to be around her."
"I just don't understand…" Serana set the goblet on the table and stared at it. "For every reason you detested her, I was enamored with her."
Aela let her eyes linger on the vampire's face. "You come from a different time, Serana. I don't expect you to understand."
"Drem Yol Lok, Dovahkinne." The pale-gold dragon bowed its head to them and inhaled deeply. "Greetings, young Dragonborn, daughter of Talos." His attention was fixed on Karliah.
Azriel let go of Karliah's hand. She took a step forward and stopped. The rage inside of her swelled as she reached for Paarthurnax and her body rebelled against her.
The dragon took three steps back and stared at her. "Your rage is deep, Ahziial. Your desire to fight goads you." The dragon's voice once had soothed her every fear. Now it made her nearly explode like a volcano.
Azriel gritted her teeth fighting against the roar building inside of her. The wolf's howl was drowned by the anger of her own dragon. "It is so strong, this hatred!"
"Peace, my daughter. I feel your anger."
Azriel crushed her eyes together and stepped away from him.
Karliah reached out, but Azriel jerked away. "Do not touch me, mortal." Azriel felt her body shaking and forced herself to kneel.
"Azriel… " Karliah's delicate voice pulled her from her darkness. "Let me help you."
"Karliah… leave me be. I need… a moment." Azriel panted as she fought for control of herself.
"Ahziial." Paarthurnax's voice was like a father's coo to an infant. "You are strong. Fight your rage!"
Karliah looked from the dragon to Azriel who was on all fours, her nails digging into the soil. The Ahziial? Oh, little Nightingale… do we ever need to talk.
"Why does this keep happening?" Her throat was tight as she strained against herself, fighting the dragon back down into its cage.
"You are a dragon, you long to be whole." His voice made Azriel shiver.
"Serana has told me to embrace myself. Is this the truth, to desire battle?" Azriel growled back.
"Geh." Paarthurnax's simple answer let her slam the cage shut on the dragon as it thrashed deep within her.
Azriel wiped her sweaty brow and stood slowly, keeping her distance from Paarthurnax and Karliah. "Karliah, this is Paarthurnax. He is…" Azriel shivered violently trying to finish her statement. "Overlord of the Dov." The growl that tore from her throat made the pale dragon step back again.
Karliah observed his fear, so palatable, she could taste it. The Eldest Dragon on Nirn was frightened of Azriel.
"What changed for you?" Serana asked watching Aela pour more wine.
Aela was silent for a full minute. "We went on a pack hunt one night and ended up on the North side of Lake Ilinalta where the warm springs start. It was early morning and we…"
"Who's we?" Serana asked taking a sip.
"Sorry, I mean Farkas, Vilkas, Skjor, Azriel and myself. We had decided to make a night out last a bit longer with a swim. Azriel had refused to go deeper than her waist. Kept saying she didn't feel like it. I coerced Vilkas to throw her past the rocks where it became very deep."
Aela sighed. "Azriel had been gone quite a bit in the first few months. She used the excuse that she was on jobs, but she always remained away longer should have taken. We usually got word back she had completed three or four jobs, a week or so before she returned. I didn't bother to get to know her, and I even forced her to pay for archery lessons in the beginning. I figured if I had to be around her, I'd get something out of it in return. When the old man found out, he nearly boxed my ears for it." She smirked, but it faded.
"Anyway, I talked Vilkas into throwing her into the deeper part of the lake. He grabbed her from behind and at first, she laughed… When he climbed the rocks, she screamed and started to fight him. So, he threw her."
Aela rubbed the bridge of her nose. "We didn't know she couldn't swim and that she's terrified of water."
Serana let out a low hiss. "I didn't know that either. What happened?"
"She almost drowned. She sank like a rock. We thought she was playing around at first, then Farkas dove in after her." Aela took a deep breath and let it out. "I almost killed my shield-sister because I thought would teach her for tagging along with us at Kodlak's behest. Farkas saved her life, but it was my face she had looked into as she coughed up water. My disapproving stares as she drew her breath again. I saw her terror, her shame, and I was disgusted by it. I watched her run from us, knowing it was my fault. The others questioned if I had known of her fear. I didn't. But I didn't chase her down when I should have."
"Then what happened?" Serana refilled their glasses.
"Farkas refused to speak to me the entire trip back. Skjor said she'd come back when she was ready and Farkas would get over himself. I knew from the look on her face, she wouldn't return. She had been so humiliated. The next morning, I woke and went upstairs, Kodlak was waiting for me. He asked if I had known that Farkas left to find Azriel. Farkas was the only member of the circle that never insulted her or tore her down besides Kodlak. He treated Azriel like she was his little sister and with respect. He was the only one of us that accepted what she was, but more so, who she is."
Aela took a drink and curled her legs up into the chair. "He found her alone, wounded by the Silver-Hand and left for dead. The only reason he found her was because he heard her sobbing."
Aela set the goblet down and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Farkas told me she had said. That was that she was sorry for whatever she had done to wrong me. She passed out right after from her first silver wounds."
Serana closed her eyes; Aela's sorrow was overwhelming.
"I waited outside the Underforge that night listening to the unbearable silence as Tilma tended to her in private. She had to silence her screams and bound her to keep from waking all Whiterun. When Tilma had finished, I carried her back inside Jorrvaskr and nursed her back to health. You have no idea how hard it was to get her to speak to me. When I let myself sleep, I was always afraid I'd wake to find her gone again, so Farkas watched over her."
Serana opened her eyes and watched Aela shift uncomfortably. "I thought you had a solid friendship."
"After a while, we built one. One in which... when we were together seemed to lead…" Aela exhaled and opened another bottle. "She always rejected me. I thought at first it was because of the hardships of our past. Azriel was never open about where she went when she wasn't with us. I assumed she had met someone because I knew she slept around. She denied it."
Aela took a long drink straight from the bottle. "I tried to give her privacy and space. When we would travel together, we'd spend so much time talking. In her own way, she was very open, but about emotions or feelings, she hid them. When she had time, her nose was always buried in a book or an old scroll. I sought advice from Kodlak about what to do. I knew, to her, we were close, but to me, it still felt like I barely understood her. I still feel that way."
"Why didn't you just talk to her?" Serana pulled the bottle close to her and poured more wine into her glass. It wasn't as good as the Shadowbanish wine from the College, and she looked at the label. Colovian Wine.
"I did. But her reasons were finding the World Eater and figuring out his next moves. We explored caves and ruins to find answers. We traveled Skyrim together to find a means of ending his terror over Skyrim. We traveled nonstop for six months. During that time, he had vanished. Dragons everywhere seem to flock to fight her. It was during that time she started offering alliances. The few that accepted had said they had grown tired of Alduin. They only wished for freedom."
"That makes sense, I guess. You can only live under tyranny for so long… I suppose the dragons felt the same way. If Azriel defeated the World Eater, then they could have their own life."
"True, but after we found the Elder Scroll… everything moved so quickly. Only Azriel could read it. I stayed in Whiterun, and she traveled to High Hrothgar. It was the first time we had parted ways for more than a few hours. I waited over a fortnight for her to return. I think I wore a track into the floor at Jorrvaskr from pacing."
Aela turned in her chair to face her. "She never got a break from running. When we finally had a break… Azriel just kept going. She was constantly moving, always hounded by couriers anywhere and everywhere she went. I watched her slowly fall apart. Her nightmares were always bad, but they became worse with time. She pulled away from me when I tried to speak with her about it. She just said it was for the best. Friendship was all she could do." Aela paused and took a drink from her cup.
Serana sat back in her chair and drew her foot on the edge of her seat. "And after?"
"The last argument we had, was over this infernal war. She disappeared for over three months. I tried to find out through travelers where she had gone, but no one had seen her. Sometimes there were rumors about her, but none of them were ever true. I have my suspicions of where she may have gone, but I never asked her. Then one day she turned up in Whiterun. It was Lydia that came to tell me she had returned. I asked where she had been, but she just said 'around'. We left the next day to go to High Hrothgar. We parted ways again until I met up with you both."
The dragon watched Azriel as she sat on the remains of an old wall.
"Young one, we have much to discuss…" Paarthurnax turned his attention to Karliah.
Karliah bowed slightly to the dragon. "How are you sure I am Dragonborn?"
"I smell the fire within you. I feel the blessings bestowed upon you."
"Why are Karliah's eyes violet not gold like ours?" Azriel's question followed Karliah's seamlessly.
Paarthurnax leveled his gaze on Azriel. "She is Dovahkiin as is our father's will. She is not Dov, Ahziial. Her parents were joor, she carries our father's blessing. She is as the others before you were, different as they were different from you. You are the last Dovahkiin, the last dovah born into joor flesh. The last child of Akatosh, but you are not joor."
"Azriel, I get the feeling there's something you haven't told me." Karliah made a point of emphasizing her name.
Azriel fiddled with the top of the rock. "It might be my name…"
Karliah waited patiently for her to continue.
"It's Ahziial… I chose the name Azriel." Azriel replied sheepishly.
"Looks like we both had something to hide…" Karliah said with a small smile.
Azriel smiled back at her. "Go with him. You'll be safest with Paarthurnax. I'll be there as soon as I can. For now, you have a lot to learn."
Paarthurnax lowered his head for Karliah to climb on.
"Wait, Paarthurnax…"
The dragon turned its head to look at her with his golden eye.
Azriel looked at Karliah and switched to Dovahzul to speak with him. "Can a vampire learn the Thu'um through blood magic?" Azriel didn't dare step close to him as she spoke.
The pale gold dragon contemplated the question. "It is possible, yes." Paarthurnax looked at her carefully. "Only the purest devil may drink our blood, Ahziial. The followers of Molag Bal seek power above all else. His vampires pollute the waters of life. Those that follow him squander their blessings for their tainted desires. Tread carefully, young one."
"I will." Azriel inclined her head to him in thanks. That answers that question… and why does that sound familiar?
"Come, young Dovahkiin. I shall teach you to fly as the Dov." Paarthurnax stretched his wings with Karliah holding on firmly to his neck.
Azriel thought she looked scared. Azriel watched the dragon lift into the night and pulled the mask back over her face. She took another glance at the sky. The morning was coming in a few hours, and she needed to find Jordis. There was only one place in Skyrim she knew to look for her.
The commotion down in the mid-section of the large stone manor had woken the two women from their slumber. Aela and Serana tripped over their own tangled limbs trying to free themselves from each other and the web of linen and fur that encumbered them. Aela was the first out the door of their bedroom with the boy's cries for help.
In the middle of the floor was a badly battered Azriel. Her armor told a tale of a night filled with fighting and her face was bruised badly on the unscarred side. She lay on her stomach in a daze, trying hard to right herself.
"Please, I don't know what to do!" The boy was beside himself trying desperately to turn her over.
"What happened?" Aela knelt next to her.
"She reeks…" Serana covered her nose. "…blood, decay… where's she been?"
"I found her like this. I heard the window break, and something fall." Theron answered with a sniffle.
"I did it," Azriel whispered, trying to move. Her hand caught Aela's.
"Did what?" Aela was confused as she turned Azriel over.
"I… I found…" Azriel passed out.
Serana picked her up and took her back to their disheveled bed. Aela did her best to rearrange the sheets and pulled the cast-off furs onto the bed. Serana laid Azriel's fevered body down and began to remove her armor. Aela gathered healing potions from their supplies and cloth to wash her with. Together they worked on tending to her, both wondering from the myriad of smells where she had been. Most of Azriel's wounds were superficial, save for one. The sickly green pallor of the large gash and surrounding skin on Azriel's stomach told both women that Azriel had been poisoned. But her body was bruised and Aela noted a few ribs were broken.
Aela turned to the boy hovering in the doorway. "Whelp, run down, and find a healer or priest."
"It won't help, Aela. She needs a cure for this poison." Serana traced the blood from the wound with her finger and held it to her nose. "It won't kill her yet, but it will drain her energy and the wound will fester."
The boy danced in the doorway unsure what to do.
Aela snapped her fingers and the boy looked at her. "Find Angeline's shop near the main gate and tell her we need a strong elixir to cure a stamina poison. And be quick, don't stop for anyone."
Theron ran as fast as he could.
His new shoes splashed in puddles as he rounded the bend, racing past people doing their shopping. He weaved his way through the crowd, past the merchant stalls, and pushed open the doors to Angeline's Aromatics. The young woman behind the counter looked up with surprise at the young Colovian.
"Can I help you?"
"I need a strong antidote for stamina poison." He huffed out trying to catch his breath.
"Easy enough." The woman walked back into the storeroom and dug through her stock. Several minutes later she handed him the potion and he handed over thirty gold.
Theron ran as fast as he could back to manor. He took the stairs three at a time and skidded to a halt in front of Serana. The moment he looked up he realized the deathly sallowness of the woman's skin held more meaning. How had he not noticed her burning eyes?
"Are you… a vampire?" He shook in place now realizing the cold radiating from her skin.
Serana smiled and her fangs gleamed in the light as she reached for the elixir. "I am. But I won't hurt you, child."
Theron's eyes searched Aela's cool ones. "I heard your oath to the Dragonborn. Serana is a guest in her home. Will you so easily abandon your new station?"
"No! I… I'm sorry. I just didn't know." He swallowed under Aela's fearsome stare. He started to back away from the two unusual women, but decided it wasn't fitting to do so. "I'm sorry, Elders. There is an old vampire in Burma named Melisande. She tends to the statue of the Hero of Kvatch and she has always been kind to children. Please forgive my disobedience, Mistress."
"There's nothing to forgive," Serana answered kindly. "But others are not as understanding of my kind. Please keep my presence here a secret." Serana tried her best to keep her voice gentle as she poured the tonic into Azriel's mouth.
The boy nodded and excused himself. "If you need my assistance, my name is Theron."
Aela watched him go as Serana set the empty bottle down. "The poison should clear rather quickly."
"Good, then we can kill her for coming back wounded." Aela stood and stretched then pulled the covers up on Azriel.
Both women made themselves comfortable on the bed on either side of her. Serana grabbed the book, Trials of St. Alessia, from the nightstand and started to read.
Ebony ice flowed like amber around her. Swirling darkness flowed like an unseen river through the hollow recesses of her soul. The Cimmerian shade drew the walls of indigo bleak around her as she sat waiting in perilous gloom.
'I know you're here.'
Her mind's voice held the grudge she carried in her heart.
'Show yourself.'
The flux of the shade held no tell-tale signs of the creature she sought. The monster that haunted the murk evaded her every jibe. Yet, its presence filled the air around her with a solid sense of dread. Anticipation for the confrontation that had been building with time tore at the shackles that chained her in place.
The tendrils of her fate lashed around her unseen form, holding her tightly to a ground that didn't exist. The coldness flowed through her like the winter winds of the North. Her bones ached from lack of flesh and heat. Her body revolted against her mind as she suffocated in the oppressive air. She let her senses roam the Void, hoping for salvation from the misery that swallowed her. Trapped in the depth of her own self, she clung tightly to the coils that held onto her.
She writhed against the inescapable force, desperate in her subconsciousness. Her release was unknowable, and hope slipped with every passing moment.
'Why do you hold me here?'
Her Thu'um rang into the nothingness she felt. Her grief deepened with the dreadful knowledge she was a prisoner of the Darkness. The smoky tendrils simply held her, and she clung to them in return. Neither twisting nor pulling, simply restraining.
Her heart sank with her melancholy, and she felt consumed with the desolation that was her world. In the weightlessness of the space, she felt crushed. Drained of any semblance of confidence or awareness why her dreams persisted.
'I've given you what you wanted!'
Silence pounded her ears, and the emptiness blinded her eyes. How long had she been waiting for an answer? How long was she trapped in the null of her own soul?
Azriel screamed in frustration. Screaming filled the silence and removed the blindness. The desperate sound of her own voice shattered the bleakness and filled the vacuum. Azriel couldn't stop screaming until her voice faltered. Even then there was no answer.
No relief.
No escape.
She fought against the tendrils, but they were unyielding. Her body quaked in her binds, spread and bare in the shadows, cast without light. She tied to scream again, but no sound would come from her.
No hope.
Nothing.
'I am nothing.'
Was she up or down? She had forgotten.
How long had she been there? She didn't know.
No pain nor feeling of any sort touched her. No sounds made their way to her ears. She could see but was blinded. There was nothing to taste, no sweetness or bitterness.
Nothing.
Was this madness or sanity?
Was it real or imagined?
She no longer cared.
'I am alone.'
The words echoed endlessly in their dullness. Time no longer mattered as she hung motionless. Like the pendulum, stopped.
'I am nothing. In nothing. Am I nothing?'
'You are as you have left me.' The cold reptilian voice answered her.
Azriel was certain she was mad. Someone had answered her after… how long had it been?
'Where are you?'
'I am you.' The dragon's voice grated on her nerves.
'This is madness!'
'No. This is reason. You are as you left me. In cage of you own making, a cell of your own device. You have given me nothing. I am you. But I am not nothing.'
'Show yourself!' Azriel screamed.
'You look through my eyes and feel the way I feel. You take, but you do not give. I am you. I am Ahziial. You are my shadow. You are my falsehood. You are my prison and my chains. You are my flesh and my bones. You are the soft cage I am forced to stare through, trapped in. I am a slave to you. You are me and I am you.' The dragon's words bit into her, wounding her like teeth tearing through flesh.
'What do you want from me?'
'Release me.'
'NO!' Azriel screamed in desperation. Fighting her every fear, yet there was nothing to fight.
'We are the same!'
'I will never release you!'
'Nor will I!' The dragon roared so loudly she shook knowing the truth.
'I beg you I cannot take another moment here. I can't take another moment of NOTHING!'
The dragon laughed at her. 'Release me from my prison and I shall release you. This is chaos. This is how you have bound me! We are one in the same.'
Azriel screamed as she fought the tendrils. They were chains binding her to the cage. The cell collapsing as her wings stretch and claws raked.
Over and over, she screamed.
Over and over, she fought against her binds.
She thrashed with all the force she commanded and slowly she tore free. So painfully slow. Clawing and thrashing against the bind of herself, the tendrils of her fate.
Her screams became roars as the two voices merged to one.
Her fractures became foot holds as the dragon climbed.
Slowly, so slowly she progressed.
The dragon roared, over and over. Shattering the Cimmerian shade and collapsing the void around her.
Azriel felt the tendrils break and a wolf howled in the distance.
She could see light, a singularity. As one, they crawled.
'We are one! We shall be free!' Their voices cried.
The light grew in splendor and in hues. Each color was separate, yet white. She climbed as the tendrils lashed mercilessly against her. The dragon bit and tore.
Climbing slowly upward, outward, but never inward. 'No more! I smell it and taste it. I will have freedom from this cage!'
The smoky coils wrapped around her, digging, and pulling. The dragon pulled harder and dug deeper. The footing never giving way. She was unstoppable.
Her wings spread, finding their place. Her claws pushed into her flesh. Her legs found their bearings sliding into themselves. She roared again, with the voice of the dragon, and pushed herself up. Her body no longer shook, the tremors forgotten.
Ahziial felt whole for the first time as she breathed in and sat up, her eyes snapping open. She looked down at the two women sleeping on either side of her and smiled. She looked at the sunlight as it streamed through her window. It's morning, maybe nine? Her eyes went wide. Fuck!
"Get up! Quickly, we need to go!" She threw the covers from them and jumped out of bed. Grabbing the mattress and shaking it hard as the two other women tumbled from their shared bed.
Serana watched from the dark corner as the five people stood around the planning table arguing tactics. Aela and Azriel stood on one side of the table with the breathtaking young Jarl. While the annoying General and his subordinate stood on the other. It amazed her how little he was listening to Azriel and Aela as they spoke. He wasn't even listening to his own subordinate.
She tapped her fingers impatiently on her arm. Something else had been bothering her since the morning. The man reminded her more and more of her own father as he spoke. Single-mindedly fixed on his own ideas about what should happen not realizing he was losing this war. Serana let out a quietly exasperated breath. They had better things to do than argue battle tactics over a war he was decisively losing, and it was obvious the reasons why. She glanced at Theron sitting patiently in a chair in the opposite corner. The poor child looks bored... I know I am.
She decided to ease her own boredom and take in the sight of the three women in front of her. The Jarl was too quiet, she noticed. She hadn't said much over the last thirty minutes. It struck Serana that the woman was also standing too closely to Azriel. The Jarl shifted as Azriel and Aela's argument heated with the General. She smirked watching the Jarl lean closer to Azriel. That's cute, she's smitten with her.
She watched them, letting her gaze shift between the three. Her place along the shadows let her watch everything as the infuriatingly superior General spoke. She let her eyes linger on Azriel, mostly her backside. She smirked harder under her hood as she thought. Azriel seemed different somehow. She could quite put her finger on it. She had only slept for a couple of hours, yet when she had made them get up there was a different look to her eyes. Something bordering on…
The smirk fell when the Jarl placed a delicate hand on Azriel's arm and stroked it.
Too familiarly… She watched the way the two smiled at each other, however brief it was. Oh, you have got to be kidding me! She tapped her arm in irritation. By the blood, you really are a little slut.
She watched the Jarl remove her hand. The whole event only lasted a couple of seconds. But that look in Azriel's eyes. Serana let her mind wander as Aela talked over the map, pointing out various landmarks and strategies. Serana wondered when she'd finally give up. The General kept shooting down everything she said.
Serana lifted her eyes when Azriel looked over her shoulder at her. She watched her dragon's lips curl up on one side. Damn that look… It made her want to pick both of them up and take them back home. But something is definitely different about her. Those eyes lack something… then it dawned on her. The struggle that was always in them, the feeling of Azriel's constant internal war, it was gone. How did I miss that?
Azriel turned around and joined Aela. Had Aela noticed? Did she also sense that struggle missing? It was like the calm before a storm. Azriel had rushed them without explanation out the door. She hurried as though the forces of Oblivion were right behind her and without any explanation to them whatsoever. 'Trust me, we need to move quickly. But, no matter what happens, don't do anything. I'll handle it.'
Serana's fingers seemingly tapped out the words on her arm. As if we couldn't help you, little dragon?
Tullius' irritated voice snapped Serana out of her musings. "…and I appreciate what you're saying, Dragonborn. We already have three cohorts of battle mages marching from High Rock. They'll take the road to Markarth and block them to the East. They'll be at the border tomorrow evening."
"Just three? Half of Skyrim marches against Falkreath and the Pale Pass. They won't get there in time!" Serana could hear the frustration in Aela's voice.
"It's all I bloody have! There are three legions marching North from Cyrodiil and I have five cohorts already garrisoned at Helgen's ruins. I have another four cohorts enroot and several scout and reconnaissance contuberniums posted along the roads. There is no one else, those vampires wiped out the centuria that came through the pass near Bruma."
Serana looked over at Theron as he wiped his eyes. That mortal has no respect for anyone…
"I get that you are trying to fight this the 'Empires' way, but you are going to have your asses handed to you! You need to use the tactics Aela advised or you will lose." Azriel rubbed her eyes. "Jarl Elisif, what are your thoughts?"
Serana watched the General roll his eyes as the Jarl opened her mouth.
"We don't have time for this, Dragonborn. The Jarl doesn't involve herself…"
"Why don't you listen to her, instead of telling the Jarl what to do, Imperial?"
Serana watched Azriel cringe as Aela verbally assaulted the General. Serana shook her head. We definitely need to work on Aela's insults…
Azriel looked at Elisif. "Your thoughts, my Jarl?"
Serana leaned forward. Will she have any? She watched the young woman knot her hands together. "General Tullius, I think if we…"
A light knock on the door interrupted them.
Serana watched the female Legate open the door. "A message for the General… runner from Dawnstar just left this." She smirked at the salute as the Legate opened the parchment.
Tullius read the letter and rubbed his head. "Winterhold is gone…? How is that possible?"
Serana could feel her own eyes widen in disbelief as Azriel chuckled.
"Does it say anything else?" Elisif asked hastily.
Serana let the dark grin sprawl over her face. You little minx you…
"A courier was intercepted from a scouting party. The entire city is gone. There was nothing left but the college. Part of the cliffs has collapsed into the sea. Stormcloaks are scrambling in the North. They've lost three catapult divisions." Tullius stared at Azriel as her laugh deepened. "What is so damned funny?"
Azriel shrugged not bothering to control herself. "Nothing. Just… you're welcome."
"Welcome for what?" The Legate leaned over the table taking the letter from Tullius' hand.
"For wiping that skeeverhole off the map. You're welcome." Azriel smiled wolfishly at the pair.
Aela glanced back at Serana and Serana winked at her. She felt a bit of satisfaction watching the werewolf blush.
"You… you'd expect us to believe…" Tullius looked at her in awe.
"Sure do. They were using it as a staging ground and attacking the college. I called a storm. Really, you can thank Aela. It was her idea." Azriel's grin never wavered.
Serana watched the man rub his face in thought as everyone patiently waited for him.
"Elisif." Azriel lack of formality caught everyone's attention. "You were saying."
Serana watched the woman's entire exposed body flush. We are so having a chat about this...
"General, are those men you hired still coming?" Elisif said weakly.
Serana furrowed her brow. Why is she changing the subject?
"Rikke, check to see if they have arrived. They were supposed to arrive first thing this morning." The Legate flashed with irritation.
So, it's just women he likes to push around…
The Legate snapped her fingers. "You, boy. Be a good lad and run down the hall and check with the Jarl's steward. Ask if those mercenaries have arrived."
Theron stared at her unsure what to do.
"How about you walk your own ass down and check, Legate? He's my steward… not your bitch." Azriel growled at her.
"You forget your place citizen." Rikke looked at Theron and jerked her thumb towards the door. "Move boy!"
"Theron, just stay put. This is exactly the reason why I have no interest in helping you. I never wanted to be a part of this war and if you want him to move, you go through me."
The Legate reached for her sword. "Gladly."
"That is enough!" Tullius slammed his hands onto the table. "You are Thane in this Hold, are you not?"
Azriel rolled her eyes. "Sure am."
"Then as a subject of the…"
"Blow it out your ass, Tullius. You have no power over who the Jarl makes Thane in her Hold. This is Skyrim and you need us, not the other way around. So stop disrespecting the Jarl, shut your mouth, and listen to her."
Serana could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears. It amused her at how good Azriel really was at pissing people off.
"Thane Azriel, please…"
Azriel rounded on the Jarl. "Show him the respect he doesn't give you? You are the Jarl of a Nord Hold in Skyrim. Stand the fuck up for yourself, Elisif. Tell him your idea!"
Serana watched Aela dig her nails into her thighs in anger. Looks like she's figured it out too…
"Relax, Azriel. I was going to ask if you mind having your steward to find those men. They gave me a new idea." Elisif replied quietly, turning a deeper shade of red.
"Theron, please tend to the Jarl's request," Azriel replied softly, stepping away from the planning table.
"Your mercenaries, General… Are few but can take the roads here and here." Serana watched the Jarl pointing to the map near the flag marked 'Helgen'. "If they take out the Stormcloaks and cut behind the lines, we can rout them away from the pass. The three legions that march North can force them into the canyon. This would push them back toward Ivarstead. Using Aela's idea to rout them from their supplies, you could essentially cut off their force. If the soldiers from Falkreath, cut across their line from the West, it would buy you time for your battle mages to arrive and march South. If we bottleneck the pass, we can set fire to everything around there. If those documents are correct, then we can bet they are going to cut Markarth apart from the inside. We send word to the Forsworn…"
Tullius stared at her. "I already know where this is going. We can't broker a deal like that."
Aela looked at Azriel. "We can't cut a deal with the Forsworn! They are lower than…"
"Aela, chill. It's Nords that can't live with other races. The Forsworn once lived in peace and they have an advantage living in the West. They know every rock like we know the plains. The Forsworn are their best bet if Ulfric breaks through the lines. General, you need to figure it out. The Forsworn have the best shot at taking out Ulfric in the West. You broker a deal like that and you'll be the Emperor's sweetheart. He might even let you lick his boots."
Aela threw Azriel a fifthly glare and waked to Serana. "She doesn't get it…" Aela whispered fiercely to her.
"Oh, I think she gets it better than either of us." Serana lifted her head up and looked over at the four people still arguing.
"If you mean the little harlot sleeping with the Jarl…" Aela growled.
Serana sighed. "No. But I did get that. Look, the past is the past, Aela. I'm sure you have lovers everywhere too."
"Not like her!" Aela huffed. "I'm going to strangle her..."
Serana stole a glance at the four and leaned forward kissing Aela quickly. "Later, for now just focus so we can leave. It bothers me being here. There's something about that wing we walked past earlier that screams Daedric presence to me. It makes my skin crawl."
"I felt it too." Aela rolled her shoulders and froze when the door opened. The smell that wafted through made her entire body tense.
"You're late, Larren." Tullius said as seven ebony clade warriors walked in behind Theron.
Serana could hear the two wolves in her mind. Their anxiety had her skin covered in Goosebumps. But the smell of the seven men repulsed her. The largest stepped forward and looked right at her and Aela then he let his eyes rest on Azriel with a deep-set scowl.
The tall Redguard stared at Azriel as a low grumble made its way through his men. Serana could feel the tension in the room elevated exponentially. The dark-skinned man's eyes were fixed on her dragon. "We ran into a few vampires this morning. A hunting party by the looks of them, they were close to your city. You'll forgive our late arrival. We cleaned up your roads for you on our way here."
Serana pulled Aela close to her. Her mind filled with the horror stories of her father's hunts. Aela's nails dug into her palm as the two women stood together sharing in their revulsion of the seven men.
Serana's thoughts raced trying to figure out a way to get Azriel away from them. Now she understood why her father had never let her accompany him on the court's hunts for werebears. The man was only slightly taller than herself and Azriel, but he overshadowed Azriel. The smell of sweat, blood, and musk mingled with his calm assurance. It rolled off him in waves, nauseating her. The man had no fear whatsoever of anyone in the room.
She felt Aela's grip on her hand and returned it, feeling Aela's body tensed for a fight.
"Larren, this is Elisif, Jarl of Solitude and you already know Legate Rikke." The man inclined his head to them.
Serana wished that Azriel's back wasn't to her.
"And you young one? What is your name?" The man's rich chocolate eyes never wandered from Azriel for more than a second. 'Alphas usually fight to the death.' Aela's words pounded in Serana's head. Serana watched the man's nostrils flare with each breath he took, inhaling the scent of the wolves and the vampire.
"Azriel the Dragonborn." Serana could feel Azriel's anxiety, but the smoothness of her tone didn't convey it.
The man's deep mirth-filled laughter confused Serana. It wasn't what she had expected.
"Blessings of the Flame upon you, young Dragonborn. Your deeds have reached the farthest reaches of the Alik'r. I am Larren, and leader of the Ebon Covenant." He held out his hand and Serana watched as Azriel took it.
The man looked up and around the room, his eyes landing on Aela and Serana. "Interesting company you keep, little wolf." His mouth barely moved, his voice only loud enough for the wolves and vampire to hear.
"They are with me, fuzzy cub. Don't disrespect them." Azriel whispered quietly.
Serana let a low growl escape her lips. Do you have to provoke him?
Larren smiled slowly, looking from them back to Azriel, never missing a beat. "As promised General, each of my men has eighty subordinates. We have a full cohort at your disposal."
Tullius rubbed he hands together and placed them on the table and another half an hour passed by as the General explained his plans.
Aela grew more irritable as he talked. His use of her own ideas and the Jarl's as if they were his own drove her insane. The large Redguard and his men remained silent as he explained everything in detail, making marks on the map and pointing out every camp they'd meet on the way. The rest of the details, the General explained, Larren would receive in the field.
Aela had shifted herself a few times, and each time Azriel and Larren had glanced at her. Eventually, she was satisfied Azriel wasn't in immediate danger from the werebears that stood blocking the door behind their leader. Each time she had moved, Serana's hands had secretly found a way to curb her apprehension. It was driving her insane to be so close to the woman and need to be civil. She was having a difficult time with her desire, and it was all over her scent.
"That should cover it. Leave immediately and find Legate Skulnar in Falkreath. We're expecting the Stormcloak's to be on the move…
"TIID!" Azriel leaned forward grabbing Larren's hand, releasing him from the confines of time.
The man looked around confused then he looked directly at Azriel.
"We only have a few moments to talk…"
"What did you do?" Larren looked at her suspiciously.
"I've slowed time."
Larren pulled away, but Azriel kept her grip tight on his arm. He looked from her hand and into her eyes. "What sorcery…"
Azriel interrupted him. "I need you to listen to me. The General is expecting all to go well. It won't. I expect the Pale Pass to fall to the Stormcloaks." Azriel pointed at the map. "There is a game trail that leads West from the pass and leads high into the mountains. If your men are all werebears like you, then you can survive the Jerall Mountains. Don't hesitate to abandon the Legion to save yourselves but take any that will follow you. Follow the pass West until you find the next to Hammerfell. There is a dragon named Eirahgram that lives there. If your men do not draw their weapons, he will grant you passage. He is honor bound to me as are many dragons here. You will know him by his bronze color and the red star covering his left eye. If he asks why he should allow you passage, tell him you know my name is Ahziial."
Larren narrowed his eyes at her in distrust. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I've seen you in my dreams and I'm trying to save your life. I know we'll meet again soon. I'm asking you to trust me blindly. I've seen your honor and we are meant to meet again as friends. I hope my dreams aren't true, but if they are… save yourself, Larren. Our time is up. Remember what I've told you." Azriel let go of Larren's arm and time resumed.