Passing through the double doors back into the Soul Cairn proper, we gazed back over the haze-obscured path back toward the portal. We would follow it as soon as we had my soul essence gem.

I took the first step toward the open land, and lightning struck nearby, illuminating a massive figure taking shape before us. A huge skeleton perched on a collapsed building, its massive head turned to focus on us as we stood in the doorway. The same purple flames that had consumed him, now seemed to build him. Rotting flesh seemed to… grow across the frame, and the stench of something massive and dead washed over us as the dragon took shape within seconds.

"Erk," I choked, caught between dismay and disgust.

It hadn't even been an hour since we had defeated Durnehviir. There was no way in Oblivion I could defeat him again, make the sprint to retrieve my soul gem, and make it back to the entrance on the few arrows I had left. I was still exhausted from the fight, and my weakness in this miserable plane compounded an already impossible situation.

With grim determination, I gripped my bow and prepared for the final battle of my life.

But to my surprise, the dragon spoke, "Stay your weapon. I would like to speak with you, Qahnaarin."

I hesitated, shared a look with Serana, and then cautiously approached the undead figure that crouched before us. "Why do you call me 'Qahnaarin'?"

"In my language, the Qahnaarin is the Vanquisher, the one who has bested a fellow dovah in battle." The dragon's undead, glowing eyes rested on me with respect and intelligence.

I blinked a few times then cautiously said, "Fellow dovah? I am not a dragon."

The decaying head cocked thoughtfully, "Hmm. This is true; I see none of the dragonkind in you, nor does your soul resonate with the spirit of one. Nevertheless, you, with the cunning that I have come to expect from joor -mortals- you have acquired the bite of a dragon in the weapons you wield. With that small token of cunning, I still offer you the respect that comes from one dragon defeating another. Take the respect as it is given, for none have ever achieved what you have on this day."

I dipped my chin in a small bow.

The rotten reptilian jaws stretched into a gruesome semblance of a smile, "Drem Yol Lok! Peace Fire Sky! A greeting and offer of tiinvak, of… discussion rather than a physical battle."

"Ah… um, Drem Yol Lok to you too, Durnehviir," I offered, more than willing to choose... tiinvak. "Forgive me if I sound crude, but… well, I thought you were dead. Or… more permanently dead."

The beast sighed, sending a wave of stench from deep within his rotten lungs. "Nid," he rumbled, shaking his great head from side to side. "Cursed, not dead. Doomed to exist in this form for eternity. Trapped between laas and dinok; between life and death."

I wanted out of this place, but the undead dragon seemed to want something, and was definitely working up to it. For my part, I was happy enough to settle for talking to him for as long as it took so long as talking was it. As my legs began to tremble from the effects of battle, I took a seat on the cold stone of Valerica's front porch. I made myself as comfortable as I could while I tried to recuperate.

I heard the rustle of Serana's clothing as she leaned against the stone wall nearby, alert and listening, but letting me speak to the dragon.

"How did you end up cursed, and in the Soul Cairn?" I asked him, since that was the next natural step in our conversation.

"There was a time when I called Tamriel my home, but those days have long since passed." Durnehviir too seemed to be settling in for the conversation; folding his great wings and curling his tail about himself, almost cat-like. "The dovah roamed the skies, vying for their small slices of territory that resulted in immense and ultimately fatal battles."

I tried to imagine the skies filled with bellowing, fighting dragons, and failed. The size of such an aerial war was impossible to imagine, as was the amount of destruction that would rain down upon the poor humans caught in the middle. I decided not to bring up that the extinction of his race was probably a good thing, and asked, "Were you a part of all that?"

He nodded, spattering the stones beneath his jaws with the fluids that dripped from his maw; "I was. But unlike some of my brethren, I sought solutions outside the norm to maintain my superiority. I began to explore what the dovah call 'Alok-Dilon,' the ancient forbidden art that you call necromancy."

I was beginning to see the pattern and said, "So you eventually learned about the Soul Cairn, and came to the Ideal Masters for answers."

"The Ideal Masters assured me that my powers would be unmatched, that I could raise legions of the undead," he agreed. "In return, I was to serve them as a Keeper until the death of the one who calls herself Valerica. The life of a single joor is nothing to the eternal lifespan of a dovah. I thought it a simple task that they asked of me; a minor payment for my own form of eternity."

I grimaced, "Naturally, they neglected to tell you that she was a vampire, and thus immortal."

"I discovered too late that the Ideal Masters favor deception over honor, and had no intention of releasing me from my binding." His deep rumbling voice was tinged with regret. "They had control of my mind, but fortunately they couldn't possess my soul."

"If they can control your mind, why are we speaking?" I felt unease welling up inside me.

"My claws have sliced the flesh of innumerable foes, but I have never once been felled on the field of battle. Your achievement is no small thing, Qahnaarin, and I believe in civility among seasoned warriors."

"Is... that why you're free now? Being bested freed your mind of their control?" I tried to puzzle it out.

"Free? No. I have been here too long, Qahnaarin." I blinked and looked back at him as he continued, "The Soul Cairn has become a part of what I am. My desire to speak with you was born from the result of our battle. I merely wish to respectfully ask a favor of you."

Ah. There it is, I thought. That's what he's been working up to. Out loud, I asked, "What kind of a favor?"

"For countless years I've roamed the Soul Cairn, in unintended service to the Ideal Masters. Before this, I roamed the skies above Tamriel. I desire to return there."

"We, er, came through a portal. I'm not sure we could get you back through that particular one safely. What's stopping you from escaping through another portal?" The thought of this gigantic beast squashed in Valerica's tower was not a pleasant image. One swing of his tail would collapse the walls and roof, sending tons of stone smashing into Castle Volkihar below.

"I fear that my time here has taken its toll upon me," Durnehviir explained. "If I simply left, then ventured too far from the Soul Cairn, my strength would begin to wane until I was no more." He shifted his wings, and I had the impression of the great beast somehow huddling in on himself. "My visits must be brief, and slowly build my strength. The Ideal Masters would not willingly let me venture through any mere portal. So it must be at the call of an outsider; someone who could call me to freedom, regardless of the Ideal Master's wishes."

As if I needed even more motivation to get out of this place before it seeped further into my pores. I could understand the dragon's wish to be free, even for a few minutes. He had been as foolish as every other person who had tried their luck against the Ideal Masters and failed. Many more had followed him throughout the ages, and many more would come. I couldn't really dredge up the feeling that he deserved his eternal imprisonment.

"How could I summon you?" I asked. "I am as far from a mage as you can get."

His glowing eyes brightened, and even through the decay, I could see the hope kindle on his reptilian muzzle. "I will teach you magic that does not rely on the pithy pools of mana that the joor make use of. Instead, I will place my name with you and grant you the right to call my name from Tamriel."

"Just call your name in Tamriel? That's it?" I asked warily.

"Trivial in your mind, perhaps. For me, it would mean a great deal. Simply speak my name to the heavens when you feel the time is right. Do me this simple honor and I will come to you, and fight at your side as your Grah-Zeymahzin; your ally. I may only visit Tamriel for a short time, and will ultimately return to the Soul Cairn. But every time you summon me, I will treasure the short freedom in the skies that I have, for so long, lost."

Ah. Well then. "You will not harm or seek to enslave or conquer those who do not seek to harm you first?" I clarified, "If I call you, not for battle, but just to enjoy a time of freedom, that is what you will use that time for?"

The great head lowered on that long, decomposing neck, until the glowing eyes were focused on me. He gazed with such intensity that I felt like a very small bird huddled before a very large snake. "Geh, joor. Yes, mortal. Your own life is short. My freedoms will be shorter. I will keep to your requests, and adhere to your senses of right and wrong so that I may savor the precious time I am granted in the skies of Nirn."

"Then we have a deal," I agreed.

"And so I give you my name. Durnehviir." The dragon growled, so that I could feel the very air in my lungs vibrate, "Dur neh viir. Curse Never Dying. Hear it. Know it. Feel it within you. Feel the power of the call in your very veins. I look forward to seeing the blue skies and soaring air not tainted by death."

I felt something powerful rush through my body, washing through my blood and pulsing within me with every beat of my heart. It left me feeling as though I were being pulled along with the current of a powerful river.

"Until we meet again, Qahnaarin." Durnehviir spread his great wings and launched himself skyward, kicking up a cloud of dead, dry earth. As he climbed into the swirling skies and soared away, he gave a final bellow that sounded… joyous.

I climbed unsteadily to my feet and swayed so hard I would have collapsed to the stone porch again if Serana hadn't caught me. "I think you've had quite enough excitement for today. Let me set up camp. We'll get your soul back tomorrow."

"Yes, please. Thank you." That was all I could say.