-Next chapter is up with Delphine on Solstheim! I said I had plans for where to go with this, and I've been thinking up and refining the details all throughout and even in between writing. Enjoy! -


Delphine's eyes opened once again. As she regained consciousness the world around her became clearer. Upon taking in the casual appearance of this place, memories of what had happened slowly reentered her mind.

She had simply fallen asleep for the night, in a room paid for at a tavern, in a strange settlement of a strange new land. Actually, was it morning already? There was no way to tell since there were no windows in this room.

She pulled herself into sitting position and stretched her arms over her head with a yawn.

"Urgh... my back..." she groaned.

There was a slight stiffness in her upper back from where she had been sleeping. This bed made of wood with rather plain straw beneath a sheet. Still, for the soreness in her back now, it was still better than the soreness from times where she had slept on harder surfaces like rocks or even hard ground. Sometimes she'd spend nights sleeping curled up and laying with her back to something. Those times always seemed to hurt her back the most.

"I'll... I'll stretch it out I guess..." she said to herself.

Delphine swung her legs over the side of the bed and planted her feet upon the ground. She hissed as the bottoms of her feet met the coldness of the ground. It was chilly beneath her soles, but it did serve to wake her up a little more.

She summoned her strength of willpower to slowly rise to her feet completely and off the bed. Seriously, for her to be feeling this dazed from sleep, she must have slept relatively well. And she was waking up at all; that was definitely a good thing as well.

She turned to the nightstand to see... yes, her equipment is still there, right where she left it. Her leather armor had been peeled off of her body along with her Blades sword, all of it laid up close to the wall and next to the bed. From the fact that everything was still there and accounted for, no one must have opened that door during when she slept and took any of it. Not that anyone could have.

She reached forward and dislodged the chair from the handle of the door that served as a makeshift lock. Could never be too careful after all; though what kind of door in a tavern- or 'corner-club' didn't even have locks for a guest's privacy?

Delphine then devoted the few minutes to stretching her body and freeing up the 'morning' daze from her system. Once she was done and feeling more aware of everything she proceeded to 'dress' herself.

Putting on leather armor sets out of all other armors had to be the easiest in her opinion. The straps of leather were simple and could be tightened for necessary tightness without fear of coming loose at the worst times. As her body had done a lot of growing over the years, mostly from being on the run, she had actually gone through a number of armors as she progressively outgrew them and their usefulness. This current leather armor she sported was probably her... third armor set. An inconspicuous leather armor set she'd obtained from a blacksmith in Falkreath.

Her blade in its sheath was the last item to place upon her. Unlike her armor that had gone through numerous transitions, this sword... this weapon had been with her since the start. The signature curved weapon of the Blades. Despite the vagrant lifestyle she'd been forced to adapt, she absolutely refused to be parted with this weapon. It was her last, and only, connection to the life she once had before, got her out of more scraps than she would care to recall.

The Blade was closest thing she had to a friend in her friend-less existence...

The sheathed weapon was slipped into the open slot on her waist once more, and she was ready.

On the nearby nightstand she reached forward and took a hold of a... what did the Dunmer call these things? 'Ash Yams?'

"How could anything be considered edible with any kind of ash on it?" she said to herself before shrugging, "Oh well, should give me energy at least..."

She took a single bite of the yam, and her mouth was assaulted with bitter taste. She was absolutely not wrong in guessing the taste of ash to be horrid, though the taste of yam itself could be barely detectible. Her features scrunched up as she forced herself to chew and chew each bite of the yam.

Eventually the produce had been reduced to a simple core when she decided she was done with it. Delphine then tossed it back upon the nightstand and wiped her mouth with her hand. Only now did she realize that perhaps eating something that had some, or rather 'any' amount of ash in it might actually make one thirstier.

"I will never understand these Dunmer and their choice of foods..." she shook her head. With that she opened the door and stepped out of the room.

Stepping out into the short hallway she was met with silence. Whereas before last night she had gone to sleep to the sound of patrons in conversing with each other, the place was much quieter. It was likely that everyone had left or had gone back outside again towards whatever lives they led.

As she made her way through the main hall of the tavern area she glanced to her side towards the bar. That Geldis fellow wasn't to be seen however; must have gone somewhere else.

'Really wish he could've told me actual useful information last night,' she thought as she walked, 'So, let's see... Raven Rock's a frontier mining town, gets most of its trade from ebony in the nearby mines, occasional supply ship trades goods between it and the mainland, something about 'Ash Spawn'..." She frowned, "But nothing about those two Dunmer! How am I supposed to find them now?!"

She stifled a groan as she made her way up the steps towards the second level. She hated moments like these; not where she had limited information, but that she had limited information in spite of her attempts to obtain them. It sometimes made the process tedious and questionable as to its worth. Progress doesn't get made from dead-ends! It just doesn't!

A voice from behind caught her attention. Delphine looked over her shoulder to find the corner-club's servant bidding her farewell. She mumbled an audible response and proceeded to exit the establishment.

Almost immediately Delphine was hit by both bright light and the smell of ash in the air. She had to momentarily squint her eyes and shield them with an arm as they adjusted to the light. A moment later she lowered her arm and beheld the scene before her.

Whereas last night she could only see a shadowed view of this market area, by now it was much brighter and positively thriving. A fair number of people walked about in between the vendor stands, engaging in lively conversation or transactions. From what she could see at first glance it appeared that they were all primarily Dunmer people. That made sense from what she was told last night.

In addition to ordinary people, Delphine caught sight of many of those guardsmen, those 'Redoran' guard. Some were posted at stationary positions while others were walking back and forth along walkways. Those strange, bone-like armor sets they wore that concealed most of their skin, heads included. She couldn't help but wonder if their armor was forced from an actual skeleton of some creature native to this land for that sort of armor to be made. Whatever the case, it looked strong and durable; probably not a good idea to cross them.

"You a traveler by chance? Perhaps I've got something you might need," said a voice beside her. Delphine turned to her right to see a Dunmer merchant behind a table regarding her. The table displayed a variety of trinkets such as clothing, corked flasks, and even miner's tools.

"Hm..." Delphine said to herself as she walked closer to the man and his table. Nothing at face value appeared to catch her interest however, "Don't suppose you've got any potions for health?"

"Not at my stand, I'm afraid," the man shook his head, "I've only got general goods and equipment for miners and the like. You could try your luck with Milore, our resident alchemist there." He pointed a finger out past Delphine towards another Dunmer standing behind her own table and an Alchemy stand beside her.

"Ah, alright. Thanks," Delphine curtly said. One more glance at the man's table confirmed that she didn't see anything she could use from him.

With that she turned and proceeded towards the alchemist. As she walked, she happened to glance off ot the side to a bench, and two individuals near it. A rather fancily dressed Orc was seated on the bench, strangely eyeing her the entire time with a sneer, and an armored Dunmer with a battle-ax on his back that stared passively. The pair continued to watch her, which only filled Delphine with a strange sense of unease. She didn't like when strangers watched her, especially like that.

"Hello there. See anything you like?" the vendor 'Milore' politely greeted her.

"I was told you might have some potions of health here?" Delphine said.

"I sure do. How many can I get you?"

"Hmmm..." Delphine thought for a moment. For being on a strange land as she was, it might be wise for her to stock up on as many as she could. However, she did need to be financially mindful of her spending as well; coin was hard to come by for someone like her.

"I'll take just a couple, like two."

"Alright then..." Milore turned to her side, retrieved two pink-colored vials, and placed them on the table between the two of them, "That should be... ten gold please."

Ten gold? Delphine could work with that.

She reached to her side and into her carefully secured coin purse. She counted the coins in her fingers and handed them to Milore.

"Thank you!" the Dunmer said.

The Breton took the two potions and stashed them in the bag she held behind her. Her eyes unconsciously drifted to the alchemical ingredients the vendor had stocked beside her near the alchemy station. Some of those components looked vaguely familiar, but for the most part all of it was absolutely foreign to her. Some of it looked like actual burnt wood, purple branches of palm trees, jars of some viscous fluid. Could all of these things have come from this island alone? What sort of place was this Solstheim?

"You must know this island well," Delphine carefully probed, "Can you tell me anything about Solstheim?"

"Solstheim? Well, it's about what it looks like, I'd say," Milore said, "Ash as far as the eye can see, but it's just like being back at home for my husband Garyth and I. Even the local fauna around here reminds me of Morrowind, like the Ash Hoppers and Netches."

'Ash Hoppers? Netches? I haven't a clue what any of those things are...' Delphine thought to herself, 'Maybe they'll be self-explanatory if I were to ever find them.'

"And the whole island's like that?" she asked.

"Well, not quite. See, only the southern half of Solstheim is ash. The northern half is actually covered with snow and ice, way I hear it," Milore clarified, "I also hear a group of Nords live up there in the cold, though I've never seen nor met them myself. I couldn't even tell you what sort of wildlife is up there either."

Colder towards the north? Delphine noted the current temperature of where she now stood. This morning had a slight chill on the wind, but for the most part the day was set to be a warm one from the sun shining through the cloudless sky. There was no telling if her little journey was likely to take her to the northern reaches of this island; maybe it might be a good idea to invest in some kind of cold gear?

'I might have to see, but hopefully I won't need to...' she thought.

"You're an adventure I'm guessing?" Milore said, "Be careful if you're adventuring out into the wilds. Reavers have been known to camp out there, striking out at wherever they can."

"Reavers?" Delphine tilted her head.

"Oh, I suppose your kind would call them 'bandits'," the vendor clarified, "They won't hesitate or even think twice about killing someone, if given the chance."

"Ah, alright," Delphine said, "Thanks for the information, I'll keep an eye out." Milore nodded once and Delphine took that as her cue to step back. Nothing new gained regarding any strange Dunmer, but Delphine did somewhat understand Solstheim's layout a little better. Even if she hadn't begun to trek it yet, she at least had some idea of what to be prepared for.

'Should I get some sort of cold gear though, if what she said is true?' she thought. Another glance to the side reminded her that the first vendor's stand had clothing for miners, not quite the best for cold temperatures.

The rhythmic sound of a hammer on steel drew her attention. She turned to the opposite side to see building with a smithy, and a man tending the forge. He was a large man dressed in a maroon-colored shirt with a large black apron on his front, hammering away at a glowing hot piece of metal upon an anvil.

"A blacksmith? Maybe there might have some good gear..."

Delphine approached the blacksmith's station. As she drew closer, she could see a few things a bit clearly. The man had a shaved head and a freshly shaven face. A thin sheen of sweat built up on his brow as he worked. A large assortment of materials lay all around his forge and upon a nearby table, some of which Delphine couldn't even begin to identify.

And finally, right beside his door, a strange sort of... symbol, could be seen. A circle, within a rhombus shaped diamond. This symbol, it looked so familiar! Where had Delphine seen it before...?

The man continued to hammer upon the metal before him even as he glanced up in her direction.

"Hm? Oh, traveler?" the man said, "Glover Mallory's the name! Can I help you?"

'Mallory? Mallory...' Delphine thought. First that symbol, then that name. Something about those two sounded so... Why couldn't she place the two? She shook her head momentarily.

"Well, I was wondering, hoping really, if you had any sort of cold gear?" Delphine said, "If, say, someone was to venture north?"

"Cold gear, huh?" Glover said, "I sometimes get such a request on occasion, though it's usually for people planning to hunt the sort of game up there, or even heading up to the Skaal village. I'm guessing that's where you're going?"

"I um... I guess that depends if my travels were to take me there..." Delphine evenly replied.

Glover gave Delphine a nod of understanding, and it was then that she saw it. That sort of nod that she'd definitely seen before...

Of course! Now she remembered! That peculiar nod, that strange symbol by the man's door, even this man's name 'Mallory'!

'I remember talking to someone named 'Mallory' in Riften... down in the sewers- or the Ratway they called it!' she thought to herself, 'And that place is home to the Thieves Guild in Skyrim!' She looked at this man again, studying him as he appeared to search for the apparel she had inquired about, 'Could it be? Could this man actually be related to that one other Mallory? If so... I wonder...'

"So... I couldn't help but notice..." she spoke low, carefully, and deliberately, "That rather strange... symbol, next to your door there..."

At her words Glover slowed down his movements. He wasn't looking at her directly, but Delphine could see hints of a frown start to creep up on his face. It wasn't any sort of over-the-top reaction to this harmless 'observation', but it was noticeable, nonetheless.

"Nothing more than decoration, I assure you," he replied. His response was simple and curt, and Delphine could tell from that alone there was more involved.

"It's just, I couldn't help but recall it from somewhere..." she carefully said, "In fact... Are you by chance related to... 'Delvin' Mallory?"

Glover finally abandoned his action of searching among his wares and directed his full attention to Delphine. The woman was certain to find some kind of negative reaction upon his face, but surprisingly, he almost seemed to be smiling.

"Delvin, huh?" he asked. His tone of voice shifted somewhat, as if he was gladdened to have been reminded of something this time, "I admit, it has been a long time since I've heard from him. You met with him recently? How's he doing?"

"He's... well enough, I suppose? It's been years, of course..." Delphine said before shaking her head, "Point is... I believe we have some clearer understanding between us now..."

"Uh-huh. And pray tell what it is that's understood?"

"I understand now that you might have... 'connections', with a certain 'group of people'," Delphine very carefully chose her words and phrasing, "As such... I was wondering if you might be able to... help me out."

Glover's response was to cross his arms over his chest. His lips were stretched almost in a bemused smirk.

"This is all quite the claim towards me you've got going here," he said, "To be so bold as to assume I'm part of a group of 'disreputable' people? You know how much trouble you could potentially get into for such a claim if proven wrong...? Or even right?"

"I am quite aware," Delphine replied, "Let's just say that... I too would not want to be discovered by 'certain' people out there. Thus, it would be hypocritical of me to expose someone else in such a manner, wouldn't it?"

Delphine and Glover stared at each other for a handful of seconds. The two continued to study each other, all the while Glover's smirk did not leave his face. It almost felt like the man was smugly judging her and what she was doing, which Delphine was not very keen on.

Eventually, the smile itself faded from his face before he spoke again.

"Hm, you got a point there," he conceded. Delphine took a small, silent sigh of relief. That might have just been a huge wave of trouble she'd just averted, which she was so grateful for.

"Alright then, all that said, what is it that you might be wanting to know?" the blacksmith asked.

"Well... I was wondering something," Delphine started, "You've lived in this town for a while I'm guessing?"

"Better part of twenty years, aye," Glover nodded.

"So you'd say you have a pretty good idea of the other people that live here?" she continued, to which the man nodded, "In that case... I'm trying to find someone. Two people, actually. A pair of Dunmer, male and female, dressed in priest's clothing, that just came to this town last night. The only clue I have is that they might've been priests of some temple here...?"

Glover Mallory had proceeded to pick up on of the wares he held on his table and wipe it about with a cleaning rag from his back pocket. As he performed this seemingly mundane task he listened to Delphine attentively. The woman could tell that he was clearly acting natural even as she was talking to him, which she could understand.

"So, looking for someone you say?" he said, "Likely that I do know, likely I don't." And there it was, the one thing Delphine was hoping she wouldn't end up hearing. Information like this must have been valuable, and thus at cost.

She sighed and reached down to bring forth a handful of coins. That is, until the blacksmith stopped her.

"Oh no no, 'that' won't be necessary," he said with a shake of his hand, "Because... There might be another option you could consider if compensation is negotiable..."

Delphine crossed her own arms over her chest this time.

"I'm listening."

Glover smirked again.

"So, there exists a set of plans," he said, bringing his voice lower, "An actual recipe for Bonemold Armor. But not the usual stuff either: I mean 'improved' Bonemold Armor. I was expecting it to be delivered to me a few days ago, except... I found out it had been stolen, by Reavers."

"Reavers? You mean bandits?" Delphine blinked, "But, what could they possibly want with that?"

"Who's to say?" Glover shrugged, "Of course, I could think of at least one thing: that recipe's said to produce a version of Bonemold Armor that's supposedly unmatched. I've heard that Reavers themselves use Bonemold as well, if a lesser version of it. I'm sure you could imagine what might happen if they also had a talented smith with them that could actually produce it..." Delphine found herself nodding. She was absolutely understanding, but that didn't mean she was liking where this was going.

"So... favor for a favor is what you're getting at?" she asked.

"Favor for favor, business, kindness of one's heart..." Glover said, "Call it by however you'd like. If that recipe for improved Bonemold Armor were to be recovered and returned to me... Then I'll tell you anything you'd want to know, nothing held back."

Delphine let out a short and sharp exhale of breath through her nose. Wasn't this just perfect, another stopping gap in between her and her goal! Why couldn't this man simply tell her what she wanted to know, right here and right now?! If there weren't more people around-

'Get a grip, Delphine!' she mentally berated with herself, 'Of course this wouldn't be so easy, you shouldn't have expected it to be! Just... let's just do get what this man wants and be done with it!'

The Breton woman never admitted to anyone else aloud, but she really was her own worst critic.

"Fine... I'll do it," she said with a nod, "Any idea where these reavers might be?"

"Indeed. I know exactly where those cowardly fetchers ran off to," Glover said, "In fact, how about I show you? Look here..."

Glover stepped back behind his table and motioned for Delphine to join him on the opposite side. He pulled forth a piece of parchment and placed it on the table in between the two of them. Delphine could see that this was in fact a map, a map of an island. A map of Solstheim.

"Here... here's Raven Rock," he pointed to one of the southwestern locations of the island, "And you'll find those thieving reavers... here." His finger trailed up from Raven Rock and along the westernmost coast of the island. He didn't go very far at all, stopping only a couple of centimeters from the settlement and landing upon a single location.

"That close?" Glover nodded.

"They're holed up at Bloodskaal Barrow, an ancient Nordic burial site," he explained, "It's not that far away at all. It's just outside of town towards the nearby Earth Stone, then a right along the coast. Stick close to the water's edge, and it's right there. I'm betting they themselves are still there too."

"And how many would you say there are?" Delphine asked.

"They're something of a small group, so expect around four or five at the most," Glover explained, "However, it's their boss that you'd really have to watch out for. A right nasty one for sure."

"The leader of a group of marauders being the most vicious doesn't sound like news to me," Delphine found herself commenting.

"I'll assume you can back up that bravado by actually surviving them then," Glover said. His remark earned him a look from Delphine. He held his hand up, "Easy, meant nothing by it. And hey, if you're thinking of heading there now, go ahead and keep this." He slid the parchment of the Solstheim map closer to the woman. Delphine took the parchment, folded it in half, and slipped it into her side pack, "Might come in handy for you at some point."

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Delphine turned her head to the side and along a long path that stretched to the right, "You say it's down this path over here?"

"That's right, head down that path until you get to the Earth Stone, then go right," Glover pointed, "One of the great natural landmarks of this island, you can't miss it. And hey... good luck to you."

Delphine nodded in thanks to the man. This situation was not ideal, but at the very least she had something of a goal to work towards. She then turned and proceeded to make her way along the path.


True to Glover's word, Delphine found the Earth Stone.

It also wasn't hard to find at all. Delphine could even see it well before she had gotten close to the coast itself. She could only guess that she had reached the outskirts of the town itself from the lack of any other presence around. There were no Redoran guardsman patrolling around here, nor even any civilians to be seen. In fact, the only thing to be seen was a couple of burnt, ash-coated trees and pieces of stone that jutted out from the ash covered ground. It was a wonder why there weren't more people around to look upon this thing.

This large... well, 'stone', erected out of the ground from within a small, shallow, circular pool of water. The rock itself was pointed and rose to at least twenty feet high into the air. Towards the base of the stone were a set of carvings that differed from the natural texture, and... unless Delphine was seeing things, the tip of the rock was... glowing?

Any other time she would've actually taken the time to stop and marvel at it. There was no time to sight-see; she had a job to do!

Following Glover's instruction, she turned to the right and walked. The edge of the coast lay right there on her left side, the sound of waves crashing on the shore filled her ears. The smell of salt water mixed with the natural scent of ash in the air. She suddenly found herself stifling another cough that arose from that rather unpleasant taste. How anyone could be used to actual ash in place of natural soil was beyond her.

On that note she glimpsed the opposite side to the nearby trees. Or at least, these should be trees; there was not a single shred of green anywhere on them at all. Their barren appearance combined with the ash comprising most of the soil beneath her feet only added to the scorched look of this place.

Actually, now that she thought about it, she did recall something from history books detailing Morrowind's Red Mountain erupting. Supposedly the entire province was coated in lava and ash. But that was only supposed to be in Morrowind, right? How could something like a volcano erupting have such an effect all the way out this way?

Her musing was broken from what she could see before her. There lay a small stretch of land from a large rising, about ten or twenty feet or so apart from each other. In this space she could see them: a couple of large, stone structures standing straight up from the ground and connected to each other with stone bridges.

The sight in itself was peculiar, even before Delphine could somewhat identify what the stonework of the structures. Dark gray rocks and bricks shaded even darker than the soil of the land around her. As if an entire set of spires breaking through the ground itself.

During Delphine's time in Skyrim, she recalled encountering a couple of Nordic ruins in the wild. They too appeared as stone structures that appeared to jut from out of the ground itself. Or perhaps... the world itself had simply swallowed them whole so they only appeared to jut out from the ground? They were really old after all, who knows what they'd looked like during those days.

The Breton halted in place for a moment next to a dead, ashen tree and looked out at the stone structure. It was still a good distance away from her where she could still get a decent layout of the place. She could also see a number of figures moving here and there across the stone bridges.

"Hmmm, three... four... five..." she silently counted to herself. Already she counted at least five individuals outside of this place, 'Bloodskaal Barrow'. Judging from the fact that they weren't rushing about suddenly, she must still be unnoticed by them. The plans had to be here, but it didn't appear she'd be getting anywhere close to them with these bandi- no, 'reavers', in the way.

"It should be fine though, I can take 'em! Just gotta pick them off one by-"

Her words momentarily cut off when she caught sight of something else. One of the reavers stood upon the stone bridge that connected to the larger structure built into the rise of land itself. It was there that individual could be seen standing in front of... a door?

In that moment that very door opened up and another reaver emerged from within, with the reaver outside taking his place inside.

Delphine's lips pursed into a frown. That wasn't a good sign: whatever numbers she'd thought she'd seen might've been off. Now there was a good chance there might be six or even more reavers 'inside' this barrow. And if she were detected, who knows how many might spill out and potentially overwhelm her?

"No... I'm not gonna let that stop me...!" she said to herself, "Don't matter how many are there; I'll get those plans!"

She glanced down at her waist towards her weapons. Aside from her trusted Blade she carried, she also carried a steel dagger on her person. She was well enough with this smaller blade, and even better when using the two blades in tandem with each other. Both were still there and practically itching to be used to spill some blood. Fine by her; it had been a while since she'd gotten some practice in lately!

Delphine stood back up and prepared to descend down the land rise she stood upon. From where she was, she would have to move around the end of the one stone spire closest to the water. This was because she could see one of the reavers standing outside that tower's door at the very base, likely keeping watch. From the fact that this reaver wasn't screaming at this point she still hadn't been seen. Here's hoping its hearing also wasn't good to not pick up this flaking that every step she took made!

She eventually made it to the bottom and rushed up against the stone itself; so far so good. Very slowly she reached down and withdrew her two weapons, her dagger in her left hand and her Blade in the right.

She took steps as lightly and softly as possible walking around towards the 'front'. She couldn't help but feel nervousness during her approach for fear that the reaver might suddenly turn their head at the wrong time and spot her.

The reaver in question came into view finally when she'd moved close enough. Delphine could see this reaver was a male, dressed in some strange, red chitin-like armor. It covered nearly every part of his body except for his head and neck. Thankfully he continued to stand leaning against the stone wall next to the door, completely oblivious to her presence.

'Quick stab, then move on...' she thought, readying her dagger, 'I got this.'

Her arm raised, poised to strike, and she struck. The dagger shot forth and pierced the Dunmer straight into his neck. Blood instantly gushed from the wound before the reaver could even register a response. Gurgling sounds could be heard from his mouth as his hands rushed up in a futile attempt to save his own life. But Delphine's hand ripped the dagger from the neck, further exacerbating the neck wound and solidifying the man's demise.

Softly the reaver dropped to his knees, clawing at his neck before falling forward with a small thud. His body spasmed in place a couple of times before lying still.

"Quick stab, then move on..." she said to herself. Erneane's lessons really came in handy when they needed to, even after all these years.

Stepping over the now corpse she deftly angled her way through the doorway and inside the stone tower. Aside from the small window in front of the table directly in front of her, the only way to proceed within this tower was up an inclining set of steps to her right.

Towers like these were extremely tight and confining, which Delphine wasn't too keen on. It was better that she fight her foes in larger, more open areas for more maneuvering. It didn't appear there was anyone inside of this tower however, from the looks of things.

Before she knew it, she reached the top of the steps and the doorway to the 'next level' that would lead outside. She could see the set of wooden boards that served as a 'walkway', leading up and to the left along the tower itself. Seems the reavers themselves were nothing if not resourceful.

Both of her blades held at the ready as she stepped through the-

"Huh? What?!"

Delphine's nerves suddenly spiked with surprise and alarm. She momentarily didn't even register what had just happened, but she discovered right quick. Right as she had rounded the corner and was about to ascend the walkway, another reaver was just coming down towards where she was! Worse still, the female reaver got a good look at her!

"Hey, who are you!? Intruder!" she quickly called out.

"Drgh, curse it-!" Delphine mumbled under her breath. Her body moved of its own accord in that moment. Instead of moving her arms to slash the enemy, she moved her arms to the reaver's right side, and pulled hard.

The reaver was apparently unprepared for this sudden action and was defenseless. Delphine threw as much force into pulling on her arms as she could to send the reaver over the side of the walkway. The sound of panicked and deathly scream could be heard from the female bandit's lips as she dropped straight down like a rock. The scream was quickly silenced by a thud as her body hit the ground below.

Rather than feel relief for silencing this reaver, Delphine's nerves were still alert. That reaver had screamed so loudly this entire time! Had the others been alerted to an intruder as well?

"What was that?" someone called out.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

"I think it came from over this way! Come on!"

So much for sneaking in.

"Alright... Time to fight my way in...!"

Delphine gripped the handles of her weapons and rushed forward. She made her way up the inclining wooden walkway and turned left. From what she could see she was still on the first stone tower itself, but the stone bridge that connected it to the inside room from land was drawing closer.

Unfortunately, she could see movement up along that stone bridge. About three more Dunmer reavers were rushing along the stone bridge towards the tower; they would be on her real quick! If she was to survive this at all she had to rush them first!

She quickly rounded the sudden turn to the left as she ascended just a little further. Finally, she reached the upper level. Or, at least the level where the stone bridge itself was level with where she herself now stood.

Instincts suddenly screamed in her head, causing her to dodge to the left. As she did so she felt a metallic 'clink' against the stone behind her. She could see that an arrow had suddenly shot out and hit the wall. It had clinked harmlessly against the stone of wall, instead of where her own body had been standing mere moments ago!

"Don't tell me," she said to herself, "They got an archer as well...?"

Glancing back up in front of her, she could see the approaching reavers. At least two of them, both dressed in rather primitive leather and hide armors and various weapons in hand. Delphine was certain she could see one of them holding what looked like a great-sword! Even from the distance between them she could see their snarling expressions on their faces; they were out for blood and were not about to hesitate to take hers!

She readied her own weapons in her hands and held them into her battle-stance. She could take them, she had to!

The first reaver was already upon her. The male Dunmer held a long sword in one hand and was swinging it wildly.

"Get out the way!" the other reaver called out behind him.

His comment had Delphine refocus on the area before her: the two Dunmer were essentially rushing towards her from a narrow stone bridge with hardly any room for flanking. They were bottlenecking themselves in this case, and thus putting themselves at a disadvantage! This might not be so bad after all; Delphine could actually take them out one at a time, so long as they don't try and rectify their own battle error!

"Shut it, you! I got this!" the Dunmer in front called back to his partner. He resumed swinging his blade about in a vain effort to slash at Delphine. The attacks were frankly careless, reckless, completely undisciplined, and Delphine wasted little effort in evading them by simply moving her own body.

Her moment came from the Dunmer swinging down from an overhead strike. Delphine caught the enemy's sword in a parry from her dagger, and thus leaving him completely wide open. She thrust her Blade forward into the Dunmer's unguarded chest, giving it a twist in his gut for good measure.

The slain Dunmer reaver coughed up blood from his mortal injury, dropping his sword to the ground with a clatter. He began to go limp within moments of Delphine's counterattack, which only added weight on top of her own self.

"No! Damn you...!" the other reaver called out from behind him. As much as Delphine felt the need to relish in this victory, it in itself was fleeting. The battle was not over, not when there were still more foes to contend with!

As if to further emphasize this point, she heard a whizzing through the air. The unmistakable sound of an arrow being loosed came dangerously close to her head somehow before clinking against the stone behind her.

Thinking quickly, she balanced herself on one foot to raise her other off the ground. She planted it squarely against the reaver's corpse and kicked with all her might. The body was sent flying backward and right into the very much living reaver behind him.

The other reaver momentarily stumbled from the unexpected motion of his once alive comrade's body being thrust upon him. For a moment it almost looked like he'd lost his balance upon this precarious stone bridge. In the end however he shoved the body and let it tumble over the side, leaving himself and Delphine as the sole occupants.

"I'll make you pay for that... outlander," the reaver snarled. His hands gripped the hilt of his iron great-sword even harder. He then proceeded to rush forward and swing his blade down with all his might. Delphine's eyes widened and she was forced to actually jump back to avoid being struck by the weapon, as well as avoid its rather long reach.

She then dashed forward with her own weapon to get in a quick hit of her own. However, the reaver had recovered much quicker than she would've preferred and was bringing his own weapon back up again. The iron of the longer sword deflected her own Blade away, with him ready to strike again.

Delphine frowned from this turn of events. This wasn't going particularly well, with both this longer sword-wielding reaver managing to hold his own against her as well as another archer providing support. But now was not the time to be losing focus though; she did not come all this way to die to some nameless, faceless bandit!

"Glisha! Go and get the boss out here!" the reaver suddenly called back behind him. From the way that the male Dunmer had angled his head Delphine assumed he was referring to the other reaver by that name 'Glisha'. The distant female Dunmer was in the process of nocking another arrow when her partner's sudden demand rang out.

"What? No, I'll keep ya covered!" she called back.

"Don't argue, get-!"

The male Dunmer was cut off by Delphine's long blade clanging down on his own as he was forced to block again. His eyes narrowed from his concentration being momentarily divided by this sudden development, which the human woman could see it as well.

She angled her blade opposite and attempted to slash at him from an inverse swing. Back and forth her attacks were parried, but at the very least she was keeping him on the defensive. Even when he wasn't striking at her himself, she could 'feel' the strength of his arms through his blade as he defended himself. His defense felt solid, but Delphine wasn't about to give up. He was in her way!

Her chance came when she caught the length of his sword against her angled 'crossed blades'. She held her arms and her weapons over her head to block and overhead strike that would've surely cut into her head. She glimpsed up to see the reaver's snarling expression staring back at her. This was the face of a man who promised death if she wasn't careful.

Her right hand angled her Blade-wielding arm to momentarily support the weight of the iron great sword entirely. The metal held fast, but Delphine made sure to capitalize on this. Her dagger-wielding left hand was now free; free to pull it back and plunge it forth into the reaver's completely unguarded midsection.

"Dargh-!" a grunt of pain exploded from the Dunmer's lips, followed soon after by a small amount of blood.

Delphine forced the weight of the Dunmer's sword to the side with her right hand, then brought it back to slash across his chest with all her strength. The metal of her Blade carved cleanly through some of the straps of his hide armor as well as cut a deep, horizontal slash into his chest. Just like with his partner before, the Dunmer lost grip of his sword and let it clatter to the stone ground beside him.

The human woman pulled her gripping fists to the side and forced the dying Dunmer over the right side with all her might. The Dunmer body fell over the edge of the stone bridge exactly as-

Delphine's world suddenly flashed with light, surprise, and pain. She thought she heard that familiar sound of an arrow whizzing through the air but was far too slow to register where it was or where it might hit until it was too late. She felt something 'push' into her body at her shoulder, and waves of pain quickly radiated throughout her body with her being momentarily confused as to the source. Eventually she managed to deduce... The arrow had pierced her shoulder!

She glanced down at the long piece of thin wood now jutting out of the leather armor. She could feel the stinging pain in the flesh of her left shoulder. Except... she was still standing? The arrow had hit her, but it hadn't killed her? It must not have been a fatal shot after all. In fact, the leather armor itself must have caught most of it before it could do seriously major damage to her.

Her eyes snapped back up to the archer; the last reaver to contend with out here.

"Y-you... killed them!" she could hear her say, "S-stay back! I'll kill you; I swear it!" The reaver was hastily attempting to nock another arrow. Delphine was exposed; she needed to move!

Ignoring the stinging pain as best she could, Delphine proceeded to dash along the stone bridge. She kept her stance of her upper body reasonably low, ready to duck and move herself if she needed to while running. All the while she kept her eyes locked on the last opponent. She kept her eyes trained on the archer, just waiting for her to loose another arrow...

The whizzing sound filled the air again. Delphine watched the arrow fly towards her, but she was ready this time. She quickly angled her body slightly to the right as she ran forward, allowing the arrow to fly over her left side and just barely miss her. She couldn't see the look on the reaver's face, but she had to assume that she was shocked and more than a little panicked at having missed her shot. Especially as she herself was so close to reaching the other side of this stone bridge...

Delphine cleared the bridge and found herself on relatively solid ground. At least, solid ground that comprised this stone section that was embedded into the rise of land itself. And there off to the side, the reaver stood, still hastily trying to nock an arrow.

Delphine stalked over to the adversary. She could feel waves of stinging pain radiate through her body with each step, but she powered through all of it.

The reaver raised her bow with an arrow nocked into it and held it up, preparing to fire. However, Delphine was already on her and quickly slashed at the weapon with her Blade. The metal of the sword made contact with the bow and combined with the strength Delphine put into the slash, essentially ripped it from the reaver's grasp completely. The arrow itself tumbled off of the string and the bow was sent flying off to the left side and down the edge.

But Delphine wasn't done there. She quickly rushed forward with a charge of her left shoulder into the reaver. A grunt of pain could be heard from both the reaver as well as herself; Delphine was instantly reminded that she had just body-checked someone with an arrow lodge into her shoulder. Fortunately, the reaver herself had tumbled to the ground in a daze.

Delphine stepped forward and placed a foot on the reaver's right wrist to keep it from moving, then straddled the Dunmer woman with a leg crossed over her midsection, causing the prone woman to painfully grunt even more. Her blades were then poised in various threatening positions: the tip of her long Blade in her right hand pointed straight at the woman's chest, while the dagger in her left hand placed right up against her throat.

"Gah-! Get... off of-!" the reaver muttered. Delphine could feel her struggle to free her hand from underneath her boot, but she held herself steady. With her own left hand held out at the arc as it was she was also keeping the freed right hand out of range from trying anything as well.

"Shut up...!" Delphine hissed through clenched teeth. She could feel the pain in her shoulder even now, but she tried her best to mask that pain as a look of intimidation before the reaver, "Now tell me: where are those plans?!"

"W-what?" the reaver's red, widened eyes looked back up at her. From that tone of voice alone, surely she was messing with her, wasn't she? "I don't know what you're- AAARRRGH!" Delphine punctuated her point by slowly driving the point of her blade into the reaver's exposed flesh. The tip began to break the skin, drawing the smallest amount of blood.

"Don't MESS with me!" Delphine practically growled, "You know what I'm talking about! Those plans for that 'bone armor' you all stole! Where is it?!"

"Dargh! A-Alright, alright! I'll tell you...!" the reaver relented. Delphine took this as her cue to ease up the pressure of her Blade driving any further into the reaver's body.

"I-It's inside! Right through there! Inside!" the reaver's eyes glanced down in the general direction of where the crypt door was. Delphine herself resisted the urge to look over her shoulder to verify and kept her eyes locked squarely on the prone reaver.

"Where...?" she said.

"Boethiah help me...!" the Dunmer woman silently said, "I promise you, it's inside! We took it in there after we lifted it. The boss is also in there with it right now! Always kept it close; never let any of us near it for too long!"

"And you all been trying to make armor from it?" Delphine probed further.

"N-no! We'd been trying to figure out how!" the reaver said, "I wanted us to pawn it off for quick coin, but the boss kept hold of it! She beats anyone who tries to get even close to it without her say so!"

Delphine maintained her snarling expression before the reaver, but inside her mind was running again. So, the plans were here, inside the Bloodskaal Barrow right behind her, held here all this time. And from what this reaver said, the leader would also be inside, likely guarding these plans with... 'her' life.

Delphine blinked. She'd been informed by both Mallory and this reaver of the existence of a reaver leader, but only now it felt like she was getting confirmation towards the person specifically. It was a woman this whole time? What was her name even- She mentally shook herself from that line of thought. It didn't matter who it was or what she called herself. She was a bandi- no, 'reaver' leader, likely just as cutthroat as those that followed her, and she'll die just like the rest of them.

Of course, that brought her attention back to the reaver still lying prone beneath her right now?

"Come on, I told you everything! It's all I know! Now let me- GLRGH!"

Whatever the reaver tried to say after that was swiftly cut off. Delphine took this opportunity to draw her dagger hard across the length of her neck and slit her throat deep. The Dunmer woman's eyes widened in pure terror as she realized what was happening. But Delphine wasn't done there; with her right hand she plunged her Blade deeper into the Dunmer's belly as deeply as she could. She eventually felt a hard resistance as she felt the Blade's tip make contact with the hard surface of the stone beneath them.

Just as quickly as Delphine inflicted the mortal wounds, she pulled both her weapons clear from the Dunmer's body and stood back up. Looking back down, the Dunmer woman was frantically spasming in place. Her hands were thrashing and rushing back and forth between her neck and her belly in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. It was all fruitless though; she was dying, as Delphine could see clearly in her eyes.

The Breton woman watched for a moment, allowing rationalization to calm her. It had to be done, this woman was part of a dangerous group of marauders. She wouldn't have hesitated to cut her down herself; heck, she was just trying to kill her a moment ago, as the arrow currently lodged in her shoulder reminded her!

A quick scan around the area, and Delphine couldn't see nor hear anymore reavers in the immediate area. It seems like she had carved her way through the majority of them, leaving her alone once more. This was good, she needed this moment alone to treat this injury...

She glanced down at the arrow sticking out from the shoulder section of her armor. The way it crudely jutted out was almost comical, if not for the fact that it still hurt! She sheathed her weapons to free her hands, then reached up to slowly take hold of the arrow. She gave a quick, experimental tug on it, then winced hard from the resistance that met her. She could feel the metal of the arrow tip tugging against the skin itself; the arrow had indeed pierced her skin!

"Drgh! Careless! So careless...!" she grumbled to herself. As much as it hurt to try and remove it, there was no way the arrow could stay lodged in where it was. Especially not when there was still the 'boss reaver' to contend with inside this Barrow.

"Right, I'll make this quick..." she said to herself. She tightened her grip on the arrow before letting out a couple of deep breaths to steady herself. Finally, she counted down, "3... 2... 1!"

She clenched her eyes and teeth as she willed her hand to positively rip the arrow free. Waves of stinging pain shot up through her entire body, not just the arrow's impact zone. Her hand dropped the arrow and clutched the spot of the injury. Delphine vocally groaned in pain, trying desperately to soothe it away as best she could. Unfortunately, it wasn't working!

"Ow...! That really-" she said before cutting herself off. In that moment she came to recall something, "Wait! The health potion!"

Her other hand quickly reached around her side towards her pack to fetch said potion vial. Her hand fished around desperately, frustration growing with every second the vial seemed to elude her grasp. It was here, she knew it was! But where was it?!

Finally, her fingers clamped down on the vial and pulled it forth. Using one hand her fingers popped off the cork and she practically downed the contents of the vial down her throat. Her mouth was met with the familiar, bitter taste of the healing potion, causing her to scrunch her mouth in disgust. She willed herself to swallow the contents completely and keep it down. Now all that was left was to let the potion do its metaphorical magic.

As she waited her gazed drifted back to the prone reaver. She noted by now that the body had ceased its spasming movements completely. She was most definitely dead by this point; one less thing to worry about.

Delphine then began to notice the stinging sensations in her shoulder start to feel more and more faint. It wasn't going away completely, but there was significantly less pain in her shoulder by now as to indicate the worst was passed. She gave a couple of experimental flexes with her shoulder and was only met with mild pain for her efforts. It wasn't enough to hinder her either; it would have to do.

"Alright, focus Delphine," she said to herself. She glanced towards the crypt door that would lead into Bloodskaal Barrow, "Just gotta go in, find the reaver leader, take 'her' out, find those plans, and get out of there! Yeah, that simple. And if not... No, it definitely will be..."

Carefully she made her way to the door, placed a hand on its stone frame, and gently pushed. The door creaked on its ancient hinges, forcing Delphine to push much slower. The groaning persisted the more she pushed, and all the woman could see inside was darkness. However, no sounds could be heard from within, of any sort. No reaver leader possibly being alerted to her presence.

With that, she angled herself through the space in the door and slipped inside.

It was indeed darkness that greeted her upon entry. Yet it wasn't completely dark as the crypt door itself remained opened by a crack to allow sunlight to shine in. Not only that but Delphine was almost surprised to find a couple of light sources shining from within as well. A couple of torch sconces could be seen burning, providing gentle illumination to a dreary setting.

Indeed, dreary was what she would describe where she found herself. This crypt immediately assaulted her nostrils with the smells of not only ash, but also dust, dry air... and death. Light shone off of the nearby walls to reveal sections of the wall cut out to allow for bodies to be placed within. Most of these slots were occupied by an interred body as far as she could see. Here's hoping that these bodies would actually stay unmoving; she'd had enough of dealing with them back on Skyrim.

"Probably wouldn't be moving at all if these reavers were able to stake out here..." she silently commented to herself.

From what she could see, the space around her felt somewhat small and cramped, yet there was just enough of a walkway for her to move through. It looked like the only way for her to go was forward then turn left. Her hand gripped the hilt of her Blade tightly as she made her way down the steps and onto the 'ground floor'.

Upon doing so however, a sound filled the space.

"Who's there? Someone in here? Thought I told you lot not to bother me!"

The voice was loud, crudely spoken, and abrasive, echoing off of the walls of this tomb. There was definitely someone in here, just as that reaver outside had said; likely their boss. And from where she was standing right now, it sounded like the owner of that voice was just around that corner off to the left side...

Both her weapons were held at the ready in her hands. She took soft step after soft step forward, trying to cause as little sound as she could. Maybe if she was careful, she could end this threat before it caused her too much trouble.

"I told you all, we're not moving until 'I' say so! And the plans stay here, with me!"

The plans? She must be referring to the Bonemold armor plans! Delphine could feel a small weight lift off of her upon realizing that; the plans were here after all!

But what else was this reaver saying? They were planning to move? If that's also true, it was also luck that she managed to catch them now when she did.

The corner was right before her. From what she could see at first glance, the gentle glow of light could be seen shining from around the corner, the flickering orange of a fire of some sort. In addition, the stretched shadow of a vague humanoid could be seen on the ground, stretching along the ground towards her. Delphine steeled herself and stepped around the corner.

The first things she could see was a burning campfire set next to the far wall. Its brilliant orange yellow glow practically provided illumination to the entire area. She could see most of the surrounding walls, their rough textures, even sections that had been hollowed out for what she could only assume were where bodies were placed in.

The light also illuminated that what she could see on the floor as well. A couple of bedrolls were laid out not too far from the campfire upon the cracked and weathered floor.

But most importantly, Delphine could see clearly someone standing within the light. A humanoid person facing towards the fire at first so that she couldn't clearly see their face. Still, from the sort of voice that she'd heard as well as looking at this person's build, there was no denying that it was a female, as well as a Dunmer. She was still facing the fire; didn't she know that she was here?

A sharp exhale of breath suddenly was heard from the Dunmer.

"I really need to teach you all a lesson, don't I-"

The Dunmer was in the process of talking and turning to her left when she stopped. She came to an abrupt halt when her eyes locked with Delphine's, where they proceeded to widen considerably under the light.

"What?! Who in blazes are you?!" The reaver swiftly reached to her side and drew forth a blade. Her aggressive action spurned Delphine to tighten her grips on her own weapons and held them at the ready.

"Wait, you're not..." the reaver appeared to squint her eyes and carefully study Delphine even with the distance between them, "You're not one of my gang! How'd you get here?!"

Against the light of the fire Delphine could see more of the Dunmer; specifically, what she was wearing. She was definitely wearing armor, though that was unlike any sort of armor Delphine had ever seen before. It appeared to look like decorative plates of grayish silver atop a black mesh that hugged the body. The sheer... detail in the decor upon this armor was mesmerizing in a way.

And to top it all off, literally in this case, the Dunmer held a strange sort of helmet on her head. Delphine could vaguely see the carvings of... eyes, on both sides of the angularly cut helmet. As crazy as it might appear, this entire armor set appeared to have been 'carved' in the style of some ancient creature; a bear?

"You must be that 'boss' I was told about," Delphine spoke in a low tone, "So tell me... where are those plans?"

"Plans... Oh," the reaver replied, "You must mean the bonemold armor plans? They're right here, with me. Not like knowing that will do you any good."

"That so?"

The reaver flashed her barred teeth for a brief moment in response.

"You think you can just come up here, carve through my gang and take something off of me?" she challenged, "Bet it was that blacksmith himself that sent you, wasn't it? Well that's just too bad, ain't it?" Her arms widened apart from her body in an indicative motion to draw Delphine's attention around her. The Breton woman was in fact reminded of the fact that they stood within a tomb; an ancient Nordic tomb, where dead were buried within, "See, not only are you not leaving with those plans... but you won't be leaving here at all. This place is your final stop, outlander. I'll gut you and leave you in here with these other dead bodies!"

"I'm hearing a lot of talking," Delphine fired back before pointing one of her weapons in her opponent's direction, "Let's see if you can back any of those threats up!"

The reaver let out a cry and dashed forward. Delphine also rushed forward to meet her opponent's blade against her own. In an instant, the human felt a wave of surprise; the Dunmer woman's strength deceived initial appearance! She could feel the strain on her right arm as her Blade met hers in a deadlock.

From up close she could see the woman's weapon in somewhat clearer detail as well. The blade was a long, curved blade with a single jagged point on the opposite side. The flats of the blade were hollowed out with an intricate design to mirror that of the armor. Seriously, what sort of arms and weapons did this Dunmer have here?!

The reaver boss held both hands on the hilt of her weapon, while Delphine only had one hand on her Blade's hilt. The deadlock was holding steady, but progressively pushing against the human and in the Dunmer's favor. She grit her teeth as she strained, all the while the barred teeth of the Dunmer was held in a more sadistic grin.

Delphine quickly cocked her dagger-bearing left hand and thrust it forward. Unfortunately, the reaver saw this coming easily. She quickly gave a swift push of her weapon against Delphine's. The human was left to stumble in place and was almost thrown off balance. She lifted her face back up to the reaver-

Suddenly, her world exploded in a burst of pain from her face. She had seen the reaver's arm coming up to strike her, and she was quickly caught by the glancing strike. Her head was forced to the side and was left throbbing from where she was hit.

"Heh, not so tough, are you?" the reaver boss taunted. The area where her face was hit was incredibly sore, even without her having to touch it at all. But Delphine quickly shook her head to regain her senses. She turned her head back up again, thankfully not meeting any arms to strike at her again.

Instead, she clearly saw the reaver's blade swinging towards her from a horizontal direction. Delphine angled her Blade and her dagger vertical to catch the weapon and deflect it. The swinging momentum sent the blade strike well away from her, but the reaver was still moving. She used that same momentum to swing back around and strike yet again from the opposite side. Delphine was forced to deflect that strike yet again.

Inside Delphine's mind, she was almost starting to panic a little. Already she'd let this reaver get a solid hit on her when her guard wasn't up; it was really starting to mess with her concentration. Combined with the unbelievable strength behind the attacks, and she was almost starting to think she was at a disadvantage.

'Focus, Delphine! Focus!' she mentally berated herself, 'She'll leave an opening at some point; just gotta watch for it!'

Another slash towards her. This time Delphine opted to duck clear and out of the way. She rolled across the ground and back to her feet, putting decent distance between the two of them. In the process she heard the sound of metal biting against what sounded like stone. The reaver must have struck against the wall where she had been standing at a moment ago.

Seeing her chance Delphine quickly lunged forward. The reaver had turned to face her and was pulling her blade free from the cut into the wall she had created. Delphine held her right hand over her head to swing down from above. The reaver held her own blade up and level with her head, preparing to catch it before it could hit her.

'There!'

Rather than bring her right hand down to meet the opponent's blade, Delphine abandoned her overhead strike. She instead spun in place while bending her legs slightly to duck lower. Her left hand was held forward with the dagger sticking out. It was a desperate ploy, but it had to work...!

She could feel resistance against the tip of the dagger. Not only that, but she could also feel through the dagger that it had 'cut' through something. This was then followed up by a sharp, grunt of pain.

Delphine glanced up to see exactly what she'd managed to do. Sure enough, the reaver had been left wide open momentarily, and her quick strike to exploit that had succeeded! She could see the small slash where her dagger had managed to cut through the 'mesh' of the armor worn by the reaver. Pale, blue flesh could be seen, as well as a decent cut that slowly began to drip with blood. The reaver's hand reached across the front of her body with her open hand to momentarily clutch at the injury.

"Drgh! Filthy n'wah!" the reaver... cursed? Delphine had no idea what the Dunmer just said or called her, nor did she really care. From the tone in her voice however it sounded like she had wounded her, both literally and metaphorically!

The Dunmer woman wasted no time in suddenly forcing her blade forward to try and stab back at Delphine. The strike was clumsy and predictable this time; Delphine capitalized on it.

With her two blades crossed together in an 'X' formation, she caught the enemy blade upon the very top of the intersecting blades, then forced her arms up. Just like that, both Delphine and the reaver's weapons were forced up high above their heads. The Dunmer's eyes widened in surprise at this sudden action. She attempted to free her blade from the cross-lock, but Delphine wasn't done.

She held herself on one foot, then used her other raised foot to swiftly plant it against the reaver's midsection and kick hard. The reaver cried out as she was effectively forced backwards into a stumble. This resulted in her back striking hard against the walls of the crypt directly behind her. Delphine heard a sharp exhale of breath exit the reaver's lungs; that must have knocked the wind out of her!

The human woman quickly rushed forward, not allowing the reaver the chance to potentially recover. The reaver attempted to swing her blade towards her again, but Delphine was already upon her and acting. Her own Blade swung down and with a cling of metal on metal deflected the strike away. The reaver was once again left wide open and unguarded.

Delphine's eyes glanced to the right back towards the reaver's whole body, and she was glad she did. Not only did she catch a subtle smirk on the reaver's lips, but she was also quick enough to catch the reaver cock her left fist back and throw it forward! Her own face still tingled from where she was struck in the face from earlier; she was not about to be hit by the same kind of attack a second time!

Mustering all her strength to her neck, she pulled her body and neck slightly to the left. Instead of feeling blunt force she felt a heavy whoosh of air as the fist sailed right past her head. It had missed her by mere centimeters!

Delphine pursed her lips for the newest opportunity that had just opened up to her.

Her left hand moved up like a snake, dagger head facing forward and bearing straight towards its intended target: the reaver's unguarded neck. The dagger once more met initial resistance, but nonetheless found its mark. Delphine stabbed the tip of her dagger straight into the reaver's neck as hard as she could.

The cry that exited the reaver's mouth was a mix of surprise as well as terror. It also sounded the least bit gargled. Delphine wasn't entirely sure if she had 'slit the throat' as it were, but she was confident that she had scored a mortal blow against her opponent. Best to dig her blade in further for good measure-

There came a rush of movement in front of her, and once again Delphine felt a blow of blunt force impacting her in the face! Her world exploded in pain once more as she felt herself stumbling backwards. In that moment she was almost uncertain as to what had even happened. Her face throbbed yet again from where she was hit.

'What just happened!?' she thought to herself, 'Did... she just headbutt me in the face?!' She shook her head to dispel some of the pain before turning her attention back up again.

She could see that the reaver actually wasn't moving as quickly upon her as before. This was actually because she was vainly attempting to nurse a large spill of blood from her neck. Her eyes were still wide with terror, even in this moment. Her mouth was open and fruitlessly attempting to say something, but all that could be heard was a gargling sound. Whatever had just happened, there was no denying that the reaver was gravely injured by this point!

Which only further shocked Delphine to see that she didn't appear to be succumbing to her wound! In fact, she was proceeding to swing her blade wildly about while her other hand remained planted upon her neck. The human could see streams of red fluid running between the Dunmer's fingers and dripping downward. That was no small amount of blood being lost and judging from the panicked look on the reaver's face, the latter was aware of this as well.

Whooshes filled the air with each swing of the reaver's blade. Unlike before, these were easily avoided by simply jumping back and dodging. Delphine was granted her chance from the reaver bringing her blade to slash at her from the left side. She brought her own Blade to the right to deflect it and prevent it from moving any further forward, followed by a swift kick to the woman's hand. The sword was loosed from her grip and clattered to the floor.

Finally, Delphine pointed the tip of her Blade at the reaver. The light from the nearby fire provided just barely enough illumination to give her a rough area of her armor to target. In between the plates of hard metal material, she found an unguarded section of what she presumed to be under mesh. A single thrust, and the Blade pierced straight through the Dunmer's body.

The reaver's eyes practically bugged out of their sockets in an instant. She opened her mouth to say something, or rather to voice any sort of exclamation, but the only thing that came out was a burst of blood from her gargled throat.

Delphine mustered the last of her strength and threw the woman to the side, simultaneously ripping her Blade from the wound. The reaver could be heard rolling to the ground and spasming in place. In between her neck injury and her new injury to her midsection, there was no doubt that she would be dead soon, something she herself seemed to be aware of as well. Delphine held her weapons at the ready but watched the reaver slowly die on the ground.

In between her gargled noises and writhing, the female Dunmer's eyes slowly but surely locked with hers. Delphine could see those dunmeri eyes, those red eyes with solid black pupils widened in terror. If she meant to communicate something to her, there was absolutely no way of knowing what it may have been. For the moment all she did was stare at her, one hand reaching out to vainly grab at her.

Eventually, the Dunmer's movements began to slow down. Her writhing and thrashing lessened until only the barest movement of her limbs could be seen. Her eyes continued to stare, but the gargling sound from her mouth began to cease as well. Delphine continued to watch the movements grow slower and slower... Finally, they ceased altogether.

The Dunmer lay still, for good this time. Her eyes remained turned to the side, but were now largely unfocused. Her arms slumped completely. The reaver boss was truly dead now.

Delphine found herself slumping backwards, and almost surprising herself when she leaned back against the wall directly behind her. The fight was finished, and she was finally able to take deep breath after deep breath. Her weapons remained in her hands though her grips on their handles relaxed ever so slightly. That was really it, that was one of the heaviest fights she'd had. She'd taken a couple scrapes here and there, but she'd won.

Speaking of scrapes, what all injuries had she taken?

"Hm, let's see, my shoulder..." Delphine glanced down at her shoulder and the hole in the leather armor where the arrow had struck her. She could faintly see her flesh beneath and the bleeding injury. It wasn't bleeding nearly as much as before, but it was far from life-threatening. That healing potion she'd drank earlier must've really done its job.

Sheathing her dagger she brought her hand to her face. Her fingers rubbing across her features she winced at the initial contact. That damn reaver had managed to score a couple of hits on her face! Both of her cheekbones felt sore to the touch, but aside from that there was no blood. Considering whom she was fighting against, Delphine supposed she should consider herself lucky.

"Hmph, luck," she grumbled, "It's gonna run out one of these days, I swear..." A couple more stabilizing deep breaths, and she pulled herself off the wall and onto her feet again, "Alright you, where are those plans...?"

Delphine made her way over to the now dead body of the reaver boss. Sheathing her Blade, her two free hands began to pat down the sides of the body. Every pat she made however she turned up nothing. The frown on her face began to grow more and more. The reaver had mentioned the plans being here! Where would they be if not on her person?

Suddenly, Delphine did turn up something. In one of the side pockets of the reaver's armor she felt something. It wasn't any piece of parchment as she was hoping for, but something small and solid. She reached in and pulled forth...

"What the... a key?"

Delphine held the object up and in clear view of the light from the campfire. Sure enough, it was a key; slightly rusted but in relatively solid shape. It was so random though: why would this reaver have a key on their person after she'd mentioned the bonemold armor plans? Unless...

Delphine's head snapped to the side. Sure enough, she saw it: a chest, right there next to the campfire!

"What?! How did I not see-" she said before shaking her head, "Drgh, nevermind. Let's just see here..."

She hastily rushed over and knelt in front of the chest. She took the key and rather gingerly inserted it into the keyhole. Before turning it she felt a momentary flash of anxiety. There was always the possibility that this key wouldn't be for this chest, or even if it was that she wouldn't find what she was looking for inside. If so, what exactly was she to do afterwards...?

Her fears and worries were pushed to the side by her wrist turning the key completely. The sound of a lock turning filled the air, and Delphine knew instantly that this key was in fact for this chest! She then took hold of the chest's lid in both hands and slowly lifted it up...

The insides of the chest were darkened, but Delphine could faintly make out the outline of something within. It wasn't a parchment, but rather... a journal?

Delphine reached inside and pulled the object out and into the light.

"'Bonemold Armor, For Improved-' Oh! This is it!" Delphine glimpsed the title of the journal. For good measure she opened the journal and skimmed the pages. She could see words upon most of the pages, while here and there she could see sketches and artistic depictions of what looked to be armor pieces.

Closing the journal Delphine took a deep sigh of relief. This was exactly what she'd come here for, and now that she'd found it, she could bring it to Glover proper. That was enough heavy lifting she'd done on her part; now it was time for the man to come through with his end of his bargain. It's time for questions of hers to be answered!

She placed the journal into her side satchel and secured the flap. Leaving this place wouldn't be too hard, as this little scuffle had only taken place within the first room of this crypt.

Before she turned to leave, she glanced down once again at the reaver boss. The dead body continued to lie place, eyes still faintly open and a pool of blood growing beneath it. Delphine found herself staring not really at the body itself, but the armor. All things considered that was actually a decent armor set this reaver was wearing. A sharp contrast from the patchwork armors that the reavers outside had been wearing; this one was actually made with metal plates. The entire body had been covered, save for those patches of exposed skin that allowed for better maneuverability in the joints. Combined with that rather strange 'metal-bear-head' of a helm... Seriously, why was this reaver wasting time with some other armor recipe when she had this armor instead?

"Hmmm... I wonder..." Delphine actually put a hand to her chin as she pondered, still staring at the armor.


-And that's the end of another chapter! By the way I wanted to clear up something I was only recently made aware of. After doing some research it turns out I'd had a bit of an oversight regarding the previous chapter. I'd claimed that the Blades had been serving the Mede Emperor Dynasty after the Septims, when in fact that's not true. Turns out the Blades simply stopped serving the Empire altogether after Martin sacrificed himself. I believe it was also at that time that the Penitus Oculatus was officially formed by the emperor in their place. Now that's not to say that the Blades still didn't work alongside the Empire, especially when it came to the Great War. I guess in this context you could instead see it as allies working together rather than the Blades serving under any obligation as before.

Anyway, that's all I wanted to clear up here; keep on reading! -