The Story Of Iriisii Dovahkiin Book One Chapter Nineteen

The Story Of Iriisii Dovahkiin Book One Chapter Nineteen

                                                              Chapter Nineteen

     Iriisii and Temussin return to Honor Hall leaving Karliah to deal with the Thieves Guild in whatever way she wishes. Iriisii wishes her luck in that as she feels they will want a great deal of proof beyond her word of why she did what she did. Still if the guild cannot figure out why they have been cursed and do something about it, they will not last much longer. No reason why Karliah cannot start over and form a guild of her own, unless the curse was also levied against her too. In that case they might be seeing each other again. Iriisii thinks seriously if she could use Karliah's skills in where her future takes her. She is very good at stealth skills, and likely also an exceptional planner, all in all, quite usable at the present, in the future, if she can learn to upgrade her skills even more, possibly add more skills to her repertoire then yes, she would be a valuable addition to whatever group she forms around her. So she will just have to see if Karliah comes looking for her. Best leave her a short note to direct her if she wants to find her. But for right now, her bed is calling for her.

     She sleeps until the others come back from breakfast at the 'Bee and Barb'. Rigmor thinks about waking her in an unusual way but decides that is more for private moments, and settles for calling to her and a gentle shake of her shoulder. As Iriisii stirs, she remembers to sit and write a short note for Karliah. Rigmor asks what it is for and Iriisii explains to her what happened last night.

     Rigmor: "So you think the curse extends to her as well?"

     Iriisii: "Yes, it is not a particularly dangerous curse, if you are aware of it and what it does. It generally acts against the 'luck' that a good thief sometimes needs. When it is gone, many times skill is not enough to keep from being discovered, or knocking into something creating noise, what they thought to get has been moved somewhere else."

     Rigmor: "So if she is using her skills for something other than being a thief, the curse does not affect her?"

     Iriisii: "Yes, the curse is very specific to thievery activities. And I suspect the guild will not be ready to listen to her side of the story without a great deal of proof. Proof which she has not had the time to search for. And so she will have to leave quickly for a second time. So I am prepared to offer her an alternative path, where she can use her skills to help us as we do the work of the gods. She has very good stealth skills even as they can be improved, she also has very good planning skills which would be of great help to us."

     Rigmor: "I see, you have given it a great deal of thought, and I have learned that you seem to know just who would fit in with us and who has the skills we need to round out our capabilities. Very well, you will have no argument from me. By the way where are we going next, we still need to meet with Desidarius to get my sword?"

     Iriisii: "We will meet her at Dragon's Keep, west of Whiterun. That would put us well on the way to Diamond Ridge Mine. And I could not think of a safer place to meet."

     Rigmor: "I also suspect you want to check in on the children."

     Iriisii smiles, "Yes, I do. I want them to see that we will not just send them there then forget them. That we will from time to time check in on them to see how they are doing. Also I want to make arrangements to bring Lucia and Sofi from Whiterun to stay at Dragon's Nest, while they too go to school."

     Rigmor: "Have they decided what they want to do later in life?"

     Iriisii: "Not yet, that is why I want to move them, so they can see the possibilities, and decide for themselves."

     Temussin: "You have two daughters?"

     Iriisii: "Adopted orphans, but I have given them my name, and so they are my daughters as if I had gave birth to them. As to any natural children, I have none. I once..."

     Temussin: "Please forget I asked, I wish you no pain from my curiosity."

     Iriisii: "Thank you, perhaps another time when the memories are not so raw."

     Rigmor: "It was witnessing Desidarius and the soul of her son, was it not?"

     Iriisii: "Yes."

     Rigmor: "Then I too am sorry for your pain, one day, one day it may come about. So we will wait and see what the Gods may be able to do."

     Iriisii: "Come, it is time we were on our way, perhaps..."

     Rigmor: "Perhaps what?"

     Iriisii: "Perhaps we may stop at the overlook camp for just a little bit. I find that it helps to heal me when I am troubled."

     Rigmor smiles this time, "I think that is an excellent idea."

     Two days later, they come upon the overlook camp, and the sky is clear and sharp, a light breeze flows from the mountains in the distance. Iriisii stands on the viewing platform breathing in everything happening that she can see, feel, hear, smell. From the crackling of the campfire to the calls of the eagles in the skies, to the smell of the blooms swaying in the breeze. Rigmor and Temussin are sitting by the campfire looking toward Iriisii.

     Temussin: "She has stood there for over an hour, not moving, saying anything."

     Rigmor: "When we first came here, I sang her a song that I had wrote just for her. She told me how much she liked it. At first I thought she was just being nice, but as I thought about it, I realized she was telling me the truth. She really did like it. She liked it enough that it moved her to ask me to kiss her."

     Temussin: "Did you?"

     Rigmor: "No, I was not sure of my own feelings then to become so intimate with her."

     Temussin: "And now?"

     Rigmor: "Now is a whole different set of problems."

     Temussin: "So now you do love her but something stands in the way."

     Rigmor: "Are you sure you have never been in love before?"

     Temussin: "No, I have not, but I am very observant of others."

     Rigmor: "Then you already know what stands in the way, don't you?"

     Temussin: "I think I do, and a thorny problem it is too, but one that has many sides to it. Yet I do not have enough information to understand properly."

     Rigmor: "Well if I let what I know and think out, maybe some solution will find me. I do love her, and I know that she loves me. But the problem is that there are others she loves just as deeply as she does me, and I do not know how or even if I want to find a solution."

     Temussin: "How is it that she is capable of being in love with more than one equally?"

     Rigmor: "She is Dovahkiin, Dragonborn. the hero that is called for by our gods when the world is at risk. And our world is at great risk. It is said she will be the last of the Dragonborn to ever be called, and so she will also be the greatest and most powerful of all that have existed. Once Akatosh is done with her, in the past they have faded into obscurity, lost in the mists of time and legend. But she will not go that way, for the Gods that stand outside of Mundus have need of her. So they are grooming her for when they have her and Akatosh has let her go."

     Temussin: "I take it something is going to happen to her at that time, something that changes everything?"

     Rigmor: "Yes, to become the agent of those other gods, to wield the power and weapons they will give to her, she must shed this mortal coil and accept the Celestial Coil in its place. In other words she must walk the Path of the Gods, and none can say how far along that Path she must go."

     Temussin: "Ah, I begin to see, but there is still more to this, more that is personal in nature to her, that is perhaps coming forward now in response to everything else happening to her."

     Rigmor: "I never thought about any of it until I found out who her parents are, then it started to make sense, for she is her mother's daughter."

     Temussin: "I take that to mean her mother had many lovers."

     Rigmor: "Yes, Al-Esh, Alessia was once a slave of the Ayleids, the wild elves in the early years of our history. She rose up at the head of a slave revolt, won 'mankind's' freedom and became the Queen of the First Empire. And she loved many, some not human, which caused her no small amount of trouble. It is why she became known as the 'Mother of all Minotaurs'. Our minotaurs were not simply half human, half bull. They were a magical race, able to take full human form. And they had wings that could bear them between the stars themselves. There is much that happened in those times, both good and bad. Perhaps more bad than good. When 'man' turned and hunted the minotaur, almost to extinction. Alessia was already dead for hundreds of years by this time, and had ascended into Aetherius to stand with our Gods. But when the hunt was almost over and the last minotaurs gone, she laid a terrible curse on Nirn. That until the last of her children were delivered to her, the world would never know peace. There would be war, plagues, betrayal, deceptions, all manner of evil and wrongness. And so it has been ever since, for more than two thousand years. Some of these wrongs are ones that Iriisii must fight against, until the last minotaur can be found and given back to Alessia. And the one to do it must be a half beast kin to that last minotaur. I think it will be Iriisii who will be called upon to do the deed. And for her to do it without destroying her, it will have to be done out of love. How much 'love' must one have within themselves to do something like that and live with themselves afterward?"

     Temussin: "And having that much 'love', she cannot hold it all and it spills over to those around her. Drawing them to her like a moth to a candle flame, igniting the eternal fires of love within them for her."

     Rigmor: "And so you do see."

     Temussin: "Yes, but you need to go further."

     Rigmor: "What do you mean?"

     Temussin: "It is that love of hers that spills over to others, that is in turn given back to her, that shields her from the pain of what she must do in her service to the Gods. The pain that otherwise would destroy her and allow Existence to fall into chaos and destruction."

     Rigmor: "I guess that explains it as good as anything does."

     Temussin: "Yeah but it does not help you deal with it when you see it happening right in front of your eyes."

     Rigmor: "You mean Desidarius, don't you."

     Temussin: "Kind of obvious that is."

     Rigmor: "Yeah but she is not the first. Rose is the first one, and she got captured by the Thalmor, taken to one of their prison forts, escaped, and made it across the border to the south into Cyrodiil. We went in to save her only to find she had already escaped. That hit her hard, real hard. Even as hard as she grieved over the loss of Rose, she can never forget her feelings for her."

     Temussin: "Why did she not go after her?"

     Rigmor: "She knew she had to stay and do the Gods will here in Skyrim. Then maybe, just maybe they will let her see Rose again."

     Temussin: "And you wonder how she will balance loving you and still loving Rose, as well as Desidarius?"

     Rigmor: "Honestly, no. From what you have said, if her heart was not as large as it is, she would never have fallen in love with me, even after she lost Rose. So I guess I need to learn to accept this part of her, if I am to stay with her."

     Temussin: "I do not envy you. Learning how to deal with that is as difficult as it must be for her trying to understand what is happening to herself. And not just from a 'who is my lover' perception, but from 'why is she the one having to deal with all of this' perception. The things that have happened to her, things that would drive anyone else insane. And this is just beginning."

     Rigmor: "And that explains the earliest years of her life. For it all led up to her making a deal with Desidarius for escape, and the price was a big chunk of her early memories. And when I asked Desidarius why she chose those memories, she could not answer why. She finally said she felt she was being nudged by the gods. For she told me she had no reason for any of Iriisii's memories."

     Temussin: "She could not say which gods nudged her could she?"

     Rigmor: "No, she could not. You are saying it might not have been our gods but those beyond Mundus grooming her for when they take responsibility for her path."

     Temussin: "It makes sense, and with a missing past, she could concentrate on her present with no distractions, no questions of why is this happening, no comparing it to the past to see discrepancies."

     Rigmor: "The next question is should we tell her all of this that we suspect?"

     Temussin: "I am not hard-hearted, even for being of the 'dark', but I must say 'no'. What was done in the past has enabled her to survive till now, to make some kind of difference in the lives of those she has touched. Upset all of that now, and everything comes apart. And she might not be able to walk out of what would be left. Then you have to ask yourself what would that do to you. Knowing you could have made a different decision and everything would have gone down a different path."

     Rigmor: "Damn, you really know how to complicate something don't you."

     Temussin: "It is not my intention to do so, but rather to see as much of all sides of an issue as I can. Thus I can make a better decision to reach the outcome I want."

     Rigmor: "And what outcome do you want to see come about?"

     Temussin: "I want her to succeed, to bring Existence back into 'balance', to know I did my part to save it from utter destruction."

     Rigmor: "Then I have to vote, 'no' right with you. Because I want the same as you, and to build a life with her, whatever kind of life I can have with her. Well I guess since we will keep our silence on this for now, we need to see if she is ready to move on."

     As they rise up and start toward Iriisii to see if she is ready to go another voice is heard.

     Karliah: "Finally, I caught up to you. By the Gods this place is truly wonderful. How did you ever find it here?"

     As Rigmor and Temussin look toward each other and at Karliah, Iriisii turns and walks toward the three of them as if she was waiting for Karliah to arrive before going on.

     Iriisii: "I assume things did not go well with the Thieves' Guild?"

     Karliah: "I had to leave quickly. With Mercer Frey dead at my feet, every one of them interested in climbing up was more than willing to do it at my expense. The total chaos was far too much for me to even think about getting anyone to listen to me."

     Iriisii: "I understand, the work that the curse did, laid the groundwork for what happened, if not by your hand, then likely by mine this would have happened anyway."

     Karliah: "Then there was in truth a curse at work? I just thought it was something to blame everyone's mistakes on. Do you know why it came to be?"

     Iriisii: "Yes, there is indeed a curse actively at work, and still is. Whether it will continue beyond the dissolution of the Guild or not remains to be seen. Mercer Frey was where it was directed toward, but since he warded himself it expanded to the rest of the Guild until it could get to him. Yet at least here with me, you are shielded from its effects."

     Karliah: "Please do not think I am ungrateful, by how is it I am being shielded from it? And why is it still doing its work now that Mercer Frey is dead?"

     Iriisii: "The one who created it is not satisfied just with his death. It would take some time to explain everything, not to mention some parts of it would be in direct contradiction of established beliefs, and histories. For now just believe that the shield is in place and acting in your favor. As to why I left the note for you, I know you can be of specific help to me in what I must do in the future, both near and far. In return I will see you well paid and rewarded for your service. In what manner I will leave to your discretion, be it gold, gems, artwork, devices, knowledge, even power, all is on the table, with the exception of myself.

     I know who, those who will be closest to me, will be. Currently there are three, with three more to come before my tasks given to me by the Nine are done. I know you still mourn Gallus, and I respect that. I do not know if it will be possible for me to retrieve him from where he is now, but if there is a way, I will at least try, but now is not the time for that. Other matters of great weight weigh heavily and need to be resolved. We will be going by way of Whiterun. Our next destination lies to the west of there. A place called Dragon's Keep. Next to it is a house called Dragon's Nest, there are enough accommodations there for us all. There is one I am expecting to meet us there, but I do not know who will be there first. Anyway we need to be on our way, before the hounds on your trail catch your scent."

     Karliah: "Who created and set loose the curse?"

     Iriisii: "You know who did it. You need only connect the pieces together. The answer will come to you and then you will also understand why we came to meet, as well as why you came seeking me."

     Iriisii turns and motions all to follow her as she leads them down from the hills into the Plains of Whiterun, and on to the road that follows the White River. At the river she turns west and picks up the pace just a bit. And on they go until a pair of towers across the river can be seen up the hill. They get close enough to make out certain details when Iriisii calls a halt and tells them to wait. She goes on ahead alone to speak with the bandit lookout seated at the base of the tower.

     The bandit remembers her and knows it is not a good idea to cross this one. The previous group had done just that and she left not a single one alive, just a curious mark on the lookout's forehead. When she mentioned this mark the first time she came through after her current band had taken up residence, she knew who it was that cleared the old ones out and if she had to fight through again, she would do the same and a new group looking for a home would find their bodies. She nods her head after looking to see if anyone was watching.

     Iriisii motions for the rest of hers to move on by, gesturing to Rigmor for them to be quick but quiet. Rigmor passes the instructions along and they all move single file up the road along the hill side, following the shadows. Once they make it all by her, Iriisii hands the lookout a handful of gold, not nearly as much as the toll for the group would be, but enough for the lookout's share to be. She pockets it and returns to her seat waiting for the next traveler to pass by, hoping they will be an easier mark than this one is.

     They follow the road and pass by some standing stones on a small hill to their right side, between them and the river. There is flickering candle up among the stones. Rigmor looks to Iriisii who shakes her head 'no'. She mouths, 'necromancy', and motions for her to keep going. Rigmor get back into her place in the line and they continue. As they approach the crossroads they can see some of Whiterun's patrolling guards. Moving on they come upon a sign saying 'Honningbrew Meadery'.

     Rigmor: "Can we stop?"

     Iriisii stops and extends her senses trying to locate something she felt. She holds out a hand to Temussin. As he takes it, her senses expand to cover the entire meadery as well as the cellars underneath. Then she zero's in on it and what she feels makes her drop Temussin's hand, open her knapsack pull out the remaining bottles of Honningbrew Mead, and toss them into the river. Rigmor makes to go in after them and Karliah sensing Iriisii;s distress grabs her. Not letting go until the bottles are out of sight. Rigmor is pissed and looks scathingly at Iriisii asking the question burning in her mind.

     Rigmor: "Why?!"

     Iriisii: "You do not want to know, believe me you do not. If I told you, you would never touch another bottle of mead in your life."

     Rigmor: "Well if it is so bad maybe I do not need it at all."

     Iriisii: "It is not all the different kinds, just what is made here. and if I told you why you would lose your dinner. So let us just keep going, I have some bottles of aged Dragon's Breath Mead at Dragon's nest."

     Rigmor: "How old?"

     Iriisii: "You drink one and tell me."

     Rigmor: "You are on! Last one to Dragon's Nest is a drowned skeever!"

     While Rigmor takes off down the road, Iriisii turns and clutches her stomach. Karliah reaches her and holds her until she can stand.

     Karliah: "Are you all right?"

     Temussin: "I believe it was what Rigmor said as she was running down the road."

     Karliah: "You mean ...?

     Temussin: "Do not repeat it, think of what Rigmor was thinking before she took off, then what Iriisii did before you had to grab her."

     Karliah: "Oh by the Gods, you do not mean..."

     Temussin: "Yes.

     Karliah: "I think I am going to be sick."

     Temussin grabs her and moves her a bit downstream from Iriisii so the odor does not travel to where she waits for them. Then once she cleans out her mouth, they walk back to Iriisii.

     Karliah looks at the Meadery and asks a question?

     Karliah: "Maven's doing?"

     Iriisii: "Partly, and partly a different source. But she wanted this Meadery put out of business so that she could buy, clean it up, and then put it back into operation making her own brand."

     Karliah: "That sounds like her. Did she really get caught by the Penitus Oculatus in the Riften Market?"

     Iriisii: "Yes, she ordered Maul to kill me. So I took him down first. The agent saw her make the command and had her then. He bundled her into a prison wagon and off to the Imperial City he took her. Likely the Lord Chancellor Martin Blackwell is questioning her in the dungeons. Once he knows who her 'friends' are there will be company in the dungeons with her."

     Karliah: "That is another reason you left that note for me! If I stayed, eventually my name would be spoken and a warrant issued for me before I could get wind of it and disappear. But what about the others?"

     Iriisii: "The curse will have the guild disappear before then. If you had stayed, they would have stayed together and so been caught when the Penitus Oculatus was sent to execute the warrants."

     Karliah: "But why do this for me and them?"

     Iriisii: "I serve the 'Great Balance'. As the 'balance' knows no distinction between 'light' and 'dark' so to do I not see a distinction."

     Karliah: "You cannot be Nord then, what race are you?"

     Iriisii: "Aasimar"

     Karliah: "By the Gods!"

     Iriisii: "Yes, exactly. But what group of Gods touched my people so long ago?"

     Karliah: "You do not know?"

     Iriisii: "My people did not record what happened to cause it. And I am the last of my village, all others are dead and gone."

     Karliah: "I am sorry for what happened."

     Iriisii: "It is over now, the ones who did it have paid in blood. My people are avenged, and one day I will go back and perform the 'Rights of the Dead' that they may rest. For now the first sword I ever made at the forge where my Grandfather taught me the skills to mend or make my own weapons and armor, that sword is buried with their bodies to stand guard over them until I can send them to their eternal rest."

     Karliah: "If ever I am with you when you go, I would accompany you and pay my respects for their sacrifice."

     Temussin: "And I as well."

     Iriisii: "I thank you, now let us catch up to Rigmor before she decides to head for the Bannered Mare in the city. I would like to be at Dragon's Keep as soon as we can get there."

     They catch up to her standing on the road beyond the city.

     Rigmor: "Talking about me?

     Karliah: "Actually no, we were discussing some aspects of why I came to find all of you and what would have happened if I had stayed."

     Rigmor: "What would have happened if you stayed?"

     Karliah: "If the guild members did not string me up, the Penitus Oculatus would scoop me up with the others and do whatever they were sent to do with us. With me gone, the curse will work to disband them. Probably before anyone comes from the Imperial City."

     Rigmor: "But how would they know of you?"

     Iriisii: "Blackwell has Maven and is likely questioning her. Once he gets some of her 'friends' names, they will join her in the dungeons. Any names known of the Thieves Guild membership will be collected and warrants will be issued to have them picked up and dealt with."

     Rigmor: "But they were not killers and assassins, they were thieves!"

     Iriisii: "Yes, but being associated with Maven will paint them with the same brush used to paint her. Whatever her fate is to be they will share it, as will her friends, and I am sure there are a number of disappearances that can be laid at her feet. It is not 'fair' but life seldom is and governments are never fair in dealing with those that they deem threats. Look at how the Thalmor have been in their pursuit of you."

     Rigmor: "You are right about that. Not to mention how all of this started when they executed my father."

     Iriisii: "And they will pay dearly for what they have started. Their time is coming and it will come for them all. They care not for whose plans they interfere with, even the Gods. And that will be their undoing. Come on, I want to sleep in a proper bed tonight, and I am sure that all of you could use the same as well."

     They do not see any trouble on the road, and not even when they step off to go north to Dragon's Keep. They do hear a dragon or two way off in the distance, but not in the direction they are traveling. No trolls, sabre cats, just some mud crabs that they go around. Iriisii points out a few places in the distance that is known to be bandit lairs, and one place she knows of, the Mammoth's Graveyard. She mainly tells of being able to find poachers there at any time going after the tusks. There is also a giants camp where a 'Sleeping Sap' tree grows. She cautions about even going near there. Unless you know how to handle the 'sap' it is best to avoid it entirely. You might find yourself sleeping permanently with your flesh and bones going to feed the tree's roots. As dawn begins to break over the plains, they see Dragon's Keep. She directs them to the road up to the school and the house.

     As they get closer, everyone notices the white dragon perched atop Dragon's Nest watching them with keen interest.

     Karliah awed, "Is that what I think it is?"

     Iriisii: "If you mean a dragon, yes, it is. His name is 'Snowdevil' or so the guards have been calling him. I have yet to ask his true name."

     Karliah: "Why not? If I may ask."

     Iriisii: "He will tell me when he judges me ready to know. He has not yet made up his mind and I am in no hurry. Although we have had some interesting tinvaak since I inherited the school and house.'

     Karliah: "Tinvaak?"

     Iriisii: "Speech, conversation. He does not get to speak with the others flying around much, so he prizes our time together. If you like I can ask if he would begin to teach you Dovahzul?"

     Karliah: 'Truth be told I do not know what I would do with such knowledge."

     Iriisii: "It would help you to understand how they think, and why they see us as they do. If you decide to follow me beyond Nirn, you will find it an invaluable resource. For there are dragons everywhere in Existence, even those not considered intelligent enough to speak, do understand the language. And so will listen when you speak to them."

     Karliah: "How do you know all of this if you have not yet been beyond Nirn?"

     Iriisii: "I have within me the soul of an ancient dragon, sharing my body with me as he has since before my birth. We could not be together so close for so long without speaking most intimately with each other. Many are the tales of his youth he has regaled me with. And I fervently listen when he speaks, for I know there is always something for me to learn when he does."

     Karliah: "Please forgive me, but..."

     Rigmor: "Because she is Dovahkiin, Dragonborn, Anointed of Akatosh, and also perhaps the first Dragonchild. It has been said that she may as prophecy has foretold, be the 'Last Dragonborn'. The one destined to stand against Alduin, saving this Kalpa from destruction and enslaving the next one. And if she is, she will be the greatest and most powerful of all of them that there has ever been."

     Karliah: "What is the difference between Dragonborn and Dragonchild?"

     Rigmor: "Dragonborn are awakened usually in their late teens or even later. A Dragonchild is awakened while still in the womb. And there are no known records of another having been Dragonchild. I was with her when she killed her first dragon, I saw her consume his soul, absorb his power, memories, and knowledge, and at the same time crying out to the Greybeards of High Hrothgar that here was a Dovahkiin, a Daughter of Akatosh."         

     And I was with her later at Bleak Falls Barrow as she stood before the 'Word Wall' in the main chamber. And in that stone wall was one of the words of power, written there by dragonclaw. It spoke to her, teaching her of the Rotmulaag. Which are the 'Words of Power' embedded within Dovahzul. There is no doubt in my mind that she will be our salvation, come whatever that may, she will be there to stand against it, and save us all."

     And at that very moment as if chosen by whatever Gods, a portal opens and Desidarius steps through, bearing Rigmor's two-hand blade, reforged, and looking like a new blade. Snowdevil for whatever reason takes exception to the intrusion and roars a challenge from his perch as he leaps up into the air and circles for an attack dive. Iriisii puts herself directly between them and shouts at Snowdevil.

     Iriisii: "NO! You will not attack her. She may be 'Fallen', but she is Aasimar as I am, and she is of my clan. Therefore she is my kin, perhaps the last kin I have in this world, so YOU WILL STAND DOWN! DO NOT MAKE ME CHOOSE BETWEEN YOU AND HER. It would pain me greatly to have to kill you, then to consume your soul, and deny you rebirth in the next Kalpa."

     Snowdevil roars out something incomprehensible.

     Iriisii: "Be careful what you speak of in Dovahzul for it will bind you forever more."

     Snowdevil lands and drops his head down to the stone floor. As Iriisii walks up to him and places a hand along his jaw.

     Iriisii: "Yes, I still care for you, and yes I will forgive you. Yes, she is of the 'Dark', but she is not evil. She has faced and fought one who is truly EVIL, suffered like no other at his hands, and never succumbed to him. She still has a role to play in my future and in the future of Nirn, would you deny Father Akatosh one he has chosen to help me save this world?"

     Snowdevil mumbles something only Iriisii can hear and understand. 

     Iriisii: "Is this of your own free will and choice?"

     Snowdevil mumbles a different set of sounds.

     Iriisii: "Very well, tell me your name, and we will make our vow before Akatosh and Kyne, before Talos and Alessia, and before the Aspects of Life and Death, may they hear our voices, and bind us to them for all time."

     Snowdevil whispers his name to her and she feels the rightness of what he has asked of her. She climbs onto his back and moves to behind his head, and then He lifts himself into the air. Upward he flies until he is above the clouds and then he hovers, with the dawn's light illuminating them both. Together they speak.

     Hear our voices, our Thu'um

     Father of Time and Dragons

     Hear our fervent prayer

     Mother of the Winds and Hunt

     Dragonborn Son of Atmora

     Empress of Man and Empire

     Gatherer of souls, peacemaker

     Mother of all that is life

     Give unto us what we ask

     Find us worthy we pray you

     Forge us anew, bind us as one

     One to call, one to answer

     To do battle as one

     In the names of the Ancients

     In the eyes of the Ageless

     With the weapons of the Dark

     With the shield of the Light

     Let the dragons hear us this day

     Let them choose who they follow

     By the will of Ro Hahnu Monah

     By the strength of Od Steco Ah

     SO MOTE IT BE!

     Suddenly a pause happens almost as if time has stopped, there is no wind, no song of birds, the heat of the day fades, but for the dragon and his rider, it is different. They meld their souls for just a moment. Long enough to know each others true name, know how for each to call the other. And know the way will be opened wherever either will be. They know what they will gain and what they will lose, how to fight as a single warrior of unmatched strength and skill, on the ground or in the air. And in a moment of awe and wonder, Kyne gives her Thunderchild a gift, as bright wings of power spring forth from Iriisii's back. Wings capable of assuming any color, any shape, any type, skin, feathered, butterfly, skeletal. The last she somehow knows will thrum with power, and when she learns how to use them, can carry her and her dragon across the planes. Then with a 'snap', reality returns as her dragon returns to Dragon's Nest. Once back on the ground, Iriisii turns and runs her hand along Snowdevil's jaw. Then moves on toward the door into Dragon's Nest.

     Iriisii: "Come on, lets get some food, there are beds on the second floor, enough for all of us. Once they have settled down, sitting in the common area after eating Iriisii looks to Desidarius.

     Iriisii: "Show me the sword, is it as strong as it looks?"

     Desidarius: "Check it out and see. I think you will be very pleased with it."

     Iriisii goes over it and can find no sign of where it was broken. It is a better sword now, stronger, more honed, feeling even a little lighter. Iriisii gives it to Rigmor.

     Iriisii: "Here, it is much improved. It should do you justice now."

     She then turns to the main bedroom and opens the door.

     Iriisii: "There are ample beds in each room on either side, take your pick, I will see you in the morning."

     She enters her bedroom and closes the door. Rigmor looks hesitantly toward Desidarius, who turns and looks at her. Answering her unspoken question.

     Desidarius: "No, I do not intend on slipping into her bed in the middle of the night. She voiced no desire for me to do this, made no gesture for me to join her. So I will respect her privacy. Would I go to her had she asked? In a heartbeat, yes, but she must directly ask me. I will not assume her intentions in matters of the heart. If you wish to do so later, that is up to you. I am not her guard to stand at her door and keep everyone away."

     And Desidarius goes to one of the beds in one of the side rooms, lays down and falls asleep. Rigmor stays out in the common room and sits, quietly thinking about what Desidarius said. Finally coming to the conclusion that she was right in how she handled this situation. She was honest and forthright in speaking to Rigmor about what she would have done had Iriisii asked her. And Rigmor comes to believe she can live with Desidarius and Iriisii together, because she knows where the line is that Desidarius will not cross. And thinks that line is a fair one, one that could work for her as well. And so she rises from her chair and goes in search of a bed for herself.

     The next morning, after everyone rises, they find Iriisii rose early and took care of school business, including checking on the new children from Riften. They were so glad to see her checking on them, knowing that she really cared for them. They told her how much they liked it here. The other children were helping them catch up with classroom work, and they were eating better than they ever had before. It was exciting to see the dragons, all of the little ones sitting on their perches watching the children. They had clean clothes and more than knew what to do with. The library fascinated them as they began to learn to read and know they would one day be able to read the books stored there.

     Iriisii gathered them all in the common room, laid out a map on the table. She showed where they were on the map, where they were to go, and the route she wanted to take. She also pointed out other possible routes if some gave them too many problems with the guards, the Legion, Forsworn, or the Thalmor. She also said there could be other problems as well with dueling mages, vampires, void dragons, as well as Falmer, wild animals, bandits. They would do what they needed within reason to clear them out as they came to them. If they could do so without causing further problems then they would, but to take their cue from her. Nobody was to stray from the chosen route alone. They would mark cave locations and other interest points to revisit later, but their prime interest now was to first get to the Northwest Camp, then locate the Diamond Ridge Mine. 

      She was maybe prophetic in what they came across on their way. One place in particular was a Shrine of Talos. For some reason she felt pulled there when she and her group got within sight of it. As they walked up to they saw the signs of a massacre. The bodies of innocent pilgrims, slaughtered for no reason other than the Thalmor wanted all worship of Talos stopped. And would commit any atrocity to see it done. Rigmor was raging to see this, Iriisii though had already swallowed her anger, so she could properly mourn these whose lives were taken. She asked hers to arrange the bodies together while she prepared to give them Arkay's Last Rites.

     While she was preparing, the Thalmor Elite Squad who had been watching from a distance, dropped in on them, hoping to collar some more worshipers. Instead they faced the Last Dragonborn, daughter of Talos and Alessia, and in a very foul frame of mind.

     Thalmor agent Localin: "Aha, more Talos worshippers to punish for heresy!"

     Iriisii: "And what makes it heresy to worship Talos? What right do you have to deny him something given to him by the Gods themselves. For by denying him the gift they gave to him, you deny them as well. And as their Hand of Justice, it is given to me to mete unto you their wrath!"

     Localin: "And who are you to say who is right in this and who is wrong?!"

     Iriisii: I am Iriisii Starborn, Daughter of Talos and Dragonchild of Alessia, Anointed Dragonborn of Akatosh, Thunderchild of Kyne!"

     Localin: "A bunch of high sounding names and titles, but worthless in the end, for you cannot prove any of them."

     Iriisii: "Look behind you."

     Localin: "Do you expect me to believe..."

     Just as Snowdevil roars his anger, anger that matches that of his beloved rider, and releases his frost breath on the Thalmor. When he is satisfied with the result, he takes to the air once more and flies back to Dragon's Keep. The bodies of the Thalmor are glistening in the sunlight reflecting from their frozen solid bodies. Rigmor walks to then and without touching, looks them over.

     Rigmor: "They are frozen solid. I wonder when the ice melts will they melt with it?"

     Desidarius: "With that kind of enchanted frost, it is possible. I was not aware that a dragon could cast that in a shout."

     Iriisii: "I helped him. As we are bound together, dragon and dragonrider. Not since the days of Emperor Gorius has that been possible and few enough accomplished it."

     Desidarius: "And I believe that in the pairings in Emperor Morihaus' time, there were only a few that managed it, and none are known since the times of those two. You are indeed the most powerful dragonborn of all. The bodies of the worshipers are ready. Give unto them their Last Rites and let us be gone before any more of these twisted Thalmor show up."

     

     Behold, thou faithful, the visage of thy transformation.

     Fear not the journey when the portal opens.

     Become one with Aetherius with glad heart and cheerful countenance.

     For the doorway shall open for all in their time.

     Neither the rich nor influential, neither kings nor rulers, neither the strong nor powerful can escape its embrace.

     There goest the cycle. There goest life. There thou goest also.

     Thou shalt approach the door, the inevitable shall approach thee.

     Do not turn back on the portal, do not turn back on new life.

     Walk the path and welcome change or face the knight

     For he walks the road with thee and will guide all to their destination.

     Thou mortal, the skull thou wilt become.

     Thou closed off, the key thou shalt turn.

     Thou sealed, the threshold thou shalt cross.

     As Iriisii solemnly intones the 'prayer for the dead', the atmosphere around the shrine begins to brighten, the heaviness that was there is lifting as the souls of the worshippers are gathered by Arkay and guided to the Gates to the Land of the Dead. One delays his journey to express his thanks to Iriisii for what she did in bringing the Gods' Justice to show the Thalmor their error. The spirit does not speak, but Iriisii feels his message anyway. He then bows to her and fades away onto his own journey. Iriisii looks up at the statue at the shrine, walks up to it and kneels. Her lips quivering, tears running down her face as she quietly talks to her 'Father'. Why she called him so she does not know, she only knows that she feels it to be true.

     Iriisii: 'Father, are you indeed my father, Talos of Atmora, Talos the Ninth Divine?'

     Talos: 'Yes, though it was not my doing or intention that you discover it in this way.'

     Iriisii: 'Then may I ask, how did you intend for it to be?'

     Talos: 'I cannot say, as the event is in your future and it is still possible for it to happen. I know what you wish to ask next, and that answer as well is yes.'

     Iriisii: "But how can it be, I remember my Grandfather, and his son, the man who was my father before he died.'

     Talos: 'This is a very twisted situation that involves you at its core. Yet it needed to happen to save Nirn and all of Mundus. I and your mother were not aware of any of it until it was done and so too late to put a stop to it. In your eighteenth birth year, you just disappeared one day. Far and wide we both searched for you, calling your name everywhere we went, asking if you had been seen, but no one had seen you, not one. After a while the pain grew too much for me, and I returned to Atherius. Hoping I could see something of where you might have been from there, but they too were blind to you. And eventually your mother gave up and returned as well. We never stopped looking for you, listening for your voice, hoping to hear of your deeds.

     Until one day, we heard you call out in pain and suffering. It was then that Akatosh told us what became of you. What he did in an attempt to...I really do not understand what he did, or why he did it. He would only say there was no other way to save everything. We saw everything that happened to you, and were barred from doing anything to help you then. Your mother and I almost led a rebellion in Aetherius against Akatosh.'

     Iriisii: 'What stopped you? Something or someone did stop you, did they not?'

     Talos: 'Yes, they did. You will learn of them, and their place in your history, your ancestry, and your future, when you make the decision you will have to make some years yet ahead. What they have for you, there are some things beyond what I can even understand, even as a Divine and your father, and I doubt even Akatosh truly knows. But know that we watch you, we rejoice in your happiness, grieve in your sorrow. A time will come when we can more directly help you, and so we shall when that time comes. Until then, know that we love you, our daughter, now and forever more we will love you.'

     As Talos voice begins to fade, as he is drawn back into Aetherius. Iriisii hears another faraway voice.

     Iriisii: 'Mother?'

     Al-Esh: 'I too will always love you, my Dragonchild. Do not be afraid, and when the Great Seat is offered to you, take it. For it is your due, and it will prove to all just who you really are and what you are destined to be. Do not worry about your path, for it is long and winding, taking you to the unimaginable reaches, and showering you with power and glory unmatched in living memory. Remember us as we will remember you, my only regret is that I could not be with you when you needed me most, for that I am sorry.'

     Iriisii: 'What happened was not your fault, I was kept hidden from you. I know not why, but they wished for me to do for them as I am to do for Akatosh.'

     Al-Esh: 'I know that now, but I did not then. My heart beat in time with my tears as I could not find you no matter where I searched, how far I called. Now I see you, and I see the daughter I longed for and before never had the chance to see you become the woman you are now.'

     Iriisii: 'Mother, the curse, can you put it aside now?'

     Al-Esh: 'I would if it could be. But the terms were set when it was uttered. It must now run its course before it will be done. The time of its fulfillment is close, and you are the instrument of its ending. Find your half-brother, long has he been imprisoned, kept in the darkness, free him from his torment, and you too will be free. Now I can tell him soon he will be free, free to return to Aetherius and rejoin his kin, who are and will be your kin. Know you my pride in your accomplishments, my Dragonchild who is now a Dragonrider as of the oldest ones were. You will be the first of many, and they will carry your words unto all the farthest Realms of Existence. I must go now, and so must you. Do what you must to live and carry the Justice of the Nine in your hands and in your Thu'um.'

     Iriisii: "Mother! Father! Do not go, stay with me. please!"

     Iriisii feels arms encircle her and help her to rise from the base of the Shrine statue. Looking to each side, she sees Desidarius and Rigmor working together to hold her and help her.

     Iriisii: "Thank you, thank you both. Now we must leave before more come. We do not want them to know what direction we are going. We will speak of what happened later."

     They take off to the northwest, coming across the main road. They take it and continue on as night falls.

     Iriisii: "Be careful of anything off the sides of the road. Look for torches being used, that could be Vigilants of Stendarr. They might need help. If so we will help them but let me do any talking. They are very rigid in their thinking and beliefs, unfortunately not as compassionate as Stendarr would have them be. Still, it is as it is, as long as we are aware of how they are and we watch ourselves around them, there will be no trouble."

     Desidarius: "What do they hunt?"

     Iriisii: "That is an apt turn of phrase. They hunt all that threaten the races, vampires, werewolves, draugr, necromancers, Daedra worshipers. At least those who openly practice those Arts. I have knowledge of it but I very seldom ever use it, and especially where they might find out about it. Lately I have seen far too many of their dead and drained bodies on the roadside. They seem to be in a war and losing it through attrition. There are others who do similar work, the 'Silver Hand' hunt werewolves, but I have found them to be more akin to bandits seeking vengeance rather than having any moral code."

     Desidarius: "Do you kill werewolves?"

     Iriisii: "Not unless they threaten me or mine. If they stay to the wilds away from people, I have no trouble with them. I have heard rumor and stories that a circle of werewolves exists within the Companions of Jorrvaskr. I have no proof of this, but also there is no evidence that they hunt people. So I will let it be."

     Desidarius: "You truly do practice what you preach, not that you preach much. Only when pressed to do so, but it is refreshing to find someone who truly sees value in both sides and is not afraid to make use of that. You are honorable to both sides, even willing to hold both close to you. You are an exceptional person and I hope you go far along the path before you."

     They keep moving when they hear from the north side off of the road, "Hey Traveler?!"

     Iriisii: "Look toward them and tell me what you see?"

     Rigmor, blade in hand, "Three figures standing back just a bit from the road."

     Temussin: "I see three other bodies laying behind them, partially obstructed by brush, they look to be naked."

     Desidarius: "Their eyes are red. They have the smell of spilled blood about them. Their body temperature is too low. Therefore they are vampires, and even though having fed from the three bodies at their feet, they still desire more. So that marks them as likely one master and two fledglings. The fledglings are the ones having to eat almost constantly. The master is old enough not to have to eat nearly so often. Their bad luck to assume us to be easy targets."

     Iriisii: "Indeed, and though I have naught against vampires in general, as long as they are in control of their needs and desires. The vampire clans on Nirn all spring from a common source, Lamae Beolfag, who was ravaged, defiled, and made the first vampire by Molag Bal. I pity her and the condition she must live and exist with, but these will never amount to anything but a canker on the people of this world. Should I ever encounter any capable of defying Molag Bal, and renouncing him, my opinion of those I will change. These others are only fit to be split on the end of my blade. Kill them."

     They surround the vampires, and before they can realize the tables have been turned against them, they are laying on the grass next to those they themselves drained of their blood. Iriisii uses a piece of relatively clean cloth to wipe the defiled blood from her blade and suggests each do the same.

     Iriisii: "I do not know if it is possible to pass on the taint to another simply from having defiled blood on my blade, but I prefer to err on the side of caution in this. I would not put it past Molag Bal to have made it a possibility to happen."

     Everyone scrubs a little harder to make certain every speck of blood is cleaned off of their weapons. They then start off walking again, as Rigmor asks.

     Rigmor: "Why is it that we are not in some warm Inn right now?"

     Iriisii: "Because the closest ones are in towns where there is currently a strong presence of Imperial Legion, Thalmor, or both. I have no desire to go walking into such a hungry wolves den. Have to defend ourselves, then run back out into the night anyway to avoid those forces that would come looking once word of our presence was noted. This way we keep ourselves hidden and our enemies not knowing where we are going, or what we desire to do."

     Rigmor: "What about the night patrols?"

     Iriisii: "They all carry torches that we can see from far enough to avoid them seeing us. If we just kill every patrol we come across, we might as well send our enemies a map with our plans written on it. And then have an entire army waiting for us when we get there. I expect there will be killing enough when we get inside. We cannot leave any enemy alive once we enter the mine. Then we have time to get in, get your mother out, then get ourselves out before the enemy even suspects we are there. When you strike at an overwhelming force, strike hard, strike fast, and disappear into the darkness to do it again in another place. Do not waste your people's lives, fight in the way your enemy does not expect and works to your advantage. I know what the Nords way of thought is on battles and wars. It is why they lost as many as they won. And why in every town and city you enter, you find the wounded and maimed begging in the streets.

     Such does not have to be, if the leaders had simply used the proper tactics. Tactics designed to win wars with the least number of casualties. Above all else remember this, the winner of every fight, battle, and war is the one who makes the enemy bleed and die for what they believe in, instead of yours being the ones to bleed and die."

     Desidarius: "Wise words, and even wiser actions. When you go into battle, you will bring more back home with you. And when next the horns of battle ring out, more will come to your call. Knowing you are a Commander worthy to risk their life for."

     Karliah: "I have never been one for battles and wars, but I have seen more than my share of such. But a leader that brings his or her people home from battles and wars, not leaving them on the battlefields for the crows to pick over. That is the leader that has earned the loyalty of his or her people. And they will move mountains if their leader asks it of them. And should that leader, stand with them in the front lines. Risking all that the soldiers risk, they will follow that leader into the very bowels of the demon infested Hells themselves. And not look back or flinch in the face of those demons as long as their leader stands with them."

     Rigmor: "Temussin, what about you? What will you add to this?"

     Temussin: "Understand I have not seen this with my own eyes, but I have heard it from those I consider to be unimpeachable sources."

     He looks directly at Iriisii.

     Temussin: "My lady, when those who are born to lead, are given the tools they need to do so. Who believe in themselves so strongly that all around them believe with them as well. Those are the leaders that transcend all others. Those are the leaders that can call out and summon the greatest of all the heroes, fighters, and warriors, the greatest, most feared, legendary legends in all of Existence. Weave them together into a truly unstoppable force, blood them into an army that even Gods will turn and flee from. You, my Lady, are one such leader, one born to be. You need only the tools, the power of belief, and the raw experience to bring it all together.

     And when you do this, as you walk onto a battlefield, your footsteps will shake the foundations of upon which Existence itself rests. Your voice will become the storms the likes of which will flood whole worlds in blood. Very few know this, but the lead position of the 'Four' has been vacant and unclaimed for a very long time. It is time now for one to stand up and claim it, to become its spirit, to make the 'Four' whole once more as they once were back in the dim mists of history. It is time they came back, time they ride their steeds across the many Realms, time to bring righteous awe back to all that witness their return."

     Rigmor: "Who is this 'Four' you speak of?"

     Desidarius in a hushed whisper, "He speaks of the 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'", and turns to Iriisii, "and their missing leader is none other than 'WAR'. He is right that too many have forgotten them, once they were a force so powerful, whole Realms quaked when they rode through them. No one knows why 'WAR' vanished, or if he would ever return, but if there is a chance to take up that position, to make them whole once more. It must be done. It could make the difference between saving Existence and keeping it limping along, ready to drop into the chaos of the deep abyss at any time."

     Iriisii: "Be that as it may, I have things to do here before anything else can draw me away."