Returning Home 3

     Darkstar lays a hand on Olaf's shoulder, "You did well, my friend. Exactly as I wished for you to do."

     Olaf: "I live to please you."

     Darkstar: "And today, you have. Now rise, we need to get rid of these bodies before they are missed. It will be at least morning before that though. These were off duty when they came here."

     Turning to the Tong watch, "Grab a body, we need to drop them into the cesspit hole down below."

     As she takes the one in front of her, the Tong watch takes another, and Olaf takes the remaining two, a collar in each hand. They follow Darkstar until they reach the 'hole' and drop each body in. Darkstar signs for all to be quiet as she leads the way back out. On the way back out, she suddenly stops and listens. Then she tells the Tong watch to stay here and wait until the courtyard is clear then make his way back to the rest of them and tell them to wait for her to contact them.

     Tong watch: "Yes, my Lady, but how will you know where we are?"

     Darkstar smiles, "I know every inch of this city, I can find you with no trouble, do not mind what you will hear next, just stay here until all are gone then go. Olaf wait for me near the exit, I have to create a story to explain why all the Tong are dead but we cannot get to the bodies."

     Olaf turns and moves toward the exit, about halfway there he hears a shout, deep down in the tunnels, and then the sound of a cave-in as some of the tunnels collapse. He then turns and keeps going until he can begin to hear the City Guardsmen milling about the courtyard complaining about being rousted out of bed to come down here and finding no one. He stops and waits for Darkstar to arrive.

     She follows soon after and meets up with him, "The Tong watch is still alive, now let us see if we can quietly clear the courtyard out and convince all that the Tong are no more here in the city."

     Soon enough she and Olaf walk out of the tunnels covered in rock dust. As the guard look their way, they see the two dusting themselves off. The Guard Captain recognizes Darkstar as one of three who were to meet with Lord Moramal earlier.

     Guard Captain: "I remember you, did you get to meet with Lord Moramal?"

     Darkstar: "Yes, indeed I did. He was most pleased with the news I gave him. I know you are wanting to know of why I was down there."

     She hands him the signed contract giving her the sole right to hunt the Morag Tong hiding in the city. As he reads it by the torchlight, his hands begin shaking.

     Darkstar: "Here now!", grabbing the contract, "I cannot have that going up in flames. It is worth far too much money to have that happen."

     Guard Captain: "My apologies, my Lady."

     Darkstar: "No harm done, Captain. As to the Morag Tong, they shall no longer be a nuisance to the city."

     Guard Captain: "They are all dead?"

     Darkstar: "Yes, although I cannot definitively prove that, the collapse of the tunnels below have blocked off all access deeper. Most were caught in the rockfall, any left are isolated in the tunnels and will be dead when the air runs out."

     Guard Captain: "Well done, my Lady. We will make certain there is no way they can get out..."

     Darkstar: "Wait, did you feel that..., shite, Captain! Get your men out of here, now!"

     Guard Captain: "Why?"

     Darkstar: "The fumes, Captain. The city cesspit is down there. The fumes from it are trapped in the tunnels, if the survivors light a torch to look for a way out the fumes will ignite!"

     The Guard Captain's face displays the horror he feels if that happens.

     Guard Captain: "Everybody, on the double, get out of here! There is risk of explosion down below. Go before it explodes and we get trapped in the rockfall!"

     They all run until they are out of the close quarters. As they turn to look back at the courtyard an explosion sounds and a plume of fire rises from the now vacant courtyard. The Guard Captain looks to Darkstar.

     Guard Captain: "We all owe you our lives, how can we repay you for that?"

     Darkstar: "Please, just tell the City Council what happened here, don't embellish, just tell them in your own words what you saw and experienced. Then we will see what they decide as to the bounty and the bonus. I really do not care much about the bounty, I have more gold than I will spend in my lifetime left. But the bonus means a great deal to me for personal reasons."

     Guard Captain: "What is the bonus?"

     Darkstar: "A two thousand acre land grant. I want to use it to lay claim to the land where my peoples' village once stood. The land where we lived since the Dawn Times of Nirn. Since I am the last of us, it has come to mean so much for me. If I can get it, I would build a home there and live out my life guarding the souls of my ancestors that I buried there."

     Guard Captain: "Then we will see to it you at least get the bonus, anyone willing to risk themselves as you have, to do final honors for those who came before, deserves it. Where would you like to execute the grant?"

     Darkstar: "Mountainview."

     Guard Captain: "You survived that massacre?!"

     Darkstar: "Yes, sometimes I wished that I had not. All of my friends, my family, everyone had a hand in raising me when my mother and father died. My Grandfather could only do so much."

     Guard Captain: "What happened to your mother and father?"

     Darkstar: "Mother died giving birth to me, father died some months later of a broken heart over mother's death. Father's grief was so deep, that he could not bear the sight of me. It was not a good time between my father and my Grandfather."

     Guard Captain: "I understand, it is not easy to understand what happens with these things, but you were blameless, completely innocent."

     Darkstar: "Thank you, for understanding, Guard Captain."

     Guard Captain: "Who is this with you? He did not come with your ship."

     Darkstar: "His name is Olaf Trevorson, he is one of the Empress of Tamriel's Black Dragon Elite Warriors. She has asked me to look into a matter that will take me into Black Marsh, to Shadowfen."

     Guard Captain: "Shadowfen! What could be in that tortured hellpit?"

     Darkstar: "That is what she wants to know. She says I should speak with the Hist. Because it is of such a reputation, she sent her absolute best to safeguard me on my journey. That she would send him to aid me tells me two things."

     Guard Captain: "What are they?"

     Darkstar: "That it will be incredibly dangerous, and that she values me enough to send one of his stature to guard me."

     The Guard Captain nods his head in agreement, "Come on, then. Let us get this over with."

     In the administration building, Darkstar and the Guard Captain are standing in front of the City Council. Darkstar has told her story of what occurred with the Morag Tong assassins, and the Guard Captain has corroborated her story. The Council deliberates for a few minutes before rendering their decision.

     City Council Head: "If these special circumstances had not occurred this matter would already be vindicated and the funds already in your possession."

     Darkstar: "I understand Councilor and will abide the decision of this Council."

     City Council Head: "I thank you, and express the wish that more shared your view. But on to business, the matter of the bonus has yet to be decided. We believe some time would be needed to be certain they are in fact no longer on our shores, which would fulfil the terms of the agreement. The question to be decided is how much time. We have agreed to a period of thirty days, if this is acceptable to you then we also feel that the terms of the primary contract would also be fulfilled. What say you to this?"

     Darkstar: "It is amenable to me. I am more than willing to wait the required thirty days."

     City Council Head: "Then we are agreed, if there is no further sign of the Morag Tong for thirty days, both contracts are to be considered complete and you will be awarded the sum of five thousand pieces of gold for the bounties and a land grant of two thousand acres to be applied to any currently unowned land. May I say it is a pleasure to do business with a professional."

     Darkstar bows, "I thank the City Council for taking the time to hear this matter."

     Outside the Council Chambers, Rigmor is livid.

     Rigmor: "How dare they delay the contracts. What are we going to do for the next thirty days, sit around and drink ourselves into a stupor?"

     Darkstar: "No, you are going to come with me and help me set my 'dead' to rest."

     Rigmor: "They are not at rest now, after all these years?"

     Darkstar: "Their memories haunt my dreams, calling to me, telling me that the time has come."

     Rigmor: "What is needing to be done specifically?"

     Darkstar: "Because we are Aasimar, the part of us that is 'God-Touched' still lingers even after the soul departs. One at a time, or a few is no problem. The power residing in them is spread among all the clan."

     Rigmor: "But there is only you now."

     Darkstar: 'Yes. And that is what frightens me."

     Olaf's head perks up at that admission. Iriisii could not tell him what this would entail, the memories of it were still locked away somewhere inside her mind, to come out and merge with the rest of her memories when they were ready, whenever that time came.

     Darkstar: "All of the power expended by the Gods of Eld, in the form of their 'blood' and 'flesh', power that has come down the generations one by one, now must go to the last remaining one of us of my clan."

     Rigmor: "How much is that?"

     Darkstar: "I do not know, nor do I know what this will do to me. Will I remain mortal, will it push me into full immortality, bringing the 'Calling' to me, I just...do not know."

     Rose: "What about Illyria?"

     Darkstar: "She is still with child and so exempt from this, also she has within her the 'ego' of Desidarius."

     Rigmor: "I understand, Illyria, cannot stand with you, it is too dangerous to the baby."

     Darkstar: "Indeed, my first birth, I was Dovahkiir, a Dovahkiin awakened while in the womb. I had the benefit of two ascended gods to watch over me, to control the processes going on inside of me. Illyria's child would not have this benefit, the possible things that could happen do not bear thinking about."

     Rigmor: "Could Talos and Alessia help her then."

     Darkstar: "No, it would have to be her forebear and another of his line."

     Rigmor: "Do you know who is her Forebear?"

     Darkstar: "Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss. If he has any 'Children of His Line' other than Illyria, I have no knowledge of it."

     Rigmor: "Could you ask him?"

     Darkstar: "Yes, that I can do. But the best time to do that will be at my old village. I want to stop at the old fortress on the way there, see what is left, if I can pick up traces of anyone having been there since I walked away from it."

     Rigmor: "I guess we can do that, but I do not see the need."

     Darkstar: "I hope to find it empty, quiet for all these years. No sign of any visitors."

     Rose puts her hands softly against Darkstar's cheek, "I am beginning to understand the depth of what you endured, the scars hidden from sight but there nonetheless. If there is any way I can help, you gave but to ask."

     Darkstar: "You are already helping, both of you. I could not do this alone, once yes, not now."

     Rose: "We are here, and we will stay by your side."

 

     They reach the Gilded Courtesan, enter and the House Mother already has their rooms ready. Darkstar, Rose and Rigmor walk up the stairs together while Olaf watches the room. the House Mother walks up to him.

     House Mother: "You may have your pick of companions this night. Nothing is expected, even if all you wish is to talk, they are ready to listen. Nothing said will leave your room."

     Olaf sighs, "Thank you but I will not require their services tonight."

     House Mother: "Are you certain?"

     Olaf: "Yes, there is only one who will listen to the dark secrets I hold and not judge me for them. For she knows why they came to lodge within me, and she seeks to help me put them to rest. One day, with her help, I will walk away from them and they will no longer have power over me. Then I can truly become what the Empress of Tamriel saw in me. I will step into the role she is making just for me to fill. I will become her Dovah do Maar, and I will be as only a few in history have reached. I bid you good night, House Mother, and may you have wonderful dreams of what may be."

     As Olaf makes his own way to the stairs and his room, the House Mother offers a prayer for him.

     House Mother: "Gods of the Great Balance, watch over your child this night and after, help him find the strength to turn his path, help him seek balance within his soul, then to show the world that balance in his actions."

     As she goes to lock the outer door, and turn down the oil lamps, she feels a thought come into her mind.

     Fount of the Balance: "Your words for our daughter's servant do you credit. For she does her greatest works with the most broken of souls. And this one will be her greatest work to rival any other. And because he chose to follow her, she will help him find the peace he wants more than anything else, even his own life. As she reached into Molag Bal's Coldharbour and helped the soul of Pelinal Whitestrake find the peace he sought, freeing him for Kyne's Winds to find him and bring him home. As she found Cyprian Wiley, one that even Death would not lay hands upon, she showed him what he could be and showed him the path it would take to reach it, then helped him find the strength within to reach out, take that future, and make it his. He now serves her as her High Herald, the first that will go out and proclaim the Jihad of Truth. Her strongest allies will go with him and aid him in his task. Olaf's task will place him beside his Empress, fighting side by side against the worst that can be found and thrown in their path to stop them. Her task is to lead them by her example and become feared above all others, as they fight and carve a path for the Great Balance to follow them and bring Existence back from the brink of destruction. Know you have a part to play in this, wait, and watch, then act as your instinct bids you. Go in the grace of the Great Balance and know the Balance finds favor with you."

     The next morning peeks over the horizon to find the city bustling as usual, and Darkstar with the help of Lord Moramal has acquired the horses and a long wagon, as well as feed, food, water, and other supplies.

     Lord Moramal: "You have a long way to go, but your route will allow you to use what you can find in the towns rather than deplete your own stores. I advise you to take your time in the towns and listen to what the townsfolk have to say. They have a better view of what goes on beyond our shores because it affects them first among all the people. They will know of what is happening out there before anyone here."

     Darkstar: "I agree, but I will have to make this name silent. The 'mother' raided and bought many of the children she brought into the lair for training from the countryside. Going all over, so as not to draw too much attention to a single region. I should not be recognized save for my name. When the contract is closed, I have designated the area of the land grant I want it to encompass. This is what is most important to me. I have no idea what is going to happen when I reach there, but I must go. I must honor my dead, whatever the final price is."

     Lord Moramal: "'Duty' can be a strong debt to bear, but your shoulders are deep enough to bear the weight. There is no guilt in this for you, no responsibility for it, save you lived and none else did. You did all you could do to save your village, more than any others managed to do. And then later, you were able to exact justice on all of them for what they did that night. No one, not even the Gods, could ask more of you."

     Darkstar: "I would not be so sure of that, but if they do, it will be because I have been proven myself capable of doing more in their service. Much is asked of those to whom much is given. I know this, respect, and accept this. It is my just fate and destiny. I will not deny it or shirk from it, but meet it head on, even if it costs me my life."

     Lord Moramal: "As you have done all of your life. Donej taught you well, as he promised he would."

     Darkstar looks at Lord Moramal strangely as questions arise over what he has said.

     Lord Moramal: "I know the questions that are bubbling from the depths of your mind. The answers must wait until your return."

     Darkstar: Very well, I can be patient. Everyone in the wagon, time to get on the road."

     They drive through the city on the way to the inland gate. As they come into sight of it, they notice the gate is still closed.  Still Darkstar keeps the wagon going until they reach the guards. She then presents a letter Lord Moramal gave to her to hand to the guards. The lead guardsman takes it from her, stepping to a torch to read it. Once he is done he folds it back up and hands it back to Darkstar.

     Lead Guardsman: "We will have it open for you in just a moment."

     He then motions for the other three men to remove the bar latch and open the doors. It creaks as it opens and once fully open the Lead Guardsman gestures for Darkstar to continue on their journey. Once they are past the city walls they hear the gates closing behind them and the bar latch being put back in place. A few hours out from the city, Rigmor asks a question.

     Rigmor: "Where are we heading to?"

     Darkstar: "The fortress that the Morag Tong tried to occupy. I need to make certain it is still deserted."

     Rigmor: "What does it matter now?"

     Darkstar: "Because I built a 'blood curse' inside it using the blood and body of the 'Mute's' second in command. 'Blood curses' can be tricky, almost like they have a mind of their own. They do not always dissipate once they are activated. I do not know why because I have never wanted to make a study of them. Much too dangerous for my liking."

     Rigmor: "So you want to make sure this one is not still active waiting for someone else to walk in and trigger it?"

     Darkstar: "Yes, the 'Mother' gave me the instructions and a bottle to activate it. She also told me that when I used it, I needed to get out quickly, so I did not trigger it by my presence."

     Rigmor: "By quickly you mean..."

     Darkstar: "I poured the activator liquid, turned and got out. I needed no prodding to get myself out of there."

     Rigmor: "That bad, huh?"

     Darkstar: "I do not know where she got the plans and activator from, but I have had experience with 'blood curses' before."

     Rigmor: "I remember, when you went to Coldharbour to escape being burned to death in that Manor fire."

     Darkstar: "Before the fire, yes. I had to break the curse to figure out how I could leave. But that one was too strong, full of hatred. And it was a child that cast it."

     Rigmor: "A child?"

     Darkstar: "Enough of that now. The memory of it is not pleasant. We should be getting to the town where we will stop for the night in a few hours more."

     They drive through the town gates with no problem. Darkstar gets directions to the local inn and once there she helps the stableboy unhitch the horses. He then proceeds to take care of them while everyone else heads inside the inn. Darkstar goes to procure rooms for everyone, Olaf says he will stay with the wagons. Darkstar says no, there is nothing of any value in it that is worth anything to a thief, so they will all sleep inside. He nods his head in acceptance and goes to sit with Rigmor and Rose. While Darkstar is haggling over the rooms, Rigmor and Rose deliberate on whether to ask questions of Olaf. Rigmor has many questions she wants answers to, while Rose tells her he will not answer anything but simple questions about what they are immediately doing. Rigmor looks at her questioningly, but Rose says he is too well trained to say anything he is not supposed to say. By which if he is from the future, nothing about anything concerning that subject will he answer. Rigmor gives a 'humph' and sits back in her chair, pouting. Olaf still sitting to one side, leaning back, his eyes closed, but the rest of his senses razor sharp and evaluating the common room for any possible trouble.

     Darkstar returns, "The food will be ready soon, our plates will be the first filled and served. The barmaid will be bringing drinks as soon as she gets them filled. It is not Tessio's but it is palatable. Not like the stuff in the Legion barracks that has been sitting there for the last hundred years. It just goes to prove, a good wine or brandy will age better with each year, mead or ale will become something better used to wash down the waste holes to get it moving along the sewers."

     Both Rigmor and Rose screw up their faces, while Olaf smiles.

     Rigmor looks at Olaf, "What are you smiling about?"

     Olaf: "I have crawled through enough sewers to know exactly what Darkstar is speaking about. Some so bad, by the time I got back to my room, I could take off my pants and stand them upright in a corner."

     Rigmor grimaces: "I really needed to hear that, now it will haunt my thoughts for the rest of the night, and if I dream of being chased by said pair of pants, I will burn them in the nearest campfire."

     Olaf: "So you have had experience with pants and sewers, for that is exactly what you should do with them. After wading through a dank, odorous sewer, that is the only thing you can do with them afterwards. There is not a washerwoman in all of Tamriel and I bet the rest of Nirn that will touch them after that."

     Darkstar has to hide her chuckling laughter behind a cough.

     Rigmor: "You too?"

     Darkstar: "You have to admit, he is right about that."

     Rigmor: "Alright, I know when I am outvoted."

     They eat, drink, and listen to the room gossip. Most is local stuff, but now and then something interesting pops up. Most of this is politics and speculation about whether the Empress of Tamriel may show up and if so what does that bode if she asks for all to join in her Empire. The opinion of the people is neutral, they hardly see or hear anything from the nobles unless it is tax collecting time, or they are selecting levies for war. There has not been any wars for as long as any alive can remember. But no one wants one to come to their home. Then there was a rumor concerning a shaking of the ground up near the remains of Mountainview. Darkstar listens intently but there is nothing solid or informative said, but it does tell her she must go there and settle matters. The longer it waits the more active the problem will become.

     They soon go to their rooms after nothing more of substance is heard. The next morning the wagon is ready to go before Rigmor is even up. Darkstar knows well she is not a early riser or morning person. As she heads for the stairs up to the bedrooms, she meets Rigmor coming down. Seeing the expression on her face she sidesteps Rigmor and lets for go by while she heads outside to warn Rose and Olaf.

     Darkstar: "Listen up, do not say anything to Rigmor until she gets out of whatever put her into a bad mood. I suspect it was something she dreamt about so Olaf especially avoid her for a while."

     Olaf nods his head and busies himself with checking the harness fittings for the horses for the third time. They pass through a few more towns going up the coast to where the old fortress stands overlooking the high cliffs, the stone rocks that the sea waves crash over, and the reefs out beyond the rocks. Together they make a ship trying to make landfall anywhere but the harbor to the south, nothing but the bones of a shipwreck. There are no stories told of this place, it is older than memory. Who built it, no one really knows. What race laid its stones so tight, it could withstand time, storms, wind, and the ghosts that are said to inhabit it. Maybe they will be the first to find out.

     They watch the landscape slowly change from thick forests to scrubby brush to rocky soil. As the wagon rolls onward with Darkstar holding the reins, in a moment of time she never thought to come again, she begins to let her deeper feelings come to the surface. She begins to sing and as she sings, the melody in her voice takes shape, giving the impression of a haunting, yet longing look into who she is.

     Darkstar, Lonely Traveler

     I am just a lonely traveler

     ready to return home

     I go to a place long forgotten

     Wanting to return home

     I want to see my father

     Feel his arms around me again

     I want to see his grizzled face

     As he smiles at what I have done

     I am just a lonely traveler

     ready to return home

     I go to a place long forgotten

     Wanting to return home

     I want to see my mother

     Talk with her into the night

     I want to smell bread baking

     As the dawn shines on us

     I am just a lonely traveler

     ready to return home

     To go to a place long forgotten

     Wanting to return home

     My road is dark and stormy

     But I tread with light heart

     For I wish to return home

     To a place long forgotten

     My home is quiet now

     No sound is heard

     But for the wheels turning

     Rolling on the stony ground

     My road is dark and stormy

     But I tread with light heart

     For I wish to return home

     To a place long forgotten

     I look upon my old home

     Fallen and crumbling

     A tear falls to join the ash

     All that is left of home

     My road is dark and stormy

     But I tread with light heart

     For I wish to return home

     To a place long forgotten

     My sorrow is deep and lonely

     Father sleeps the long sleep

     As does Mother beside him

     Is there a place for me?

     My road is dark and stormy

     But I tread with light heart

     For I wish to return home

     To a place long forgotten

     My dreams of coming home are

     of seeing Father once more

     feeling my Mother wake me

     as the dawn sky greets us

     My road is dark and stormy

     But I tread with light heart

     For I wish to return home

     To a place long forgotten

     My dreams can now rest

     With Father and Mother

     But I cannot rest with them

     For I am just a lonely traveler

     My road is dark and stormy

     But I tread with light heart

     For I wish to return home

     To a place long forgotten

     My dreams rest with them

     But my journey does not stop

     It is time for me to go now

     For I am just a lonely traveler

     They near the coastal fortress. Darkstar stops some distance away, but keeping in good sight of it. She goes and searches the edge a bit before finding the vantage point where she originally watched the Morag Tong go about their routines.

     Rigmor: "Why are we stopping here?"

     Darkstar: "This is where I put myself to observe the Morag Tong. Here I was able to memorize their entire movement schedule. It was here I came back to await the 'Mute', and first spoke to Mephala."

     Rigmor goes quiet to soak up the history of this spot and the part it played in the drama that happened before. Olaf settles himself to open his mind to the echoes still making their way back and forth. He can hear the quietness of Darkstar lying motionless while observing the comings and goings of the Morag Tong guards. He feels it when she decided it was time for her to go and fulfill her task. Soon he feels her return and wait, standing patiently for the 'Mute' to arrive. He hears the echo of the explosion from the fortress, and swears he can feel the heat from the blast.

     Then he senses the portal opening that the 'Mute' used to escape the 'Blood Curse' Darkstar had laid out for him. He feels and hears the meeting between the two, the 'Mute' disbelieving that she could accomplish the taking down of all inside on her own. His bluster that some unknown assassin out here, far from 'civilization', could even come close in skills to match his own. Even as she stands confidently before him, watching, evaluating his every move, his every twitch. Knowing what he will do before he himself knows and preparing herself for him should he attack.

     He feels Mephala's arrival, and her displeasure with the 'Mute', his decisions, his blindness to the reality standing in front of him. He feels how close the 'Mute' came to her allowing Darkstar to have him. And how much she would relish witnessing the fight between these two, knowing Darkstar would vanquish the 'Mute' if allowed to.

     Echo of Mephala: "You, who stand and watch, listening to every nuance. I sense you are formidable in your own right. Could you defeat the 'Mute' I wonder? I think so, or Darkstar would never have chosen you to stand beside her. I cannot see nearly as much of you as I would like. I feel your echoes and you feel mine, and yours are so dark and delicious. But even as they are so delectable, what she has in store for you is so much more. Power beyond your current feeble imagination. The key to unlock your core and the secret to wielding it, controlling it, making it do your bidding. This I wish to witness, to see how far she will take you. How high and how deep will you reach in her service?

     I see she has not yet spoken to you of Pelinal Whitestrake. Worry not, she will when the time is right. Pelinal was one like you. A warrior who cared not for renown or legends attached to his name. Who found a fleeting kind of peace in the atrocities he committed in the name of Darkstar's Celestial Mother, Alessia. But Darkstar has learned from Alessia's mistakes, she will not send you forth without guidance, without limits. Although she will remove them as you prove able to hold to her wishes. You will be a living weapon to be wielded in the Jihad of Truth that is to come.

     As the future 'Murals of Persephane' will display her victories of battle and her enemies reactions to them. So too will there be a set to celebrate you and what you will do in those battles. And they will be every bit as bloody and wonderous as hers will be. Learn from her all that she can teach you. Make her teachings a part of you, such that you do not have to think of them, only do them. Let her mold you into what you both see and become when she breathes that 'life' into you. Then all of Existence will tremble with your awakening, and those 'outside' will quiver in fear of you."

     Darkstar: "You heard something from Mephala, didn't you?"

     Olaf nods his head.

     Darkstar: "I suspected you would draw her attention, even from here. Take what she says with an eye that she says nothing that is not designed to aid her in some way. Use your instincts and you will be fine."

     Olaf: "She spoke of you, and what we might together face."

     Darkstar: "As long as she knows which side her survival lies with, and her desires align with ours, you can trust what she says. Outside of that, as I said, use your instincts. Know that I trust you. I trust the vow you took upon yourself. I trust the effect that vow had when you uttered it. I know you will not dishonor it. As I will not dishonor my part of it. My mentor Boethiah says 'honor' is a coward's tool. I disagree with that. Even as another thing she has said, I have taken into my heart and soul, when she said to me, 'As I will it, so make it be.'

     You must choose the things others say to you, find those that resonate within you, empower you to go further, do more, climb higher. Take those into your heart and soul, make them a part of who you are. They will work to define you, but you decide what direction you wish to go, they are just along for the ride."

     Olaf considers what she has said, "Those are words worth the risk to bring them inside me. For I see you want to guide me in the direction you saw and showed to me, but you want to make it so that it is I that decide to follow you in that direction. Then I will stay on the path because I chose it as much as it was chosen for me."

     Darkstar: "Apply that to each decision you make as to what direction you wish to go and your steps will always go in the right direction for you, no matter what direction anyone else would send you in. Be true to what you want for yourself, seek the path that will take you to that place. Do not be afraid to wander a bit, just so long as you keep your destination in sight. Then you may find a better path than the one you left. Now empty the wagon, the ladies and I will sleep there tonight. I have some deep fur pelts that will soften the stone for you."

     Olaf bows his head and begins to empty the wagon.

    Rose & Rigmor: "What was that about?"

     Darkstar: "Mephala is trying to gently wean him away from me. But it will not work, his vow is too strong for her to pierce it. Still I will give him room to roam, it will tie us closer when he sees with his own eyes that which would turn him back to what he once was."

     Rose: "What was be before?"

     Darkstar: "You truly do not want to know. Some men have beasts lurking deep within, some even demons driving them. Olaf had something quite different, but evil enough to make even demons tremble in his presence. He is learning how to slake its hunger, quench its thirst, not with what it led him to do in the past, but now he learns how to turn its appetite upon itself. So that now it feeds upon itself, weakening each time he feeds it, one day it will be no more, then he will be free of it and the real work can begin."

     Rigmor: "I know you want him as your Dovah do Maar..."

     Darkstar: "His place as Dovah do Maar is but a step to what he can be. What I saw in him...he can be the only Dovah do Mahfaeraak in the entirety of Existence. The power he will wield will be stronger even than the Magic of the Chaos Depths. I know you have never heard of it, for it exists beyond the Deep Void. It is found in a place where everything is possible all at once. Time as we experience it cannot exist there.

     I learned of it first from the Dodecahedron on the island that held the fishing village of Innsmouth, just off of the southeastern tip of Solstheim. It spoke to me in my dreams as I lay next to it. Later I read more of it from the Necronomicon. And when I confronted Yog-Sothoth in his prison, he filled in the missing pieces."

     Rigmor: "Wait, what is going on here, I know you have not done the third thing. I would know if you had. And I think the second as well. I know you have held that book, but it has not told you of what you say."

     Darkstar: "They are yet to happen, but as Yog-Sothoth is the 'All in One and One in All'. Time and space as we know it has no meaning for him. He exists outside of them both. It was the only way to imprison him. But somehow because we spoke in a future time and space, he can speak to me in my past and future. He is careful to speak only of things I can understand and things I need knowledge of."

     Rigmor: "What did you speak of that he wants to help you instead of possess you?"

     Darkstar: "One day, I will take the insanity of the Great Old Ones from them, healing them. But something must be done with the 'insanity'. He and I came to an agreement on what to do with it. I cannot say anything about it until we are much closer to the time it will be done. But it is something that observes the Great Balance and does not tilt it one way or the other."

    Rigmor: "I guess you cannot argue with any decision that maintains the balance."

    Darkstar: "You are learning as we go along, stay with it and it will serve you well. Now I am ready for sleep."

    Rigmor: "Out here? Why not inside where we are protected from the weather and the wildlife?"

    Darkstar: "And what will protect you from what may lie in wait inside?"

    Rigmor: "What do you mean? It has remained unoccupied since you destroyed the Morag Tong who took it over. And before them, how long was it vacant?"

    Darkstar: "Yes that is indeed true, but did Mephala take the souls of her adherents that I killed in there? And what about when it was previously abandoned? Why? What happened? Is there any lingering traces of what caused it? Better to examine those questions in the light of day rather than the dark of night. Even inside out of the light, the presence of the light outside weakens whatever lies inside. Besides Olaf will sleep by the fire, his presence will deter any wildlife. As to the weather, the skies are clear for as far as one can see. The air does not carry the scent of rain from near by or from far away. So we have nothing to fear there."

     Rigmor: "You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

     Darkstar: "No, I do not. I know very little of what is out here to be learned. I just pay attention to what I know and use it to my advantage."

     Rose: "She has you there."

     Rigmor: "But I am getting better. Am I?"

     Darkstar: "Yes, you are, slowly, but you are getting better, now go to sleep. We have much to do tomorrow."

     The morning comes and when all have prepared, they make their way to the entrance to the inside keep of the fortress. Darkstar opens the door and steps in first. Allows her eyes to adjust to the sunlight streaming through the open door causing shadows to be created all around the old tables, chairs, cupboards. The figures of old cloth bags rotted away but still retaining their shape having not been disturbed for tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. She motions the others to come in and uses a minor light enchantment to enable light globes mounted along the walls. She remembers that the Morag Tong did not know how to utilize these particular light globes when they were here and so used torches.

     Darkstar: "We will wait here for a bit to allow the light globes to power up through out the keep. The Morag Tong did not know how to use them or even turn them on, and so they used torches throughout the keep. The ones in the area where I placed the 'curse' may not work. I have no idea until we get there and see. We must be careful moving through here. If there was something here that forced the original occupiers to leave, the 'curse' may have awakened it when it went off. Then again, I may be worrying about nothing."

     Rigmor: "But where these old keeps are concerned, take nothing for granted."

     Darkstar: "I taught you well taking you through all of those lairs, dungeons, and crypts."

     Rigmor: "Enough to know why I do not like those kinds of places."

     Rose: "Would you prefer sewers?"

     Rigmor: "They have their own problems and I do not mean just the smell. Skeevers, spiders, even trolls have been known to take up residence in sewers. And in their own ways are just as bad as draugr, lichs, and other feral things inhabiting crypts. Get her to tell you about the vampire city underneath Windhelm sometime."

     Rose: "WHAT!? A vampire city...under Windhelm!? HOW!? No, I do not want to know!"

     Darkstar: "Not one of my more favorite exploits. I would not have even ventured down there if it wasn't for that I was Commander of Skyrim's Chapter of the 'Vigilants of Stendarr' at the time. The Steward of Windhelm sent word for help when some prisoners disappeared from the prison cells. Then guards started disappearing as well. I found out from the Chapter records that was not the first time it happened and a group of about a dozen Vigilants went down to see to the matter. One came back out, sealed the entrance down, and declared the matter settled. That was twenty years before I was called to look into it again."

     Rose: "What happened? I mean..."

     Darkstar: "I know what you mean. I found that Molag Bal had found a way to access the undercity. And that over the previous twenty years had been working to turn the Vigilants trapped when Jacob sealed the upper entrance. That in itself is bad enough, but he used Lamae to turn them by offering them her blood. You have to understand something, Lamae is Nirn's first vampire, and it was not by her choice either. What Molag Bal did to her to cause her to turn, ...there are no words to describe the things he did, and if there were I would not speak of them. Some writings I found down there described the event, the screams she uttered as he worked her.

     No one should ever be tortured as she was. Her body was not the only thing that suffered, but her mind and soul as well. In the end, she belonged to him, and so became the first of the 'damned'. Those who partook of her blood, even among vampires there are those called 'monsters', and they are of her 'blood'. One I found in the prison cells in the lowest levels of the undercity, was not yet fully turned. He asked me to free him from the 'bondage of blood' that he felt taking control of him.

     It turned my stomach to kill a fellow Vigilant, but I knew in my heart he was already gone. That by doing as he asked, I would save his soul from being claimed by Molag Bal. I am sorry, I cannot go on about this. I will say this much more, the undercity is clean of that foulness now. As I told the Steward, but I also asked that he seal the entrance again and allow no one to go back down. What happened down there needs to stay down there. And maybe, with enough time, even the stone walls will forget."

     Rose: "It is difficult to think that such things could happen and go on under our very noses. If not for you, it could have remained to fester even more than it did."

     Darkstar: "Let us go further now."

     They go further into the keep, finding skeletons every so often, some just bones, some still bearing tatters of dried flesh, clothing, and armor, but all are covered in cobwebs, and that is just the corridors. In the rooms are more, most still lying abed where their sleep and dreams were their last.

     Rigmor: "I admit that when I heard about this, I doubted about the number being one hundred. Now that I see this, all doubt is erased."

     Olaf: "And their was no alarm given, not at all."

     Rose knowing how difficult it had to be to do this to one hundred of the Morag tong, but with no alarm given.

     Rose: "How do you know that? One hundred is bad enough to imagine the difficulty of, but with no alarm given?"

     Olaf: "Look at the position of the bodies. They were taken from behind, each and every one. From the way they lie, they knew nothing until their death. I have known those who could do maybe up to ten if the situation is in their favor. I could do a few more, but one hundred, never have I thought that could be possible, but the undeniable proof is before my eyes. This is unmatched in the craft of the Assassin's Path. Any henceforth who would deny this could be true will have to face me, for I have seen it, breathed it, heard their souls still not knowing who or what happened to end their lives. This is the work of an Assassin of the First Order, and I have the honor of being trained by the one who wielded the blade that night that these fell."

     Rigmor: "Is it true you were called 'Psycho'?"

     Olaf: "Once that was true, but that was a lifetime ago. Now I am nameless until I earn the name of 'Dovah do Maar'."

     As he speaks the holy name he seeks to claim for himself, it seems to echo and reverberate up and down these corridors.

     Olaf: "There is something here, deep down. Whether it is accessible from this keep I do not know, but deep below us it rests."

     Darkstar: "I agree, there is something there. The power of it is like nothing I have felt before. Perhaps that is why I felt the need to come here. We still have more to see here, let us be going."

     They keep moving deeper and deeper, until they walk into what was once a torturer's room, but this one is almost completely blackened with scorch marks over nearly every inch. They see a 'rack' with a body still in the manacles stretched out. This one is in less of a rotted state, possibly caused by the 'blood curse' igniting. They can still see the tendons attached to the bones, keeping the pieces together.

     Darkstar: "This is strange."

     Rigmor: "What is strange?"

     Darkstar: "This is the body of the Mute's second, but I used his body in the 'blood curse'. This is definitely his body on the rack, but the head is still attached. I twisted his head until it snapped, it should have separated when the body decayed to this point."

     Rigmor and Rose are speechless, looking over everything as Darkstar is giving a running account of what she did in here, and what was now different about it."

     Olaf gets up from a place he has been examining that still shows traces of the lines of the 'blood curse'.

     Olaf: "This is the source point for the split timeline. This place, but the time is when the 'blood curse' ignited."

     Darkstar: "But what could have triggered the split?"

     Olaf: "Do you know of anything the 'Mute' may have had with him or wore on his body? Something of a strong magical nature?"

     Darkstar: "I can think of nothing."

     Rigmor: "Wait! When he came to Bruma Castle to execute the 'Gray Writ' for Kintyra and me, he was wearing the 'Ring of Khajiit'. It was that ring that allowed him to teleport into my room that night."

     Olaf: "Possible, yes, it could have done that if active at the time the 'curse' ignited."

     Darkstar: "You mean if he portaled in here and the 'curse' reacted to him by igniting while the 'Ring' was active, it caused the time stream to split?"

     Olaf: "Possible but more likely if there was a third element present that provided the immense amount of power required to force the timestream to split. That may be what I felt down deeper below. It may have been in here when the split was formed, then deposited down below as the timestream moved apart. Likely it fell down there through a crack in reality as the timestream made its split."

     Rigmor: "Can we fix it then?"

     Olaf: "No, we do not know how to do this. Therefore we would be more likely to mess things up further than bring them closer together. No, the Jills of Akatosh, are empowered to make this kind of repair. We just need to let them do it, although we can tell them where and how it began. That will help them determine how to merge them once again."

     Rigmor: "How do you know all of this? "

     Olaf: "The one who has spoken for me knows of these things. We have spent many nights talking of things like this. I have learned much from her, and she from me."

     Darkstar: "And so it should be in any relationship between two beings. You reflect the depth of yours, and it is deep indeed. Deep and as strong as it is deep. Such a relationship if the ones in it want it to, can last through eternity."

     Rigmor: "And you will not say who she is?"

     Olaf: "No, I cannot and will not take the chance that it might cause me to lose her. I have said enough."

     Darkstar: "Rigmor, let it lie. You will find out later when it comes to be, not before. Knowledge of something before its time can be very dangerous to have. We cannot know what the repercussions will be, or how far it will reach. It can be used for the best of intentions but in the end cause far more damage and suffering than if it had been left alone. This is the truth, I am not saying you are wrong just to chastise you. But rather to protect you from what the results could be.

     I have had to learn to live with having knowledge buried in my mind, knowing it is there but unable to touch it. I know that if I knew it before I was ready, the damage could be beyond catastrophic, and not just to Nirn, but to all the other worlds and peoples out there beyond where we see when we look into the night skies. I will not have that cost on my soul."

     A whisper to her from her 'Dragonsoul', 'Well said, my sister. This is in part, the reason you were chosen for this 'path'. And 'why' you were entrusted with its responsibilities. One day, all will be revealed to you, and then you will know the rightness of 'why' it was done in this way. The temptations you would be faced with if it was shown to you now, would be more than you could accept, and so they would destroy you. Those who put this in place, saw this, and chose this way to protect you as you protect those you care for, so do they care for you.'

     Darkstar: 'That makes sense and helps me to bear the burden. Thank you.'

     Dragonsoul: 'Anytime sister, I am here to help you deal with this as well as other things. You grow in all ways, and now it is meet for me to more actively assist you. I will always be here for you, you need but ask.'

     Darkstar: "Ok, let us keep looking for a way downward, if there is one. If not we will move onward to the next stop."

     Rigmor: "Can't we just portal down to it, save all this walking around in here?"

     Darkstar: "Not with this place being the beginning of a split in the time stream. It is far too dangerous to do that when we have no knowledge of how to keep from doing anything else to the time stream."

     Rigmor: "Like what?"

     Darkstar: "Creating another split, crashing these two together and possibly destroying both. I am sure there are other possibilities as well, I just do not know what they may be."

     Rigmor: "Well, when you put it like that..."

     Darkstar: "Ok, let us go then. If you see anything, call it out. It just may be in the prison section."

     Rigmor: "Aren't we already in the prison section?"

     Darkstar: "See any bars or cells?"

     Rigmor: "No."

     Darkstar: "Then we are not in the prison section. So let us go and find it."

     The prison section is as bare as a desert, a thick layer of dust covers everything. They walk carefully and gently so as not to stir up the dust into choking clouds. There are no signs of anything having been down here in a very long time. Darkstar calls a halt to this and motions for everyone to make their way back up and outside. Once out in the fading daylight of another day moving into night, every one feels a bit better. Out of the cramped corridors, with bones the only sign of any habitation.

     Darkstar: "We will move on in the morning. Next we go to the old lair of the 'Seven'. I anticipate that place will be much worse than this one."

     Rose: "Why is that?"

     Darkstar: "I realize that you have not heard as much about what went on there as Rigmor has. But my main concern is what happened to all of the students when the 'Mother' left it for the last time. Did she expect to return to take up business once more? Did she expect me to be the one to come back and take the reins?  Or what I think she had on her mind, that it was going to be the end of the 'Seven'. Did she leave the students to their own designs? Or did she 'take care' of them before she left?"

     Rose: "The way you spoke of her to 'take care' of them...you meant did she kill them all?"

     Darkstar: "That is exactly what I think, for she would not just turn them loose to go back and spread Gods know what kinds of tales and stories. No, that she would not do. Exactly how she set it up, I do not know. But I am certain none were left alive when she left that place. This will not be easy, not for any of us. But it must be done, to put an end to that chapter in history, my personal one and this country's. She knew that I would one day come back. She hoped it would be to take over and run it. My hope was to put an end to it and its legacy."

     Rigmor: "The 'letter'."

     Darkstar: "Yes, the letter. She said she would be waiting for me, in the darkness, when I chose to finally come back."

     Rigmor: "But she is dead? Isn't she?"

     Darkstar: "Yes, she is. There is no doubt in my mind of that. But she left something there for me. Something...I have no idea of what it is, or why she left it. If it is something I will keep or something I will destroy. Perhaps I will feel the need to leave something of 'me' behind to join with all else that is there in a final moment of 'goodbye'."

     Rigmor: "Or it could be a trap to see that you never leave again."

     Darkstar: "There is that, of course. But no matter, I must see to it. It is a difficult part of my life, one that must be put to rest, if I am to have any of my own."

     Rigmor comes up and puts an arm around Darkstar, "I understand, and I will be with you in this."

     Darkstar: "Thank you."