Well, now that suddenly brings back memories of Valhalla.

And to add to the Falco discussion.

It would be really funny if he said it in a dry tone. The kind of tone he would use for. ,,Today's breakfast was bread with a cup of mead. Oh, and it was snowing outside for a bit."

Or at least, that's the tone I imagined and it felt dead funny.

Chapter 22. Reconciliations



"Prior to this particular venture," said Falco, "I have worked on other projects with Carnius. I know how he works and he knows I'll tend to work against his little side plans."

Eventually, I knew, something would have to be done about that man.

"To eliminate me would make things easier for him. My sources tell me that there is going to be an assassination attempt and that I am its target. It is fortunate that you are here, because it is to happen today."

"Enough," I said, "I will go and deal with the source of this problem!"

"Rashelle, no! We can't work that way."

"Come on! He had Uryn Maren slain. Now he wants to do you in. Let's just end this now!"

A concerned-looking Runa gazed at me questioningly.

Pause, think: focus, Rashelle. We didn't have absolute proof that Carnius was behind that murder or that he was behind any as-yet unseen assassins. I could not just go and slay him. Instead, I would just have to stop the assassin: maybe that would give Carnius reason to pause. That man was all about business: assassins took money. If I killed an assassin or two, Carnius's Return On Investment would become too high and he would leave Falco alone.

"All right, Falco. What can I do?"

"Someone is going to attempt to assassinate me here, today."

"So you've said. Do you have a plan? Can Runa help?"

"Obviously, if I hide, that would tip the assassins, as well as Carnius, off. This would endanger my sources of information and would result in another attempt later on, perhaps when I am not expecting it."

I nodded.

"We will protect you!" said Runa. "Rashelle and I will function as guards. We will stay by you and attack anyone who tries to murder you."

Falco nodded and said, "that is exactly what I was thinking."

Runa smiled.

"An archer could take you out from a distance," I said, "but I can think of no better plan. We will do this. You are the bait: we are the trap."

"Excellent. Thank you, both of you."

"Falco," I said, "Take some of these health potions for later, in case anyone gets through our guard."

I handed him some potions.

He nodded and said, "Good idea. Thank you."

"Keep one or two handy, where you can grab them and suck them down, fast."

"Understood!"

"Runa, here: you take some as well."

She nodded and accepted the potions gratefully.

In a short time, we were outside, walking in the open region adjacent to the bar and the mine entrance. A building or two could have been placed here but Falco had deemed it better to leave the spot as is.

Within that area, Falco walked back and forth. Periodically, people would come up to him to ask questions, to report, or to get new orders. Runa and I sauntered along with him, keeping close.

This lasted for some hours. At one point Runa went into the bar and fetched food for us.

It was in the late afternoon when the attempt happened. Two Imperials emerged from between two buildings and ran towards us, shouting battle cries and waving swords.

Runa charged towards them, as did one of the Raven Rock guards. An instinct made me stay by Falco: what if these attackers were merely a distraction? Runa could handle herself and I had hand-picked the Raven Rock guards, so I knew they were up to the task. I looked around for a second party of attackers or an archer on a roof.

An arrow flew though the air. It had been shot from the top of a tall building next to the mine entrance. I didn't have time to do anything, and hardly any time to think: the arrow hit Falco, piercing his cuirass.

He quaffed one of his potions and then commandingly pointed towards the building. He wanted me to leave him and pursue the archer.

I nodded and was off.

The thought of burning the top of the building with a spell occurred to me, but that would be messy. I wanted to stop the assassins, not start a fire. Starting fires was always easy for me ... putting them out was another matter.

A Dunmer was levitating away from the top of the building. I cast a Fortify Speed spell and a Levitation spell. I shot off after him.

He turned his head to look back. There was an expression of shock on his face when he saw an angry claymore-wielding Breton zooming through the air towards him.

He raised his hands and started to chant a spell. I cast Silence on him to stop him from finishing: I did not want him to teleport away.

Fire came to me, but it did not have much effect: Dunmer have a great resistance to fire magick.

I reached him. Dunmer might be resistant to flame, but not to Chrysamere. My sword struck. He grunted in pain and tried to run faster in the air. It looked ludicrous.

I grasped him by the shoulder and spun him around. No running away, today.

"Who sent you?" I shouted.

He began to speak another spell: the Silence had run out.

My boot smashed into his face, stopping his spell casting.

Just then his Levitation spell cut out. I swooped down and caught him. He struggled, he squirmed, he kicked. I lost my grip and he fell.

He reached the ground before I could reach him. I alighted next to him but luck was not with me: he was obviously dead.

Damnit: I had hoped to find out who sent him.

I searched the body but there was no incriminating note nor any other form of clue.

I cast Recall and appeared next to Falco. Runa and two guards were there, looking happy. I saw the bodies of the two Imperial attackers in the snow: all of the assassins had been slain.

"I am all right Rashelle," said Falco, "I think we got them all!"

Runa was smiling. "I did good! I helped save a life!"

"Indeed you did," I said, "Good job."

She beamed.

"Thank you all," said Falco, also including the guards as well as Runa and myself.

It was just too bad that none of us had been able to keep any of the attackers alive for questioning. Focus, Rashelle: Falco was unharmed and no one else had been hurt.

While Falco was certain that he was now safe, I insisted that Runa and I continue to stay with him for a while longer ... just in case.

There were no further attacks.

Shortly after sunset Falco said, "Enough: that one attack was it. Things are back to normal. Thank you again, both of you."

"You are welcome."

He handed me a bag of full of septims. I raised an eyebrow.

"Back pay, including further promotion. Also a bonus for today's activity."

I handed the bag to Runa. She accepted it silently, but her face had an expression that let me know that, eventually, I would have to give her an explanation.

"What do you say to dinner, Runa?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Falco?"

"No, not just yet. I have some things to check in the mine."

I nodded. Runa and I left him and went into the bar.

It was nice to eat a proper meal again. I was concerned that, of late, I had been eating nothing but meat. I had used my alchemical knowledge to ascertain which plants were edible in Solstheim, but none of them tasted good.

"Are you going to eat that?" I said as I pointed to Runa's half-finished baked ash yam.

"No, I don't like it, whatever it is."

"You've never had an ash yam before?"

"No. You can take it."

"You sure? They fortify intelligence, you know."

"I'm sure."

"Thank you!"

"Rashelle?" she said as I grabbed the ash yam.

I looked questioningly at her.

From her pack she took two bags, the one given to me by the Altmer and the one given to me by Falco.

"Rashelle, I can't take this money."

I swallowed my mouthful of ash yam before speaking.

"Why not? You helped me with that Snow Prince book. I could not have done it without your translation. Also, You helped me protect Falco."

"Take half."

"Runa, I'm wearing an ebony cuirass. Have you any idea how much these things cost."

"A lot?"

"More than a lot."

"Oh."

"Runa, keep it. I'm not doing this for the money."

"OK ... thank you."

I finished my ash yam.

"Rashelle?"

I waited.

"Ice Witches don't use money. They've got sort of a communal living arrangement."

"Figured that, somehow. You had no money."

"What money we find, from ... those we kill ..."

She frowned and looked sadly down at her plate.

"Go on," I prompted.

"That money is used to buy whatever supplies we don't make ourselves, including weapons. It is also used to finance the recruitment trips to Skyrim."

She stopped talking. I was silent: I could think of nothing to say.

"Rashelle? Was ... is Svenja a good friend of yours?"

"Yes. We've helped each other out several times. I do enjoy her company. We've had some good times together."

"I don't feel right about causing this rift between you and her."

"Runa. It's not that simple. She chose to react the way she did. She could have instead treated you as Ulfgar did."

"I guess."

"Look, Runa: I've taken you away from Svenja to give her time to cool down. She is Good, I know she is. In time she will come to her senses. It will be all right."

A determined look crossed her face before she spoke again. "Rashelle, I want to go back."

"To the Hags?"

"No, to Thirsk."

I said nothing. I also wanted to go back, but I wished to avoid strife there and I wanted to protect Runa.

"I don't think that is a good idea, at least not yet."

"I want to go there. I want to settle this."

I said nothing.

"Please, Rashelle. I don't feel right about this."

I didn't feel good about it either, actually.

I made a decision.

"Runa, if we leave right now, we'll get there a bit after midnight. We can run for part of the way to get there sooner. Are you up to it?"

She smiled, nodded vigorously and said, "Let's go!"

We left.

Through the moonlit snow-covered ground we traveled. It was absolutely beautiful. I was glad to be traveling, just to see this wondrous nighttime landscape.

I set a hard pace but Runa was up to it. She was the happiest I'd ever seen her. It was apparent that this had been bothering her more than I had realized. I did not know how Svenja would treat Runa, but I was still glad to be returning.

We encountered some werewolves in addition to the usual fauna of Solstheim. I'd fought them before and Runa, as already mentioned, was no slouch with her weapon.

Upon nearing Lake Fjalding, I stopped.

"Rashelle?"

"I want to see about something. I need to go to the lake. I have to know."

"But the horkers, they don't like me."

"Stay here until I return, OK?"

She nodded.

Through the snow-covered trees, which seemed to glow blue in the moonlight, I made my way to the shore. Once again, I looked out at the large, perfectly flat, expanse of ice.

I strode forward, out onto the lake.

There was a horker nearby. It turned its head to look at me but did not otherwise react. With an unexpected hesitation, I approached the creature.

It groaned and waved a flipper.

Crouching down, I reached out and touched the horker. The adorable creature rolled to the side. I rubbed its belly. It groaned with pleasure.

I felt a great burden removed from my shoulders. I smiled. Things were as they were before. I was so relieved.

I did not want to leave Runa alone for too long, in case she was found by other Ice Witches, so I regretfully stood up.

"I must go, horker. I will be back."

The horker waved its flipper, as if to bid me a good night. Such adorable creatures!

I returned to Runa. I was most likely grinning ear-to-ear like an idiot.

She smiled a sad little smile and said, "they like you again?"

I nodded.

She sighed.

I remembered, then, what she had said about the horkers and herself.

"Runa, I'm sorry."

"Nothing you can do about it. Let's press on, shall we?"

I nodded.

We took a circuitous route around the lake and eventually reached Thirsk.

I placed a hand on one of the two doors and paused.

"Runa. Are you sure you want to do this? We can still leave, then try this another time."

"Rashelle, I must do this."

"OK, then. Ready?"

"One thing, Rashelle."

I waited.

"Let me handle this. Don't interfere."

"She may still want to kill you."

"Let me handle this, my own way."

"Runa," I hissed, "if you hurt Svenja, if you hurt anyone in there, I will slay you myself."

She looked me straight in the eye and said, "OK."

Once again, my entrance into the mead hall caused an immediate silence.

Svenja made her way though the crowd, towards us. Runa gestured for me to stay and then took a few steps forward.

Svenja reached Runa. She did not look angry ... but neither did she look happy. She looked tired, in fact.

"Runa," she said, "are you still under a vow of silence?"

"No."

"Have you defected from the Hags?"

"Yes."

"Have you murdered innocent people?"

"Yes, I have."

"Do you want to atone?"

"Any way that I can."

"Runa, I am sorry for the way I acted. Can you forgive me?"

"Yes."

"Welcome to Thirsk."

I let out a breath I had not realized I'd been holding.

"Runa, whatever you want to drink or eat is on me."

"Thank you, Svenja."

Svenja approached me.

"R-Rashelle," she stammered, "can you ..."

"I already have," I interrupted.

"Thank you."

I led her to the bar.

"Rashelle, they told me what you said after you knocked me out. Thank you."

"Svenja, I wish we had something besides tea and mead, because I could really use a stiff drink."

She smiled and said, "I can't help you now, but if you tell me what you like, I'll order it for the next shipment."

"Excellent. Mazte, please?"

"Mazte, OK. I will do that."

It was good to be back. I scanned the crowd, looking for Runa.

"Over there," said Svenja. She pointed.

"Don't worry," she continued, "I'm keeping an eye out for her. No one will give her any trouble."

It was a relief to have Svenja working with me instead of against me.

"Korst Wind-Eye, the Skaal shaman, was here today. He was looking for you."

I raised an eyebrow.

"He said only that he would like you to go to the Skaal village as soon as possible."

Korst would not ask this of me unless he thought it important and urgent. I knew him well enough, at this point, to trust his judgment ... and perhaps there had been a new development on the "Find Captain Carius" front.

"Svenja, I regret that I must go."

"Must you?"

"I think so. Korst would not do this lightly. It may be important."

She nodded.

"I will be back. I am glad that we have resolved matters."

"I am sorry. Please forgive me."

"I do."

"Take care."

"Mighty Chieftain, I have the book for you!" said a familiar, loud, buzzing voice.

I turned to See Bereditte Jastal. I glared, as I was not in the mood to deal with him.

He held a book out.

"It's my updated history of Thirsk! You're in it!"

I imagine that my expression softened. I smiled and took the offered book.

"Bereditte, did you mention my berserker episode?"

"Oh, no! I have some discretion!"

"Thank you!"

"By the way, I've been reading some of the literature on the berserker phenomena!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"It's rather rare! Most people drink all the mead they want without that happening! Only a very small fraction of the populace have that reaction to it!"

I nodded: none of this was a surprise. I remembered one of the men at Thirsk saying, "not one in a hundred does that happen to."

Svenja walked away: perhaps she had business to attend to or, more likely, she wanted to get away from this strange loud man.

"I read that people like you can drink one mead, possibly two, without fear of it happening! The change only occurs once a certain amount has been consumed!"

That was good to know, but I was still going to avoid mead in the future.

"Rashelle?" he said in a much lower tone of voice. It would have been a normal conversational volume for anyone else.

I raised an eyebrow.

"I like Svenja."

It was a battle to keep a smile from my face and to refrain from a comment about "big hardy Nords". I said nothing.

"She's so big, so beautiful and so ..."

"Strong?"

"Yes!"

"Bereditte, I am pretty sure that you are not her type."

"Oh."

He paused.

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me; I'm sure. I know what she likes."

He descended into a despondent silence. I felt bad.

"Let's see what you've written," I said just to break the awkward moment.

I opened the book and flipped to the back. I quickly read my section. As promised, there was no mention of my berserker run. I approved.

"Nicely written. Concise. No clutter."

He smiled.

"Bereditte, I must go now and see the shaman at the Skaal village."

"At this hour?"

"Yes. Something is up or else he would not have come looking for me. Thank you for the book."

"Uh, about ..."

"You are assured of my silence on the matter."

He grinned.

I walked through the crowd, found Runa and told her about the Shaman's message.

"I am ready. Let's go." was her reply. I smiled: she was quick on the uptake and ready for more action.

I waved to the crowd, and then left with Runa. We were again traveling through the snow, headed for the Skaal village.

Glad to see things get sorted out between Runa and Svenja. Now to focus on the real serious problems at hand!

Ahh, another update. So, with the new problems (more grunting from Gaius' side here...) sorted out, Rashelle moves on to important stuff... Ahh yes, one of the best parts in the game, these quests, if I remember correctly, that will take place now are the best ones, except for Hircine's Hunt...


And yes, it's good that things have sorted out well enough. So, rashelle has a companion now... Interesting.

Well, I'm glad that Svenja managed to cool down. Guess all that snow is good for something. (Horrible punning again, sorry.)

Too bad all the assassins ended up dead though. On the other hand, they probably wouldn't know anything worthwhile anyway. Big rule of villainy: Grunts are grunts, they don't need to know your master plan, nor the code to your vault.

I am surprised the guy was Dunmer though. Maybe I'm seeing too much in it, but perhaps all native mercenaries told our baddie to go take a hike? (With all she's been doing, I bet Rashelle has already amassed a nice reputation in the lands. Too bad the Dunmer didn't connect 'Rashelle the pseudo-Nord' with 'Rashelle the Nerevarine'.)

Oh aye! Totally agree on that one.....Way to go Blockie...way to go....

Yayness! More is good!

As always, thank you for the comments.

jack cloudy:

pure coincidence. Carnius hires whoever he can get

--

Chapter 23. Ristaag



It was still dark when we reached the Skaal village, but I knew that it would be morning in an hour or so. I led Runa to the shaman's hut.

I raised my hand to knock on the door, but then hesitated. I didn't want to wake him if it turned out that I had mistaken the urgency of his summons.

The door opened and Korst Wind-Eye faced me.

"I am glad that you could come. For now, get some sleep. We shall speak in the morning."

He closed the door. That man definitely had the seer ability.

I led Runa across the village, to my hut.

She looked horrified when I simply opened the door and walked inside.

"Rashelle!" she hissed as I fumbled around, looking for a candle.

I instead found a travel lantern. I opened it and cast a small fire spell to light it.

"Runa, I have been declared Blodskaal: this is my house. Come on in already."

She did so, but looked around furtively, as if expecting the proper owners to appear and slay us.

"Though an outlander, and not a Nord, I have been made a member of the Skaal. This house is mine. Do not worry."

"I-I had no idea."

I smiled.

"Chieftain of Thirsk, and now a member of the Skaal," she said, "what is it about you?"

"Runa, I need sleep."

"Aye, as do I."

Two could fit on the bed but my habit of sleeping with my sword creeped Runa out, so I spread my sleeping fur out and lay down on the floor. She then felt guilty about that, so she also decided to lie on the floor. It was silly to not use a perfectly good bed, but I was too tired to get worked up over it. I fell into slumber.

I dreamed of an ice cave. In it was a throne made of ice.

When I woke up, Runa was was seated by one of the bookcases. She was reading a book with a look of horror, disbelief and fascination on her face.

I rubbed my eyes, stood up and sheathed my sword.

"Rashelle! I can't believe you read this garbage!"

I looked questioningly at her.

She gestured to the book she held.

"I mean, really ... I had thought more highly of you!"

I approached her, crouched down and looked. She held a book that I had overlooked in my previous browsing of Rigmor's considerable library. I started to read from the page she had it open to. I'm sure my face had an expression of astonishment.

"Oh, Rigmor," I said, "you were a bad boy, weren't you?"

"Rigmor?" asked Runa.

"The former owner of this house. These books are his collection, not mine."

"Oh. I'm sorry I thought that ..."

I smiled.

From the book, I read one phrase aloud. We both started to giggle.

"People actually read this stuff?"

She flipped back a few pages, and read a short snippet aloud.

"I am sure that position is not possible!" I responded.

She read another small section to me. I could not help but start to laugh again. For a few minutes, we alternated reading passages from the book to each other, laughing hysterically the whole time.

"Oh gods, thank you, Rashelle. I do not remember the last time I laughed."

I smiled. "Let's go see the shaman."

I had not mentioned breakfast, though I was hungry: I wanted to first ascertain what was going on. Runa knew that I had a good reason to put off eating, so she did not question.

We stepped outside and I could see that it was shortly after sunrise. I led the way to Korst Wind-Eye's hut and, as before, the door opened without me needing to knock.

"Good morning, Rashelle. Let me see your friend."

I stepped to one side. Korst stepped forward and looked at Runa. She looked away.

"Face me!" he commanded.

I jumped: I was reminded of that voice trick that Imperials have.

She snapped her gaze back to meet his.

There was silence for a moment.

"You have left the Fryse Hags," he said to Runa. "You wish to atone. The way is hard. Persist. I believe you will do good, that you will eventually make up for the killing. I am Korst Wind-Eye."

"Runa Fire-Hair."

"Come on in, then."

Had he been 'reading' her true self, as a horker would?

I followed Runa into the hut.

He gestured to a table and said, "sit."

There were three bowls of porridge on the table. Wordlessly, we sat.

We ate in silence. For this I was grateful, as I was hungry. Eating porridge made me think of Thirsk.

I pushed my bowl away, sated. Runa had also finished. Korst was still eating. We politely waited until he was done.

"Rashelle," he said after he finished, "I am glad that you received my message. It is good that you came."

"Has something occurred?"

"Many things: signs, portents ... events."

I waited.

"The fire on the lake, caused by Aesliip. An outlander completing the Ritual Of the Stones. The werewolf attacks. Now there has been a massacre of horkers."

"What?"

"The northern coastline," he said, "is littered with the bodies of horkers. Something has slain them. This, as well as all of the other recent events, are all things foretold by ... the prophecy."

"What prophecy?"

"No, I cannot speak of this, though you are Blodskaal ... no, not yet."

I frowned.

"I summoned you because I would like you to participate in the Ristaag. In view of your success with the Ritual Of The Stones, it would be fitting that you do this."

I said nothing.

"The Ristaag is a ritual hunt. The hunters will hunt the Spirit Bear. It will start this evening, a few hours after sunset. The bear must be slain and its heart needs to be brought to me before sunrise, otherwise the ritual will fail. Failure would result in some bad resonance, some ill Magicka. Completing the Ristaag successfully will help to further restore the power of the Skaal."

"If it fails, we can't do it again tomorrow night?"

"No Rashelle, it does not work that way. There are certain days, certain ... alignments. Tonight must be the night. This is important."

I did not understand all of the ways, nor the magic, of the Skaal, but I would respect them.

"I will do this."

"Excellent."

"Can Runa participate?"

He frowned. To Runa, he said, "I am sorry, lass, but you are not of the Skaal."

She looked sad.

"Runa," said Korst in a softer tone, "the fact that you accompany Rashelle says a lot for you, and I sense good in you, but ... there are traditions."

She said nothing.

"You are welcome in the village. Your past will not be held against you. It is just that, this one particular ceremony must be conducted only by members of the Skaal."

She nodded.

"Look on the bright side; you can drink mead by a warm fire in the Great Hall while Rashelle is outside in the cold."

She smiled.

He pointed to me, smiled and said "You can't drink mead!"

Somehow, he already knew of my berserker run.

"Does anything escape your notice, Korst?"

He laughed, "sometimes."

The smile went away from his face. "And it's usually bad when it does."

"Now," he continued, "there is one thing that is needed to perform the Ristaag correctly: the Token Of Claw And Fang. It is used to summon the Spirit Bear."

Here's where I go recover another Lost Artifact.

"It was stolen from the Skaal some time ago, but I have seen it in visions. These visions show that it is now in the Tombs of Skaalara, southeast of here, on the coast."

As I had expected ... time to go fetch.

I smiled and then said, "What's it look like?"

He described it.

"Right. We're off to get it."

"Thank you, thank you both."

Though Runa would not be included in the Ristaag, she was happy to help me recover the Token.

We traveled southeast. Several riekling attacks later, we arrived within sight of the coast. Shortly after that, we found a Nord Barrow.

Runa read the runes on the door in once glance. It would have taken me a minute or so to spell them out.

"'Skaalara' ... this is the place."

"Right, then. Ready?"

Knife already in hand, she nodded. I opened the door. Into the Tombs of Skaalara we went.

I found myself in a corridor, facing a large wolf. It snarled and attacked. It was slashed by Runa's blade and skewered by Chrysamere.

I kicked the body from my sword and I advanced.

The corridor branched three ways: there were passages on the left and right as well as straight ahead. All three passages expanded into caves. From the right branching ran a wolf. Runa and I engaged it. Out of the corner of my eye, from the passage ahead, I saw a second wolf approaching.

I'd never seen wolves inside a tomb, save for bone wolves. There was something odd about this place.

Chrysamere decapitated the first wolf, just as the second one reached us. Runa darted past me and slashed its throat. A risky move, but done well: the creature gurgled and fell.

"Look out!" I shouted as I pointed to the right.

From that direction came another one. Runa whirled just in time and slashed.

Instead of helping Runa, some instinct made me spin around ... to see an additional wolf running toward me from the left branching. It leaped, obviously intending to knock me down. In one motion, I dodged and brought Chrysamere around, cutting deeply into the creature's side. It rapidly turned and clawed my arm. It evaded my next swing and came around to rush at me again. This time, my claymore cleaved its skull.

I turned to see Runa on the ground, pushing a now-dead wolf off of her. Apparently that one had managed to knock her down, but she had then disemboweled it. She was bleeding but it was not a serious injury.

"Gotta get these wolf guts off my britches," she said as I cast a healing spell on her and then on myself, "any ideas?"

"Worry about cleaning up after we are done. I think there'll be more of that before we are finished."

She laughed.

"Runa, what the oblivion is going on with this tomb?"

"I've no idea. It's very strange."

I had expected another Nord barrow, like any other. I had anticipated strolling in, fighting two to ten undead, retrieving the Token, and leaving. This tomb did not fit the pattern at all: the layout was wrong, and it was full of wolves.

I inspected the ones we had just slain. Aside from being large, they appeared quite ordinary. I half expected them to shimmer and change into dead naked Nords, but they did not. It was the daytime: these were not werewolves.

Normally, I pick the leftmost passage when exploring, but I caught a glimpse of what looked like stalhrim from the rightmost corridor. I strode in that direction and Runa followed.

Resting at the far end of the cave was a stalhrim coffin. I thought about bringing out the little hammer and breaking it ... but I had more important things to do. It wasn't going anywhere: I could always come back another time.

We returned to the main corridor. I led the way into the left passage. This swelled into a cave, lit by a flame on a stone pillar. We continued and the cave narrowed down into a tunnel that had been roughly hewn through the rock. This turned to the right, rewarding us with the sight of ... another big wolf.

Runa began to rush ahead. I cast a fireball and the wolf howled in pain as it burned and fell. Runa reached it and slashed repeatedly. The creature was too panicked by the flames to defend itself. It rolled around, trying to put the flames out. She slashed and stabbed repeatedly. Some combination of the fire, the dagger's frost enchantment, and Runa's knife-work finally killed it.

"How many are there in this place?" I said as I caught up to her.

I heard the distant baying of ... more wolves.

"Too many."

"Agreed."

The tunnel twisted crazily, turning to the left, then the right. We passed several more of those Nordic cone fires, as well as some large stones carved with ancient runes.

Eventually we reached a four-way intersection. From the right came two wolves.

I swung my claymore in a long arc, but my chosen target evaded my swing and slashed at me. Its claws harmlessly slid on my cuirass. I heard Runa grunt as she fought the other creature.

My booted foot smashed into my attacker's snout. It howled in pain. I chopped. The beast's head went flying ... and impacted squarely on Runa's cranium. She stumbled.

Cursing, I rushed to her aid. Her wolf reached out with its claws. Chrysamere severed both of its forelegs. It howled in a confused tone as it fell forward. I thrust with my claymore and the beast was dead.

Leaning over Runa, I cast a healing spell.

"I'm sorry Runa," I said as I helped her up.

"What happened?"

"I decapitated a wolf and its severed head hit you."

"Be more careful!"

"I will."

We followed the left turning. It led into another cave. Here we saw some fires on stone pillars as well as more carved stones. From ahead of us rushed another wolf. Just how many of them were there in this oversized maze of a tomb? After a furious minute of combat, we advanced ahead, leaving another dead wolf behind.

The cave led into a room that looked more like a regular Nord tomb ought to look, complete with stone pillars and a stalhrim coffin. On the floor, in the center of the room, was a chest. I picked the lock and the chest snapped open. I was rewarded with the sight of a loop of string that had been threaded through two tusks or teeth ... or perhaps they were claws. I could not detect any enchantment, but I did feel some sort of magick in the object. I recalled Korst's description of the artifact: this was the totem of Claw and Fang. I placed it in my pack.

Mission accomplished.

"That is what we came for," I said, "but we should check the rest of this place in case we've overlooked anything."

She nodded.

I wistfully looked at the stalhrim coffin on the back wall, and then shook my head. Resolutely, I strode from the room.

At the branching, I took the left turn. This lead to another cavern. In this chamber was a steeply inclined stone that formed a ramp. With Runa close behind me, I descended. A short passage led to another cave. This one was a dead end. Aside from another stone cone light and some stone carvings, the cave was empty. Runa looked at me. I shrugged.

We returned to the intersection and took the remaining unexplored passage. This entered into a chamber. Ahead lay another passage. To the right, a large stone formed a walkway that sloped down to a lower floor. Up this charged ... two wolves.

Not a lot of variety in this tomb.

My claymore sliced into a creature's side. Runa ducked the lunge of the other one and cut a large gash in its side.

I kicked. My wolf fell, bounced once against the stone ramp and then landed on the lower floor. It did not move.

I ran down, along the stone ramp. I wanted to make sure that the creature was dead. I approached it and saw that it was.

Runa, having finished off the other wolf, joined me.

I led the way into another passage. This entered into a dead end cave. We had just traversed all of the Tombs of Skaalara.

"Good fun, eh?"

I smiled. "Yeah, kind of."

On our way to the entrance, I paused to clean Chrysamere on the fur of one of the corpses.

It was in the early afternoon when we returned to the Skaal village.

"Ah, you have it," said Korst, "Thank you, both of you."

"Now we wait?"

"Aye. Later on, some hours after sunset, you will go with Rolf Long-Tooth and the hunting party. The hunt will begin near the northwest shore of the lake."

I nodded. We left.

As we walked across the village I said to Runa, "I don't know about you, but I need to catch up on my sleep."

"Agreed."

We returned to my house and slept for some hours.

I awoke and took a walk. Runa accompanied me. Finally, I was able to wander around the Skaal village, in no particular hurry. My previous opportunity to talk to the people here had been during that crime investigation. This time, I was not on a mission, so I could simply chitchat.

At one point, I ran into Ingmar, the man who I had helped out with the Valbdrandr Draugr. Since I expected that he would not want the details of that encounter to emerge, I pretended that I did not know him and that I was just meeting him. When Runa wasn't looking, he smiled his thanks at my discretion.

Later, in the Great Hall, I had my first dinner with the Skaal. There was good food and a variety of it, though there were no ash yams.

After dinner, most of the Skaal remained in the hall, drinking mead, talking or, in some cases, singing. I was reminded of Thirsk.

Some hours after dinner, A man introduced himself to me as Rolf Long-Tooth and said that it was time to depart for the Ristaag. I bid my leave of Korst and Runa. Korst nodded and Runa raised her tankard to me. She seemed content, so I did not feel so bad to leave her there. Rolf and I exited from the Great Hall.

Outside, I met the two others who were to participate in the hunt; a woman named Grerid Axe-Wife and a man named Sattir the Bold. Introductions completed, we departed from the Skaal village. The night was clear and the stars shown brightly. We headed south.

I smiled as we passed the Beast Stone: the sight of it brought back a happy memory of the singing horkers.

The night was cold, even for me, but I said nothing: I should have thought to bring something warm to wear and it was now too late. On the previous night, Runa and I had traveled at a pace such that the cold had not been a problem. For now, there was nothing to do but press on and endure it. Maybe the hunt itself would provide enough exertion to keep me warm.

We turned west and followed the Northern shore of the lake. I followed the others westward, but part of me wanted to go and play with the horkers.

Just west of the northern part of the lake, we stopped. Grerid and Sattir took torches from their packs and lit them. I waited. As I have remarked before, the almost total snow cover of Solstheim prevents it from ever getting truly dark. The moonlight was enhanced by the constant Night Eye enchantment on the Ring of Azura: I did not need a torch to see.

"Rashelle the outlander, Blodskaal," said Rolf, "I am pleased that you have joined us for this hunt."

"I am honored to accompany you." And I was: I was not being sarcastic.

"We four are to hunt the Spirit Bear. Its appearance is that of a regular snow bear. The shaman has used the Totem of Claw and Fang to summon this animal."

He pointed west, deeper into the beautiful snow-covered forest. "It is out there, right now."

I nodded.

"One more thing; there are traditions,"

He held out a small tin, containing a blue paste. This was the stuff that Nords smeared on their faces before battle, or at times when they felt like being fashionable.

"Blodskaal, this hunt is all about ritual. Things must be done a certain way. It would be good if you were to paint yourself as we do, just for tonight."

I nodded and took the offered container.

"Just dip your finger in and draw on your face. It does not have to be a Nordic rune. It does not have to be a magical symbol."

I dipped my finger in the blue goop, getting a good dollop of it. I was ready to draw, but what to draw, what symbol?

Of course! I had the idea now. I raised my hand to my forehead. My finger made three quick motions and it was done.

I handed the blue paste back to him and wiped my finger on my greaves. This last was as I had seen the others do.

He nodded and said, "We begin. We will split up and search westwards."

He pointed to the left. "Sattir the Bold, you go that way."

The man nodded and slipped away, south.

He pointed to the right. "Grerid Axe-Wife, you go that way."

She nodded and faded away.

"Blodskaal, with me. Cover my back."

Rolf began to quietly creep forward. Stealthily, I followed.

After a minute, or perhaps it was sooner, Rolf looked back and his eyes widened. I can be silent even in heavy armor: he thought that I had fallen behind. I smiled.

We continued. He did not look behind again: I had proven myself.

From the left came a man's agonized scream and the growl of a wolf ... or a werewolf.

"Blodskaal," Rolf hissed, "go check on Sattir!"

I darted silently away, south. After running past some snow covered boulders and trees, I saw torchlight. Towards this I ran. I found Sattir. He was dead: his throat had been ripped out. I was too late. His torch lay on the ground. There were no creatures in sight but I saw wolf tracks in the snow.

I quickly returned to Rolf.

"Dead. Throat torn out. Werewolf."

He swore.

"We must press on. The Ristaag must be completed tonight."

I nodded. Korst had already explained this to me.

We continued. As before, I silently followed Rolf.

From the right came the sound of a woman shouting. Damnit.

"On my way," I whispered, before Rolf could say anything.

Though the snow, around an outcrop and past more trees, I rushed. I reached Grerid, who was fighting a werewolf.

The beast tore her throat out. It looked at me, as if mocking me, before it darted away. Fire came to me but the werewolf was too fast. I ran after the creature, but it was already gone.

I cursed, turned around and ran back towards Rolf. What if something killed him while I was away?

Rolf was still unhurt when I returned. He looked questioningly at me. I frowned and shook my head. He swore and then said, "We are the last two."

He looked ... defeated. I worried that he would call it off. The shaman had already stressed that not finishing the hunt would be a bad thing.

"Rolf, we must continue. Tell me what to do."

He pulled himself together and replied, "We proceed, as before."

I nodded.

He resumed his quiet advance across the moonlit snow. I silently shadowed him.

There was a longer interval of tense waiting. We walked, expecting an attack at any moment. We were hunters ... but also we were the hunted.

Three werewolves appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and attacked.

"Taste my silver, foul beast," said Rolf as he swung at one of the creatures.

Two of them knocked me down, but I was not done yet, no sera. With Chrysamere I warded one off. The second one I repelled with a well-placed kick. The first werewolf lashed out at me but I rolled to the side in time. My claymore arced though the air, missing the first one, but cutting into the second one, who had returned for more. It howled in pain.

I was on my feet again. The two werewolves hesitated. One was bleeding.

They attacked in unison. My blade whipped around, beheading one and slicing into the other. Rolf whirled and finished the second creature for me. He had, in the meantime, dispatched his single attacker.

"Thank you, Rolf."

"Aye lass, a good fight ... arrgh."

He cursed, fell to his knees and clutched his side. In the moonlight, his blood appeared as an expanding patch of black. It was only then that I realized that he had been wounded, and badly.

I held out a potion. "Take this!"

He gulped it down and said "thank you, lass. Thought I was done for."

"Do you need another potion?"

"I am OK now," he said as he stood up

"Good. We must continue."

"Rashelle, I am impressed with how you handled yourself. Indeed you are worthy of the title 'Blodskaal'. You lead from here on."

I narrowed my gaze and said "Are you sure?"

"Aye, lass. The Ristaag must succeed."

"OK. Stay behind me, close."

I began to stealthily advance. I could hear the faint sounds of Rolf behind me.

For some time I moved forward. I feared that we had passed the Spirit Bear so I turned south, then, after a short time, east. We were now paralleling our previous path.

Then I saw it: the Spirit Bear. It looked like a regular snow bear, but I somehow knew that it was not.

This would have been a perfect opportunity for a cross-bow shot. Alas, my skill with a bow of any sort has always been terrible.

I raised Chrysamere and silently ran forward. The bear sighted me but did not run. Instead, it stood up on its hind legs and hurled a frost spell. Being that I was already cold from the chill night air, the spell could have hurt me. Fortunately, my birth sign absorbed and diffused it, replenishing my own store of magicka.

I chopped with my blade and then darted to one side. The bear's claws sliced through the spot where I had been a fraction of a second before. Rolf got a swing in with his weapon, wounding the creature again.

The bear roared its pain and rage. From either side of the beast, we struck. My blade thrust deep into the creature. It spasmed and fell: Chrysamere had found its heart.

"Well done, Blodskaal."

"Keep watch while I do this."

A snow bear's body is essentially a large round blob with limbs and a head: there is a lot to cut through to reach the heart. It was a messy job, but at last I held the heart in my hand.

"Let us return," I said.

"Aye, lass."

We returned to the Skaal village without incident and went to the Great Hall, where Korst and Runa were waiting.

"Shaman," said Rolf, "we hunted the Spirit Bear and took out its heart. We two are the only survivors. Werewolves slew Sattir the Bold and Grerid Axe-Wife. They died bravely, as true Skaal warriors."

With a sad expression on his face, Korst took the offered heart.

"Thank you Rolf. Thank You Rashelle"

Rolf turned to leave. Korst caught my eye, so I waited.

"Rashelle," he said, "there is something else that I would ask of you."

Oh.

I said nothing. Sleep was not doing to be on the immediate agenda, was it?

Another beatiful update! Too bad Runa wasn't allowed on the Bllodskal, but, oh well. So it's Karstaag now, right? Oh, I can't wait for it to come... Those rieklings better watch out!

Ah, that hunt is always an interesting mission to try out. Glad to see that Rashelle succeeded.

An excellent description of the Ristaag. Rashelle continues to earn more respect from the Nords on the island; perhaps she does have a good dose of Nord blood.

Just wanted to make note of the fact that I hope to read this story one day- just not yet. My practice, especially with the really good writers here, is to avoid reading stories that deal with quests, personalities, etc. that one of my own creations will encounter. That way, I can be sure that my ideas are my own.... But I am aware of the consistent quality of this story.

Woah. Treydog, you commented! Wow. COOL! All through my other two stories, I'd hoped you would notice and comment ... and now, in this story, you have! YAY! Thank you! Your first story was one of the forces of inspiration to get me to start writing!

No new chapter today, but I've done edits in chapter 23. I was in the game, playing the Bloodmoon main quest again ... when I discovered that Grerid is a woman! I'd written her as a man. D'oh! While I was fixing that, I found and squashed a few punctuation bugs.

And, of course, thanks to everyone for the comments. I do appreciate them.

I know...to get comments from the Mighty Master of Writing is the ultimate proof that your story has quality....

Awww, why do you have to rub it in?




Just kidding!

I've been keeping up since the end of Rashelle in Locken (sp.), but I'll admit, I don't comment often, most of my sentiments are reflections of the other, more prominent folk.

But this is a great tale, and is completely deserving of....... *trails off as words become elusive* This is proof of my earlier statement, very , Blockhead, keep it up!

Hm, the simple solution to the werewolf problem would be to take one alive and wait until they reverted to their human form then question them. Note I said simple, not easy.

Chapter 24. Bloodmoon



"In the far northwest region of Solstheim," said Korst Wind-Eye, "stands a castle made of ice."

This sounded familiar: I had been there before, at the end of my berserker run.

"This castle", he continued, "is the home of the frost giant, Karstaag. He rules the rieklings. The Skaal have lived in relative peace with him for some time. We leave him alone and he leaves us alone. However, I fear that the recent horker killings are the work of his rieklings."

I waited. My silence would yield more answers than any number of questions.

"I would like you to go there and see what you can find out. You will not be able to go in by the front door, but I have heard of an entrance under the water, north of the castle. If the peace between Karstaag and the Skaal has ended, we are in danger and will need to know about it.

"The massacre of the horkers is also one of the signs of the prophecy. Will you do this, Blodskaal?"

"Yes, Korst, I will."

"Thank you. May the All-Maker guide you. Come with me to my hut."

Runa and I followed him. Once inside, he rummaged around in a chest of drawers until he finally came up with a wrapped bundle.

He unwrapped the bundle to revealed a sheathed longsword. He presented it too me and said "This sword has an enchantment that is very effective against frost giants. Take it."

I took the sword and drew it from its sheath.

For a time, I silently stared at the blade.

"Rashelle?"

It was made of stalhrim.

"Rashelle?"

I touched the cool surface and could feel the enchantment, which, ironically enough, was a fire damage spell.

"Rashelle!"

I shook my head, to clear it.

"Korst," I said, "I thought that stalhrim was sacred to the Skaal and that it could only be used for burials."

He sheepishly looked down at the floor, exactly like a child who has just been caught being bad.

"Er, umm, well, you see lass ... that's true. This blade was forged by some former Skaal who did not heed the law. It is the reason they were exiled."

I returned the sword to its sheath. I had a good idea who had made this sword: Graring and his family.

"It just seemed a shame to destroy such a fine weapon, so ... so I kept it."

I smiled.

"I've enchanted it with a fire spell. It may look like ice, but it will burn your opponents."

I nodded.

"Anyway, I thought it would be of use to you against a frost giant. Take it. It's yours. Just try not to draw it while in the village. And don't let anyone know that I am the one who gave it to you!"

I grinned.

Once Runa and I were out of sight of the village, and after we had slain two rieklings that had objected to our presence, I stopped.

"Rashelle, why are we stopping? The night is cold: we need to keep moving. What is the matter?"

"I worry about you and that dagger. Its frost enchantment is ineffective against rieklings and I expect it will be useless against a frost giant. You need a more powerful weapon, one with a fire enchantment."

I held out the stalhrim longsword, still in its sheath.

"Rashelle: no, I couldn't."

"Runa, please take it. I think Korst wants you to have it."

She raised an eyebrow. Where had she picked up that gesture?

"My claymore does much more damage than this stalhrim blade. To give it to me is pointless ... and he knows that. It would make more sense if you wore it. I think he meant it for you. For some inexplicable reason, he could not say so directly."

She nodded and took the weapon.

"Have you any practice with a long sword?"

She shook her head.

"Here; take a few practice swings. I'll block with Chrysamere."

We sparred for a time. She seemed to have an instinct for the basic handling of the larger weapon. For this, I was glad.

"Runa; until you gain skill, you should continue to use your dagger, but when we meet up with something cold and big and nasty, like a frost giant, switch to that sword."

She nodded.

We resumed our trek. After crossing a bridge, we ran into a party of reavers. They attacked and we were forced to fight them. Two of them had bows, but my spells took them out.

"Rashelle," said Runa after we had dispatched all of them, "do you know what a frost giant looks like?"

"No. Do you?"

"No."

We both laughed.

I turned north and we soon reached the ocean. As the shaman had said, there were many dead horkers on the shore. They had all been torn apart. I love those creatures: I was sickened. I had to stop for a time to pull myself together. I had not cried since childhood: a long time ago I had learned the essential uselessness of such activity. On that day I did not cry ... but I came very close to doing so.

"Rashelle," said Runa, sharply, "we have a job to do."

"Y-you're right. Let us continue."

As we progressed westwards along the coastline, the rieklings grew more numerous: we slew many of the little blue fetchers.

It was still night when we arrived at the ice castle. After fighting the mounted rieklings that guarded it, I searched for an entrance. We found a set of double doors on the south wall. They would not open and I could not find a lock to pick. The doors had peculiar sort of enchantment on which prevented me from spelling them open.

"Runa, wait here. I'm going to check the roof."

"OK."

I levitated up and onto the roof. I found a little building there. I entered, but all I found was a small, empty, room that was not connected to the rest of the castle.

After floating back down to the ground, next to Runa, I said, "Nothing up there. Let's go north and try the water."

It was a short walk to the ocean. Again, the presence of the slaughtered horkers disgusted me. Runa and I were both hesitant to enter the water because of the cold. Additionally, I do not like to swim.

Nothing but to get on with it. I sighed and then waded into the water, Runa right behind me. I was not sure what the entrance would look like, but I hoped that it would be obvious.

I soon spotted it: a dark hole under the water, not far from the shoreline. I dove down and swam into it. Much to my relief, the tunnel turned upwards and I was soon standing in an ice cave that was filled with air. Runa emerged from the water, not far from me.

A solitary riekling approached.

"Whoa!" shouted the little blue creature.

I'd never heard a riekling speak before. That was unusual. Because it had spoken, I decided to hold off on killing it. I glanced at Runa and saw that, while her longsword was out, she was staying put.

The blue critter scampered closer and said, "A Breton, a Nord! Ugly things, you. Too tall! Why you here?"

In my usual subtle fashion, I said, "Did you slay the horkers?"

"Horker meat, yummy."

I hissed.

The riekling stepped back a few paces.

"Krish sorry! It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"

I guessed that "Krish" was the creatures name.

"Who was it?"

"You're asking the wrong guy," continued the riekling, "I know someone who might be able to help, though. But I've got my own problems."

I waited.

"The master, Karstaag, has taken off. Gone. Don't know why, don't know where. It didn't seem like he was going to come back, so some of the boys and I figured we'd take over the place. Dulk has been running the show upstairs. Moron, toady, masters pet!"

"So you are saying that Karstaag, the frost giant, suddenly left. Then you and some others tried to take over from this ... Dulk?"

"Right. Sneak attack from below. Very clever. We even made a deal with a pack of grahl to act as muscle. Didn't work out so well. See, these grahl aren't the most trustworthy. Turned on my guys. Ate them, actually. I'm the only one left, and now I can't even get upstairs! And neither can you."

I drew my sword.

"Wait! See, with those grahl here in the tunnels, I can't get past them to get upstairs. Without the Blessing of Karstaag, which I've got, you can't get through the door: it's got a special lock. I figure, you help me get past the grahl, then I'll get you into the castle. You can then ask little Dulk anything you want."

My initial urge was to slay Krish, slay all the grahl, and then question Dulk. I refrained from doing so because Krish had mentioned a lock: what if I could not pick it?

"Agreed," I said, "Lead on."

We fought our way though at least ten grahl. Runa was clumsy with the long sword, but the flame enchantment compensated for this. I was glad she had that weapon.

"That's the lot of them," said Krish, "let's go up."

I nodded.

Krish led us to a door. I could feel the spells on it: we would not have been able to get in on our own. By our proximity to Krish, we were able to pass through.

We were now in another tunnel of ice. This led into a very large room which was obviously a dining hall. We were attacked by rieklings and Krish helped us fight them.

Once they had been slain, I was able to take more notice of my surroundings. The walls, floor and ceiling were entirely made of ice. From the ceiling hung a large and beautiful ice chandelier. It was a work of art and showed a sophistication that indicated that it was not of riekling manufacture.

The other lighting fixtures and furnishings were of also of a similar style of exquisite workmanship. Some other, long-lost, ancient race must have made them. Perhaps Athellor's Falmer had originally built this castle.

From the lighting fixtures burned blue flames. What substance were they burning to get that color?

A hallway led from this room. We followed it and, at last, found Dulk.

"Krish, traitor, what are you doing here!"

"Dulk, I give up. Krish sorry."

"You better be!"

"Mighty Dulk, these big things wanted to speak to you."

Dulk did not mind talking to us. He said that Karstaag himself had been taken away by creatures that looked like wolves, but walked on two legs. That sounded like werewolves to me. Dulk also told me that the rieklings were not behind the recent horker butchery: they had been busy with their own little conflict.

"You've asked your questions, now go!"

"In time," I replied, "when I feel like it."

"What? Fear mighty Dulk!"

I hissed. Both Krish and Dulk scurried away. I had promised to help Krish get in. I had not promised to leave.

"Come, Runa. Since we are here, we may as well look around."

There were only two other rooms in the castle.

The second room was a vacant Throne Room, I saw many skeletons of Men or Mer. Karstaag had been a man eater. I shuddered. The throne was was made of ice. It was oversized, large enough for a giant to sit in and of a workmanship such that I could not believe that the rieklings had constructed it.

"This doesn't match the one I saw," I said, without thinking.

"Huh?"

"I had a dream about throne made of ice or stalhrim ... but it was Man-sized, not huge like this one."

Runa looked at me with concern in her face but said nothing.

"What is it?" I asked, "What is wrong?"

"Err, nothing. Forget about it."

"OK."

The third room was as large as the dining hall. It contained a pool of water and, behind that, a raised platform of ice upon which was packed some sort of bedding. It was obvious that something vary large had slept there.

"This has to be where Karstaag sleeps."

"Agreed."

There were more skeletons in this room, piled up against the walls.

"Runa, do rieklings eat people?"

"I don't know. I kill every one I find, though."

"Good."

As Karstaag was unlikely to return, we were in no hurry to leave ... but I needed to get back to Korst and import what negative information we had managed to acquire.

"Runa, It's time to go back."

"Good, I don't like this place."

"Let's leave by the front door. I don't want to get wet again."

The sun was up when we returned to the Skaal village. I led Runa directly to Korst's hut. She and I related to him what we had seen and heard.

"'tis most unusual, lass," he said, "and disconcerting. I've a feeling now that it was werewolves that slaughtered those horkers."

I said nothing.

"I would like the two of you to stay in the village. I have a premonition that something is going to happen soon, and I may need you."

"Of course."

We went to my hut and caught up on our sleep.

In the afternoon, Runa sewed her red tunic while I performed maintenance on my armor and weapons. Time was also spent going through Rigmor's library.

We had dinner in the Great Hall, with the Skaal. I enjoyed myself, though I felt a little bit uneasy. Korst would not tell me of this prophecy, yet I shared his feeling that something was going to happen. My intuition was that it would be something bad.

After dinner, Runa and I went outside ... and walked into redness. The moonlit snow was red instead of faintly bluish. My hands were red. Runa was red. Everything was red.

"Sweet Azura ... what the ..."

"Rashelle," cried Runa, "Over there! The moons!"

Both moons were up. They hung low over the treetops, and they were both stained the same crimson hue.

One of the doors to the Great Hall opened and Korst Wind-Eye emerged.

"This is part of your prophecy that you won't tell me about, isn't it?"

"Aye lass." He sighed before he continued. "It's the Bloodmoon. I guess I might was well tell you about it, now."

"Yes, that would be nice."

"There is an ancient prophecy, the Bloodmoon Prophecy. There are warning signs and then the Hunt. The disturbing of the Oneness was the first of the warning signs. The completion of the Ritual of the Stones by an outlander was the second sign."

Was everything I did part of one prophecy or another?

"The fire on the lake was the third of the signs predicted by the prophecy. The werewolf attack was the fourth sign. The slaying of horkers was the fifth sign. Finally, the Bloodmoon itself, the sixth sign, has appeared."

I said nothing.

"All six signs have occurred. There can no longer be any doubt. It is the time of the Hunt. The prophecy speaks of a time that occurs, once an era, where a demon god, the Hunter, will walk the land in company of his Hounds, presumably these werewolves. Once, he hunted the entire tribe. Another time he hunted only one 'champion' from the Skaal. It varies ... or perhaps the story has been garbled across the generations."

I nodded.

"And now it is upon us again. I did not tell you because I had hoped that I was wrong. I had hoped that the signs were false, but all six have occurred: there can no longer be any doubt. The Hunt will begin."

I recalled the prophecy of Oddfrid White-Lip and shuddered.

"There is nothing left to do but wait. At some point, could be minutes, could be days or even a week, the Hunt will begin."

Later that night, I spread out my sleeping fur and wished that something would happen already. Such was my level of unease that, in addition to keeping my armor and clothing on, I also kept my pack on. I slept on my side.

I woke to see that werewolves were inside my hut. Something was finally happening. They were here to kidnap me, the Chieftain of Thirsk. The werewolves hovered over me but did not attack. I calmly unrolled myself from my sleeping fur and stood up.

Runa, over in the bed, woke up and reached for her sword.

"Runa," I said, "No."

She froze.

There was a flash of light and I was inside of a dimly lit chamber made of ice and stone, a familiar dull purple stone. The source of the dim light was .... a daedric stone brazier. I was in a daedric building constructed inside of ice.

I could not move: a paralysis was upon me. In front of me materialized a somewhat man-like figure. Its head was the least man-like part about it: it was as if someone had grafted antlers and spiral-shaped horns onto an animal head and then put that onto a humanoid body.

The body, while human-shaped, was covered with brown fur. The creature wore blue pants and boots.

It spoke in a resonant, yet unnatural, voice, "Ahhh... you have arrived. The others have been here for days now, and you are the last. I am Hircine. It is time for my Hunt, and you are to take part. I have chosen only the most worthy: Carius of the Imperials, Heart-Fang of the Skaal, Ylva She-Wolf of the Ice Witches, the frost giant Karstaag ... and you, Nerevarine and chieftain of Thirsk. You have proven yourself a worthy hunter, and so now you have been given this honor."

It was as I had been suspecting for some time ... someone had been collecting leaders. I had not expected a Daedric Prince to be behind this, however.

"You and the others are to find your way to my Hunting Grounds. Take great care, as only one of you will earn the glory of facing the Hunter himself in battle while the Bloodmoon lights the sky. The others have gone ahead, so only you remain to begin. Beware, mortal ... my Hounds are about, and they hunger for blood. Perhaps I will see you soon. Now go."

Hircine disappeared. I could move again.

There was only one way out of this chamber: a daedric-styled stone door embedded in the ice. I opened the door and stepped through. It closed behind me with a dull and final-sounding clunk, a clunk that let me know that this door would not open for me again.

My boots trod on ice. Around me were walls of ice and of daedric stone. In front of me stood Captain Falx Carius.

"Captain! By Azura, I thought you dead! Were you here the whole time?"

"Shhhh!" he hissed, "there are werewolves about."

I looked around. I saw no movements. We were safe for the moment.

"How have you survived amongst the werewolves so long?"

"It has not been easy. They are tough. It's been a long few hours."

"Few hours?"

"Yes, since I was taken from the fort."

"You have been here almost a month."

"No: this just happened today."

"You've been asleep or something. Trust me when I say that you have been gone for a month."

He swore.

I waited.

"Rashelle, I ran into some fellow named Tharsten, says he's the chieftain of the Skaal. He had a wild look in his eye so I was not going to question his title. There's something not right about that man. He's gone ahead, I expect."

"Gone ahead?"

"He said something about multiple mazes and keys. Apparently there are keys lying around here that enable one to go to the next maze. Don't know where it ends. Don't know how he knew that, either."

Interesting.

"If we stay together, maybe we can make it out of here. What do you say, Rashelle?"

"Agreed."

He explained that the maze we were in was a roughly circular shape. The many daedric walls made it impossible to see very far and easy to get lost. He said that Heart-Fang believed that it was necessary to reach the center of the maze.

Just then, a werewolf ran around a corner, growled and rushed towards us. We fought it and killed it. Oddly enough, the body did not shimmer and change back into man form.

I nudged the corpse with my boot and said "Are these werewolves?"

"You saw it running upright. And just look at its shape."

"True."

Without speaking, I strode forward. He followed.

To my right was a wall of ice. To my right was a daedric wall. Above, a ceiling of ice. We passed a daedric stone brazier in which a fire burned.

We reached a branching. Two werewolves set upon us. These were tougher than the first one. Carius was badly wounded. After the creatures had been slain, I handed him a potion.

"Thank you, Rashelle."

I chose a direction at random and we continued.

The daedric stone walls were now on either side of us ... confining, menacing. I rounded a corner to face another werewolf. I did my best, in this fight, to protect Carius. The Captain had skills, he had years of training and his post in a frontier fort had kept him active ... but I do not think that anyone in the Legion could handle this many werewolves, alone.

We retraced our steps to the branching. I chose another direction and, once again, we walked along the ice wall.

Another branching. More werewolves.

As we progressed, I built up a mental map of the place. As Carius had said, it was a maze in the shape of a circle. Any time that we were walking along a wall of ice meant that we were on the outer edge of the maze.

I spotted a statue of a werewolf, carved from what looked like ice ... but with a bluish coloration. Warily I approached it. Nothing happened. I had a bad feeling, but I reached out and touched it anyway. Nothing happened.

I looked at Carius. He shrugged. I turned away from the statue and focused my thoughts to the decision as to which passage to take.

"Rashelle!" shouted Carius as something heavy slammed into my back. I fell to the icy floor.

Fire came to me and I simultaneously twisted around like a kwama forager. The captain's sword, as well as my own, chopped into the werewolf that had tackled me.

I pushed the now-dead creature from me. Carius gave me a hand up and I could now see that the blue statue was gone. It had turned into the werewolf that had attacked me.

I swore.

We pressed on.

We fought through an amazing number of werewolves and it was almost a miracle that Carius did not die. I had to heal him frequently and I found myself having to dart between him and any attackers.

"Rashelle: I am a child compared to you. I feel so useless."

"We need to keep going," was my only reply.

I found a chest. It was unlocked. I opened it and saw a strange object. This object was smaller than my hand, shaped like a disk but with seven spikes evenly distributed along its outer edge. It was entirely black save for a glowing red spot in the center. Though it looked like no key I had ever seen, it had to be one of the keys that Heart-Fang had mentioned to Carius. I took it.

We continued. There were some other chests here and there, but they were empty. Perhaps they had contained keys which had already been taken by Ylva, Heart-Fang and Karstaag?

We reached the center of the maze, an enclosure of ice, yet lined on the inside with daedric stone. In the center of this stood a shimmering square of translucent light. I walked around and behind it. Looking back, I could see Carius through its glow.

"This must be the gateway to the next level," I said.

"Rashelle, I cannot go on."

I narrowed my gaze, yet said nothing.

"I'm slowing you down. Hircine said only one of us will make it. You have a much better chance than I do. I will stay here and make sure that nothing else follows you though this door. You must continue."

He was entirely correct. This was no time for sentiment. I have mixed feelings about the Imperial Legion, but Carius was a good man. If more Imperial soldiers were like him, the Empire would be a better place.

There was nothing left to say. I nodded, gave him some healing potions and stepped through the gateway,

The key in my hand vanished.

Hehehe, so it begins. I noticed you added a little something of your own to this final quest. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

Indeed, a little something. Writer-invented things are usually good - let's see how good will this one turn out. And thus we draw near the end... Eep. I feel drama in the air!

Chapter 25. Hunt



I was in a maze that looked very much like the one I had just gone through. To my right was a wall of ice. The ceiling and floor were of ice. To my left, and behind me, were stone daedric walls.

The thought of casting Recall or one of the the two Intervention spells occurred to me, but I did not make the attempt. Hircine had most likely blocked them. Also, if I teleported away, might he not just yank me back?

I took a few steps and was stopped by the sound of footsteps. From around a corner strode Tharsten Heart-Fang, the chieftain of the Skaal.

"Rashelle the outlander, I am surprised to see you. How did you get here?"

"Werewolves teleported me."

"I see. So you know what it's about?"

"Hircine has brought us all here for some sort of Hunt."

"Yes. I fear we have little time remaining. The frost giant Karstaag has already gone ahead. Perhaps together we can fight our way though this place. Together, we can find our way to the end. With you by my side, the Hunter will have met his match. Heart-Fang will bring glory to his people! What do you say, Rashelle?"

This was not a time to be concerned with glory. I was reminded again that I did not particularly like this man. Still, he was a Man, not a beast nor a daedra ... and that made us allies.

"Yes, let us go together."

We fought through many werewolves, including several statue werewolves. As we progressed, I saw that this maze was circular, just as the previous one had been.

I turned a corner to see a dead Nord woman. She was lying face down on the ground, in a pool of blood.

"That's the she-wolf of a Fryse Hag who attacked me before," said Heart-Fang. "Those fetchers get everywhere."

I crouched down and rolled the corpse over, to see that it was Ylva She-Wolf. I was sure that she had attacked Heart-Fang, that he had slain her in self-defense. I also knew that, as the leader of the Ice Witches, she had murdered many innocent people. Despite this, I was saddened to see that she was dead.

"It is ironic that you called her that," I said, "her name was Ylva She-Wolf."

I stood up and then said, "She was the leader of the Ice Witches."

He said a word unflattering to women and spat on the corpse.

Though it was a struggle, I resisted the sudden urge to slay him.

"Let us continue," he said.

From behind a corner rushed two werewolves. We fought those and pressed on.

At a branching, I saw a chest. Tharsten darted ahead and opened it.

"Feh, empty," he said as he angrily slammed the lid shut.

We wound our way through the maze for a time. There were many werewolves and we fought them all. Tharsten was skilled with his axe and he fought well: I only had to give him a potion once.

We came upon another chest. As before, he rushed ahead and opened it. He took an object from it, a key identical in appearance to the one I had found in the previous maze.

A happy, yet evil, gleam came to his eyes.

"This is as far as we go, Rashelle. I have the key to reach the next stage of the Hunter's challenge, and only I shall continue. This Hunt is for Heart-Fang and Heart-Fang only! Many generations have I lived now, Hircine's Ring on my finger."

Hircine's Ring?

"This Hunt is my birthright! Heart-Fang alone shall face the Hunter. Heart-Fang alone shall earn the glory of the Hunt! See now the power I was born to wield. You now face me in my true form, the form I was born to wear!"

He turned into a werewolf and leaped for me.

Chrysamere swung sideways and chopped into his flesh. He howled and backed away. I quickly cast a fireball. He charged at me again, claws slashing. I dodged and hit him with a paralysis spell: it didn't work. My claymore arced through the air but he sprung to the side. He was fast ... even for a werewolf.

He came at me again, claws narrowly missing my arms. My sword arced through the air and cut into one of his arms. He ducked under my blade and tried to knock me down, but I twisted and remained on my feet. My weapon sliced down, drawing more blood.

He drew back and howled. Fire came to me, a stream of flame that burned into him. He threw himself at me ... but instead met with my hurriedly outstretched blade. He howled and his claws slashed into my arms: My weapon was stuck: I had mortally wounded him, but not in his heart. I let go of Chrysamere and backed away. He fell, still howling but no longer attacking. I sucked down a healing potion: the wounds in my arms disappeared. After hitting Tharsten with a fireball, I drew my silver dagger and finished him off.

I extracted Chrysamere from the body and wiped the blade clean. I cleaned and sheathed my silver dagger as well.

The corpse changed into man form. Unlike every other werewolf that I had seen, he was still in his armor and clothing. Where had the armor gone when he was in wolf form? Why had it come back now? Why did this not happen to other werewolves? These questions were not my concern. Survival was my immediate concern.

I searched the corpse. I took the gold, the key to the next area and the Ring of Hircine. I held the ring in my hand: it was slimy with evil. Ignoring my distaste, I felt the enchantments in the ring: it would turn the wearer into a werewolf on demand. It would also tend to prolong and extend the wearer's lifespan.

The shaman had once mentioned something about Heart-Fang living a long time. Hart-Fang had claimed to have lived for generations. This now made more sense.

Though I did not want the ring, it was too dangerous to leave behind: what if the wrong person found it? I decided to keep it and, at a later time, find a means of destroying it.

I fought my way through more werewolves and reached the center of the maze. There was a shimmering gateway here, just as there had one in the first maze. The key disappeared as I stepped through.

The location to which I was teleported was not the maze that I had expected. I was now in a short stretch of corridor that was a mix of ice and daedric stone-work. This extended into ... an open space of some sort.

I began to creep stealthily forward. I had a strong intuition that I needed to go unseen.

As I reached the open space, I could see that it was a huge ice cavern. It was rather dark, though the Night Eye enchantment on the Ring of Azura enabled me to see. I crouched behind a daedric column and looked out.

From my location, the ice sloped down until it reached a floor that was paved with daedric stone. Wisps of ice crystals or glittering dust were blown in a circular path around the cave by some unseen wind. Against the far wall I could dimly see more daedric stone-work ... including some large pillars that extended upwards, to be lost in the distant heights. I could not see the ceiling.

There were smaller daedric columns scattered on the floor. These would provide good cover if I needed to sneak ... which I suspected I did.

In the center of the chamber stood an ugly white thing. It was alive. It looked mean. It looked evil. It looked like a beast bred for killing. It was at least three times my height, and it was much more than three times my width. I watched as it paced. It had horns that almost appeared bigger than its head. Its head seemed too big for its body. The claws on its hands were huge ... each one was at least the length of an Imperial short sword.

The creature wore a loincloth made of skins of some kind. I probably did not want to know what kind of skin it was.

That thing had to be the frost giant, Karstaag.

I slipped on my chameleon ring. Carefully, I descended to the floor, moving sideways as I progressed. Using every once of cover, every stone column, I started to creep across the floor. Perhaps I could circle around the creature and then take the door to the next area.

It whirled its huge head around and faced me. I could see now that it had four eyes. It roared, a great rumbling deep roar that vibrated my guts, and then it began to lumber towards me. The floor trembled with each footstep. Perhaps it had caught my scent?

I ran.

During my years, I had acquired many skills. I could fight well with any melee weapon. I had built up strength, endurance, speed. I feared no Man nor Mer. Even during the battle with Dagoth Ur himself, though I was not sure if I would live, I did not feel fear. I had fought the former goddess Almalexia with anger, with madness, but not fear.

This time, I knew fear: I was terrified. This creature could pulp me with one hit. It could have smeared Dagoth Ur without any trouble, even with Ur's spells. It would have ripped Almalexia apart and used her flaming sword as a toothpick. This was a huge beast and I could see the intelligence in its four eyes.

How could I possibly kill this thing?

I ducked a swing of an arm which was thicker than I was and remembered that I was dealing with a frost giant. Focus Rashelle! What's the opposite of frost, you dummy?

Fire came to me, as it always has.

The howl of the giant was so loud that it hurt my ears. It didn't seem to do much damage, however: the creature had only a normal sensitivity to fire. As I ran to the side, the thought finally occurred to me that I could levitate. I cast the spell and it was with great relief that I ascended beyond the monster's reach.

I alighted on a tall pillar. The creature tried to knock it down but could not. The impacts caused the pillar to shake so much that I almost fell off, but I held on. Either the creature was incapable of climbing, or the thought of doing so had never occurred to it.

From my pack I took a Restore Magicka potion. I drank it and then I began to pour a rain of fire onto the frost giant.

When my magicka ran out, I drank a second potion, but did not resume the flame. If I killed the creature that way, it would take a long time and I would use up all of my restore magicka potions. I might need them later on.

After a cast of Levitation and Fortify Speed, I swooped down towards the creature. Close up, it seemed even bigger. With surprising speed, the monster tried to swat me aside with its arm. I managed to dodge and took a chance ... I darted in, stabbed one eye with Chrysamere and then shot up and away as fast as I could. The creature now had the use of only three of its eyes. Its roar was deafening.

I landed on another pillar before my levitation spell could cut out.

I did the maneuver again, this time slashing out and cutting into its arm.

This was going to take to long. I had too think of something else ... but what?

I repeated this a third time, stabbing a second eye. As I attempted to fly away, the back of the monster's hand smashed into me. I flew through the air in a haze of pain. Have you ever tried to drink a healing potion while spinning? It's difficult, I can assure you.

I cast another levitation spell. This stopped my spin. I flew higher, as the monster was stomping my way again.

I hit it with a poison cloud spell, just to see if it had a weakness to poison spells. It didn't. For completeness, I cast a shock bolt. The frost giant screamed its pain but I did not discern an unusual weakness to that, either. The beast was tough in every way.

Gritting my teeth, I swooped in again. Karstaag knew what I was trying to do, so it was now more difficult to get near its face. I dodged an arm, flew away, and then returned, this time approaching the great beast from behind. I stabbed Chrysamere into its back and then pulled the blade away as fast as I could. The monster spun around, roaring with a loudness that hurt my ears. I flew up above its swinging arm, darted forward ... and pierced another of its eyes.

The roaring reverberated in the huge cavern, making me fear that it would collapse.

I landed on another pillar to catch my breath. Karstaag hurled itself at the pillar. There was a deep cracking sound and the pillar began to tilt. I quickly recast my levitation spell and flew away. The pillar fell to the floor with an astonishingly loud crash.

The frost giant picked up a piece of rubble that was larger than I was and hurled it. It passed uncomfortably close, so I flew higher.

Perhaps I could escape somehow. Perhaps there was a hole in the ceiling. I flew still higher. Suddenly, I was buffeted by an icy wind. Those wisps of ice crystals that I had noted before were now converging on me. I was being blown towards the ground.

"OK, OK!" I shouted, "I get the message! No running away!"

The wind stopped as suddenly as it had started. I cautiously flew towards the monster.

I cast a fire bolt at its face. Maybe I could burn out its remaining eye. The creature started up its awful roar again and began to run around ... randomly. I had either blinded it for good, or the flames were temporarily confusing it.

Seizing the opportunity, I dove down and slashed with my claymore. I did not hit the remaining eye but I did make a gash in its grotesque forehead. The creature screamed its pain as I rapidly flew away.

The monster rubbed its face with one huge hand, putting out the fire, and then began to run towards me.

I cast Levitate again, since I had lost track of how long the spell had been active, and flew higher. I zoomed past the creature, taking a swing that harmlessly bounced off of one of its claws. I continued my flight, zipping past the pillar that had been knocked down.

Behind me, I heard a deafening howl, a sort of ... surprised sound. I looked back to see that Karstaag was tripping on the pillar. Ponderously, arms outstretched, the frost giant fell on its face.

I grinned. I'd not expected that to work, but it had. Karstaag had been so focused on me that it had not watched its feet.

As quickly as I could, I swooped in and stabbed into its back as many times I could. The creature roared (my hearing would be off for days) and started to roll. I was in motion again, evading a gargantuan arm.

There was a crackle of fire as I hit the monster with a fireball.

The beast was now standing. It shook a boulder-sized fist at me.

I flew up, above the creature yet out of its reach. I cast a fortify speed spell and then darted into motion. I whirled around its head in circles, dodging its wildly flailing arms.

It roared its frustration, even louder than before, and began to show signs of dizziness. Good: this last was what I was hoping for.

The creature was beginning to wobble. I did not expect it to fall, but I had a plan. My plan was that the creature would now be slower to react to a change in my motion, giving me more time to do what I wanted to do. I quickly reversed my direction and then flew behind its head.

With every once of strength I had, I plunged Chrysamere into the back of its neck. Karstaag roared. I jerked my sword left to right, opening the wound further. The blade bumped against a neck vertebra and I used that as a lever to saw the creature's throat out from behind. Gallons of blood gushed out at me (I would need a bath!) and I felt the beast beginning to fall. I let go of my claymore and flew away.

I stopped in mid-air, wiped blood from my eyes, and turned around. Karstaag's dead body fell to the floor with a loud, deep, thump.

The only sound in the place was the whispering of the wind.

I wanted to sit someplace and catch my breath, but I did not know what Hircine had next on the agenda, so I instead flew back to the corpse to retrieve Chrysamere.

After cleaning my blade, I started to walk towards far end of the great cave. There was a daedric structure of some sort there, nestled against the tall pillars. It would be an obvious location for a door to the next level.

Before I could reach it, Hircine appeared in front of me. He waved a hand and I was unable to move.

"You have done well, mortal. You are the only one left. This is a surprise: I thought the frost giant would prevail."

I waited silently: my paralysis could let me do nothing else.

"You now have the supreme honor of participating in the Final Hunt. Since you will not be able to fight me in all of my full glory, you will only need to fight one of my Aspects."

My eye itched. I wanted to blink, yet could not. Hircine was twirling a spear in its hands over and over. Do Daedra Princes have nervous habits?

"You must now choose which of my aspects you will face. What is it that makes a hunter? Is it his strength? Or is it his speed. Perhaps it is his guile. Choose!"

What a stupid and cruel choice. No matter what, I'd be fighting a god ... a real one, not a false one like Dagoth Ur or Almalexia. It was not really a choice at all.

"Choose!"

Strength and speed were attributes that many animals possessed. It was the intelligence of the hunter that mattered. My fight with Karstaag had demonstrated this. Guile seemed an obvious choice. I would fight the Guile aspect, and hope that it was not as huge and strong as the frost giant had been.

I tried to answer but I was still under paralysis.

"I sense that you have chosen, mortal. I read your thoughts. You shall now face ... Guile! You are now ... the hunted!"

Hircine disappeared.

I could move again! I rubbed my eye.

A smaller copy of Hircine appeared about ten paces in front of me. This had to be Hircine's Aspect of Guile. Like Hircine, he carried a spear.

He rushed at me and thrust with the spear. I deflected the weapon with Chrysamere and darted to one side. He whirled and thrust, narrowly missing me. I ducked under his spear and slashed with my claymore. He slammed the spear down, trying to knock me out, but I shifted to the side in time and took it on the shoulder. I felt the presence of an enchantment in the weapon, which my birth sign absorbed and used to replenish some of my magicka.

With one hand I clenched hold of his weapon. I stabbed with Chrysamere with my other hand while I tugged on the spear. A claymore is a two-handed weapon but I was using it one-handed for this one move.

The Aspect kicked. I was forced to let go and take a few quick steps backwards. He charged at me. I brought my blade down upon the spear, then slid it along the shaft towards his hands. He back-peddled rapidly and I pressed forwards, swinging my blade repeatedly.

He returned to the offensive, thrusting past my claymore at my face.

I backed away and cast fire. He laughed and stabbed at me with his spear, which was deflected by my cuirass. This time my birth sign did not absorb the enchantment. There was a Poison spell and a Burden spell. My pack and weapon suddenly felt heavier, though I kept moving. I could sense a third enchantment, a paralysis effect. This was nullified by the resistance to paralysis that Almalexia had imbued me with, back in Mournhold.

I quickly quaffed a healing potion.

I chopped with Chrysamere, trying to shatter his spear, but without success. After dodging another thrust, I cast a levitation spell and flew up onto the nearest pillar. The Aspect waved a hand and the pillar vanished from beneath my feet. So much for that idea.

Still in flight, I tried to attack him from above, hoping to behead him. With alarming quickness, he parried. I flew away, settled on the ground and canceled my levitation spell. In this combat, flight was not going to work to my advantage. I ran towards the Aspect. Just then, the Burdon and Poison spells ended.

I dodged a spear thrust, turned the dodge into a spin and kicked. I heard the crack as my adamantium-booted heel smashed into his kneecap. He bellowed in pain, sounding more like a beast than a god.

Pressing my advantage, I batted his spear aside with my claymore and kicked again, higher, striking his jaw.

He thrust with his spear, but feebly. I slipped past it and thrust Chrysamere into his chest. He collapsed to his knees and dropped the spear. I kicked his chest while pulling on my sword. I stepped back. He then fell forward, dead. My blade had found his heart.

After wiping Chrysamere clean, I retrieved his spear and hefted it. I admired the balance. It was a fine weapon and I would keep it.

"No!" thundered the inhuman voice of Hircine from the air all around me, "this cannot be! You have ... beaten me, a mere mortal, and a woman!"

I hissed.

"This ... this cannot be ... "

A rumbling sound began. The room started to shake.

"You have won this time, but I will be back the next cycle. I will prevail, then. Enjoy your brief respite of a few centuries or so. Then, the Bloodmoon ... will come again."

One of the columns fell over. A chunk of ice fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor, not that far from me. The shaking grew worse: the floor pummeled my feet and I feared that I could not remain standing. I heard crashing noises all around me: more pillars were falling over. Another chunk of ice impacted on the floor.

I looked up and beheld, with horror, the sight of ... the rapidly descending ceiling: the entire cavern was collapsing. The approaching ceiling grew in my vision. I knew then that I was going to die. Nothing I could do would change this.

I disappeared in a blaze of white light.

I was standing outside, on the snow, near a huge pile of ice. Later on I learned that this was the Mortrag Glacier. I had no idea how I had gotten there. I could not figure out how I was still alive. Hircine must have teleported me outside ... but such an act of kindness did not seem in character for him. Perhaps there were rules to such activities as the Hunt, rules which even the daedra were required to obey.

Though the sun was shining, the moons were still out. They were no longer red: the Bloodmoon was indeed over ... until the next time.

There were no rieklings around, so I lay down on the snow and went to sleep.

I dreamed of a throne made of ice.

Good grief! Three well-detailed fights for the rice of one! Now that's a bargain one cannot miss, especially due to the fact that it included Karstaag, one of my favorite opponents! (Mostly because he is quite mysterious... Who is he trully? What is his past? If he is one of the Snow Daemons that live on Akavir, what is he doing here?)

But anyway, a great chapter. I suppose now we're going for the aftermath... Visiting all the people that were important. And then we'll wait and see what happens to Rashelle... Cyrodiil, perhaps? Or can this be the (gaspeth) end?

This was definitely a very action-packed conclusion to the main quest. We also need to find out what happened to Falx, since he stayed behind. I had hoped that perhaps we would've seen an altercation between She-Wolf and Rashelle, since it would've provided something unique to this conclusion but I can't get everything I want right?

Everything else was flawless though, I definitely enjoyed the Karstaag battle in particular. It was very smart of Rashelle to utilize her levitation abilities. Good thing this battle didn't take place in Mournhold!

I am glad you liked the fight scenes. They were very difficult to write. I suspect that Karstaag could waste Almalexia and Dagoth Ur together and not break a sweat.

No, not the end, yet.

Metal Mallet:

I thought about that, but ... the chapter already had almost too many fights. We don't want too much of a good thing, you know.

Right. Here is another chapter. This is not the last chapter: still some other things going on.


--
Chapter 26. Ice



It was still morning when I awoke.

After wedging the spear between my pack and cuirass, I set off to the east. Aside from the usual attacks, nothing of interest happened on the way.

It was in the early afternoon when I arrived at the Skaal village. Korst Wind-Eye was outside and, once he spotted me, he ran towards me.

"Rashelle! The Bloodmoon has ended, and you are back! I assume these events are connected?"

"Yes. The Daedra Prince Hircine ran me and the other leaders of Solstheim through the Hunt. Heart-Fang had a ring that turned him into a werewolf. This ring also stopped him from aging. He said that he had been alive for generations."

"Blodskaal, this agrees with some things I've noticed about him over the years. He never seemed to get older. I never suspected, though, that he would go so far as to become a werewolf."

"He is dead now. It no longer matters."

"Rashelle, perhaps we should not let the other Skaal know?"

"Whatever you say. So he is just 'missing?'"

"Aye, lass, that would be best. He'll be remembered as a brave Skaal warrior and a mighty chieftain, not as one who made dark pacts with gods best left unmentioned."

I nodded.

"Rashelle, I've managed to keep Runa from going on a wild search for you, though it was difficult. I believe that she is either in the Great Hall or your hut."

"Thank you, Korst."

She was in my hut.

"Rashelle! What happened to you? Where were you?"

"Sit down, calm down. I will tell you."

I did, including the part about the chieftain. I cautioned her that she should not speak of this last to any of the Skaal. She nodded.

"And now, Runa, tell me of this ice throne."

The smile left her face.

"I had that dream again," I continued, "When I mentioned it to you the first time, you looked like you had seen a ghost. You know something about it. Tell me. Now."

"N-no, Rashelle. it is nothing."

I said nothing. My eyes bored into her.

"It's nothing. You had a dream. I ... I was curious and I inquired about what the throne looked like. That is all. There is nothing else."

She was lying. I was mute.

"P-please Rashelle, no."

The air hung heavy with my silence.

She looked away and said, "Damn your eyes."

"Runa," I said softly, "that throne exists, doesn't it?"

She shook her head.

"You've seen it, haven't you?"

She turned her back on me and said nothing.

"It's the throne of your ... interim den-mother, isn't it?"

She turned and faced me again.

"Rashelle, let it go!" she shouted. "Forget all about it! It was just a dream, nothing more!"

"Runa."

"Let it go. I don't want you to turn into one of them. I don't want you to become what I have become!"

I said nothing.

She said nothing.

I waited.

"OK, I will tell you. Kyne help me if I regret this."

I remained silent. She wrung her hands.

"Rashelle, you have described the throne of the den-mother of the Ice Witches."

I knew it.

"Only a real den-mother, chosen by Kyne herself, can sit on it. Anyone else attempting to do so is immediately frozen into ice: dead. I ... I've seen it happen.

"This is why each ruler of the Ice Witches holds the title of 'interim' den-mother: they did not sit on the throne. None have sat in the throne, and lived, for centuries. None had the approval of Kyne."

A cruel goddess, this Kyne.

I nodded.

"Rashelle, if you sit on that throne, you will die."

"What if I do not?"

"Then you will be the den-mother of the Ice Witches. You will be the undisputed ruler, blessed directly by Kyne herself."

"Runa, if I were to rule them, I could stop the killing."

She said nothing.

"Runa. Let us go to the Ice Witches, the both of us."

"But, but," she sputtered.

"Look, I've been invited there."

"They will slay me."

"Ylva She-Wolf told me that any who traveled with me would be safe. That would include you, despite your deserter status. Ylva is dead now, but no one, save for you and I, knows this. That order will still be obeyed."

"I guess that would work, but still I don't feel too sure about it."

"Look, do you know the Mark and Recall spells?"

"Yes."

"Cast a Mark here, now. Then, you come with me to Domme. If anything funny happens, you Recall, OK?"

She nodded.

"As extra protection, you still have the healing potions I gave you when we were last at Raven Rock."

She nodded.

"Cast your mark."

She nodded and did so, though with a lack of enthusiasm.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning. I must do this, Runa."

"OK, Rashelle."



The trip was a long one. It was late in the day when we arrived at our destination.

"This is it. This is Domme," said Runa, sadly.

We stood in front of an entrance in a snow mound. It looked just like the entrance to Kolfinna's old dwelling.

I thought it odd that no one had stopped us on the way: I had spotted no sentries, no Ice Witches at all. Then again, I had been invited.

"Stay close to me, Rashelle. Protect me."

I nodded.

She lifted the fur flap over the door. We entered.

I found myself in an ice cave. So far, there was nothing to distinguish it from any of the others I had been in already ... save for the sound of distant combat.

I looked to Runa. She shrugged. Whatever was going on at Hag Headquarters was as unexpected to Runa as to myself.

She motioned for silence. I nodded. She crept forward and I followed in a similarly stealthy manner.

We came upon a dead Ice Witch. She had been slain recently, as blood was still pouring from her wounds.

Runa crouched down, closed the woman's eyelids and intoned, "Kiss at the end."

She stood up. I looked questioningly at her.

"She was a friend of mine."

"Emma?"

"No, this was Vori. She taught me weapons, spells."

I said nothing.

"Rashelle, something has gone wrong here."

We continued. The icy tunnel turned and we faced ... combat.

There were at least ten Ice Witches in the room. They were fighting each other. Twenty or so more lay dead.

I drew my sword. Runa put her hand on my arm and shook her head. I nodded, but did not replace my blade in its sheath.

Four were standing now. They cheered and then finally noticed us.

"Rashelle the outlander, have you come to take your place among us?"

"What is going on?"

"We have just vanquished the traitor, Svala, and her minions."

"What happened? Where is Ylva She-Wolf?" asked Runa.

This last was clever. Runa was pretending not to know of Ylva's death in Hircine's Hunt.

"The werewolves came. They attacked. We fought bravely but they tore through us and kidnapped Ylva."

"Rashelle," continued the woman, "I am Gunda. I rule as interim den-mother while Ylva She-Wolf, the legitimate interim den-mother, is away."

She kicked one of the corpses.

"These would have challenged my rule."

The werewolves had taken Ylva and this had been followed by a power struggle ... I was reminded of the rieklings at Karstaag Castle.

"Are you all that is left?" I asked.

"No; more of us are in the other tunnels and the Chamber, plus a few in the field."

Running around, killing. Lovely.

"Rashelle, would you join us now?"

At my side, Runa spoke up. She said, "Let us recruit the outlander in the Chamber of the Ice Throne."

"Yes that would be ... hey: you are a deserter, Runa."

"She is with me," I said.

"Rashelle, we have been sworn by Ylva to not attack you ... nor any of your companions, but she is a deserter, a traitor."

"Nonetheless, she is with me. Touch her not."

"Rashelle, we keep our word. We will not harm her, but she should not be here. This is ill-done, outlander."

"She is with me," I repeated.

"Very well then. Come this way."

Through another ice tunnel we went. There were more bodies in the corridors. Many Ice Witches had died in their little power struggle. Did they know anything besides killing? Could I really expect to change them?

We entered a large chamber in the ice. It had a high ceiling. Many ice stalactites hung from above, some of which joined with ice stalagmites that thrust up from the floor to form columns. It was rather pretty.

In the center was a tall high-backed throne of ice. I hissed. This was the throne from my dreams.

Runa in tow, I strode towards it.

"Outlander, No!"

I approached the throne. I could see that, as in my dream, it had no arms. This would allow me to sit down without my back sheath catching on anything.

I turned to them.

"You have said that I am a Nord on the inside. You have said that I am one of you. Perhaps I am actually the chosen of Kyne."

I was making this up. It sounded like something they would believe. It might even be true, though I did not want to think about that. Azura was god enough: I did not need the attention of Kyne as well.

"Perhaps," I continued, "I am meant to be the den-mother of the Witches. I have been told that if I sit on it and live, then I am your ruler. Is that true?"

"Yes outlander, but that will not happen. You will die."

"If I do not, I rule. Correct?"

"Yes, outlander."

Runa's hand clamped on my arm. I stopped.

"Rashelle, I will do it. I will atone and stop the killing this way."

"Stop the killing?" said Gunda, "Are you mad? That is what we Ice Witches do! We kill! We slay!"

"Kiss at the end," all of the women intoned in unison.

"And I rather like it," continued Gunda. "Runa: if you don't want to kill, then just leave. You'll get your kiss at the end soon enough. We Ice Witches slay. It's what we do. It's what we were meant to do. All life ends in death."

"No. I have read the original Book of the Ice Witches, the Secret Lore. We are not supposed to kill."

"Bah! I know the Secret Lore. It had been handed down across the generations for centuries. We kill!"

"It has become garbled along the way. Two centuries ago, we did not kill, we saved."

"Ha!" said Gunda, "You cannot know this. You were not alive then. No Nords live that long. We are not long-lived as the Elves are, though legend has it that we once were."

Enough. To much talk, not enough action. I placed a hand on the back of the throne.

A wind whipped through the air, blowing me back from the throne. The wind howled ... and formed words.

"No, I need someone who will stay."

The wind faded.

Runa stepped forward and put her hand on the seat of the throne.

Air forced its way into the room and, again, formed words, "No. She who has not wantonly murdered ... she will ascend."

Stillness and silence.

A younger-looking Witch stepped forward. Timidly, yet with a determined look on her face, she walked through the crowd. Her hair was a reddish brown color and was cut very short.

"I am Emma," she said, "I am new to the Ice Witches. I'm an orphan. I was recruited from the streets of a city in Skyrim just a few months ago. They told that I would end up a dead, or worse, if I continued my life that way. The Ice Witch recruiter told me that I could live a full life, to my potential, if I joined.

"I joined, not because I want to kill, but because I saw no other way to stay alive. To be a senseless killer would sicken me, but I thought that I had no other way out. I have started to train in weapons, in the magic. I have worked in the kitchen, I have cleaned the caves. I have not yet gone out to kill."

She approached the ice throne. I remained silent, as did Runa and the others in the room. Emma put her hand on the back of the throne. The look on her face indicated that she was terrified. She turned and then quickly sat on the throne: brave girl.

Nothing happened. I waited.

"I am the real den-mother," she said. "I sit upon the ice throne and do not turn to ice. Kyne has chosen me to lead."

I knelt on bended knee, as did Runa. You don't argue with a goddess. I turned to see that most of the other Witches was kneeling. Good.

"No!" said Gunda, who was still standing, "I like killing. This is a farce. The magic on the throne has worn out: anyone can sit on it now. I am the den-mother!"

Emma stood up and stepped away from the throne. With a strength that had not been present in her voice before, she said, "Sit. Now."

Gunda snorted and strutted forward to the throne.

"I will sit, then I will kill you."

She sat.

Instantly, a blue-white light outlined her form. She was turned to ice.

There was now a statue of ice in the shape of Gunda seated on the throne. Emma reached out and touched it. It shattered.

She brushed the pieces of ice from the throne and sat down again. Nothing happened.

"I am the den-mother."

I turned my head. All were kneeling.

"Runa. Tell me of the Secret Lore that you discovered."

Runa related our discovery of the book, its apparent age and its content.

"Runa Fire-Hair: you are now Runa of the Secret Lore, my second in command. Stay by me."

She nodded.

"Rashelle the outlander, you have traveled with Runa. You have aided her and have helped her to be good. Would you stay for a time and help me?"

"Yes."

I stayed with the Ice Witches for a few days: Emma needed to be protected during the transition. The goddess, Kyne, had made it clear that she was the den-mother, but there were still some assassination attempts. I killed more ice Witches; reactionaries who wanted to stay with the mistaken old ways. This was brutal but necessary.

Once things seemed to have settled down, I spoke to Emma and Runa, telling them that I was now leaving.

"Rashelle," said Runa, "I must stay here."

"I understand. This is good. You will atone over time. You will also help the others atone. Eventually, you will have saved more lives than you took."

"I will miss you. Thank you for allowing me to accompany you."

"I will miss you, also."

"Rashelle," said Emma, "you have helped me greatly these past few days. You have protected me and you have helped the Ice Witches reform. You have done a great service for us. You are now an Ice Witch.

"There will be no obligations upon you. You can come and go as you please. There will never be a task assigned to you. I know that you will not stay, but I do hope you will return here from time to time."

"I will."

"Rashelle, one other thing. I name you den-mother to-be. When my rule ends you will be my successor, the next den-mother."

Shrewd. She had just made me her insurance. She knew that I had already killed many Ice Witches. Any who sought to depose her would be given pause, as they would then, eventually, have to face me.

They didn't want to do that.

"By your leave?" I said.

Emma nodded.

I Recalled to Raven Rock.

Falco almost walked into me. He said, "by the gods, it's good to see you again!"

I smiled.

"Rashelle," he continued, "thank you again for sending Reinhardt Red-Spear my way. The man is a master of organization. I've got him keeping track of all of my paperwork. He's picked up company procedure rapidly. The man is a wizard! He's practically become my second-in-command."

"Good to hear, Falco. How have things been, otherwise?"

He frowned.

I waited.

"We've had werewolf sightings, and people have been disappearing. I think these two things are connected."

"How many?"

"Every night for the past four nights, someone has gone missing. Always one per night. It's as if only one werewolf were stalking the town."

I swore. With the Bloodmoon over, I had hoped that there would no longer be any werewolf problems on the island. This was not the case.

"Rashelle, there is a favor that I would ask of you."

I nodded.

"In view of the situation, I've ordered some silver long-swords for our guards. For whatever reason, these weapons were shipped to Carnius at the fort instead of directly here. I need someone to go fetch them and bring them here. Since you have a Mark placed here and since you also know the Divine Intervention spell, you could pop over there and get them here before the time when the werewolves change."

I looked questioningly at him.

"I've done some research. Werewolves change to wolf form two to three hours after sunset. If you get those swords now, the guards will be equipped for tonight."

I nodded.

"Excellent. Thank you."

I cast the Divine Intervention spell and was teleported to the fort.

After entering the Imperial cult building, I peeked into the chapel area. Antonius Nuncius was there, by himself. As no love was lost between us, I did not stay to chat.

I ascended the stone spiral stairway.

At the end of the hallway stood Constans.

"May I help you?" he said, again in a voice which indicated that this was the last thing he wanted to do.

An urge to slug him came over me but I instead forced a smile to my face.

"Falco sent me to pick up some silver long-swords."

"Oh yes," he sneered. He gestured to the table behind him, upon which were resting five silver swords.

"They are there. You may take them now."

"You are too kind," I said. It hurt.

They were not sheathed, but I figured that there would be an argument if I asked about that, so I said nothing. I silently picked the swords up and departed.

I descended the stairs and went outside.

I was wedging the swords between my cuirass and my pack, readying myself to teleport out, when I spotted Severia. She saw me and approached.

"Hail, Rashelle!"

"Hey Severia."

"Rashelle, the Captain is back! He returned four days ago, by Divine Intervention."

After a few more minutes of conversation, she bid her leave: off on her rounds again.

I wanted to speak to Carius and ascertain how he had escaped from the glacier. Since it was still daylight, I had plenty of time to get the swords back to Raven Rock. I strode to the General Quarters and then up the spiraling stone stairwell to Carius's office.

He was at his desk, going through some paperwork. He appeared healthy.

"Rashelle, good to see you again!"

"And good to see you. How did you get out of there?"

"When you left, I guarded that spot for a time. Nothing much seemed to be happening. I did not see any werewolves and I did not hear them either. It was as if, once you had gone through, that area had been abandoned."

I nodded.

"I heard a distant rumbling. It grew louder, and became less distant. Then a very strange thing happened."

I remained silent.

"I was suddenly standing outside, on the ice. I have no idea how or why that happened. Some rieklings were charging towards me so I gave my Divine Intervention spell a try. When I had tried it while in the maze, it had not worked. Now that I was outside, it worked and I was teleported here.

"Gaea and Severia confirmed that I indeed had been gone for a month. This is very strange as, to me, the whole affair took less than a day. I feel cheated of a month ... yet glad to be alive. I take it you won?"

I nodded.

"Rashelle, if you ever change your mind and decide to join the legion, speak to me. You are an amazing fighter, second to none."

I smiled and said nothing.

He nodded. We had an understanding.

"I must teleport out. By your leave?"

He nodded.

I cast Recall and was teleported to the colony.

I did not expect to see blood on the snow. Falco was there, a sword in his hand. There had been combat of some sort.

"Rashelle, thank the gods you're here!" he gasped.

"What's going on?" I asked as I pulled the silver swords out and dropped them on the ground.

"We've been attacked. It happened right after you left."

"Werewolves?"

"No, the Skaal!"

"Impossible!"

"You didn't see them: they are Skaal."

"Whatever," I said, knowing this was not the time to argue about it.

"We gave them more of a fight than they expected: they are now trapped in the mine. Could you go and deal with them?"

"I'm on it."

Into the mine I ran, to dispatch the remaining "Skaal." They fought furiously and would not surrender. I wanted to save one for questioning but that did not happen. The last one actually had a suicide pill that he broke between his teeth.

I carefully searched every body. In one, I found a note. I unfolded it and began to read. It contained orders for these ... mercenaries ... to slay everyone in Raven Rock and make it look like a Skaal attack.

It was signed "C".

Carnius.

At speed, I strode from the mine. Upon reaching Falco, I wordlessly handed him the note.

"So," he said after he read it, "those were not Skaal."

"I told you they were not. I am now of the Skaal, so I know."

He raised an eyebrow. I had not yet mentioned the whole Blodskaal thing to him.

"Long story," I said.

"Fair enough," he said. "I am sorry. For now, we need to deal with Carnius. I want you to confront him with this note."

"I'm on it."

I cast Divine Intervention and was teleported to the fort.

The obvious thing to do would be to march right up to Carnius's office, but I did not do this. I had a feeling that things were going to get ugly.

I found Severia and explained to her the situation.

"Rashelle, this note is not evidence enough. It is not proof. I can do nothing."

"I am aware of that."

"Then what are you asking of me?"

"I would like you to come with me. I am going to talk to Carnius now. I want you along in case he gets troublesome."

"Rashelle, if you taunt him or goad him into attacking you, you're on your own!"

I nodded.

"Very well, lead on."

Severia behind me, I entered the Imperial Cult building.

"Severia, when I enter his office, stay in the hallway and just listen. I don't want him to know that you are nearby. Listen and hopefully he will incriminate himself."

"Good idea."

I ascended the spiraling stairwell to the upper level.

Constans was standing by his table, as before.

He raised an eyebrow when he saw an Imperial Legion officer with me.

"Stand aside," I snapped, "Company business."

He sneered, but he did not move to stop me. Severia made the sign for silence and placed a mailed fist on her sword. Constans looked nervous and nodded.

I knocked on the door and called out, "Carnius, are you in?"

"Yes Rashelle, what do you want?"

"Company business. I being urgent news from the colony."

"Very well then, come in."

I opened the door and strode into the office. Carnius was seated at his desk, the usual array of paperwork around him. I closed the door behind me, but left it ajar.

"Hello Rashelle. As you can see, my work is never done."

"There was an attack on the colony."

"Oh gods, no ... some Nord barbarians?"

Now ... how could he already know that?

"Nord mercenaries, with orders to slay everyone in Raven Rock and make it look like a Skaal attack. Would you know anything about that?"

"No. How would I know?"

"The orders were written, I've read them. They are signed."

He said a word unflattering to woman and then, from his desk, drew a mace made of stalhrim. Where in Nirn had he gotten that thing? This confirmed that he had indeed come to Solstheim for the stalhrim.

"Die," he bellowed as he moved from behind his desk with surprising speed.

I was barely able to draw my claymore and parry in time: Carnius was fast. I backed away hurriedly as I blocked another swing. The door banged open and Severia rushed in, shouting, "HALT, BOTH OF YOU!"

He halted his advance and said to her, "Fetcher, this is none of your business."

"Drop your weapon, now," she hissed.

Carnius did a very stupid thing; he took a swing at Severia. He aimed for her head but she parried with her short sword in time. I rushed forward to assist her.

The man was good, surprisingly good: he had not always worked behind a desk.

Still, we took him down. He soon lay dead on the floor.

"You can go, Rashelle," said Severia, "you have broken no laws. He clearly attacked you, and he also attacked me. Raising a weapon against an Imperial Legion officer is the death penalty. The Captain will approve my actions."

"Thank you Severia, and I am sorry it ended up this way. I only wanted you to be a witness."

"I understand. It's OK. Think nothing of it."

"By your leave?"

She nodded.

I Recalled to Raven Rock.

Well that definitely ties up some loose ends. Glad to see the business with Carnius and the Ice-Witches dealt with appropriately. Now, what else is possibly in store I wonder?

That was . . . a . . . long chapter. You covered many things in very interesting ways. I especially liked the resolution of the ice witch story; it's very appealing to see them reformed and once again working for the greater good.

Yessss.....very impressive!....I like how Rashelle deals with..things. I also like her faiblesse for those horkers....they are indeed cute.

I´m really glad you post your story here, Blockie!

So that's the end? Wow, it sure became one hell of a ride at the end. Thanks.

You're welcome.

But that was not the end. This is:

--
Chapter 27. Conclusion



I found Falco in short order and related to him what had occurred.

"Since Carnius is now dead," he said, "I'm promoting you to Factor of the Solstheim branch of the East Empire company. The paperwork will go out on the next ship, but it is effective right away."

"You should be Factor, Falco."

"No, Rashelle. My place is here, at the colony ... where I can watch things, where I can make sure we do as little harm to Solstheim as possible."

I nodded. It seemed inevitable that I would achieve rank in every group in Solstheim except for the Legion.

I went to my house: it was time for sleep. I smiled as I settled in my bed: I was retiring early, just like Apronia always seemed to do. I slept. I did not dream of a throne: my dreams were my own.

My day began with breakfast at the Raven Rock bar. I wanted to explore today, to simply wander around, but that was not going to happen: I had things to do.

I cast Divine Intervention and was teleported to the fort.

I walked into the Imperial Cult building and ran up the stairs. Constans Atrius gave me his usual disdainful sneer.

He managed to say; "you're not going to kill me like Carnius, are you?" in a fearful, yet still snotty, tone.

He was Carnius's man and thus I could never trust him ... even with Carnius now dead.

"I am Factor now. I'm your boss."

I let that sink in.

"You're fired."

"y-y-you can't."

There happened to be no guards around at that moment. My hands latched onto his shirt front and I slammed him against the wall.

"You will leave Solstheim, now," I hissed. "You will go directly to the dock. You will wait there as long as it takes for the next boat to Khuul and you will take it. You will sleep outdoors on that dock if necessary. If I ever see you anywhere in Solstheim again, I ... will ... kill ... you."

I threw him. He landed on the floor. He coughed and spluttered.

"Now!"

He picked himself up and ran for the stairs.

I already knew who I would promote in his place: Reinhardt Red-Spear. As a former Skaal and a native of the island, and with all of the skills that Falco had remarked upon already, who better to run the East Empire Company's operations in Solstheim?

I went down to the Cult chapel. I was glad to see that Marisa was manning the altar.

"Hello, Rashelle."

"Hey Marisa. Good to see you. Have you got any sweetpulp, wickwheat or saltrice?"

"I've got all three, going to make more Restore Health Potions?"

"Yes. Of late, I've been handing out a lot of them."

"I'll bet."

She let me set my equipment up there, so that I could mix up the potions right away. We chatted as I worked.

"Nice technique," she commented.

"Thank you. I've practiced a lot: these potions will last a good half minute."

"Very nice."

I was using my silver dagger to clean out the calcinator when I froze.

"Rashelle, what is wrong?"

I looked at my silver dagger.

An adventurer, no matter what weapon they prefer, should always carry a dagger. Daggers are good all-purpose tools: they are useful for cutting meat, skinning animals and other mundane utilitarian tasks. Lastly, a dagger functions as an extra backup weapon. For the non-combat tasks, any dagger would serve. For combat, I required a weapon that would work on undead and daedra. This is why I had a silver dagger.

I continued to stare at my dagger.

I remembered cutting a piece of meat, weeks ago, in Raven Rock. Apronia had shied away. At the time I thought it was because of my frontier manners ... but my dagger was silver.

"Sweet Azura, no ... it can't be."

"Rashelle!"

"Oh, Marisa, I am sorry, I did not mean to be rude. It's just that ... a bad thought has occurred to me."

She raised an eyebrow.

"We've had some problems at Raven Rock and I think I've just figured them out."

I forced myself to not Recall straightaway. I made myself finish cleaning and stowing my alchemy equipment.

"Marisa, I must teleport out. By your leave?"

She nodded.

I cast Recall. Falco was standing not so far away. I strode towards him. His eyes widened: the look in my eyes warned him that something was the matter.

"Falco."

"Yes, Rashelle?"

"We have a problem."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Come with me, to the mine."

He nodded.

We entered the mine. It seemed a good place to speak in private, yet without appearing to be seeking privacy. I did not want to raise any suspicion as to my plans. Apronia never went into the mine.

"Falco," I said once we had walked for a ways, "I think I've got an angle on our ongoing werewolf situation."

"And?"

"I need you and the guards to cooperate on this matter."

"Tell me what to do, Factor."

I did. I explained my theory in detail. He was as shocked as I was, but he agreed with my logic.



Dinner was over and I'd just seen her enter her house.

"Remember," I said to the two guards with me, "anyone steps out of that door, even me, you shoot them, understood?"

They nodded. They held cross-bows and, during the day, I had obtained silver bolts.

"I will use Recall to leave that house. I will not use the door. If you see the door open, you shoot that cross-bow. Don't waste time ascertaining who it is. Shoot to kill. Understand?"

"But what if it is Apronia?"

"Then you slay her. Shoot to kill, no matter who it is. Am I clear?"

He nodded. I'd picked them myself. They had some personal loyalty to me in addition to company loyalty. They knew me well enough to know that I had to have a good reason for doing things this way, though I had not yet revealed it. I had only told Falco my theory.

I approached Apronia's house and banged on the door.

"Apronia," I shouted, "it's Rashelle. Open up! It's urgent!"

"Can't it wait? I've just gotten into my bed."

"It's important! I need to see you now! Please let me in!"

I heard footsteps approaching. I expected to then hear the sounds of her lifting the bar and unlocking her door, but I did not. The door opened. How odd: why had she not locked the door if she had just gone to bed?

She was wearing a nightgown. I pushed past her, into the house.

I looked around the room. I saw no clues, nothing to confirm or deny my theory. It appeared a normal room of a silly girlie-girl type of woman, the sort who had never used a sword and probably spent more on makeup than I did on food.

"Apronia," I said as I closed the door behind me, "You and I are going to have a chat."

"Rashelle, what is so urgent?"

"I'll get to that, in time."

"What a minute, 'in time'? I thought you said it was urgent."

"You sit in that chair. I'll stand here. We are going to talk."

She made no move.

"Rashelle, I think you should leave."

"Apronia," I hissed, "Sit. On. That. Chair. Now!"

She was visibly nervous now, or at least appeared to be. She scurried to the chair and sat down.

"Why did you come to Raven Rock?"

"I-I ... that's an odd sort of question, Rashelle."

I waited.

She waved her hands, as if to pluck words out of the air, but said nothing.

"You are unsuited to the frontier life. It does not seem to please you. Why would a soft high-bred women like you be here?"

"Well, I, uhh ... I'm not sure I like your manner!"

"Never mind. We'll talk of something else."

I studied her. I knew from my talk with Falco that it was almost the time for a certain something to happen. I wanted her to still be in her house when it did.

"I almost never see you eating, Apronia. When I do, it's always very small portions. Are you OK?"

"A girl's got to keep her figure slender, it's how the men like it."

"Like Stenar, the man you were with, the one slain by the werewolf."

She nodded.

"That was a terrible thing, wasn't it?"

She nodded.

"Eating so little ... do you get hungry?"

"Well, yes but I ..."

She froze. She had been about to let something slip but had just caught herself. My suspicion grew.

"Pardon me," I said, "I need to trim a hang-nail."

I took my silver dagger out.

Silver was rather effective against werewolves: weapons made of silver did almost double the damage of the corresponding steel weapons.

She drew a breath in and she stared. I Picked at one of my nails with the blade.

"It's silver, Apronia."

She said nothing. Her eyes were riveted to the blade.

"Do you like silver, Apronia?"

"N-no."

I turned the blade. It caught the light from one of the candles.

"I ... I have an allergy."

Something in her eyes was changing. She began to fidget.

I waited.

"They say werewolves eat people. Have you heard that?"

"No-no."

Her eyes were definitely changing color ... to yellow. I sheathed my silver dagger, reached back and placed a hand on Chrysamere.

She shimmered. her nightgown tore as she assumed wolf form. My suspicion had just been confirmed. Apronia was a werewolf.

I could see it all ... everything was very clear, now. The ship had not yet reached its destination when the Change occurred. Thus revealed to the crew as a werewolf, it became necessary to kill them. That was why each one of them had their throat ripped out. Unable to control the ship, at least not well, she had managed to sail past the colony and run aground.

She had probably fed on the crew and then waited for sunrise. I remembered how she had burped when I had first met her.

Luckily for her, the draugr appeared at some point after the crash: this gave her a decent cover story for the deaths of the crew. For the hours until the inevitable search party (that was me) came, she hid behind the ship.

I remembered taking her back to Raven Rock, how that one wolf had menaced her ... but had not attacked. Perhaps she had commanded it to growl at her to enhance her cover story. It seemed logical that a werewolf would be able to command regular wolves.

Every night she had changed into a werewolf. That is why she had gone to bed early ... so that no one would see her Change. She had probably slipped out of her cabin and darted into the wilderness just before it happened.

This explained why she had always eaten so little ... she had already fed, on berserkers, reavers, Fryse Hags and, at times, the people in the colony.

She had come to Solstheim for a new, unsuspecting, food supply.

Sweet innocent Apronia had fooled us all.

I drew Chrysamere.

She growled and leaped for me. The combat did not last long. I'd fought many werewolves during the Hunt. Compared to those, she was weak. Two strokes and she was dead. I did not feel any remorse at killing her. I felt a bitterness that she had chosen such a life. And I felt a horror at how many had died because I had not made the connection earlier.

The body shimmered and changed back into human form. I cast Recall and appeared not far from Falco. His eyes widened when he saw the expression on my face and the blood on my sword.

He looked questioningly at me and said, "I heard growling."

"She Changed right in front of me. She was a werewolf. She fooled us all, Falco, she fooled us all."

"So ... that time when she was kidnapped?"

"The werewolf that I thought had kidnapped her ... was her. She killed Stenar herself. I'll bet she ran into that Dwemer ruin and waited until she Changed back to human form. I'll further guess that, as she felt that Change coming on, she slashed herself with her own claws to fake being wounded by a spriggan."

Falco and I then explained the situation to the guards. No one (still alive) had witnessed her becoming a werewolf save for myself, but Falco and the guards had heard the growling coming from her house. They believed me.

For my next task, I found Reinhardt Red-Spear and promoted him. He used a Divine Intervention Scroll to teleport to the Fort. I apologized to Falco for taking his best man away, but he understood the necessity.

I teleported to the fort.

For a day or so, Red-Spear and I sorted though the paperwork left by Constans and Carnius. I told him the full story regarding those two and of the stalhrim.

"I think you have things in hand now. As I will be away most of the time, you and Falco together will effectively act as the Factor."

"Understood."

"No offense, but you are new to this position. Double-check every thing you do, and try to consult with Falco whenever possible. Do whatever he says. He's got more experience in the Company than you or I do. We don't want Corporate Headquarters to stick their nose in and disrupt things here. As a 'native', they will be watching you closely, looking for a problem. Don't mess up."

"Aye, lass, I understand."

"Reinhardt, one other thing. You should learn the Mark, Recall and Divine Intervention spells as soon as you can. You'll need to be able to move between here and Raven Rock instantly. For now, just go down to the Cult altar and buy more scrolls."

"Yes, sera!"

I nodded. It was time to go.

"Rashelle?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you, for everything."

"And thank you. Goodbye, Reinhardt."

"Goodbye, lass."

It was with a light heart that I walked to Thirsk. The Bloodmoon was over, the Ice Witch problem had been sorted out and I'd vanquished the werewolf at Raven Rock. It was time for some rest and relaxation.

When I arrived at the mead hall, there was one last surprise, though a happy one: Thormoor, the man who I'd saved from a curse of eternal sleeplessness, had made his way to Thirsk.

"Thank you again, lass. I sleep the whole night now, regardless of how noisy the party gets."

"You are welcome. I am glad that you are here."

I stayed for several days. Those were happy times, but I began to grow ... bored, unsatisfied. One day I woke up and knew that it was time to go.

We were eating breakfast when I told her.

"I am leaving."

"I wish you would stay."

"I can't."

"I know. You have obligations to your House, to your stronghold. You've made this clear to me before"

I nodded.

"And you are the adventuring type. You have to always move on. I just wish that, I wish that ... I'd hoped that you would change your mind and stay here."

"I'm sorry Svenja. I feel very bad about this, but I must go."

She sighed.

"If I asked you to come to Vvardenfell with me, would you?"

"No, this is my place, this is where I ..."

"Svenja: as Thirsk is to you, Vvardenfell is to me."

"I understand. Rashelle, will you come back?"

"I am the Chieftain of Thirsk, Factor Of Raven Rock, Blodskaal and other things. You are my friend. I will come back."

"I'll miss you."

"I will miss you too. We've had some good times."

"Aye, that he have."

Soon, I was packed. I stepped outside of Thirsk. On a whim, I cast Levitation and floated up onto the roof. I sat and watched clouds drift across the deep blue Solstheim sky. I was all ready to go: a simple cast of Almsivi Intervention would have me back in Gnisis instantaneously, yet I felt the need to pause and reflect.

I was chieftain of Thirsk. I was the Blodskaal. I was an Ice Witch of the new, non-murderous, type: I had stopped the killing. I was Factor of the East Empire Company operations in Solstheim. It would be easy to settle here.

The breeze felt cool against my face and my bare arms. Most people would find it cold and would shiver and don furs. I was fine in just my usual armor. My body wanted to stay in Solstheim, if only for the cold.

I did not want to stay: there was a dissatisfaction in me. Solstheim was nice, but it was not enough. Solstheim had been fun, it had been like ... some wonderful, cold, snow-filled dream ... but now it was time to wake up. I wanted to go back to Vvardenfell. It was time to check on the affairs of my stronghold at Bal Isra, and it would be good to accompany the buoyant armigers on another patrol into Red Mountain: though Dagoth Ur was gone, there were still blighted creatures to take care of. I wanted to see all of my friends in Vvardenfell again.

I cast Almsivi Intervention and was teleported to Gnisis. I walked the short ways from Gnisis to the nearby Dunmer stronghold. From there, I used my propylon master index to teleport to the Guild of Mages in Caldera. I had the Guild guide send me to Ald'Ruhn.

In a short time I found Louis Beauchamp, the Breton mentioned in the log of the airship.

"Why hello there," he said as his eyes wandered up and down and, predictably, lingered on my chest, "Yes, I am he. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"I am Rashelle, I've just returned from Solstheim."

"Ah, such a fascinating place, did you know that ... "

I silenced him with my eyes.

"Sera, I found the wreck of a strange sort of flying ship."

"Oh no!"

"The log book mentions you by name."

"I should hope so: I commissioned that expedition, after all!"

"If I read the log correctly, the purpose of the expedition was to obtain the Amulet of Infectious Charm."

"Yes, that is correct ... were there any survivors?"

"No. they all either froze to death or were killed by wolves."

He shuddered and said, "such a terrible fate."

"Why did you seek the amulet?"

"It is a rare and unique Artifact of historical significance."

I narrowed my gaze. An intuition told me that here was more to it than that.

"Also, it will make me charming as anything. I don't have too much luck with the ladies, so that amulet will change that. I'll have two every night. It will let me rope them in like ... that is ... err."

He stopped. He remembered that he was speaking to a woman.

"So, muthsera, you spent a lot of time and money to send five people to their deaths just so that you could find the amulet of Infectious Charm. You did this just so you could use it to coerce women to make love to you who otherwise would not. Is that correct?"

"Well, I, err."

My eyes now had the hardness of obsidian, as well as the color.

From the my pack I retrieved the amulet. I held it up so he could see it. He wisely did not reach for it. Fear was in his eyes.

I clenched the amulet within one fist. I cast a frost spell. Wisps of icy vapor issued from between my fingers. Icicles formed. I cast the spell again. There was a cracking sound and I felt a burst of magic as the enchantment was extinguished. I opened my fist. Fragments of the shattered amulet clattered on the ground.

"Respect women," I hissed.

I walked away.





Epilog



The night sky was clear, showing the stars with an unusual brilliance. As she was the goddess of the night sky, I took this as a favorable omen. I levitated up from the water and into the air. As I rose, the silhouette of her statue grew in front of me. The outstretched arms, holding the moon and star, seemed to welcome me.

I had lost track of time as I traveled, but I knew that it was very late, some time after midnight.

The spell cut out as I landed by the entrance to the shrine.

I wore a plain brown robe over my usual armor, but this feeble attempt at anonymity would do me no good if anyone were to get a close look at me. No other Breton had my raven hair, my striking eyes and the unique sword Chrysamere at their back.

I entered. As always, the serene atmosphere of the place came over me. I had heard that the inside of the Shrine of Azura was under Daedric Grace ... no combat or strife could happen within its interior, and I could well believe it.

There were a few people inside, even at this very late hour. I was glad that it was not a major Holy Day: the crowd then would have been ... annoying.

I knew that I had been instantly recognized, but the others in the shrine respected the air of the place and left me alone. I stood in the queue of people waiting for the statue, as if I were just another pilgrim.

Then it was my turn. I knelt at the statue. There was nothing. No contact. I reached out and touched the statue. There was no sense of contact, no voices. Disappointed, yet somehow still serene, I stood up and walked towards the door.

Slowly I walked, mulling upon what had just not happened. After all of my adventures in Solstheim, especially my encounter with Hircine, I had really wanted to achieve some sense of closure by speaking with Azura. Apparently that was not going to happen. Perhaps I did not need to ... she would know.

I strode outside, onto the platform. There were no people here at the moment. The sky had lightened during the time that I was inside. The sun was about to rise.

I had no clear thought in my head as to where to go now, what to do, so I sat down, facing east. Sunrise was a time of Azura.

The sun begin to peek over the horizon

And there she was.

She had chosen to manifest as a tall Dunmer woman, attired as depicted in many of her statues.

I began to rise, that I might shift to a kneeing position.

She motioned for me to stop. I sat back down.

"Rashelle, you have done much for the people of Vvardenfell."

She smiled.

"... and elsewhere."

She referred to recent events in Solstheim.

"You have defended the weak, the good. You have destroyed many evils. You have done many good things. You have saved many. You have given comfort, you have taken justice."

I blinked.

"Rashelle, when we spoke last, in Mournhold, I tasked you to defend my people."

I nodded.

"You have done so. Because of all that you have done, the world has become a better place. If you felt that there was something you needed to atone for, you have more than done so."

I was silent. I looked up into her eyes.

"Rashelle, you are free."

I looked questioningly up at her.

"You have done so much for me, and done it well, and have surpassed my greatest expectations. You are freed of any obligations to me. You are free to live your own life."

I bowed my head.

"You have achieved great power and even a touch of immortality, yet it has not corrupted you. You have retained your humanity, your inner goodness. Most anyone in your situation would have tried to become a king, or even a god. You mortals tend to become greedy; you tend to crave more power over each other. I feared that this would happen to you, that you would try to become a god. I would have had to slay you."

I was not upset by this. I looked up at her and waited, calmly.

"You did not fall into these temptations. You are to be congratulated for this. You are truly a rare gem."

Azura, Mother of the Rose, touched my cheek. Then she faded away. The sun was now above the horizon.

I left.

What a wonderful way to tie everything together. Excellent work, blockhead!

Now, the question is will this be the last we see of Rashelle?

The end... I'm quite sad, really. Now I can only hope we're going to see Rashelle in Cyrodiil, or continuing her adventures in Vvardenfell... But oh well. Even if there's nothing more to Rashelle's story, I can say that this was a very enjoyable and great story, as was the Mournhold one.

That was a very satisfying ending. It wrapped things up in way that was unexpected yet very welcome. Although I am sad to see the story come to an end, I am happy that it ended well.

AhhhhApronia a werewolf? Now that was unexpected....but it really made sense.Quite an interesting and very beautiful ending..hmmmm

Ok so the inevitable question arises:

Will she come back? Will we learn more about this extraordinary woman?

Please please pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaase!

Wow, you had planned the Apronia-plot from the start? I'm impressed by the little details you used there.

And it does seem like she's cursed to never achieve rank in the legion. That's one of those things TES does in a weird way. Most people would be amazed at achieving a high rank in one faction but here, gaining the highest rank in ten different factions can be done in less than a game year.

Minque:

I think a few people here (Lord Revan, metal mallet) had figured out the Apronia werewolf thing early on. I can't fool you people ... can I? This is not in the game, by the way.

jack cloudy:

While Rashelle has become on very good terms with a few members of the Legion, in general she has mixed feelings about them. That whole prison ship to Vvardenfell thing, you know?

Gaius Maximus:

Thank you. Have you read the Lokken story yet? It takes place after this one. I think it was posted before you joined the forums. It's here on this forum.

Thank you everyone, for the comments through the whole story. They really helped.


A few scattered observations ...

The final word count for this thing (according to the handy unix "wc" program) is 106273. For comparison, the english version of Jules Verne's "20000 Leagues Under the Sea" is 103037 words. I have written my first novel! Whoa.

The reason for this is that I actually wrote everything in (save for one quest). In my Lokken fanfic and in my Tribunal Fanfic (to a great extent) I dropped some quest/plot lines.

The Dwemer ruins in Solstheim are from my "Bloodmoon Dwemer Additions" plugin. It's fun to write a plugin into a story. The Ice Witch book is not in the plugin, however.

Nano was used to write the stories: I like a nice minimal text-editor. ispell was used to check the spelling. Though Morrowind is a Windows game, my fanfic are all written in linux.

The idea of the Shrine of Azura being a serene and calming place is taken from Treydog's first story, "The Story of Trey".

The idea of Daedric Grace does not actually exist in Lore (that I know of). I got the idea from a Doctor Who episode (either 4th or 5th doctor), where it was explained that the interior of the TARDIS is supposed to be under "Temporal Grace."

The personality for Bereditte Jastal, the Breton in Thirsk was partially inspired by Joxter from Xena. Which reminds me: there's a cameo from that show in my Tribunal fanfic: Rashelle sees Gabby in the sewers under Mournhold.

Most of the Fryse Hag "Lore" in this story is entirely made up, although some is taken from research into real Celtic & Scandinavian folklore. In-game, there is no information about the Hags save for one or two dialog entries that essentially say "They worship Kyne, the mother of men and they kill anyone not of their order". That's all! The fact of them being called Ice witches can be ascertained by looking at some unused NPCs in the Construction Set. And I *think* that "Fryse" translates as "Ice". Not sure ... maybe minque might know?

I'm not sure if Bethesda intended the Fryse Hags to be Valkyries or not ... there are differences (a valkrie does not slay, but instead chooses corpses from the battlefield). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkyrie

Bethesda could also have taken the idea from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cailleach
"In Scotland, The Cailleachan (lit. 'old women') are also known as The Storm Hags, and seen as personifications of the elemental powers of nature, especially in a destructive aspect."

The "old style" non-murderous healer Fryse Hags are were inspired by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6lva (Volva) "They were highly respected members of society who took care of people's ailments, both physical and spiritual with their herbalism and prophecies."

Wikipedia is real handy.

Rashelle herself is inspired from many sources, including:

• John Carter from Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom novels.
• Xena and Gabrielle (Mmmmmmmmm, Gabby, sigh).
• Conan (original Howard stories, not the movies & comics)

As to what I write next ... not sure. Taking a few days off right now. NaNoWriMo is coming up and perhaps if I participate in that, I can finally figure out how to think up original stories/plots. All I've ever been able to do was rewrites of existing plots, although with variation (the Ice Witch subplot and the Apronia subplot ... but those are only subplots - they would not work as standalone stories).

I've had a Lokken 2 story in the works for some time, but it is STUCK and may never get finished. There's this little matter of it HAVING NO PLOT. Argh.

Again, thank you all for your comments.

Now I'm off to read jack cloudy's latest installment.

I wasnt quite aware of it until now, I accidentally found it while searching for fanfics to read. Up in chapter 3 already, and so far it's as good, if not better, as this one. I never played the mod that it is taking place in (apparently), so it's all new and interesting to me.

And yes, it was posted after I joined... Mmm, good thing I joined later. Now I can read all the stories in the chronological order!