This day was not starting how he thought it would. He still had a head that felt like an axe was planted in it, but thanks to her ministrations it wasn't as bad as it should be. Gods. With his brain still struggling to recover from the previous night's abuse he usually had very few options.

He and Karnwyr would be in the deepest parts of the forests away from people and commotions until the throbbing passed. It wasn't until Serlina had left to take care of a few things in town that he finally had risen from the bed , grateful that he didn't feel that horrible feeling of the room spinning. He had dressed, armed, and met her outside, basking in the light in the plaza, map out and nose deep in it. And now, he shook his head as he followed Serlina into the cave, the very air inside dropping several degrees. It felt good against his heated face as the ventured deeper.

"Nice… decorations." Serlina muttered flicking a string of bones. "Very homey." Her voice was low, careful to not alert any potential enemies nearby.

"What, they don't do it for you?" He asked, his eyes looking toward tunnel that lead deeper into the cave. "Just so you know, princess, flowers are no longer the ideal decoration." He heard her tsk.

"Aw damn. So, my place isn't as welcoming back in Whiterun?" She mocked alarm and made the corner of his mouth till upwards.

"Fraid not." He replied and she pouted.

"Well shit." She murmured, snapping her fingers gently as she walked onwards. "At least it smells better." She lowered to the ground, her footsteps fading on the stone. "My place that is." She finished.

"No doubt about it." The air was musty but it held a certain feeling to it that had him feeling uneasy. It felt charged. "Alright. Up or down?" He asked when they came to a split path. One leading down, the other, a smaller ledge leading upwards.

"You could get a better vantage point up there if we need one. You go up, I'll go down." Nodding, he drew his bow, Karnwyr padded ahead of him keeping to his path as well. She drew a blade and went left, letting him venture right. He followed the ledge to a small opening into a larger room. Scouting the room, he counted 3 draugr and two mages to his far left. He could almost see the archway that Serlina would come out of. Notching an arrow, he caught her peeking out from the archway, looking around the corner. She looked to the mages, and her body seemed to tense a little. Then her eyes moved from them to the door immediately in front of him, then, her face lifted, until her eyes settled on him. He jerked his head to get her to come his way then aimed to the mages. She crept slowly over, keeping her back to the cave wall. Arrow loose, it soared over her head and embedded in the mages neck. Better to take them out before they summoned anything and made more problems for them. The mage was chocking, grasping at the arrow as blood flowed over his fingers getting the other to turn towards them and with a raised hand, his body glowed blue for a moment. The commotion drawing the draugr to them. Karnwyr let out a snarl and jumped into the fray as Serlina took to fighting the walking dead. Another arrow notched and he followed the mages movements while they threw spears of ice towards his position. 'That's right' he thought trailing him, 'keep your eyes on me.' He let a shot go and it embedded in the mages hip, letting a few curses fly. Another to his heart and the mage dropped to the cold ground. Below, he heard Serlina's blade slashing through the draugr, making quick work of them. Karnwyr taking one down all by himself. Drawing his dagger, he dropped and took to closer combat with the draugr. When the last of them were dead, he caught the way she looked at the mages with a face that looked like she was wincing.

"Oi, ladyship." He called getting her attention. "You okay?"

"Yeah... Just..." Her fingers lifted to her neck, near the stone. "Feels warm here..." She murmured, her brows furrowing a little.

"Did you say 'warm'?" He scoffed. "Ladyship, this cave reeks of death. I don't feel any 'warmth' here."

"I don't mean in here I meant," she whispered gently then shook her head, like she was physically ridding herself of a thought. "Must be my imagination. Let's go." They walked through the wooden door until they got to what looked like a sinkhole. "No other way by the looks of things." She frowned. "Seems we gotta go deeper underground." She said peering down.

"That's a decent drop." He said after casually kicking a small stone over the edge, the sound of stone on stone clanking around below. A growl of something else followed and soon a skeleton walked towards the small commotion, a single arrow had it falling into a pile of bones. "Seems to have a few ledges to use to climb down." He jerked his chin in the direction, across from him, redirecting her gaze.

"Looks doable. I can shimmy down and-"

A large shard of ice flew through the air, between them, hitting near her hip, causing her to cry out and bend forward, her hands clutching at the shard.

"Ladyship!" His heart thundered in his chest when she began falling down into the hole below on a pained gasp, landing harshly on her shoulder. "Hang on!" His blood burned in fury at the sight of the stumbling draugr that walked into view, it's hand upraised as it casted a frost spell at her form. His body moved, jumping from the ledge, landing on a section below, his feet slipping a little on the stone as he gained grip. His fingers bit into the rough stone as her pained cries echoed below drawing his gaze. Just under him was the draugr. Perfect. Drawing his knife with one hand, he leaned away from the ledge and dropped, his boots landing directly on the draugrs shoulders, sending it to the ground with a squishy crunch that made him pleased. Running the knife over the creatures throat, had it gurgling to a stop. Sheathing it, he raced to her side. She looked like she was in a good deal of pain. Her clothes lightly coated in the frost from the cast. "Ladyship! You alright?" He asked looking over her and winced at the shard sticking out from her abdomen. Blood slid down hip and soaked the cloth material of her tunic, but yet, even though pain fluctuated on her face, the defiant stance and angry crease through her forehead indicated she wasn't about to go down without a fight.

"I've," she winced a little. "Felt better. The fall hurt more than this." She gestured to the shard. "It makes you numb after a second, so it's not as bad." She took a shallow breath and then laid a hand over the shard. Her hand shook a little when she tried to pull it away from her body. On a pained exhale she dropped her hand, shard still unmoved. "I can't move it." She shook her head. "And I can't heal until it's out." She huffed a breath, wincing a bit...

"You want me to take it out?" He offered, his hand already reaching for it when hers landing on his wrist to halt his movement.

"No no!" She winced at her fast movement. "It's fine." Her eyes squeezed shut a moment then opened to land on his. "You know, I think I could work this." Her voice had risen a little, making the lie ring that much clearer. All he had to do was raise a brow at her and she slouched a little. "Just give me a minute and it should just... go away."

"Should have disappeared when the son of a bitch was dead." He muttered glancing over to the heap.

"Well then he's still alive. It hasn't gone away." She sighed, her eyes twinge a little. He just looked at her stupefied.

"You can't be serious? His spine is most likely in his stomach." He gestured to the body with his hand as he spoke.

"He's already dead, ranger. Where his bones are doesn't matter." Her voice was clipped and had him scoffing at her.

"Pft. Bastards throat was cut and the lights are out of his eyes." He clipped back and had her rolling her eyes. "You want me to check for a pulse or something?"

"You know what. Yeah. Be sure to press your hands deep into his rotting flesh. Neck is best." He balked a little at her sarcasm but found himself smirking.

"That mouth of yours, ladyship." He chuckled low when she huffed gently.

"Yeah it gets me places." She looked around. "Where's Karnwyr?" She asked leaning up a bit to look back up the hole they- well he- had climbed down from.

"You have a block of ice in your gut, don't worry about the wolf. He'll find a way down." He internally smirked. Karnwyr always had a way of getting around. He didn't have to worry.

"It's not that bad. I've had worse." She said under her breath making him draw a long inhale.

This. Woman.

Looking at her he leaned forward and wrapped a hand around the shard firmly. The bite of the cold made his brows furrow. She would be right. After a short time, with the draugr dead, it should have disappeared. But the wound would numb, though that wouldn't stop her from getting infected. Or worse.

"Just leave it in!" She whimpered a little and that had his eyes landing on hers.

"It's gotta come out sooner or later, ladyship." His fingers drummed gently on the ice.

"Fffffine." She drawled the F enough to make him smirk. "If your going to do it, at least be gentle." She spoke gently, and he felt the faintest stir in him.

"So that's what it's going to sound like." He teased, drawing her attention from his hand to his face.

"What?" She whispered and he smirked when her eyes widened a little in confusion.

"Fast or slow?" He asked and smiled when her eyes sharpened on him.

"Don't make taking an ice shard out of my gut a double entendre." She raised her chin a little and he felt a small urge to nip it with his teeth.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well slow could make it worse so the logical answer would be-Fast!" On the word fast his grip tightened and he pulled upwards sharply, dislodging it from her. She groaned lowly, her face scrunching up in pain as he tossed the shard at the wall, shattering it into smaller pieces. He heard the sounds of Karnwyr padding over to them and smirked.

He always had a way.

"Better?" He asked and laughed when she shoved his shoulder.

"You didn't even warn me! No countdown, no, 'hold your breath." She moaned and pressed a hand to the circular wound as she opened one of her satchels and pulled a red potion.

"You would have tensed up. Needed you nice and relaxed for what needed to be done." She uncorked the bottle with her teeth and spit the cork at him, making Karnwyr bark happily and trotted over to her as she drank the small potion greedily.

"Only you could make a wound sound sexual." She hissed softly as the wound closed.

"I think I was very well behaved. I went that entire conversation and not once did I mention the word 'penetration'. Though the undead seemed to only be shooting for you and-"

"Bishop." She snapped a little sternly making him widen his eyes a little. "Can you NOT have me, the undead and the word 'penetrated' in the same sentence." She shuddered and he himself groaned with disgust.

"When you say it like that," He rubbed at his eyes wishing he could burn the words she had said out of his mind. "Ugh!"

"Skyrim!" She raised a hand, fingers spread wide like she was telling a tale to the ceiling. "What a place to be in!" She mocked and he couldn't help the laugh that rumbled from him. Her hand dropped as she scratched Karnwyr between his ears. "I take it he's no longer sulking about… whatever it was he was sour about earlier?" She looked from Karnwyr to him and he scoffed.

"Yeah. It wasn't a big deal." He offered a hand to her and helped her back up when she was looking good to go. Walking ahead deeper into the cave, he casted Karnwyr a look. The half lie tasted like salt in his mouth as he followed. That didn't bother him as much as the fact that the lies he had told in the past didn't taste like… Anything.

And yet... He glanced to her and watched as she rested a hand over where the wound was, keeping it safe. No doubt feeling the twinges of the healing still. Even now, Karnwyr stuck closely to his side. Though he would never forget the way Karnwyr looked. When he had called Karnwyr into the room again Karnwyr sniffed along his chest, his arms, legs and snorted, like the scent irritated his nose. His face expressing the wolf's internal question 'the fuck?'

His hungover mind had taken a second or two longer to finally piece together why. Her scent must have been all over him from the way Karnwyr had looked at him with such... betrayal.

"Don't look at me like that. I can take a lot this morning, and I'm just about at my limit, but I can't take the betrayed look your giving me."

He'd moved his legs over the edge of the bed, leaned forward and took the wolfs face in his hands. "Weren't you the one who was climbing up on a bed with her first?" He asked and received a huffed bark that resembled a wolfish chuckle. He scoffed and scratched at Karnwyr's jaw. "If anyone would be jealous it would be…" He stopped short and nearly bit the inside of his cheek till it bled. No. He wasn't jealous. He never got, and it was his wolf for fuck's sake!

"I'd say nothings changed but..." He'd glanced to the door, her words rang in his ears, 'next time' she had said… "I wont lie to you... Things are in fact changing." He'd admitted and felt his chest expand and his mood elevated enough to have him chuckle gently when the tail wagged a bit. "Yeah. You can be happy about that, you mutt." He had told him as he rose up out of the bed. He had to wash up a bit and all had been well. His pants had been kicked off and laid at the foot of the bed, making him grip them tightly in his hands until they shook. He had been a single piece of cloth away from being completely bare to her.

She had been so close, close enough to coat him in her scent to the point where Karnwyr had been shocked and walked away. And he didn't remember anything... Nothing but fragments.

"Thanks for taking care of the draugr." She called back to him drawing him back to the now from his morning memories.

"Anytime, ladyship. Those hips of yours are too lovely not to avenge." Her soft laugh had him smiling as they delved deeper into what looked to be ruins.

As they entered, it quickly became clear that something is very wrong in the cave; blue beams of light spear across the room and chanting voices can be heard:

"Wolf Queen. Hear our call and awaken. We summon Potema!" One lone voice rang out.

"We summon Potema!" Several voices echoed, making them cast alarmed looks at one another.

"Potema?" Serlina echoed and looked from him to Karnwyr. "You know anything about her?" She asked openly and received a whine from the wolf.

"Doesn't ring anything with me." He drew his bow and an arrow. "But I'd say those lights are hardly mood lighting."

"Ominous blue light doesn't do it for you?" She whispered as they moved forward as she slowly drew her swords.

"I'm more of a-" He stopped abruptly when she winced, her neck jutting forward slightly. "You alright?"

"Just felt like... I got a… burn on my neck." She held both swords in one hand and traced her neck with the other.

"Let me see." He stepped towards her, his hand lifting the lapels of her tunic away slightly. The light in the cave wasn't that good but he couldn't faintly see a small blooming red mark on her collarbone. His brows furrowed. She hadn't been struck by anything. He doubted anyone knew they were here yet.

"It's fine. I'm fine." Her hand lifted to his wrist and squeezed reassuringly.

"If you say so." He dropped his hand and turned towards the blue lights.

"Long have you slept the dreamless sleep of death, Potema. No longer. Hear us Wolf Queen! We Summon You!"

"We summon Potema!"

"Sounds like some crazy cult shit going on here." He muttered as they moved farther in.

"Sounds like they got the chanting down. All they need now are some candles… to..." She trailed off, her sarcasm running short when they cleared the short cave corridor, their gazes turn right and he heard a small gasp from Serlina.

The blue lights all lead to the same platform, high above the ledge they stood on. Levitating a foot off the ancient rotting ruins, a white translucent shape shimmered with a hazy bright blue glow.

"You got a plan?" He asked, unable to tear his gaze away from the shape. Tempted to draw an arrow and see if he could shoot the blasted irritating light from where they stood. Was bringing back his hangover headache something fierce. "Ladyship?" He finally managed to tear his eyes from the irritating blue haze to her.

"Necromancers." Serlina spit, her face hardening. "Didn't like em then, don't like em now." She muttered, almost like she wasn't talking to him in specific.

"That didn't answer the question, ladyship!" He snapped, shaking her arm getting her eyes to snap back to his.

"We deal with the apprentices, the quieter the better, then head to the top." She points to the top of the ruins. "Despite the light show, I hardly think this is a party I want to stick round and watch to see how it ends."

"Alright." He glanced down the slope and internally winced. "That's a decent drop." He looked to his left and saw an opening that looked like it came from a chamber. "Looks like there are a few chambers that lead down below. If we could find a way to get a way down, we could-" he turned back to her and suppressed shouting. "Ladyship, what the fuck are you doing?!" He sharply whispered as she leapt to a slope of rocks to their right.

"I'm taking a shortcut." She pressed a hand to her throat, her eyes crinkling like they had before in the corridor.

"You can't be serious! You just fell down a hole, are you trying to break your neck?"

"I didn't fall. I was abruptly stabbed with ice and lost my balance. Big difference. I'll be fine. I'll meet you down below. Try to keep up." Her voice was tense, and leaving him with a small pit in his stomach. Turning, he backtracked a bit and located the tunnel leading west.

Hope you know what your doing, he thought to himself as he headed down, Karnwyr close by. Keeping his back to the wall, he carefully peered around the corner to the inside of the chamber. The floor caught his attention, holding a shimmer that only could be oil. Movement caught his attention as the climbed up the stairs that lead out to the blue streaming section of the ruins. A single shot to a lit lantern had the mage going up in flames.

Leaving the chamber, he walked out and down a flight of stairs, Karnwyr taking off to lock his teeth into a draugrs neck. He made do with two more and caught sight of Serlina crossing her blades and slicing a mages head clean from his shoulders. Turning towards him she blew out a strand of hair that was in her face while another mage was coming up from behind her. Drawing an arrow, he never slowed walking towards her as he aimed and loosened the arrow, driving it between the mages eyes. Serlina turned toward the sound of the body dropping and nodded.

"Think were clear down here. Time to head up." He followed her quickened pace, firing at another necromancer while she took out a draugr.

"So, you don't like mages too?" He asked following close on her heels as they ran up a set of stairs that led them up.

"Mages in general, not really. Necromancers… Yes." She huffed and pressed against a wall as another necromancer walked past. "They raise the dead to do their bidding. It's dishonourable and frankly, lazy." She turned around and cut the necromancer in an X slice across the chest. They didn't even have time to call out.

"I take it this goes along with your 'respect the dead' belief?" He asked and got a tight nod. The air was becoming more and more charged, like it was filled with small currents of electricity. It pricked his skin and made his hair stand on edge. It pissed him off.

As they make their way up more stairs, the voices return but one that was different from the others from earlier;

"Yes! Yes! Return me to this realm!" He didn't have to be a mage to know that that was most likely Potema.

"As our voices summon you the blood of the innocent binds you Wolf Queen!"

"Summoned with words. Bound by blood."

"What! What are you doing?! You fools! You cannot bind me to your wills!" And Potema was not sounding happy.

"Summoned with words. Bound by blood."

"You ants don't have the power to bind me!" Potema sounded so enraged, yet he could only roll his eyes.

"They fucking called her here! That's gotta account for something." He muttered as they reached a landing. "Stupid mages. They never learn."

"It's takes some skill to raise an undead, let alone call a dead wolf queen, priestess- whatever she is." Serlina agreed as she caught her breath. "So many stairs. I hate stairs."

"You just climbed down a set of rocks!" He drew his dagger and cut down another necromancer after they had cast a frost on him.

"Down. Not up. Up would have been more tricky." She huffed, beside him with a small elbow jab while he dusted the frost from his sleeves. "I also get the feeling like this ritual is about to go horrible wrong."

"They often do. We better get this over with." Her breath was more ragged then it should have been. Sheathing his blade, they continued up the stairs, fighting the opposition on their way. As they reached the source of the blue light, the voice of the ritual master will spoke once again:

"Something is wrong. There is an intruder. Find who it is and dispose of them! Quickly!"

As they climbed the tower, an additional four necromancers raced down the steps to attack. A blurry of magic, arrows and blades rang out leaving them heavily breathing on the stairs when their blood soaked the steps. Serlina though, was leaning over, her eyes squeezed shut, her fingers pulling at her collar almost frantically.

"What's going on with you?" He almost shouted above the commotion above them. The air was faintly whistling, like someone had left a window open during a storm and was steadily picking up in strength the longer it was going on.

"Don't... worry. Keep… Let's... keep... moving on. Almost there." Her words were almost jumbled a little. Her grip on her swords tightened as she took up the stairs. He followed her, keeping his gaze on her back, concern growing more and more the higher they went.

At the top, they found the ritual master busy performing the ritual to revive Potema. An older looking woman in robes. Her eyes were closed, her hands upraised at the glowing light. Her head cocked to face them, her eyes snapping open making Serlina skid to a halt, ready for any spell to be casted her way. He drew an arrow and notched it.

"So," she tsked, her gaze flicking between the two of them and then they moved back to Serlina. "They couldn't defeat a few meddlesome children." She spat at them. Her old eyes open and locked on them with a cold stare. "No matter." She tsked again. "I seem to be in need of… proper assistance anyway. And since I can't use their blood to bind Potema, I shall have to use something… stronger." Her eyes moved to Serlina and moved one hand from it's praising upraised position to face her, palm out. "Like... a piece of that soul of yours!"

"Touch her and you will taste my blade!" He shouted and drew the arrow. A blast of strange looking light blasted from the old crone's hand and knocked Serlina back, into him, knocking the air from his lungs, his arrow flying stray as they fall back down the stairs. Groaning, he righted himself and looked up at the second from the top step at Serlina who trembled, her mouth open, like she was trying to breathe but her chest wasn't rising or falling. "Ladyship!" He lifted himself to climb the stairs and lowered to her side. Taking her face in his hands, he noticed the cut on from her hairline to the corner of her brow. "You're bleeding." His anger rose to a startling degree.

"I...am...fine," she managed to gasp out then cried out, one hand dropping a sword to pull at her neck. Slowly, carefully, she worked the stone from around her neck and held it away from her skin. "It. Burns." She wheezed.

"I can hold it for y-" His words stopped when he felt the stone that dangled from the string pulse and then, in gradual degrees, the jewel began to glow. "What's happening?!" He demanded and thought about cutting it from her neck. The heat that was emanating with each glow.

"Don't... Know..." She whispered, her eyes widening when the woman above them began to laugh, the sound brittle and made his skin crawl. "Burns." She repeated and picked up her sword when she stood, this time he saw her legs look unsteady.

"I'll hold it for y - "

"No," She shook her head. "Let's get this done." She carried up the stairs again, her feet dragging a little. If stubborn had a face, he thought to himself with a shake of his head. The sound of Karnwyr barking below caught his attention for a few steps. Karnwyr was dealing with a lone draugr that had been, by the looks of it, late to this party. Drawing another arrow, he reached the top of the stairs, aimed at the mage, and let the arrow loose, only to have it hit a casted ward and fall to the stone by her feet... The mage smirked for a moment before she was letting out a cry of pain when Serlina dipped low and ran her shoulder into her abdomen, knocking her back against the edge of the stone tower. "I'm sick of this light show! Stop," she lifted her sword to the woman's throat, "or die. Your choice."

"It's too late. Your energy is tied to this ritual. This place."

Serlina let out a humorless snort. "I hope the colour of my energy is blue." She mocked glancing up the the figure that was nearing making shape. It had him squinting, being this close to whatever the fuck that was supposed to be. Drawing his bow, he aimed dead center at the collection of light and fired and hum in disapproval when his arrow didn't pass through, but instead disintegrated. The energy pulsed, like it was enraged.

"Rip the eyes from his head!" Potema screeched getting Serlina to cast him a small glance out of the corner of her eye. He glared at the energy and gave a single shoulder shrug.

"It was worth the shot." He muttered. He turned his eyes to the mage, drawing his dagger as Serlina shrugged.

"Don't worry. We can make quick work of this either way."

"What's this about her energy being tied to this?" He asked, his grip tightening threateningly. The mage simple lifted a hand, her fingers bending harshly at the knuckles.

"Potema will rise, and when she does the Wolf Queen will-"

"Yeah yeah, can we hurry this along? I've got places to be, and if you wont stop this ritual I'll have to-" Serlina stopped speaking, sucked in a sharp breath, backed up a step and, from what he could see, her head titled downward. Alarmed, he walked to her side, keeping his gaze on the old woman who was now silently speaking words. Was she in a trace or something? He lifted a hand to touch her shoulder when he reached her side and like her, his eyes lowered, widened at the sight of her necklace. The stone lifted from it's place around her neck, like a subtle wind had picked it up, causing it to levitate just under her chin, yet there wasn't a single breeze and the glow from before was back, brighter than ever.

"Don't applaud yourself too soon, worm!" Potema screeched from beside him, the voice booming, startling them slightly.

"Come forth, spirit!" The ritual master cried and another pulse of magic rippled out.

It all happened so fast that he was surprised he didn't miss anything.

The glow from inside the stone expanded, making the stone crack once, twice, and then it shattered into a thousand pinpricks of light; and Serina stumbled back, the tips of her blades in the stone, her eyes wide at the shimmering dust that fell to the old stone under her feet. All around, the shimmering light gathered until if formed a small orange ember-like collection of energy, must have been no bigger than the eye of a saber cat.

Sliding his gaze to Serlina he felt a punch to his own chest. She looked shocked, her eyes glossy, her lips trembled as, for a second, the flame like energy moved closer to her, thinning out. He supressed the urge to rub his eyes, and instead stepped to her, weapon ready to slice or cut at whatever it was and was shocked when the energy pulled away from her, regathered into it's ball like form and circled him with a few, what looked like, bounces. Raising his dagger, the uncertainty of attacking on edge until it finally lingered at his eye level.

For a few split seconds, the chill of the cave and Potema's energy evaporated as the warmer glow of the orb settled something in him.

'Not a danger'. It was foolish, but that's what this warmer light felt like. And in a blink, it soared towards Potema's bundle of energy...

"No! what is it doing?!" The ritual master screeched as she watched the orb snap towards the larger collection of light.

The orange looked like it would be overwhelmed in an instant, but instead, the blue light erupted in enraged pulses as the energy thinned out to envelop the blue in a thin veil of orange.

"What are you doing to me?!" Potema's voice rang out, making him flinch at the squealing pitch. "Stop them! At once! I command you!"

The ritual master said nothing, but instead conjured a frost atronach making his lips curl back in a sneer.

"Sonofa-" Karnwyr lunged from behind him, his teeth digging into the ice giants legs. It didn't bleed and had no real vitals, you simply had to beat it to deal or kill the mage who conjured it. And it kept it's mage safe behind it's massive bulk. Drawing arrows, he aimed and fired, keeping his feet moving, mentally mindful of the steps at his feet. "Fucking hate these things." He muttered aloud releasing arrow after arrow. It turned it's biting cold body towards Serlina who hadn't gotten up yet. The mage was chanting again, about bindings for Potema while he, keeping an eye trained on the frost atronoch, moved to where Serlina was. "Ladyship, now is not the time to be sitting down." He clipped out after firing another arrow and notching another, mindful to not shoot his wolf companion.

"No…." The whisper tore at something in his chest when his eyes slide to where it had come from. Serlina, who with a trembling hand, touched the dark speckles of the dark stone that littered the ruins, her head low. Lifting her hand up, she looked at her fingers while the lights raged around them. A string of words in a language he didn't understand rose in volume that had the air around them vibrate with every hard constant, every low vowel as her hand tightened into a fist. Raising to her feet, her swords in hand, her head lifted and once again, the air, for a moment went still.

She sucked in air while saying her dragon word FUS, and he felt internally pleased when the mage stuttered in her chanting to fully look at Serlina. "RO!" The blast was sharp and precise, scuttling the mage backward into the ridge of the ruins, her back bending backward over the crumbling stone. He watched as Serlina, speaking in harsh words, swords in hand, stalk to the woman who had just starting to right herself only to get a drop kick to her chest, knocking the air from her harshly, and the frost atronach disintegrated feet from him. Not only that, the lights nearby spasmed, jolting back and forth, sounds were distorted as they shifted jerkily. Breathing a little hard, he retrieved his arrows that clanked to the ground, watching Serlina shake as she stared the mage down. Something about her stature had him keeping his distance. As quick as the frost giant disintegrated, Serlina lifted her swords, her swords criss-crossed then pulled them apart across the old woman's stomach, cutting clean through the robes.

He winced a little as the blood dripped from the robes and her blades.

They never did hold any decent protection from physical attacks, he thought as he walked over to Karnwyr who was limping a little. Seemed he had taken a few hits but after looking him over, he looked to be alright. Noting mortally wounding... Crouching down, he just noticed the old woman's hysterical blubbering's. After tending to Karnwyr he turned to look over at the hysterical woman and paused.

Serlina.

Her face though... It had him slowly standing. Her hands flipped the blades so the faced behind her and with the handle of the sword in hand, she cocked her left arm back and delivered a solid right hook to the woman's face, splitting her brow and letting blood drip down slowly.

"How dare you stop this rit-" The ritual master was cut short when her head hit the floor in one clean swing.

"I am well beyond the state of daring." The woman body slunk to the floor, her knees in her blood while the ritual masters head dropped and rolled along the stone. Serlina gazed at her with a stoic face then her head as well as his snapped up to the chaotic energy that was erupting, and swirling overhead around them, the tendrils moving throughout the air until it rose to the cave ceiling, leaving in a crack that no doubt lead to the surface. After the last echo sounded, everything quieted. The lights faded. Everything is as it was, just damp, quiet and deserted.

"K-Kena... was..." The words were choked from her, getting his attention. White knuckles from clenching her fist too hard, and a slender muscle in her jaw ticked now and then from effort to remain silent. He could see the pain beneath it.

It didn't suit her.

It wasn't her. And the way her eyes glimpsed down to the small shatters of the stone at their feet.

He watched as Karnwyr walk over to her, his hackles raised, still on guard for any lingering threats. His nose pointed toward her hand that hung by her side and, tentatively, his tongue licked her fingers. Soothing her almost, like he did with wounds. He watched her hand loosen enough to slowly sheath her swords and for Karnwyr to push his head into and nuzzle softly making the corner of her mouth crack up a little.

His gaze lifted and lingered on the ceiling where the lights had gone. The sound of a shaky breath had him focusing back on her. Her head was lowered, her hands shook even as Karnwyr tried to wiggle his way into her palm that had closed up into a fist again.

"Ladyship?" He called, keeping his voice lowered, soothing almost. Her shoulders jerked a little but she did her best to square them. "You alright?"

"No." Her voice sounded broken. Like the battle had taken more then just her energy to fight. A hand lifted and laid flat along her collarbone. "It... that... was the last piece of my mother... The last token I received from my father. And it disappeared in front of my eyes like a fucking puff of smoke on a windy day!" She tossed the hand that laid on her chest up. "Something that I had held close to me for years, something that has helped me keep going and her voice..." She audibly swallowed and brought a hand to her face. "Her voice... Is... gone. So no." She murmured brokenly. "I'm not... I don't... Just… No." She walked past him, around him, casting a quick glance to the body that lay upon the stone and walked on towards a stone bridge that connected to an adjacent tower...

He opened his mouth but couldn't find the words, any words, to soothe something like this. Words weren't ever his strong suit. Fuck. He was more action. If it were him, he would have thrown away more than small pieces of his past and spit on it for good measure. But she... She wouldn't. She carried hers with pride and with a level of protection that, if he was going to be completely, stupidly, sentimentally honest, awed him. To have something like that. A family like that. A piece of her family ripped away in such a way...

That he knew.

He understood. His was a little... bigger than a necklace, but seeing the way she had fought to keep it safe so entirely... The emotions were still likely to be the same. Striding over to where she stood her, he stopped an inch or two away. Lifting her face with a bent finger under her chin he met her eyes, glossy and quickly glancing away.

"We have to keep... moving. We still have to-"

"You can have a minute." He whispered gently and felt his chest tighten when her eyes widened a little. "The world can wait for a damn minute while you… recover." He spoke gently and watched her eyes narrow a little.

"It's not like I lost a limb." She tossed out and he thought back to him... Jules.

Hadn't he?

"Didn't you?" He asked gently and the way her eyes met his nearly knocked the wind out of his gut. Underneath that startling cold green was the anger again. And under that: the sadness. And that, he knew.

"I-," She stuttered, her eyes welling up and with a sharp inhale, her eyes squeezed shut, her head gently fell forward till it landed on his chest with a soft landing. He felt her body tremble and without knowing, his arms wound their way around them, tightening.

"It's alright, ladyship. It's alright." His words were low and in some selfish place, he was glad she didn't start to sob or cry. She just took several long, deep breaths with her arms lifting, winding tight around his ribs. The anger was in her grip. It was tight and restricting but a soft feeling welled inside him. It bothered him yet, he couldn't pull away. He knew when she was ready to go when her shoulders slumped, her last long exhale related the tension and no longer wavered. Letting her arms drop she nodded silently, her way of thanking him no doubt, because she had yet to say anything.

And in all honesty, neither could he.

"You wanna know something that has always left me... perturbed?" She whispered and swallowed thickly.

"Um... Sure." He glanced downward, his chin grazing the top of her head.

"Kothringi don't have the words to swear." She breathed out out looking at him with dark eyes. "We're polite when we speak to one another. We can argue, disagree, and even result in physical altercations." She huffed a humorless chuckle. "Yet, nowhere in my fathers tongue are cuss words." She glared at the bloodied body on the ground behind them.

"But the way you talk... It sounds like your cursing up a storm." He mentioned, recalling her words. She tilted her head side to side.

"Not exactly. I have always had to get creative. And I get as close to it as I can." She admitted softly.

"So... what did you say to her?" He asked, intrigued. She shook her head gently then, locked her eyes on the stone a few feet from them. After she finished repeating the harsh words, he only lifted a brow. "Translation?"

"I hope the deadra uses your backbone as a ladder to pick apples in the gardens of Hell." She spit with the same vehemently as she had in her other tongue.

"Damn." He quietly snickered. "Do you feel better?" He asked after she took a few deep breaths. Taking a step back, her took note of her face. Clear, eyes still sad, but not like before. Not as much anger, the hazel was back though. The green was still lingering. Stepping around him she started down the stairs only to stop and then casted the body one final look.

Her words that followed were harsh, but not as much as before as they walked on.

"And that?" He asked slowly, gauging her as they reached the ground floor. It had her snorting a humorless laugh and tossed over her shoulder:

"May your friends have a fine day- burying you."

She then continued the decent.

Damn.

He looked to Karnwyr who, if a wolf could ever manage it better, looked worried. Running a hand over the wolfs head, he followed. They still had one more place to go too. And for a moment, he thought to tell her not too. To just call it off. He should have... But she walked with determination, even with her silly map.

So much had happened.

And the day had only just begun.

AN:

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the late update!

I will have to admit, that for this chapter, I did had a little bit of writers block... Now, I found that the easiest way to get over my writers block is to work on stories that weren't this one! In fact, I've got 2 others on the go! Be sure to check em out and spread the love there!

I hope this chapter doesn't show it but if it does, fear not!

This is only part 1 of a 2-part chapter!

And next chapter will get a little more... nerve-wracking! Warning you now, and will next chapter

But I love to hear what you guys think so far!

Be sure to tell me what you guys like, what catches your eye, what you don't like, ect! I honestly live for it!

Until then!

Keep Romancing!

-IMME.