I am Lena Wolf, Lena's life as it happens Options

[Lena Wolf]

Rain's Hand, 4E204 - Showdown

"We are going to the excavation site," Lena turned to her pawns. "They keep pawns as slave labour there, they have Godsway all over the place, I shall try to shield you but cannot guarantee it. You will get headaches at best or you will fall under their control at worst. There is no telling what will come to pass... If you'd rather not go, leave now."

Rook and Mason didn't move but their fighter shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

"I'd rather not go there, master," he said, blushing. "My will isn't that strong... I prefer to return to my own master instead."

"Good luck in your future endevours then, and thank you," Lena nodded and smiled. "No hard feelings at all. After all, we are going into the jaws of hell... No pawn should be going there."

He dithered a little, then turned and walked away.

"Into the jaws of hell, then," Mason looked resolved. "I am not quitting. If I die there... it's been an honour."

"Don't say that," Lena shook her head, hugging him. "I hope no one will die... that's not the plan, anyway..."

"I am ready," Rook straightened his back. "Do you want me to lead? I know the way."

Lamond was standing slightly behind them, watching.

"Two pawns, two Arisens," he rubbed his chin. "I wonder... You may find yourself torn." He looked at Mason and Rook. "I heard that Godsway amplifies an Arisen's power as well... So that even mine may come through. It will be up to you to try and evade danger. And then there are all those other pawns there..."

"Enough deliberations," Lena put her hand on the hilt of her dagger. "We cannot predict what will happen. Let's go."

...

They approached the excavation site without an incident. They entered the camp and did not get challenged, and neither Rook nor Mason noticed any influence of Godsway.

"It is through those gates," Rook pointed at a sturdy gate leading up the hill. "The pawn camp and the works are there. This is it."

They entered the pawn camp. It brought a flood of memories for Lena, but she steadied herself, trying to focus on the scene at hand. A lot had changed since last time, after all, the excavations continued.

"The cells were that way, were they not?" She turned to Rook, pointing at a tunnel entrance. "Scorpio must be there."

They entered the mine. The dimly lit corridor made a few turns, then opened up to a long hall, cells lining the walls. Two guards stood looking bored, the pawns inside the cells barely looked up. The cell at the back was curtained off on the inside. Lena rattled the door, but it was sturdy, and it was locked, she could not see through the curtain.

"Hey, what are you doing?" One of the guards snapped at her angrily. "That cell is off limits!"

"Just that one?" Lena squinted at him. "What about the others?"

"The others as well," the guard fingered his sword. "Get lost! You have no business here."

"Let's go," Rook said in Lena's ear, taking her by the arm. "We should find the key."

She scowled at the guard but followed her companions out.

"I feel no Godsway," Rook said quietly, having pulled them into an alcove without torches. "It only has a limited range, so if we stay clear, it won't affect us."

"Clear of what?" Mason looked around nervously. "I don't like it."

"The overseer has a staff with a Godsway crystal," Rook explained. "A great big crystal glowing red. Unless they've got more of them now... I wouldn't know."

"The overseer probably also has the key to the cells," Lena noted. "Which means you stay back and I'll go alone."

"You stay back and keep watch," Lamond looked at Rook and Mason. "Keep your heads clear, if you can. We'll go about getting the key."

...

"He's in that house," Lamond peeked into an open window of one of the stone houses on the site. "I can see his staff, too. It's Godsway but it will cast any other spell as well, make no mistake."

"I'll get the key." Lena slipped to the front of the house and pushed the door, but it was locked or barred from inside.

"Who's there?" The overseer shouted, looking out the window. Lamond moved back into the darkness. "Guards! Who's rattling my door?" Guards from several directions ran towards the house, but Lena already moved back too. This was not going to be easy.

"Wait until he falls asleep," Lena whispered to Lamond when the guards resumed their posts. "I'll go through the window and get the key."

"Will he still be alive after that?" Lamond grinned.

"No, he won't."

There was nothing else for it but wait.

...

"Guard!" The overseer stood in the door frame with a scroll in his hand. "Take this to the lab with all haste. I feel trouble brewing..." A guard took the scroll and sped off. The overseer peered into the darkness around the house, shut the door and bolted it from inside. He looked out the window again, then finally lay on his cot without undressing, still clutching his staff.

"He's nervous alright," Lena breathed to Lamond. "I doubt he'll fall asleep. Watch the guards. There's no point in waiting any longer." She pulled down her hood and leapt through the window. There was a scream, noise of a struggle, then a bang of metal against stone and a heavy crush. All that commotion did not go unnoticed and several guards set off towards the house. Lamond readied his sword, but still kept to the shadows. Finally, Lena emerged from the window and they dashed from the scene just as the guards surrounded the house. The door was still barred, and it took a few moments before one of them leapt through the window and discovered what had occurred. By then Lena and Lamond were near the tunnel to the cells, with Rook and Mason joining them.

"Quick, before the word gets around!" Lena motioned them to follow.

It wasn't hard to overpower the guards. She unlocked the door of the curtained off cell and pulled back the cloth to let in the torch light from the hall. Then she froze. Scorpio was chained to a crucifix on the back wall, held off the ground with cuffs around his ankles and wrists, a collar around his neck pulling his body back. His breathing was laboured, his eyes half open, with only the sclera showing through, bloodshot and yellowed. His body was covered in cuts, bruises and warts and a large dark patch was spreading on the side of his abdomen... It was exactly what she had seen in the crystal ball. She felt all life drain from her, and if Lamond hadn't caught her, she would have collapsed.

"It's bad, very bad... but he is alive," Lamond said in her ear. "We are not done yet, Arisen. Your pawn needs you now."

A moment later loud noises were heard from the entrance as guards were rushing in.

Hearing Mason engaging the guards and Rook casting a shield, Lena jolted back to life, her anger turning to rage. She tore through the guards as a flaming fury even before Rook enchanted her daggers. Seconds later the guards were merely corpses.

Several more waves of guards tried to enter the cavern, all to meet the same fate.

Finally the camp was quiet. The pawns in the cells were shaking off the stupor of Godsway.

"Let us out, we'll help," one of them called out to Lena. "That key should unlock all the cells... Whatever you did, lifted the haze... somewhat... We're yours to command, Arisen!" He smiled. Lamond picked up the key and started unlocking the doors.

"Stay alive," Lena said to all the pawns. "Or return to the Rift. No pawn must die outright tonight. Trouble is coming." The fight was far from done, it was merely a pause before reinforcements arrived, summonned by the overseer's scroll sent just before his demise.

Not wasting a moment, they released Scorpio's cuffs and chains and laid him down. He was still unconscious but his eyes were moving behind the eyelids.

"Keep him alive," Lena nodded to Rook who was already incanting a spell. "This will hurt." Unflinching, she cut open one of the warts on Scorpio's body ignoring the blood and puss jetting out. The pain made Scorpio twitch, but there was no time to waste. Another cut revealed a crystal embedded into the flesh, she dug it out with the tip of her dagger. The cavity filled with blood. The crystal fell to the floor and she crushed it. One down. Dozens more to go.

...

They heard noises coming from the camp - reinforcements were on the approach. Lena had cleared most of the warts on Scorpio's body but some still remained. Rook's healing was enough to close his wounds, and he seemed stable for now.

"If Ambrosius or Phaesus come here, make sure to keep them alive!" Lena addressed the pawns in the camp. "I have need of them. Everyone else - do as you see fit."

Two or three waves of guards and soldiers stormed the prison compound, but the narrow tunnel leading to it allowed for easy defence. The pile of bodies was forming a barricade of its own. With the situation under control, Lena resumed squashing warts on Scorpio's body. Finally, she was done.

With the last bit of Godsway crystal crushed and the pawns breathing a sigh of relief, she knelt over him looking into his face. Yet no miracle occurred and he remained unconscious.

"That was to be expected," Rook said softly. "But he is alive, and that's the best you can hope for now."

Lena was just going to say that there was still the matter of the dark patch on his abdomen, but battle noises made her look up - another wave of reinforcements was upon them, greater than before. She joined the battle, her daggers blazing.

"There! That's the Arisen!!" Someone shouted further ahead. "Get her!!!"

She twisted and turned, evading the onslaught of heavily armed guards, having no illusions that a single hit of such a sword or a spear would kill her. She wanted to get to whoever gave the command, the voice seemed familiar. And then she saw him - Ambrosius was casting a spell. She lunged but was too far away, her throwing knife nicked his skin and interrupted his casting, but he moved and two heavily armoured guards were now blocking her way...

"Formless Feint," she thought - a master maneuvre she picked up from the local assassins. "Now's the time!" She rarely found herself in such a tight spot and hoped that the lack of practice would not cost her her life this time. A twist, a lunge, a puff of smoke - and the guards missed their mark. Jumping between them, her daggers extended, she cut two throats at once. "Phew!" She landed in a crouch, watching the guards slump to the ground. She looked up - Ambrosius was just ahead, casting his spell... Searing pain hit her chest, and for a moment she blacked out.

...

"It's done, you got him," Lamond helped her up. "We've defeated all the guards. Ambrosius is ready for you."

Slightly bewildered, Lena decided not to argue. Battle statistics could always be handled later, and it really didn't matter who delivered the final blow. Ambrosius had been captured and she needed a chat.

"You found your pawn but you're too late," Ambrosius scowled at her. "Strong as he is, no pawn can withstand the spread of Dragonplague. That patch will consume him."

"Dragonplague?" Lena was taken aback. "The disease that jumps from pawn to pawn and brings death and devastation in the end?"

"That's the one," Ambrosius grinned. "Pawns contract it from drakes and dragons through contact with dragon blood. They are related, you see... or at least Lord Phaesus thinks so. May be. But regardless... Your pawn has had enough dragon blood pumped into him to kill an army! You lost, Arisen." He glared at her, watching Lena's face turning gaunt. "But tell me..." he looked puzzled now, a scholar in pursuit of knowledge above all else. "Why do you care? He is but a pawn... And how it is that he still lives?"

Lena glared back down at Ambrosius and said nothing. She walked over to Scorpio and knelt over him again. His wounds were no longer bleeding and his pain must have lightened up in Rook's care. His breathing improved, his face, although still heavily bruised, looked calm. She pressed her cheek to his and whispered in his ear: "I came for you... Forgive me that it took so long... Stay with me and I'll stay with you till the end of times..."

[Lena Wolf]

Rain's Hand, 4E204 - Cold flame

"Enough of that!" A mage with a Godsway staff walked into the prison block of the excavation site. He slammed the end of his staff against the floor and every pawn collapsed in agony. "You found your poor pawn, I see," he turned to Lena. "Well, you are too late! There is no cure for the Dragonsplague."

"That isn't actually true, Phaesus," Lamond stepped forward.

"Nonsense!" Lord Phaesus scowled. "Yes, Dragonsplague can be passed on to another person, thus curing the original carrier... even such an advanced form as this one. But in all our trials, passing on infected blood killed the recipient, whether human or pawn." He paused, looking at Lamond quizzically, then turned to Lena. "So if you wish to cure your pawn, all it takes is for you to take over his infection. All of it. All the dark blood in that patch. Trouble is, you will die before you are even half way... So go on. Both of you will be dead then." He smirked with disdain. "And if you think you can force anyone else to take it on... Dragonsplague is a peculiar illness. It has to be passed on in its entirety, you cannot spread it between several subjects. We've tried. Your pawn has been exemplary... so very long lived. You've got a bond beyond the basics, I suspect that's what sustains him. Perhaps he even has a piece of your soul..." Lord Phaesus paused, watching Lena who could not help flinching. "Ah... indeed. Well, no matter. He will die, and so will you."

Lena's first impulse was to kill him. It must have reflected on her face because Lord Phaesus quickly cast a shield around himself, he was an exceptional mage. Lena's blood was boiling with rage and despair, her judgement was clouded... what to do? She ran out of the cavern... was Godsway affecting her too? How could it? She was no pawn... "Godsway affects the Arisen as well as the pawns," she recalled Lamond's words earlier. Why did he know so much about the matter? He never explained how he knew Lord Phaesus... Whose side was he on? Was there still a side to be taken? Or was everything really already lost..?

Lena shook her head - that wouldn't do. The situation called for a cold, calculated response, not her usual hot-headed impulse.

"I know about it because I crossed paths with Phaesus before," she heard Lamond's voice behind her. "As did the oracle that you consulted. As did most other Arisen. He seeks us out, one way or the other... us or our pawns."

"Is it true, what he said about the Dragonsplague?" Lena asked cautiously. She so wanted to trust Lamond... but she was also cooling off, with her judgement becoming guarded. "Is it true that all is really lost?"

"It is true what he said about needing to pass it on fully," Lamond spoke slowly, watching Lena. "You can trust his research, he values knowledge above all else. It is also true that no mere mortal... not even an Arisen, and no pawn can take it all and not die before it's done. The size of that patch... it's beyond belief." He stopped talking. Lena turned away.

She paced the pit of the excavation site, looked at the sun just visible behind the high cliffs... Was that the end that the Sphinx spoke of? "You will reach the end when you find the beginning," she had said. "You will not reach the end until you collect all the strands." Had she collected them all? She thought she did... the crystal ball was the oracle, the brother was Lamond, the sword of sorrow was her Godsbane, the grains of sand in the desert... She recalled the man blinded by his drive to provide what his loved ones did not want... "Take stock of what really counts..." Was she still going after her missing heart? Was that even important any longer? She felt emptiness and pain in her chest... It's been so long since she felt a heartbeat... She used to press her ear to Scorpio's chest and listen to his heart... Would one heart be enough for them both?

"The cold flames..." She suddenly realised that one strand was still missing. "If that's what it takes... very well."

She straightened her back, determination returning to her features. Lamond watched, nodded and smiled. "You've made up your mind, sis," he came up behind her. "I'll be watching your back." Lena returned to the cavern.

...

The scene there was the same as before, it appeared that Lord Phaesus had been waiting for her, not expecting to be attacked. He still had his shield up, but otherwise seemed relaxed. Ambrosius looked nervous in his cell, especially since Lord Phaesus made no attempt to free him. The pawns were cowering with pain, unable to move. Scorpio was still lying on his cot, unconscious as before.

Lena took it all in as she entered and walked straight over to Scorpio, not even glancing at Phaesus. Lamond blocked the entrance to the hall. No one would go in or out.

With a flick of her dagger, Lena opened the wound in Scorpio's side and dark, viscous liquid started oozing out. She knelt over it and drank.

...

"Have to drink it all..." she thought, watching the patch shrinking as she ingested more and more of the dark blood. "But that's a lot... That indeed will kill me... unless..."

"I can help you, Dragonborn!" A voice spoke in her head. "Just say the word... You can have it all, and it will only make you stronger! Or die, like cattle..."

She hesitated. Was it indeed the only way?

"You can now transform at will," a voice of a memory spoke. "Just think it... All you need is blood."

She stood up. She had drunk perhaps half of what had to be drunk, but her head was spinning and she was loosing feeling in her legs... She saw Lord Phaesus watching her with interest, expecting her to collapse. She removed her lorica exposing her upper body... "Just think it..." She'd never done it before, not to that extent. "Transform..."

She felt warmth drain away from her, replaced by cold fever. Her fingertips started to tingle with a familiar feeling, growing long, rounded claws... her fangs re-emerged... her eyes, she had no doubt, turned red... and something else... something new... her skin pulled tight and hardened, like armour... there was a sharp pain in her back... and her feet no longer felt the ground...

She heard a gasp. She opened her eyes.

"What..?!" Lord Phaesus backed off, a flash of panic in his eyes. "How..?" He pointed his staff at her, ready to fire a spell...

It took but a moment. She leapt at him, her wings carried her high, away from Phaesus's magic bolt. One swing, and she smashed his staff, the Godsway crystal cracking in two, Lamond crushing the rest into dust. Phaesus' magic shield fizzled out and he backed against the wall. A higher vampire in its winged form was hovering over Phaesus, its cold breath forming icicles on the wall. "All you need is blood..." a memory kept pulsing in Lena's mind - she was famished.

With the Godsway crystal destroyed, pawns started to regain consciousness, but seeing a vampire in its full glory, many backed off into the depths of their cells - it wasn't really their fight, after all.

"Behold the cold flame," Rook said to no one in particular. He shot a glance at Lamond who was still barring the exit, they exchanged nods and Rook unlocked Ambrosius' cell. Ambrosius backed into the furtherst corner.

"Blood..." the thought kept pulsing in Lena's mind. "All you need is blood..." Her senses led her to the one victim with pure, untainted human blood... Ambrosius.

...

Nourishment brought some warmth to Lena's limbs and cleared her head. Pale as a sheet, Ambrosius collapsed in his cell. He wasn't dead, but wouldn't even make for a modest breakfast, Lena thought. Without a word, she returned to Scorpio's side and continued drinking the dark dragon blood from the patch.

"You disappoint me, Dragonborn," she heard a voice in her head. "But have it your way... embrace my gift! It saved your life today."

"Go away, Molag Bal," Lena thought lazily. "I am busy."

...

"What are you going to do now, vampire?" Lord Phaesus was looking at Lena in disgust as her features were turning gaunt again with all the infected dragon blood that she had consumed. "It won't kill you, granted... But where will you go? You are now a monster just like all the others in this world, there to be hunted and killed... I win again, methinks."

"Perhaps..." Lena folded her wings and walked over to him. "Would you like to give me some of your blood? Tainted with Godsway as it is, but I'll accept it. What say you, Lord Phaesus?"

"Have you gone mad?!" He cried out, backing off. "No!!"

"Ahhh... We'll see." She smiled and cast a spell. Lord Phaesus dropped to his knees, his robe slipped down his shoulder revealing his neck.

"Mistress..."

...

Once fed, Lena regained her human form. Her eyes were still red and she still had the fangs, but her claws became nails and her skin looked pink, if a bit pale. Her wings retracted completely. Her vampirism was receding, all she needed was a little more blood... a few more feedings would make it completely recessive. It was time to leave. Lamond unblocked the entrance and the pawns walked out in search of the nearest riftstone to take them back to the Rift. Only Mason and Rook remained. Ambrosius was still alive in his cell, pale as a sheet. Lord Phaesus too was alive, and not much worse for wear; he was making notes in his little book, looking at Lena with a newly found fondness. Then finally Scorpio regained consciousness.

Sitting up with difficulty, he looked around the room.

"What have you done..?" He stroke Lena's cheek as she sat next to him. "You can't go biting necks, you'll get arrested," he smiled.

"Ah, but I have a thrall," she smirked, jerking her head towards Lord Phaesus. "You survived. Forgive me that it took me so long."

Although Scorpio was conscious, he could not walk, so rather than trying to teleport to the city, they decided to move to the main camp and occupy the buildings there. Lena also had to stay out of sunlight for as long as her vampirism was active. Then everyone realised that it had been two days since their last meal... what with all the goings on they had no chance to eat, and so mundane activities took over. Corpses of all the guards killed in the past few days started to smell, too, and had to be thrown into the sea. In a word, there was a lot to be getting on with.

A few days later Scorpio was well enough to walk and Lena's vampirism finally went in remission, her eyes turning amber again and her fangs receding. A slight gauntness in her face still reminded them of all that came to pass... that, and Lord Phaesus still looking at her with fondness.

"What did you do to him?" Lamond asked watching him once again sliding his robe back to reveal the neck with many bite marks on it. "It looks like he's craving you feeding on him."

"That's exactly how it is," Lena nodded. "A strain of vampirism I picked up in Skyrim... He is not a vampire himself but he is infected nonetheless. He craves being fed on. It is so useful to have a compliant thrall."

"Just like having a compliant escort," Rook grimaced with a shudder. "Don't remind me."

"How come you know so much about Godsway, Lamond?" Lena realised that she never asked him that question. "It's almost like you tried it yourself..."

"I have," he nodded. "When I lost my pawn..." He paused, watching Phaesus make notes about something. "The Legion gave me another, but we didn't connect... The pawn would follow my commands and fight without reproach, but his heart wasn't in it... Perhaps it is a common thing, I do not know, but my first one was not like that."

"It's common enough..." Mason nodded. "I've seen it many a time."

"Well then..." Lamond looked at him and smiled. "Perhaps it wasn't my fault. But I thought that it was... that my will wasn't enough... and I heard that Godsway could amplify an Arisen's will. And so I sought out Phaesus... who was all too happy to give me a steady supply..." He paused, then took a sip of his Newt Liqueur. "You can imagine the rest. A nice bit of research. My dragon came and I failed to slay it. My pawn returned to the Rift. I am now but a drunk..."

"I am sorry..." Lena hugged him around the shoulders. "That's tough."

"Don't cry for me, sis," Lamond patted her hand. "I could help you, and thus it was not all for naught. What do you plan to do with him now?" He looked at Lord Phaesus.

"Kill him," Lena shrugged. "What else? That's the merciful thing to do. But first... there is another loose end."

She walked over to him.

"Tell me, Lord Phaesus," she spoke quietly. "Why would the oracle not speak about Godsway?"

"Because that's what keeps her away on her plane," he shrugged. "The insense she burns - that's what makes her appear as a ghost. Deny her that, and she'll regain her human form, whatever left of her... withdrawal can be severe... Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Lena smiled and walked away.

[Lena Wolf]

Second Seed, 4E204 - An Arisen and her pawn

"There she goes - the current Arisen and her pawn," people would say seeing Lena and Scorpio around town in Bakbattahl. Pawns had all but disappeared from the city streets to the delight of the locals, still mistrustful of them. People would watch her for a few moments, then return to their lives and their affairs. The dragon was gone, and the people were even prepared to tolerate one pawn in their city - that of the current Arisen.

...

Once Scorpio could walk well enough, it was time to leave the camp at the excavation site and go somewhere more suitable for habitation.

"We'll see you to Bakbattahl," Rook said when Lena suggested that he and Mason head for the nearest riftstone. "In case there's any trouble... not that I would expect any. But Lord Phaesus will need escorting, unless you want to end his life here? And Ambrosius? Isn't he still alive?"

He was. Still collapsed in his cell, pale, but clinging to life.

"He will need care and treatment," Lena turned to Lord Phaesus. "He lost a lot of blood. He is your subject, he is here on your orders. You decide."

"He outlived his usefulness," Lord Phaesus looked down at Ambrosius. "Leave him here to die."

Lena put a dagger through his heart. "He deserves better."

They teleported to Bakbattahl all together, causing a little stir at the oxcart station porticrystal. Lamond vounteered to escort Lord Phaesus back to the Forbidden Magic Laboratory under the Imperial Palace. "Are you sure he won't escape?" Mason squinted at Lena when she announced her decision to let him go.

"Escape? And go where?" She smiled. "Besides, if I ever wanted another sip of his blood, that's where I'd go to find him..."

"Until we meet again," Lord Phaesus smiled, kissing her hand - he could be such a charmer when he wanted to. "My Lady."

With Lamond and Phaesus gone, Mason, Rook, Lena and Scorpio reached Lena's house without any trouble.

"Go home," Lena hugged Rook. "Benita is waiting." She kissed him, one last time.

"Don't let me catch you causing trouble again," he smiled. "Be well. And see you around..."

"It's time for me to leave as well, Arisen," Mason said his goodbyes. "I'll be walking the roads, so if you need any help with your roast, just call... you never know."

...

"Stop fussing over me, those cuts will heal in time!" Scorpio was protesting when Lena once again went about putting ointment on each and every cut and bruise on his body. "I am a pawn, I'm used to this..." Lena gave him a look. "Well, may be not in such quantities, granted... Oh alright, if you must..."

One day he ventured another question: "What are we going to do about your heart?"

"I don't know..." Lena sighed. "The dragon didn't have it... I wonder who does?"

"The Legion, who else? That's why the old Arisen here still live after the dragon is slain."

Lena nodded, it did make sense. But how to get it back from the Legion? And after that, how to return to Tamriel? She didn't dare to think that far.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said decisively and shook her head. "We're out of danger and you are alive, that will suffice for now."

Scorpio didn't press the matter.

"Come here," he pulled her close. "I may not be capable of much else as yet, but I can still kiss you." He took her in his embrace and she knew there was not a trace of the wall around his heart left. "My heart is yours. I know your heart isn't mine, but I've got something else... and that's more than enough. I may not understand how you deal with multiple bonds... but I shall not question ours again."

"You are a part of me as I am a part of you," Lena repeated what Lamond made her understand. "The bond only deepens with every trial..." She pressed her ear to Scorpio's chest and listened to his heart.

...

The following few weeks were peaceful. Scorpio was recovering from his ordeal, but it was going to take time, ointments notwithstanding. He retained a deep scar on his abdomen where the dragon blood had been injected as some of the tissue had perished. Lena never went back to the Forbidden Magic Laboratory to check on Lord Phaesus, she was sure he would still be there, making notes about everything he'd learned. She wondered sometimes just how much he suffered from his cravings to be fed on, but it wasn't important enough for her to go and check.

"You could have just killed me, you know," Scorpio said one day. "I mean, sent me back to the Rift. That would have cured the Dragonsplague. That's what every Arisen does: throw their pawn off a cliff."

"It was too much of a risk," Lena shook her head. "You didn't just catch it from another pawn... I think you would have really died if I had killed you."

"So what happens if I catch it again?" Scorpio gave her a long look.

"Then... you tell me about it," Lena smiled. "Before it takes you over. And I shall probably have to throw you off a cliff..."

"I wonder what the nature of it is," Scorpio mused. "I was unconscious of course, yet I remember visions... I remember flying... like if I had wings."

"Like a dragon?"

"I don't remember turning into a dragon," he smirked. "But may be a bat? No, I jest - I couldn't tell. The visions weren't very clear."

"Visions never are," Lena nodded. "We'll just have to deal with it if you do get infected." She paused, then asked looking away: "Do you get called for pawn duty much these days?"

"Not now, no, not in my current condition," Scorpio answered slowly. "Also, I think, since I am not bound to an Arisen by the Legion... I would not be their first choice."

"That's good," Lena perked up. "I'd miss you."

"But you aren't supposed to even notice..."

"Oh but I do."

"Then why did you ask?" He looked at her with a penetrating gaze. "I wouldn't lie."

"I wondered..." Lena looked down, avoiding Scorpio's gaze. "I wondered if I stopped sensing it... You haven't been called since we slayed the dragon, correct?"

"That's right," Scorpio nodded. "Since my Legion bond to you was released."

"Hmm... The bond was released..." She repeated pensively. "So if you were to return to the Rift, would I even be able to get you back?"

"Of course, I would answer your call at once."

"Answer my call... So this is then how, back in Gransys, you were able not to answer my call which made me jump off a cliff in despair?" She looked up at him sharply.

"That's right... that's the one choice we get. And I did it on purpose - to send you back home."

"Well, don't do it again!" Lena exclaimed hotly. "We return to Tamriel together or we don't return. I meant what I said: I shall stay with you till the end of times... because unless I am killed, my life will have no end. I am not a regular mortal."

"I heard you say that..." Scorpio smiled. "Wasn't sure if I simply imagined it... it seems I did not."

They stood on the edge of a cliff, the scenery of Battahl spreading before them.

[Lena Wolf]

Second Seed, 4E204 - A trail of shards

A scene of lovemaking met Lamond's eyes when he entered Lena's house in Bakbattahl. Perhaps he should have knocked. He shook his head and busied himself brewing coffee in the front room.

"You have no shame, do you?" He grinned, passing Lena and Scorpio coffee once they were finished, as they didn't stop on his account.

"What's there to be ashamed of?" Lena shrugged. "It's a perfectly natural thing to do... Everyone does it..."

"And yet everyone is ashamed when someone else catches them at it," Lamond objected.

"So, what's your point?" Lena looked at him quizzically.

"You've been around pawns for too long, sister," Lamond smirked. "Their ways are rubbing off on you."

"Not my fault!" Scorpio protested. "She was like this already before we met!"

Lamond grinned but didn't say anything, just refilled everyone's coffee.

"Pawns are unfazed by pretty much anything, of course, be it intimate intercourse or vampire transformations alike," he finally spoke, sitting down again. "Perhaps my own journey as an Arisen was too short to understand them. Perhaps I didn't care enough... was too focused on the dragon... which I failed to slay in the end."

"And I slayed mine, yet here we are," Lena said softly. "I don't think the dragon matters, Lamond. Didn't you say yourself that an Arisen is nothing without the pawn?"

"I came to realise it much later," he nodded. "I've seen many Arisen come and go, having failed to slay their dragon for whatever reason... They never cared enough about their pawns... Not the way you two..." He looked at them and smiled. "Perhaps that's what the Legion wants... telling us that pawns are only there to serve, that the Arisen is all the hype... I don't think you're supposed to actually care for each other."

"It isn't common," Scorpio said softly. "The Arisen normally treat us as slaves, and the fact that we have to call them 'master' only makes things worse... Just look at the garments they have us wear so often... 'It's enchanted, it offers protection,' is the usual argument, while you would never catch a human mage or knight wearing that sort of bondage... more suitable for a brothel than a battlefield."

"I never made you wear that rubbish!" Lena protested.

"I am not talking about you," Scorpio smiled at her. "But when we are called for duty, the Arisen can have us wear whatever they want... give us any command... and we must obey the wishes of the Arisen. Sometimes I think it's the women that get the worst of it, but other times..." His voice trailed off and he looked away.

"I'll let you wash up and get dressed," Lamond took their coffee cups breaking the awkward silence. "Put on some armour, there's something I want to show you up on the beach. After we've cleared the harpies and rattlers, that is..." He paused, taking in the state of Scorpio's body, still covered in scars and remnants of wounds. "You will manage, it's not too hard," he nodded to himself.

...

Clearing the beach of monsters didn't present any problems. Between Scorpio's frost and fire, Lena's bow and daggers and Lamond's greatsword they managed it easy enough. When all was quiet, Lamond pointed at a structure out at sea.

"That tower wasn't there before, I could swear it!" Lena exclaimed in surprise. "And there seems to be a path to it, too..."

"That tower rises and sinks back into the depths from time to time," Lamond nodded, holding Lena from rushing off. "And there's more. Look around - all those Godsway crystals."

Indeed, this was the very beach where Ambrosius had asked Lena to collect blue crystals for him, then lamented that the shards were too small.

"Not Godsway yet, but shards used to make it," Lena nodded. "They seem to float in from that tower... Oh and look - there are some big ones!"

She turned to him in surprise but he only smiled.

"We must explore the tower," Lena concluded, marching off, Lamond tried to say something, then shook his head and remained on the beach.

...

"The way is blocked, we have to try it from the other side," Scorpio finally gave up attempting to destroy boulders blocking their way. "I am not even sure we're supposed to destroy it. May be there's a trick... a mechanism of some kind..."

"Which is why Lamond is still on the beach," Lena realised. "He knew it all along, yet let me find out for myself..."

"As if you would have it any other way, Arisen!" Scorpio grinned. "Let's hear what he's got to say for himself."

Lamond was sitting on the beach, waiting for them to return.

"There is a way, but it's from the other side," he said when they approached. "I tried to tell you..."

"Well, never mind," Lena shrugged. "But I sense that there's more..."

"Indeed," Lamond got up and pointed North. "The cavern of the Dragonforged is that way, I suppose you know it?"

"He can enhance our gear with dragon blood crystals," Lena nodded. "But... don't tell me - there's more?"

Lamond smiled and started walking North.

...

"How long I've been here? I honestly could not tell..." The Dragonforged looked at Lena in surprise. "Does it matter? I used the time to learn aught of the dragon blood."

"And where is your pawn?"

"My pawn?" A long forgotten memory seemed to have risen in his mind, and he smiled, looking into the distance. "Oh yes, my pawn... He remained in the other world... The man on the hill, having come there in the fullness of time... Say..." He looked at Lena as if seeing her for the first time. "Have we not met before? You and your pawn... The Arisen's Bond... yes, I remember," he smiled, looking at them both. "You slayed the dragon and my heart was forfeit with it... I perished, along with every old Arisen in that world. Then I woke up in this cavern... not unlike the one on the hill... but my pawn wasn't with me, I had to continue my existence alone..." He paused, looking around him as if seeing his cavern anew, too. "I miss him, you know. He was a good friend... We used to talk... reflect on the world and the goings on... I never felt lonely with him around..." His voice trailed off and he turned away. "And since I lost him, my soul has frayed... small shards are being torn off and carried away on the waves of time... or solitude... or regret..."

He walked out onto a platform overlooking the sea and just stood there, staring into the distance. Lena decided to leave him alone.

...

"Tell me what's inside that tower," Lena turned to Lamond when they stood outside again. "I have a feeling you know exactly what we shall find."

"The same as what I found, no doubt," he nodded. "The Mad Sovran."

"Rothias?!" Lena spinned in surprise. She had read old tomes in long forgotten archives telling of the very first Arisen of that world - Rothias. He defeated his dragon and established the law that the current Arisen should be crowned as the Sovran of Vermund, to reign until another Arisen slays his or her own dragon. There was no mention of Battahl in those tomes, it appeared that both kingdoms were in fact one, known as Vermund. That was eons ago. How and when Battahl became its own kingdom, remained unclear. Rothias turned out to be a cruel ruler, executing his subjects by the dozen for any slightest misstep... but again, just how he was removed from power and what became of him, remained unclear. To hear that he indeed still lived... well... that was no small wonder.

Lena walked up and down the beach, visibly distraught. If Rothias was still alive, confined to a tower that rose and sank from time to time, with the blue crystal shards floating from it... with larger shards appearing when the tower came up... "...small shards are being torn off and carried away on the waves of time..." Did she not put a crystal shard on the stand before the Sphinx to represent a piece of her soul? What made her choose a shard? An impluse, an intuition... or may be something she'd seen before, a long, long time ago.

"How do we get into the tower?" She returned to her companions.

"There is a path from Harve - a village on the other side of the bay," Lamond replied. "Have you ever wondered why a small fishing village should have its own porticrystal?"

Lena pulled out a ferrystone and whisked them to the other side of the bay.

...

"And who are you?" A ghostly figure was sitting on a crumbling throne in the middle of an arena. "What do you want? Speak up! I get tired of waiting!"

"Rothias?" Lena approached the figure. He wasn't a ghost, exactly, but rather his shape was surrounded by a cloud of mist. "I was told I'd find you here."

"Well, thanks for your visit, and now be off!" Rothias scowled at her. "I have no time for your kind..."

"My kind..?" Lena was taken aback.

"The current Arisen, is it?" Rothias squinted at her. "Slayed your dragon and got my throne! I know you've done it, or you wouldn't be standing here, smug as you are! What do you want?!" He nearly shouted, growing angry and impatient.

"I want a lot of things," Lena answered in an even and cold voice. "Is that your soul bleeding out? It poisons this world."

"And it deserves it!!" Rothias bellowed. "I've been dethroned by an inferior pleb!!"

"And where is your pawn?"

"My pawn?!!!" Rothias almost exploded with anger. "I had no pawn! I had to defeat my dragon alone!! It was the strength of my will and that of my sword that slayed that beast! Pawns..!" He glared at Lena, then looked further and finally noticed Scorpio standing behind her. "They ruined it all!!" He screamed, pointing at Scorpio. "The pawns!! The Legion!!! I could have ruled the world entire, were it not for the pawns!!"

This outburst seemed to have exhausted his strength and he collapsed onto his throne.

"Begone, Arisen!" He hissed, breathing heavily.

...

"Went to see the Mad Sovran, did you?" An old man on the beach in Harve was stirring a pot over a campfire. "Yeah, I know what's in that tower... what floats from it as well... Rule the world entire, indeed! This IS the world entire, there is nothing more... There is naught beyond the horizon..."

Lena realised with a start that she kept forgetting that the old man was in fact an old Arisen. Indeed, the scar was still visible on his chest.

"Did you slay your dragon?" She asked him.

"Aye," he nodded. "'Tis not that hard, as you well know..."

"And you ruled over Vermund?"

"Nay, not I," he shook his head vigorously and spit. "I want no throne. They found another soon enough."

"Why do you sail out to sea each day?"

"Why not?" He shrugged. "Lived in this village my whole life before that stupid dragon saw it fit to make me immortal... Fished in this bay all my life, so why would I stop?" He gave Lena a long look, his eyes were clear, alive, like those of a young man.

"Your soul isn't fraying," Lena concluded.

He gave a short laugh.

"Why would it? I found my peace. I came home and am happy here."

They didn't speak for a while, Lena sat by his fire looking out to sea.

"But you are not of this world," the old man said quietly. "I know there are other worlds out there, some like ours, others not... You are from a world that isn't bound by the Dragon's Dogma."

"How can you tell?" Lena asked quietly, still looking out to sea.

"You slayed your dragon, you got the throne, but that wasn't your goal... You keep company of pawns, not people... pawns and old Arisen..." he nodded towards Lamond and Scorpio standing a few steps away. "You are still searching for your heart, and for a way home..." His voice trailed off and he resumed stirring in the pot over the fire. "I've never seen an Arisen quite like you."

Lena didn't answer. The waves were rolling in and fizzling out on the rocky beach. The seagulls were circling over the water, occasionally diving for fish, their cries were the only sounds for miles, it seemed. A vision of Cassardis rose in Lena's mind, the fishing village in Gransys where everyone called her "cousin"... she missed it, it felt like home. She was once prepared to spend an eternity there, provided Scorpio stayed with her... it was so long ago. Then she saw the shores of the Niben, the bluebell meadows and the modest house where she grew up. Her Argonian grandmother was stirring in a pot over the fire. "Hi, grandma," she smiled at the memory. That was so long ago...

[Lena Wolf]

Second Seed, 4E204 - Sweet dreams are made of this

Lena sat on a rocky beach in Harve looking out to sea. With her mind's eye she saw in the haze before her every place she once called home. The shores of the Niben. The mists of Dementia. The banks of the Pontar. The beaches of Cassardis... Perhaps she should find a home in this world, too. Scorpio watched her for a bit, then walked over and sat next to her, pulling her close. He unclipped his wolven wrap and draped it over her shoulders more than his. "I am here," he said in her ear. She could feel his heartbeat. She closed her eyes and allowed the day to fizzle out.

...

"Do you think she'll do it?" The old man by the sea looked quizzically at Lamond.

"Sacrifice our world?" Lamond looked up from the fire. "Nah, not she... She'll find another way."

"Are you not tired of the endless cycle?" The old man resumed stirring in the pot. "Every time it is the same."

"You've got your Godsbane, you can end it any time," Lamond objected. "Yet here you are."

"The choice when to die is rarely given, granted," the old man agreed. "All in all, it's not a bad place to live."

The stew was ready and they shared a meal, gazing at the stars above.

...

"Tell me about your research, Lord Phaesus," Lena stood in the Forbidden Magic Laboratory. "Why are you making Godsway?"

"To control the dragon and break the Dragon's Dogma. To free our world," he shrugged.

"Free it..." Lena nodded. "And what, pray, do you know about this world?"

"It is vast... There must be lands beyond the horizon... lands beyond the mountain ridges... This whole world must be made free." Lord Phaesus looked at her and smiled, and Lena thought that instead of her standing there, he saw new lands beyond the horizon.

"Do you suffer much from your cravings to be fed on?" She suddenly changed the topic.

"Suffer?" He looked at her in surprise. "Does one suffer in between moments of ecstasy? Perhaps only by comparison..." He looked at her with a deep longing. "You lost your fangs, Mistress... But perhaps you could use a dagger..?" His hand was already pushing back the robe revealing his neck.

"These healed quite well," Lena touched the scars of the previous bite marks, barely visible now. "I don't need a dagger," she smiled. "All I have to do is will it..."

"The transformation..!" Lord Phaesus gasped, watching Lena's canines pull out turning into fangs, her face growing gaunt and eyes feverish at the same time.

"I am naught but a monster akin all others, here to be hunted and killed," she said in a low voice, paraphrasing Pheasus' own words back at the excavation site. "I have been for centuries..." She was looking into his eyes. "How do you kill the immortal? There are ways, of course... You have been trying to kill my pawn, yet you failed."

"Mistress..." Phaesus backed against the wall, the air in the room growing cold.

"What will you do once you've freed this world from the Dragon's Dogma?" Lena stood quite close to Phaesus now, speaking quietly. "The king in Vermund is your son, is he not? But I do not believe you care for him or his mother... Yes, I saw you there, at The Rose... their escorts show more warmth or conviction than you did taking her into your arms..." she smirked. "Is it the throne you want? The riches, the power?" She gently stroke his neck with her cold hand and he moaned, his knees growing weak. "Should I grant you your moment of ecstasy?"

"I do not wish to be king..." Lord Phaesus said in a hoarse voice. "Everything I want is here..." he looked around the room. "The Empress of Battahl is oblivious to my research, yet she's funding it... women are so easy to manipulate..." He returned Lena's gaze and for a few moments they stood locked in it, Phaesus' dark brown eyes and Lena's amber, with a hint of red... "Yes, Sven is my son," he nodded. "An investment I made twenty years ago. Disa simply wanted a child, I wanted the Arisen Sovran to have a heir. Break the pattern one step at a time... I had no definite plan then... I still don't. The Godsway we make will not control the dragon, it barely controls pawns..." His voice trailed off, he looked away, but remained standing before Lena.

"Ambrosius is dead," Lena walked around the room, picking up a few books and notes, quite a few in Ambrosius' hand. "He was your loyal assistant, yet you wouldn't care for him... He could have recovered."

"He lacked brilliance," Phaesus made an annoyed gesture. "He was collecting shards for years, yet still made no connection as to where they came from or what they were..."

"And you... you know it?" Lena looked up.

"They are fragments of an Arisen's soul," he nodded. "That of Rothias in the tower and the Dragonforged in the cavern..." He paused, thinking. "They are not all the same, and it isn't the size that matters but the substance... something that Ambrosius could never understand."

"You wanted to kill me for my soul," Lena suddenly realised.

"I thought to capture it through your pawn," Lord Phaesus walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out an old tome, handing it to Lena.

"On the Transference of Souls," she read.

"You know it, I take it?" He noticed a spark of recognition in Lena's face. "I am still searching for the second tome. This here is but the first half."

Lena put down the book.

"The easiest way to control the dragon and the pawns," she said in an even tone, "is to become an Arisen yourself, Lord Phaesus." She paused and he looked up sharply. "Oh come now, you know how it's done... The dragon chooses the challenger, always. Not the mage taking notes. Not the reseacher hidden deep inside the earth. Next time the dragon comes around, seek him out, he's easy to find. A good lightning bolt will make you lose your heart and gain the power... And then, when you face your dragon, stab him with your personal Godsbane."

Lord Phaesus stood transfixed as a long silver dagger, or a short silver sword, appeared in Lena's hand, shimmering with an unknown enchantment. She put it on the table before Phaesus.

"This one is mine," she said simply. "You can touch it but only I can wield it. This sword exists with a single purpose: for me to commit suicide. Every Arisen gets one when it comes near the time to face the dragon."

"But what is the point..?" Phaesus touched Lena's Godsbane and it gave him a powerful discharge.

"Interesting," Lena smiled. "It doesn't like you." She put it away. "Every Arisen can break the cycle, can lift the Dragon's Dogma. Very few choose to do it. I did it once in another world... But what came next was not worth it, and I worked hard to undo it. The same would happen here, I wager... Or something very much like it, at any rate..."

She walked around the room, glancing at the many tomes in Phaesus' library.

"The lands beyond the horizon that you speak of... How do you know that they exist?" She stopped close to him.

"I saw them... with my mind's eye..." Phaesus said softly, seeing them again. "Forests teeming with game... Deserts of warm sands so unlike Battahl... Frozen peakes of rugged mountains... An Elven city on an isle with a spire so white and so tall, it can be seen from every corner of the land... All of this... is beyond the horizon."

"All of this is not of this world," Lena smiled, pulling back the robe on Phaesus' shoulder to reveal his neck. "Let me give you another dream..."

...

Scorpio was sitting outside Lord Phaesus' chamber waiting for Lena. He had to resist the urge to charge in and just kill Phaesus where he stood, but Lena specifically instructed him to stay out and to keep everyone else from even approaching the door. All was quiet and no one came to Phaesus' chamber, and so Scorpio listened without interruptions.

When Lena came out, she looked completely human again, with all visible traces of vampirism fully receded.

"Phaesus?" Scorpio asked, checking her over, just to be sure.

"He'll be alright," Lena smiled. "I took more than a fair share, but he can handle it. He'll be craving it all the more next time we meet..."

"Are you sure we shouldn't just kill him?" Scorpio looked through the door opening - Lord Phaesus was slumped on the cushions, looking quite pale. "I mean, after some of the things he was saying..."

"He is no threat to us now," Lena shook her head. "And I still need a thrall sometimes..."

"Then take my blood instead..!"

"No, Scorpio, let's not make it into a habit," she kissed him on a cheek and motioned him to go. "In an emergency, if I have no other choice, I shall take your blood... But not if it can be avoided!"

...

They returned to Vermund, leaving behind the land of red rock and the stigma surrounding pawns. Here, among the green mountains, the air was both cooler and less toxic, which was a welcome change.

"The people in Gransys didn't like us pawns either," Scorpio observed as they were walking up a mountain path. "Yet in Battahl I experienced a whole different level of rejection... not hate, but distrust and disdain... I am glad to be out of there."

"Agreed," Lena nodded. "But here it is the reverse. I wonder what they will make of us now... I should be the Sovran but I abdicated... Some will see it as slander or even a provocation. We won't find many friendly hearts here, I think."

In Vernworth life continued as before. To Lena's surprise, most people appeared not to care that she wasn't fulfulling her duty of presiding over the throne. "It must be awfully dull," they would look at her with understanding. "All those laws and decrees... Hardly the stuff of dreams, now is it?"

Lena went to the Pawn Guild.

"Arisen!" The receptionist greeted her in his ever dispassionate tone. "You cannot summon pawns in times of peace like these. However, if you have need of assistance, the Guild can provide support for a fee."

"I had something else in mind," she shook her head. "I wish to travel the Rift."

"Only pawns can do that, Arisen."

"Not even for a fee?" She smiled, putting a small mountain of rift crystals on the table, with one small Godsway crystal just visible inside it.

"Well, since you put it like that..." The receptionist quickly extracted the Godsway crystal from the pile, stashing it in his belt. "Where would you like to go?"

"Today - nowhere," Lena smiled. "I am glad we've reached an understanding. That is premium purity, I am sure you will realise. Sweet dreams."

...

"What are you planning?" Scorpio waited to ask this question until they were inside Lena's house.

"A way home, an escape," Lena smiled. "You traveled to Tamriel through the Rift, we'll take the same route."

"I am a pawn, you are not," Scorpio looked sceptical. "The only reason I can do it is because the Legion needs the pawns to move between worlds... As long as they own me, I can do it... That's why I never let my mark vanish completely, lest I would not be able to find you again..." He rubbed the mark on his hand and it responded with a steady glow. "Besides, we cannot leave until you regain your heart."

"My heart..." Lena pressed a hand to her chest, the emptiness inside was almost palpable. "Vampires have hearts, but they don't beat. When I grow cold... my heart stops... yet I do not die. When I grow warm again, my heart once again starts beating, thanks to the cure I took. Vampires' hearts don't beat no matter what, I've been told. And yet I know it not to be true. All it takes is something to warm it..." She stopped talking, emotion making it difficult to breathe.

"Your first bond," Scorpio said softly. "Now I understand."

"In time," Lena nodded. "I shall return to him in time, but only once my soul is at peace..." She pressed her hand to Scorpio's chest, feeling his heartbeat. "My soul, which is also yours."

"And when your human bond runs its course, I shall still be there," he took her into his embrace. "And perhaps then it will be I who warms your heart."

The night had fallen while they were talking, a night of sweet dreams.