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

[macole]

Wow, what an ending. Well done.

[Lena Wolf]

Rayenna was losing her touch, or rather losing her head. She found the cave first and entered without an investigation. The next thing she knew was a troll kicking her in the ribs.

Oh my gosh! And then it took her two days to get back to health. Am wondering if you're gaming with Rayenna or if this is just Lena's story. Pretty sure you've gamed with Hauk as a PC, though i Might be wrong.

Yeah, I played the Mephala quest with Rayenna, but it was a fudge because I dislike her too much to actually play the whole game with her. But for the same argument, Lena would never do such a quest as what Mephala required, so it had to be Rayenna doing it. As for the trolls episode, that actually happened to me on my first playthrough or so, I was exploring and entered that cave... Ouch! Those are some very mean trolls!!! So I figured as Rayenna was getting desperate, she'd just go into every cave, over-confident as she is, and get her ribs kicked in by the trolls.

As for Hauk, yes, I started a brand new game for him - he's doing Morroblivion. I also started a new game for Geralt and one for Lucien... but sssshhhh... didn't get very far in those two yet, that's still to come.

Uh oh, she's attacking another DB member. Naughty, naughty. And she got poisoned. Tsk tsk.

She didn't get poisoned, she's a Redguard, they are almost completely resistent to poison. So what happened to her? If the hint wasn't clear, you'll find out in the next couple of episodes.

Bookmark (hope you don't mind. Easier to get back where I was if I link to it.)

Don't mind at all. Helps me too - I can jump back in and refresh my memory.

[Lena Wolf]

Wow, what an ending. Well done.

Thanks, Macole!

In this part of the game I have to give it to Capcom - their concept there is brilliant. The Maker's Finger is an actual item you can procure in-game, it is so to speak a legal cheat. It is extremely expensive, heavy and not always available, so you'd have to really plan and prepare if you wanted to use it against the dragon. Not every vocation can wield a bow either, there are many things to consider. And then you stand there and the dragon offers you that bargain... What? I don't have to fight you at all?

Suppose you take the bargain, as the choice of "beloved" is rather odd, especially if you didn't have a beloved. It doesn't matter really, you're asked to sacrifice another person, but what is one person's life on the balance of safety of Gransys? Plus, you get all the money and power you could ever want, for the whole of eternity? (Unless the next Arisen dares to dislodge you, that is.) And so you say yes, you accept the bargain. A cutscene plays out, a decent end for the game, no judgement there, for men are weak... titles roll... music plays... you are enjoying the last sip of your coffee as you prepare to hang your controller...

BZZZT... "Retry" screen pops up!

What?!

You hit retry and are permitted to make your choice again. However, if you had the Maker's Finger in your inventory before, it is now gone and you have to do battle the hard way. And what a battle it is! You better have many wakestones in your bag, for you'll need them, Arisen!

The original game does not have a save history, so you cannot go back and reload an older save. You have to live with your choices. Of course now there's a mod that makes backups, but I really like the original concept, so I only use backups as backups - in case the game crashes or the save gets corrupted, which again doesn't happen with the clean game, but can be caused by mods.

Once you kill the dragon, one way or the other, there again there's a cutscene, titles roll and it generally feels like the end of the game. You got your heart back. You won. Is there anything else to say? Wait and see.

[Renee]

No kidding! Wow. I've also had a couple characters I didn't like too, yet I did enjoy gaming with them to an extent. Nice to hear someone else has done this as well.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - The Final Solution

Lena woke up late in her house in Cassardis, Scorpio lay beside her.

"Good morning, Assassin," he smiled. "How does it feel to have your heart back? You certainly slept soundly."

"Shall we go see what Pablo has cooked for breakfast?" Lena stretched, but sudden pain in her chest made her crouch and cough.

"What's wrong?" Scorpio caught her. "It still hurts?"

"Give it time, perhaps," Lena smiled at him, the pain subsiding.

They got dressed and went outside, it was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining, the sea was calm, people were celebrating. But Lena felt a disquiet in her breast that she could not explain. "Just nerves," she thought. "I've been with a man before of course, but not like this... This time it meant something... sealed a bond..." She watched Scorpio take a swim in the sea and remembered one other time when love making actually meant love... Love she could never pursue, she thought, even if she did find a way to return to her world somehow. Her Speaker was out of bounds. "And yet... there he was, in Bravil, in my house. Came to tell me that the traitor was finally dead, that our names had been cleared, that the Brotherhood was ours again... My Speaker... My Brother... My friend..." She sighed. "And he was all of that and none of that..." She watched the seagulls steal fish from the boats. "So long ago... Why did I run away? Pretended it never happened?"

...

Time is a curious thing - it warps and turns, yet always remains linear, except in our memories. The day when Lena fell into the portal in Sheogorath's Palace and landed in Gransys, was a day in a year unknown, yet it was after the Oblivion Crisis was done with, after the Greymarch on the Shivering Isles, after the dreadful events with the treason within the Dark Brotherhood... All of that was behind her. Her vampirism cured, her looks restored. She could breathe easy again... She could have returned to mundus any time, but she didn't, she stayed in the Shivering Isles where time flew by as fast as you wanted, assisted by liquor and felldew. Her duties as Lord Sheogorath were light, and Sanguine's presence turned everything into one constant party.

Gransys was a wake-up call of sorts. Lena found herself in a strange world, embroiled in events she didn't understand, her heart missing, her life in danger. She shook off the felldew and rose to the challenge. She killed the dragon and got back her heart... What now? Should she perhaps just stay? Leave behind everything she knew in Tamriel? Give up that love she could never pursue anyway?

...

The seagulls were fighting in flight over the stolen fish. "That night in Bravil did seal a bond," she nodded to her thoughts. "All that went on before... all that we meant to each other... That bond still holds. The same as this one," she pressed her hand to her chest - her heartbeat was faint, but it was there. "This bond... A bond to a man who is here... in person... in the flesh..." Scorpio was swimming back to the shore, he would come out of the water in a few moments, he would walk over to Lena and stretch out on the sand next to her... "Enjoy the bliss while it lasts," she told herself, for she knew that the disquiet in her breast had nothing to do with nerves.

...

"The dragon is well and truly dead, you did it, cousin!" The people were jubilant.

"Prepare well, child," the old woman at the textiles shop patted Lena's hand. "You have defeated the dragon, now the true fight begins."

"I feel it too, the disquiet in my breast," Scorpio stood behind her.

"It won't still," Rook appeared in the doorway.

"Come, Master," Scarlet stood next to Rook. "Let us face the consequences."

Lena turned around and looked at them in turn. She was still the Arisen, they were still her pawns, her heart was beating in her breast and it made no difference. The fight continued.

...

"What happened? Is this truly the world the Arisen was meant to unleash?" Scarlet got knocked to the ground for the third time, by a mere goblin, it seemed.

"These are no common goblins!" Rook exclaimed, shooting yet another fireball at it. "Grimgoblins or some such! Like I've seen on the Bitterblack Isle!"

The skies were dark, the wind was howling, nature itself seemed to scold the Arisen for destroying the dragon. Beasts that had never been seen before, roamed the land. Hellhounds, succubi, giant undead...

"There is a chimera on the beach!" Scarlet pointed it out.

"Not a plain chimera either..." Rook shook his head. "This is the kind that regrows its tail and kills outright with its magic."

"Just how much time did you spend on the Bitterblack Isle?" Scorpio was taken aback.

"Enough to know the danger we're facing," Rook answered evasively. "Let us focus on the fight! And make for Gran Soren!"

"No, we are going back to Cassardis," Lena turned and motioned them to follow.

"Master?" Scarlet looked up in disbelief.

"I need a word with Olra first," Lena winked. "It is only a fool who rushes into battle unprepared. Isn't it what you always say?"

...

The young woman with a lantern stood on the village pier every night waiting for the Arisen to ask for transport to the Bitterblack Isle. The locals got used to her and paid her no mind. "I am but a shadow, here to serve for transport. My flesh resides elsewhere."

"Hello, Olra," Lena greeted her when they got teleported to the Isle. "Tell me about this place."

"But Ser! I do not know it myself," Olra objected.

"Oh, but I think you do..." Lena walked around her. "You are with the Legion, are you not? A pawn or perhaps an Arisen... You are the siren that calls the Arisen here, to their doom. And so I ask again: what is this place?"

"This is... this is a trap," Olra nodded. "But I know not its purpose!" She exclaimed hotly. "And what I said before... it is all true! I am lost... My hope is that I rediscover myself as you explore the labyrinth's depths and bring me back my memories. And I pray that my goals align with yours, Ser!"

"She speaks the truth, she does not know," Rook said quietly. "They wiped her memory, it seems..."

"If there is aught I can do to help, say it!" Olra seemed genuinely perturbed.

"All right," Lena softened her tone. "Perhaps things will transpire as we go on. I need you to..."

...

"Olra must not betray us," someone at the Pawn Legion was watching the events through a crystal ball. "It is bad enough that this Arisen's heart is still beating - and Grigori will pay for that. But we cannot have Olra talk."

"She won't," another person sounded certain. "She's been purged so many times already, she is truly nothing but a shell now."

"Did you know this about Rook?" The first person looked at the second with worry. "That he goes off on his own? Exercising his will?"

"Yes," the second person nodded. "He keeps Barnaby in the dark, but that's easily done. Rook is no threat to the Legion, he is a pawn, through and through."

"Well, if you say so," the first person shook his head in doubt, but dismissed the matter. "We have bigger fish to fry. Is everything ready?"

"Events have been set in motion," the second person nodded. "She won't survive Gran Soren."

"Well, it better work..." The first person got up from the table. "I am no fan of the Final Solution, it's so much work to put everything back together after that..."

"She won't survive it," the second person got up too. "Quince is already in place."

...

When Lena and her pawns left Cassardis for the second time, they were much better armed and their bags were bulging with salves and potions.

"The Everfall is the key," Rook was saying as they picked their way through hellhounds and succubi. "That light that you've seen in its depths before, those tentacles growing from the ground..."

"It's a gazer," Scarlet nodded. "We've seen one on the Bitterblack Isle."

"We ran from it," Lena reminded her. "We ran for our lives, remember?"

"There's nowhere to run now," Scarlet smirked. "We'll have to stand and fight."

...

Gran Soren was a sorry sight - most of the city had been wiped out, a huge hole gaped inside the city walls, a seemingly bottomless abyss... Beasts rose up from it every now and again, taking to the skies - beasts that now held Gransys. Yet apart from the hole in the ground, the city was unchanged... quiet... peaceful... secure... No beast roamed the streets, and those citizens that had not perished, had nothing to fear. Gran Soren's great walls still served to keep the monsters out, it seemed.

"How is this possible?" Lena was gazing into the abyss, watching the harpies, gargoyles and succubi rise from its depths and take to the skies, yet not one of them land in the city. "Why are they not attacking anyone?" She looked at her pawns in astonishment. "I mean, it's good of course, but..."

"It's like they are being controlled," Rook nodded. "Directed..."

"Like when they descended onto Cassardis together with the dragon," Lena was still watching the beasts. "Not one of them hurt anyone..."

"The purpose being to scare and to impress," Scarlet agreed. "But it ends with the city walls - Gransys has been overrun elsewhere."

"The Duke failed to keep us safe," a bystander nodded. "All his talk of building walls... And the ground caved in under us instead!"

"I shudder to think of the taxes they'll grab from us to rebuild it!" Another joined in.

"The Duke has failed us," another person echoed the sentiment.

"We're all done for! It's the end!"

"Oh shut up!"

Subdued or not, opinions still differed.

"You should go to the castle and confront the Duke," Scorpio said in Lena's ear. "Don't expect it to be a friendly meeting."

"Oh, I have no illusions," Lena nodded. "I'll go in the morning, it'll keep."

It was late and they were tired from their difficult journey from Cassardis that had taken them far longer than it would have done before, especially since Lena had to pick a fight with a dragon along the way... When Scarlet asked her later what possessed her to do such a thing, all Lena had to say was that it looked like an overgrown dragonfly from the ground, it wasn't red and it didn't seem to be that big... It was all true, except the size. It wasn't a great dragon like Grigori, but a dragon nevertheless. "A drake," Lena corrected herself. "It was but a drake."

All in all, taking a break to eat and sleep was the right approach.

...

When Lena came to the castle the next morning, she found it eery empty. No guards, no nobles, no staff were anywhere to be seen. The Duke's Chamberlain was in the throne room. Lena was to go to the Duke's Solar. "Solar?" She scratched her head, climbing the stairs. "Oh, his office. The room with thick curtains in front of huge windows... Solar... A sun room... Except that the present Duke did not enjoy the sun..."

She pushed the door to the Solar. The room was dark, the curtains not only keeping the sun rays out, but the light itself.

"I know you, Arisen," she heard the Duke's voice but could not see the Duke anywhere. "Your avarice, your ambition... You took the dragon's bargain! You came to seize my throne and take my land!"

"Err..." Lena was still trying to locate the Duke. The voice seemed to come from behind a large writing desk in the darkest corner of the room.

"The dragon cannot be defeated!" The Duke stepped into the scarce light in the middle of the room. "A beast like that cannot be slain by man!" He looked old. His hair was white, and although his hand held a mighty sword, his arm had no strength to lift it. His eyes were white as well...

"But you are blind!" Lena exclaimed. "An old man... Your age... You must be ancient!"

"I have ruled this land for many a year!" He might have been weak with old age, but his voice still carried. "You will not take my throne from me!"

The Duke attacked, but Lena could not fight an old man. "Why is he still alive?" She wondered. "He should have perished with the dragon, for the dragon held his heart..." She dodged another attack. "Unless... No, wait..." At that moment the Duke made another lunge at her, but his sword was too heavy for him and he faltered, grabbing at the curtains in an attempt to steady himself, tearing them down, then being blinded by the sunlight flooding in... He fell forward, breaking the glass...

Lena rushed out onto the terrace of the Solar, but the Duke was already rising after his fall, his face contorted with rage. The guards ran in, alerted by the sound of the glass breaking.

"She is a traitor!" The Duke bellowed. "A witch!! She put a curse on me! Seize her!!!"

"Oh, the W-word," Lena smirked. "Sure. Why not." She jumped off the terrace of the Solar and ran out of the gates of the castle.

"Arisen! How could you... No, what am I saying..." A confused but determined Ser Maximilian was barring her way, his loyal troops with him, swords drawn. "I cannot believe it... Yet I am duty bound to heed the Duke's words... Forgive me..." He looked at his men, most of whom seemed as confused as he was. "His Grace commands the Arisen's capture, men!"

Lena knew that it wasn't a bluff. Her pawns gathered behind her, and as she broke into a run, they followed, but the soldiers attacked the pawns while they had the chance... Ser Maximilian himself was chasing Lena, but his long commander's coat was slowing him down somewhat. Or it least he made it look like it was his coat.

"This way, they've sealed the other gate!!!" Lena heard Scarlet shout, but she was already too far away, almost near the wrong gate. "Help me..!" Scarlet's voice sounded hollow. What just happened? But there was no time to think. The gate was sealed indeed, Ser Maximilian was hot on her heels, she dived out of the way of his sword and sprinted in the opposite direction. Scarlet and Rook were both on the ground, she helped them up, sprinted on towards the other city gate...

The abyss of the Everfall released another flock of monsters, and this time they were flying low, close to people's heads, making everyone back off or run for cover... Again, no one was actually hurt, but everyone was scared.

"Ser Maximilian trained his troops well," Scorpio caught up with Lena at the edge of the abyss. "The other gate is also sealed, and they've got us surrounded."

"Follow me," Lena briefly squeezed his hand, then nodded goodbye to Ser Maximilian and jumped into the abyss.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - Riddles

Lena was falling into an abyss. She wasn't trying to commit suicide, she was quite sure it was a portal. But she'd been falling for a while, and nothing was happening.

"Am I supposed to do something?" She wondered. She tried to pay attention to the walls, but the fall was really fast and she couldn't make anything out. There seemed to be platforms, lights... "Err... Stop!!" She shouted, but continued falling. There seemed to be objects in flight as well... "Jars of marmalade?" She wondered. One was falling right next to her. "Or-... orange... Orange what?" She read the label. "Hmm... Perhaps I should taste it..." She grabbed the jar... And found herself land on a platform, her pawns landing next to her. "Hmm." The jar was empty.

"This is a test of your strength," she heard a voice coming from the abyss. "Pray, show that you have the resolve to throw off your yoke."

"What?! Another test?!" Lena was outraged. "You destroyed this world just to test my resolve?!"

There was no answer.

"Arisen, I would ask aught of you," a voice came from behind, making Lena jump. "Please take these." A woman with a bow and daggers stood before her - a pawn. She was holding three wakestones, offering them to Lena. Nay, ordering Lena to take them. "I am Quince," the woman continued. "My master was like you - she fought the dragon, only to find the same disaster befall the world as now. She set out to collect twenty wakestones, but died trying. For her sake, continue her search."

Lena looked at the wakestones in her hand, they seemed genuine. She put them away.

"Three stones was as far as your Arisen came before she perished?" She looked at Quince with suspicion. "That isn't exactly encouraging... But why collect them at all? And why twenty? What will it accomplish?"

"I know not, Arisen," Quince shrugged. "It was my master's wish."

"Strange, isn't it?" Scorpio said in Lena's ear. "Very strange."

"Pray, explore the Everfall and bring me twenty wakestones." Quince's eyes were cold, too cold even for a pawn. "I'll wait for you by the entrance."

There was a flash of light and Quince vanished. "Teleportation," Lena thought.

There was just one door leading from the platform into the rock, they braced for monsters and entered.

The room beyond had no monsters in it. It was an old crypt with broken down sarcophagi arranged in rows. Two pawns were walking among them. "My master perished in his pursuit of the dragon," one of them said. "I am now left behind to forever wander these halls. My existence lost its purpose." The other pawn was equally depressed. "Some pawns have gone mad with the infinite wandering," she said. "They now attack anything in sight. Be watchful."

Lena spotted another door at the end of the crypt. Monsters or no, she pushed it.

"Gazer!!" Scarlet was the first to spot the danger. The room was an arena, it had another door to the side, locked. There was nothing else for it but stand and fight.

...

"A wakestone," Lena was collecting the loot that fell out of the gazer's pockets, or perhaps detached from its skin. "So this is how we are supposed to collect them." She put it away. "I still don't understand why though."

"Or how to get out," Scorpio put in. "We're done here but we're also out of potions."

They walked through the crypt and out the other door, they stood on the ledge again.

"We must jump," Rook suggested. "Look - there are lights and other ledges along the walls."

"With more arenas and monsters," Scarlet smirked. "It'll be our death. We need to leave the Everfall and return to the world of Gransys."

"I know," Lena fumbled for a polished stone in her bag. "Let's see if this works." She tossed a ferrystone into the air, shouted "Gran Soren", there was a flash of light, and they stood at the portcrystal by the Pawn Guild. The ferrystone had worked.

...

"She cheated - again!" A person pushed away his crystal ball. "Who allowed Fournival to sell ferrystones?"

"Now, look here - we do not control the populace!" Another person was getting defensive. "Fournival will sell anything - he sold her the Maker's Finger too!"

"Damn," the first person was calming down. "You're right, some things are still out of our control."

"Do not worry, she will never collect twenty wakestones," the second person tried to sound soothing.

"Even Fournival cannot supply that," the first person nodded. "If she doesn't jump right back into Everfall, we'll have to force her hand."

"What do you propose?"

"Gifts. And more dragons."

...

It was late evening, but there were still people about. Guards, too, but no one was trying to arrest Lena any longer. "We aren't with the Ducal Guard, we are just here to keep the peace," the guards were saying. "We have no grievance with you, Arisen." What a relief.

"But perhaps you should stay away from the castle for now," Scorpio put in. "Until things get settled."

"It is so confusing," Lena was shaking her head as they walked through the Craftsmen's Quarter where tents were set up for those who lost their homes. "The Duke still alive with Grigori dead... The Everfall opening up and swallowing Gran Soren and Gransys with it... The monsters, the dark skies... I never expected this! The world was not supposed to end!"

"The world didn't end," Scorpio thought she was overreacting. "Most people are still here. In fact, very few people have died. The Duke... Yeah, that's strange, I have no answer to that."

"It's a curse of some sort, it must be," Rook joined in. "The Duke was acting strange since Grigori came, and I don't just mean by trying to get you killed - that was the logical bit."

"Yes, his Chamberlain mentioned that the Duke had been ill... And then that attack on his wife in her chamber..." Lena was rubbing her chin, calming down. "Perhaps his bargain was not with the dragon..."

"His bargain was with the Legion," Scarlet seconded that. "The dragon was just the messenger."

"'We do not need your soul, we already have your heart.' This is what they told me when... you know..." Lena blushed. "'We' they said, not 'the dragon'. It is the Legion that owns the hearts, and the dragon is just a vessel."

"It is the Legion that decides what happens to the Arisen," Scarlet nodded.

"It is the Legion that turns an Arisen into the next dragon."

"It is the Legion that tends to the Everfall." Scorpio shot a glance at Barnaby, as they had now entered the Pawn Guild. "Keep your voice down."

"The Maker had truly forsaken us this time!" Asalam greeted them at the guild. "I have to run my inn from here..." He shook his head. "The Duke was building walls, but instead the very ground fell away from under our feet! It is a miracle that we're all still alive somehow... The Maker's joke, one can only laugh!"

He wasn't laughing, and Lena tried to make some polite noises.

"But not to worry, friend, we shall survive. My inn is gone, but here, your trunk is still intact... What magic is this, I wonder..."

"Take out what you need and let's walk over to Ser Alfonso by the tents there," Scorpio whispered in Lena's ear. "Asalam still charges you 500 gold coins to sleep on a mat in one of the chambers of the Everfall."

"What?" Lena exclaimed in surprise. "Sleep between the skeletons in the crypts down there?"

"Now, look here, Arisen, I have a business to run," Asalam shuffled uncomfortably. "It is skeleton-free, guaranteed! We've got pawns standing watch..."

"Err... I'll pay for using your storage, but I'll sleep in one of Ser Alfonso's tents, I think," Lena shook her head. "Now, let's see what we need..."

...

Half an hour later they sat comfortably by the tents enjoying Ser Alfonso's cooking.

"It's simple army cooking, but skeleton-free, guaranteed," he joked. "No point guarding the Tainted Mountain any longer - we are needed here instead."

"Now, let's see what we got here..." Lena was finally taking the time to look at the gifts of the dragon - items that miraculously appeared in her storage after the battle. "A sword... a bow... and another sword?" The second sword was short, more of a long dagger. "There is an engraving... 'Exclusively for the Arisen'... And on the other side: 'Gifts ultimate freedom'."

"No." Scorpio sat up. "Put that away."

"What a bad joke," Scarlet grimaced.

"There's no call for that," Rook looked grim.

"You know of this?" Lena looked at them in turn.

"We've heard of this," Rook answered for all of them. "It is called 'Godsbane'. This sword is meant for you to kill yourself."

"What a gift," Lena shook her head. "Is that their way of being subtle?" She grimaced. "First an Arisen's Bond with rules on who can have it and why, and now a sword to commit suicide?" She took a closer look at the sword. "It is ceremonial, not useful for battle." She flung it behind the crates and it vanished from view.

"So, what do we do?" Lena looked at her companions in turn.

"We train." Scarlet straightened her back. "The Everfall must hold some answers."

...

"Where are all the monsters?" Scarlet was looking around in huge disappointment. "Isn't Gransys supposed to be overrun with them?"

"The road from Cassardis to here certainly was," Scorpio echoed her sentiment. "But this... is strange."

They stood just outside Gran Soren, on a vista that was normally home to several packs of goblins, wolves, harpies and an occasional griffin, but now it was completely deserted. Even bandits were staying away.

"How are we supposed to train if there are no monsters around?" Scarlet pursed her lips.

The skies were overcast and may be a bit too grey, but other than that, everything was much more peaceful than before...

Until a dragon swooped down on them, that is.

"DRAGON!!!" Scarlet got excited, even though technically it was only a drake, but this one was red, and therefore of the fire breathing variety. Finally! Something to train with.

The dragon presented a decent challenge, and they geared for a long and protracted battle with many hits. Lena had switched to a magic bow previously, even though she always felt that magic bows were cheats because of all the enchanted enemy-seeking bolts, you didn't have to actually target anything. She also felt that they delivered far too much damage for the effort you had to put into the shooting. But after their extremely difficult journey from Cassardis to Gran Soren followed by the fight with the gazer, she was ready to take any help she could get, cheats or no cheats. And so she took out her new ice-enchanted magic bow and started shooting at the dragon, with the pawns doing their thing as well.

The real danger of this dragon was its tail. One sweep, and you were knocked out, as Scarlet and Scorpio found out repeatedly, and Lena had to dash to help them up. Rook shouldn't have had the problem, but in his enthusiasm he would often stand too close to the dragon, unnecessarily close since his spells did not require bodily contact. After Lena helped him up a few times, she started looking out for him preventively: if he was too close, she'd grab him and carry him over a bit further away.

"You're enjoying it, aren't you?" She winked, putting him down at a safe distance from the dragon yet another time.

"Makes me feel wanted," he grinned.

The dragon seemed to be getting annoyed however. After Rook set its wings ablaze for the third time, the dragon had had enough. It breathed fire knocking everyone off their feet, flapped its wings a few times to put out the flames, and took to the skies... never to return.

"We scared it off!!" Scarlet was shaking her sword at it.

"Well, this one flew off, but the next one won't," Lena didn't like it. "What monsters we do come across, are all much tougher than before. It's like the Bitterblack Isle descended onto Gransys. Each of you needs an upgrade or two, and high level gear is ten times more expensive than the usual stuff..."

"I don't want any new armour, thanks," Scarlet shook her head. She was still wearing the lightest of heavy armours, which had been her choice. "I need to remain agile. Bulky armour will hinder me more than help. I could use a better sword though," she grinned. Yeah, they'd seen one at the smithy, and couldn't even remotely afford it...

"I could use a better staff," Rook said timidly. "This one's Ok, but you can now get those twisted ones..."

"Yeah, we've seen one at the smithy," Lena nodded. "I know..."

...

"Well, and..?" Someone was clearly expecting Lena to come to a certain conclusion. "Did you drop some high level gear in the Everfall to tempt her to go back in?"

"I have... here and there," another person nodded. "Although admittedly may be not in the first chamber she visited..."

"Idiot!!! And who allowed the harpies and succubae to fly back to their nests? They were supposed to prevent her from leaving Gran Soren! Hellhounds, giant undead - where are they?!"

"Staffing the road to Cassardis... We don't have enough for the whole of Gransys."

"Arrggghhhh!!!"

"We'll use Plan B, Master."

"It better work!!"

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - The meaning of life

"Two arenas, eight wakestones," Lena counted their trophies after a foray into the Everfall. "I don't get it. The fights were tough, yes, but it won't take forever to collect twenty wakestones at this rate... I hope."

"What happens once we've collected them?" Scarlet mused.

"Quite."

"I think the purpose of this is to get you killed," Scorpio looked straight at Lena. "Senseless fights against tough enemies... Gransys isn't exactly terrorised by monsters, except for some pockets. I bet as soon as you are dead, everything will be back to normal. Including the Duke and the Dragonforged."

"It certainly looks like it," Lena agreed. "Duke not dead and all... I wonder whether Grigori is actually dead."

"Even if he is, he can be brought back to life," Rook put in. "If the Legion could transform a dead Arisen into a living dragon, they could raise a dragon from the dead as well, if they wanted to."

"We should pay a visit to the Dragonforged, see what happened to him, don't you think?" Lena squinted at her pawns and they grinned. They didn't think she was supposed to do that.

...

On the way to the Dragonforged they got attacked by a wyvern and later on by a griffin. But both creatures flew off after a short while.

"We'll have to be a lot more deadly if you want to kill them," Scarlet said watching the wyvern hover over the bay and periodically dive into the water. "That wyvern is simply gone fishing."

"I don't see any reason for killing them if they are not bothering anyone besides the fish," Lena shook her head. "What's the point in that?"

"It's making about as much sense as those 'training' notices on some of the billboards: kill 29 oxen, kill 23 deer, kill 15 seabirds... How does it go? 'An Arisen must rise to every threat!' The threat of 45 rabbits, among others," Scarlet mocked the stuck-up tone of some of those notices.

"Well, the rabbit one was at least making some sense - the smith wanted the skins for the armour," Lena objected. "The rest... That's why I didn't take on any of them."

They stood by the entrance to the cave of the Dragonforged. Everything looked the same as before, the fires were burning, there were supply crates and barrels by the entrance, the place still looked lived in. They entered.

The pawn of the Dragonforged stood in the room reading a book, but the Dragonforged himself was no where to be seen.

"Hello," Lena greeted him. She realised that she had never asked his name. "The dragon is dead..."

"And so is my master," he replied. "I've come here in the fullness of time..." He smiled at Lena - that was the greeting of the Dragonforged.

"But you have not perished."

"Strange, isn't it?" He looked at Lena in surprise. "I wonder if I am the Dragonforged now? But I have no wisdom to impart to you, for you know more than I."

"Another instance of 'bestowal of spirit', perhaps?" Rook was watching him with interest.

"Don't say he looks just like his old master!" Lena smirked. "He is a man wearing a toga, and that's where the resemblance ends. What will you do now?" She turned to him.

"The same as what I've been doing for the last thousand years or so: nothing. Watch the direwolves lounge on the rocks, the snow harpies pick at an ox carcass, the bandits ambush the road... with an occasional griffin or wyvern making an appearance," he smirked. "And tell enigmatic truths to an Arisen that might pop in for a visit."

"Do you think you're still immortal?" Scorpio wondered.

"Who is to tell?" The pawn of the Dragonforged shrugged his shoulders. "Should I die of old age one day, the answer will be 'no'. You are the first Arisen to kill the dragon since my master was an Arisen himself," he looked at Lena and smiled. "What happens next, is a mystery."

...

"We should not rush to collect the wakestones," Lena said decisively when they stood outside again. "I have a feeling that will force the hand of whoever is in control here. They haven't killed me yet... we should look around some more."

"You might be forcing their hand by not obeying orders already," Rook objected. "Quince is obviously their agent."

"As is Olra," Lena nodded. "And Barroch on the Bitterblack Isle."

"I'm not so sure about Barroch," Scarlet shook her head. "Perhaps we should have a word with him first?"

"Let's go."

...

"You brought some armour forged in the fire of the dragon's breath for me to upgrade, have you not?" Barroch's eyes were positively sparkling. "Hand it over, let's see!"

Lena handed him her gear.

"That's why you stayed here, isn't it? You're a smith."

"An apothecary," Barroch corrected her. "I was an apothecary when the dragon decided to make me into an Arisen. I still prefer alchemy to smithing, but the real fun is to combine the two. This place has materials that'll keep me busy for an eternity and a half..."

"So, it is knowledge you're after," Lena nodded. "That's why you accepted the curse."

"Curse? What curse?" Barroch looked up in surprise. "You think the creatures don't attack me, is that it? They do. But I've learned to stay out of harm's way and I can defend myself if I really have to. The armour I'm wearing, isn't just for show!" He pursed his lips for a moment, then his expression cleared again. "No hard feelings, friend. I have to thank you for coming here. All the Arisen that fall for Olra's trap, make more than enough kills for me to scavenge..."

"Where is your pawn?" Lena asked again.

"He perished," Barroch looked rather sad saying it. "Fell into the abyss in the Rotunda of Dread. I believe you know what it does to pawns..." He squinted and Lena blushed. "Well. I didn't just leave him behind like some," he looked at Scarlet and her face turned grey. "But when he perished, I didn't pick another."

"I killed the dragon but the world did not return to normal, in fact it is gone dark and monsters from here overrun it," Lena changed the topic.

"Really?" Barroch seemed genuinely surprised. "Forgive me, friend, but I would not know what happens after you kill the dragon. I never went after mine."

"All right. What is the purpose of this place, then? What is its secret?" Lena was still trying to get some answers, although her hopes were dwindling fast. Barroch seemed to be only interested in alchemy and smithing.

"This place is a trap for the Arisen and pawns alike," he answered. "Aye, as far as I can make out. Is there a purpose to all the killing? If there is, I haven't found one. Not that I was even looking..."

...

"We're not getting anywhere," Lena was disappointed. "I have a feeling there's another Arisen somewhere on the Bitterblack Isle, and so what? Even if he is a monster."

"Olra is probably a pawn," Scorpio nodded. "That Arisen's pawn, perhaps? We've seen pawns gone mad in the Everfall, who is to say the same thing cannot happen to an Arisen?"

"And she wants to 'save' him? Perhaps," Lena agreed.

"It's a trap designed to kill the Arisen who are of no use to the Legion, simple as that," Rook put in. "I wouldn't bother with it."

"But what is the Legion's purpose?" Lena wondered.

"Control, what else," Rook shrugged. "Isn't it what makes the world go 'round?"

"Asking these questions will get you killed," Scorpio looked at Lena with worry. "Or worse."

"Worse?"

"They'll make you immortal."

...

Lena decided that it was time to start collecting the wakestones, and so they returned to Gran Soren and entered the Everfall.

"We don't have to deliver the wakestones as soon as we've got them collected, do we?" She winked. "But I'd rather get it over with."

She also had quite enough of being a Magic Archer, she thought that surely she should be able to manage everything with her two swords, three sets of daggers and a dragon-gifted bow with seven different kinds of arrows. Scorpio would carry the largest Morgenstern they could find, Scarlet would be the agile fighter as usual, and Rook - the mage and healer. What could possibly go wrong?

They did a few chambers with grimgoblins, succubae and hellhounds, and everything was fine. They did one with goblins, a cyclops and a golem, and they managed. They even did a drake... But then they faced a hydra. Having spent a long time at it and only managed to keep one head out of five cut off, they gave up. The heads were regrowing faster than they could destroy them, and Lena insisted they should leave the hydra be. The next room didn't look all that dangerous - gargoyles and succubae... But Scorpio's giant Morgenstern was making him too slow, and Rook's primary skills as a healer made his offensive magic weaker in comparison... The flying creatures swarmed. They attacked with a kiss - a deadly kiss, different from creature to creature. They would knock out their victim, and if uninterrupted, they would suck the very life out of them, or else they would trample them with their talons afterwards for good measure. Lena had been unconscious for too long. Rook got the kiss of death.

"We lost Rook," Lena realised when the fight was over.

"He'll be all right," Scarlet was drinking deep from her wine bottle. "These kisses are not fatal to us pawns. Not like petrification can be sometimes..."

This was welcome news, but still, a change of gear was needed. Scorpio took up his sorcerer's staff with his offensive spells, and they found a fellow with a huge ice-enchanted blade to be their heavy fighter. They lost their healer, but decided to compensate with extra potions instead. Something had to give. They returned to the Everfall with this new party. After two days they were done.

"Twenty five wakestones," Lena counted the stones in the box. "Wow!"

"It was good thinking to focus on collecting the wakestones and wakestone shards during the fights rather than afterwards. Those stones tend to vanish after a short while," Scarlet nodded. "And we didn't have to fight the hydra," she grinned.

"No need to make it any more deadly than necessary," Lena grinned back. "Now, I am famished. I wonder what Ser Alfonso has cooking in that pot?"

...

"She collected the wakestones!!" Someone at the Pawn Guild flung his crystal ball into the far corner of the room. "She cheated!!!"

"No, she just..." The other person broke off, it was best not to argue. "Plan B has been set in motion, Master."

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - The life of a pawn

"I have a feeling this might be goodbye," Scarlet said quietly when they finished their meal. "Once you deliver the wakestones to Quince, something will happen and I shall never see you again. I want you to know..." She broke off, noticing Lena's bewildered expression. "I want you to know that walking with you has been an honour and a privilege, truly." She paused. "I shall be reliving these memories for the rest of the eternity, it will be enough to keep me away from the Bitterblack Isle after my master finally dies."

"Scarlet..." Lena barely found her voice. "I wish I knew what to say..."

"You don't know what will happen," Scorpio gave Scarlet a meaningful look. "I think you are right that a change is coming, but you don't know what happens after that."

"Oh but I do - for me, that is," Scarlet smirked with sadness. "I shall resume wandering the Rift waiting for my master's call... which will never come. Not written off, not released from service, neither here nor there... I shall be walking the streets of Gran Soren looking for a new Arisen to pick me up... For I am certain that the world will be restored once whatever they have in store for you, is done."

"How do you know all of this?" Lena was dumbfounded.

"I don't," Scarlet shrugged. "I've never witnessed a dragon's death, I don't know what will happen."

"But you are immortal..."

"Yes, it means my life has no end. But it did have a beginning."

They sat quietly, each thinking heavy thoughts. Lena couldn't see a way out, a way that would lift the hold that the Legion had on the pawns. Why the charade with the dragon? Why repeat it every fifty years? Especially since most Arisen either died too soon or never bothered with it to begin with... What was the meaning of it all? Rook thought it was control, but control over what?

Lena got up and hugged Scarlet tightly.

"Something will happen, I agree," she said. "I too have this feeling of foreboding. But there is no point in delaying. We've explored everything we could, talked to everyone, followed every lead... We still have no clue what is going on. The only lead left to follow, is the one with the wakestones. I'll give them to Quince in the morning. Perhaps we'll meet again in what comes after that."

Lena lay down on a mat in a tent pretending to sleep. She couldn't sleep, her heart was heavy. Scarlet had become such a good friend... Rook, too. Would she lose Scorpio as well, she wondered? Was she now supposed to venture forth on her own? Perhaps it was better to never deliver the wakestones after all?

All was quiet, and most people were sleeping in their tents. People who lost their homes when the Everfall collapsed. They weren't dead, but their lives were shattered. Everyone's lives were shattered, even when the monsters did not attack, their oppression was palpable. No, that would not do. She could not leave all those people to suffer the world that she had unleashed. She just wanted her heart back! How selfish.

"What happened with the previous Arisen?" She recalled a conversation with Ilona, the old woman at the textiles shop in Cassardis. "Nothing happened," Ilona had said. "The dragon goes away after a while all on its own, and things get back to normal." So, all of it was really Lena's fault. "Because you cannot leave it well alone," Ilona had said, and although there was no reproach in Ilona's words, Lena still felt guilty.

She didn't take the dragon's bargain, either. Perhaps there was wisdom in Duke's words after all. He took the bargain out of fear, it seemed, but it granted the people of Gransys happy and prosperous life for many years... Until Lena had to destroy it all. "Avarice and ambition," he said. Avarice - no, but ambition... self-righteousness... self-importance... yes, she was guilty of that. "The bargain with the dragon was not just about sacrificing the beloved - it was about sacrificing my own heart as well," Lena thought. And she couldn't do it, not even to grant the whole country a happy life for many years.

A sharp pain in her chest made Lena sit up.

"Self-doubt will get you killed. It is a luxury we cannot afford," Scorpio said in her ear, paraphrasing something she told him in the early days of their partnership. "You are no saint, thank goodness for that." He put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. "Martyrdom seems like a noble way out, but it is not a solution. We'll have to fix this world through different means, somehow."

"I am afraid I shall lose you this time," Lena pressed her cheek against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"You won't," he said quietly. "I am still bound to you."

"What?!" Lena sat up. He wasn't talking about the bond she had offered him, this was something else, something she never considered.

"Why do you think Scarlet cannot leave her master?" He smirked. "Why a pawn in your party can never turn on you, whatever you do?" He smiled at Lena's bewilderment. "When you take on a pawn, the Legion binds us to you. We must follow the Arisen's every command and can never turn against the Arisen, as long as that bond holds. That is, either until you release the pawn or until you die. My bond to you still holds. I shall be with you in whatever comes next."

"But you are more than just a pawn, you are and have been my friend..." Lena was still stunned.

"Yes," Scorpio nodded. "This was my personal choice."

...

"You want to make her into the Seneschal," someone at the Pawn Legion grinned, looking into his crystal ball. "That'll certainly stop her asking questions."

"Indeed," another person nodded. "She will either perish in battle, or die of boredom later."

"We can start rebuilding as soon as she jumps into the Everfall."

...

Lena delivered the wakestones to Quince, and nothing happened. Nothing at all! The world looked the same as before. Scorpio and Scarlet were still standing next to her, the other pawns were still walking around.

"What happens now?" Lena asked Quince, but Quince didn't know or didn't wish to say.

"Have you completed all you wanted in this world, Arisen?" She asked. "How about on the Bitterblack Isle? All done?"

"Why, what is it to you?" Lena squinted, she didn't like it.

"It is just something I have to ask you, is all," she smiled, but her eyes looked empty. "What happens next... the choice is yours, Arisen."

Lena turned to her pawns - her friends.

"What kind of a choice is this?!" Tears were swelling in her eyes. "I cannot allow this world to remain broken! Should I just kill myself now? I'm sure any sword will do, not just that 'Godsbane'!"

"You will do no such thing," Scorpio said sternly. "No martyrdom, please. The Everfall is the key, it is a portal, we've seen it already. Look how it transformed - it defies space itself. I wager, were you to jump now, you'd enter another plane."

"Yes, you are probably right," Lena nodded, looking into the Everfall again. "The lights and ledges are gone," she observed. "It's just the blackness of the abyss now... I'll see you later, I hope," she turned to Scorpio. "Remember our bond." And with that she jumped.

...

"Well met, Arisen," a luminescent figure was seated on a throne of white marble in a place covered in fog. "You made it this far. I have a few tests for you."

"Tests?" Lena said warily. "Haven't you tested me enough already? What do you want?"

"Your death, if I may," the figure was mocking her, it seemed. "I am the Seneschal, the Maker, the Keeper and the Guardian of this world. You will do as I say. Defend yourself, Arisen!"

The figure attacked, and Lena quickly responded. It was absolutely surreal. A duel with God? What manner of madness was that? Besides, if this was God, why was he bleeding?

After a while he called off the fight and offered Lena a choice: return to Cassardis at the moment just before the dragon's attack and live a peaceful life, or continue on, towards more tests, deeper into the Rift. He showed her a vision of herself in Cassardis, surrounded by the locals, everyone calling her "cousin", there's more fish than she could possibly eat, there's no scar on her chest...

"Nice try," Lena smirked. "But this has never been my past."

"I can return you to Tamriel, if you prefer," the Seneschal conjured another image: the New Sheoth Palace, festivities in full swing, someone about to push her into a portal... "That statue will just be a statue, you'll get a bump on your head, and that will be all," he said. "The choice is yours, Arisen."

"Remember our bond."

Her own words sounded in her head. She closed her eyes and tried to listen to her heart, but her heart was confused. She tried to listen to her soul, but a part of it belonged in Tamriel, yet another part here in Gransys. Not just in Gransys, she noted.

"There are no pawns in your vision of Cassardis," she said.

"Indeed," the Seneschal nodded. "They are but shadows of life. They have no place among humans."

Lena looked up at the luminescent figure of the Seneschal. He had the form of a man, yet his features were all but erased. "He speaks for the Legion," Lena thought. "I must accept nothing he has to offer."

"I refuse," she said.

"Then pray, proceed with your test."

Illusions of people she knew in Gransys appeared before her, each trying to make her return to Cassardis. She had to evade them or parry their attacks. "Have you no heart that you are attacking your friends?" A voice asked. But she knew they were not her friends, but mere shadows conjured up to confuse her. She pressed on.

"You are getting close!" The Seneschal stood before her again, raising his sword. "Stand against me!" But this time another person was with him, another fighter.

"You made it this far," she heard a familiar voice - Scorpio stood beside her. "There is nothing left to do but fight!"

There was no time to think about it either. "Clear your mind of all else, focus on the fight," Rook's voice sounded in her head. "This isn't a bluff."

It wasn't. The fight was fierce. It was really hard. But eventually Lena and Scorpio prevailed, no small thanks to Scorpio's superior fighting skills.

"Congratulations, Arisen, you passed your test," the Seneschal got up from the floor where he was lying dead a moment ago. "You cannot kill me," he smirked. "Immortality is a curse." He unbuttoned the collar of his jerkin and pulled out a sword. Lena could have sworn that the sword had been inside his chest, not just inside his jerkin. "Take this," he offered her the sword. "This is the only blade that can kill me. My personal Godsbane. Please, release me."

She took it and pierced his heart.

...

"Well done, Arisen," a voice sounded a few minutes later. "You are now the new Seneschal. You will dwell in this chamber for the rest of eternity."

...

"The Legion won," Lena looked at Scorpio in desperation. "I am stuck here now, and you with me."

"You were not the first to fall for it either..." Scorpio was looking at the corpse of the previous Seneschal that had lost its luminosity and now looked like a corpse of a man, an Arisen. The other fighter must have been his pawn, his corpse was also there, the print on his hand extinguished. "You have released them both. But what of you?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Lena shook her head.

...

Days had passed, perhaps weeks. They had nothing to do. No where to go. They said all there was to be said and revisited every memory multiple times. Lena could not imagine doing that for the rest of eternity. She did not tell Scorpio of her life in Tamriel - it hurt too much. He understood.

"I don't see a way out," she said to him. "I have to kill myself."

"Then they will have really won," he objected.

"But what do you propose?"

Alas, he saw no way out either.

"I hope... somehow... this isn't the end," Lena looked into his eyes and took his hand. "It's wishful thinking, perhaps... Just promise me one thing: do not bury yourself on the Bitterblack Isle. Become a trader in the Everfall if you have to, that'll give you something to do..." She broke off. "I don't know what I'm saying."

"I wonder..." Scorpio squeezed her hand. "They say an Arisen's Bond carries immense power. Look." He opened his hand, his pawn print dim but visible. And there, on his finger was the Arisen's Bond. "It appeared when I was summoned here," he said.

"All right, wish me luck." Lena kissed him and quickly stabbed herself through the heart before he could protest. She was, after all, a skilled assassin.

[Renee]

"They caught an intruder" Teinaava says. Uh oh. Wonder if it is who I think it is.

Yep. Sure is (Rayenna). Oh gosh. They fed from her??? Dang. As fIcked up as I think Rayenna is, now I feel bad for her. Then again, who did she think she is, trying to sneak into their hideout that way?

Wow, and she's sticking with her 'traitor' story, trying to frame Lena, after all this. Guess she doesn't remember any of what happened.

Sheesh, this is depressing. But as I said... who did she think she is.

"Rayenna will wait for the Night Mother's judgement. The vampire will not touch her until then."

Yikes.

Here

[Lena Wolf]

"They caught an intruder" Teinaava says. Uh oh. Wonder if it is who I think it is.

Yep. Sure is (Rayenna). Oh gosh. They fed from her??? Dang. As fIcked up as I think Rayenna is, now I feel bad for her. Then again, who did she think she is, trying to sneak into their hideout that way?

Do you choose justice or mercy?

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - A dream

Lena was lying on a beach, her chest slashed open, her heart missing. A dragon was standing over her. "Take up arms, newly Arisen," he said. "Come and face me."

Lena sat up with a jerk. Her heart was beating fast, it was still in her chest, with an ugly, rugged scar over it. She looked around. A room with many beds, an inn perhaps. Smells of cooking wafting in through the curtain in the doorway. Salty sea air coming in through a window. Voices downstairs... Familiar voices. Cassardis. She'd simply had a bad dream.

Her head hurt. Was there another party at Pablo's last night? Did she overdo it again with his whiskey? She tried to remember what went on. She remembered being in the Rift, fighting... God? That must have been the whiskey or another dream... That didn't seem possible!

And before that? The Everfall, fighting tough monsters for no reason, collecting wakestones... The world of Gransys all dark, overrun by monsters from the Bitterblack Isle... That didn't feel like a dream. She pressed her hand to her chest, feeling her heartbeat. She had defeated the dragon, got back her heart, but the world crumbled in response... She had to fix it... She didn't know what to do, they'd been trying to find out what happened, but ran out of leads... Scorpio should be there somewhere, getting coffee, perhaps?

She got up and went downstairs. Pablo was there, smiling, pouring her a cup, Benita popped in for breakfast, other villagers were coming and going, fishermen brought in their catch of the morning... But Scorpio wasn't there. She asked Pablo about him. "Haven't seen him, no," Pablo shook his head. "Isn't he with you? I haven't seen you come in, you must have got here during the night... Sorry, cousin, don't know."

She felt a pang of panic in her chest. "No, wait, calm down," she told herself. "He must be here somewhere..."

Lena went outside. The sea was calm and life was back to normal, at least in Cassardis. "A good start to any task is talking with others; let's begin with that." She remembered what every pawn would tell her every time she was about to rush into something without so much as a thought... "Perhaps I should listen to them for once," she told herself. She went around talking to everyone, but it didn't help - no one had seen Scorpio, or any of the other pawns for that matter, although there was talk of the dragon's second coming... "But there's always talk of that, pay it no mind," was the common consensus. Finally, Lena decided to have a look outside the village, to make sure that the world really got back to normal. She went towards the village gate...

...

Rook was being recalled. "There is a new Arisen," he was told. "You know what to do." A portal opened and he stepped through it.

...

"Cassardis?" Rook landed on sandy ground, he looked around, recognising the village. "Gransys again, then. Who is it this time?" There was a guard by the entrance, a few fishermen carrying fish, children playing... "Wolf?" A woman with a bow and daggers was fumbling with the village gate, her dragon leather vest and hydra skin boots contrasting with everyone else's simple summer attire... "Wolf?!" She spun around. "Rook!"

...

"As far as I'm concerned, you are the newly Arisen," Rook was looking her over. "That's what I've been told - there's a newly Arisen, and so it is my duty to guide you until you get your own pawn," he was scratching his head. "This is most strange."

"This riftstone isn't working, and I can't find Scorpio," Lena looked at Rook with worry. "And I am not the Arisen, my heart is still in my chest."

"Once an Arisen, always an Arisen," Rook dismissed her argument. "This riftstone is only peripheral, not guaranteed to work. Let's try the encampment."

...

"Well met, newly Arisen! Can you hear our voice?" Lena received the standard greeting when she touched the riftstone on the encampment. "Pray, prove your valor now!"

"What?! Bloody Legion with their bloody tests!!!" Lena's dagger was about to shatter the riftstone when Rook caught her hand.

"Don't," he restrained her. "Not until you get Scorpio back." Lena sighed and relaxed. "Come on, there should be a monster in need of slaying here somewhere..."

A cyclops slain and goblins scattered, Lena returned to the riftstone. She touched it, and this time she was offered to select a pawn.

"Scorpio," she said.

"Are you sure?" The voice sounded doubtful. "This is your chance to pick someone else!"

"Scorpio."

"Still that one, is it? As you like..." The voice sounded deeply disappointed. Scorpio stepped out of the Rift.

...

"But what is going on?" Lena was looking at Rook and Scorpio in turn. They returned to Cassardis and were sitting in Pablo's inn.

"You are back, cousin, that's what matters most," Pablo was putting more and more food on the table. "And your pawns with you. The dragon can come back anytime, I don't care, for you'll slay him again. I have faith in you, cousin!"

"The dragon was supposed to be gone for fifty years though," Lena squinted at him. "I don't understand." But Pablo just shrugged - he didn't understand it either, and didn't care, besides.

"I would ask aught of you, cousin," Benita rushed in. "I need those flowers... Oh, hello, Rook!" She blushed, just only noticing Rook and Scorpio at the table. "Err... the flowers... you know, the ones you collected before... for the medicine..." She couldn't take her eyes off Rook for some reason.

"Sunbright and moonglow, yes," Lena patted her hand. "I remember."

"Right, I'll see you later then," Benita nodded, still looking at Rook, then turned around and dashed out of the room. Lena looked at Rook, he too was blushing.

"Umm... Is there something we need to know?" Lena said softly.

"Not yet," Rook shook his head, and Lena didn't insist.

...

"So, let's review," Lena was having the hardest time getting her head around what happened, separating dreams from reality. "The Everfall is a portal, a complex series of portals in fact, Ok, I can live with that," she pulled a grape off a bunch and put it on the table. "There are many worlds similar to Gransys, all connected to the Everfall, and you pawns can travel between them. The space in between is known as the Rift." Another grape went down.

"The Rift is then actually the same as the Everfall," Scorpio ate her last grape.

"Mmm... No, not the same," Lena plucked another grape. "The Everfall is a portal to the Rift, how abou that?" She put the grape down.

"All right," Scorpio inclined his head. "We pawns travel between those worlds, but Arisen cannot do that, so you never meet other Arisen." He picked a grape and put it down.

"Except the ones that are in this world already," Lena objected, but didn't remove his grape. "Like the Duke, the Dragonforged, Selene's Arisen, Barroch on the Bitterblack Isle..."

"Yeah, the ones that have given up," Rook nodded. "But not other Arisen who are still chasing the dragon."

"But what happens if, say, Barroch all of a sudden decides to go after the dragon?" Lena raised her eyes to both of them.

"He can't."

"Impossible."

"I disagree," Lena shook her head. "It's unlikely, yes, but not impossible. And obviously you don't know of any such occurrence," she grinned.

"All right, skip that." Rook plucked a grape and ate it. "What about that duel with the Seneschal? You fought him, killed him, became one yourself, then killed yourself. Who is the Seneschal now?" He plucked a grape and held it in the air.

"No clue," Lena shook her head. "No one?"

"The Legion will have put someone there to replace you," Scorpio looked dubiously at both of them. "Because the dragon is back, and if you go through with it all again, you'll be back in the Rift, and there must be another Seneschal there to face you."

"But the Seneschal doesn't do anything," Lena was getting very confused. "What is the point of his existence?"

"To make you stop asking questions, perhaps," Scorpio smirked. "It worked for a while, too."

"Hmm... We are not getting very far with this," Lena looked at the very short string of grapes that they had laid out on the table. "I killed the previous Seneschal upon his own request with his special sword, but if he always had that sword with him, why did he not just kill himself already? Like I killed myself afterwards?"

"Because killing yourself is not easily done, perhaps?" Scorpio took her hand. "You are an assassin, he wasn't."

"I am an assassin, true," Lena nodded, playing with the Arisen's Bond on Scorpio's finger. "But that doesn't explain why I am still alive, and he isn't."

"D'you know, I had the strangest dream..." Scorpio gave her a long look. "When you stabbed yourself... Or may be it wasn't a dream, I am not sure..." He paused for a moment, then continued. "The misty chamber we were in, turned into a portal - the floor vanished an we were falling, you and I, or rather, your dead body and I... Like falling through the Everfall. And I felt as if... Now, this is really weird..." He paused again, and blushed. "I felt as if my body was transforming into yours... I was becoming a girl... Err..."

"Finally, your true nature reveals itself!" Rook erupted with laughter. "I always knew you were..."

"I am no such thing!!" Scorpio looked very angry, but of course he could see it was a joke.

"Bestowal of spirit is what it was," Rook said quietly. "You were supposed to look like your Arisen, but in your case it was more than just a change of hairstyle."

"But bestowal of spirit presumes that the pawn is an empty vessel, ready for the Arisen's spirit to enhabit and to modify," Lena mused. "It might have worked with Selene, but I'd rather say it didn't work, because she still couldn't make any decisions of her own afterwards... Show me your pawn print," Lena said suddenly, turning Scorpio's palm upwards. "Still here." She sounded releaved and disappointed at the same time.

"If it had gone out, you would not have been able to find me in the Rift," Scorpio pointed out. "When you killed yourself, my pawn bond to you was released."

"Which is why the Legion had said I could pick a different pawn," Lena nodded and grinned. "Fat chance!"

"But I still don't understand why you have been resurrected," Rook picked another grape and ate it. "If you were such trouble for the Legion to begin with, why bring you back?"

"They didn't..." Scorpio said slowly. "Wolf was supposed to be dead, or at best her spirit was supposed to live out its life in my transformed body. But I resisted..."

"You execised your will," Rook said softly.

"My pawn bond had been released, but not the Arisen's Bond... Its magic is indeed most powerful."

"Not its magic," Rook shook his head. "It was your own doing. Your will. You brought her back."

They sat silent for a while, taking in the full meaning of it.

"If a pawn who exercises his will, can defy death itself, I wonder what else such a pawn can do?" Rook mused, looking out into the street, watching the locals go about their business, Benita among them. What else indeed.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The events described in this and the previous episode are the actual events in the game - this is the path you have to take to unlock New Game+. It isn't called like that in the game itself, but this is a feature common to many games - the story is restarted from the beginning, but you keep your character, skills and inventory as it was at the end of the previous game. In Dragon's Dogma, a few other things are carried over as well.

Except that the story does not add up. This is the biggest gripe of Dragon's Dogma fans with respect to the story: the ending shows the "bestowal of spirit" happening with your pawn effectively becoming you: he's got your body, your soul and your love interests... err... something is wrong here... Other questions remain, such as who is now the Seneschal since you killed yourself, and why the world of Gransys is once again the same as it was before. In this episode I tried to offer my own explanation in order to link it all together. In my mind, time does not get "rewound" to the beginning, but instead we have the second coming of the dragon.

This is the first time I am playing NG+ because this is the first time I managed to avoid the problem of an incredibly overpowered character in an unleveled world. This time I have mods.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - The second coming

The events followed an eerily familiar pattern. Olra stood on the pier in Cassardis at night calling Lena to explore the Bitterblack Isle. A hydra attacked the encampment, but retreated once one of its heads was cut off. Ser Mercedes from a neighbouring duchy was back, leading the men of the Enlistment Core, and once again she insisted on taking the hydra's head to the Duke as a tribute. "He will want to know of this attack," she said. "And the head will serve to convince him that yes, once again it was a hydra." She was young and ambitious, but she was making sense. She blushed recognising Lena, but made no mention of some embarrassing events from the past, even though her attitude was visibly changed.

"The Duke is well, I trust?" Lena asked and Ser Mercedes nodded. So, the curse was lifted, it seemed.

"He'll try to have you killed again," Scorpio said in her ear. This was to be expected, after all, who was to say that Lena wouldn't take the dragon's bargain this time around?

...

Gran Soren had been rebuilt! The citizens were back in their original homes, or at least in new buildings where their original homes had stood. No one seemed to mind, and everyone was praising the Duke for rebuilding their city so quickly. "Overnight, can you imagine?" People were saying, attributing all the glory to the Duke.

"How are things here?" Lena greeted Barnaby, the pawn in charge of the door to the Everfall.

"The Everfall had been quiet after... you know," he shuffled uncomfortably. "It closed again as soon as you jumped in... Then the hole in the city was covered and the buildings restored overnight." Barnaby sounded a bit surprised. "Made me realise that what we... I... do here at the Pawn Guild, is not guard the Everfall itself, but just the door to it. Oh well."

"Do you ever go in at all?" Lena squinted at him.

"Err... we don't normally, no," Barnaby admitted. "We dust the riftstone, at best." He patted the riftstone. "If I might ask aught of you, Arisen..." Lena smiled, she thought she knew what was coming. "We felt tremours again. Would you go and check what is going on?"

"Sure, why not," Lena nodded. "I know what to expect."

...

"The light is back," Lena informed Barnaby when they returned from the Everfall. "We were chased by the tentacles again, it's a gazer, but the gazer itself wasn't there. Nothing you can do about that," she shook her head as Barnaby was about to say that they would redouble their efforts in guarding it. "Now that I've seen it, the gazer won't show up until I kill the dragon again," she assured him. "You'll see."

"So you are going after the dragon, are you?" It was Barnaby's turn to squint. "Why? You still have got your heart, don't you?"

"I do," Lena nodded. "But I have other business I wish to discuss with him," she answered evasively. This time Lena wanted a portal to Tamriel.

...

"The dragon cannot transport you to Tamriel," Scorpio objected when they left the Pawn Guild. "You know that, right?"

"Yes, but he speaks for the Legion."

"I don't think it'll work."

"We'll see."

"Hmm."

"Having the last word does not mean that your will is stronger," Rook observed, shaking his head.

...

"Scarlet!!!" Lena rushed at a girl in the lightest of heavy armours with an impressive cutlass on her hip.

"Excuse me?" The pawn turned around - it wasn't Scarlet.

"Oh, sorry," Lena apologised. "Thought you were someone else."

"That's all right, Arisen," the girl smiled. "If you ever need anything else, do not hesitate to let me know," she winked, walking away.

"We'll find her, give it time," Rook said quietly. "Have you tried searching in the Rift?"

...

"Ser Maximilian will be glad to see you," Scorpio smiled at Lena after she was once again presented with the Wyrm Hunt License. "Especially after what happened with that attempted arrest."

"Erm... How did you know?" Lena squinted at him and blushed a very deep red.

"Someone saw you," he said evasively. "But not to worry, I'm bound to you again, whatever you do," he winked.

What Scorpio was alluding to, was not the day when Lena went to see the Duke and got accused of witchcraft. It was true that Ser Maximilian and his men of the Ducal Guard did not manage to arrest Lena then, but it wasn't for the lack of trying. They chased her to the edge of the Everfall, surrounding her on all sides and cutting off every possibility of escape... except into the Everfall itself. Lena jumped, setting further events in motion.

When she returned to Gran Soren later, the guards in the city had no quarrel with her, but then again, they did not belong to the Ducal Guard either. She wanted to speak to Ser Maximilian though, she felt it was important, but wasn't sure why... Important to herself, perhaps. She fancied the man, yes, but there was more to that than a mere attraction.

One evening Lena went to the castle. Of course as soon as she entered the walled part of the city, she was set upon by the Ducal Guard. Ser Maximilian appeared, but Lena dashed through the lowering castle gate into the castle grounds, and there into the dungeons. The castle was largely devoid of guards, and she was hoping to find a quiet corner to talk. Her gamble paid off - the dungeons were not only unguarded, but following a familiar route through a hole in the wall in one of the cells, she ran out of the city walls altogether.

"What the..?" Ser Maximilian saw the hole in bewilderement, realising that it had been there for a very long time. However, he continued chasing Lena until they stood on large rocks that formed the foundation of Gran Soren, looking out into the sea. The path that used to run along the city wall, had collapsed, and there was no where further to go. "Aha!" He exclaimed. "In the name of the Duke, I hearby arrest..."

"Stop," Lena said softly, shaking her head, and put her finger across Ser Maximilian's lips. "There's no one here."

"My duty does not end with the city walls," Ser Maximilian objected, but didn't continue.

"I know," Lena nodded. "Which is why I wanted to tell you a few things. Come, let's sit down."

They talked for a quite a long time. Lena told Ser Maximilian of the events in the Tainted Mountain Temple, first with Salvation ("Salvation, again!"), then with the dragon. She told him of the dragon's bargain, and he was gobsmacked.

"It is bizarre, completely out of this world," he shook his head. "The Duke's duel with the dragon was such a long time ago... No one alive was even born when it took place. Of course we all assumed that the dragon greatly increased the Duke's longevity..." He shook his head again. "And he did, in a way..."

"Point being, the hole in the middle of Gran Soren is not my fault," she looked at him and smiled. "And I did not curse the Duke, nor do I want his throne."

"I couldn't believe that myself," Ser Maximilian nodded. "But the Duke has been good to us, he has been good for Gransys all these years... and I am sworn to uphold his word."

"I understand," Lena nodded too. "But you also do not stop to use your brain. You understand the tasks of the Wyrm Hunt now, don't you?"

"Designed to capture everyone's attention and try to get you killed in the process," he smirked. "Clear as day. But understandable. Damned politics! That's why I joined the Guard and not the Court..!"

"Against your family's wishes, I hear," Lena thought she read it in his expression. She'd heard some talk, and now it seemed it was true.

"My family..." He smirked. "I am sharing quarters with mere soldiers and fraternising with an assassin... of no noble descent, I presume..." He smiled and took her hand. "It would have been the talk of the entire Guard, if not for the destruction of Gran Soren... That night at the Greatwall Encampment... we weren't exactly discreet." He kissed the palm of her hand.

"Assassin... not in Gransys," Lena shook her head. "How did you..?"

"I saw you fight, didn't I?" He grinned, sliding his hand under her jacket and retrieving a box of poisoned shivs. "You are a dangerous woman."

"To some, more than to others," Lena smiled, removing her weapon belts.

What happened next, made no logical sense, yet it felt right to both of them.

...

"When did you learn of that?" Lena turned to Scorpio, her face still fiery red.

"Soon after it took place," he said. "Someone made it a point to make me aware of your 'outing'."

"Yet you said nothing, and still came when I called for you in the Rift." Lena came close to him, looking into his eyes. "You kept the Arisen's Bond too. Why?"

"This isn't a wedding ring," he raised his hand with the Arisen's Bond on his finger. "This isn't that kind of a bond. I can't explain it... but it holds, I know. Perhaps time will tell. It hasn't matured yet."

[Renee]

Do you choose justice or mercy?

Me? As in, me, personally? I'd choose some sort of mercy. Maybe keep the traitor locked up, or somesuch. But it's never really up to me; it's up to the characters in the story. That's the roleplay way!

Uh oh. Night Mother has spoken. Wow, what a punishment. That's actually worse in a way than death. Every time she sleeps, she faces judgement. Bravo, what an outcome!

Here now

[Lena Wolf]

Do you choose justice or mercy?

Me? As in, me, personally? I'd choose some sort of mercy. Maybe keep the traitor locked up, or somesuch. But it's never really up to me; it's up to the characters in the story. That's the roleplay way!

True, but you are the one writing the story. Anyway, the Night Mother is not known for her merciful nature.

Uh oh. Night Mother has spoken. Wow, what a punishment. That's actually worse in a way than death. Every time she sleeps, she faces judgement. Bravo, what an outcome!

In some of the conversations between the members of the DB or possibly conversations of others about the DB, it is alluded that exile means facing the Wrath of Sithis every time you sleep. At least this is what I remember. Not just once as it is done for the player, which is ridiculous. So Rayenna gets the standard punishment.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - Release

"So it's true, the dragon is back and you are still the Arisen," Ser Maximilian smiled, greeting Lena near the castle grounds. "I've got tasks for you... err... rather similar to last time," he grimaced. "But duty is duty, so here you are." He handed her a list of tasks. "Are you still..."

"...going after the dragon?" Lena finished his sentence. "Oh yes. See you around, Max."

She gave him a quick wave and he blushed.

"Max?" Scorpio grinned.

"'Ser Maximilian' is rather long, don't you think?" Lena grinned back. "It will be easier going this time, now that we know what the tasks are all about."

"Staying alive."

"Precisely."

...

Lena wanted to confront the dragon in order to demand a portal to Tamriel. Demand, ask, beg - whichever, as long as it worked. She intended to grab Scorpio's arm and pull him in with her as well - she wasn't losing him again. She didn't know if it would work, or if Scorpio would object... She ignored all such concerns for the simple fact that she needed that portal first.

"The dragon doesn't go about burning the countryside as soon as he arrives," the old woman at the textiles shop in Cassardis shook her head when Lena said she wanted to force the matter and face the dragon right away. "You won't find him now. He sleeps first, gathers his strength. For how long? Who is to say..."

"So, how will I know when he's ready?" Lena furrowed her brow.

"You'll know," the old woman smiled. "You are the Arisen. He'll tell you, just like last time."

"How do you know all this..?" Lena was perplexed. She never told anyone, not even Scorpio, that the dragon could talk to her inside her head. But the old woman seemed to know it somehow.

"Faith knows," she inclined her head. "All anyone needs to do, is listen closely to their sermons and prophecies. It's all there. And I am an avid church goer," she smiled.

...

Back in Gran Soren, Lena was behaving strangely. She chased people down the street, picked them up, even threw one person off a parapet and into the river... He wasn't seriously hurt, but Lena got promptly arrested anyway.

"Back again?" The jailer grinned, recognising her from her previous stays. "Well, you know the drill: 5000 gold coins will buy you freedom."

"I don't think so," Lena shook her head, turning to the rats for bits of wood and bone to make a lockpick. Once she was out, her belongings would be returned to her - such were the rules.

And once out, she continued behaving badly.

"Don't!" Scorpio stopped her once or twice when she attempted to grab another person. But she pulled out her daggers and took a swing at a citizen, missing him by a long mile, but still earning herself a trip to the dungeons.

"What is wrong?" Scorpio held her by the shoulders when she was out again. "You are not yourself."

"I am," Lena's eyes looked empty. "I just... umm... You just haven't seen this side of me so far."

"What side?" Scorpio squinted. "This isn't the assassin at work, the vampire at feeding or the wolverine on a hunt, not the fury incarnate or the reckless adventurer delving into every cave without thinking... It isn't even the cornered Arisen jumping into the Everfall. What side of you are you talking about? You are no petty thief or town troublemaker."

Lena didn't answer. She slumped her shoulders and walked away, avoiding Scorpio's gaze. She was back in the dungeons by nightfall.

...

"What's gotten into her?" Scorpio was saying to Rook with worry, waiting for Lena at the dungeon exit in the sewers. It was once again locked from the inside. "Why these senseless arrests? She is making a nuisance of herself on purpose. D'you think she is possessed?"

"By what?" Rook smirked. "A rebellious teenage spirit? Don't be silly."

"I don't understand," Scorpio shook his head in desperation.

"I think... hmm... it looks like she is trying to shake you off," he squinted at Scorpio. "To make you dislike her... but why, I am not certain."

It's been several days, but Lena wasn't leaving the dungeons. Scorpio started to worry that she might have gotten herself into some real trouble this time, for she would not have been held that long for a petty offence. He decided to ask around.

"Criminals are held for a few days, then either executed or released," a guard told him. "That's the law. Your girlfriend's offences don't warrant an execution, so unless she keeps re-offending while locked up, she should be out by now."

"She's not my..." Scorpio started, then dropped that argument, deciding to focus on a more important issue. "How can she possibly commit another offence while being locked up in the dungeons?"

"She can insult the jailer," the guard shrugged. "Or pick the lock of her cell, or attempt to escape, or brawl with other prisoners, or... hmm... plenty of ways to get re-arrested."

...

"And that is for requesting a bribe," Lena was kicking the jailer as he was rolling on the floor of the dungeons, offering no resistance at all. "And for hitting me on the head with a rock... for not giving me any food... for stripping me naked while I was knocked out... for..." She paused. "Why aren't you resisting?"

"You're not wearing boots, which is why we strip all incoming prisoners naked and have them wear prison rags," he didn't seem to be in any pain. "And lack of food keeps you weak. I'm not interested in any part of your person, apart from your purse. And you can't hurt me 'cause I'm wearing armour," he grinned. "Oh, and we confiscated your shivs."

"Hey, Jacob! Need any help?" Another guard was looking in through the bars at the top of the stairs. "This one seems angry..."

"Nah, she just got her fine doubled," the jailer suddenly got up and pushed Lena back into her cell, locking it again. "She'll have to eat eventually, and I know she's got money."

...

Several more days have passed, but Lena was not coming out of the dungeons, not escaping and not getting released. Scorpio was seriously worried. "Something's not right," he kept saying. "That's not like her at all." Finally he decided that desperate times required desperate measures.

"Good morning, Ser Maximilian," he walked up to him when Ser Maximilian had a few moments free. "I know I'm not supposed to... but could I please have a word?" Needless to say, pawns were forbidden from talking to officials.

"Ser Arisen not with you?" Ser Maximilian looked around and squinted. "What's the matter?"

"It's about her," Scorpio didn't know how much time he had before the guards would drag him off, so he decided to be blunt. "She's in the dungeons... and not coming out. The back door is locked and I can't get to her... you know how it is. We're not allowed into the castle."

"And you want me to check on her," Ser Maximilian smirked. "Well, if the Arisen chooses to be a public nuisance, there's nothing I can do..."

"Please."

"Hmm..." Ser Maximilian looked around and lowered his voice. "It's not like her, granted. But I can't just leave my post. I'll go at night. Wait for me by the aqueduct exit outside the city walls... you know it, don't you?"

...

"Is there a problem, Commander?" Ser Jacob the jailer peered at Ser Maximilian through the bars. "We are not with the Ducal Guard."

"And I am not on an inspection," Ser Maximilian smiled at him - he had no jurisdiction in the dungeons. "Rather... err... I wondered if you could see it as a personal favour."

"That depends..." Ser Jacob twisted the strings of his coin purse. "What did you have in mind?"

"I would like to speak to one of your prisoners," Ser Maximilian casually produced a purse from his pocket and held it in his closed hand. "The Arisen," he smiled again. "She is supposed to be doing tasks for the Wyrm Hunt, but instead she is lodging here with you."

"She has several fines outstanding to her name," Ser Jacob leafed through a ledger.

"By all means," Ser Maximilian nodded. "I am not asking for her release. Just to visit her here."

This was enough for Ser Jacob to raise the bars and let Ser Maximilian in, who accidentally dropped the purse he was holding. Ser Jacob busied himself lowering the bars again and making sure no stray objects were left lying on the ground...

"Come with me," Ser Maximilian pushed the door of Lena's cell, realising that it wasn't locked.

"No," she backed off against the wall.

"Now." He stepped towards her, intending to grab her arm and lead her out, but she leapt forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him until he started struggling for breath. "You can thank me later," he grinned. "Let's go."

"No."

By that time Ser Jacob was finished with the bars and started walking down the corridor towards Lena's cell. Ser Maximilian couldn't understand why Lena insisted on staying but felt it was the wrong thing to do, and remembering how she had picked him up and carried him from under the feet of a raging chimera, he now did the same, picking her up and carrying her out of the cell, just before Ser Jacob turned the corner. Their previous chase through the dungeons was still fresh in his memory, and he now silently thanked whoever dug out that hole in the wall... With another cell unlocked with his master key, he dashed to it, still carrying Lena over his shoulder.

"Now, explain." He said decisively, putting her down in one of the dead ends of the barred off section of the sewers. "You could have gotten out any time." But once again, Lena wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, cutting off his words and offering no explanation. As much as he was enjoying it, he knew that something was off. He lifted up his lantern to have a good look at Lena's face. She looked gaunt, her skin turned grey with a tinge of green, her bloodshot eyes had yellowish mucus around them, her lips were cracked, her hair matted and missing in places... "What have you done to yourself?!" He exclaimed in horror.

"It shouldn't take much longer," Lena smiled. "You are too late, Max." She let go of him and dropped to the floor, scattering spiders and snakes, and only smiling when one of them pierced her leg with its fangs.

"What?!" Two swings of his sword cleared the place of vermin, but the lantern was now illuminating Lena's body as well. Her legs and arms covered in poisoned bites - small festering wounds left by repeated visits to the section of the sewers they were in. "How long?"

"A week, ten days perhaps," Lena smiled. "With no food... it won't be long now. The poison isn't strong, but..." She seemed to be getting tired from speaking alone. Even weak poison from spiders and snakes could kill, if repeatedly re-applied.

"But why..?!"

"Scorpio was right," she made another effort to speak. "The dragon will not grant me passage home. My staying here is trouble for all. You can do better than romancing me... Scorpio can do better than being bound to me... This is the only way to truly release him... I am an Arisen no longer, I still got my heart... The Legion cannot force him... He'll have his life back..." She closed her eyes and passed out.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - The Arisen's Bond

Commander of the Ducal Guard Ser Maximilian Eizenstern was seen leaving the castle dungeons by the door to the sewers, a limp corpse of a prisoner hanging over his shoulder. A few pairs of eyes squinted but no heads turned, as the people who dwelled there, were long used to various guards disposing of dead prisoners by carrying them out the aqueduct gate and throwing them into the sea. No one recognised the Arisen in that dirty corpse of a female with bloated legs and arms covered in festering warts.

Sir Maximilian pushed the bars of the aqueduct gate and stepped onto the rocks outside, looking out into the sea. The night was dark, with very few stars showing through the clouds, the waves were crushing onto the rocks. "Ideal," he thought, getting a grip on the corpse over his shoulder.

Two men without lanterns stepped out of the darkness. One quickly took off his coat spreading it on the rocky ground, the other started intoning a spell. Ser Maximilian nodded and put the corpse down.

"Poison," he said, and his words were drowned out by the sea. "She is very weak."

"Who did this?" Scorpio clenched his fists, having laid Lena on his coat and checked her pulse.

"She herself," Ser Maximilian shook his head. "I was too late... She stalled me, too," he blushed uncomfortably. "Before I realised what she had done. We must save her."

"She's got a lot of poison in her blood, infection too," Rook shook his head, casting spell after spell. "I can keep her alive for a while but she needs conventional healing. And even then..."

"You must try," Ser Maximilian squeezed Scorpio's wrist. "She said something... I didn't fully understand... She thought the dragon's second coming was her fault somehow, that she brought it onto Gransys... She said the dragon would never grant her passage home, that you were right, and that she had to release your bond... Her thoughts were all of you."

He fell silent. The only light and sound on that desolate rock was from Rook's incantations, and even that was swallowed by the crushing waves and gathering fog.

"Here, take this," Ser Maximilian handed Scorpio a polished ferrystone. "Fournival saw us talking this morning, put two and two together... She's got friends, you know. Take her to Cassardis, I'll forward on your things..."

They sat in silence. Scorpio opened his palm, his pawn print was all but extinguished.

"This is what she meant," he smirked with sadness in his voice. "Release my bond to the Legion. Her death would grant me life, would end my immortality... I would be a pawn no longer."

Rook's healing spells made the droplets of fog sparkle with soft greenish light.

"We should go," he said, putting away his staff. "We'll do all we can," he turned to Ser Maximilian. "Thank you. Letting go is never easy."

"I like her... a lot," Ser Maximilian nodded to Rook, then turned to Scorpio again. "I don't think I could have done much better than romancing her... Her words, those," he hastened to add. "But her bond is to you." He touched the Arisen's Bond on Scorpio's finger and the ring shone with warm golden glow.

They shook hands and Ser Maximilian stepped through the aqueduct gate back into Gran Soren proper. Rook tossed the ferrystone into the air, there was a flash of light and the night swallowed all.

...

Weeks passed, may be months. Lena was lying in bed on the top floor of Pablo's inn in Cassardis, her eyes were closed, her breathing regular, she was asleep. Scorpio was brushing her hair. Benita brought another vile of medicine, Rook was casting another spell. Lena just wouldn't wake up.

The first few days were hectic, with Rook and Scorpio scouring the woods for medicinal herbs and fungi, but at least it gave them something to do. After that all that was left was to wait. "She'll wake up when she's ready," Benita would say every passing day. "We've cleared the toxins, closed the wounds, there's nothing left that would be ailing her body... but her spirit needs healing too."

...

"She did this for me," Scorpio was sitting by her bed, holding her hand, stroking her hair. "But I never wanted to lose her... What's the point of a life if it's not shared?" He twisted the Arisen's Bond on his finger, the ring filled with warmth. "The magic in this ring..."

"The magic in this ring responds to your heart," Rook entered the room and pulled up a chair. "I've read this some place. Doesn't this bond represent what you hold most dear?"

They sat in silence for a while.

"You've been a pawn for too long, my friend," Rook put his hand on Scorpio's shoulder. "I, too. We pawns are condemned to loneliness till the end of times... No bond can last us a lifetime, for our lifetime has no end... And so we avoid all bonds, so as to spare us the pain of separation. Mortals are not like that. And I for one intend to try their way. Do you think she'll like this?" He suddenly produced a golden ring.

"Benita?" Scorpio smiled. "I don't see why not... Except that of course you are a pawn."

Rook left and Scorpio remained seated by Lena's bed, watching her sleep.

...

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered today to celebrate the union of this man and this woman..." The priest gave a broad smile and the congregation cheered. "The first in Gransys, I daresay... But the scriptures do not forbid it!" He beamed with joy at them all. "And thus it is my honour and my privilege to bless this marriage and to pronounce you husband and wife!"

The village chapel erupted with applause, cheer and laughter, flowers were thrown into the air and dancing commenced in the streets.

The top floor of Pablo's inn was quiet, with only some sounds of music coming in through the windows. "Rook and Benita are getting married today," Scorpio was saying to Lena, stroking her cheek as she slept. "I miss you so... Come back to me... This pawn needs his master..." He smirked at the canonical phrase. "No... this man is missing his bond..."

He took her in an embrace and kissed her like he never had done since that one night after they faced the dragon. They had a bond, yes. A bond strong enough to bring her back from the dead, yes. They were close, very close, but except for once, not in that way... Why not? What was he afraid of? A force of habit... he'd been a pawn for too long.

...

The weeks that followed were no different from the weeks that came before, except for the fact that Rook and Benita no longer needed to keep their love under wraps. Rook was a pawn, so what. He was their resident healer, and between his magic and Benita's herbs, no one in Cassardis ailed with anything for long.

Quina came to see Lena most days. "First the dragon steals her heart, and now this," she would shake her head. "Oh cos... I wish I knew what to do." She'd sigh, talk to Scorpio for a while, bring a new herb or flower from time to time to make the room more cheerful. "You don't know when she decides to wake up. We must make sure the room looks nice when that happens," she'd say with a smile. Like most villagers, she accepted the wait like people accepted rainy days, always knowing that the sun would appear again sooner or later.

Rook's wedding gave Scorpio a lot to think about. Pawns did not age, and so inevitably Benita would grow old while Rook would not. Then Benita would die but Rook would go on living... Would he marry again in another land? Was that worth the pain? "That's the pain that I am suffering now, with Wolf's spirit gone from her body," Scorpio realised one day. "Except that this is worse, for our bond is incomplete."

...

Lena was the Seneschal. She dwelled in a chamber covered in mist, looking down onto a world she did not know. She saw a village, a town, a city; it reminded her of Gransys, but Gransys it was not. A dragon descended onto the land, picked an Arisen; Lena knew what would happen next, if that Arisen survived long enough and didn't give up half way - a tall order indeed. Centuries passed, no Arisen challenged her reign. Lena felt empty. Her heart was beating evenly inside her chest, nothing ever causing a stir. She wasn't bored, she felt no pain. She felt nothing at all.

Sometimes a fleeting thought would make her wonder whether something was missing... whether someone should be with her... But then she would look into the mist of her chamber and shake her head. No. This was her cross to bear, and hers alone.

A cross? Or a ring? A tablet? Confusing images would rush through her head sometimes, but vanish before she could capture the meaning.

It was like a dream.

"A ring, definitely a ring," an image appeared long enough for her to see it properly. "A magical ring, too, look how it glows," she smiled to herself. "Was that mine?"

She saw herself flinging the ring into a far corner of a cave, behind some rubble. "If I cannot give it to the one I choose, it is of no use to me," she heard herself say. Her hand touched another person... Who was that? The image vanished - she couldn't recall.

Days replaced nights in the world below, life went on as before. Another dragon descended upon the land, another Arisen was chosen, another link in the endless chain was forged. How far would this Arisen go?

An Arisen entered Lena's chamber. "Greetings," she said. "I have tests for you." "Tests?! Insolence!!", was the Arisen's reply. "Ah, an angry one," Lena thought.

Yet the Arisen failed the test, failed to see that the shadows of friends that Lena had conjured, were just that - shadows. The Arisen went with them. "Ah, that's the end of that cycle," Lena thought, turning away. How many more times would that play out until one Arisen came close enough to remove the ice from her chest, the blade that could grant her oblivion... "The blade is not a blade, it is a piece of ice bracing the heart," she pressed her hand to her chest but felt no pain.

...

Lena was peering into the mist - was that another Arisen? Did she miss a dragon descending onto the world? She couldn't recall, there had been so many. The person approached, raised his hand in a greeting, a pawn print shining bright on his hand. "A pawn, here?" Lena was surprised, her heart skipped a beat. "What was that?" She saw a ring on the pawn's finger glowing with a golden light.

"My bond is incomplete," said the pawn. "We are close, so very close, you and I, yet not close enough. I've always held back, kept that last wall up, that final safe space for myself... But no more. Come what may. I miss you. I want you back." He stood quite close to her now, so close, she could feel the warmth of his body even without touching. She liked his face... but who was he? She could not remember.

He took her hand and put it around his waist. That felt familiar... the scene with flinging away the ring rose before her eyes. But... who was he?

"I never wish to lose you again," he said, taking the ring off his finger and putting it onto hers. "May the bond now be complete." He kissed her, her heart skipped a beat, he pressed his hand to her chest and pulled out the Godsbane blade. He threw it to the ground and it shattered into tiny shards of ice. Lena woke up.

...

"Aye!" Lena sat up with a jerk, a sharp pain in her chest making her cry out.

"Sshhh, I'm here," she heard a familiar voice, felt familiar touch.

"I had such a strange dream..." She put her arms around Scorpio's neck, responding to his kiss.

"It wasn't a dream," he said in her ear. "But no more ice, I promise."

She felt the warmth of a ring around her finger, she saw Scorpio's ring still on his finger too, glowing with a golden light.

"How..?"

"The Arisen's Bond has worked its magic. The rest is up to us."

[Renee]

True, but you are the one writing the story. .

For me that doesn't matter much. It's all about what my folks want.

Ah, so Lena has also faced the Wrath of Sithis as well. So she knows, by now. Did she know Rayenna was hunting her that whole time?

That's neat. Lena and Lucien are playing in the water. Killing slaughterfish, too.

Here now

[Lena Wolf]

Ah, so Lena has also faced the Wrath of Sithis as well. So she knows, by now. Did she know Rayenna was hunting her that whole time?

In my story (as yet unwritten) Lena and Lucien were both exiled for a long time during that dreadful business with the traitor. Lucien was suspected to be the traitor and Lena was exiled for refusing to purify the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. Of course once they found the real traitor, the exile was lifted. This is what I'm alluding to here. I've got a large mod in the early stages of development that completely revamps the second half of the DB questline from the point of Purification, and this story is one of the possibilities. This also explains why Ungolim is still alive and still the Listener as before.

Lena didn't know it was Rayenna behind the attacks, but she did have her suspicions. It only became certain when they caught Rayenna.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 6 2023, 09:30 PM

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - Come what may

Lena had been asleep for several months, immobile in bed. Her body had long recovered from poison and starvation that she had inflicted upon herself; her blood was free of toxins and her skin free of festering warts. Yet when she finally awakened, she found herself barely able to walk - her strength failed her.

"But what do you expect, cousin?" The villagers would tell her. "You've been abed for months! You've got to take your time to rebuild your strength!"

When she was finally strong enough to walk and run along the beach in Cassardis, she insisted on going straight to Gran Soren. But barely out of the village they ran into some goblins and then into some wolves, and if it wasn't for Scorpio attacking everything in sight, Lena would not have survived any of those encounters. Eventually she had to agree that perhaps some basic training was in order.

And thus, half a year or more had passed since the night when Ser Maximilian carried her out of the Gran Soren dungeons hanging over his shoulder like a lifeless corpse.

"Ser Arisen? Wolf?" Ser Maximilian had to look twice, but the slender woman with a bow and daggers was indeed Lena, finally back in Gran Soren. "You gave us a fright," he grinned, squeezing her in a hug - he was no longer worried of rumours. "Ah, let the tongues wag," he shrugged. "I'm just glad you're back. Don't do that again!"

"I won't," Lena grinned. "Not like that..." She broke off. "I am an assassin, remember?" She winked. "Taking lives is my trade. Next time I won't fail."

"Well, if you insist on taking lives, I've got a job for you," Ser Maximilian looked serious. "Salvation is back, and they are making a nuisance of themselves again. Skeletons and things... You remember, I trust?" He looked up and Lena nodded. "It's probably going to be a repeat of the previous affair, but could you go after them again? A good scare would bring the populace under control, even if the chief zealot slips away." He paused. "And if you find sensitive information... Come to my quarters in the barracks at night," he smiled and blushed slightly. "You will be seen, and they will all assume that we... you know. No one believes that you could prefer a pawn." He looked at Scorpio standing a distance away facing in the opposite direction. "But I know better."

"I'll come when I've got something," Lena hugged him and planted a kiss on his lips in full view of the surrounding guards. "Since you don't mind the rumours," she grinned. "We've got to do it right. See you later." She waved and walked away, with Scorpio following.

"Salvation again?" He asked and Lena nodded.

Their next stop was the Pawn Guild. Barnaby greeted them inside.

"Business with the Guild, Ser?" He made a wide gesture at the riftstone. "You are also welcome to hire any pawn walking the streets, as you well know. But I must warn you: pawns have neither will nor emotions, even if it sometimes appears otherwise. There can be no closeness with a pawn. Beware, Ser, lest you get disappointed."

"Err... thanks," Lena muttered, turning around to leave.

"Your pawn serves other Arisen as well," Barnaby added after her.

"He isn't lying about that last bit," Scorpio said somewhat uncomfortably. "I am in service with you, and can therefore be summoned to walk with other Arisen for a time, just like the pawns here."

"And?" Lena had an idea where that was going, and didn't like it.

"And... well... I've had a lot of women," he said with some finality in his voice. "Some not that long ago, either. Best you hear it from me."

"Hmm."

They stood in front of the inn, and Lena decided to postpone that conversation until they had some privacy. They entered and she asked for the key to their room.

"A fellow would think there are plenty of real men in this city," Asalam looked at her, his brow furrowed. "If it's closeness you wanted, several suitors were asking after you. I wouldn't say no myself," he grinned. "There's no need to resort to their kind," he looked at Scorpio and scolded.

"What..?" Lena was perplexed.

"I'm just saying," Asalam smiled pleasantly at Lena. "Pawns are for fighting. A lovely young lady like yourself should look for company among her own kind. We have feelings, they don't!" He added with defiance.

"Err... I'll see if I can find lodgings elsewhere then," Lena said coldly, taking her key. "Lest my choice of company should offend the sensitivities of the gentlemen of my kind."

Lena was fuming. Her private affairs were no one's business! She even forgot about Scorpio's confession for a moment. But just for a moment. However, the short walk to their room was enough to cool her head.

"All right, let's review," she dropped into a chair when they were alone. "Barnaby warns me against closeness to you, while Asalam warns me against intimacy with you, but why? How is it any of their business?"

"You forgive me then?" Scorpio looked up at her.

"For what?" Yes, she did forget about that for a moment. She so wanted to forget it and never remember. "Oh... yes. I don't like it, and I'm very jealous, but I think someone is trying to make me jealous on purpose right now... which is why I choose to ignore it." She sighed. "Our bond still holds, whatever you do. We are bound by bigger things."

"And someone is trying to break that bond," Scorpio nodded, visibly relieved.

"The Legion."

They fell silent. Scorpio got up and poured them drinks.

"You don't believe that rubbish about will and emotions," he handed Lena a glass and she nodded. "But it is true that you can normally never get close to a pawn - we resist that. I have resisted that all this time, that's why I never... except after the dragon..." He sat down and took a sip of his drink. "We forged a bond so early on, you and I, a bond of friendship, we've been so very close... add intimacy to that, and the bond would be complete. You would have gotten close to a pawn," he smiled. "Of course, now you have."

"And someone doesn't like it," Lena mused.

"Consider also, that when there is no bond, intimacy has no meaning either," he smiled thinly. "I never betrayed our bond... but I could have controlled my flesh better."

"By Sanguine!" Lena exclaimed, laughing.

The conversation turned light for a time, then Lena furrowed her brow again.

"So Asalam is working for the Legion," she said grimly.

"They had to be spying on us to know that we... you know."

"Well, it's not like there are no holes or splits in that door," Lena smirked. "Or someone could have simply told Asalam to say those things. He didn't seem to have heard of me and Max," Lena added, blushing a bit. Then a thought struck her. "Say... who told you about me and Max last time? Because, you see, in order to have seen us, they would have had to be flying... or else to have come from the Everfall..."

Scorpio laughed bitterly. "Barnaby. Spared no graphic detail, either. You had a lantern there, he had a perfect view. Apparently, you take off your weapon belts first..." He looked at her and winked. "Or else the fellow is your target."

...

Salvation was animating skeletons at night along the roads around Gran Soren, sometimes even very close to the city walls. Salvation sorcerers would gather in large groups of ten to twenty people and cast spells in unison, reinforcing one another. It wasn't easy to fight them. Many of them would run off too, to return another night. Lena tracked them down to the catacombs again, witnessed another massacre of the undead, but Salvation did not stop.

"This is all small fish," Lena was recounting the events to Ser Maximilian on one of her nighttime visits to his quarters in the castle guard barracks. "Even Lord Julien is small fish. Even Ilysius, that one-eyed chief zealot with his proclamations of the ultimate truth being the dragon... He's just mad."

"But he's the one inciting the people to join the cult, so he's dangerous," Ser Maximilian objected. "If you can remove him, it would help."

"He will just get replaced by another equally mad zealot," Lena shook her head. "I'll try of course, but I don't think I can get close - he uses teleportation."

"All right, what of Lord Julien?" Ser Maximilian squinted. "He is in charge of the Northern fortifications."

"He wants to overthrow the Duke and to rip up the ancient pact between Gransys and the neighbouring duchies that requires them to send help when the dragon strikes."

"What?!" Ser Maximilian exclaimed a little too loudly, but quickly caught himself. "That's treason!"

"Yes, but he isn't going to succeed," Lena smiled. "Or cause anyone any significant harm. Small fish."

"But my duty..." Suddenly Lena jumped off her seat, threw Ser Maximilian off his chair and onto the bed and landed on top of him in a rather suggestive pose. The door creaked - someone was peering in. "What?!" Ser Maximilian raised his head looking at the door - he heard it too. "Can't you see I'm busy?!" He barked at it.

"So sorry Ser Commander," a small voice replied. "Didn't realise you... hehehe... had company... hehehe... Ser..." The door was pulled shut and they heard the sound of small feet running away.

"That damned jester!" Ser Maximilian swore, getting up and walking to the door. "Men!" He half-opened the door, standing in the doorway unclothed from the waist down. Several guards looked up, some stood to attention. "I want no more interruptions!" He barked. "That damnable jester is not to be permitted in! And I don't care that he's got the Duke's leave to come and go wherever he pleases! My orders are from now on to keep him away from my quarters!" His face was red, he looked very angry. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, Ser! As you command, Ser!" There was a shuffle among the guards - no one was keen on making their Commander angry, for whatever reason.

"All right, that'll buy us some privacy," Ser Maximilian turned to Lena, having closed the door. "What did you do with my pants?"

...

It wasn't easy to navigate castle intrigue, but the rumour of an affair between Ser Arisen and Ser Maximilian became more than a rumour after their stunt at the barracks, with the jester alluding to it for the amusement of the court and the guards swearing of having witnessed their Commander "in action". "It is amazing what a little suggestion can do," Lena would grin to herself every time she was at the castle. Their "affair" afforded them a perfect cover to keep exchanging information for the good of Gransys. Ser Maximilian's sworn fealty was to the Duke, but he felt that his true allegiance should be to the people, and in most cases it was one and the same. The Duke had been good for the people, regardless of how he got his throne, he was far better than many of his predecessors, and for Ser Maximilian that was enough.

"If you should kill the dragon again," he said to Lena one evening. "Don't come here to see the Duke, for it will be my duty to try and arrest you, or may be even kill you on the spot," he looked straight at her. "Our affair has a downside - I am no longer seen as an impartial force."

Neither of them realised at the time just how many more years this was to be going on. Salvation, as any cult, could not be fully rooted out, treason was never far away, but people grew used to the monsters, and all in all, life continued, the dragon stayed silent and Lena wasn't sure what to do next.

...

"Perhaps I should just give up?" She looked at Scorpio as they were walking through the woods without any particular purpose. "Settle down in Cassardis, live out my life? Would you stay with me?"

"Of course I'd stay with you!" He pulled her close. "But would you give up your home? Your friends back in your world? The other piece of your soul?"

"The other piece of my soul..." Lena felt a sharp pain in her heart. "I don't... I can't even... How did you know?" She stopped, facing him.

"I can feel it," he smiled. "We have a bond. You have another bond, it is just as important, or more... It was there first, anyway. Without it, you are incomplete."

"But you... still let me get close..."

"You see why we avoid bonds," Scorpio smirked. "Arisen die or move on, we remain. Those pawns that had gone mad in the Everfall or on the Bitterblack Isle, they had allowed their Arisen get too close, then could not survive the loss of that bond. But you mortals are different," he paused, then resumed walking. "You form multiple bonds in your lives, bonds that are often cut short by the death of the other person, you grieve for a time, then go on living."

"Some people can't, just like those pawns," Lena objected. "We aren't that different at all."

"I could not stand the pain of separation when your spirit was gone from your body," he said in a hoarse voice. "The pain was worst because I had never let you get close... I don't know if that was what was driving those pawns, but for myself I knew I had to get you back and let you in, no more walls, let the bond be complete. Then... come what may."

They stood by the witch's cottage, the old home of Selene and her Arisen, now empty.

"You should not give up your other bond. You should look for a way home. Pursue the dragon. Jump into the Everfall. Explore the Bitterblack Isle. Whatever it takes."

"I won't go without you." Lena put her arms around Scorpio and pressed her cheek to his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "The other bond... He..." Another pang of sharp pain went through her heart. "He is my Speaker... my master in our order... I could never..." She swallowed back tears. "I would not dare."

"You are my master," Scorpio said softly, taking her in an embrace. "It doesn't matter. But the time has to be right. It took me that long, perhaps you just need more time." He kissed away her tears. "I'm with you... before and after... come what may."



22 Sun’s Dawn, 4E203, Shivering Isles

"And then you vanished!" Lena poked Scorpio in the chest. "What kind of a promise was that? You said you'd stay with me come what may!"

"I said: before and after," he smiled. "How many years did we spend looking for a way to get you back here? Quite a few. That was 'before' - before you could get home. And now I'm back with you again - this is 'after', after you made it back. It took me a while to find you, sorry about that," he grinned.

"So you always knew you'd have to vanish to get me home?" Lena stopped, facing him.

"No, I didn't, if I had known it earlier, I'd have done it earlier," Scorpio shook his head. "We couldn't find a way out, remember?"

"Face the dragon, hear his bargain - he was ready to send me home, but I had to give you up. No deal. Find a dragon in the Everfall, hear the same bargain. No. The same with the dragon on the Bitterblack Isle. No again. The Seneschal - no deal. The Legion really wanted to keep you," she sighed.

"And they have," Scorpio raised his hand, his pawn mark clearly visible. "But you died to them when you jumped off that cliff, and so they can no longer recall me."

"But what about when I really die?" Lena pressed her hand to Scorpio's, a thin band of gold glowing around her finger, touching his own Arisen's Bond. "Will you get your life back then?"

"My life? I've got it back already," he smiled. "The print doesn't bother me, and immortality has its perks... Our bond has started as a bond of friendship, it is a bond of friendship once again. True intimacy once shared, never goes away - I think your husband knows that."

"He does," Lena smiled and kissed him like before. "For the old time's sake."

They walked the roads of the Shivering Isles waiting for Dylan to be reborn. Dylan - another of Lena's bonds, her Mazken friend who fell in the battle of the second Greymarch.

"You were right about us making multiple bonds," Lena was thinking of several people who were close to her. "But every bond is different, and not every bond is equally strong or equally deep. Dylan, for example..."

"Dylan is your dear friend, it is plain to see," Scorpio interrupted her before she could say something stupid. "A playmate, too. Am I right? But you mean to him more than he means to you."

"You are probably right," Lena sighed and blushed. "I am ashamed of myself..."

"Don't be. Such is life," he shrugged. "I had to give you up in part as well - what did I say: come what may. The bond still holds."

"And Hauk..." Lena caressed her heavily pregnant belly. "The child is his, I can feel it. He is my best friend, and we are very close... But we each have another bond that means more... Oh gods... I made such a mess of my life..." She rolled her eyes. "But I wouldn't change a thing." She held Scorpio's hand as they walked, and the glow of their combined Arisen's Bonds illuminated the path before them.

"And there's another," Scorpio smiled. "Of a different kind."

"Sanguine," Lena nodded. "The lover I can never refuse... How do you know all this?" She squinted at him.

"I have a piece of your soul," Scorpio said simply. "Quite literally. I am and always will be your pawn."

They came to a campsite with a breathtaking view of the foggy hills of Dementia. They cleaned off the blood and the dirt of whatever took place there before, and settled down for the night. As Scorpio started unpacking food and drink for their supper, he asked, quite casually: "What happened in Albion? Tell me about it, Dumpling," he grinned.

"Ha!" Lena laughed. "That is a crazy story! I grew so fat on all the pies, they started calling me Dumpling! I lost weight after a while," she added with an embarrassed smile. "I was married... five times... six perhaps? Wasn't supposed to, you understand, just didn't care... It was wild..." She laughed. "Westcliff, Bloodstone... Liqueur, blood, sex, all to excess... Like being back in New Sheoth with Sanguine at the helm," she smirked. "But scary too. And brutal at times. And they had him - Sanguine - can you imagine? They captured a Daedric Prince! They were sapping his magic... He may be a drunk, but he's still a Prince, and he's got powers like any other. But he was drained, subdued..." She fell silent, looking grim.

"You saved him," Scorpio offered.

"I was saving a mage whose help we needed to stop a disaster," she nodded. "A mage of remarkable power. Of course when I saw who the mage was, I knew just how much danger that world was in. I got him out of that prison and he could have left, but he didn't. He stayed and played the part of the mage in our party. Incredible. He wasn't even drunk at times..." She smiled at the memory, then furrowed her brow. "I had to make a terrible choice in the end... Take the least bad of three awful options... Without Sanguine, I would have never returned."

[Renee]

Of course once they found the real traitor, the exile was lifted. This is what I'm alluding to here. I've got a large mod in the early stages of development that completely revamps the second half of the DB questline from the point of Purification, and this story is one of the possibilities. This also explains why Ungolim is still alive and still the Listener as before.

Nice. You really are building something here. I make a stories through the use of quests and dialog, but you are making an entire world.

Lena didn't know it was Rayenna behind the attacks, but she did have her suspicions. It only became certain when they caught Rayenna.

I see.