Chapter Six: Fire and the Sword

Elisif was woken from a fitful sleep by screams, war-cries, and the clash of steel on steel. For a moment she was disorientated and didn't know where she was, or what had happened, and then she tried to rise and realized that her hands were bound behind her. The memories came back; the ambush, her capture, and being separated from Lydia and thrust into a well-guarded tent for the night. From what she had overheard the Stormcloak commander planned to vacate the camp and set off for Windhelm, taking her and Lydia off to captivity, at first light.

But what was going on now? Was the Stormcloak camp under attack by the Legion? That seemed the likeliest explanation for the noise. She struggled to her feet and made another attempt to free her hands from her bonds, hoping to be able to do something constructive to help her presumed rescuers, but the bindings were too strong and tied too securely. The guard at the tent entrance, a woman nearly as tall as Elisif and more powerfully built, was looking outward but had her sword drawn. Elisif might be able to get past her but, with her hands bound, she'd be recaptured or worse almost immediately. There didn't seem to be any realistic option other than to wait and hope that the attackers prevailed – and that they really were the Legion, or the Haafingar Guard, and not a particularly bold gang of bandits. It wouldn't be Kaie and Jenassa, she thought, as they wouldn't be making such a din. She listened intently and managed to make out words amidst the clamor.

"Get the injured out of there before the whole tent goes up!" a voice yelled; Istar, almost certainly. "What in Talos' name? You're fighting each other, fools! Rally to me! Not you, Irghild, stay with the prisoner. And you, Falkyn."

The woman guarding Elisif had stepped out Istar's call to rally but reversed her course at his second order and came back into the tent. Elisif groaned, as a fleeting chance to attempt an escape was snatched away, and tried to see what was happening outside. She could see flickering flames but little else.

"Kathdar's gone berserk!" another voice cried, panic evident in the shrill tone. "He killed Eifstaag!"

"He must be enthralled," Istar growled. "Subdue him! But who is attacking?"

"The Reach shall be ours again!" a new voice shouted. A woman's voice, and one very familiar to Elisif. "Fe godwn ni eto!" It was Kaie.

"The Forsworn?" Istar exclaimed, sounding astonished. "Here? It makes no sense, but the why matters not. Kill the savages!"

A sound closer to hand attracted Elisif's attention. A sound between a grunt and a gurgle. She looked at the guard and saw that her head was bent back and her exposed throat had been sliced open. The woman dropped her sword and clutched her hands to her neck. Blood gushed out from between her fingers. She jerked sideways, as if being tugged, and released her throat and flailed wildly as if trying to free herself from her invisible attacker. The attempt was futile and, as the front of her uniform became soaked in blood, she sagged limply and her heels scraped along the floor as she was dragged further sideways. Once the dying woman was far enough from the doorway to be completely out of sight from outside, she was released, flopped to the floor, twitched briefly and then lay still.

Beside the body the air shimmered for an instant and then Jenassa appeared. She was clad in fine Scale armor, instead of the leather she had worn in Whiterun, and the blood-smeared dagger in her hand was a wicked-looking Orcish blade. A matched pair of Dwarven pattern swords hung at her hips. She grinned at Elisif, bent down, and wiped her dagger clean on the dead Stormcloak's sash.

"Jenassa!" Elisif exclaimed, managing to keep her voice down to a level that wouldn't be heard outside the tent. She was about to add 'Are you here to rescue me?' but realized that it would be stating the stupidly obvious and stopped herself short.

"Indeed, serjo," Jenassa replied, equally quietly. She moved behind Elisif and used her dagger to saw through the bonds. "Where is your Housecarl? We were told she also was taken captive."

"They separated us," Elisif said. "I don't know which tent she's in. Told? Who told you?"

"Meridia," Jenassa answered, as she bent and slid the dagger into a sheath in her boot. "It is thanks to her that we are here."

"Meridia the Daedric Prince?" Elisif gasped, her voice becoming almost too loud before she could control herself. "But… why?"

"She wishes us to do a service for her," Jenassa said. "Informing us of your predicament is a payment for that service."

Elisif heard someone outside crying out in a voice filled with fear. "Eifstaag rises from the dead to attack us!"

"Cursed Forsworn witch-men!" Istar bellowed. "Find them! Ergnir, go and back up Irghild guarding Jarl Elisif. We can't risk her being taken by the Forsworn. Horski, you get to where we have the Housecarl."

Jenassa drew her twin swords. Elisif hastened to pick up the sword dropped by the dead guard. The extra guard being sent to where Lydia was being held might help them find the right tent, but first they would have to deal with the guard who would be arriving shortly. And, indeed, footsteps outside the tent sounded almost immediately.

"Irghild, it's Ergnir," a man announced. "I'm coming in." He stepped through the doorway and his eyes widened as he saw Elisif free and the body on the floor. Before he could react Jenassa had launched a double attack with both her swords. Ergnir must have been a skilled warrior because, despite being taken by surprise, he managed to get his shield up in time to block Jenassa's right-hand strike, which otherwise would have slashed across his throat, and used his sword to partially deflect her simultaneous left-hand stroke intended to slice open his femoral artery. Instead the low blow was diverted and merely ripped across the front of his thigh, painful but not lethal, and he was able to utter a cry for help.

Elisif was slower to act than Jenassa but now she struck; a backhand cut to Ergnir's sword-arm. She caught him just below the elbow, in an area unprotected by armor or gauntlets, and her blade sliced through flesh and bit deep into bone. The Stormcloak howled and leapt back, his sword falling from his hand, and the tip of Jenassa's sword passed through his beard instead of his throat as she struck again. Ergnir backed away hastily, leaving a trail of blood from his ruined arm, covering himself with his shield as best he could. As soon as he was out of the tent he spun around and fled.

"So much for stealth," Jenassa said. She sheathed her right-hand sword and fished a potion vial out of a belt pouch. "Invisibility. Drink it and get out of here. We'll meet you in Solitude."

"I can't leave without Lydia," Elisif insisted. She would have wished to retrieve her Skyforge sword, and the Shield of Solitude, but they had been taken by Istar and she knew getting them back would be almost impossible. The shield belonging to the dead guard was propped up against the side of the tent and she picked it up and slipped her arm through the straps; they had left her in her armor and now she was fully equipped for battle.

"I shall get her," Jenassa said. "You should…" She stopped as she heard Istar shouting.

"Elisif is loose!" the Stormcloak commander yelled. "Sarnir, Bittneld, with me. Shor's bones, the Housecarl is loose too! Vofalgar, Gjudir, help Horski. The rest of you, find and kill those damn Forsworn!"

"N'chow!" Jenassa swore, and returned the potion to her pouch. She drew her sword again. "We will have to fight."

Elisif swallowed hard. It was going to be four against however many Stormcloaks remained, just as it had been in the previous fight, and she could only hope it would not go the same way. She fought back fear and summoned up all her resolve. "I'm ready," she said, and led the way out of the tent.

Outside the camp was lit by the flames from two blazing tents; the hospital tent and Istar's command tent. There were dead bodies strewn around, Elisif guessed seven or eight at her first glance, and a couple of the piles of ash that were the remains of reanimated corpses. A group of a dozen or so Stormcloaks were gathered in the center of the camp; the ones in the center appeared to be injured, and those around them either held up shields protectively or held bows, with arrows nocked, and scanned the surrounding rocks and trees searching for the attackers. Istar, recognizable even in the dim light by his heavier armor and bearskin cloak, was outside that circle with Erngir and two other warriors at his side. Beyond them Elisif caught a glimpse of Lydia fighting a Stormcloak woman and two male Stormcloaks running toward them. She had little time to assess the overall situation, however, as Istar saw her and at once raised his sword and charged.

"Remember, don't kill Elisif," Istar shouted as he headed for Jenassa. One of his men was running with him but the other, it seemed, had been in the middle of binding up the wound in Erngir's arm and held back. Elisif found herself faced by only a single opponent instead of being set upon by two at once.

Istar launched a furious attack against Jenassa, easily blocking her strikes with the enchanted Shield of Solitude, and raining down blows with the Skyforge sword. She was driven back, toward the tent, parrying desperately and unable to threaten Istar.

Elisif struck out at her opponent and he parried with his sword then drove at her with his shield. She met him shield to shield but his superior weight told against her and she staggered. He slammed his shield against hers again and she lost her footing. She fell and landed sitting on her backside. The Stormcloak grinned in triumph and stepped forward, poised to drive the edge of his shield at her head, but Elisif still had a firm grasp on her sword. She lashed out with all her strength and connected solidly with his leading leg. He howled in pain, his leg buckled under him, and he toppled sideways to land sprawling between Istar and Jenassa. Istar was forced to step back and, in that moment of respite, Jenassa delivered a quick downward thrust and drove her sword into the side of the fallen Stormcloak's neck.

Istar roared in rage and resumed his attack. Elisif scrambled to her feet. Behind Istar she saw the knot of Stormcloak soldiers being attacked by a big man, in iron armor, wielding a two-handed sword; she had no idea who he might be. Lydia, she saw, had defeated her opponent and was fighting one of the two who had been rushing to attack her; the other lay sprawled on the ground, probably dead, with an arrow sticking out of his back. Kaie still had not shown herself but Elisif guessed that she had loosed that arrow from a hidden position outside the camp. Then the man who had been tending to Erngir left him and came running at Elisif. She raised her sword and prepared to defend herself.

This time the Stormcloak, seeing his comrade lying dead, must have decided that trying to take Elisif alive was too dangerous despite Istar's orders. He rained down blows on her shield and she could do nothing but defend herself and hope that he would tire himself out before he overcame her. Jenassa, beside her, was in equally dire straits. Istar was a formidable warrior, much bigger and stronger than the Dark Elf girl, and the Skyforge sword and enchanted shield negated any advantage of speed Jenassa might have possessed had their armament been equal. She was forced further and further back until she hit the side of the tent, almost fell, and ended up leaning with her back against the hide wall of the tent holding back Istar's blade with her crossed swords. Elisif had been driven too far away to do anything to help, even if her attacker hadn't been pressing her too hard to give her an opportunity, and she feared she was about to see Jenassa slain.

"FUS RO!"

The impact of the Unrelenting Force Shout struck Istar and the other Stormcloak and tossed them aside. Jenassa was partially shielded by the tent and only staggered. Elisif was caught by the fringe of the Shout and went stumbling sideways for a few paces before she could regain her balance.

Elisif glanced around. Lydia had slain her opponent, perhaps as he was distracted by the Shout, and was pulling her sword free of his dead body. The Stormcloak who had been running to attack her had halted and was looking around in apparent confusion. In the center of the camp the group of Stormcloaks had lost two of their number, who lay dead on the ground, and the big warrior who had charged them had gone. In his place were pieces of iron armor and a greatsword lying in a pile of ash. He, too, had been a reanimated corpse.

Istar climbed back to his feet. "What in Shor's name was that?" he gasped. "It sounded like the Thu'um."

Elisif smiled and answered Istar's question in the words of the song. "Beware, beware, the Dragonborn comes."

"Impossible!" Istar protested. "The Dragonborn is a Nord hero. He would never fight against Ulfric's true Nords, least of all in the company of Gray-skins and Forsworn savages."

Jenassa burst into open laughter. "Wrong, and doubly wrong, Nord," she said, and laughed again. "You have lost, Stormcloak. Doom will come to any who faces her in battle."

"Give me back my sword and shield," Elisif said, "and I'll let you leave here alive. Go back to Ulfric and tell him his days are numbered." She did her best to sound confident; the Stormcloaks had taken so many casualties by now that she believed they would break soon, but Istar was such a strong and skillful warrior that he might be able to turn the tide.

"Foolish woman," Istar scoffed, "you are in no position to make demands. Your false Dragonborn's Thu'um is weaker than Ulfric's and he cannot defeat us even with his foul necromancy." He had, it seemed, either failed to notice Jenassa calling the Dragonborn as 'her', or thought that the 'her' referred to Elisif. He raised his voice. "Come out and face me, false Dragonborn, if you dare."

For a moment there was no answer. The only sounds were the crackling of the flames and the moans of the wounded Stormcloaks. Then Kaie stepped out of the shadows and into the open.

"The Greybeards named me Dovahkiin," she said. She was wearing the skimpy fur armor of a Forsworn female warrior, and holding a sword in her right hand, and her spectral wolf familiar walked at her side. "Do you claim to know better than them? I thought your people revered them as we revere our Matriarchs."

Istar growled. "I know not how you fooled them, witch-woman, but it ends here. I shall prove your falseness with my blade."

"My blade," Elisif put in.

Istar ignored her. "Get rid of that wolf, woman, and face me one to one… if you dare."

Kaie gestured with her left hand and the wolf faded away into nothingness. She drew her second sword. "I kill dragons, Nord. Why should I fear you?"

"Your kin learnt to fear me at Markarth, witch," Istar retorted.

"No," said Kaie, with a slight shake of her head, "they did not fear you. They learnt only how to die. Now it is your turn for that lesson."

Istar strode forward. Kaie raised her swords and spoke one word.

"SU!"

It was a Shout. Nothing seemed to happen and Elisif's heart was in her mouth as she watched the tall Stormcloak advance. She knew that Kaie was fast, and greatly skilled with her swords, but Istar was nearly a foot taller, with a corresponding advantage in reach and strength, and was a veteran of countless battles and skirmishes. He had come close to overwhelming Jenassa; could Kaie stand up to his onslaught?

Istar began by lashing out with a powerful stroke aimed at Kaie's head. Kaie slipped under the blow, seemingly without effort, and retaliated with a lightning-fast slash that opened a deep gash in Istar's right thigh just above the knee. From that moment on Kaie was on the attack, delivering a rain of blows at incredible speed, forcing Istar onto the defensive just as he had with Jenassa. Unlike that fight, however, Kaie's blows were getting through. Droplets of blood flew as she cut a slice through a leather section of Istar's chest armor. An attempt by Istar to deliver a shield-bash resulted only in Kaie slipping her sword under the shield and gashing open his forearm. Then Kaie took a step back, giving Istar an instant's respite, and he seized the opportunity to bring his sword down in an immensely powerful blow intended to end the fight at a stroke.

Elisif started to gasp in horror but her fear was misplaced. Kaie's left-hand sword flashed and deflected the Skyforge blade past her and down to stick into the ground. Then Kaie brought her sword up and struck at Istar's hand. His armored gauntlets saved him from serious injury but he lost his grip on the hilt of the Skyforge sword. Before he could grasp it again Kaie flicked it aside with her own blade, dislodging it from the ground and knocking it out of his reach, and brought her right-hand sword across in a slash that sliced another gash in Istar's armor. Blood seeped out as Istar jumped back.

He was only disarmed for a moment. His hand went to his belt and pulled out a dagger. With dagger and shield, against two swords, he would have been at a significant disadvantage but he had another plan. He threw the dagger at Kaie and followed up with a leap and lunge with his fist extended. Steel claws, modelled on those of a bear, projected from the knuckles of his gauntlet and made it a deadly weapon.

Kaie swatted the dagger out of the air with a casual flick of her right-hand sword and, in a continuation of the move, brought the sword forward to meet his fist head on. Her blade slid between the claws, sheared through the gauntlet, and cut through Istar's hand all the way to the wrist. Blood poured out as she pulled the sword free.

Istar staggered back. His leggings were already soaked with blood from his leg wound, blood dripped from his shield-arm and mixed with that oozing from the slashes in his armor, and now more was streaming from his ruined hand. "Victory or Sovngarde," he gasped out, and charged again. Presumably he intended to bash Kaie with the shield, as he now had no other way of attacking, but she merely side-stepped and he stumbled past her. He managed to halt his rush, and started to turn, but Kaie swung her right-hand sword in a lightning-fast arc before he could raise the shield. The blade connected solidly with the side of his neck and sheared all the way through. Istar's head fell to the ground, followed an instant later by his body, and rolled for a few feet before coming to rest, face up, staring at the night sky with vacant eyes.

Elisif felt vomit rising in her throat but choked it back down. She forced herself to appear calm and confident on the outside as she addressed the remaining Stormcloaks and, as she spoke, she found that she was calming down and filling with confidence inside too.

"Your leader is dead," she said, "and you have lost. Go now. Leave this place." She heard a snort from Jenassa that sounded like a suppressed laugh; it almost threw her off her stride but she managed to control herself and keep going. "Leave Haafingar and do not return before this… civil strife is over. Take only what you can carry. The horses stay here."

"But… our wounded…" one of the Stormcloaks protested.

"If they are too injured to travel that far I shall take them to Solitude," Elisif said, "where they will be treated and then interned until they can be exchanged for Legion prisoners held by the Stormcloaks. Otherwise… go now! I will be sending the Haafingar guards to retrieve everything from this camp that is not burnt. They will take your fallen and have them interred in the Hall of the Dead. Better treatment than Istar gave to Roggvir and Belrand. Now… get moving!"

The Stormcloaks looked at each other and then, slowly, began to move off. Elisif managed to suppress her urge to heave a sigh of relief; it would have revealed that she, really, hadn't been all that confident that they would obey. There were still ten Stormcloaks standing and they might have chosen to fight on. On second thoughts, however, she could see why they had given up. There had been twenty-six involved in the ambush, and she'd seen another four or five when they had brought her back to the camp, making thirty or so in total. Now they were down to ten, some of them wounded, and their leader was dead. Also, they seemed to think there were other Forsworn in the trees. It wasn't surprising that they had no stomach for continuing the fight.

"How did you get free?" Elisif asked Lydia, as the Housecarl came over to join the others.

"My guard went to the front of the tent to look out, and was not watching me," Lydia said. "I kicked her behind the knee, knocked her down, and kicked her in the head until she stopped moving. Then I managed to cut through my bonds with her sword."

"The one in my tent kept her eyes on me," Elisif said, "and so I could do nothing until Jenassa came. There is an unconscious Stormcloak in that tent, then?"

Lydia shook her head. "I didn't want to risk her waking and coming at me from behind," she said, "and so, once my hands were free, I cut her throat."

Elisif was a little shocked but couldn't really blame Lydia for her ruthless pragmatism. "You did well," she said, and Lydia responded with a broad smile.

Kaie sheathed her left-hand sword, went over to where Elisif's Skyforge sword lay, and picked it up. She held it for a moment, apparently testing its weight and balance, and then gave it a couple of swings before walking to Elisif and handing her the sword.

"Truly a fine weapon," Kaie said, "but I think mine matches it."

Elisif stared at Kaie's sword. It looked like one of the Ancient Nord weapons that several of the Draugr in Wolfskull cave had carried. She hadn't been impressed by them; a little heavier than her sword, not as well balanced, and with one primary cutting edge and a secondary extending only half-way down the back of the blade.

Kaie grinned. "I see you doubt me," she said. "I took this from y meiwr byw – a draugr, as you term them – in Shroud Hearth Barrow. It is far superior to most draugr weapons. I think it must have been made by a long-ago version of Eorlund Gray-Mane. Alas, there was but the one like this, and I have to use an ordinary draugr sword in my other hand."

"You use them superbly," Lydia commented. "I could not match Istar and he almost killed me."

"I used a Shout," Kaie admitted. "The first word of Elemental Fury, which for a short time doubles the speed at which I can wield my swords. Without it I doubt if I could have defeated him, especially as he was using a shield that seemed to be enchanted, as well as the sword of Elisif frenhines."

"It's my shield, too," said Elisif. "The Shield of Solitude and it is, indeed, powerfully enchanted."

"The wolf's head emblem of Solitude," said Jenassa, nodding. She went over to where Istar's body lay and pulled the shield from his arm. It was smeared with blood, and so was most of Istar's clothing, and so she used the sash from one of the other dead Stormcloaks to wipe the shield clean before returning it to Elisif.

"There are no other Forsworn hidden in the woods, as the Stormcloaks believed, are there?" Elisif said to Kaie. "Just you, with arrows and spells, and the Stormcloak's own dead raised against them… and that big man in iron armor, whoever he was. You are a more powerful mage than you led me to believe at Helgen."

"I'm not just a pretty face," Kaie said. "I held back in Helgen because I know that Nords fear necromancy and I did not want to upset you. I was also, in truth, a little short of Magicka. My own armor, that was taken from me at Darkwater Crossing, was enchanted to enhance my Magicka pool. Without it I was handicapped but I acquired replacements, on my way here, from my kin at Serpent's Bluff Redoubt. We picked up that big warrior on the way, too; he was one of a pair of bandits who attacked us on the far side of the ford. We carried their bodies across the river…"

"Not a task I enjoyed," Jenassa muttered.

"…and I reanimated them to serve as our troops," Kaie continued. "The other was an archer. I filled her quiver with arrows dipped in Frenzy poison and turned the Stormcloaks against themselves."

"And those that died, you raised to attack their comrades again," Elisif said. She wasn't happy about the use of necromancy, which was regarded in Nord culture as an abomination, but she couldn't think of any other way Kaie and Jenassa could have beaten the Stormcloaks; slipping in invisibly to rescue her might have worked, but without the attack to keep the Stormcloaks' attention elsewhere it could have gone badly wrong. Being rescued by necromantic means was much better than being carried off into captivity.

"The only other way to win would have been to summon Flame Atronachs," Kaie said, "and they could well have hit you and Lydia with their flames. I had no choice but to use the dead Stormcloaks. Luckily, I recently mastered the trick of casting Apprentice level Conjurations for half the usual Magicka cost, but even so casting so many spells in succession took a lot out of me. I had to drink a dozen Magicka replenishing potions to keep going." She grimaced. "Now I suffer for it. Tell me, where is this camp's privy?"

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"The Greybeards have ordered me to retrieve something called the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, from a barrow called Ustengrav, before they will give me further training," Kaie related, as the four women walked out of the encampment toward where Kaie and Jenassa had shed their backpacks before attacking the camp. "It's not all that far from Solitude. I shall carry on there after I've spent some time at your court, Elisif Frenhines. Meridia has commanded me to clear a necromancer out of her old temple, just up the hill from here, but that can wait until I have seen you back to Solitude."

"No, it can't!" a female voice ahead of them said, sounding somewhat muffled. Elisif saw a glow emanating from Kaie's backpack, where it lay on the ground ahead of them, and realized that it was the source of the voice. "The situation has changed. Get me out of this fetching bag so that I can talk clearly!"

Kaie hastened to the pack and unfastened its straps. As soon as it was open a glowing spherical object, faceted like a gemstone and about the size of a baby's head, rose out of the haversack and floated up to eye level.

"That's better," said the sphere, its voice now clear and commanding in tone. "Now listen, and act quickly. The necromancer Malkoran came out of the temple, whilst you were engaged against the Stormcloaks, and took away the bodies of Elisif's fallen comrades. If you do not act with great haste, he will Raise them as corrupted shades under his control."

Elisif gasped in horror. Belrand had made comments, during the clearing of Wolfskull Cave, that had indicated that his worst fear was that he would become Undead. She couldn't allow that to happen. And Roggvir, too, deserved her best efforts on his behalf. "What must we do?" she asked the sphere.

"You need not come, fy Mrenhines," Kaie said. "Go on to Solitude and wait for us."

"I have to go," Elisif said. Inside she was weary, and wanted nothing more than to get back to Solitude and a hot bath, a meal, and a night's sleep in her own bed, but she knew that a true queen had to put duty above her own safety and comfort. "Roggvir and Belrand died in my service, fighting my enemies. I owe it to them to do all that I can to save them from suffering Undeath."

"That's a good attitude for a prospective queen to have," the sphere said. "I like you. Very well. You must get up to my temple as fast as possible. Malkoran has wedged the doors shut behind him, but it is my temple and responds to my decree."

Elisif realized that the glowing ball must be some kind of manifestation of the Daedric Prince Meridia. One of the beings that she had always been taught were the very incarnation of evil. Meridia might be regarded as relatively benign but that was only when compared to monsters like Molog Bal and Mehrunes Dagon… wasn't it? Yet Meridia approved of her attitude, which implied that Meridia too understood the concept of duty… could she really be evil? Elisif put that thought aside; she could consider it more deeply later.

"Insert my beacon into the stand in front of my statue," Meridia continued. "I shall send down a ray of light that will force open the outer door. You must go through the temple halls and corridors and activate the beacons within, allowing the light to penetrate further, and I will open the doors for you. The shades that Malkoran already has created will oppose you, and you may find that traps have been laid along the path, but press on as fast as possible. Malkoran will perform his necromantic ritual in the innermost chamber, where he is perverting the power of my most precious artifact to accomplish his vile purpose. Make your way there, with the utmost haste, and kill him. Do not tarry to gather loot. There will be time for that once Malkoran is slain."

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Elisif almost vomited when she saw the desecrated bodies inside the temple. Withered husks, blackened and shriveled, clad in the remnants of Imperial or Stormcloak armor. The corrupted shades that had been raised from the bodies were equally horrific in appearance. Blackened skeletons with glowing red eyes, shrouded in black fog, floating above the ground on a pillar of smoke that took the place of legs. They wielded the weapons they had held in life, Imperial shortswords or Stormcloak greatswords and war hammers, and some were armed with bows and loosed shafts from a distance.

It didn't take long, however, for the four women to realize that the combat ability of the shades didn't match up to their terrifying appearance. They used no shields, and only a single weapon, and attacked in ones and twos rather than coordinating their attacks as living humans would have done. The women soon developed a routine for dealing with them; Elisif and Lydia took the front, holding off the shades with shield and sword, while Kaie fought with spells and Jenassa loosed arrows from further back. Shade after shade fell in short order, collapsing into puddles of ectoplasm, and the four were able to make their way through the temple complex at a fast pace.

In one large chamber they were faced by three shades, who attacked as a group, whilst a fourth sniped at them with a bow from a balcony high above. Kaie conjured a Flame Atronach, that bombarded the archer with bolts of fire, and then joined the others in fighting at close quarters. Jenassa was slightly wounded by an arrow before the shades were defeated. Other than that, and an instance when Lydia failed to spot a tripwire and was injured by a swinging axeblade trap, the four women made it to the innermost chambers of the temple without any real problems. They approached the final room, stealthily, and saw what awaited them there.

They could see only a part of the room from the corridor but what they could see was… ominous. A dozen or more of the shades, a couple of nondescript mages who must have been acolytes, and Malkoran. Elisif could tell which one was in charge because of the way he stood in the center, brandishing a staff, and obviously directing the others as they positioned the bodies of Roggvir and Belrand in front of an altar.

"We are only just in time," Elisif said, keeping her voice very low.

"Indeed," Kaie said. She dipped a couple of arrow-heads into a vial of poison, as did Jenassa, and nocked a poisoned shaft. It had a tip divided into two barbed points, probably intended for fishing rather than war, and would be unlikely to penetrate deeply into a human body. "I'll hit the mage on the left with Frenzy poison," Kaie said, and Elisif saw the reason for the non-lethal arrow.

"I'll take Malkoran," Jenassa said. "Magicka suppressant." Her arrow was a normal steel-tipped war shaft; the idea was to kill the necromancer outright and the poison was only a back-up in case he survived the arrow wound.

Lydia sheathed her sword, laid her shield down on the floor, and readied her bow. "I'll take the one on the right, then," she said.

It occurred to Elisif that the reason Jenassa dual-wielded, scorning a shield, was because it would be much quicker to discard a bow and draw a pair of swords, once the enemy reached close quarters, than it would be to change to sword and shield. Similarly, Kaie would no doubt find it quicker, if the enemy got close enough to interfere with her spell-casting, to draw a second sword than to unsling and ready a shield. Elisif wasn't good enough with a bow to make her participation worthwhile and so she moved into position ready to engage with sword and shield, and to cover the others with her shield if necessary, once the fight started and the Corrupted Shades charged.

As, indeed, they did. Elisif had come across a saying in her reading, usually attributed to General Decianus, that 'No battle plan survives contact with the enemy' and this proved to be no exception. Lydia's target went down and stayed down, and Kaie's victim fell victim to the Frenzy poison and began blasting the nearest Shades with minor offensive spells, but Malkoran wasn't killed outright. He moved just as Jenassa loosed and the arrow inflicted only a minor wound. The Corrupted Shades swarmed toward the attackers immediately, blocking Jenassa's view and preventing her hitting Malkoran with a second arrow, and the Magicka suppressant proved to be irrelevant as Malkoran unleashed an Ice Storm from his staff rather than casting spells himself. Kaie summoned a Flame Atronach into the midst of the Shade horde but the Frenzied mage hit it with a spell and it retaliated, killing him, putting an end to the confusion he had been spreading. And then new Shades arose from the bodies of the two fallen acolytes and joined the others in attacking Elisif's party.

Elisif lost track of the overall situation as the Shades attacked and her world narrowed down to blocking, striking, and blocking again. The Shades fell one by one, covering the floor in ectoplasm, and each time one fell Malkoran shot a blast of icy magic through the gap to strike Elisif or one of her comrades. Elisif gritted her teeth and endured, protecting the others with the Shield of Solitude as best she could, striking out whenever an opportunity presented herself. The cold sapped her strength, and slowed her down, but she persevered and kept on blocking and hitting.

"FUS RO!"

A gap had opened up, briefly, giving Kaie a clear shot at Malkoran. Her Unrelenting Force Shout knocked the necromancer from his feet and sent him sprawling on the floor. He let go of the Ice Storms staff, as he landed on the stone flags, but at once began scrabbling to retrieve it. Jenassa loosed a shaft at him but one of the Shades, returning to the attack after being thrust back by the Shout, moved into the gap and Jenassa's arrow struck it instead of the intended target. The arrow didn't kill the Shade and it attacked Jenassa, who was forced to drop her bow and draw swords, and another went for Kaie. Lydia was being attacked by two Shades, one of them a former acolyte mage that was blasting her with electrical sparks, but when Elisif's current opponent went down there were none left to replace it. There was nothing between her and Malkoran and she seized the opportunity.

Two quick steps forward, a lunge, and a thrust. She caught Malkoran half-way to his feet, just beginning to raise his staff into a firing position, and his desperate attempt to use it to parry was too slow. The Skyforge blade drove through Malkoran's robes, through his ribs, and through his heart. She ripped the sword free, in a great gout of blood, and Malkoran fell, writhed briefly, and then lay still. A black Shade rose up out of the body, and began to raise its skeletal hands to cast a spell, but Elisif had seen the acolytes transform after death and wasn't taken by surprise. She was striking at Malkoran's Shade even before it had fully materialized.

She managed to strike home with two blows before the Shade was able to cast its spell. A bolt of lightning hit her and, even though her shield deflected some of the blast, enough got through to send her muscles into spasm. She dropped her sword and only just managed to remain on her feet. A blue glow began to form around one of the Shade's skeletal hands and Elisif scrambled aside, hoping to avoid the spell, and ducked down to retrieve her sword. She straightened up, sword in hand, just in time to see the Shade stagger as an arrow struck what passed for its face, and then Kaie dashed forward and thrust with both her swords. Malkoran's Shade collapsed in on itself and became another puddle of ectoplasm on the floor.

"It is done," Meridia's voice rang out. "The defiler is defeated. Well done, all of you. And both Elisif and Kaie killed Malkoran. Both of you, then, shall be rewarded. Jarl Elisif, take Dawnbreaker from its pedestal."

Elisif could see the hilt of a sword, glowing with a pure white light, sticking up from a pillar at the far end of the chamber. She went to it, drew it forth from the stone, and swung it to test its balance. It handled well, perhaps not quite as natural in her hand as the Skyforge sword, but superior to any other weapon she had wielded.

"The mighty Dawnbreaker bears powerful enchantments," Meridia said. "It burns any foe that it cuts, making it ideal for fighting against trolls, and it has extra powers against the Undead. If it strikes an Undead foe it inflicts the curse Meridia's Retribution. If the Undead is then slain within the next ten seconds it dies in an explosion that will not harm the living, but sets any other nearby Undead on fire, injuring or slaying them, and probably causing them to flee. It will give you a significant edge against draugr, vampires, and ghosts."

This would have been extremely useful to Elisif during the clearing of Wolfskull Cave but she doubted if she'd need it in future. She opened her mouth to suggest that it would be better to bestow it upon Kaie but Meridia preempted her.

"I know what you are thinking, Jarl Elisif," the Daedric Prince said, "but you may well find Dawnbreaker of use in the future. Keep it in case of need. I have something else for Kaie. The scabbard for Dawnbreaker is behind the pedestal."

Elisif retrieved the scabbard, sheathed the sword, and buckled it to her belt at the opposite side to her Skyforge weapon. Meridia turned her attention to Kaie.

"Dragonborn," Meridia said, "I had considered creating a replica of Dawnbreaker for you, but your preference for matched pairs of swords swayed me toward another course of action. There is a weapon that is a match for your new favorite sword and has great cultural significance for your people. Red Eagle's Bane."

"I know of Red Eagle's Fury," Kaie said. "It is held as a sacred relic at Red Eagle's Redoubt. Is that the sword you mean?"

"A lesser version," Meridia said. "You must obtain the Fury and then slay the undead spirit of Red Eagle, in Red Eagle's Cairn, before the blade can be restored to its full potential. After that, bring it here and insert it into the pedestal that held Dawnbreaker. I will bestow upon it the enchantment of Meridia's Retribution and it will become a matchless weapon against the Undead… and very effective against other foes."

Kaie pursed her lips. "Red Eagle is a hero of my people and I am loath to slay his spirit," she said. "Also, the clan holding Red Eagle's Fury will not lightly surrender it to me."

"That's your problem," Meridia said. "I can put your mind at rest regarding Red Eagle, however. Undeath is a curse, and his spirit suffers. Granting him true death would be an act of mercy. If you still feel you can't do it… well, I would be willing to place the same enchantment on Red Eagle's Fury. It would not be as powerful a weapon… but it's your choice. More immediately, I can give you a useful hint. A hundred yards up the slope from the steps that lead to my statue you will find a Word Wall. It will give you the second part to your Elemental Fury Shout."

"Thank you, Lady Meridia," Kaie said. "It will be useful… once I have killed another dragon. I know more Words than I have dragon souls to activate them."

"You will have no shortage of dragon souls before long," Meridia said. "Now, I see that your companions have gathered up all the valuable items from this room. I suggest that you make your way out by the way you came. You will find more valuables, including some enchanted items, in the chests and urns that you passed by in the interests of speed. I will transport the bodies of Elisif's fallen comrades to the platform below my statue so that you can collect them there."

"We should bring horses up from the Stormcloak camp, to carry the bodies," Lydia suggested.

"An excellent suggestion," Elisif praised. She had already thought of that herself but felt that a true Queen would always praise her subordinates for good ideas, even if they were superfluous, rather than claiming credit whether deservedly or not. "We'll do that." She felt a glow of satisfaction. She had done well in all the fights, she knew, and if she wasn't quite up to the standard of her three companions there was no shame in that as they were, after all, a highly trained Housecarl, a battle-hardened mercenary, and the actual Dragonborn. Yes, she had every cause for justifiable pride.

She stepped down from the platform on which the pedestal stood and incautiously trod in a puddle of ectoplasm left by a slain Shade. Her foot slipped, she lost her balance, and she landed painfully in a sitting position. Not very dignified for a would-be-Queen, she thought as she picked herself up, and she found herself grinning ruefully as she rubbed her sore backside.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

There were, as Meridia had promised, quite a few valuable items in the chests and cupboards they had ignored before. Elisif acquired a Dwarven bow, much better than her previous weapon, and there were several enchanted items. There was an Enchanter's bench in one of the rooms and Elisif disenchanted some of their heavier finds, destroying them in the process, so that she could learn the enchantments and avoid having to carry the items back to Solitude.

"I will seek out Red Eagle's Fury, as Meridia suggested," Kaie remarked, as Elisif worked, "and I think that I will indeed challenge the spirit of Red Eagle to win the superior weapon. I will need my uncle's authority to get the present guardians to relinquish the sword to me. Of course, that means I will need to break him out of Cidhna Mine, where he is imprisoned, but I had already planned to do that as he will need to meet you, fy Mrenhines, to discuss the terms of the alliance that you desire."

This confirmed Elisif's suspicion that Kaie had ties to someone extremely important within the Forsworn. Only that could have explained the amount of influence such a young warrior seemed to possess. But who could carry such weight from within the feared prison of Cidhna Mine?

"Who is your uncle?" Elisif asked.

Kaie smiled. "The King in Rags," she said. "Madanach."