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The Line Begins to Blur	By : VirusVescichetta Category: +A through F > Elder Scrolls - Skyrim Views: 61884 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Look at the URL. Now back to the disclaimer. Now the URL. Back to the disclaimer. Sadly, I don't own Skyrim or make money off it, but you can now read a story that's written as though I did. And yes, I just wasted a mod's valuable time.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
"I'm still baffled that a whole town of miners armed with pickaxes couldn't handle a few spiders," I remarked aloud as dusk began to set on my housecarl and me. "They even had a blacksmith and piles of iron. Why not just make some swords or something?"
"Are you complaining that we stumbled on paid work, my Thane?" Lydia clucked.
I frowned at the back of her head. "No. I just don't get it."
"They were ordinary civilians. Capable or not, they wouldn't know how to go about fighting like that. That's why there need to be people like you to help them," she cast a glance at me over her shoulder.
"Don't sell yourself short. It would've been a bad scene without you there to make sure my ass didn't get bitten," I chuckled.
I saw her shoulders move in a light shrug. "I agree. That would be quite the shame, my Thane. I wouldn't enjoy glancing at it so much if it were ruined."
Her deadpan response nearly stopped me in my tracks. "I guess it's only fair, considering how often my eyes wind up on your chest," I managed to reply smoothly. She was getting better at catching me flatfooted, I had to give her that.
"Doesn't the armour get in the way?"
"A little, but I'll take what I can get. Beggars can't be choosers."
"Oh, is that why I caught you in bed with a human?"
I could swear I felt my face heat up and I wondered if the red scales streaking across it were glowing. I decided not to ask Lydia. I doubted I could look her in the eye, anyway. "To be fair, she approached me."
Her eyes once again looked over at me. I briefly pondered why I had let myself catch up with her. "How does that change anything?"
"It makes it not my fault," I said quickly. "How was I to resist her feminine wiles? I'm only a man. Male. Whatever."
"That's true. With a mind so simple, I suppose it's only to be expected that you're so easily distracted," she quipped with a faint snicker. As much as I didn't like the attack on my gender, I at least had to smile with relief that we were back to normal after the incident at Mistwatch.
"What can I say? After spending almost two weeks on a frozen mountaintop I couldn't argue with warming up a little bit. Turns out there are no female Greybeards." I grimaced at the unbidden mental image. "Come to think of it, that's probably a good thing. The last thing I would've needed is some old woman who hasn't seen a working penis in decades trying to seduce me. I don't think I'd have the stomach for it."
Lydia's laugh made my smile widen slightly. "That would certainly be something to see, my Thane," she said with clear amusement.
We lapsed into comfortable silence as the sun started to touch the tree line until I spotted a trail leading off the road. Behind me I heard Lydia ask where we were headed. "Maybe it leads to a cave or something. I dunno. I just want to find somewhere to sleep," I shrugged. "That and I smell water up here and I could use a rinse after Riften. Just being in that place made me feel dirty." I frowned at the thought of my sister still being there. I worried about her in a place like that; not that I'd ever admit that to anyone but myself. She couldn't start thinking I actually cared or she'd never leave me alone.
I noted the small pond to the side of the trail on our way past. I was curious about what this small path cut through the woods was leading to. I could see recent footprints in the dirt, even in the waning orange light of the setting sun. Another path broke off further on, though I couldn't tell where it went and I didn't much care. There was nothing of note that my senses could pick up that way.
It only took a few minutes to find the end of the path. "What is this, a mine?" I asked aloud as we approached the wooden door set into the wall of rock before us. "That's a little disappointing."
I heard a shout from behind us an turned to see a woman wearing thick, black robes preparing a spell. My eyes shot wide as she conjured a wispy apparition in the form of a wolf. It bared fangs of smoke and snarled at me in a hollow, soulless tone.
"Wuld," my Voice carried me the short distance to the spell caster in an instant. The soft hiss of steel against leather was followed closely by the gentle spack of my blade through her throat. Brown eyes went wide with shock and agony and the familiar dispersed as quickly as it had appeared.
I turned to Lydia as the mage's body dropped in a crumpled, gurgling heap. "Looks like I'm getting better at that," I smirked in some form of morbid triumph as I sheathed my sword. It was something I had started practising against the spiders at the village earlier that day. I figured that if I could catch single opponents well enough unawares I stood a good chance of killing them before they had a chance to react. I was rather proud of how quickly I'd mastered my Voice and learned to use it in combat.
Lydia nodded and turned back to the door that seemed much less like it lead to a mine. "Are you sure you want to go in here, my Thane?" she asked.
I was already halfway to the door by the time she turned back. "Damn right I am. If they're willing to just attack people without even a warning, there's clearly something important going on here."
I could feel her frown, even without looking at her. "As you wish," she agreed nonetheless. At least I could always rely on her loyalty to keep me from getting myself killed.
We immediately came upon a wooden structure leading into tunnels dug through the rock of the mountain. "It's an excavation," I muttered aloud. Any pondering on what these people might be digging for was stopped short by the dry, hollow grumble of a draugr. It shuffled towards us with a speed it didn't seem anything lacking most of its muscle mass should have. Lydia caught its strike on her shield and gave me a chance to hack through its spine with a hard swipe of my sword. The husk fell to the ground, the magic animating it dissipating.
"Conjuration magic and draugr guards? This promises to be fun," I let a wide smirk pull my lips back when Lydia cast a sceptical glance my way.
"You seem a little more...bloodthirsty than normal, my Thane," she noted.
"I feel a little more bloodthirsty than normal," I laughed. "Maybe it's because I didn't get much of a fight out of those spiders earlier. I'm feeling pretty strung out."
My housecarl frowned slightly but said nothing. We headed into the tunnels leading into the rocky caverns. More than once we came across a few draugr workers or guards, though they were easily dispatched. It wasn't until we were deep into the carved out stone that we came across other mages.
Steel bit against bone as I carved down another draugr. Lydia and I had come across what looked like a living area populated by half a dozen mages and a number of undead soldiers. The smell of burnt air hit my nose and I spun and raised my free left arm to catch the oncoming shower of a mage's lightning on my forearm. The limb went numb aside from the viciously prickling pain running through my skin and muscle. I grit my teeth against the pain and forced as much of my own magical power into the arm. My own lightning spell leapt from my hand and quickly overwhelmed my opponent's, forcing him to move back and out of range.
"Wuld!" I Shouted, flashing past his companion's familiar and a draugr to appear between them. The tip of my blade sliced through cloth, flesh and bone on its way through the first mage's ribcage. I spun on my heel and drew my second sword from its sheath in a blurred swipe that liberated the other mage's head from his shoulders.
Two down, I thought as my eyes flicked over to Lydia running a third through the stomach. I let the bodies now behind me simply fall off my blades. They were sharp enough that they didn't bind on bone; if they were stuck, they just cut their way through.
Some dark part of me had been awakened by the sight of my sister, I realized when I caught myself relishing the feeling of the bodies' flesh parting. I had been reminded of who I was born to be. Kailev-Tel, the next in line for the title of Rak-Xileel and General of Black Marsh.
Training that had been long forgotten since taking to the roads of Tamriel rose to the forefront of my mind as I narrowly ducked a draugr's incoming blade. Hack the knee with one blade while the other gouges the stomach. Most opponents could only guard one and both were crippling. With the collection of scraps and bones before me, though, I had to aim for the spine and grit my teeth at the feeling of my blades dulling as they tore through the bone.
A flicker of light to my side caught enough of my attention for me to bring my left sword into the oncoming path of the small shot of fire. Despite its size the fireball packed a mean enough punch to wrench the molten blade from my hand. I saw surprise flicker through my target's eyes the moment before my returned firebolt caught him in the ribs. My spell didn't have enough force behind it to be outright lethal but he wasn't likely to recover quickly from the scorching blow.
I took the opportunity to cross the short distance between myself and my opponent. I must have been quite the sight, leaping over a table to land on a badly wounded mage and carve a deep, gory rift in his shoulder. I distantly noted that the wound was much like my own. He wasn't going to heal quite so well as I had, though.
The sound of my housecarl's sharp bark of pain caught my attention. She was fending off the last two mages, a pair of felled draugr at her feet. The constant barrage of flames and the gnashing smoke of the familiar's teeth were beginning to wear on her shield.
Another Shout carried me to the conjurer. She surprised me with a shot of flame that I barely managed to avoid. I could feel the heat of it as it passed by my cheek. My sword crashed against the protective spell she had covering her body like a layer of glowing dust. The magical armour flashed a bright blue as my sword caught against it again and again. The mage's eyes filled with fear as she realized she could devote no more energy to her defences. "P-please..." she managed to choke out as her barrier burst into the aether.
Any more pleas for mercy were cut off by my sword carving into her throat. A similar sound behind me alerted me to Lydia's kill. Slipping my sword back into its sheath, I turned from the corpse bleeding on my boots to survey the area. Makeshift tables and bedrolls were soaked in blood and covered in bone dust. It was the sight of a successful battle, I thought with a smirk. Lydia and I had a handful of minor injuries but nothing that would cause much more than discomfort.
My eyes landed on the woman wiping her blade off on a clean spot of a dead sorcerer's robe. She looked back at me and I was struck for a moment by her fierce sort of beauty. A streak of blood ran from some matted hair stuck to her cheek and her neck. She had a small gash on her left arm just above her shield where some lucky draugr's blade had managed to barely catch her. Her skin was lightly red from the exertion and she was breathing with a slight pant.
I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath to calm myself. I was getting too caught up in the General thing. I hadn't given my family any serious thought in years and had long ago buried any training or habits that may have given away my heritage. Seeing my sister had rushed it all back to the surface and I was just jittery from adrenaline.
To give myself something to do - and because it bothered me that Lydia was injured - I grabbed a potion that I could only assume by its blood red colour was a restorative. I popped the cork and took a whiff. The bitter, invigorating smell proved my assumption correct. "Here, you need this more than I do," I offered.
She accepted it with a brief thanks and took a swig. It wouldn't heal instantaneously, but it would certainly help speed it up. It occurred to me that we would have to pick up some more healing potions when we got to Windhelm. They had been very useful for keeping Lydia in good shape. I frowned at the thought that I could heal myself with my magic but not her. It was a skill outside of my knowledge. I made a mental note to rectify that.
We took another look around the area for anything of use. After turning up some gold and a few bits of enchanted jewellery we headed into the tunnel at the bottom of a ramp at the far end of the room.
"They dug for a tomb?" I asked aloud as we passed by rows of bodies in various states of decay. "I guess I'm not the only one who likes crawling around in dungeons looking for treasure. Who'd have thought?"
Lydia shook her head at me with an exasperated sounding sigh. "At least you're honest about it, I suppose," she bemoaned my reckless habits.
"I hold no illusions about my way of life. I have to say it's gotten much more exciting since coming to Skyrim," I said and shot her a wide grin. "Back in Cyrodiil or Hammerfell anything worth taking from tombs like this is long gone. Considering the stalwart defenders you have inside and the love of foolish puzzles, though, I'm not terribly surprised there's still valuable stuff in these places. Makes it more fun to go diving for it." I laughed aloud at the soft sigh of Lydia's disapproval.
Any further banter was cut off by the sound of a soft click. I knew the sound well and when the ceiling began to rush towards me I reacted on instinct and dropped to the rapidly rising floor. Before it drove me into the dozen or so metal spikes sticking down from the ceiling I rolled off the edge of the escalating platform and dropped several feet to the ground below. "Are you hurt, my Thane?" Lydia asked automatically.
"I'm fine, only fell about seven feet," I wheezed before pushing myself back to my feet. The impact had knocked the wind out of me but otherwise I was uninjured. It certainly could have gone worse.
We soon came upon a pair of draugr guarding another tunnel. "Well this looks like it leads somewhere important," I remarked and drew my sword. My increasingly practised Shout left my lips and I appeared next to one of the skeletal defenders. I had it hacked in two before it had a chance to raise its blade. The second was faster on the draw, though, and I had to catch its blade across mine to keep it from finding my flesh.
I proved to be enough of a distraction for Lydia to cut the draugr down from behind. At least the undead tended to be fairly stupid. "We're getting good at this," I cast what I felt to be a sly smirk at my housecarl. I probably just looked cocky.
"You seem to have embraced your gift, my Thane," Lydia said with a damn near proud look.
"It wasn't for lack of desire before," I shrugged. "After I killed that first dragon I wanted to learn how to control something like that. With the trouble I get myself into, I'll take whatever help I can get."
"I seem to remember you saying you don't much want to be Dragonborn," my housecarl gave me a curious look as we headed into the tunnel.
"It isn't that I don't want the power of the Voice. I just don't want to be tied to a set fate like that," I admitted. "I don't like being told what to do, I guess."
"I see," was the only response I got from Lydia before we came upon a room that was actually noteworthy. A walkway stretched from one end to the other with a curving ramp carved into the rock leading up to an area I couldn't see.
I may have been more cautious in my approach had I been able to scout it out beforehand. Two draugr stood by the walkway while a mage and a construct of fire were at a table at the far end of the room. I directed Lydia to the two draugr while I turned to face the others. It may have been selfish, but I much preferred the idea of her taking on a few scattered bones held together by half-broken armour and flaking skin while I dealt with a flame atronach and possibly skilled mage.
Definitely skilled mage, I thought with a grimace as I narrowly ducked an incoming firebolt. "Wuld," my Voice seemed to startle him enough for me to draw my sword. He dodged a short slash and let loose a stream of fire. The flames exploded around us when I slashed through them. Time seemed to slow as we stared at each other through the swirling fire. The sharp edge of my sword glinted in the light just before it tore through the mage's robe, though I only barely caught his skin before he leapt away from me.
He was fast, I noted with a frown before being forced to duck another shot of fire, this time from the atronach behind me. I was trying to kill the mage as I assumed he had conjured the thing. If he died then the atronach would just dissipate like any other familiar. He was proving a troubling foe, though.
I let out another Shout and slammed straight into my opponent. I gripped his loose-fitting robe and drove my sword into his stomach. His eyes flashed with pain before they closed and he slumped forward. I was about to turn and check on Lydia when a searing pain tore into my arm. I spun around to find the atronach still bearing down on me. Apparently someone else had conjured it.
"Dammit," I growled and charged it. I narrowly avoided another shot and caught the edge of my sword across its midsection. A shower of sparks rained around us though it didn't look to have done much. I swore again and dodged away from its flaming strikes.
I slipped my sword back into its sheath, knowing it wasn't going to help me right now. Cold gathered in my palm and I let out torrent of ice and wind at the flaming creature. Steam erupted around it as the ice almost instantly boiled away on contact. When it cleared, though, one of its arms had gone dark. It looked like a dead ember and simply crumbled away. A smirk split my face as I thought of the troll from the Throat of the World.
Ice swirled around both my hands before gathering between them and blasting as one concentrated spell. Steam and vapour once again burst forth. I held the stream for a few seconds before exhaustion forced me to drop it. The smoke and steam cleared to reveal a collapsing mass of ash and ice.
The sound of collapsing bones drew my attention to the end of Lydia's fight. As I had expected, she had cut them down with relative ease, even if she took her time about it. At least she looked uninjured. The pain in my arm flared and drew my attention to the nasty burn stretching most of my bicep. After the ice spell, I didn't have the energy left to heal it with magic. It seemed I would have to deal with it until it for the night healed naturally.
"You alright?" I called out to my housecarl. She gave me a nod back and turned to look down the walkway. I turned to the stone pillars at the back of the room. "Why does every stupid tomb have a puzzle?" I grumbled and walked towards the pillars. "I swear I've seen these symbols before..." They were the same whale, hawk and snake as the puzzle in Bleak Falls Barrow. "Are these animals special to Nords or something?" I asked and shot my housecarl a curious look.
"Why do you ask, my Thane?" she returned my expression.
"Those animals are always on these stupid puzzles," I frowned as I thought further on the matter. "Come to think of it, those stupid claw doors always use the same animals, too. Why were your ancestors so unoriginal?"
She returned my frown at the lambasting of her ancestors. As though it was my fault they so dearly loved deadly traps and convoluted puzzles that always involved the same three animals. "They are animals involved in many myths," she offered with a shrug. "Perhaps a great many of the people who built these tombs liked the same stories?"
I stifled a laugh at the explanation. "Maybe," I managed to work my lips into a respectable smile. I didn't know why I was so entertained by the simple answer. It hadn't occurred to me that maybe all the important people in Skyrim just liked their stories. I only knew what I did of Argonian legend because of the incessantly pious members of my family.
A dark spot on a table behind Lydia caught my attention. I saw a book sitting on a stone table next to a podium bearing a steel chain. I brushed past her and walked to the table. The book was old and worn and I had to be careful not to tear it while I flipped through the pages. I frowned as key words flicked by. Eagle, Snake...I looked over to the pillars and sighed. It really was so simple. "Stupid bitch. Why didn't she just throw the snake outside or something?" I muttered as I finished the story.
Lydia complied without argument as I told her how to arrange the blocks of stone. While she worked I noticed that the wall across from me was lined with a dozen or so very conspicuous holes. "There's no way it's that obvious and not going to still fire off if this is right," I turned another frown at my housecarl.
"What are you grousing about, my Thane?" Lydia teased.
"That wall's set up to look like if we mess up the lock, it'll shoot darts at us," I nodded my head towards the set of holes. "But it's way too obvious. It's probably going to go off, even if we get the combination right."
My companion rolled her eyes at me and pulled the chain. "You're being paranoid," she said.
I eyed the wall suspiciously until the gate at the far end of the hall opened. "I'm being cautious. I'm not a fan of being shot by darts."
"How can you even be annoyed by them?" she asked with genuine curiosity. "You're wearing armour and the wounds would probably have healed by morning."
"It still hurts," I frowned as we started down the walkway to the end of the hall.
"It can't bother you that much. I've seen you stand your ground against a dragon's fire without even flinching," she pointed out.
"That wasn't exactly my choice. There wasn't a whole lot of time to get out of the way," I rolled my eyes at her. It seemed strange for me to be the one rolling their eyes.
We were too distracted in our banter to notice the pressure plate on the walkway or the strangely hawk-like gargoyle built into the wall beside us. When I heard the telltale click my eyes caught sight of the too-black spot in the stone figure's mouth. I grabbed Lydia and dove forward on instinct just in time for a fiery spray to douse the area we had just been standing on.
I looked at the fire, then back to Lydia. "See? When I'm given the choice, I'd much rather not stand in front of fire." The hand she had used to catch herself with shifted on my waist and I realized our position. Apparently my body had seen it necessary to cover her and shield her from the fire without the thought ever actually crossing my mind.
"Things always seem to get quite hot around you, my Thane," I didn't miss the sly tone Lydia's voice took.
"It's my curse," I said with an easy shrug and pushed myself back to my feet. I extended my hand to offer her help and smirked at the frown that flashed over her lips. Some dusty tomb wasn't where I wanted this to happen when I remembered the perfectly find pond not far away. Surely the water wouldn't be that cold.
Lydia took my hand and I pulled her back to her feet. I wondered how much of the weight was her and how much was just in the armour. She didn't look terribly thick the times I had seen her nude. She nodded her thanks and suggested we press on, perhaps a bit too eagerly. I walked off ahead without another word, knowing she would be right behind me.

"I feel the need to reiterate my distaste for your ancestors," I pointed a frown at Lydia as we escaped yet another room loaded in traps. "I almost got thrown right off the walkway by that spiked wall. I'm tough, but I don't think I'm that tough."
"At least the traps are working properly," she said with an offhanded sort of shrug.
My lips pulled back in a frown at that. "I'd be greatly appreciative if they weren't. I'm curious as to how whoever came here first made it through."
"What makes you think someone else has come through here?"
"I can hear them yapping up ahead," I said with a nod to the room at the end of the tunnel. "They sound old and angry. Really angry."
As we entered the room we found ourselves standing at the base of a large altar. At the top I could see some old woman in a black robe chanting before a pair of standing stone coffins. "We always meet the most interesting people," I chuckled with a glance at my housecarl.
My voice attracted the attention of the mage above us. She spun around and glowered down at me. "Intruders! Here to stop me from reclaiming my husband," she shrieked. "The Legion took him from me, but even death won't keep him away! I will have my..."
Any further ranting was cut off by a quick shot of fire from my palm. I was growing really quite fond of my newest spell. "Holy shit. I've never actually thought of shooting them while they were talking," I laughed.
My jubilation was quickly ended as the doors on coffins above us dropped open to reveal a pair of draugr, though they were far better armed and armoured than the typical. I pointed Lydia to the one on the left while I dashed up the altar towards my own target. I noticed as I got closer that the one Lydia was moving to engage had once been female and the story from before flickered back into my mind. These must have been the entombed bodies of Holgeir and Fjori. I could only wonder what the woman had intended to do by resurrecting them.
I ducked under the initial swing of my opponent's axe and tried to strike at his somewhat exposed midsection with the tip of my sword. His shield moved quickly to intercede, however, and my sword deflected harmlessly away. "He couldn't have gotten decrepit from being dead?" I grumbled angrily. I dodged to the side quickly to avoid another swipe and decided magic was probably going to do me well.
The decision turned out to be a misleading glimmer of false hope. Flames licked hungrily at the dusty metal of his shield, though they didn't seem to do much to stop him advancing. I thought of lightning but it seemed useless to electrocute something with no flesh to burn. I really would need to defeat this thing with my sword.
I charged hastily, narrowly avoiding a quick slash from the brutal looking axe. Even in death, Holgeir's corpse wielded the weapon with deadly speed and efficiency. My sword clashed once more against its shield, though that held the benefit of getting me close enough to use my Voice without fear of reprisal. "Fus Ro!" I Shouted into the dead body's face. The strength of my Thu'um blasted it off its feet.
Its shield shot up with surprising quickness and kept my sword from its neck. I caught its axe across my forearm to keep it from hacking out my stomach. I hopped back and within seconds I could feel the blood trickling through my fingers. I figured the draugr had cut down to the bone, based on how sharp the pain was deep inside the vicious wound. The sounds of Lydia's fight echoed behind me, though with each clash of metal I at least knew she hadn't been felled.
Holgeir's body didn't give me much time to dwell on the situation before it was swinging its axe at me in wide, powerful hacks. Its shield let it lunge in great swings without exposing too much of its body. I greatly lamented my lack of a second blade to compensate for the draugr's defence.
I grit my teeth against the plan my mind quickly devised to deal with the cadaver's axe. I let the blade carve into my side, though I managed to catch the draugr's wrist in my hand and lessen the blow slightly. My hand clutched tight on the bones and dried skin to hold the arm in place so I could chop it off at the elbow. I slammed my foot into the shield before me and sent Holgeir's body tumbling down the altar.
The axe clattered to the floor and I did my best to shut the pain of my gouged side out of my mind. The draugr wouldn't stay down for long but I elected to take whatever chance I had to help Lydia. I dashed over to her fight in time to catch her opponent's sword arm with my blade as it wound up to swing. As luck would have it, the now detached arm whipped around and the sword held in its hand slashed against my arm. My housecarl took the opportunity to drive her sword through the creature's skull and finish it.
I spun around to parry an attack from Holgeir's draugr. It had discarded its shield in favour of continuing its assault with the axe, though without the wall of metal I had little trouble cutting it down.
"Don't even ask," I responded to the question I knew to be on Lydia's lips when I pressed a hand to my bleeding side. Golden light lit up the hand to mend the gruesome wound, though I ran out of energy just after getting it to seal. It was bound to be a jagged scar by morning.
A sudden chill swept through the room and I turned to see two spectral silhouettes emerge from the caskets. Eventually the wispy forms coalesced into two humanoid beings. "Thank you for preserving our rest," the female said with a short nod.
"As a token of our thanks, take this blade," the male motioned his hand toward a pedestal on a table between the two coffins. A second later and an ethereal sword was standing atop it, hovering slightly above the stone. "It will never dull and will slip past any armour to carve into the spirit beneath."
With that, both ghosts vanished from sight. "Well that was all rather...fantastic," I said with a surprised laugh. Even in spite of my pain I couldn't help but find the whole situation a little ridiculous.
Lydia turned a cunning look on me. My shoulders tightened slightly in cautious anticipation. "It was almost like something from an old legend...my Prince," she sounded far too much like she had just reached a decision.
"Don't even think about it," I warned and walked to the sword hovering before me. I didn't know what I'd do if Lydia actually started to refer to me with that title. I grasped the immaterial hilt of the weapon and slashed it through the air. I was expecting it to be completely weightless, but there was a bizarre sort of heft to it. Like my movements were only slowed by it cutting through the air.
I also noticed that the blade was near transparent when it wasn't being waved around. I looked down at my empty sheath and tried slipping the blade inside. To my surprise it actually felt as though it were sliding into the scabbard, though there was once again an odd resistance to it.
"I really can't say no to a sword that isn't going to break on me," I shrugged regardless of any reservations I may have had about the blade.
A pink glimmer caught my eye and I turned back to the table set into the stone wall. There was a golden box hanging open with a pink jewel suspended above its base. "What do you think this would be worth to the right person?" I asked as I held it up for Lydia to see. "There's no way there isn't someone in this world who's willing to buy this for way too much money. I've seen way too many extravagant collections to believe otherwise."
Lydia just rolled her eyes, shook her head and suggested we find a way out of the tomb. I wholeheartedly agreed and we pressed on. It didn't take long to find the small camp the old mage had set up near the tomb. I found a condolence letter from the Imperial Legion explaining the apparent husband's death. I still didn't know what all that had to do with a couple of dead bodies but if I had cared about that I wouldn't have shot her in the face with a blast of fire.
I briefly debated settling down for the night, but I was far too interested in bathing in the pond I had seen outside. I could feel the dust and decay of the tomb clinging to me. "I'm going to go find that pool outside and wash off the filth I've managed to collect since the last time I was in water," I informed my housecarl and then frowned at the thought of how long ago that had been. I was grateful I couldn't sweat or I would have surely smelled quite foul by now.
I was surprised when Lydia voiced her desire to join me, but I wasn't going to argue. If she was still willing to bathe with me after learning of my attraction to humans, it wasn't my place to complain. Although I had to say it was getting harder to stand by my decision to let her be the one to instigate any intimacy between us.

My armour fell to the ground just above the pond's shore with a dull rustle. The air was cool but far from unbearable on my bare skin. Still, it remained to be seen how cold the water was. There was still a chance I was going to regret the decision to try and clean the dirt and grime of travel away.
Vibrant colours stretched above the trees as the sun started to dip below the horizon. I was surprised as how quickly we had made our way through the tombs. I paused for a moment to admire the sunset. It painted quite the pretty picture, with dusty purples and dark oranges providing a colourful backdrop to the evergreens surrounding the clearing around the pond. A small river fed the pond from a small cave sitting at the back of the small body of water but we hadn't seen any tracks around so we assumed it to be safe. Besides, the worst there could be was a troll or something and I had already killed one of those so I figured there wouldn't be anything to worry about.
"A question, my Prince," Lydia spoke up as I removed my boots.
"Stop calling me that and I'll think about answering it," I frowned at her. She returned a simple smile as she worked at the bindings of her armour. I let out a long sigh when I realized she was content to wait me out. "Fine, I haven't denied telling you anything, yet," I relented and started to work on my pants.
Her armour hit the ground with much more noise than mine had. "Do you find me attractive?" the blunt question gave me enough pause to stop my hands as they prepared to push my armoured trousers down my legs. Of course, it may have also been her suddenly nude torso once she tossed away her undershirt.
I shook my head and quickly set back to work on removing the last of my clothing. "Is there a reason I shouldn't?" I asked back.
"Then why..." she began, though she stopped short after I kicked away my pants and stood before her naked as the day I was born.
"Do you find me attractive?" I queried with a smirk. I didn't miss the way her eyes quickly flicked across my body.
She shook her head much as I had and a pretty blush rose to her cheeks. "Of course," she answered with little hesitation. "You know your appearance, my Prince."
As much as I hated to admit it, I was starting to like the way she said that. "I know I look like a giant black and grey lizard," I shrugged and stepped into the water. A quiet hiss passed through my teeth at the initial shock of it. It was chilly, but after the time I had spent on High Hrothgar I doubted anything was going to feel particularly frigid.
"You also look like some divine champion carved from stone," she said. I would be forever grateful of my inability to blush. It seemed like far too great a compliment for someone who wished to be completely ordinary. I was just physically fit from years of travel and combat.
"Thanks," I murmured.
She seemed to greatly enjoy my discomfort at her praise, if her smile was any indication. A second clatter told me that she had divested herself of the rest of her armour and I could feel the water shift to accommodate her presence. "Although to be fair, I suppose you are a divine champion. And royalty," she reminded me with far too much amusement in her voice. "I can't imagine why any woman wouldn't want you."
"Now you just sound like my sister," I turned to look back at her with a frown. Her nudity once again caught my attention but I was enough used to it that I withheld the urge to ogle. "And just like I've told her, the scales, horns and tail generally put people off."
"You didn't seem to have much trouble with that bandit," Lydia reminded me yet again. Her voice held a surprising teasing quality, though, unlike the other times when she had frowned while speaking of my embarrassment. "I have to admit, you made quite a sight fucking her like a rabid animal."
My eyes widened but I resisted the urge to drop my mouth open. I had never heard my housecarl curse like that before. I composed myself quickly enough that I hoped my smirk was believable. I turned around to face her fully and folded my arms over my chest. "A little jealous?" I asked.
I hadn't actually realized how close she had gotten until I turned around or that the water was all that was preserving my dignity. As much as I was far from ashamed by the size of my manhood the cold water wasn't helping to make me seem any more impressive. "Why would I be jealous?" she returned with a smirk of her own. "After all..." she folded her arms under her breasts. I couldn't help but notice the way she lifted them slightly, nor could I miss the way the cool air and water had tightened her nipples into hard nubs. "I already know how much you want me."
Pride and personal decisions be damned, I thought. In a flash I had one hand holding the back of her head and the other gripping her hip. My lips crushed against hers and I heard the faintest surprised squeak. For the briefest instant I thought I had made an immense error in judgement and prepared to pull back until her hands snapped up to grip my shoulder and neck. She kissed me back with a passion I assumed came from weeks of sexual tension between us.
Had it been weeks? I mused absently as I nipped gently at her bottom lip. I knew enough to be gentle, considering the sharpness of my teeth. How long we had known each other became irrelevant when her hand started sliding down my side to land at my waist. I hissed quietly against her lips when her fingers passed over what remained of my axe wound. Her hand dragged across my skin with agonizing slowness.
"Hey, who's there?" an angry shout interrupted us just as her hand began to slide further down.
I tore my lips away from Lydia's and directed a glare that I prayed would hold enough rage to set the man standing at the mouth of a nearby cave ablaze. At that moment all I wished for was a spell to make him vanish into nothingness so we could return to our intimate business.
"Does it matter? You're interrupting," I barked.
"Interrupting what? Was that woman actually going to touch your scaly hide?" even from our distance I could see the man's sneer. His sword slipped from its sheath and I could see it flicker in the dying sunlight. "Maybe she should come see what a man's touch is like instead of settling for some disgusting lizard."
Any doubts as to the hostility of the newcomer were extinguished when I saw his weapon. I shot a quick bolt of fire at him, but he ducked in time to be showered in sparks from the shot impacting on the wall. He disappeared inside shouting something to what I could only assume were any others staying in the cave.
I waded over to the shore and picked up my sword. I heard Lydia let out what sounded for all the world like a frustrated sigh. "It figures the one time I actually go for it..." I muttered angrily to myself. "Find somewhere to hide. I'm gonna lay in the water and wait for them to show up."
"We don't know how many..."
"I don't care how many there are," Lydia almost seemed taken aback by the cold fury in my voice. "I'm extraordinarily aroused and angry right now. The only way I'm going to work this out is if I tear however many of them there are apart limb from limb."
Lydia stared at me for a moment before a slow smile split her lips. "As you wish, my Prince," she actually gave me a short bow before grabbing her underclothes and disappearing into the darkness.
"...I really need to make her stop calling me that," I sighed and slipped back into the water. It was going to get me in trouble if she said that where other people could actually hear.
It wasn't long before I heard and saw the people exit the cave. I couldn't make out specifics through the rippling water, though I could see that there were four of them. It didn't seem like many but then it may have simply been a small gang. Experience with water and ambushing predators told me that it was unlikely they'd be able to make out my black and grey scales against the dark rocks and clay that lined the bottom of the pond.
My suspicions were confirmed when a boot sank into the water not a foot from my hand. I kept myself completely still. The way the figure above me was looking around I knew the person hadn't spotted me yet. I heard a shout to just grab my gear and get back to the cave and saw one of the people walk around the edge of the pond.
I was eternally grateful that they all waited for the one grabbing my armour to return before heading inside as one group. I burst from the water with the speed of a striking viper. I drove my sword through the back of the one trailing the group. He also happened to be the one carrying my armour. I slipped a dagger from his waist and drove it through the side of the next bandit's neck. A pointblank firebolt turned the head of the next one into ash and ensured I wouldn't be using any more magic for at least a few hours. The last one turned around in time to see me coming before my fist shot into his neck. My knee slammed into his unclothed chest hard enough to break a couple ribs. I swept his leg with mine and threw him to the ground so I could get enough leverage on his head to snap his neck with a sharp twist.
"Feeling better?" I turned to see Lydia standing at the mouth of the cave. She was dressed again, though I noticed that her breastplate was in her hands.
"Almost," I answered. It suddenly occurred to me that I was still completely naked and I couldn't help but glance down. "In my defence, it's quite cold."
Lydia's laugh didn't help my rapidly evaporating self-esteem. "It is," she agreed. "We should probably get back to our camp."
"Yeah," I said with a short sigh. I quickly gathered up my clothing and slipped on at least my trousers over my wet scales. My housecarl waited for me while I put on what little I felt I had to to make it back to our makeshift camp inside the tomb. "Lydia," my voice stopped her from turning and she instead directed a curious look my way. "When we get to Windhelm tomorrow, the first thing we're doing is checking in at an inn and we're not leaving until the day after."
I saw a shiver pass through her that I knew had nothing to do with the cold. "As you wish," she directed a rather sexy smirk at me that wasn't lessened in the least by the pink dusting her cheeks, "...my Prince."

A/N: I know what I said.
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The Line Begins to Blur