[Note: If you haven't already, you will probably want to read this chapter of Sloan's story before you read this  ]

 

 

Aithne made sure she had the door knocker/handle/key/whatever it was to Labyrinthian ready in her hand before she transported the lot of them to the front door of the place. The moment they arrived, she inserted it and yanked at the door.

 

“Quickly, inside. I don’t want to deal with the trolls.”

 

“Trolls?” Nyatt paused and looked behind him.

 

Aithne rolled her eyes and tugged at his arm. “Yes, at least a dozen. Come on.”

 

“Trolls are solitary,” Nyatt objected, but he allowed himself to be pulled into the ruin.

 

“Usually that is true, but for some reason, a large number have gathered here.” Aithne slammed the door shut then sighed and looked around.

 

The place looked exactly the same: a giant domed ceiling held up by massive pillars, and a layer of dust that could not quite hide the magnificence of it all. The other thing that was the same was the figure that appeared after they had taken a few steps forward, but something about her was different.

 

A Redguard woman in College robes perched on a broken pillar. She looked troubled and peered at them as they approached. Aithne waved an impatient hand at Nyatt, Chyehye, and Merks, all of whom yelled out in surprise and readied themselves for battle.

 

Aithne stopped in front of the woman and, after a moment, said, “Atmah?”

 

Atmah looked startled, as if she was the one seeing a ghost, then nodded. “You know who I am.”

 

Aithne exchanged a look with Sloan, who then said, “Do you remember us?”

 

“I…I do. I think. We waited in this place for so long, but you released us. I…but then I was here again as if nothing had changed. I thought I dreamed it. Except I cannot dream.”

 

Aithne smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ve come to release you again.”

 

Chyehye cleared her throat. “What is going on?”

 

Aithne blinked. “Oh. Everyone, this is Atmah. She and her friends were trapped down here by another so-called friend. They have been stuck in a Harborish sort of limbo between life and death for a little over a hundred years. One of the reasons I wanted to come here was to save them.”

 

Chyehye nodded, although Aithne knew that had not been the question her wife had been asking. She sighed and looked over her spouses – Merks also stood there - then took a deep preparatory breath as Chyehye asked the question Aithne had been trying to forestall.

 

“Yes, that’s fine. But what I meant was, how did you know about her in the first place? How did you know about the dragons or what is going to come next? What’s going on?”

 

“I guess it is time to tell you. We…” she motioned at Sloan, “…have already lived through this. We knew the dragons were coming back because we witnessed it before. We know what is going to happen over the next six years and we intend to stop it this time.”

 

A long pregnant pause as they digested this information. Aithne didn’t need to read their minds to recognize their disbelief, but she allowed their thoughts to come to her anyway, just to forestall the inevitable incoming garble of questions.

 

“No, I did not know either of you last time. Yes, I did know Merks. Yes, that is when I slept with other orcs. Sort of, my husband – one’s was not quite as long as yours but it was much thicker. Yes, ‘this time’ because last time, the dragons won and the world was doomed. No, I don’t know how we were sent back in time. I assume some Aedra or Daedra was involved. Yes, this is all true and yes, I know it sounds unbelievable. Also, yes, I can read minds. I couldn’t last time, so I don’t know why I can now.” She glanced at Sloan. “I still can’t read yours, for whatever reason. Just so you know.”

 

“Good to hear,” her pseudo-sister replied in a dry tone. “I’m jealous. All I got was the ability to see in the dark.”

 

“Don’t be – it is aggravating. It would be one thing if I could only do it if I really wanted to, but it’s the opposite- I get a steady stream of thoughts from everyone around me and I have to work to keep them out. It is exhausting. And debilitating if there are many at once.”

 

“That doesn’t sound pleasant. I bet you also have trouble falling asleep.”

 

“That isn’t too bad, actually – that is the only time most minds are still enough to ignore. Although I can hear dreams, so that’s…hmm? Oh. Yes, Merks, the other you is the one who made the vow that has haunted you all your life. I don’t know who that Merks made the vow to, but apparently he was taken seriously. But I still say you are under no obligation to honor that vow – he was a very different person. No, you don’t need to know about him. Just trust me when I say, you are the superior version. Oh, and that dream you have of falling off the College? That’s a memory of your fate last time, when the dragons attacked us. That is what we are going to stop this time.”

 

Sloan laughed while the others’ minds stumbled through trying to make sense of all they had just learned. “Wow, when you lay your cards on the table, you don’t hold any back!”

 

Aithne shrugged. “I didn’t mean for everything to go the way it has or get anyone but us involved, but I made my choices as they came to me and, for better or worse, this is now my family. You all deserve to know the truth. And, with it, the choice to stay with me or not. I would not blame you for choosing not to.”

 

Her words seemed to have a galvanizing effect on her audience, especially the word “family,” but Aithne did her best to keep the swarm of thoughts at bay. If they truly were her family, they deserved that much from her. Yes, she admonished herself, even Merks.

 

Chyehye was the first to respond. “I am…honored, I suppose, to be trusted with this information. However…” A pause. “…I admit, it makes me uncomfortable to know you can read my thoughts. Still, this has furthered my conviction that you are at or near the center of the calamity of our age, akin to the Oblivion crisis two centuries ago. I am willing to continue in this…family provided you swear to me you will no longer look into my mind, Nyi-Chtiyo.”

 

“I understand and I will do my best, Sna-Chtiyo. I am working every day to control it better. I even grabbed some books I thought might help from the Arcaneum before we left the college.” Aithne tossed a wink at Merks. “Don’t tell Urag.”

 

“I…I won’t, my lady. This is…I need some time to think.”

 

“Of course you do. It is a lot to take in all at once.”

 

She turned to Nyatt but he only shrugged. “You are my wife. Orcs do not so easily give up on family without good cause.”

 

Aithne was pretty sure he hadn’t meant to insult Chyehye, but the angry glare his second wife cast him said she was insulted regardless. Aithne cleared her throat and hastened to change the subject.

 

“Why don’t we get started? There are a lot of draugr here and a room with a skeletal dragon we’ll have to get through. Then there is the…thing at the end. He will be a challenge but I’m confident that, between us, we are more than enough.” She motioned at Atmah. “Do you mind showing them what you showed us last time? What happened to your friends?”

 

Atmah seemed startled by the request, but recovered quickly. “Of…of course. We were twelfth-year students of the College of Winterhold. Six mages burgeoning with power and hubris. We thought it would be fun to delve into a ruin of legend, so discover the secrets that had lain dormant for who knows how many centuries.”

 

Atmah waved a hand and the ghostly figures appeared, standing as before in a rough line. Aithne did not listen, though – her thoughts strayed ahead to the challenges awaiting them, trying to form plans of attack for each obstacle. Her vow was always in the back of her mind – whatever happened, she would make certain everyone there survived.

 

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This is just a section break, there is more below

 

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Aithne needn’t have worried; Chyehye was not the warrior Trendil was but she was good enough. Sloan was…well, herself. Nyatt could, at least, hit slow moving targets, and one hit was usually enough to stop them from moving. And Merks continued to prove himself a prodigy of fire magic.

 

In the room with the skeletal dragon, for instance, while Aithne wasted mana on firestorms, he surrounded the party and the dragon with a simple circle of hot flame. The swarm of skeletons mindlessly ran into it and turned to instant ash, effectively removing themselves from the fight without any effort from anyone else, leaving them to concentrate on the dragon together, and Aithne was left wondering why she hadn’t thought of such an easy solution herself, this time or last.

 

It was a well-deserved needle poke in the bubble of her burgeoning hubris.

 

She fared better in the room with the bound draugr mage, somewhat because she played the same role as before – hastening in front of as many of its magical attacks as possible to suck up the energy with the staff - but mostly because it turned out (much to her surprise) that she could read its thoughts. Which was how she learned its name was Morokei, a one-time third-tier Dragon Priest, and that the mask it wore that she had taken last time but never got around to studying amplified magical power.

 

She cursed herself for missing on something that might have helped against the dragons even as she relayed the information. On her next attack, Sloan was able to gouge a knife into Morokei’s face and knock the mask off before dancing away from its clawing attack and Aithne continued to yell out the priest’s intentions as it moved.

 

“Here comes a shout! He’s aiming at you, Nyatt!”

 

“He’s going to firestorm the bridge you’re about to step onto, Chyehye!”

 

“He’s turning your way, Sloan! Merks, his back should be to you then. Be ready!”

 

“Yes, my lady!”

 

It turned as predicted and Merks caught it dead on with twin firebolts that tore through its husk of a torso and, with a final rattling shout, it collapsed.

 

“Is everyone all right?” Aithne asked into the sudden silence that followed as she retrieved the mask from where it had fallen. There was a series of assents and the feel of healing magic as Merks erased the abrasions of Chyehye and Nyatt. Aithne went to him and handed him the mask. “Here, you will probably find this useful. Although I suggest washing it very thoroughly before wearing it.”

 

“I…no, my lady! You should take it!”

 

Aithne hefted the staff. “I am taking this, so it is only fair you get the mask.”

 

“But…”

 

She didn’t say anything else, just stood holding the mask out until he took it in clearly reluctant hands. “Thank you, my lady.”

 

“You deserve it. You more than live up to previous you’s reputation for magic.”

 

He looked discomfited. “I…thank you. I guess.”

 

Chyehye cleared her throat. “So it is over? Do we continue to Ustingrav?”

 

“That depends. Sloan, last time you and Trendil stayed to search for more treasure. Did you find any worth spending a little more time retrieving?”

 

Sloan raised her eyebrows. “Yes, actually. And I know where to go this time, so we won’t have to waste time searching empty chambers.”

 

Nyatt frowned. “Do we have time?”

 

Aithne shrugged. “If what Delphine told us is true, we should be days ahead of Sian. We have time. Let’s do what we can to put poor Atmah and Hafnar to rest, then we can clean this place out and call it a day.”

 

Aithne looked around at the small group as they gathered to pay their respects for the fallen and a small smile crossed her lips. She had called these people her family, and although it had only been true in words, a small part of her was beginning to accept it as something more. Even Merks felt a bit like a little brother. Well, maybe not a brother. More like a bratty cousin. But still, a little like family.

 

The biggest part of her still yearned for her past life, for Urag and Chtonji - the pain of losing them was a constant ache in the back of her soul. But at least now she had the kindling for a new beginning. It was a step further than she had had even a week ago, and that thought provided the first drop of peace into her pained existence that she had felt since her past life ended along with her husband’s and son’s on the roof of the College all those months ago. It wasn’t much, but it was something, and she held onto it with all the strength she could muster.

 

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