It was a narrow, icy tunnel beyond the entrance to the cavern. It was easy to see that they were in the right place; there were carts and crates that spoke of moving supplies for people in and out. Dardeh crouched and moved slowly down the icy, sloping passageway, pulling out his bow; but before he’d gone more than a few paces a bandit mage stepped out from around the corner and fired an ice spike at him.
Roggi growled and hurtled down the slope to attack. The mage turned to find Roggi’s sword coming down at him, and yet somehow managed to evade the worst of its damage. Dardeh quickly swapped his bow for his blades and darted up onto Roggi’s left to help finish the mage. He was drawing breath to tell Roggi to wait when Roggi sprinted around a sharp curve to their left and disappeared.
I was afraid of this. He’s so blinded by anger. He’s going to get himself hurt!
The winding tunnel opened up into an icy cave. A group of people wearing nothing more than rags, possibly a family, sat bound and shivering on the frigid floor. Roggi was already engaged with a burly Orc wielding a war pick and a full body shield; and as Dardeh dashed forward that shield sent Roggi staggering backward a step or two. Worse, there was a second bandit just behind the Orc, moving into position to take a swing with her own weapon.
Dardeh laid into the Orc and stopped his attacks just as a third bandit – a bare-chested man with a battleaxe – ran into the area from a passage beyond them. Out of the corner of his eye Dardeh could see Roggi regaining his feet and raising his sword; but Dardeh himself was suddenly surrounded. He once again did what had become instinctive for him.
“YOL – TOOR SHUL!”
The fireball narrowly missed Roggi, who had taken a massive swing at the Orc and was carried forward by his own momentum. Miss it did, however; instead, it struck the woman and sent her screaming backward. Dardeh pivoted on his right foot to the outside of the knot of fighters, coming back around to slice the man with the battleaxe nearly in half.
Wear some decent armor next time, idiot.
After that it was just a couple of steps forward and three or four attacks to slay the woman bandit. Roggi, meanwhile, was still engaged with the Orc, whose shield was proving hard for Roggi to get around. It was splintering, and wouldn’t take more than one or two more of Roggi’s massive blows to break, but Dardeh decided to help bring this battle to an end and swung around behind the Orc, finishing him off with just a few efficient strikes.
It was eerily silent for a moment. Dardeh looked at Roggi and nodded toward the far passage, and then crept down it, blades at the ready. There was a second large cavern with a central pool and many barrels and crates stacked around its perimeter. Dardeh started toward them to investigate but his attention was caught by movement in another passage that branched off to the left. He couldn’t see much; but he could see a cage door.
When they reached the room they discovered that there were actually two bandits. While the first man fell almost instantly to a quick flurry of Dardeh’s strikes, the second had an elven battleaxe and was dead set on cleaving Roggi in two with it. Roggi made a graceful pirouette to avoid the axe, and Dardeh spent a moment nearly in awe of the move; but then he found himself gasping as the ghastly blade sliced across his ribs instead. Roggi roared and turned back to the bandit with one of the most massive strikes Dardeh had ever seen.
For his part, Dardeh did the only thing he could do: he Shouted once more. The man fell to his knees; and as Dardeh started healing himself, a howling Roggi brought the dragonbone greatsword down across the bandit’s neck. His head struck the floor of the cavern and rebounded, sailing across the space and disappearing into a woodpile.
“Dar! Are you alright?” Roggi cried, moving to him and starting to rifle through his pack for potions.
Dardeh held up one hand to stop him. “Yeah, I’ll be good in just a second. Bastard caught me snoozing. I was admiring your form a little too closely and not watching where that damn axe was headed.”
“Alright then. I’m going to go check the bodies. I’ll bet one of them has the key to that cage in there.”
Dardeh was casting one final round of healing on himself when he heard voices from down the passage. As he reached Roggi, the man inside the cage was shaking his head no.
“No, it’s on the guys by the ships. Outside. It’s always one of them who has the key.”
“Ok, thanks,” he said. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back soon.”
The brilliant sunlight as they emerged from the cave set Dardeh’s eyes watering. After a moment or two of blinking, he noted movements near the old shipwreck at the shoreline. After looking back at Roggi and getting a nod from him, Dardeh drew his bow and fired a shot toward the wreckage. He didn’t expect to hit anything, and in fact did not; but the arrow alerted all of the bandits in the area and brought them running up toward the cavern.
They weren’t especially difficult to take care of. One of them came after Roggi, calling him a “puny weakling.” Roggi sneered.
“You think you can take me?” he growled. “Try this.” The next moment, the bandit found himself screaming, dangling on the business end of Roggi’s dragonbone greatsword. Dardeh shuddered, remembering the shuddering Khajiit assassin he’d dispatched in a similar way. Roggi waited for a moment or two, his arms visibly shaking from the weight of the Orc but his face wreathed in a ghastly smile. Then he slammed the bandit back to the ground.
“Sorry, Dar,” he said, wiping his blade clean on the bandit’s clothing.
Dardeh sighed. “It’s ok, love. I understand.” I really do. This situation has to change and we’re the ones to change it. These people deserve anything they get.
They returned to unlock the cage and release the prisoner. He rose to his feet and released a huge sigh.
“I don’t know who you are, friend, but thank you! Will you go outside and make sure it’s safe for us to leave?”
“I think it is, but yes, we’ll double-check.”
“I heard one of the bandits say there are some others on the way to ship us out of here. Please, help us! That’s my wife and son in there. I’ve got to help them. He’s not going to make it if we don’t hurry. I’ll go see what I can do to get my family and the other man ready to get out of here. Please make sure the coast is clear. And please, hurry!”
“On my way,” Dardeh said. “Roggi, can you help get everyone ready?”
“Of course,” Roggi said. “Glad to be of help.”
Dardeh ran back to the doorway into the light.
There was an explosive sound, and everything went black. He lost all control over his limbs, and felt himself falling. Then he heard an exceptionally deep voice – an Altmer voice, judging from the accent. “You are starting to become a nuisance.” The direction of the Altmer’s voice changed. “Bind him, and take him back to the ship.”
Dardeh lost consciousness.
Sometime later – how much later he didn’t know – he found himself scrambling to his feet. The very slight swaying of the room he was in, and the strong salt water smell, told him that they were in the cabin of a ship. The fact that it wasn’t at an odd angle told him they were not in the shipwreck, but in a fully-operable vessel.
Across the space from him were two Altmer. One wore the glass armor that identified him as a Thalmor soldier and the other was clearly a Justiciar.
“Aerandil, I assume?” he said quietly, rubbing his forehead.
“Ah, good to see you’re finally coming back around,” Aerandil said in his supremely condescending voice. “Oh don’t worry, the paralysis isn’t permanent. But you may have a headache for awhile.”
“I… had noticed,” Dardeh said quietly. I just stood up. That pretty much required me not to be paralyzed. “So what sort of spell was that? What have you done with me?”
“I suppose there’s no harm in you knowing. It’s a spell from a very arcane and ancient school of magic. I am one of only a few who can wield it these days. For a lesser-skilled being, its effects are more harmful to the caster than to the victim. In recent times many died simply trying to learn it. But I have mastered it, even if it does leave me a little tired.”
Dardeh could feel his ire rising.
“Aren’t you special,” he said, in the calmest and deepest tones he could muster, knowing that it would likely irk the Altmer. The slightly raised eyebrow he got in response told him that he’d been right.
“But I don’t think you really want to talk shop, do you. Of course not. You’ve caused me quite a bit of trouble, you know. Be that as it may, I’m glad to finally meet you face to face.”
“Can’t say the feeling’s mutual.”
“Charming to the last, I’m sure,” Aerandil said with a sneer. “But you do understand that it’s simply a matter of my good graces that you’re still alive, do you not? Do you think that slaughtering an entire dispatch of Aldmeri soldiers, including two Justiciars, would go unnoticed by the Dominion?”
Dardeh laughed. “Did you think that setting up a slavery ring in a newly-independent province would go unnoticed by the Stormcloaks? Come now.”
“Were it not for me, that fetid little town you’re trying to rebuild would have been razed to the ground by now! And the Thalmor would have once and for all put an end to your pitiful little band of miscreants.” He paused for a moment, waiting for a reaction that Dardeh refused to give him. “Oh, you look surprised. But don’t worry. I know everything.”
Dardeh sneered. “Then you know that if it were not for me, you, your lackey here, the Thalmor as a whole and all of the rest of the Aldmeri Dominion would no longer exist. Along with everyone else in the world. So be careful how large you allow your ego to become. Your magic would not have stood up to Alduin the World-Eater. But I destroyed him.”
The Altmer laughed. “Now who has the ego? But I digress. The town, this Marcus Jannus, and most of all Valerius Tiberius Artoria and his pathetic remnants of the Keepers of Hattu; they were also once a great thorn in my side and like you, caused me not a little bit of trouble in the past. But their time, his time, and yours has come to an end.”
Dardeh shook his head. “Really, what did you expect? You butchered his wife and children.”
“Expect? I expect him to die, like all men will die – or serve the Dominion. The era of men has come and gone. It is now the time of the Altmer. You know, we were once a very patient people, but that patience has worn thin.”
“And you were also once a people who thrived in your own homeland instead of trying to overrun all the others. Interesting that you haven’t been able to maintain that level of dignity and integrity throughout your history.” Dardeh knew he was pressing his luck, but he could also feel his fire burning brighter with every moment and couldn’t help but speak his mind to this insufferable mer. He watched the frown deepen on the elf’s face, and knew he was having an effect. “But tell me. You haven’t killed me; therefore you must need me for something. What is it that you want from the Dragonborn?”
I really am pushing it. It’s a good thing Roggi isn’t here too.
“Yes, good! You see, we’re not so different, you and I. I killed his family, and others. You killed my men at the prison. We’re both murderers. It’s all just a matter of perspective.”
“I am nothing like you!” Dardeh exploded. “Your men at the prison attacked us! We were there to rescue slaves. I’m not a…”
He froze in mid-sentence as a horrible thing crossed his mind.
Murderer. I killed Rayya. She did nothing to deserve her death; she was being used by others for some end I don’t understand and I killed her.
I’m a murderer.
Then he thought of the quiet talk he and Roggi had shared when they were supposed to be sleeping. Roggi had kept stressing the fact that if she’d been made a vampire’s thrall, it wasn’t really Rayya anymore and nothing could have swayed her from whatever purpose her master had set her to.
I know he never liked Rayya. But he was right about that. I didn’t set out to kill her. It wasn’t my fault that she stepped into my Thu’um.
I’m not a murderer.
“Ah, but yes, you are,” Aerandil said with a sneer, clearly having spotted Dardeh’s moment of doubt. “You will come to see that in time, if you live. You will go get Valerius Tiberius Artoria and hand him over to me at the prison where you murdered my soldiers.”
“Not likely.”
“Oh, but there is where you’re wrong. You will, or your friend Marcus Jannus will die. As I said, I know everything about you and your friends. I know that yesterday he decided to take a little stroll down to Riverwood.”
No! I thought we’d agreed to get lumber from Falkreath! What was he thinking?
“You know, you just can’t be too careful these days,” the Altmer continued. “You never know when you might be kidnapped and brought to… me. So as you can see, you have little choice. Bring Valerius to me and I might let Jannus live. Don’t bring him to me and he will surely die, as will Valerius and you. Valerius is going to die one way or another.”
“We all die eventually, bastard,” Dardeh mumbled under his breath.
“This way, you at least get to spare the life of your friend. It’s your choice. Now you must sleep for a bit. When you wake, you’ll be back on the shore. You know what you must do.”
Before Dardeh could react or speak, Aerandil collected a brilliant green mass of energy in his right hand and cast it at him. Once again he found himself falling, unable to move, and unable to retain his consciousness.
“Now sleep. Guards, take him back to shore.”
He woke to Roggi shaking his shoulder.
“Dar! Dar, wake up. Are you with me? Come on, wake up!”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m ok. Well, sort of. Physically I am.”
“What happened?”
He struggled to his feet with Roggi’s help. “Aerandil. The Altmer who killed Valerius’ family. He cast a spell on me when I stepped outside the cave and they took me to the slave ship. They have Jannus held in that prison where we freed Korst and they’ll kill him if we don’t take Valerius to him.”
Roggi went from concern to rage in a moment. “The bastard! If only I’d stepped out with you instead of staying behind.”
Dardeh shook his head. “No. You saved four lives in there, Roggi. But we need to get back to Helgen. We have to get reinforcements and go rescue Janus.”
“Right. Let’s go.”
___
Dardeh gasped as they entered Helgen Keep. Valerius and Korst were standing on either side of the main foyer, looming over a bound prisoner kneeling on the rug between them. Dardeh frowned; he knew the man they had imprisoned, but he couldn’t quite place his memory.
“Falco?” Roggi asked from behind him.
“What?” Dardeh turned to look at Roggi, who nodded; he then turned back and peered at the prisoner again. It was, in fact, Falco, the soldier who had gone with them and Cienna to rescue Korst.
He approached Valerius. “Valerius, uh… Marcus has been captured by Aerandil and his men. He’s at the prison, where they had Korst earlier.”
Valerius eyes opened wide. “How do you know this?”
“He used a paralysis spell on me and took me aboard his slave ship to threaten me. He told me. And he told me to bring you to the prison if we wanted Marcus alive.”
He watched as Valerius’ expression reverted to the closed, angry expression he had worn when they’d first met.
“Gods damn it! This is what I was afraid of. Wait right there.”
He turned to the prisoner.
“Falco! Do you have anything you want to say about this?”
Falco shuddered as Roggi passed behind him, close enough that he likely brushed him with his sword. He looked up at Dardeh, and then turned to Valerius.
“Valerius, I… I don’t know anything about any of this. I… I swear to the gods!”
Dardeh frowned. Careful what you swear to, Falco.
Valerius’ voice rose. “You and I are the only ones who knew Marcus was going to Riverwood. I made sure of it. You are a traitor, and a liar! If you didn’t have anything to do with this, then how was Marcus captured? How did they know what our friends here were up to? How did they know where Korst was hiding, before? It’s all rather convenient, is it not?”
Falco stammered. “I… I don’t know, Valerius. I swear I don’t know anything you’re talking about!” His head drooped, and he looked away.
Valerius bellowed.
“Liar! Except for rescuing Korst, Aerandil has known what we were doing at every turn! You didn’t have time to warn anyone about that, now did you? I saw you, Falco. Two nights ago when you thought I was asleep. I followed you, and saw the messenger you met with.” His voice dropped to a growl so harsh it barely made its way through his clenched teeth. “I should kill you right now! How could you betray me like this? How could you betray Marcus, and all your brothers?”
Falco was trembling in the face of Valerius’ fury.
“Valerius, I’m sorry! They … you see, they have my sister and her children!”
Behind Falco, Roggi hissed. Dardeh looked up to spot him seated at the small table, the one beside which he and Ralof had found the first of many dead Stormcloak soldiers, what seemed like another lifetime before. Roggi looked like a thundercloud, or worse.
“They’re still young. They’re all I have left!” Falco pleaded. “They said they’d kill them if I didn’t tell them what they wanted to know. I didn’t want to – but I had no choice!”
“Falco,” Roggi said, rising to stand behind the man again.
“Falco, you’re a fool,” Valerius said, more gently this time. “Your sister and her children are already dead, or slaves by now. You’ll never see them again. That much is certain.” He shook his head impatiently. “We don’t have time for this. Korst, lock him in a cell downstairs. I’ll deal with him later.”
“Yes, sir,” Korst said. He pulled Falco to his feet and grabbed his bound arms.
Valerius turned to Dardeh. “Fill me in on what you know.”
“You have to come with us to the prison if Marcus is to live.”
Valerius nodded.
“It’s come to this at last. Perhaps today is a good day to die after all. Well, I’m ready whenever you two are.”
“Nobody’s going to die if I have anything to say about it, Valerius,” Dardeh said.
“Except for that Elf,” Roggi snarled. “He and all his men. In the most painful way I can devise.”
“Roggi.”
“No, Dar. They can’t be allowed to live. Too many of us have suffered too many losses because of them.” He looked at Falco. “And what of you? What is a fitting punishment for a man who betrayed his leader’s trust and friendship?”
Dardeh crossed the space between them and took Roggi’s arms.
“No, Roggi. That isn’t for you and me to decide. We’ll have our revenge on the Thalmor now, and in the future with Ulfric’s help. You know that.”
Roggi shuddered. His eyes looked nearly black, rather than their usual cheerful blue. “With Ulfric’s help?”
“You know that’s how it has to be. What’s to become of Falco, that’s up to Valerius. And Marcus. And Korst.” He heaved a great sigh of his own. “You and I are here to help, not to dictate. We’re here to rebuild, not tear down. We’ve done enough of that already.”
Roggi stared at him, defiantly at first. Then after a long moment he drew in a deep breath, blew it out, and nodded.
“You’re right. But I’m still killing every one of those damned Thalmor that I can reach.”
“Right beside you on that. Are we ready?”
Roggi nodded.
“Ok. Valerius, let’s go.”
“Lead the way.”
___
It was a beautiful day as they ran south from Helgen toward the old Thalmor prison, but none of them was in a mood to enjoy it. Once or twice Dardeh attempted to talk to Valerius, to see how he was doing; but Valerius either shook his head or said that he just wanted to get to the prison as quickly as possible. Roggi snarled once or twice and muttered imprecations about elves, a situation that had Dardeh feeling grim by the time they approached the prison.
I don’t blame them. Either one of them. But I have a really bad feeling about this and I don’t like what it’s doing to Roggi. He just barely made it through the war, having to deal with Ulfric and all the things that stirred up in him. I’ve seen his dark side getting closer and closer to the surface as time has progressed. And now this? Now we’re going to kill Thalmor – again?
And who knows what Valerius will do. I don’t think there’s any controlling him.
Seemingly out of nowhere, he was reminded of the great white dragon peering at him from the top of the world, teaching him how to fully appreciate the word YOL.
‘What will you burn?’ he asked me. ‘What will you spare?’ My father would have spared nothing, nothing at all. But he didn’t have the ability to burn a man to a cinder the way I do. What will I burn?
I will burn every damned Thalmor I can reach, for what they did to Valerius and for what they did to Roggi and Briinda. I will spare none of them.
He pushed the door to the prison open and stepped through, with Roggi behind. Before he had a chance to look around Valerius had pushed past them.
“Aerandil! We’ve come as you wished. Now let Marcus go. Now!”
Dardeh scanned the area. There was one Thalmor foot soldier in green armor in the alcove he remembered from their first visit here, but no masses of troops. Faintly, from a room off to the side, he heard Marcus Jannus’ voice as Valerius ran to meet him.
“Valerius, what do you think you’re doing? You can’t!”
“It’s the only way, Marcus. You must know that by now. It has to end. Here and now.”
Dardeh followed him into the side room and growled. Aerandil stood before a cage that held Marcus, who was bound but looked reasonably well. The elf had clearly known he would not get what he wanted unless Marcus survived at least this long. He towered over Valerius, looking him up and down and smirking. Valerius looked ready to explode.
“So,” Aerandil said in his smooth voice, “we finally meet at last after all these years. Unfortunately, I’m sorry to say, you fall well short of the legends that precede you.” He laughed. “Keepers of Hattu, indeed.”
Valerius almost screamed. “Let! Marcus! Go!”
“All in due time, Imperial,” Aerandil sneered. “You know, I still remember the look on your son’s face from all those years ago. It is the look of fear and death, and it’s the same look that is on your face right now.” He smiled nastily. “I remember my men saying he squealed like a little girl when they beat him, and that your wife and young daughter both moaned like whores as my men ravaged them again, and again, and again!”
Everything happened at once then.
Valerius screamed. “I’ll kill you!” He drew his sword and struck at Aerandil.
“Valerius, NO!” Marcus shouted from inside his cage.
Aerandil fired a spell at Valerius. Dardeh thought he recognized it as the spell he’d been struck with earlier. Valerius fell to the floor beside Dardeh and he, reacting with the rage that had been building in him all the way from Helgen to this moment, Shouted. An enormous fireball enveloped Aerandil.
I will burn YOU.
Roggi, who had been seated behind Aerandil, roared a howl of hatred and pulled his sword, stepping forward to deliver an enormous blow to the Thalmor. “Is this what you want?” he screamed, even as Aerandil rose and began casting shock spells at them in spite of his uniform being in flames.
“Roggi, look out!” Dardeh yelled, sprinting into Aerandil with both scimitars flying. As the elf fell backward, bleeding, Dardeh suddenly saw himself in the desert, fighting beside his ancestor Jine, screaming at the dune rippers that spat fireballs at them over and over, and somehow he became for that moment a true Redguard man, killing all that stood before him. He heard Roggi turn and engage another Thalmor behind them even as he flipped his right-hand scimitar and sank it like a dagger into Aerandil’s chest, bringing him to an end.
Somehow, then, there were three Thalmor foot soldiers where there had been one; and Dardeh and Roggi fought shoulder-to-shoulder as they had done so often. It was too urgent and chaotic for Dardeh to know how wounded Roggi might be, but his screams seemed to be from rage, not pain. From across the room, a mage began casting sparks at them; Roggi moaned, and Dardeh sprinted across the room to attack. His arms were burning, though, and felt like dead weight; he didn’t know whether he could lift his swords fast enough to save them both from the mage.
What will you burn?
I will burn this godsforsaken Thalmor.
“YOL – TOOR SHUL!”
The elf fell, baking inside her glass armor shell. From the corner where Aerandil had fallen, Roggi howled, and Dardeh watched as the dragonbone greatsword claimed another victory. Two more soldiers rushed into the room and attacked; and in a blur of massive concussions and slicing and pain that seemed to go on forever, the two of them screamed and fought and persevered until, at long last, the motion stopped.
Roggi dropped the tip of his sword to the floor and stood with his head down, heaving great gasps of air. Dardeh put his hands on his knees and doubled over for a moment, doing the same.
“Are we done?” Roggi whispered harshly between gasps.
“Yeah. I think so.”
Dardeh raised his head and looked across the space. Valerius was on the floor, writhing, breathing hard. Dardeh found Aerandil’s corpse and rifled through his clothing, finding the key to Marcus’ cage and releasing him.
“What has Aerandil done to him?” Marcus said.
“It’s some kind of paralysis spell, I think. He cast it on me – but I think this is worse.”
“This is far, far worse than any paralysis spell I’ve ever seen,” Marcus said, shaking his head. “I think it’s draining the life out of him! We have to help him!” Marcus stood and Dardeh released his hands.
“Val! Val, can you hear me?” Marcus said, running to the center of the room and kneeling down beside Valerius.
“Yes, barely,” Valerius whispered, his eyes shut hard against the pain. “I’m so glad I got to be with you, old friend. I’m glad you’re here.”
“We’re going to find a way to get you out of here.”
Valerius groaned. “No, old friend. My journey … has come to an end.” The words were hesitant, wobbly, forced out of his mouth in obvious pain. He coughed. “Please. Let me go.”
“Val, I…” Marcus said softly.
Dardeh felt numb. He did the only thing he knew to do; he sank to his knees, closed his eyes, and prayed to Talos.
Please, let this man’s suffering end. If he can’t be made whole again, let him pass from this world into the next without any further pain. Let him be at peace. He deserves that.
The sound of armored feet running into the space made him open his eyes. Korst, Balfring, and one of the others rushed in, ready for battle; but they lowered their weapons when they saw Valerius twitching on the floor.
“Yes, old friend,” Marcus murmured. “Go to them. Go be with your family.”
Valerius’ eyes were closed, and he drew one more long, shuddering breath. “Oh… oh my,” he said. Then he relaxed, and breathed no more.
“Valerius! He is gone!” Korst wailed. “Oh Talos, no!”
Dardeh had always cried easily, and this was no exception; as he rose to his feet tears were dropping onto his armor, and onto the floor. He looked up at Korst and nodded, silently, unable to force any words through his throat and not knowing what they would be in the first place if he could.
“Yes, Korst. It’s over,” Marcus said quietly. “What are you doing here, though? Why aren’t you at the keep?”
“I’m sorry, Marcus,” Korst said. “We just couldn’t let him come here to die like this. But it appears we are too late.”
When Dardeh looked back at it, later, he was truly impressed by how well Marcus handled the situation. As distressed as he had been – as close to his own demise as he had been – he still radiated an aura of calm that spread to everyone else in the room. His voice was soft, and level, and somehow managed to tell them all that he understood their grief, but that they would survive it.
“Yes, Korst,” he said. “I understand. You men stand at ease for a moment.” Then he turned to Dardeh. “I’m sorry, but these men and I would like some time alone if you don’t mind. We’ll bring his body back to Helgen and prepare for a service tomorrow. Please join us in honoring our friend. We will wait to begin the service until you arrive. Go easy, my friend.”
Dardeh nodded. “Of course. I understand. And we will of course join you tomorrow. Take all the time you need. We’ll…”
It was then that he realized that he hadn’t seen Roggi since he’d freed Marcus from the cage. He turned to look around the room.
“Roggi?”
He almost gasped.
Roggi was seated at a chair, beside the table next to which Aerandil had stood while taunting Valerius. At his feet was a dead Thalmor. At the far end of the table from him were another Thalmor foot soldier and the corpse of Aerandil himself. On the table, opened and on full display, was a set of torture tools; not gleaming and lovingly cared for the way Roggi’s were but bloody, gore-covered instruments that spoke not of skill but only of the pain and suffering they caused.
Roggi was staring, blankly, at a spot on the floor somewhere beyond the dead Thalmor’s feet. He didn’t seem to be focused on anything in particular. But the look on his face sent chills down Dardeh’s spine. It was the darkest expression he’d ever seen – and there had been so many that had been so dark, from this man who he’d always thought of as the light in the room. Dardeh wanted to weep again; but he pulled himself together as best he could.
“Roggi, are you ready to go now?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Are you… alright?”
“Yeah.”
He took Roggi’s arm and lifted him slowly up from the chair. “OK, come on. Marcus and his men want some time alone. We’ll see them again sometime tomorrow. Let’s… at least go back as far as Helgen. We can stay in the tower.”
“Yeah. OK.”
Roggi didn’t meet his gaze, but quietly followed him outside. They started down the slope, back down the road Dardeh remembered so vividly from his cart ride so long before, and he wondered what had become of the miner who had left Markarth full of hope, looking for a sister he had never met.
