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Andante stepped through the door and slowly lowered his weapons, his eyes widening in astonishment.\u00a0 It was a huge space, with a balcony running along the north wall.\u00a0 Almost the entirety of the wall space was lined with bookshelves or cabinets, filled with books or alchemy ingredients, loose or in bowls.\u00a0 There were cobwebs everywhere, and it was dusty, but it was clear that this had once been a well-used space.<\/p>\n
Most impressive, though, was the large circular construct in the center of the floor.\u00a0 Concentric circles, in a bowl-like depression, were surrounded by candles which were, inexplicably, burning in spite of the area being empty.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we found it,\u201d Andante said, turning to Serana.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinally,\u201d mumbled Brynjolf from somewhere behind her.<\/p>\n
It had been a long and tiring journey from Harkon\u2019s hall to this place.\u00a0 Serana had approached Andante within moments of Harkon leaving.\u00a0 The second part of her mother Valerica\u2019s plan, after sealing Serana away with one of the Scrolls, was to take the other to a safe place, she said, a place Harkon would never have searched for it. But it had been so long, hundreds of years, that she couldn\u2019t imagine where he might have overlooked, driven as he was by his obsession with the prophecy. The only place left, they decided, was right under his nose \u2013 in Castle Volkihar. The castle was enormous, and at this point the greater part of it was unused or in ruin; but Valerica had once maintained a study in another part of the castle and that might be where she had gone.<\/p>\n
The problem was that they needed to get there without attracting Harkon\u2019s attention.\u00a0 They couldn\u2019t just stroll up to one of the unused exits from the main castle and ask for it to be unsealed. Serana, though, knew of a back entrance from the northern side of the island, an entrance that might get them into the Undercroft. It had once been a way for supplies to be brought in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen it before,\u201d Andante told her. \u201cWhen I first came to look at the castle.\u00a0 There was nobody here at the time \u2013 or at least nobody that I could see – and I didn\u2019t feel like tangling with the skeletons outside but yes, I know where it is.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go.\u00a0 The worst that happens is we can\u2019t get in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brynjolf laughed at him. \u201cNo, lad.\u00a0 The worst that happens is that we all die.\u00a0 But that doesn\u2019t seem likely.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so they went there.\u00a0 They battled their way through skeletons, both inside and out.\u00a0 Inside they found a stench so foul that even Andante was bothered by it, coming from mountains of bones and old blood that had clearly been festering away for eons, their scent accentuated by the pools of stagnant water that had collected over the centuries.\u00a0 There were skeevers and Death Hounds and traps, as well as a lone vampire who had been living in the Undercroft by herself for ages, having been rejected by the Volkihar clan according to a note she left behind. Serana was, at least, able to tell them how to navigate the area, to release the gates and locks implemented by Harkon when he\u2019d become \u201cparanoid,\u201d as she put it. By the time they emerged into an abandoned courtyard he would have been grateful for the fresh air even if he\u2019d been starving and the sun had been beating down on them.<\/p>\n
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The garden, Serana told them, had once been beautiful, her mother\u2019s pride and joy, and the source of many of her alchemical ingredients. \u00a0Now, though, it was overgrown, untended, and full of dead or dying plants. Andante could still see patches of nightshade flourishing where many of the other plants had died.\u00a0 In the center of the courtyard was a moon dial, a beautiful sculpture that Serana insisted worked when it was intact.\u00a0 Right now, it wasn\u2019t. The phases of the moon were represented by circular plaques set into the dial\u2019s base, but several of them were missing.<\/p>\n
While Serana nattered on about her mother, and the former glory of the garden, how one of the doors leading from this place had been blocked off by Harkon and how Harkon\u2019s finding the prophecy had ruined their family, Andante wandered about the area and found the three missing plaques, and grinned at Serana as he placed them back into their appropriate positions on the dial.<\/p>\n
Slowly, with the sound of stone grinding on stone, the dial\u2019s great pointer rotated to face one of the castle\u2019s towers. The base of the sundial sank down into the ground, forming a short stairway to a hidden door.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery clever, Mother,\u201d Serana murmured. \u201cVery clever.\u201d<\/p>\n
And they\u2019d been off yet again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never even seen this part of the castle before.\u201d Serana told them as they raised a chain-operated false wall into a small room splattered with blood, its table covered with human bones. \u201cBe careful. I don\u2019t know what might be around.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was nothing threatening in the room itself, for which Andante was grateful. A short flight of blood-stained stairs led through a small wooden door. Andante stepped around the corner into a large banquet-type room with seven or eight skeletons sitting around a table. Nothing happened until Andante, Brynjolf and Serana were all inside the room. Then everything exploded into chaos as all the skeletons \u2013 some, very powerful, wearing armor \u2013 rose to attack. Andante found himself fighting multiple skeletons simultaneously and snatched anxious glances of the others between blows, but he shouldn\u2019t have been concerned. \u00a0Brynjolf shouted and slashed, and bashed several opponents apart with his shield. Serana used a lightning bolt spell so powerful that the dark space suddenly became vividly bright.\u00a0 Andante struck with axe and Razor, and was grateful for the other two as he plucked multiple arrows out of his arms once the battle was done.<\/p>\n
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Beyond that room was a dizzying series of spaces, small and large, some in good condition and others partially-collapsed, many of which held gargoyles and more skeletons as well as a few Death Hounds. \u00a0Stairways were partially blocked by debris, stone beams leaned at alarming angles, and everything was covered with dust and cobwebs. It was a slow, painful spiral; they would clear a room, perhaps open a gate or find a secret door up and into the next space only to find more gargoyles, more hounds.\u00a0 Andante was nearly exhausted by the time he had opened this door, into this space.<\/p>\n
And still, after all of that, after all of the battles, Serana would not stop talking. Even Brynjolf, who seemed to like her well enough, was flagging; he sank onto a bench and rubbed his eyes while Andante stepped to one of large bookshelves at his right hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at this! It must be the place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serana was going on about her mother\u2019s necromancy skills, her alchemy skills, and how astonished she was to see the extent of this study, when Andante found the journal. It was nothing special from the outside, merely a simple, slim volume with a brown leather cover, but it stood out amongst the sizeable collection of thick tomes arranged around it.\u00a0 He flipped open the cover, saw the name Harkon on the first line, and began to read.<\/p>\n
The first paragraph might have been only a typical annoyed rant of one spouse about another but for the sentence reading:\u00a0 “I\u2019ve warned him time and again that his foolish prophecy would cast too much light on our people and yet he refuses to so much as listen to a word I say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Too much light? I thought the goal was to turn off the light.\u00a0 On the other hand\u2026 I wonder if she\u2019s right. I wonder if all of the searching might be what has attracted the attention of the Dawnguard.\u00a0 The people had to feed while they travelled, after all. Hmm.<\/em><\/p>\n The next paragraph was puzzling.\u00a0 He almost understood it \u2013 felt as though he should know what it meant, might have once known what it meant, but couldn\u2019t quite remember.\u00a0 It said \u201cI\u2019ve had a breakthrough today.\u00a0 I was able to attune the portal vessel to the Soul Cairn properly by using a small sample of ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante looked back at Serana, who was still talking about the circles on the floor, how they must be something important.\u00a0 He sighed and flipped the journal closed, then turned to hand it to her.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think this would help?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou found her journal! Wonderful!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s this \u2018Soul Cairn\u2019 that she mentions? Is it truly the plane of Oblivion I think I remember reading about?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. It\u2019s home to very powerful beings. The Ideal Masters. Necromancers send them souls and receive powers of their own in return. She had this theory about soul gems.\u00a0 That the souls inside don\u2019t just vanish when they\u2019re used.\u00a0 They end up in the Soul Cairn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd your mother wanted some of those powers, it would seem.\u00a0 At least the power to disappear from your father\u2019s sphere of influence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy mother spent a lot of time trying to contact them directly, to travel to the Soul Cairn itself. She was hoping to thwart my father\u2019s plans to use the prophecy by going somewhere he could not follow.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante nodded.\u00a0 \u201cSo that\u2019s where the Elder Scroll will be. I have to say, it\u2019s a little unnerving.\u00a0 The same way I\u2019d feel if we were actually going to visit Nocturnal in\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Evergloam,\u201d Brynjolf murmured, not looking away from the bookshelf he was examining.<\/p>\n \u201cExactly. Like that. Or going to visit Sithis \u2013 except that that\u2019s the Void and, well, never mind.\u00a0 At any rate, if she\u2019s there, we\u2019ll find her.\u201d<\/p>\n Serana nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThat circle in the center of the room is definitely some type of portal.\u00a0 If I\u2019m reading this right, there\u2019s a formula here that will give us safe passage to the Soul Cairn.\u201d<\/p>\n Serana started reciting the components that they needed to find:\u00a0 finely ground bone meal, purified void salts, and soul gem shards.\u00a0 They needed to find them and place them in a vessel that overlooked the circle. Andante started searching immediately, rummaging through the impressive collection of alchemy ingredients that lined every horizontal surface in the place, and had just scooped a handful of soul gem shards from a large silver bowl when he heard Serana make a disgusted noise.<\/p>\n \u201cUgh. Damn it.\u201d<\/p>\n He turned to look at her.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re also going to need a sample of her blood, which \u2013 if we could get it, we wouldn\u2019t be doing this in the first place!\u201d<\/p>\n A deep, quiet voice arose from a dark corner of the room.<\/p>\n \u201cYou share her blood, lass.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante grinned.\u00a0 \u201cBrilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmm,\u201d Serana said.\u00a0 \u201cNot bad!\u00a0 We\u2019d better hope it works, though. Mistakes with this kind of portal can be\u2026 gruesome.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell that\u2019s alright.\u00a0 I can be gruesome myself.\u00a0 I\u2019ll keep looking for the rest of the ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n He wandered around the room. There were so many bookshelves and cabinets that searching them all took some time, some of which he spent picking up a few rare ingredients for his own use.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know whether we\u2019ll really find Valerica. If we do, maybe I\u2019ll give these things back. Maybe not. She probably won\u2019t even remember what she had in here. <\/em>\u00a0Eventually he located two other large silver bowls, each of which held samples of the ingredients listed in the journal.<\/p>\n \u201cYour mother was clever, Serana.\u00a0 Even here in her own laboratory she separated the ingredients far enough from each other that someone wandering in here casually wouldn\u2019t find them without some serious searching.\u00a0 I think I like her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe was always smarter than I gave her credit for, it seems.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante returned to the platform on which the large vessel lay, and dumped all of the ingredients into it.\u00a0 \u201cYour turn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you ready to go?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cMay as well. But let me ask you something first. What will you do if we find your mother?\u201d<\/p>\n Serana\u2019s eyebrows shot up in surprise. She frowned and crossed her arms.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been asking myself the same thing since we came back to the castle.\u00a0 She was so sure of what we did to my father, hiding me and planning to escape herself, that I just went along with it.\u00a0 But honestly, she wasn\u2019t the same person after she started hearing him talk about that prophecy. She always seemed happy before that.\u00a0 Afterwards, it all changed. They both became\u2026 different people.\u201d<\/p>\n I can appreciate that. I\u2019m a different person, too. I\u2019ve been a different person twice just since I woke on that hillside. <\/em>He frowned, thinking of the odd experiences he\u2019d had since having Falion cure him.\u00a0 Maybe three times. It\u2019s strange and uncomfortable, and I can only imagine how odd it must seem to be the child of such a person.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m\u2026 sorry.\u00a0 But we won\u2019t know how she is now until we find her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re right.\u00a0 Sorry. Let\u2019s get that portal open.\u00a0 I just didn\u2019t expect anyone to care what I felt about her,\u201d Serana added, one side of her mouth quirking up into a smile.\u00a0 \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t start thinking I care about you, Serana.\u00a0 You are to me just what you said you are to your father. A means to an end, nothing more. But that doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t understand a little of what a strange situation this is.<\/em><\/p>\n Andante walked away to examine the bookshelves further as Serana bared her arm to draw her own blood.\u00a0 He had just slipped a black soul gem into his pocket when a great grinding noise began, and the room shook.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the blood of my ancestors!\u201d Serana breathed. \u201cShe actually did it! She created a portal to the Soul Cairn.\u201d<\/p>\n The circle moved, sank down and down into darkness, a purple glow like the one that had surrounded Serana\u2019s resting place in Dimhollow Crypt rising up into the room around them. Rough stairs extended from the edge of the platform down into the portal, down into the glow. Andante stepped eagerly toward the edge, ready to descend.<\/p>\n One step closer. We\u2019ll go get the Scroll and then Brynjolf and I will be one step\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Wait, where is he?<\/em><\/p>\n He realized that he had neither seen nor heard Brynjolf in some time, and looked around in alarm.<\/p>\n \u201cBryn?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDown here, lad.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante\u2019s head snapped around to his left, and down.\u00a0 Through the arched banister he could see Brynjolf seated just below them, next to a bookcase.\u00a0 Something about his posture, the sound of his voice, raised the hackles on Andante\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be right back, Serana,\u201d he told her as quietly as he could. \u201cI need to talk to him.\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cTake your time. We\u2019ve waited this long, we can wait a few minutes more.\u00a0 I hope.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think this portal is going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n He hurried down the stairs and around the bookshelves, approaching the seated man. Brynjolf was hunched over, leaning his forearms atop his legs, his head hanging and his eyes hidden beneath the dark hood.\u00a0 Andante slid onto the bench next to him.<\/p>\n \u201cAndante,\u201d Brynjolf said quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cYes? What\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI need to talk to you, before we go in there.\u00a0 It\u2026 might take a bit of time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fine. Serana\u2019s ready when we are but she\u2019s not going to push us.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded, and then sighed deeply.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s about the Soul Cairn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes? Is there a problem?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere \u2026 might be.\u201d<\/p>\n He turned to looked Andante in the eyes, and Andante nearly jumped.<\/p>\n He looks like he\u2019s in pain.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI never told you how Dynny died, and it\u2019s time you know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUh-oh.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded, and rubbed his forehead.<\/p>\n \u201cShor\u2019s bones. It was so long ago and I remember it as if it just happened.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think about it every day any more, haven\u2019t for years and years, but when I do it\u2019s just like it just happened.\u00a0 We were at Valtheim Towers.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante nodded.\u00a0 \u201cFull of bandits as usual, I assume?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf half smiled.\u00a0 \u201cYes, and that\u2019s why we were there.\u00a0 Two great thieves, out to steal everything we could get our hands on.\u00a0 We did, too.\u00a0 The south tower was easy to clear out.\u00a0 Dynny was pretty good with a bow and I had these two glass daggers\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Andante raised an eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cI thought you didn\u2019t believe in killing unless it was necessary, my dear.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell\u2026 that was a long time ago, lad. I wasn\u2019t necessarily as disciplined as I am now.\u201d He grinned, just slightly, a ghost of a grin that had no real amusement in it. \u201cAt any rate, we did what needed doing and then slipped across the bridge to take out the chief.\u00a0 He was just loaded with coin. Lousy with it. We helped ourselves, and we looted the chest in his bedroom.\u00a0 You know the spot I mean, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes I do.\u00a0 I see it\u2019s been used for the same purposes for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded, and looked down at the floor. His voice dropped, quiet, sad.<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u00a0 And I was so cocky.\u00a0 Look at us, we did it.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I was thinking.\u00a0 Looking at him like he was the sun rising. If truth be told, I was thinking of the fine evening we would have in that very bedroom, celebrating our great accomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf raised his head and stared out across the room with a far-away gaze that focused on exactly nothing before him.<\/p>\n \u201cI was trying to teach him a few things about being a good thief.\u00a0 He wanted to join the Guild. I thought maybe if he got some practice he could impress Gallus enough to get in but Gallus and Mercer Frey both had a keen eye for who was a good thief and who wasn\u2019t. And Dynjyl really wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n He sighed heavily.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd neither was I, when you come right down to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante snorted.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you mean? You were in the Guild already.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf frowned, looking back down at the floor.\u00a0 \u201cYes, and I should have known well enough to make absolutely certain we had cleared the area out before I let him go strutting up that last set of stairs to the lookout tower.\u00a0 We were just standing there looking at each other with stars in our eyes, like a couple of\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Andante looked at Brynjolf\u2019s face and watched the memory ripple over him.<\/p>\n \u201cLike a couple of people in love, perhaps?\u201d<\/p>\n Why did I say that? What a stupid thing to say.\u00a0 Why not just lay open his vein and pour salt in it instead.<\/em><\/p>\n Brynjolf swallowed hard, then smiled just a tiny bit.<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u00a0 Like that. I always \u2026 looked at him like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Dear gods that was stupid of me. That\u2019s the way I look at you, Brynjolf. Every day. I\u2019m sorry. <\/em><\/p>\n Some day maybe I\u2019ll learn how to be a proper person.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI was still just smiling at him when he turned around and bolted up those last few stairs. \u2018Let\u2019s go,\u2019 he said. \u2018There\u2019s work to be done.\u2019 And that\u2019s when the arrow caught him.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. \u201cFrom the side of the hill.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t checked first and there was still a lookout posted on the side of the hill, and this one a really top-notch archer. The arrow caught Dynny and threw him over the side of the platform.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante gasped.\u00a0 He thought of how far above the ground that tower was, how many sharp rock outcroppings there were between it and the riverbank far below. A shudder that started in his core ran up his spine and he closed his eyes, picturing the fall, how Dynjyl would have struck rocks on the way down, perhaps being fortunate enough to lose consciousness instead of being aware of the end of his life rushing up to meet him.\u00a0 He could almost feel it himself.<\/p>\n Oh my love. I am so sorry.<\/em><\/p>\n He looked back at Brynjolf.\u00a0 Oddly, in spite of the sorrow showing on his face Brynjolf was reciting the events almost dispassionately, a man who had needed to fight these emotions down for so long that it had become second nature.<\/p>\n \u201cI took the man out with my own bow, and then ran down to the river edge.\u00a0 I would imagine you know how little chance there would be of anyone surviving that fall.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t.\u00a0 If it had been just the arrow he\u2019d have had a nasty scar but he\u2019d have lived.\u00a0 But that fall?\u00a0 No.\u201d<\/p>\n He opened his eyes and looked at Andante, his eyes full of old grief, old guilt.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my fault.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante reached forward and laid a hand on Brynjolf\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it wasn\u2019t your fault. He should have been watching out for himself, too, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf shook his head. His voice, when it came, was soft, barely above a whisper.<\/p>\n \u201cIt truly was, lad. I should have scouted ahead. Dynny had no caution in him, none at all, and I knew it. He\u2019d have never been with me, if he had any caution in him. He never would have thought of it or known where to look for danger. He was just certain he was the best.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante smiled a grim smile. \u201c\u2019And that\u2019s why I\u2019m the best.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf looked up at him, startled, then sighed and nodded. \u201cYes. That was him. You can\u2019t imagine how I nagged him about it. I knew to be cautious but that day, I didn\u2019t do it. I was careless and I paid the price.\u00a0 And so did he, and so did his wife.\u201d\u00a0 Brynjolf grimaced.\u00a0 \u201cAnd that was the second-hardest thing I ever had to do, after carrying him to Whiterun so I could get him on a carriage to Solitude. I had to tell his wife.\u00a0 I\u2019ll never forget the look on her face. She hated me so much right then. She\u2026 offered to give me a matching scar on the right side.\u00a0 I had to just leave him there and run.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante chewed on the inside of his mouth.<\/p>\n What can I say? What can I do? You\u2019re alive and that\u2019s all that matters to me.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cListen, dearest. I\u2019m glad you told me this.\u00a0 You needed to get it out.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t understand something.\u00a0 Why right now?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf looked back down at the floor and heaved a great, shuddering sigh that almost made Andante jump.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause just before I sank my own arrow into that archer\u2019s throat I heard a sound that isn\u2019t like anything else in the world.\u00a0 I know you know the sound.\u00a0 A sharp crack and then almost a sizzle\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Andante\u2019s mouth fell open.\u00a0 \u201cGods, Bryn.\u00a0 He was soul trapped?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded, looking as miserable as he\u2019d ever seen him look.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know where the gem went. It had to have flown out of the archer\u2019s pocket when he fell, and landed somewhere out of reach. Maybe it rolled down into the river. I looked everywhere, for what felt like hours. But the archer had an enchanted bow. There\u2019s no question in my mind. Nothing else sounds like that.\u201d\u00a0 He met Andante\u2019s eyes again. \u201cSo, lad, there\u2019s a chance that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n It took Andante a moment for everything to register. \u00a0A ripple of horror crept up his back.<\/p>\n \u201cBy all the gods.\u00a0 He might be in the Soul Cairn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2026 most likely is.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been thinking about it for twenty years, Andante.\u00a0 I don\u2019t spend a lot of time on gods and religion and all that. Never did, and still don\u2019t, to speak of. That\u2019s the only time in my life I\u2019ve ever prayed, lad, and I don\u2019t even know who I was praying to, exactly.\u00a0 I just wanted him back.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t die in battle.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t go to Sovngarde like other Nords, to be with Talos or Ysgramor, or any of that. He was trapped and sent to the Soul Cairn. I\u2019m certain of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante sat staring at the floor himself, frowning, trying to make sense of it all.\u00a0 He closed his eyes and imagined Brynjolf\u2019s shock and desperation, his pain, his guilt. He could almost see a young Brynjolf\u2019s face as he tried to face his loss. To his complete amazement he found himself fighting back a sensation that wanted to break loose, a dampness behind his eyelids.<\/p>\n What is this?\u00a0 I don\u2019t cry. I don\u2019t remember ever crying, ever. I\u2019m not even sure I know how. Is that what this is?<\/em><\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t find it in himself to mourn for Dynny\u2019s death.\u00a0 It had been so long before. If Dynny had been alive, he himself wouldn\u2019t be sitting here now, with\u00a0 Brynjolf. But he couldn\u2019t stand watching Brynjolf in pain.<\/p>\n Brynjolf startled him, broke the moment, by reaching for his hand and squeezing it.<\/p>\n \u201cI just wanted you to know, lad. I don\u2019t want you to be surprised, or angry, or upset if we run across him. If he\u2019s really there.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh he\u2019s there.\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t possibly be anything else. Damn it. <\/em><\/p>\n How unfair.\u00a0 I can\u2019t find my memories and Brynjolf has to suffer with his.\u00a0 Surely there must be a happy medium somewhere between.\u00a0 Or maybe the gods are just that cruel.<\/em><\/p>\n Andante slowly leveraged himself up onto his feet. \u201cThank you, Bryn. I\u2019m \u2026 overwhelmed. You don\u2019t have to come, you know. You could stay here and wait for us if you\u2019d rather.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf shook his head, and held his hand out for a boost up to his own feet.\u00a0 \u201cIf he\u2019s there, lad, I need to see him.\u00a0 I hope you understand.\u201d<\/p>\n I wish I didn\u2019t.\u00a0 It would be easier just to be angry, and jealous.\u00a0 But I do. If something were to happen to Brynjolf I\u2019d move all the planes of existence to get to him again.<\/em><\/p>\n It would be nice if someone felt that way about me. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI do.\u00a0 We should get going.\u00a0 We have an Elder Scroll to find.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante waved a hand to Serana, who had been waiting discreetly out of hearing distance. She nodded and headed to the top of the stairs.<\/p>\n Andante smiled at Brynjolf.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, here we go.\u201d<\/p>\n He stepped down the rough stone stairs and into the purple glow.<\/p>\n Andante stepped through the door and slowly lowered his weapons, his eyes widening in astonishment.\u00a0 It was a huge space, with a balcony running along the north wall.\u00a0 Almost the entirety of the wall space was lined with bookshelves or cabinets, filled with books or alchemy ingredients, loose or in bowls.\u00a0 There were cobwebs everywhere, … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/3-1-22-4.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Andante<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"