Brynjolf came running down the shore just as the posse, congratulating themselves on a job well done, made its way back toward town. He ignored them, looking up and down the shoreline. Surely he hadn\u2019t seen what he thought he just saw. It couldn\u2019t be possible.\u00a0 He had to have been hallucinating, after the spell Andante had cast on him.<\/p>\n
There was nothing that looked familiar, no slim Imperial wearing armor with a blue wrap, no Vampire Lord with massive wings.\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 He ran to the shoreline, knowing what he was going to see when he got there and trying to convince himself that it wasn\u2019t true.\u00a0 But there it was; a glittering, red pile of dust like the one Harkon had left behind in the cathedral at Volkihar Castle.<\/p>\n
\u201cNO!\u201d\u00a0 Brynjolf shouted, dropping down onto his knees beside the dust. \u201cIt can\u2019t be! It just can\u2019t be!\u201d Then he moaned. \u201cNo!\u00a0 Lad.\u00a0 Why?\u201d<\/p>\n
Brynjolf remembered the day Andante had been trying to get him to pay attention, teaching him about feeding from corpses if it was necessary. \u00a0As clearly as if Andante had been standing beside him, he heard his voice saying, \u201cthere\u2019s no coming back from that.\u201d\u00a0 Brynjolf reached out and touched the still-warm ash with one finger, and then he collapsed into himself.<\/p>\n
If anyone had been watching then, they would have seen something that only Roggi Knot-Beard had seen before.\u00a0 Brynjolf doubled over and sobbed, great gasping sobs, and his tears dropped down and began mixing with the dust that had been Andante and had once been Vitus Perdeti.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot again,\u201d he moaned, weeping. \u201cNot again. Please, no, not again.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a time he couldn\u2019t tell where he was, which body of water whispered against the wet sands next to him, whether it was the White River or the Sea of Ghosts.\u00a0 For a time he didn\u2019t know whether he was a man of twenty or forty-two winters, whether he was grieving over a still body or a pile of vampire dust.\u00a0 It was the same world-shattering, wracking pain he felt, the same yawning, gaping pit of despair at the edge of which he stood; and he sobbed without knowing where he was or who might be nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh lad.\u00a0 What am I going to do without you.\u201d<\/p>\n
What am I going to do without that look on your face when you were up to something, that smile, the excitement whenever you had something that you thought might please me. By the gods Andante I saw it every time you looked at me, you loved me so much.\u00a0 How am I going to live without that? Without you?<\/em><\/p>\n He moved some of the dust aside, carefully.\u00a0 Two of Andante\u2019s rings were there; they were nothing special, but he would keep them anyway.\u00a0 As he reached for them the brilliant ruby set into the beautiful new ring Andante had made for him caught the light of the sun.\u00a0 It was the same color as the pile of ash, the color of the heart of flame; and he clutched at the ring, closed his eyes, and wailed.<\/p>\n His sobs began to diminish, but his pain did not. He sat beside the ash pile with his arms wrapped around his knees, and his head down, and rocked back and forth.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t believe he\u2019s gone.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s happened again.\u00a0 Someone so very important there one moment and simply gone the next. I don\u2019t think I ever told him how much he meant to me. I tried, often enough, but the words wouldn\u2019t come.<\/em><\/p>\n Roggi kept me from dying, but Andante made me feel alive again.\u00a0 And now he\u2019s gone.<\/em><\/p>\n After some time \u2013 how long he could not have said – Brynjolf pushed himself to his feet, thought about leaving the beach and going toward the door.\u00a0 Then he realized that he didn\u2019t know the passphrase and no longer had Andante to whisper it for both of them.\u00a0 He sat back down on the beach, beside the pile of ash, and cried some more, rocking back and forth, in grief and frustration.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know what to do now. I just can\u2019t take it anymore. It\u2019s too much.<\/em><\/p>\n I have\u2026 a son.\u00a0 Dag.\u00a0 No, not Dag, Sayma.\u00a0 Can I ever forgive her for all of this?<\/em><\/p>\n How can I not?<\/em><\/p>\n How can I do it, though?<\/em><\/p>\n He looked at the pile of ash and wiped his eyes again.\u00a0 Oh yes, Andante, of course I remember. I\u2019d still give her forever if she would only come back. I remember telling you that.\u00a0 But she didn\u2019t come back.\u00a0 We had to find her. Of course I\u2019m glad that she\u2019s alive but we had to find her.<\/em><\/p>\n And why didn\u2019t she tell me about the boy?\u00a0 All this time\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Oh lad, why did you do this.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n And then it got even worse.\u00a0 The encounter with the vigilantes ran through his mind, and he started thinking about what he, himself had done; or rather, what he hadn\u2019t done.\u00a0 He\u2019d been stunned, both mentally and physically, by Andante\u2019s casting of the spell and by everything else that had happened just beforehand.\u00a0 His body had been working hard to become human again.\u00a0 The men had approached Andante and\u2026<\/p>\n Brynjolf cried out, a great sob of pain.<\/p>\n \u201cNo! \u00a0I could have stopped it.\u00a0 I could have made them fight each other and he could have gotten away,\u201d he said to himself.\u00a0 And he curled into himself yet again, rocking back and forth. It was my fault. It was my fault. I could have saved him if I\u2019d used my Nightingale power to get them fighting each other. He could have run away. It\u2019s just like Dynny all over again. It\u2019s my fault. <\/em><\/p>\n He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his red vampire armor and sat, rocking back and forth, trying to breathe, trying to get himself back under control.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all my fault.<\/em><\/p>\n He heard footsteps crunching on the sand behind him, then stopping.\u00a0 There was a gasp.<\/p>\n \u201cBy Ysmir.\u00a0 Bryn. I came out to find you because it was so long, but\u2026 What happened?\u00a0 Where\u2019s Andante?\u201d Roggi\u2019s voice stopped, and then dropped to barely a whisper. \u201cOh, no.\u00a0 Is that\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n Thank the gods for you, Roggi. Thank you for being here.<\/em><\/p>\n He cleared his throat and nodded. But he didn\u2019t look up at Roggi because he knew that if he did, if he saw that friendly face, he would disintegrate all over again.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you can see.\u00a0 He\u2019s gone. He\u2019s \u2026 gone.\u201d\u00a0 His voice caught and cleared his throat again. \u201cHe, uh, cured me, Roggi,\u201d he said, glancing up behind him and waving a hand toward the eyes that he knew were back to their native green. He felt weaker, vastly diminished, dull. He could no longer sense the powerful Vampire Lord inside him waiting only for his summons to erupt.\u00a0 It was all gone.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m\u2026 human again. Mortal.\u00a0 He drew the men who wanted to kill us away from me while I was changing.\u00a0 And he stood in the sun.\u00a0 He could have quenched it again, the sun. He had the arrows. He could have given himself all the power in the world.\u00a0 But he threw the bow away and he just\u2026 stood in the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t help it; a single sob escaped him and a few more tears dropped onto the sand.\u00a0 \u201cMy beautiful lad.\u00a0 He just stood here and let the sun take him so that they wouldn\u2019t take either of us. And I might have distracted the mob so that he could escape but I was too\u2026 I didn\u2019t even think of it. It was my fault, Roggi.\u201d<\/p>\n And in spite of himself, in spite of being the leader of the Thieves Guild, a strong, hard-bitten man who had seen and endured more than his fair share of pain and suffering and who had inflicted a fair amount of it himself, Brynjolf of Riften broke down again.\u00a0 The shuddering gasps became full-throated sobs once more.<\/p>\n Roggi quietly knelt in front of Brynjolf, and gathered him up into an embrace.\u00a0 He wrapped both arms around him and held him close, stroking his hair with one hand.\u00a0 \u201cBy the gods. I\u2019m so sorry, Brynjolf.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even know what to say.\u201d They knelt like that for a long while, Brynjolf\u2019s sobs diminishing slowly, while Roggi murmured comforting nothings into his ears.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll be all right, my brother.\u00a0 We\u2019ll take care of you, all of us.\u00a0 You\u2019re not alone. It\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf clung to him. Then, finally, when the sobs had subsided to sniffles once more, Roggi released him and sat down, beside Brynjolf and beside the pile of ash. The two of them sat like that for a moment, then Roggi crossed his arms on top of his knees and rested his chin on his arms, staring at the sea quietly caressing the shore.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like it must be the end, Roggi.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi\u2019s head snapped up, and he gazed at Brynjolf in alarm.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you talking about? Don\u2019t scare me, Brynjolf. I don\u2019t want to hear you talking like that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like bookends, lad.\u00a0 There was Dynjyl at the beginning of my life and Andante at the end of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWho<\/em> are you talking about? Who is Dynjyl?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf\u2019s head sagged. Then he told Roggi about Dynjyl, stopping a few times when his emotions threatened to get the better of him. Roggi listened quietly, nodding and sighing occasionally.<\/p>\n \u201cBeginning and end. And they\u2019re both gone. I feel as if I\u2019m being punished for both of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi smiled and patted him on the arm.\u00a0 \u201cNo, Bryn.\u00a0 You\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDynjyl wasn\u2019t the beginning of your life. You were a man grown, then. You had what, twenty winters before him? Something like that?\u00a0 And Andante wasn\u2019t the end.\u00a0 You have another young man waiting for you to guide him, for the next part of it. You have at least another twenty years, if not many more. You\u2019ll be a white-haired Guildmaster directing things that I shouldn\u2019t know about until your son is grown into a man himself, while Dar and I are training up a small troop of dragon killers. Maybe Dar will even teach some of them to use Shouts. Maybe he\u2019ll teach your son. We don\u2019t know, Bryn. We can only do our best, and wait, and see. If they are bookends, they have room to hold a lot more volumes between them.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf was silent. We\u2019re on the outside of the bookends now, Roggi. What do I put there? How are the things held up?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBryn.\u00a0 I thought my life was done, too. I truly did. You know how I was \u2013 I was trying my best to hurry up the inevitable. \u00a0And I was wrong. I met Dardeh.\u00a0 And I am going to live a very long time for him, and for those two little girls. I\u2019m a lot older than him, so he\u2019s going to end up taking care of me eventually, but I\u2019m going to be here every day that I can, just for them.\u201d<\/p>\n They sat for awhile more, in silence, each of them looking out at the sea that never changed and yet was never the same.<\/p>\n Roggi spoke, quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cBryn, uh\u2026 do you know who he really was?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust now.\u00a0 I knew he had remembered who he was but he wouldn\u2019t share his name until just now. I\u2026I can\u2019t imagine why it didn\u2019t dawn on me before now. I hardly know what to make of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi nodded.\u00a0 \u201cDelvin and I just figured it out. That\u2019s why Dar and I are here. We came to confront Sayma, to tell her we knew who she was, so that Dardeh could finally meet his sister. \u00a0And then this morning we were trying to find her, to let her know who was working for her so that she could decide what to do. I didn\u2019t know you\u2019d be here. Don\u2019t know why I didn\u2019t expect it.\u201d<\/p>\n He shook his head in disbelief.<\/p>\n \u201cAll this time, Bryn, and we had the Man in the Mask right under our noses. I should have known it.\u00a0 I had the damned mask. I stole it in Markarth. I watched Andante put it on and I watched his reaction. I should have known, right then, but I didn\u2019t. Vitus Perdeti. I heard the name for years and years; everyone knew to get a message to him if there was a job nobody else could pull off. And then he disappeared, a couple of years ago, and nobody could find him. Not a soul. Nobody knew what he looked like, so nobody knew who to look for.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know, Roggi. I knew all about him, too, and never even thought about it. He turned up not so very long after Vitus disappeared. All this time, I\u2019ve been\u2026 with\u2026 a man who was so\u2026 evil doesn\u2019t seem right. I don\u2019t have a word for it and I don\u2019t know what to make of it. How did I not see it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHuh.\u201d Roggi thought for a moment, and then nodded. \u201cWell as it happens I have an opinion about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf turned his head and stared at Roggi for a moment, and then in spite of the situation, found himself chuckling. \u201cYou? With an opinion on something?\u201d He could practically hear Andante saying \u201cHow droll.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDar has told me the stories, you know? About what happened to him, fighting Alduin.\u00a0 While I was busy running away from everything again, hiding in Kynesgrove, thinking he was gone and getting ready to drown myself again.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf listened, trying to make sense of it, trying to focus on Roggi sharing what had seemed like a similar pain, but he couldn\u2019t get past the howling, empty hole inside that was too, too familiar to the other that he\u2019d only barely filled with something through time and a great deal of denial.\u00a0 And Andante\u2019s help, at the end of it. <\/em>The thought threatened to make his eyes overflow yet again. Still, he fought to follow Roggi\u2019s words. I owe him that much.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHe went there, and fought Alduin. Killed him. And when he came back, he talked to Paarthurnax. That\u2019s the big white dragon that is actually in charge of the Graybeards. Lives up on the Throat of the World. I\u2019ve met him, Bryn. The time Dar took that Elder Scroll you came for up to the top and read it there. You wouldn\u2019t believe it, standing there talking to a dragon. It\u2019s quite something, let me tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf was still sitting with his head hanging, staring at the pile of glittering ash, feeling numb, wondering what it would be like never to hear the irreverent voice call him \u201cloverboy\u201d ever again.\u00a0 He heard Roggi shift beside him.<\/p>\n \u201cHe told me this one thing that Paarthurnax said and it just has stuck with me. He said: \u2018What is better:\u00a0 to be born good; or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?\u2019 I know I\u2019m trying, Bryn. There was enough evil in me for a lifetime and I\u2019ve been fighting it for years. You may not have seen it, but I promise you\u2026 I couldn\u2019t join the Guild when you asked me. I\u2019d have lost all control over myself.\u201d<\/p>\n He shook his head, and shrugged.<\/p>\n \u201cDar\u2019s helping me. He says he has evil in him, as well; I\u2019ve never seen it but I trust that he\u2019s telling me the truth. And he works hard, all the time, to do the best things. I don\u2019t know whether that makes us better or not, but it\u2019s something at least.\u201d<\/p>\n He paused for a moment, considering his words. \u201cNow I don\u2019t know enough about what Andante was like, day to day, to know if he was evil. Bad, yes. Evil? I \u2026 suspect that\u2019s a matter of perspective. Vitus was, so they say, but Andante?\u00a0 It does seem to me that he did something good, at the end. If all he ever did was make you happy, Brynjolf, that was a good enough thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n He made sure that Brynjolf was looking directly at him when he spoke again. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine that it was your fault, Bryn. I can\u2019t imagine that he couldn\u2019t have gotten away, as strong a man as he was. He didn\u2019t do a single thing that wasn\u2019t his own decision, so far as I know, in his whole life, with the sole exception of being taken by the Thalmor.\u00a0 He meant to stand here and let the sun take him. I think he meant for you to go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Whenever I think I know you, my friend, you surprise me once more. You\u2019re quite the philosopher. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m alone again, Roggi. I know you understand what that feels like.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo you\u2019re not.\u201d\u00a0 Roggi chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cYou couldn\u2019t get to be alone if you tried.\u00a0 You have family now, Brynjolf. Real family. And you have the Guild \u2013 Delvin and Vex and Karliah, and \u2026 hell, Vekel and Tonilia. Even that great idiot Dirge cares about you. You\u2019re stuck with us. You know, I can\u2019t say that I was very fond of the idea that you spent the last little while as a vampire but you could have had my neck, if you needed it. I\u2019d have done that for you. You\u2019re my brother. You\u2019re my friend, and you\u2019re my brother, and I am the better for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf raised his head, slowly, and stared at Roggi for a long time. What a remarkable person he is. <\/em><\/p>\n Then a small smile crept up on Roggi\u2019s face.<\/p>\n \u201cBut by Ysmir I sure am glad we won\u2019t have to put that to the test, Bryn.\u00a0 I almost soiled my armor the day I found out Andante was a vampire.\u201d\u00a0 Roggi\u2019s lopsided grin had Brynjolf chuckling in spite of himself.<\/p>\n Brynjolf reached out and picked up a handful of the glimmering ashes and let them fall through his fingers.<\/p>\n \u201cHeh.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFlashy.\u00a0 Just like he was. No wonder he needed a mask.\u201d Brynjolf shook his hands off and ran them down his face. \u201cRoggi, I don\u2019t know what to do.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how to talk to her. I don\u2019t. I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d ever be with anyone but Andante ever again.\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head. \u201cI didn\u2019t ever tell him. I didn\u2019t think I needed to.\u00a0 It just felt like we\u2019d always be together. Creating some havoc or other, either with the Guild or out at Volkihar. \u00a0I never even told him that. I wish I had.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou loved him.\u201d\u00a0 Roggi presented it quietly, a statement of fact rather than a question, the same way Andante had spoken of Dynjyl.<\/p>\n Brynjolf stopped, dumfounded, feeling as though lightning had struck him. What did he just say?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNo, I\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Brynjolf stared at Roggi, and then back at the pile of ash, and an expression of exquisite pain came over his face. \u201cGods.\u201d<\/p>\n Leave it to Roggi to see what I didn\u2019t. Shor\u2019s bones. It\u2019s been staring me in the face all this time, and\u2026 Oh, lad. Why was I so stupid? <\/em><\/p>\n Yet again, Brynjolf found himself with his head down; this time his hands were up around his head and a low moan escaped him, followed by even more tears.\u00a0 He thought of Dynjyl, and he thought of Andante; and he thought about the two of them laughing at him in the Soul Cairn and realized that, while it hadn\u2019t ever been identical, the feelings that he\u2019d had for Andante weren\u2019t that far removed from those he\u2019d had for Dynjyl. And his heart broke a little more.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no no no\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi put an arm around Brynjolf\u2019s shoulders again.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s alright, Bryn. It\u2019s alright to let go of it if you have to.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded and spoke, just above a whisper.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re\u2026 right, Roggi. I didn\u2019t realize it. Yes. For all the wrong reasons, and in the strangest possible way.\u201d He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and expelled it.\u00a0 \u201cYes I did. And now he\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll bet he knew.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf shook his head. \u201cNo. What he knew was that I wanted Dag back. I\u2026 don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, Bryn.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even know what to say to her myself. She never really left, but she\u2019s hurt all of us with this. I told her I\u2019d stand beside her but I don\u2019t know how. I \u2026 will never be able to make it up to you, what I did with her, but trust me when I say that Dardeh is it, for me. There won\u2019t ever be anyone else again.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what I thought about Dag, but then there was Andante.\u00a0 And there\u2019s always going to be a huge hole where he used to be. Just like Dynny.\u00a0 <\/em>He felt the tears beginning to build in his eyes again and blinked them back, angrily.\u00a0 No.<\/em> I am not going to fall apart again.<\/em><\/p>\n And then he did, anyway.\u00a0 He dropped his head and cried.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s wrong with me,\u201d he said finally. \u201cI can\u2019t seem to get hold of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone would expect you to, brother,\u201d Roggi said quietly. \u201cI certainly don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n He reached out as if to run his hand through the pile of shimmering ash but stopped short.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, I\u2019ve been thinking about it, the timing of when she left and everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat if she wasn\u2019t sure, Bryn?\u00a0 What if the baby had had blonde hair and blue eyes?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t make me proud to say that but it might have been.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf turned to stare at Roggi.\u00a0 What a remarkable thing to say.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cShe was still my wife, lad.\u00a0 It would have been up to me to raise the child. It would have been hard, but I\u2019ve had to do hard things before.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi smiled sadly. \u201cI know you would have.\u00a0 You\u2019re a good man, Brynjolf.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf snorted. \u201cI\u2019ve been a thief my whole life. I got involved with the lad for reasons that had nothing to do with caring about him, not really, not at first. I\u2019ve spent this last part of my life as a vampire, Roggi. Living off other people\u2019s blood. \u00a0Good? No.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi snorted.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I used to torture people for Ulfric Stormcloak. Don\u2019t try to tell me who\u2019s good or not. The thing is, Bryn; did Dag understand that? Did she know you wouldn\u2019t have tried to hurt her? Or me? Or the babe?\u00a0 Maybe she was afraid.\u00a0 She said she didn\u2019t know she was pregnant, but think about what it must have felt like when she realized it? How could she return to the Guild and just wait to find out whose child she was carrying?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded, slowly.<\/p>\n It\u2019s something to think about, anyway.\u00a0 And if I am really honest, what would have happened? It\u2019s not as though I never lost my temper with her before.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI have to think about it, Roggi. And right now my head hurts. Outside,\u201d he said, rubbing the spot where he\u2019d landed against the stones, \u201cand inside. It\u2019s too much for one day.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi pushed himself up to his feet and held out a hand. \u201cWell, come inside, then.\u201d He peered up at the sky. \u201cIt\u2019s getting to be midday and you\u2019ll need something to eat, I assume.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf was ready to decline the offer, but his stomach suddenly growled loudly.<\/p>\n \u201cOh brother.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to have to get used to this again. I guess I do need food. I surely\u00a0 don\u2019t feel hungry, but\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He took Roggi\u2019s hand and accepted the boost to stand.<\/p>\n He looked around, down the shore toward Dawnstar, where he could see people moving about on their daily business.\u00a0 It had turned into a beautiful day, and he realized as he took it in that the sun felt good on his skin, the colors seemed brighter, the air smelled fresher, and he didn\u2019t have the urge to run for the darkest shadow he could find.<\/p>\n And yet, look at them all.\u00a0 Acting as though nothing unusual has happened just down the beach from them.\u00a0 But for me, my life will never be the same again.<\/em><\/p>\n He looked at Roggi and nodded.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s go. I need to see whether Sayma has a vessel of some kind that I can borrow.\u201d He inclined his head toward the glimmering pile of ruby-red ash near their feet. \u201cI need to take him home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi led him from the beach to the Black Door, and pounded on it several times.\u00a0 As the door creaked open, Brynjolf looked back to be certain that the ashes were still there, and then quietly stepped inside.<\/p>\n Brynjolf came running down the shore just as the posse, congratulating themselves on a job well done, made its way back toward town. He ignored them, looking up and down the shoreline. Surely he hadn\u2019t seen what he thought he just saw. It couldn\u2019t be possible.\u00a0 He had to have been hallucinating, after the spell … <\/p>\n