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Roggi held up his hand to stop Dagnell, and pointed.\u00a0 They were outside Cragslane, looking at a set of large cages holding what looked like pit wolves.\u00a0 There was a small campsite set up near them.\u00a0 The wolves knew they were there, judging by their howling.\u00a0 Next to the cages, though, was an Orc in Nordic armor, holding up a wicked-looking warhammer, peering anxiously in their direction.\u00a0 He knew they were there, too, but he hadn\u2019t spotted them yet.<\/p>\n
Dag had her bow at the ready, but Roggi shook his head and waggled his.\u00a0 The enchantment on it would help take down the big man.\u00a0 She nodded and moved a little farther into the bushes to give him as much space as she could for the clearest shot possible.<\/p>\n
Roggi drew the bow, taking a deep breath.\u00a0 It seemed like a lifetime before he loosed it.\u00a0 When he did, the arrow flew straight and true and buried itself in the Orc with a resounding thud, and he dropped to the ground.\u00a0 Dag released the breath she hadn\u2019t realized she was holding.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat shot,\u201d she whispered to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks,\u201d he replied, with a grim smile.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n
They crept forward, ready for an attack, but there was nothing else outside the cavern door except the wolves.\u00a0 \u201cOk,\u201d Dag said.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what we\u2019re going to find in there but I\u2019m ready.\u00a0 You?\u201d<\/p>\n
Roggi nodded.\u00a0 \u201cAre you sure you\u2019ll be alright?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bless him, she thought, he doesn\u2019t know why this is so hard for me but he knows that it is.\u00a0 I\u2019m so lucky he\u2019s here.\u00a0 \u201cYes.\u00a0 This operation needs to be shut down.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want them making even one more bottle of skooma in this place.\u201d<\/p>\n
The door into the cavern was like the one at Steamscorch Mine, wooden and on creaky hinges.\u00a0 It seemed to take forever to open it, because it threatened to wail a notice with every inch they moved it.\u00a0 Nobody came rushing out at them, though, and they finally slipped into the cavern and discovered why.\u00a0 There were wolves howling and men talking loudly, the sound echoing up the long passageway from a well-lit cavern at the far end.\u00a0 Whatever was going on, the people there had expected their door guard to keep it free from intruders and weren\u2019t worried that they were making enough noise to raise the dead.<\/p>\n
Near the end of the corridor was a lone figure standing in the shadow of a roof support.\u00a0 Dag had the better line of sight; she drew her bow, used some spider venom to poison an arrow, and dropped him silently.\u00a0 Nobody else came rushing out at them, so they continued moving toward the larger room.<\/p>\n
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The corridor opened up onto a platform overlooking a pit wolf fighting ring.\u00a0 At the far end of the room there was a bar with a big Nord behind it; three men were lurching about near the ring, yelling encouragement to the two wolves trying to rip each\u00a0other to shreds.<\/p>\n
Dag frowned.\u00a0 This gambling den was ugly enough, but she didn\u2019t see anything that looked like a skooma manufacturing setup.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, as though she had tapped him on the shoulder, one of the men looked up and stared her straight in the eye.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell what do we have here?\u201d he yelled, and headed for the ramp.\u00a0 The other two men took a second to collect their wits, but when they finally spotted her they ran too; and the bartender reached under his bar and then darted out from behind it.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrap,\u201d Dag muttered.\u00a0 She pulled her bow and shot at the bartender, but the arrow struck the rope railing in front of her instead of going where she\u2019d aimed.\u00a0 \u201cDamn!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Roggi had backed up into the corridor, just high enough to get a good angle on the first man up the ramp, and managed to catch him in the shoulder, sending him flying.<\/p>\n
Dag wasn\u2019t going to have time for another arrow.\u00a0 She drew her swords and rushed the second man in line, slicing his arms hard.\u00a0 He yowled and dropped the dagger he\u2019d been flailing about, grabbing at his wound; that was all the time she needed to take him down.<\/p>\n
Roggi came running up beside her with his greatsword high and in front.\u00a0 The third gambler never had a chance against it.\u00a0 The bartender, though, was tougher, and sober; and he\u2019d seen the carnage happening and backed up to get more fighting space.\u00a0 Dag was having a hard time to scramble over the gamblers\u2019 bodies, but Roggi rushed down the ramp toward the bartender, knocking him sideways.\u00a0 Roggi\u2019s swing missed.\u00a0 The bartender took a wide swipe at him; but it ended when Dag sliced off the hand holding the dagger, and then kept him from screaming with a quick slash across his throat.<\/p>\n
Roggi nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThanks for that.\u00a0 I think he would have gotten me.\u00a0 I was off-balance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag looked around in disgust.\u00a0 \u201cSo this is a gambling set-up.\u00a0 Where\u2019s the skooma?\u201d\u00a0 She stomped down into the room and behind the bar.\u00a0 There were a dozen or so skooma bottles behind the bar, and she happily smashed them onto the floor; but there was nothing here that looked like a place to refine moon sugar.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOver here,\u201d Roggi said.\u00a0 She looked up to see him pointing behind the wolf pens.\u00a0 There was light flickering out of another opening.\u00a0 She nodded and moved toward it, to get a look at the next room.<\/p>\n
There was definitely an alchemy station set up in the far room, with a beefy Dunmer leaning over it, singing quietly to himself.\u00a0 Roggi took out his bow and indicated that he was going to try to dispatch the man.\u00a0 She nodded and stepped back out of the way.<\/p>\n
But the Dunmer only jerked upright when Roggi\u2019s arrow hit him.\u00a0 He yelled and reached for a massive warhammer that glowed with some enchantment, then ran up the passage toward them.\u00a0 Dag and Roggi exchanged one startled glance and drew their swords.<\/p>\n
This was one of the ugliest Dunmer she\u2019d ever seen, and he was mad and had that hammer raised over his head when he reached Dag.\u00a0 She\u2019d seen him coming and moved to block the blow, but he was bigger than her and the hammer was heavy; even rolling at the last moment didn\u2019t save her from being clipped in the shoulder. It was then that she learned what enchantment it carried.\u00a0 The shock magic it poured onto her sent every muscle into painful cramps, and the sheer force of the blow threw her back against the fence surrounding the pit wolves, making her drop her swords. The wolves were in a frenzy, snapping and howling, and as she fought the pain she realized that one more step backward would have her tumbling over the fence and into their jaws.<\/p>\n
Roggi rushed the Dunmer while he was trying to raise his warhammer for another blow.\u00a0 His greatsword was also big and heavy, but he was able to use the diagonal slicing motion she\u2019d seen him use before to catch the Dunmer\u2019s side.\u00a0 Roggi whirled away while the Dunmer shrieked.<\/p>\n
Dag fought the cramps to reach for the swords she\u2019d dropped and to force herself upright.\u00a0 Her muscles started to respond, and she moved forward just as the Dunmer raised his weapon to hammer at Roggi.\u00a0 No, she thought. You won\u2019t have him.\u00a0 She ran forward and began hacking wildly at the man, her control poor at best.\u00a0 He dropped the hammer.\u00a0 Roggi turned back, raised his sword, and brought it down on the Dunmer\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 He gasped once, then dropped to the floor, dying.<\/p>\n
Roggi dropped his sword and grabbed Dag by the shoulders.\u00a0 \u201cAre you alright?\u201d he asked urgently, scanning her for wounds.<\/p>\n
Her shoulder was on fire from the glancing blow, and her muscles ached abominably, but she nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I\u2019m ok,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cThat hammer hurt. I\u2019ll be sore for awhile but nothing feels broken. But that shock magic was ugly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roggi blew out a deep breath.\u00a0 \u201cI thought he had you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I thought he had you.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad we\u2019re ok.\u00a0 What say we go break up a skooma operation.\u201d\u00a0 She shook herself a bit to work out the cramps and walked toward the door; Roggi picked up and sheathed his sword and followed.<\/p>\n
But in the far room, Dag saw nothing.\u00a0 There was a chest. \u00a0And a bed.\u00a0 And a table set with wooden bowls and forks. And a normal alchemy station, topped with empty bottles and the ingredients to make some common poisons; the Dunmer had been about to work on some, by the looks.\u00a0 There was a set of shelves facing away from the door, with a few bowls of moon sugar and maybe two dozen bottles of skooma.\u00a0 There were a few books, a couple of changes of unremarkable clothing, and spare candles. There was nothing that looked like a refinery, and no hidden openings to another chamber. Dag started rummaging through the room, grabbing unrelated, everyday things and hurling them aside, her anger and frustration mounting with every second that passed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is it?\u201d she growled. \u201cWhere?\u201d\u00a0 She grabbed bottles of skooma from the shelves and started hurling them at the wall. \u201cWhere!\u00a0 Is!\u00a0 It?\u201d she yelled, smashing a bottle with each word.\u00a0 \u201cI came here to shut down a skooma refinery!\u00a0 WHERE IS IT??\u201d\u00a0 She swept clutter off the shelves and table, ransacked the bedside table, upended the bed, smashed every bottle of skooma. I thought I could make it right. \u00a0I thought I could fix it.<\/em> \u00a0But it would never be fixed, and she would always be alone. The more things she threw, the more she felt as though she would explode, until she found herself wailing, shrieking, howling along with the pit wolves in the next room.<\/p>\n \u201cDagnell.\u00a0 Dag.\u00a0 Stop.\u201d\u00a0 Roggi came up behind her and put his arms around her, his voice deep and soothing, but sad. \u201cStop.\u00a0 We got them.\u00a0 This is all there is here.\u00a0 It\u2019s ok.\u00a0 Stop now.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag turned and looked up at him.\u00a0 His expression said that, even though he couldn\u2019t know what the circumstances were, he recognized deep sorrow when he saw it. Dag threw her arms around Roggi, buried her face in his chest, and sobbed.\u00a0 He just held her.\u00a0 They stood there like that for a long time, him holding her and stroking her hair, while she wept for Coyle and Doran and Wujeeta, and for herself.<\/p>\n Finally, her sobs died down to sniffles.\u00a0 Still, Roggi held her close.\u00a0 She took a deep, shuddering breath.<\/p>\n \u201cThank the gods you were with me, Roggi. I\u2019m not sure what I might have done if you hadn\u2019t been.\u201d<\/p>\n He hugged her a bit tighter. \u201cI told you I would keep you safe, and I\u2019m not going to break my promise.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag nodded, not able to speak for fear of bursting into tears again. It wasn\u2019t that she needed him to keep her safe. \u00a0She was more than capable of doing that, had been doing so since she was a small girl. \u00a0But he had given her something she needed; because in spite of it all she wasn\u2019t alone, not right now, not when she hadn\u2019t been sure there was a good reason to keep on persevering. \u00a0There was someone who cared enough about her to have risked himself right alongside her. \u00a0That meant something. \u00a0It wouldn\u2019t bring back Coyle but it meant something.<\/p>\n They put down the wolves, both inside and out, to spare them death by starvation.\u00a0 They left everything else as it was, taking nothing with them but a couple bottles of mead that had been stashed behind the bar, and walked up the path away from the cavern, finding a quiet spot to make camp.<\/p>\n Roggi had given her a mead, which she had gratefully accepted, but had barely spoken while he laid a fire.\u00a0 Now he sat down beside Dag and put one arm around her for a moment, a comforting gesture that threatened to make Dag start sniffling again. Roggi was so very different, out here on the road, than he had been when she met him in the mine.\u00a0 He was self-assured and strong and she had begun to rely on that strength. And<\/em> what else<\/em>? her sarcastic voice asked.\u00a0 You don\u2019t just rely on his strength, do you?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSo do you want to talk about it?\u201d he asked, disengaging and reaching for a drink.<\/p>\n No, she thought. I don\u2019t ever want to talk about it.\u00a0 But I probably owe him this much.\u00a0 She nodded, but she couldn\u2019t meet his eyes. \u201cHis name was Coyle.\u00a0 He was\u2026 my first.\u201d\u00a0 Roggi nodded.\u00a0 \u201cAnd his best friend Doran.\u00a0 We all grew up together. They made a mistake, and we all paid for it. I couldn\u2019t help them. They wouldn\u2019t let me.\u00a0 It\u2019s been\u2026 very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you helped Wujeeta. That was a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag nodded; the knot was rising in her throat again.\u00a0 \u201cI had to. I couldn\u2019t see that happen again.\u00a0 Not to anyone, even someone I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that after losing your parents.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how you could not be bitter.\u201d<\/p>\n For several minutes, they sat in silence. \u00a0Dag didn\u2019t know what else to say, was pretty sure that she couldn\u2019t say anything else, had cried out every shred of energy she had.<\/p>\n Then Roggi cleared his throat. His voice was soft, barely a whisper when he spoke.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a – a girl. Briinda.\u00a0 The prettiest thing you ever saw.\u00a0 Tiny, blonde hair and blue eyes. Strong, a true Nord. She favored war axes. She was\u2026\u201d He gave the merest ghost of a smile, as if looking at her sitting across the fire from him.\u00a0 \u201cShe was also a Stormcloak. That\u2019s how I met her.\u201d<\/p>\n He cleared his throat again and looked up at the trees, frowning. \u201cThat\u2019s also how it happens that I have \u2013 how did you put it? opinions<\/em> — about Ulfric.\u00a0 He also had his eye on Briinda when we were in Windhelm.\u00a0 She was having none of it, but he surely tried hard.\u00a0 Even tried to pull his rank. What a pitiful way to win a woman. But I guess it\u2019s like everything else. He doesn\u2019t ask<\/em>. He orders<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 His voice sneered as much as his face did.<\/p>\n Then he sighed. \u201cAnd she could sing a song like nobody you ever heard. Could have been a bard. I don\u2019t know why she picked me, but she did.\u201d He shrugged, and his head dropped.<\/p>\n Dag wasn\u2019t surprised that Roggi had had someone special, but she was afraid she could guess what was coming next.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you sing together?\u201d she asked quietly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll bet that would have been a beautiful sound.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes,\u201d he said, sadly. \u201cSometimes we did.\u201d\u00a0 He sighed. \u201cYou asked me, before, whether my family was somewhere else.\u00a0 Well, the whole clan was on the road to Riften so that she and I – could be married.”\u00a0 He paused and shook his head. “Bandits.\u00a0 I was the only one who got out alive.\u00a0 If you can call it alive, the way I’ve been living since then. Kjeld\u2019s the only one left who knows.\u201d<\/p>\n He might as well have struck her in the gut with the bandit\u2019s hammer.\u00a0 It felt as though all the air had left her lungs.<\/p>\n Dag looked up at him.\u00a0 He was staring at the fire, but his face was wet where a few tears had rolled down it.<\/p>\n \u201cOh Roggi.\u00a0 I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d\u00a0 Dag wrapped her arms around him and held tight.\u00a0No wonder he had seen her pain. The truth was even more painful than what she\u2019d imagined.\u00a0 And she cared about that more than she had ever expected to.<\/p>\n They held each other all that night, but that was all. It would have to be enough.<\/p>\n Roggi held up his hand to stop Dagnell, and pointed.\u00a0 They were outside Cragslane, looking at a set of large cages holding what looked like pit wolves.\u00a0 There was a small campsite set up near them.\u00a0 The wolves knew they were there, judging by their howling.\u00a0 Next to the cages, though, was an Orc in … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/1-1-22-4.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Survivors<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"