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<\/p>\nIt was going to take several moments for Dardeh\u2019s eyes to adjust to the darkness in Moss Mother Cave. His hearing was fine, though, and he heard bears snorting and growling somewhere ahead of him in the darkness.<\/p>\n
They\u2019d been almost back to Mammoth Manor when Roggi stopped him, cocking his head to one side. He heard something, he\u2019d said, and they needed to check it out.\u00a0 There was a path just across the road from their home, a path leading into the deeper forests on the westernmost border of Falkreath Hold, and it was in that direction that Roggi led them.\u00a0 Not too far down the path they had heard the voice of a man muttering to himself; that had led them to a badly-wounded hunter named Valdr, seated just outside the cave. He\u2019d been part of a group hunting the bears, but once they\u2019d gone inside spriggans had killed the others and he had barely escaped. There were two of them in there, he said, and he didn\u2019t want to simply leave their bodies to rot.<\/p>\n
Dardeh personally had been ready to see their children and spend some time resting in his own bed, but Roggi was insistent that they help this poor man retrieve the bodies of his friends.\u00a0 So in they went, after giving Valdr a powerful healing potion.<\/p>\n
Dardeh blinked several times and found his vision clearing; just as well, because the bear he\u2019d heard had gone silent and he couldn\u2019t use it to judge direction any longer.\u00a0 There was a torch up ahead throwing a tiny bit of light, and he headed for it, bow drawn.\u00a0 They swung around a corner to the right.<\/p>\n
On the floor of the cavern just ahead of them he saw a dark mound that could only be the carcass of a bear. He frowned, and squinted into the dim, misty light ahead.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSpriggan,\u201d Roggi whispered from just behind him.<\/p>\n
At last he caught movement from a spot just in front of the cavern\u2019s wall.\u00a0 It was definitely a spriggan: nothing else had that same odd, angular shape, not even a dwarven construct. Dardeh took careful aim on it and loosed an arrow.\u00a0 His first shot struck the creature dead-center. It suddenly went invisible and Dardeh\u2019s second shot missed; but the spriggan had some variety of magic enabled that emitted bright specks of light.\u00a0 He watched the specks move down a ramp in the cavern and approach and then shot at them.\u00a0 The arrow\u2019s impact broke the spriggan\u2019s invisibility.<\/p>\n
Dardeh sneered.\u00a0 Spriggans were woody creatures.<\/p>\n
\u201cYOL \u2013 TOOR SHUL!\u201d<\/p>\n
The spriggan cringed backward as it caught fire.\u00a0 Roggi ran past Dardeh and through the lingering flames to begin hacking at it, knocking it down.\u00a0 Dardeh followed him, alarmed at the thought that Roggi himself might catch fire, and they lay waste to the spriggan. He whirled to stare at Roggi.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you alright?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course. What\u2019s the matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh had a flare of bad temper. He wanted to shout at Roggi to stop<\/em> running in front of him, it was dangerous, he might die. But he thought about how poorly his outbursts had ended recently. He\u2019d been afraid that he\u2019d destroyed his relationship with Roggi over just such an outburst and didn\u2019t want to risk such a thing happening again. He took a deep breath instead.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just worried that you\u2019d stepped into the flames. You look fine though.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi nodded. \u201cSorry about that, Dar. It\u2019s a bad habit. I\u2019m fine.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh grinned, surprised but pleased that Roggi had acknowledged his own occasional foolhardiness.\u00a0 The spriggan wasn\u2019t a dragon, but it could have killed him just as thoroughly.\u00a0 Both of us are being careful with each other right now, I see.<\/em> Well, I guess it\u2019s important to pay attention to reality once in awhile.<\/em><\/p>\n A few steps across the open cavern had them finding the body of the first of Valdr\u2019s companions. \u00a0She was lying in a pool of blood, face-down. Roggi squatted next to her and felt her neck for a pulse, even though both of them knew she was dead.\u00a0 He shook his head and stroked her hair before standing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat killed her? The bear?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi stroked his beard, thinking. \u201cI don\u2019t think so. Valdr said they were pelt-hunting.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to guess that they killed that bear, then wandered too close to the spriggan and it killed her. Or\u2026 them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose so. Those claws are dangerous enough even without its poison and magic.\u201d Dardeh looked around. \u201cBut we heard a bear when we came in. It\u2019s not this bear. Keep your ears peeled and eyes open because I think we\u2019re going to find another.\u201d<\/p>\n Not far beyond the body was an area where a deeper, central channel was flanked by ledges on either side.\u00a0 A downed tree straddled the opening, looking as though it had been purposefully placed to serve as a bridge across to the ledge on their right.\u00a0 Dardeh found a sloping path up to the left ledge and walked carefully across the log.\u00a0 There were definitely signs of people having been there; he saw one or two clear footprints as well as scuff marks that were older.\u00a0 He was about to go investigate when Roggi hissed.<\/p>\n \u201cBear.\u201d<\/p>\n He spun around to see that there was, indeed, another bear \u2013 likely the one he\u2019d heard earlier – wandering calmly toward the back of the cavern. They were going to have to get rid of it in order to find the other hunter\u2019s body. \u00a0He started unloading ebony arrows into the beast as quickly as he could draw the bow.\u00a0 The bear turned and rushed them, heading for the ramp across the gap.\u00a0 Before he could say anything Roggi had scurried back across the downed log and met the bear head-on at the top of the ramp. Two massive blows ended the confrontation before Dardeh even reached the end of the log.<\/p>\n \u201cBy Talos, Roggi, how can you be that strong?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi grinned. \u201cPractice. Oh, I guess I\u2019ve always had strong hands. I wasn\u2019t nearly in this kind of shape when your sister met me. Too much mead, too many years of doing only what I absolutely had to do. But it didn\u2019t take long to come back once I started working things again. Gotta be strong to keep up with the Dragonborn.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh rolled his eyes and laughed. \u201cYou really do have something special, though. You\u2019ve heard the others your age talking, how they\u2019re old men, all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, and it\u2019s just because they haven\u2019t kept at it. Brynjolf\u2019s my age and look at him. Man could lop the head off an assassin with one blow, and that was before<\/em> he was a vampire. He came back from being nearly dead and was still stronger than lots of those milk-drinkers who give up.\u201d He smiled. \u201cSometimes there\u2019s injury, or illness. Aside from that, not a one of these people we\u2019re helping out right now couldn\u2019t be just as strong as I am.\u201d<\/p>\n They pushed forward into the huge cavern that had clearly been hollowed out over the eons by action of the elements. An opening far above them let in enough moonlight for them to see a good distance ahead. It clearly let in plenty of sunshine during the day given the lush, thick foliage surrounding a pool fed by a trickle of water from another opening in the ceiling.<\/p>\n Just before they entered this larger space Dardeh caught something in his peripheral vision, a shape or color that was neither one of the fallen logs nor another natural object.\u00a0 He stepped toward it and knelt down, frowning as he realized that this was the second corpse they\u2019d been seeking.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, here he is. Do we keep going?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cValdr said spriggans, plural, and we\u2019ve only killed one. I think we\u2019d better at least check. It would be a huge waste for him to come in here after all of this and get killed because we weren\u2019t thorough.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOk. Seems reasonable to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the next half hour or so the two of them killed several more spriggans.\u00a0 The first stepped out of a tree \u2013 or so it appeared \u2013 just as Dardeh turned left into the main cavern.\u00a0 The second was an earth-mother: a much stronger and hardier spriggan that took a great deal more effort to subdue. She also stepped out of a tree, on the far side of the pool, just as they started up a sloped path that ran near to her. They had her down, at one point in the battle, down on her back; then she rose and ran away toward the cave\u2019s entrance.\u00a0 Roggi chased her down, yelling \u201cI\u2019ll carve you into pieces!\u201d and did just that, with Dardeh adding only a few blows at the end of the battle.<\/p>\n It was still dark when they found Valdr again, near the mouth of the cave.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s done, then,\u201d he said. \u201cJustice. If you can call it that.\u201d\u00a0 He handed Dardeh a dagger, and said \u201cLook, I want you to have this. I know it isn\u2019t much, but it\u2019s important to me. Ari gave me this dagger when we first started hunting together. Always said it brought her luck. You should be the one to carry it, now.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh started to open his mouth, to object. This was his friend\u2019s dagger, important to Valdr. Roggi\u2019s hand on his arm stopped him. He looked at Roggi and saw a soft smile on his face.<\/p>\n He\u2019s right. How important were Dadarh\u2019s swords to me, even after the original grips were burned away in Helgen? They carried meaning only for me. If I\u2019d given them to someone else the meaning would still have been mine.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Valdr,\u201d he said. \u201cThis means a great deal.\u201d<\/p>\n Valdr nodded. \u201cI\u2019ll give them a proper burial and then head back. Come find me if you\u2019re ever in Falkreath. You\u2019ll always be welcome at my door.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh and Roggi trudged back across the road and let themselves into the back door of Mammoth Manor.\u00a0 Dardeh took off his heavy boots in the smithing room, so as to be quieter, and padded across the floor to peek into the children\u2019s\u2019 bedroom.\u00a0 The girls \u2013 and the ever-watchful fox \u2013 were curled up in their beds, fast asleep; and he couldn\u2019t help but smile.<\/p>\n We\u2019re absentee dads most of the time these days.\u00a0 Ever since the war really heated up.\u00a0 But they have good people taking care of them, and they\u2019re warm and safe and not dependent on the charity of strangers any longer. I think they know we love them. I hope they do.<\/em> It doesn\u2019t matter how much I doubt myself most days. When I look at Lucia and Sofie I know I\u2019ve done something good in this world.<\/em><\/p>\n He found himself stifling a huge yawn as he made for the stairs up to their bedroom.\u00a0 It was going to feel so very good to stretch out and sleep after all the running, fighting, and falling they\u2019d done.\u00a0 He was mostly out of his armor by the time he stepped into the bedroom.<\/p>\n Roggi was already under the covers, his hair spread out over the pillows in the way that always made Dardeh smile. Roggi\u2019s day-to-day appearance was so neat and controlled, with his beard and hair pulled back and tied up.\u00a0 When he let his hair down, he seemed like someone else altogether.\u00a0 Dardeh remembered the first time he\u2019d seen Roggi with his hair free; it had been right after Ulfric tossed Roggi into the table with his Voice and broke his rib. He remembered the vivid bruise spreading across Roggi\u2019s back as he struggled to bind his own wounds, perched at the edge of the bed in Candlehearth Hall.<\/p>\n And there was I, trying to keep it all under control while looking at all that gorgeous hair, and having to run my hands over his back to fix that rib in position. It\u2019s a wonder I managed to not give myself away that day. Who knew that he was looking at me the same way, even then?<\/em><\/p>\n Well, I guess Ma did.\u00a0 She and Ulfric. <\/em><\/p>\n Dardeh smiled at his husband and slid into the bed beside him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not asleep already, are you?\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n Roggi rolled over and propped himself up on one elbow, smiling. \u201cNot even close,\u201d he said.\u00a0 He moved closer to Dardeh, sliding his warm, pale body over Dardeh\u2019s and leaning in to wrap him in a long, sensuous kiss.\u00a0 The hair Dardeh loved so much fell down around both of them.\u00a0 Dardeh had been utterly worn out, and ready for sleep, but he found himself responding to Roggi as he always did, eagerly and with every inch of his body.\u00a0 He lifted his arms to pull Roggi closer.<\/p>\n That was when things got\u2026 interesting.<\/p>\n Roggi stopped him.\u00a0 He slid his own hands along Dardeh\u2019s arms, pushing them up over his head, and stopped when his hands reached Dardeh\u2019s wrists.\u00a0 He lifted himself up and left the kiss, long enough to shake his head and smile.<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAw, come on, Roggi, I want to hold you.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi\u2019s eyes were dancing with some emotion Dardeh couldn\u2019t quite identify. \u201cAnd I told you no.\u201d<\/p>\n Before he could pull his hand away, Roggi had somehow, in one quick movement, slipped a loop of leather cording around Dardeh\u2019s wrist.\u00a0 He felt his arm being pulled higher, toward the head of the bed, and for a moment Dardeh felt a twinge of panic. He tried to pull his other hand free but realized that he couldn\u2019t. Roggi was much stronger than he was, Dragonborn or not; and a moment later his second hand was also held fast above his head.<\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever I want,\u201d Roggi said in that low voice that never failed to excite Dardeh no matter how angry or frustrated or distracted he might otherwise be. He swung himself up over Dardeh, facing backward, and slipped more leather strips around Dardeh\u2019s ankles. He fastened the first to the foot of the bed, pulling Dardeh\u2019s leg out straight while using his own weight to pin the other; and then repeated the procedure, leaving Dardeh completely unable to move.<\/p>\n \u201cRoggi, what is this\u2026\u201d he hissed.<\/p>\n Roggi swung back around and straddled Dardeh, grinning down at him.<\/p>\n \u201cExciting, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh wanted to say no, but he knew that the evidence Roggi could see made it obvious that it was. And Roggi clearly found it so. Instead, he repeated \u201cwhat are you going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019m good at, Dar,\u201d Roggi said. He reached across the bed and produced from somewhere \u2013 probably under the pillow where Dardeh couldn\u2019t see \u2013 a piece of soft-looking cloth.<\/p>\n What is this?<\/em><\/p>\n Roggi was quick. Dardeh didn\u2019t have a chance to say a word; and a moment later he couldn\u2019t have said a word even if he wanted to, for Roggi had him gagged before he could protest.<\/p>\n What is he doing?\u00a0 What he\u2019s good at is\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n Roggi?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNow then,\u201d Roggi said, straddling Dardeh once again. \u201cIsn\u2019t this interesting?\u00a0 I have you under my complete control.\u00a0 I could pretty much do anything I wanted to you, Dardeh, and you couldn\u2019t stop me, not even with one of those Shouts of yours. What should<\/em> I do? I told you I was going to do what I\u2019m really good at. What do you suppose I mean by that?\u201d<\/p>\n He maneuvered himself off the bed, stood, and walked toward the safe. Dardeh heard the click of the lock as Roggi bent over it, and the squeak as its door opened.<\/p>\n By the Nine. He has a set of tools in there, doesn\u2019t he; the ones he brought home from the Thalmor prison. <\/em><\/p>\n He found himself squeaking in panic as the realization hit him, his heart rate rising. He pulled against the bindings but realized that his hands were too beefy, his wrists too thick, for him to be able to maneuver himself out of them. He was well and truly trapped.\u00a0 His mind flashed back to the room where they\u2019d found Korst, when Roggi had said Dar couldn\u2019t help him \u201cunless you can revive one of these guys and tie him to the rack so I can get in some practice.\u201d<\/p>\n He shuddered.<\/p>\n Roggi wouldn\u2019t hurt me, would he? Could he really do something like that to me?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n As Dardeh grunted, pulling against the bindings, Roggi straightened and turned back to him.\u00a0 His eyes were dark with excitement, and he was grinning. Dardeh couldn\u2019t see his hands.<\/p>\n \u201cInteresting, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Roggi asked, moving slowly back toward the bed. \u201cYou can\u2019t move, you can\u2019t speak, you can\u2019t do anything at all except wait and see what I want.\u00a0 And you know the kinds of things I\u2019m good at, don\u2019t you, Dar?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi slipped back onto the foot of the bed and straddled Dardeh once more as Dardeh\u2019s heart started to pound in fright. He looked at Dardeh, saw the terror that by now had to be showing clearly in his eyes, and laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cTold you I tortured people for a living, Dar. You don\u2019t imagine I did all of it with my toolkit, do you?\u00a0 There\u2019s an art to it. You have to be able to see what will frighten a person the most.\u00a0 I\u2019m really good at that.\u201d<\/p>\n Ysmir\u2019s beard, Roggi.<\/em><\/p>\n Roggi watched him for a moment longer.\u00a0 Dardeh knew he must look completely panicked.\u00a0 He also knew that any physical excitement he might have been feeling up to that point had utterly fled in the face of the terror of having the man he loved show his true colors in a way he hadn\u2019t ever, before.<\/p>\n Roggi sighed. His eyes softened for a moment. He held up his empty hands for Dardeh to see; and if Dardeh hadn\u2019t already been on the bed he surely would have fallen as he realized that the toolkit was still in the safe.<\/p>\n \u201cDar, I need to say something and I need you to truly pay attention.\u00a0 Can you do that for me?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh nodded, and made a noise that would have been yes if he\u2019d been able to use his lips or tongue.\u00a0 Roggi smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t ever hold me with a Shout again. Just don\u2019t<\/em>. I know it\u2019s in your nature to react with your Voice. It\u2019s one of the things that makes you exciting, and you excite me more than anyone else I\u2019ve ever known. Which, I\u2019ll have you know, is really something.\u201d\u00a0 He began caressing Dardeh\u2019s stomach with his hands as he spoke. \u201cBut this is what it feels like, that complete helplessness. I\u2019m sure this is what it feels like for all those people I tie to the rack.\u201d He grinned. \u201cYou\u2019re surprised I could do it so easily, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh managed to nod.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m good at what I do. Possibly the best. That\u2019s why people are afraid when they realize who I am. Even Ulfric is afraid of me. I\u2019m fast, and I\u2019m strong.\u201d He leaned forward and stared at Dardeh, his eyes intense. \u201cBut I was terrified<\/em> when you held me with that Shout, Dar. I couldn\u2019t do anything<\/em>. I was angry, yes, but mostly I was terrified. I\u2019ve seen what you can do to people with your Voice when you\u2019re angry, and I didn\u2019t know what you intended to do to me.\u201d He shook his head, his hair dropping down and partially obscuring his face. \u201cDardeh, you needed to know what it feels like, so that you don\u2019t use it as a convenience ever again.\u201d He sat back up and grinned. His eyes were dancing, his gaze almost hungry. \u201cAnd you needed to see what I<\/em> feel like when I\u2019m the one in control. Don\u2019t ever do that to me again, Dar. OK?\u201d<\/p>\n Oh gods, Roggi, I am so sorry. I told you I was sorry but I can see that\u2019s not enough.<\/em><\/p>\n He nodded, feeling the tears gathering in his eyes.<\/p>\n Roggi slipped off Dardeh onto the bed beside him, and reached out to touch Dardeh\u2019s face.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t ever hurt you, Dardeh,\u201d he said softly. \u201cI couldn\u2019t possibly. It would be hurting myself and, warped though I may be, hurting myself is not a thing I enjoy.\u00a0 I love you, Dar. I just wanted you to see what it\u2019s like on the other side of that much power.\u00a0 Like I told you. I\u2019m powerful too.\u201d He reached up and scooped his hair back out of his face.<\/p>\n \u201cNow then. There are a number of other things I\u2019m really good at. I think it might be time I remind you of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi\u2019s hands began doing things. His mouth did other things.\u00a0 Dardeh found himself moaning against the gag in his mouth, tears running down his cheeks because he was so sorry he\u2019d hurt Roggi and the moans happening involuntarily as Roggi teased his body to the brink over and over, stopping just before he reached his release only to wait a few moments and start again.<\/p>\n It was a very long time before Roggi finally took the gag out of Dardeh\u2019s mouth and released the bonds from his arms and legs.\u00a0 Dardeh pulled Roggi to him, exhausted, fitting himself against Roggi\u2019s warm back, and pulled the covers over them.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t sure what it was that he wanted to say, exactly.<\/p>\n Finally he leaned forward and kissed Roggi\u2019s neck. He was rewarded with a low rumble of satisfaction and contentment.<\/p>\n \u201cRoggi.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou are so<\/em> good at that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhich?\u201d<\/p>\n He chuckled. \u201cAll of it.\u201d\u00a0 He knew that Roggi would understand.<\/p>\n All this time, he\u2019s always treated me as the superior in this relationship. Always, he acted as though mine was the only power that mattered.\u00a0 Now he\u2019s shown me what I always knew, somewhere \u2013 he\u2019s my equal in every way.<\/em><\/p>\n Roggi laughed. \u201cThank you, my love.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Roggi. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n I needed to be reminded of who I am.<\/em><\/p>\n A few moments later, both of them drifted off to sleep.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The next day Dardeh and Roggi spent time visiting with the children and the housecarls.\u00a0 Or, rather, they visited with Lydia. Rayya tended to stay back from the group and while she was friendly enough if they asked her a direct question she didn\u2019t volunteer information.\u00a0 Lydia still seemed a bit subdued, but Dardeh thought that was a reasonable reaction to having been on the losing side of the war and having her Jarl abandon her. He made certain to reassure her that he was beyond delighted to have her back in his household and that she never need be concerned about being left behind by either of them.<\/p>\n They also spent some time soothing aching muscles in the sauna. Dardeh had been afraid that he wouldn\u2019t be able to move after spending all that time straining against bindings the night before. They didn\u2019t speak about it at all. What he found instead was that he couldn\u2019t help swapping hungry, knowing glances with Roggi, the kind of glances they\u2019d shared after that first encounter in the tent, up on the southern border in the Rift.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll never take you for granted again, my love. I don\u2019t think I could even if I tried. <\/em><\/p>\n The looks Roggi gave him in return said that was all he wanted.<\/p>\n There would still be at least a day before Ulfric officially redeployed Shadrick\u2019s unit to Helgen and the messenger got back to Shadrick. Then they would need to strike camp and travel south.\u00a0 They tossed about the idea of just taking a few days to relax, but Dardeh was restless.<\/p>\n \u201cThis place, Roggi,\u201d he said, handing the book to his husband. \u201cFolgunthur. I\u2019d be willing to bet there\u2019s a dragon priest in there, and a word wall.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally, Dar? Again?\u201d Roggi looked down at the book and flipped through it.\u00a0 A few moments later he was nodding.\u00a0 \u201cOk, ok. You talked me into it.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi spent an hour or so working up some potions he thought might be useful for them to have, and Dardeh made sure there was a good edge on their weapons and no serious damage in their armor.\u00a0 They then hugged the girls, said goodbye to Lydia and Rayya, and started north.<\/p>\n They\u2019d descended from Falkreath Hold to the bleak tundra of Whiterun and were nearing Rorikstead when Roggi pointed to a collection of tents clustered around one of the old ruins.<\/p>\n \u201cThey weren\u2019t here the last time we came through, were they?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh scanned the horizon and shook his head. \u201cNo. That battle we saw was farther east.\u00a0 This must have popped up while we were away doing things for Valerius.\u201d\u00a0 He squinted, shaded his eyes and looked again at the encampment before them, and snorted when he saw what he thought looked like the red and brown of enemy uniforms.\u00a0 \u201cImperials?\u00a0 Are they really so cheeky as to have set up a camp right out in the open like this?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi nodded.\u00a0 \u201cSure looks like it.\u201d\u00a0 He grinned and slid his sword out of its sheath. \u201cWe could<\/em> send a runner to Ulfric to let him know what\u2019s going on, but\u2026 \u201c<\/p>\n Dardeh laughed. \u201cYeah I seem to remember your favorite Jarl telling us that if we ran across any groups of stragglers we would know what to do. Shall we?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe shall.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh readied his bow and ducked down low as they approached the camp. They were nearly able to touch the nearest of the tents by the time someone actually said \u201cImperial business. Be on your way!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, but this is on our way!\u201d Dardeh said, sinking an arrow into the man\u2019s head.\u00a0 A clanking to his left caught his attention; and not a moment too soon, as a pikeman was rushing toward him.\u00a0 He turned, pulled out his swords and braced himself; the man\u2019s weapon struck Dardeh\u2019s armor at just the right angle that it bounced off, throwing the soldier to the ground.\u00a0 Another, a swordsman, attacked from Dardeh\u2019s right; Dardeh Shouted and set him alight, then ran past and finished off the pikeman who was struggling to regain his feet.<\/p>\n He heard Roggi just behind him and to the right, and glanced back to see his husband slice through an archer.\u00a0 They exchanged a quick look \u2013 Roggi grinning from ear to ear \u2013 and then they both ran down the length of the row of tents to dispatch an officer in gaudy armor.\u00a0 It was quiet for a moment, and Dardeh thought they might be done; but Roggi\u2019s head suddenly swiveled around.<\/p>\n \u201cIs someone there?\u201d he called out.<\/p>\n There was, in fact, another foot soldier at the far side of the camp. Dardeh had neither seen nor heard him.\u00a0 Roggi laughed. \u201cHa! Found you!\u201d and darted across a shallow pool of water to attack the man.\u00a0 Dardeh followed, marveling at how often Roggi spotted enemies before he did.\u00a0 It took them only a moment to finish the Imperial.<\/p>\n Dardeh heard mumbling from a tent just ahead of them and stepped in.\u00a0 There were three badly wounded soldiers lying on bedrolls on the ground.\u00a0 He stood there for a moment, just staring at them.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t likely to survive without a healer. Roggi had no magic and he had only a self-healing spell.<\/p>\n \u201cDamn it,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 Then, in a quick series of attacks, he put all three of them out of their misery. When he was done, he turned to leave the tent and found Roggi standing outside it, just staring at him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou ok, Dar?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh nodded. \u201cYes. I just couldn\u2019t see leaving them out here to suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi nodded. \u201cIt\u2019s a hard choice to make, sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes it takes a hard choice to teach you something about yourself,\u201d Dardeh answered.\u00a0 Then he headed north, wondering whether they would ever truly come to the end of the war he hadn\u2019t wanted a part in to begin with.<\/p>\n It was going to take several moments for Dardeh\u2019s eyes to adjust to the darkness in Moss Mother Cave. His hearing was fine, though, and he heard bears snorting and growling somewhere ahead of him in the darkness. They\u2019d been almost back to Mammoth Manor when Roggi stopped him, cocking his head to one side. … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/5-1-7-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Modulation<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"