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<\/p>\nThey were on a landing high up in a cavern, undoubtedly once a place of grandeur judging by the bits of ornate carved stone collapsed onto the floor and around the perimeter of the place.\u00a0 What was still stunning, breathtaking in fact, was just before them:\u00a0 an enormous statue.\u00a0 Sitting in cross-legged position, holding an open book the size of a small home\u2019s footprint, was a serene, beautiful, ethereal Snow Elf. Dag marveled at it. Did it represent a deity? Had people once come here to worship?\u00a0 Did the Falmer, even now? She had never seen a monument like it before, and it filled her with a sense of awe the likes of which she\u2019d never experienced.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And falling from its beautiful head was a huge, bluish-pink stone, pried from its eye socket by Mercer Frey.<\/p>\n
He dangled there at the top of the statue, not even as tall as its head, assaulting this amazing sculpture with a hammer.\u00a0 He caught the stone and slipped it into his pack, then turned to face them.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuard the door, Brynjolf,\u201d Karliah ordered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m on it, lass. Nothing\u2019s getting past me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dag moved out onto the lip of the balcony, still mesmerized by the beauty of the thing before her.\u00a0 She looked more closely and could see that the enormous ruff of its costume was splattered with blood.\u00a0 A dead Falmer lay at its base, its arms and legs bent at awkward angles.\u00a0 Even here, Mercer? You had to defile the statue by killing something on it as well as by prying out its eyes?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cKarliah, when will you learn that you can\u2019t get the drop on me?\u201d Mercer taunted, his voice bouncing off the walls and echoing through the cavern.<\/p>\n Dag\u2019s blood began to boil.\u00a0 Karliah and Mercer were speaking, but she couldn\u2019t hear them.\u00a0 All she could see was her prey.\u00a0 I\u2019m coming for you, Mercer.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to kill you.<\/em><\/p>\n Mercer waved in their direction and suddenly the platform on which she stood trembled, cracked away from the landing behind, and slid down to the floor, leaving Karliah and Brynjolf trapped at the landing above her.\u00a0 Dag fought to regain her balance.<\/p>\n Mercer walked down the stairs behind the statue\u2019s shoulder and looked directly at her.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Brynjolf brought you before me I sensed a shift in the wind, and I knew it would end up with one of us at the end of the other\u2019s blade.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag growled.\u00a0 \u201cGive me the Key, Mercer. You\u2019ve lost. Just give it up.\u201d<\/p>\n He laughed.\u00a0 It was a hollow, bitter sound.\u00a0 \u201cHas Karliah been filling your head with tales of thieves with honor<\/em>? Nocturnal doesn\u2019t care about you, she doesn\u2019t care about anyone.\u00a0 It\u2019s clear that you\u2019ll never see the Key as I do, as a tool of infinite wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag sneered. \u201cYou think this has anything to do with Nocturnal? You\u2019re an idiot, Mercer. Nocturnal is just a means to an end. I\u2019d rather have her with us than against us, but that\u2019s as far as it goes. This is personal, you skeever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, revenge, is it?\u201d He barked a short laugh again. \u201cHave you learned nothing in your time with us? When will you open your eyes and see how little my actions differ from your own?\u00a0 Both of us lie, cheat and steal to further our own ends.\u201d<\/p>\n The blood roared in Dag\u2019s ears.<\/p>\n \u201cLike you?\u00a0 You think I\u2019m like you?\u00a0 Ha!\u201d\u00a0 I need to kill him.\u00a0 I need to kill him right now.<\/em> Dag reached toward her swords and then stopped.\u00a0 Time enough for that later. First he was going to hear her out. She smiled at him, a sarcastic smile, and paced back and forth without taking her eyes off him.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, Mercer, you may be right about some of that.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had a lifetime of doing whatever I could to make it, and yes, sometimes I\u2019ve actually seemed to enjoy the less savory parts of it.\u00a0 But there are differences between us, you know.\u00a0 For one thing, I\u2019ll never use another person as a shield. At first I thought you were trying to have the draugr get rid of me.\u00a0 Now I think you were just afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n Mercer\u2019s frown deepened.\u00a0 He pulled his deadly life-draining sword. \u00a0Ah there we are, she thought. He didn\u2019t like being called a coward. Perhaps it would make him reckless.<\/p>\n \u201cOh yes, and there\u2019s more. I\u2019ll never steal from my family. The Skeleton Key could have been your goldmine, Mercer, but you were too lazy to use it on anything other than the easiest possible target, the Guild\u2019s vault.\u00a0 How pitiful.\u201d<\/p>\n Mercer snarled. \u00a0\u201cFamily? You make me laugh. How deluded. They\u2019re not your family. They\u2019re nobody\u2019s family, and they never were. There\u2019s not a one of them who wouldn\u2019t turn on you if there was a profit in it.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag glanced up at the ledge where Karliah and Brynjolf were watching, then back at Mercer. In spite of having been duped into joining the Guild, these people meant something to her.\u00a0 She felt like one of them. She wanted to be with them.<\/p>\n \u201cOh yes they are. They\u2019re not my birth family. I don\u2019t have one of those any more. But they are my chosen family, and they\u2019re very important. And that\u2019s the biggest difference between you and me. I\u2019ll never kill someone I love out of jealousy. You\u2019re a pitiful excuse for a man, Mercer Frey.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag knew she was just spewing big words.\u00a0 Deep inside she was terrified of fighting Mercer.\u00a0 He\u2019d already almost killed her once, and she\u2019d seen how lethal he was.\u00a0 But she would fight him, because it was left to her to do and because he needed to die for everything he had done.<\/p>\n And<\/em>? her sarcastic voice added.\u00a0 And why else?<\/em><\/p>\n Shut UP, Dag thought.<\/p>\n Mercer snarled and gave Dag a look of pure hatred. \u201cThen the die is cast, and once more my blade will taste Nightingale blood.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked up at Karliah and Brynjolf and made an odd motion toward them.\u00a0 Brynjolf cried out, an odd, stifled noise.\u00a0 Dag\u2019s head snapped around in time to see him attack Karliah with his ebony sword.\u00a0 What?\u00a0 He was outlined in the same corrupted red glow that she\u2019d seen from Mercer\u2019s blade.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d he cried.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t control it!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFight it, Brynjolf!\u201d Karliah yelped, blocking and slashing at his sword.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s taken control of you!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI \u2013 I can\u2019t!\u201d he shouted, whirling and slashing at her.<\/p>\n By all the gods, no, Dag\u2019s mind screamed.\u00a0 I saw this coming.\u00a0 Look at what Mercer\u2019s tapped into.\u00a0 I have to do something or Karliah is going to die. She\u2019s not nearly as strong in melee as she is with a bow.<\/p>\n Mercer practically strutted down from the statue. \u201cKarliah, you and Brynjolf should get better acquainted.\u00a0 I\u2019ll deal with you after I\u2019ve taken care of your irksome friend.\u201d<\/p>\n And then it got even worse.<\/p>\n The roof of the cavern had been weakened when Mercer had collapsed the lip she\u2019d been standing on, and it started to fall. The room started filling with water draining from the cracked Dwemer pipes that lined the walls.<\/p>\n Dagnell flew at Mercer.<\/p>\n She chased Mercer, slashing at him whenever she could get close enough, drawing blood but being hit by that awful sword of his.\u00a0 She could feel both the sharp pain of the blade and the sick pull of her life force being drained whenever he landed a blow.\u00a0 Not only that, but Mercer kept zipping in and out of invisibility, making himself impossible to track. Coward! she thought.\u00a0 Stand up and fight me!<\/p>\n She chased him up and down the steps surrounding the statue of the Snow Elf, dodging pieces of the collapsing roof, becoming angrier and angrier for herself and for all the others. But the running and chasing was doing nothing more than tiring her, wasting all her stamina, draining her blood; and she needed to kill him, more than anything else she had ever needed, a need that went beyond her mind and deep down into her very gut. The sound of Brynjolf\u2019s sword beating on Karliah\u2019s just added to her need.<\/p>\n Then she remembered the poisons. She\u2019d spent some time in her home using up every ingredient she had, making a number of common potions and poisons, trying her luck in spite of minimal training in alchemy, since she hadn\u2019t known what would be ahead.\u00a0 Two of them, though, had turned out to be stronger than the rest. One was a slow poison; it wouldn\u2019t kill him but it would make him very ill and hobble his movement speed.\u00a0 The other was Paralysis. It was not nearly as strong as the poison Karliah had used on her, but it was a strong mixture and it would do.\u00a0 Her heart started racing. It was perfect.\u00a0 The hunt is on, Mercer.\u00a0 Get ready.<\/em><\/p>\n She pulled her bow and dipped an arrow into the slow poison, then called out for him, taunting him with the one thing that she knew for certain made him truly angry.<\/p>\n \u201cStop hiding<\/em>, Mercer. Come fight me. Can you really be that afraid of your newest recruit? \u00a0A little Redguard girl who\u2019s half your age? Are you that much of a coward? Show me your face!\u201d<\/p>\n Mercer roared. She turned in the direction of the sound. To her left, at the top of the stairs, behind the Snow Elf\u2019s head. Dag pivoted and let the arrow fly.<\/p>\n Mercer staggered.\u00a0 She\u2019d hit him, not enough to kill him but enough to ensure that the poison was at work.<\/p>\n \u201cIs that it?\u201d he yelled.\u00a0 \u201cIs that your best?\u201d<\/p>\n He tried to move away, but the arrow had ensured that he could not move at speed. Dag smiled, a large smile, and dipped an arrow into the paralysis poison.\u00a0 She took aim.\u00a0 Like Roggi.\u00a0 Aim like Roggi.<\/em> The arrow flew.<\/p>\n Mercer looked stunned for a moment, then fell backward, frozen.<\/p>\n Dag ran up the stairs to him and peered down at him, smiling, excitement making her stomach flutter. She spoke, quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cThis feels familiar, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n She knew that there was only a moment or two left in which to act, but it seemed as though time had slowed by half.\u00a0 She pulled out Chillrend. It was all too perfect.<\/p>\n \u201cI found this beautiful blade in your house, Mercer.\u00a0 I\u2019ll bet it\u2019s awfully sharp,\u201d she said, passing it in front of his eyes. He looked angry, then terrified. \u00a0And he couldn\u2019t speak.<\/p>\n Dimly, as though from a great distance, Dag heard Karliah calling to her to get the Key before it was too late, they had to go, the room was collapsing, but Dag didn\u2019t care, couldn\u2019t see anything in the world except for Mercer staring up in fear. Her heartbeat was pounding in her excitement.<\/p>\n Hurry, lass, she heard.\u00a0 It sounded like Brynjolf, his voice anguished. I can\u2019t control this much longer.<\/p>\n Dag slowly looked up at the ledge where he and Karliah were locked in battle.\u00a0 Karliah was tiring.\u00a0 Brynjolf was going to win. He was so much bigger. He was so much stronger. He was going to kill Karliah.\u00a0 And it will destroy him, Dag thought. He will fall apart. I\u2019m sure of it.<\/p>\n Dag nodded.\u00a0 She smiled at Mercer, again, and then leaned down to whisper in his ear.<\/p>\n \u201cGoodbye, Mercer.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be sure to give your regards to Brynjolf.\u201d<\/p>\n And then she showed him Chillrend once more, just before she stabbed it through his heart, just so that he would know he was being killed by his own sword.<\/p>\n She looked down at him and saw his eyes cloud over and nothing had ever felt so good. She saw the blood pooling on the stairs around him and dipped a finger in it, tasting it, the familiar metallic bite of blood, but this was not from her own wound, not from a random encounter, but from the body of her fallen enemy, and tasting it felt heady like a strong drink. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the thrill that was washing over her, relishing the moment, wanting to keep it with her forever.<\/p>\n The sarcastic voice in the back of her mind roared with laughter, long and loud and harsh.\u00a0 There it is.<\/em> Always knew you were a killer. <\/em><\/p>\n Then a shout from Karliah caught her attention, broke the spell.\u00a0 The room was flooding more quickly. Water had risen almost to where she stood, and they need to find an escape.\u00a0 Dag grabbed the Key, Chillrend, the Eyes of the Falmer and everything else that was on Mercer.\u00a0 She looked about for Brynjolf.\u00a0 He and Karliah had jumped down into the water and were swimming, looking for an exit.<\/p>\n Dag started sculling as fast as possible, treading water, trying to find a way out.\u00a0 The air space was dwindling and the roof was shaking.\u00a0 She swam behind the statue\u2019s head and ducked as a large section of the wall broke loose.\u00a0 Her head popped up from the water just as it lifted her up to see an opening, a tunnel that had previously been blocked. The tunnel that thief\u2019s note had mentioned.<\/p>\n \u201cBrynjolf! Over here!\u201d she shrieked as loudly as she could, then scrambled up into the passage.\u00a0 She turned and looked behind her, desperate to see them, and the familiar figures rose from the water and dashed toward her.\u00a0 The tunnel was filling as well.\u00a0 They ran for the exit and emerged into a rising passage with a cave visible just beyond.<\/p>\n Dag put her hands on her knees and bent over, sucking air.\u00a0 Slow down, heart, she willed it.\u00a0 It\u2019s done.\u00a0 It\u2019s over.\u00a0 At last she had caught her breath enough to rise and approach Karliah.\u00a0 Brynjolf had already headed out toward the exit.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t believe it\u2019s over.\u00a0 Twenty five years of exile and it\u2019s done, just like that.\u201d She paused, shaking her head.\u00a0 I can\u2019t even imagine what must be going through her head right now, Dag thought. It\u2019ll hit her later on and she\u2019ll be a wreck for awhile.<\/p>\n \u201cNow all that remains is to return the Skeleton Key to the Sepulcher.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d best get going, then,\u201d Dag said, turning toward the cave.<\/p>\n \u201cWait,\u201d Karliah said, stopping her with a hand on her arm.<\/p>\n Brynjolf was needed back at the Guild, she said, to maintain order until Dag got back.\u00a0 And Karliah couldn\u2019t bear to face Nocturnal again at this moment, having failed to protect the key.\u00a0 Dag would have to do it alone.<\/p>\n Dag fumed silently. Right, she thought.\u00a0 While I\u2019m away, as though I\u2019m important to this. What would I be able to do to keep order, after all? I\u2019m not the Guildmaster, and I never will be if I have anything to do with it. As to you, Karliah, you\u2019ve already faced Nocturnal after losing the damn key, what\u2019s your sudden problem at this point?\u00a0 She ground her teeth, but managed to hold her temper.<\/p>\n \u201cAt least tell me what I\u2019m going into.\u201d<\/p>\n Karliah explained that normally they would have had access to the inner sanctum of the Sepulcher from within Nightingale Hall, but it was cut off when Mercer stole the Key.\u00a0 Its only access now was by way of a thing called the Pilgrim\u2019s Path, a set of trials that had been designed to test those who wished to serve Nocturnal in other ways.\u00a0 She had no idea what Dag would be facing.<\/p>\n Dag looked at her and sighed.\u00a0 Karliah is grieving. She\u2019s ashamed. She\u2019s not ready to deal with it all, not yet.\u00a0 I can do this much for her, even though it makes me feel taken advantage of.\u00a0 Again.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAll right, Karliah.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry.\u00a0 I\u2019ll return the Key.\u201d<\/p>\n Karliah nodded and headed for the mouth of the cave, leaving Dag alone with Brynjolf.<\/p>\n She walked toward his familiar figure, feeling odd.\u00a0 It was like a weight, from the satchel at her side, pulling at her.\u00a0 It\u2019s the Key, she realized.\u00a0 Is this what Mercer felt like every day?\u00a0 It knows you<\/em>, her other voice said.\u00a0 Dag shuddered, and stepped up to Brynjolf.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand why you won\u2019t come with me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She wasn\u2019t close enough to see his eyes under the Nightingale mask, so she knew he couldn\u2019t see hers pleading with him. You\u2019re so much stronger than I am, Brynjolf. I\u2019m not sure I can do this alone. I need you to come with me, I need your support, I can\u2019t do this without you, and I don\u2019t even understand why.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSomeone has to control that rabble in the Cistern,\u201d he said calmly, \u201cand right now, lass, I\u2019m the only someone we\u2019ve got.\u00a0 They won\u2019t accept Karliah, not yet, and Delvin and Vex have no idea what we just did. They\u2019re all waiting for news of Mercer\u2019s demise.\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t be a more precarious time. The last thing we need right now is for another power struggle to take more of our people, like it did after Gallus was murdered.\u00a0 And I need to reassure Maven that it\u2019s business as usual with Mercer gone, and that a new Guildmaster will be appointed soon.\u201d<\/p>\n He reached out to touch her shoulder, a gentle but reassuring squeeze. Dag sighed.\u00a0 He was right, of course.<\/p>\n \u201cListen, lass,\u201d he said. \u201cI have faith in you. I know that sounds odd coming from a thief, but these recent events have changed my perspective on a lot of things.\u201d<\/p>\n The warmth in his voice told her that he did have faith in her. \u00a0She nodded, looking at the floor. The ebbing adrenaline, the physical exhaustion, and the sound of his voice were catching up to her. All of it makes perfect sense, she thought.\u00a0 And yet, I simply don\u2019t want to be alone yet again. \u00a0Not now. I don\u2019t know what will happen if I am.<\/p>\n They walked slowly toward the door. She felt the weight of the Key in her satchel, thought about what it could do, what Mercer did with it.<\/p>\n Suddenly she started trembling, uncontrollably. She stumbled. Brynjolf grabbed her arm to steady her.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf going into the Sepulcher alone? Karliah thinks you can do it, and I am willing to trust her judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. I\u2019m afraid of what just happened. Brynjolf, you shouldn\u2019t have faith in me. I killed him. I killed Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a moment of silence.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t see his face, but was sure he was confused. So was she.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. That was the idea, wasn\u2019t it? We all wanted him dead. You were just the one who got to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n She looked up at him, knowing he couldn\u2019t see her face but feeling as though he could read her in spite of it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Brynjolf, I \u2026 I enjoyed<\/em> it. When I was chasing him, when I killed him. \u00a0I wanted to kill him anyway, but when I did, when I was closing in on him, it was like something bad happened to me. And now I have the Skeleton Key and I\u2019m afraid. I\u2019ve seen what it can do.\u00a0 Look what it did to Mercer. Look at what it did to you in his hands. I\u2019m\u2026 afraid. If it can reach\u2026 whatever it was that happened to me in there\u2026 \u00a0What is wrong with me?\u201d<\/p>\n She suddenly heard Roggi\u2019s bitter voice in her mind:\u00a0 \u201cSometimes I wonder what makes me any different from them.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf paused, a long pause.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t see his eyes, couldn\u2019t tell what he was thinking, and the pause terrified her.\u00a0 Finally he cleared his throat and spoke.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a survivor, someone who does what needs to be done, lass. Just like the rest of us in our little family. If we couldn\u2019t kill when we needed to we wouldn\u2019t be good at what we do. Even if we don\u2019t do it very often, everyone knows that we can and will. That\u2019s why I can get things done for us, and why Delvin has so much pull. People are afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n She knew that was the truth. She had seen it in the eyes of people who spoke about the Guild, starting with the shopkeepers in Riften.\u00a0 Even the ones who put on a good show of independence at first caved in when they thought he might use force on them. The Guild members were not nice people, not weak people, even when they put on a show of gentility as Brynjolf could do so well.<\/p>\n He sighed. \u201cI wanted to kill Mercer myself, you know that, you heard me say it more than once. I\u2019m sure Karliah felt the same.\u00a0 I think we\u2019ve all had moments when we just wanted to\u2026\u201d And he trailed off.\u00a0 What did he feel like, Dag wondered, after having that deep pool of potential for violence used against him like that?\u00a0 How terrible would it make a person feel to know they could do such things, even if they knew some of it already?<\/p>\n To her utter surprise, Brynjolf took her by the shoulders and pulled her to him, holding her close. He was warm, so warm. She was suddenly very aware of his muscles through the close fitting Nightingale armor. He held her for one, two heartbeats, maybe four. \u00a0Dag knew how many, because she could hear them, they were his; or rather, it was theirs, matching each other beat for beat. It was by far the best hug she had ever had; no tepid, loose contact but a firm, strong, confident embrace that wrapped her in reassurance. If believing everything would be all right could give a man the power to make it so, then she was sure she would be fine. Then Brynjolf lifted her chin and looked at her, from under the Nightingale mask, so that they could both see each other.\u00a0 Dag couldn\u2019t tell what he was thinking, but at least she could see his eyes above the Nightingale mask, brilliant emerald green, sparkling, warm.<\/p>\n By all the gods you have beautiful eyes, Brynjolf.<\/em><\/p>\n He let go of her, gently, then cleared his throat. He shook his head and spoke softly. \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it anymore, lass.\u00a0 He\u2019s dead and it\u2019s over.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be all right. Now go take care of that key before it hurts someone else.\u00a0 I know you can do this. We\u2019ll be waiting for you at home when you return. Without drawn weapons, this time.\u201d She couldn\u2019t see, but could feel, a grin beneath the mask.<\/p>\n Dag nodded and turned for the opening of the cave, the sun making her squint. She was just about to step through when she heard him again, speaking quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cJust remember to keep your eyes open, and walk true with the shadows.\u201d She thought she heard the slightest chuckle. \u201cAnd, uh\u2026 thank you, lass.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag whirled in surprise, but between her sun blindness and the black armor he had vanished. \u00a0Huh?\u00a0 Thank you for what?<\/em> Thank you for taking the Key, to be sure, but that hardly warranted a chuckle.<\/p>\n She stepped outside into the sun, disoriented, trying to take stock of where she was. The cavern had opened out onto the banks of a lake that fed a river flowing away to her left. Ancient bronze Dwemer intake pipes dipped into the lake, drawing up the water that had almost drowned them all. She looked at her map: Lake Yorgrim, the headwaters of the Yorgrim River that ran to Windhelm.\u00a0 They\u2019d travelled all the way under the lake, from the mountain to its south to the range on its north.<\/p>\n She took a deep breath.\u00a0 It would be all right.\u00a0 It had to have been the tension, the dark, the desperation of the situation.\u00a0 It\u2019s not me, she thought.\u00a0 It can\u2019t be.<\/p>\n Karliah had marked her map with the location of the Sepulcher. It was tucked away in an isolated corner at the farthest end of Falkreath Hold, an area that Dag had never been to before.\u00a0 It was going to be a long, long walk.\u00a0 She started down the northern edge of the lake, heading west to where it seemed the waterway would narrow, every part of her feeling unsettled.<\/p>\n She wasn\u2019t sure which was more unsettling, the way she had felt when she watched Mercer die, or the way she had felt when Brynjolf wrapped his arms around her. He\u2019d obviously meant it as a comforting hug.\u00a0 Her body and the perfect synchronization of their heartbeats had told her something entirely different. And she had the uncomfortable suspicion that she had spoken her thoughts aloud again.<\/p>\n She was losing her mind.<\/p>\n They were on a landing high up in a cavern, undoubtedly once a place of grandeur judging by the bits of ornate carved stone collapsed onto the floor and around the perimeter of the place.\u00a0 What was still stunning, breathtaking in fact, was just before them:\u00a0 an enormous statue.\u00a0 Sitting in cross-legged position, holding an … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/1-2-20-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart II: Shadows<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"