{"id":2052,"date":"2022-12-03T15:12:12","date_gmt":"2022-12-03T22:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baakay.com\/Snow\/?page_id=2052"},"modified":"2022-12-08T19:28:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T02:28:01","slug":"chapter-11-dale","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/baakay.com\/Snow\/volume-ii\/part-ii-above-and-beyond\/chapter-11-dale\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 11 – Dale"},"content":{"rendered":"
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 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dale leaped down the stones of the hillside, landing near the lumber mill. Beside him was a steep cleft in the mountains, carved over eons by water flowing down from the Reach to meet the Sea of Ghosts near Solitude. Between the spray from those falls and the cold, dense fog from the river beyond, the town of Dragon Bridge seemed eerily deserted, its sounds muffled except for the quiet, regular splashing of the nearby water wheel.<\/p>\n

It had seemed more expedient to cross the ridgeline overland rather than take the beaten path from Volkihar Castle. The fewer encounters the better, as far as he was concerned. This area was rife with bandits even on the best of days, and that meant there were a great many other vampires out hunting at night. He didn\u2019t want confrontations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell then,\u201d he murmured, casting his illusion spell before approaching the mill. I need to find the source of the rumors. And if I am not misremembering, our local innkeeper is one of the most shameless gossips in the entire province. I\u2019ll go speak to her first.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The fog was lifting as he passed the lumberyard, forcing himself to walk rather than run. At a walk, he was just another Imperial traveling in what was still a largely Imperial hold in spite of being under Nord rule. If he ran, he stood out because of his speed. Walking, he was \u2013<\/p>\n

What did Agryn call my father? A cipher? That\u2019s me at a walk. Utterly unremarkable.<\/em><\/p>\n

He was highly annoyed, therefore, when the innkeeper Faida \u2013 a middle-aged Nord who was utterly unremarkable in her own right \u2013 peered at him and shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something different about you,\u201d she said. \u201cI can tell. Hope you ain\u2019t here to cause trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale had composed his face into what he hoped was a pleasant-enough smile as he\u2019d approached her. Now he fought to keep it frozen in place, even as he chuckled as charmingly as he was able.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all. Not at all. I\u2019m merely seeking directions. And, possibly, some information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm,\u201d she said, looking him over with worldly-wise suspicion. \u201cI tend to keep my customers\u2019 private business private, if you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

His smile faded, in spite of his best efforts to keep it in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, you don\u2019t understand. I\u2019ve been hearing rumors and wondered whether you might have heard them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMmm-hmm. What kind of rumors?\u201d Faida asked, leaning over the counter toward him.<\/p>\n

\u201cVampires? A vampire\u2026 city, somewhere? A person can\u2019t be too careful these days and I\u2019d like to steer clear if I am able.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWell yes, actually. I hear people talking about a vampire city, just like you said. Can you imagine? Sounds like a load of bull to me. But you never know. There used to be stories about a place like that from way back. Second era. Maybe even earlier. But they\u2019re just old stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright then,\u201d Dale said. Damn, that doesn\u2019t help at all aside from repeating what I already knew from Agryn. Well, I guess there\u2019s no help for it. I\u2019m going to have to try Whiterun and then make my way to Ivarstead as Serana suggested.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shame,\u201d Faida said, surprising Dale out of his thoughts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey used to say that Falion of Morthal studied vampires, draugr, and all manner of undead. He might have helped, if there are vampires out and about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you say \u2018used to\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got killed in some kind of attack, back quite a ways now. He was said to be the only one who could cure a vampire. Shame he\u2019s not around anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMmm-hmm,\u201d Dale murmured. \u201cThank you for your help.\u201d He turned to leave.<\/p>\n

This woman sees what people shouldn\u2019t see when they look in my direction. The less time I spend lingering here, the better. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you know they\u2019ve also been talking about attacks, out near Ivarstead. It would have been good if someone could cure the vampires. Just a thought. It\u2019s probably not related.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale whirled to stare at her again. \u201cIvarstead, you say?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I heard. Probably just drunken ramblings.\u201d<\/p>\n

He took a second to compose himself. That\u2019s what I was looking for, Madame. I thank you. <\/em>\u201cYes, probably. You have my thanks, at any rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

He slipped out the door into the sun. The fog had burned off and it was a gorgeous day.<\/p>\n

And I can\u2019t stay out in it. I think this would be an excellent time to go visit a mausoleum for awhile.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dale winced. As beautiful a day as it was \u2013 and it was truly lovely here in Whiterun, with sky as blue as his mortal eyes and air warmed by the sun \u2013 the daylight was uncomfortable to be in. He stopped for a moment to let his eyes adjust, looking up at the great mountains to his south and east.<\/p>\n

Next stop, the other side of that one.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t planned on spending the previous day in his coffin, but it had turned out well in spite of that. He\u2019d gotten rested, and on his trip through to Whiterun Hold he\u2019d had engaging and enjoyable battles with two giants, their mammoth, at least one frost troll \u2013 maybe two. I lost count<\/em> \u2013 and an ice wraith. With each battle he felt a bit stronger, a bit more like the vampire Agryn clearly hoped he would become. He\u2019d arrived in Whiterun very deep in the night, taking the opportunity to sample the blood of several guards, one of the town drunks, and a number of citizens sleeping at the inn. He was very careful to ensure that none of them died. Being caught out as a vampire, here in one of the largest cities in the province, would be an unwelcome surprise. He did not like surprises.<\/p>\n

Now he was headed out to Ivarstead. He\u2019d considered waiting to travel during the night, but he was heading into less familiar parts of Skyrim and had no desire to be surprised.<\/p>\n

He stopped on the bridge over the White River, trying to decide which way to go. He was familiar with the southerly road that would take him to Riverwood, but in order to reach Ivarstead from there he would need to pass through Helgen and traverse the narrow mountain pass where ambushes were easy to stage. He wasn\u2019t sure he wanted to travel it on a day as bright as this, when the sun rendered him weaker than usual.<\/p>\n

Rumor had it that there was a trailhead, not far from the giants\u2019 camp at Guldun Rock, for a path that avoided several old Imperial installations by hugging the mountainside. After watching the salmon leap up the White River\u2019s rapids for a few minutes he decided that, yes \u2013 the unknown trail would still be safer than the known but populated pathways.<\/p>\n

Dale crossed the river and walked up the slope to the east. He could just make out the flickering of a huge bonfire \u2013 the giants\u2019 camp, a good distance away. Just beyond that was Valtheim, the place he most wanted to avoid. In groups of one or two, bandits were easy enough to slay, but there tended to be large congregations of unsavory types squatting in the old towers – which were, after all, choice locations.<\/p>\n

Dale was about to make for the trailhead when motion and sound to his left caught his attention. Just ahead was a rocky knoll, crowned by several triliths around an old standing stone. What caught Dale\u2019s attention even more than the ancient structures were the heartbeat and the chanting of a woman, as clear as if she stood directly beside him. He crouched to stay below her line of sight and crept across the road to the stone stairway up the hillock. The chanting became clearer and more definitive the closer he got.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a raise zombie spell. It\u2019s another damned necromancer. Just very poor planning and bad luck on her part, that she should be attempting a spell just as I\u2019m passing, but alas. What can I do? There\u2019s no help for it. And I\u2019m not even going to pretend, this time.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWell hello there!\u201d he called out, watching in satisfaction as the necromancer whirled to face him, readying her dagger. He stood and pulled his own blade from its sheath, preparing to summon his gargoyle. \u201cIt seems to me that you may have been performing some necromancy just now and I\u2019m sorry to say that I can\u2019t have that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll wish you hadn\u2019t come here!\u201d the woman exclaimed.<\/p>\n

Dale shook his head. \u201cI\u2019m sorry to contradict. I know that various specimens of my gender are altogether too eager to second-guess a woman. But the fact is that I\u2019m delighted to be here at the moment. It means there will be one less stinking necromancer in the world to disrupt souls at rest!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

He was snarling by the time he finished speaking, and so was the gargoyle that he conjured just between himself and the mage. He could feel his illusion fading even as he growled, and thought Good. Let\u2019s give her a bit of a fright before she joins the legions of those she\u2019s tortured. <\/em><\/p>\n

The gargoyle leapt toward her and was struck full-on by the mage\u2019s very powerful frost spell. Dale laughed. Frost wasn\u2019t going to do much more than make him uncomfortable for a moment, and the gargoyle certainly didn\u2019t care. Two skeletons rose from their heaps near the standing stone; Dale rushed around the outer edge of the platform taking each of them down with a couple of quick slashes and a bit of vampiric draining magic.<\/p>\n

The necromancer was attempting to raise something else – while still shouting at the gargoyle that she would see it burn – when Dale stepped up beside her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and had just enough time for her eyes to register terror at the sight of an angry vampire with fangs bared, before those fangs ripped into her throat.<\/p>\n

Dale drained the woman. Whatever she had been recalling from death fell back to the ground as a pile of ash, and he dropped her onto the stones beside it. The gargoyle gave a roar of satisfaction and dissipated.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dale chuckled. \u201cThank you, my friend. Once more you\u2019ve done an admirable job. And as for you,\u201d he hissed, looking down at the necromancer\u2019s body, \u201cI hope your soul is never at rest. You sicken me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He took her few coins. While he couldn\u2019t tell for certain, he was reasonably sure the standing stone she\u2019d been guarding had properties to do with necromancy. He wanted nothing more to do with it.<\/p>\n

If not for the fact that I respect the achievements of days gone by I would topple the damned thing so that nobody could ever use its magic again. But the old magicks are to be given a wide berth and a degree of honor. I would not wish to be the one who ran afoul of it.<\/em><\/p>\n

The trailhead he had been looking for was well-marked by a pair of stone cairns, but just a few paces up the hill the trail itself became nothing more than a shallow indentation in the grass. Because alpine grass was a tender thing \u2013 this he knew from helping his mother try to keep flora alive on the more exposed slopes of their home \u2013 its presence here meant that most folk were keeping to the established road these days.<\/p>\n

I wonder what is up here in the hills, then. I\u2019m sure to find out, whatever it is.<\/em><\/p>\n

The trail was a series of switchbacks across this north-facing slope, a vigorous climb even for someone with a vampire\u2019s strength. Not too far up, the terrain changed from alpine tundra to snow-covered. It was slippery and very cold, even for him. He was happy to stop for a breath and listen to hawks warning the wildlife of his presence as he neared the top. Looking back across the tundra he gazed in awe at the sheer size of Dragon\u2019s Reach, dominating the countryside from its rocky perch. He could also see the circle of stones where he\u2019d just dispatched the necromancer. He stared at it for a moment, shaking his head.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t understand why necromancers make me so angry, but they do. There was just something about those ghosts telling me they were being used against their will.<\/em><\/p>\n

I know I\u2019m not supposed to have a soul any longer, now that I\u2019m undead myself. But I\u2019d like to think that when I finally lay it down whatever is left of me won\u2019t be forced to fight for someone just for the sake of her own entertainment.<\/em><\/p>\n

Having caught his breath, Dale continued. The trail snaked back and forth several more times until at last it turned southeast, through a steep cleft in the mountainside. This passage made him nervous in the same way the pass east of Helgen made him nervous. It would be entirely too easy for someone to mount an ambush here by hiding behind boulders or on a ledge above the path, the sound of any movements drowned out by the cold rush of wind through its narrow walls. There was no place to go, not even for someone who could leap twice as high as an average man could.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dale didn\u2019t like being nervous and he liked surprises even less; there was no help for it, though. He gritted his teeth and pushed through the narrow pass. It was a place fit only for mountain goats, he thought, just before encountering a group of four goats scrambling over the rocks ahead of him.<\/p>\n

And then, almost as abruptly as the grasslands had given way to snow, the trail dropped from its height, over the snowy crest and out, down into green grass and trees. The air became warmer and moister. The howling of the mountain winds gave way to a quieter breeze, carrying birdsong and the call of loons from a pool somewhere below.<\/p>\n

Dale found himself taking a huge, shuddering breath.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what\u2019s wrong with me. Nobody knows who I am. Nobody connects me to the father I\u2019ve never seen, the man Agryn assures me was not widely known. Nobody got the drop on me. I\u2019m fine.<\/em><\/p>\n

I guess I was expecting to meet whatever has kept people off this mountainside. But all there is up there is horrid weather and treacherous terrain. I guess if you\u2019re mortal that\u2019s a good enough reason to avoid this shortcut, all by itself.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The trail wound through a stretch of heavy undergrowth and then met another trail, far heavier trodden, devoid of grasses and deeply indented into the ground. It passed a long-abandoned gateway, topped another rise, and then descended to the narrow western fork of the Darkwater River rushing headlong through the stony gap near Ivarstead and flinging itself over the cliff on its way to Darkwater Crossing.<\/p>\n

He picked his way across the shallow river, rock-hopping and trying not to slip on any of them. Even as strong as he was it would take very little for the rushing waters to drag him over the massive drop at the cliff\u2019s edge, and he didn\u2019t know exactly what was below. He was certain whatever it was, it would be hard and painful to land on, and he couldn\u2019t afford an injury on a day as bright as this one was.<\/p>\n

He made it safely to the far shore, only to catch the scent of death. He frowned, following his nose upriver to a dugout under the river\u2019s embankment. A troll\u2019s den, it was, containing a recently-killed and partially consumed deer carcass. That wasn\u2019t the source of the worst odors, though. On either end of the cave was a dead Stormcloak soldier, between them a pile of well-gnawed bones in various states of decomposition.<\/p>\n

Even as accustomed to death as he was, Dale was put off by the pungent odors. He did kneel, however, to check the soldiers. Perhaps he could report their deaths to ingratiate himself with the local authorities. The first man had only a few coins and a bit of food, his weapons having been scattered. The second, though, carried a blood-spattered note ordering them to investigate a series of deaths in the area \u2013 with an observation from their captain that it was likely just wolves.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, my fine fellow,\u201d Dale murmured, rising back to his feet. \u201cThe two of you weren\u2019t expecting a troll. I hope your demise was quick and painless.\u201d He wrinkled his nose. There\u2019s nothing as bad as troll. Just nothing. I can\u2019t even entertain the idea of taking these men\u2019s blood for an emergency.<\/em><\/p>\n

The trail led him upward past Ivarstead\u2019s northern watchtower next to a stone bridge, and then became the town\u2019s main street. He glanced across to the far side of the bridge and noted a long, winding path with embedded, ancient-looking stone steps, leading up the side of the great mountain. He\u2019d heard of this place on his previous trip through Ivarstead but hadn\u2019t investigated it. He\u2019d been here in the dark, on a mission, and had found his desire to explore blunted by the encounter with Qaralana.<\/p>\n

It must be the path up to High Hrothgar. I can\u2019t imagine why else someone would build that permanent a trail in that spot.<\/em><\/p>\n

He stared for a few minutes, getting a sense of the place. Ivarstead looked much different in daylight than it had at night, coming in from the opposite direction. Then he shook himself back into alertness. He was here to look for information, not to see the sights.<\/p>\n

The sound of someone chopping firewood caught his attention. Dale walked the perimeter of the nearby fence until he was able to let himself inside the lumberyard, and approached the person doing the chopping \u2013 a Bosmer, he noted once he could see the mer\u2019s ears. He suddenly remembered the Bosmer who had nearly run over him and Qaralana in the Vilemyr Inn. This had to be the same person, but for the life of him he could not recall the name he\u2019d been given.<\/p>\n

The divine Miss Qaralana seems to have addled my wits on that visit more than I thought. I wonder when I might see her again. I don\u2019t mind having my wits addled.<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, I need to find rumors. May as well start here.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, my good man. Might I have a moment of your time?\u201d he asked, approaching the Bosmer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, friend! Good to see you again!\u201d the mer answered with a broad smile. \u201cWhat can I do for you on such a fine day?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale tried not to wince as he looked up at the sky for appearance\u2019s sake, and to cover the fact that he was trying desperately to remember a name that simply had gone in one ear and out the other. It was a lovely day. It was also very bright, and very hot if one was a vampire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a fine day, indeed. And you seem most happy to be outside in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bosmer smiled. \u201cMy father taught me an important lesson many years ago. He said \u2018Gwilin, you have the whole world before you. Go out and experience it! Be whatever you want to be.\u2019 So I took his advice, and here I am! This life might not look like much to you, but I\u2019m content. And isn\u2019t that all that matters?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale found himself unable to formulate any sort of reply, for just a moment. He was struck dumb by a combination of sadness and a weird sort of envy.<\/p>\n

Contentment. I don\u2019t know whether I\u2019ve experienced that since I was just a small child helping my mother around the cottage. As to having a father to give me advice and support\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Well I\u2019m sure I don\u2019t know what that is like, and I don\u2019t know why it should suddenly bother me.<\/em><\/p>\n

But now I have his name again. Gwilin.<\/em><\/p>\n

He was finally able to form his expression into something like a smile. \u201cI can see that you\u2019re content. It shows on your face and even in your movements. Thank you for sharing some of that with me.\u201d He felt confident that he was not going to learn anything about vampires from this bright ray of sunshine, so he gave Gwilin a slight bow and moved past him, through the lumberyard and behind a nearby chicken coop to re-cast his illusion spell before continuing up the road.<\/p>\n

A mother and her daughter working in the farmyard weren\u2019t likely to know anything about a vampire city. He made a sour face. He could ask the guards, but such a blunt inquiry from a stranger might raise more questions than it answered. He wandered up the rise to the center of Ivarstead and was considering popping into the inn \u2013 if for no other reason than to get out of the sun \u2013 when he heard a commotion back near the lumber mill.<\/p>\n

An opportunity to be helpful. I can use this.<\/em><\/p>\n

He dashed back down the hill right behind the two guards, who were drawing their weapons. Gwilin was running away, toward the center of town, and so was a burly Nord Dale hadn\u2019t met. The mother and daughter duo had vanished. Dale frowned, not seeing what the guards were seeing. Then a distinctive sound \u2013 and even more memorable odor \u2013 reached him.<\/p>\n

Well I\u2019ll be damned, there he is. He must have been hunting elsewhere when I rifled through his den.<\/em><\/p>\n

A troll, the very shade of reddish-brown that would serve as camouflage nearly anywhere in the Rift, came barreling across the stone bridge. By the amount of blood on its fur it must have fed very recently; Dale caught a quick glimpse of a shape on the bottom-most of the Seven Thousand Steps and hoped it wasn\u2019t the troll\u2019s most recent meal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He hesitated for a moment. There was only so much he could do to help. Alone, he could have taken the troll down easily and quickly. The two guards, however, were absolutely in the way, one of them swinging an enormous greatsword in a mostly uncontrolled arc that had the potential for disaster. So he took a step or two toward the battle, aimed, and summoned his gargoyle to intercept the troll\u2019s travel. It roared and took several wide swipes at the troll; the guards backed up, one of them continuing to fire arrows and the other missing the beast with a gargantuan, wild swing of the greatsword. Dale slipped into the midst once the sword was clear of the battle, to finish off the troll with a quick application of his shortsword.<\/p>\n

There. Observed being helpful. I will take that. I\u2019d report the dead guards downstream, but they\u2019ll be found soon enough and I don\u2019t want to make a connection between myself and dead bodies if I can help it. I\u2019m looking for vampires. Nobody needs to suspect that I\u2019m one as well.<\/em><\/p>\n

He took a moment to slip into the chill waters of the river, to wash some of the spattered troll blood off his clothing and to check for signs of vampire-damaged corpses along the banks. There was a broken-down house nestled snugly against the roots of the mountain, across the river from the main town, but its damage was clearly the result of fire, not vampires. He shook his head. It was time to search out more fertile ground for information: the inn.<\/p>\n

Gwilin and the Nord he\u2019d seen running away from the troll were both headed into the inn, so he followed them. It would look like the most natural thing possible: the near-escapees of a death by troll could all use a good, stiff drink. He pushed the door open and entered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to the Vilemyr Inn. If there\u2019s anything I can get you, just let me know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilhelm, if I remember correctly. He thought we really were going to share a room. <\/em><\/p>\n

He smiled, remembering Qaralana\u2019s awkward phrasing when she asked if he would like to share her evening. She\u2019d intended to say that she was planning on renting a room after the meal, but that\u2019s not what Wilhelm had heard.<\/p>\n

The auburn-haired man he\u2019d seen on his last visit sat in the middle of the room. Dale didn\u2019t particularly want to speak to him but Agryn would be irate if he somehow managed to miss the one clue that was important, so he stepped up beside the man and cleared his throat.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello there. I\u2019m sure you don\u2019t recall our previous meeting, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The man sneered at him. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t. And even if we have met before, is it absolutely necessary for you to bother me right now?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale felt his jaw muscles clench as he tried to control the burst of red-hot anger that struck him. \u201cNot for long, my good sir. I\u2019m just looking for the source of some rumors of, well,\u201d he dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, \u201cvampires. Have you heard of such a thing?\u201d<\/p>\n

The man sniffed disdainfully. \u201cAsk Wilhelm. He\u2019s the keeper of the rumors, as well as the inn. And do go away, would you?\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019d best do just that before the rumors of vampire attacks become more than just rumors.<\/em><\/p>\n

He nodded curtly and stepped up to the bar. The old Nord started speaking, and Dale realized that he\u2019d heard this spiel before. The man wasn\u2019t even looking directly at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were you, I\u2019d keep away from the barrow on the east side of town. It\u2019s haunted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis again, Wilhelm?\u201d That was the obnoxious redhead behind Dale. \u201cYou\u2019ve been going on like this for \u2026 twenty years or more and nobody has ever found a ghost in that barrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen one of the spirits with my very own eyes!\u201d Wilhelm protested. \u201cWhen it glared at me I swear it burned right through my soul!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell your soul has seemed intact enough to me, all this time,\u201d the man snorted. \u201cSurely you\u2019d have been dead long ago if it was actually an evil spirit of some sort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale grinned. \u201cDo the spirits haunt Ivarstead as well?\u201d he asked, wondering whether the rumors about Ivarstead and vampires might be connected in some way to this.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately they seem to be sticking to the barrow. I think they\u2019re guarding it.\u201d He frowned. \u201cCertainly isn\u2019t helping my business any. Who\u2019d want to rent a room anywhere near a haunted barrow?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a good point,\u201d Dale said, realizing that Wilhelm clearly didn\u2019t remember him. Wilhelm was also clearly hoping he would go investigate. In fact, he thought, he\u2019s undoubtedly been trying to get some brave adventurer to investigate for years if my friend back there is giving him a hard time about it.<\/p>\n

But Dale didn\u2019t much feel like poking around in a barrow, especially not when his sire was anxiously awaiting some report from him. He changed the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you heard any rumors lately?\u201d he asked. If Wilhelm was in fact the local gossip-monger, he\u2019d have heard something.<\/p>\n

Wilhelm gave him a sly look. \u201cHave you seen that shrine of Azura? They say the dark elves built it after they fled from Morrowind. Sight to see!\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale once more found himself fighting to keep a fake smile plastered across his face. \u201cYes I have seen it. It\u2019s quite visible. And very impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not getting anything out of this man without doing him a favor. Well – I survived Potema; there\u2019s not going to be anything in that barrow that can harm me. I\u2019d best just do it and be done with it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He nodded to Wilhelm, turned, and left the Inn, hoping that he could get an answer for Wilhelm. Then maybe he could get an answer for himself.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Home Previous \/ Next   Dale leaped down the stones of the hillside, landing near the lumber mill. Beside him was a steep cleft in the mountains, carved over eons by water flowing down from the Reach to meet the Sea of Ghosts near Solitude. Between the spray from those falls and the cold, dense … <\/p>\n

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