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JASH
White was a unique color and it was clear why bards embraced it as a symbol of purity. There could be no insignificant stain as everything stood out on it. The purity symbolism also made it so that it could be cleansing and show when a character was good. Yet it also had a harsher side that clashed with its image of goodness.
The snow that blew in the harsh storm had no thought to be an agent of purity. It had not thought because it was just snow. So it didn't care that the wind blew it so hard that it was hard to see and made it dig under my scales. No amount of Skooma or Spiced Wine made me any warmer.
It took all my strength to keep Lightning from running off to a warm cave. The unicorn was having a hard time walking through the storm. Cine, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about the storm which meant Serena could focus more on our surroundings.
Maybe I should have chosen to ride the reindeer.
"Just use the Clear Skies Shout, Jash." Serena suggested as I finished another bottle of Skooma.
"And alert Lokir?" I asked as my torch threatened to go out.
"Won't he be excited to prove his loyalty once he sees you?"
"Which means the moment he sees me, Scouts-Many-Marshes' life is forfeit."
I shivered. Not from the cold, nor from the thought of Scouts' lifeless eyes, but from the memories of Frostflow Lighthouse. I had entered the lighthouse initially because I needed to escape from the cold. But with the corpses and insect-like sounds, there had been no rest for me. Instead I had found how the Falmer had slaughtered a family. I had found monstrosities that had burst from what appeared to be insect-like corpses.
I had had trouble escaping from that pit of horrors and thought that was where my journey would end.
I started to drink another bottle of Skooma to try and push those memories away. I had to enter the lighthouse quickly and with purpose if Scouts had any chance of surviving. He would be alive when I opened that door.
He had to be.
"Jash!" Serena yelled out and pointed in the distance.
"What do you see?" I asked as I tried to see through the storm and realized I hadn't spoken a word in the Common Tongue since leaving Dawnstar.
"Vampires."
I dismounted and felt the soft crunch of the snow underneath my boots. The black of the Imperial Boots clashed with the white while the Dragonscale Armor blended in better. Due to wanting to be as hidden as possible I hadn't changed into an outfit better suited to slaughtering countless numbers of enemies. I could have also replaced my Remnant Agent Gloves and Aetherial Crown with armor well designed to protect me.
Besides wanting to keep hidden, I would only have to kill one man. So it would have shown how much my emotions were getting away from me if I had dressed for an intense battle. That wasn't something you wanted anyone finding out.
I put out my torch and prepared a Fire Rune spell while holding Dragon's Oath in the other. The sword was made to burn and cut through flesh and would be deadly against vampires.
My ears picked up Serena walking to my side as our mounts rushed off to safety. She held up both hands with the energies of spells hovering around them.
I followed Serena's eyes and cast the Fire Rune spell. I then cast Elemental Blast as the first vampire of a dozen came to attack. Places far from the roads tended to house the most deadly of Skyrim's threats. Threats that turned into a swarm of bats and dodged my attacks only to then materialize on the rune.
As another vampire drained my life with a spell, five were caught in the blast radius of my rune. I managed to cut off the arm of a vampire that got close to me just as Serena killed the vampire that had been draining my life.
Soon there was no distinction between land, sky, enemies, and the cold. I continued to fire Elemental Blast on vampires that were slightly further away while using my blade on those much closer. All the while the strain of the fight and the cold made staying alive difficult.
But I wouldn't leave Serena to fight all alone. Was sh-there she was! She had resurrected a vampire to fight on our side!
"Scouts!" Serena cried out as an attack knocked me to the ground. "Get to him!"
"No!" I cried out in what I hoped was the Common Tongue as I got up and barely managed to use the Flames spell to burn the vampire that had nearly been about to kill me.
"You're freezing!"
I wanted to argue that it was ours to stand by her side. If I ran away and she died...it would be unforgivable. Besides being an egg-sister, she had only recently begun living her life. As a vampire her lifespan stretched hundreds of years but she had been trapped before meeting me. Whether that be as a child of parents who kept her away from the world or entombed in a bid to keep her father from enacting a plan to get rid of the sun.
Yet the snow continued to dig itself under my scales which let even more of the cold closer to my freezing blood. If I died out here then I couldn't make sure my husband made it to another sunrise.
"Stay safe, egg-sister!" I yelled out in the Common Tongue.
"Just get inside, Jash!" Serena yelled in reply.
I focused on walking up the steep incline where Frostflow Lighthouse was and not the battle behind me. The lighthouse looked innocent enough and if you didn't know its past, you would continue to be ignorant of the horrors housed deep beneath. Every now and again the Falmer tried to reclaim the area and the Dark Brotherhood made sure they were always chased off.
A horse in the stables was the only sign of life on the outside. Lokir was a horrible creature, but at least he made sure his mount was well taken care of. It was the only thing he cared about as the mess of blood, fur, and flesh attested to.
I held back a cry and resisted falling down at the sight of Meeko's mangled corpse. To the end the dog had been faithful. He had followed Scouts all the way out here and then died defending his master.
"May your soul rest in Sovngarde, Meeko." I whispered. "I have met no Saxhleel, Man, Mer, or Khajiit that could compare to you."
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