Chapter XLIII: Laid To Rest

(Mephala's POV)

My eyes roam the bustling tavern, the best one in the city supposedly even if that did not say much, most of the mortals appearing utterly uninteresting and bland as my gaze passed them over.

'Well then' The girl approaching me catches my attention 'This one might prove worthy of my attention'

"Tough day, sweetie?" I smile pleasantly as the young tavern wench brings me my drink.

She blinks, briefly startled by my melodious voice, and looks me over, a slight blush covering her cheeks as her eyes wander "I uhm... we manage." She fidgets nervously.

I tut at her "You manage?" My face twisting into a light scowl, the slight gesture of support easily earning me the bored creature's trust "We can't have you falling over, now can we? Why don't you take a seat?"

"I- I really shouldn't" She fidgets, a rather pretty little thing, no doubt to be snatched by some lumberjack or marsh hunter to live a life of mediocrity in mere months. At least she showed off a bit of her figure while she still had it.

Only shoulders and a bit of cleavage and the Nords fall over themselves, the prudes!

"Oh come now, what is poor little me going to do?" I tap the bench to my right, my fingers moving hypnotically and her eyes following them in a daze "I am sure your employer won't mind you keeping me a bit of company, after all I am a well paying customer."

And just like that the feigned hesitation disappears and she sits down, a bit too close even. 

'How very bold' I giggle breathily, sending a shiver down her spine "Now, my dear" I barely touch her exposed shoulder and she immediately looks away, her ears reddening "How about you entertain me with some intriguing gossip, and in return..."

Her head immediately turns back to me, anticipation clear in her eyes.

I do so love applying the personal touch to these things from time to time. Tempting mortals with your mere presence gets oh so boring after a while...

Another thing to thank my not quite so mortal chosen for I guess.

My split second of thought was apparently too much for the little thing as she asks "In return?"

I offer her a conspiratorial smile and whisper "I teach you how to snag yourself someone not completely worthless."

She shivers for a moment as my breath caresses her reddened ear but suddenly composes herself, her eyes now showing her hidden hunger instead of the well practiced meekness she projected as her smile turns outright manic "It would be my pleasure."

There is that hidden potential.

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(Reyvin's POV)

"It is definitely burned." Serana points out helpfully.

I give her a dry deadpan "And the award for detective of the millennium goes to Lady Volkihar, long may she reign."

She rolls her eyes, visibly trying to be more expressive "As if you could tell more from a mere glance without magic."

"I can in fact." I scoff "For example, this fire was obviously started by someone as the area around the fireplace is still relatively intact while the edge where you can see the slightest remains of a bed has been burned the most."

"They could have dropped a candle." Serana tries lamely.

I give her another deadpan "I am not really sure if you should be having such low standards for your own people."

She raises her nose with false pomp "As if I would ever compare myself to mere peasants."

I snort lightly and shake my head "Alright, that is enough of that. We have a job to do." To which she nods.

I had been spending some time in the past few days getting her to relax around people, at least slightly. Her paranoia wasn't gone, she still seemed jittery and at times even unhinged when certain powerful people were around, but she was getting a handle on it and even developed a bit of snark from her constant interaction with me.

She was so company starved it wasn't even funny.

We searched around the house and within it after that, finding out small details about how the whole thing went down and even seeing the locks barred from what little remained of the door. Whoever did the deed made sure the family was unable to escape easily.

I just hope they suffocated in their sleep instead of burning alive...

Unfortunately a bunch of people already went around the house multiple times so no tracks were left to be followed, making any kind of mundane investigation unable to provide extra relevant information.

Finally done satisfying my childish urge to play detective I dust the ash from my gloves and cast a quick clairvoyance, just an underpowered version as I didn't want to alert whoever cast the ward too much.

As the spell induced hunch enters my mind I mutter a "Huh..."

"What is it?" The bored voice of Serana reaches me.

I frown "I just tried finding some hints but it is pointing me toward the graveyard." 

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Serana, already moving, asks.

"The graveyard is that way." I lazily point in the exact opposite direction.

She stops, takes an unnecessary breath, and wordlessly starts marching after me.

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(General POV)

A hooded woman knelt above a marked mound within the bounds of the Morthal graveyard, her pale hands shivering as she she weaved her pathetically weak blood magic into summoning a spirit of the dead.

The screams of the murdered child rang out in her mind as the silhouette of a little Nord girl appeared above the grave.

"Laelette!" The small child exclaimed happily "Here to play again?"

The fledgling of Alva shuddered at how cheerful the ghost seemed "Yes, dear." She croaked "We can play."

The ghost of Helgi, the child of Hroggar, whooped loudly before rapidly asking "What are we going to play today? Can we do hide and seek? Pleeeaseee?"

Laelette smiled sadly and tried to get up, but suddenly realized that she couldn't so much as twitch as her shadow seemingly enveloped her, even Helgi's ghost seemed to be rooted in place by an invisible force.

For the briefest of moment she felt an immense magical presence behind her, her senses screaming at her to get out of there as mere proximity threatened to burn her alive, before a calm voice tinged with barely restrained fury rumbled from the same spot "Well now, what do we have here?"

(Reyvin's POV)

"Hey!" The ghost of the child, whom I've allowed some movement, points at me "Let Laelette go!"

"Patience, child" I raise my hand placatingly and approach the kneeling vampire, who grew more panicked by the second. I lay my hand on her shoulder, lightly digging the ebony gauntlets into her flesh "Tell me, vampire, were you the one to burn the house?"

"I..." Her words choke in her throat as the child's ghost gives her a curious look.

"I can feel your regret and self loathing, what point is there in hiding the truth?" I ask calmly yet my fingers press even harder, now drawing blood, and slowly start charging my presence with positive Magicka.

The fledgling lets out a pained noise at that, she considers lying but as her skin starts to flake she thinks better of it "Yesss...." She hisses out.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" The child demands ineffectually.

"And tell me." I outright pierce her shoulder now "Did they suffer?"

She outright whimpers now "Yes!"

My eyes narrow, my aura shuddering out of control for a moment and half-skinning the filth "And under whose orders did you commit the deed?" I question harshly.

I can feel her desire for the soul-searing pain to end battle the ingrained loyalty to her sire, but as usual self preservation wins out as she mutters, the mutter quickly turning into a despaired yell "Alva, it was Alva!"

"I see." I mutter and then command "Begone!" and with a flick of my hand summon a horde of tiny spiders who swiftly envelop and devour the creature, she did not even have the time to scream.

"Where did you send her?" The child asks me innocently.

'She doesn't even realize...' The realization strikes me "To a better place." I settle on the complete opposite of the truth, my voice far less forceful than moments earlier.

"Can you take me there too? I really want to play with her." The child pleads.

'No, you really fucking don't' I give her a pitying look "Do you not want to see your mother?"

Something in the child's expression cracks "It hurt" She looks down "I don't want to hurt again."

"What is your name?" I ask with a forced smile "Mine is Reyvin."

"I am Helgi!" She pipes up with some of her earlier cheer.

Using a bit of soul magic I make it possible for my hand to lightly land atop her head "You need not fear Helgi, nothing can hurt you anymore."

"You promise?" She asks after a moment's hesitation, the innocent look in her eyes making me barely hold back a growl of rage at her fate.

I pat her head "I swear it on my name." I smile at her again "Go now, your mother is waiting for you."

It takes her a moment to gather her courage but then, after offering one last hopeful smile, she disappears, hopefully into one of the more peaceful afterlives.

I take a deep breath of the disgusting marshland air and turn back to Serana, who was already playing around with her extended claws while her legs were jittering with obvious signs of contained rage "So" I begin, my voice cold as ice "Wanna go stab a bitch?"

Her eyes flash a deep bloody red "Yes, yes I very much do."

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The moment we passed by the city's central tavern a shrouded figure fell into step beside us, without even turning around I asked "What did you find out?"

Mephys scoffs "This whole city is entirely uninteresting, only two dozen cheating couples, and a mere three of them doing anything barely worth mentioning and they aren't even being creative about it, or so the rumors say."

"That is not what I asked." I deadpan, earning a giggle.

"Then you should have been more specific." Before I have the time to groan she raises her hands placatingly "Fine you spoilsport, I learned about a bunch of locals disappearing over the past year or so. Apparently many of them were in contact with a certain Alva, a supposed seductress drawing the gullible young men into lives of banditry and other equally idiotic claims."

"Blood thralls or recruits." Serana mutters "Whoever is behind Alva is building a coven."

"A vampire?" Mephys asks, though her tone tells me she is unsurprised "I guess there are less subtle ways of telling the paranoid locals that you are a Daedra worshipper."

Serana gives her an odd look at the apparent disdain in her voice but she chooses not to comment.

"Our primary target is her master" I interject "She should have the information on their location."

"And our own bloodfiend can force said information out of her" Mephys chuckles, ignoring Serana's glare "Well then, what are we waiting for?" She asks and walks in front of us, straight toward Alva's home.

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I do not even try to be subtle as I simply kick down the wooden door with a dragonskin empowered foot, the slightly rotten wood splintering into tiny shards the moment my boot connects.

A surprised Nord man, Hroggar I presume, stands up from his dinner and goes to grab his axe but I simply use telekinesis to smack him with a nearby pan, knocking him out on the spot.

We continue our march through the house without pause, ripping off the cabinet hiding the passage to Alva's coffin and coming face to face with the very panicked vampire slowly getting out of said coffin.

The massive blood red runic matrix covering the entire room lights up for a brief moment but ceases just as quickly as stone spikes rise up in vital points of the ward, destabilizing it and turning it useless.

That is what you get for using blood to draw your wards you fucking amateur.

Serana appears in front of Alva in a blur of movement and locks eyes with her "Who is your master?" Serana asks.

"M- ugh!" Alva clutches her head in an attempt to resist the command but it takes only the slightest glow coming out of Serana's eyes for the resistance to break completely as she drones in a completely dead tone "Morvarth."

"Did he recently capture the Moth Priest Dexion?" Good thing she remembers the actual objective.

"Yes."

"Where is his lair?" Serana presses.

"Four hours north of Morthal, go east by alchemy farm, pass hunting camp, cave under large willow tree." Alva drones emotionlessly.

Serana gives me a questioning look and one quick clairvoyance later I get a vague feeling of the general location and nod, signing Alva's death sentence as Serana lashes out with her claws, severing her head in one swift movement.

"That was satisfying." I mutter appreciatively.

Serana gives me a weak smile "It was."

"If you are quite done with your little interrogation, there is a small crowd gathering outside!" Mephys' cheery voice comes from upstairs.

I groan.

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The powerstone dragon yearns for a grander hoard!

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