The lift lowered us into the unnatural blue light of Blackreach. Serana gasped at the sight, the beauty of all the light in this Dwemer tomb. Glowing mushrooms the size of Tel Mithryn were spotted amongst the glowing spores encased in this space but I wasn't looking at that... I was looking at her smile.

I shook my head and tried to concentrate but in vain. Why? I thought, why after all these years does she come now? Then I remembered her trying to tell me a secret on that rooftop in Solitude. Was that it? She really needed to tell me something?

"Serana," I shifted my bag on my shoulder as the lift landed, "why did you come back?"

Instantly Serana couldn't look at me. "C'mon," she murmured, stepping into Blackreach, "we got a job to do."

"I know you're not naive enough to think you could have got me back. You're smarter than that, there's a reason. One that's important to you."

"Look," she uttered in a no-nonsense voice, and turned to face me, "the reason I'm here now is to help you put your family back together. If you didn't come to get me in my camp I would have left Solitude on the note of what I told you on the rooftop that night."

"That I was your father but in another body, another situation?" I said stepping closer, "Or that you never told me that secret?"

Her eye twitched. "Both."

"Serana," I cooed, "what is it?"

"Don't say my name like that Talion." She turned and kept walking, "It's hard enough stuffing down the old joys of hearing your heart pound when you are around me."

Ugh, I mentally groaned, my heart was pounding right now for some uncomfortable reason.

I caught up to her in stride. "Any guesses where to go?"

"That light." Serana bit out, gesturing to a large suspended orb giving off a yellow light.

"Alright."

Letting her take point I noted Serana shaking her head in mental debate. While walking I tried to reflect on the conversation that night in Solitude on top of the Blue Palace.

"If you tell me your secrets, I'll tell you mine."

"Talion, you are becoming my father." She said.

"Serana," I lied to her and myself this time, "I'm not your father."

She picked up the lie and frowned as she shook her head.

"No, you feel worse than that don't you?"

"Yes," I admitted aloud to myself, "yes I do."

Serana crouched down suddenly and so did I. Having crept closer to her, shadows forming around me, I leaned out over cover to spot some Falmer by a fire. They seemed to be talking and for unknown reasons I was reminded of the history of the Falmer. They were once the great Snow Elves, driven by the Nords into the cracks of the earth for fear of death. Now what remains of their once beautiful society is their ugly, blind, and violent posterity.

Then there was Gelebor and his vampire snow elf brother Vyrthur. Vyrthur was trying to enact a prophecy that would erase vampire's weaknesses to sunlight, and all he needed was to sacrifice my lover at the time: Serana. Needless to say I didn't let that happen.

"Thinking about old times?" Serana whispered as she peeked up at the Falmer.

"Yeah, namely those Snow Elves."

"Remember those two dragons? At the frozen lake?"

I mentally groaned, "Those two might've been the closest in difficulty to when I fought Alduin in Sovengarde, don't remind me."

"What are we going to do?"

I thought up a quick plan. "I'm going to sneak in and cast a ward on the fire and the fire should trigger it." I looked up at the ball of yellow light, and the steps leading up to it. "You yell if something's up there when I spring the trap."

Without saying another word I crept up closer to the Falmer. I was conscious to draw my Bloodskal blade and prepared the spell before getting too close. The Falmer were conversing about something and I picked up a few words from that time I wrote down a translation of their language in a museum in Markarth to decrypt a friend of my friend's journal to clear her name.

It was quite a story.

Quickly I cast my Ice Ward and then there was an blinding cloud of ice and steam. Without hesitation I went in to dispatch the three half-frozen Falmer but before I turned around I heard buzzing. Oh Oblivion.

"Hunt-" Serana tried to yell but I swirled my sword around instantly and sliced a Chaurus Hunter in half. The now two hunks of man-eating bug knocked me over from their momentum. I hurried up, the two halves shriveling to death and I slashed a red arc at the Hunter on Serana. It recoiled and Serana used this chance to plug her dagger through it's head.

A Falmer Warmonger held up a staff barbarically and roared from the top steps as I ran to Serana. I don't know how Falmer can be blind but shoot so well but luckily today I was ahead of the Falmer's aim and quickly dragged the shaking Serana behind cover. She swatted my hands away. "I-I'm fine!" She grimaced.

She was bleeding from several stings to her stomach and I gave her some potions, telling her, "This is anti-venom and this is a healing potion." She tried to say something but I rolled out from cover and slashed at arc at the last Falmer.

The Falmer stumbled back and I rushed up the steps. Before the Falmer could try and freeze me, I impaled his head on my sword. Only after spitefully twisting my sword, snapping its neck, I took the sword out.

As soon as I heard buzzing I tried to slash my sword but I was just so exhausted that when the Hunter stung me, we twisted from its collision with me and I lost my sword. My weight smashed the Hunter into the orb but it pinched my shoulders it it's vice-grip as it stung me in my guts two more times. Screaming in pain I was forced to shout,

"Fus!"

The ball of light shook and made a ringing sound as the Hunter both recoiled and rocked back with it. In red visioned rage, I stuck my hands down it's mandible throat and I roared with effort. The head ripped in half with a sick gurgled screech and I collapsed as the Hunter's body hit the floor.

I dug into my potion pouch and cursed when I had no more anti-venom. I rocked back and forth as the venom burned my organs like my skin already was melted and dropped my guts into Daedric fire. I was panting and rocking back and forth from the pain as I used a healing spell, trying to outlast the venom's effects.

"Serana?!" I called.

"I'm good!"

I noticed how I was still in shrouded in shadow and glanced about wildly. My poison effect usually would have disappeared by now.

"Something's still here!"

Serana came up the steps, "Where?"

Then I heard a distant roar.

An all to familiar one.

"No..."

The thunder of wings beat closer until a dragon turned sharply and landed with a boom.

"Doviikin!" It hissed before mumbling a curse in Dovaghzul.

Serana cussed, hastily raising my dead Falmer friend to our banner and it launched lightning bolts onto the Dōv. The dragon took three lightning bolts before eating one of the dead Falmer and burning the remaining bodies with fire. He was trying to stop Serana from summoning more dead.

Serana launched frozen spikes down on the dragon and it roared. Cussing, I dug into my pouch and drank one of my best potions. Getting up, I unsheathed a Dawnbreaker and jumped down a few steps towards the dragon.

The dragon recoiled back, planning to go into the air but I let out my Thu'um, Dragonrend.

"Joor-Zah-Frul!"

Now my throat and lungs burned worse than the venom earlier. I had used two different shouts in succession, I had done this when I fought Ulfric. I used one weaker shout, and then a full powered one because I thought I could handle it, but I thought I was dying afterwards.

The dragon cried out, letting out crocodile tears but I had to act quickly. I stabbed the bottom jaw into the earth, and pushed up on the upper jaw. The dragon breathed fire in response and all the pain made me push harder. With a sick pop, the flames stopped and I drew the sister-blade from her sheath before I drove the other Dawnbreaker into the dragon's brain up through the upper jaw.

I collapsed back and tripped over my Dawnbreaker as I fell out of the jaws of the beast. I couldn't move, couldn't speak; I had pushed myself too much. My reckless rage is going to be the death of me, I thought. Serana ran to me and in much effort I turned over so she could get a potion for me. Finding one she slipped off my headgear and put the bottle to my lips. Just before my eyes rolled back into my head and I went unconscious the potion kicked in and I coughed.

"Divines." I exclaimed with a croak. I got up and began digging into my bag for the lantern and cussed when the light was equal to a candle. Serana placed her hands on my shoulders and I croaked,

"I'm not stopping. Not resting."

"Talion," her voice cracked and I glanced back at her and the pain in her eyes shook me. Even I couldn't ignore the look and... yes, she had a point. My family needed me alive. Wordlessly, I slipped off the potion pack and took a bottle of skooma.

"Talion-"

I shook my head. "I won't be able to sleep without it."

I glanced over at the dragon, it's essence fading into visible ashes back to Oblivion and it's soul being absorbed by my blood. With a sigh I set my pack back like a pillow and Serana tried running her hands through my hair as I sipped skooma and tried to sleep. Then, and only then, did sleep's embrace welcome me.

(A/N: That dragon was Vulthuryol and is canon if you want to kill him. Also, you may have noticed that I spell Dōv funny, this is just to help newcomers not wonder why dragons are called "doves".)

I woke up to Serana sleeping on my chest. I discreetly glanced about, overly self-conscious about no one watching for danger. After a sigh, feeling safe for the time being I rubbed Serana's shoulder and tried to go back to sleep.

I woke her up though and she sighed. She glanced around and then scooted away from me. She whispered, "Are you awake?"

"What?" I smirked with my eyes closed, "Worried what I'd do if I caught you?"

She huffed hair away from her eyes.

"Divines! Are you two done yet?!" Neloth echoed in our heads.

I sat up, forgetting about that spell he put on us so we could stay in touch. He sounded normal, and that was a good thing. I looked up at the orb and asked,

"Neloth? Do you see what I see?"

"Oooh," he said in mock awe, "it looks like you are stupidly off course!"

Serana's eye twitched and she asked, "What do you suggest Neloth?"

"The Telvanni adventurers always found a small gap along the walls of Dwemer cities that led to the Door of Mirrors, mi'lady. Did this fool lead you astray?"

Wow Neloth, I thought, wooooow.

"Yeah." Serana said with a smirk.

"Well maybe if you weren't admiring his shoulders or whatever you could have led him the right way you idiot!"

I choked on a laugh and Serana's expression pricelessly flatlined. Neloth continued,

"All right, let me see... how am I sounding?" We both told him he sounded normal and he continued, "Splendid! Now if my maps are correct you are in the old civilized center of Blackreach."

I got up and started getting ready again.

"How long were we asleep Neloth?" I asked.

"You two slept together for six hours and you slept eight."

"Neloth," Serana blushed, "did you really have to word it like that?"

"Why do you two insist on beating around the bush about it?"

"Because," I growled in a low voice, "we insist. Now what do you know about Blackreach and this Door of Mirrors?"

He talked as I walked with the lantern in hand. Letting the growing light guide us he said,

"Well, Blackreach's history dates back to the Aetherium Wars of the 1st Era but it is believed that the Door of Mirrors could be an artifact that has existed before the dawn of man. See those glowing geodes, vampire?" He pointed out a glowing blue rock Serana was looking at, "That is most likely Aetherium, a resource that the Dwemer used to fuel their machines. A new theory to the Dwemer's extinction is that they angered the Daedra on the other sides of these Doors of Mirrors and poof! After The Battle of Red Mountain they got taken out."

"Poof?" I asked, passing the lift we came in on and skipping the passage to the Silent Ruin.

"I got tired of rambling for you imbeciles."

As we got closer to the entrance of the Reeking Tower the light of the lamp grew brighter. I kicked something and looked down at the mangled remains of a small group of Falmer. Well... I assumed it was more than one because I knew one didn't have that much guts.

"I've been waiting for you..." a familiar voice called out.

Oh no...