Lena walked into The Count’s Arms as if she’d been out shopping.

“The man living in the abandoned house is Corvus Umbranox and I’ve accepted a contract on him” – she told Hauk and Jowan in a matter-of-factly fashion.

“I see” – Hauk didn’t sound surprised. “The thrill of a heist outweighed the blessings of a happy marriage for him then. But why are you telling us about the contract? Isn’t it supposed to be a secret?”

“Normally, yes” – Lena explained. “But this contract is from his wife, and it has special conditions: the Countess wants her ‘cheating and betraying husband’ to fear for his life for a bit first. She wants him to hear that the Dark Brotherhood is after him, and to be afraid. So,” – she turned to Jowan – “it will take a little while before the abandoned house becomes available. I won’t be going after Corvus Umbranox until he’s been suitably marinated.”

“But what if he doesn’t get afraid?” – Hauk thought that a man that’s been living in hiding for the last 200 years or so, might not be easily frightened.

“Oh, he will be” – Lena seemed sure of it. “The Dark Brotherhood is after him – this is not a bluff. Rumour has it, the abandoned house has recently become haunted – people have seen what looked like wraiths, and heard whispers about Sithis. And someone started killing off beggars in Anvil and elsewhere. An attempt on Umbranox’s life cannot be far off, although the first one might not be entirely successful… Since Nocturnal’s curse had been lifted from him, some people actually recognise his face. He cannot hide forever.”

Well, this was certainly an interesting turn of events. But what of their adventuring? Now that Lena was again an active member of the Dark Brotherhood, did it mean that she’d have to leave her adventures behind?

“Oh no, not at all!” – Lena was adamant. “We’ll continue as before – we have plenty of work to do, we still haven’t gone after any of the Dwelmer artefacts on Bothiel’s list, for example, and Vahtacen ruins for the Mages Guild are still waiting, not to mention Malada for Mr. Umbacano. You won’t notice any difference–”

“–you will just disappear for a little while every now and again” – Hauk finished the sentence. “Ok then, what’s the first job on the list?”

“The Benirus Manor” – Lena looked resolved. “I tracked down Velwyn Benirus in the Imperial City. Turns out he knew all about the curse but didn’t think it necessary to mention it before. He had assumed the buyer would just–”

“–wave their hand and lift it?” – Hauk laughed. “Typical.”

Velwyn Benirus felt a bit guilty that he nearly got Lena killed by not telling her about the curse. He did not feel guilty for taking advantage of her drunken state to sell the house to her in the first place. But since no one but him could enter the secret passage in the basement, he agreed to help open that portal so that Lena could deal with whatever lay within. Lena didn’t think that Velwyn would be of any use in the actual fight with whatever undead was inevitably there.

Picking up Velwyn Benirus at The Count’s Arms, they went to the manor. The ghosts greeted them, attacking everyone except Velwyn. They didn’t bother fighting the ghosts and proceeded straight to the basement, where Velwyn opened the enchanted portal to reveal a space full of necromancy sigils and signs.

“Ok, the door is open for you! Good luck. I’m out of here.”

You’d think Velwyn had turned into a ghost himself – he was gone so quickly.

Inside the secret space was an altar with a draugr on it, with a tearful plea to find a skeletal hand somewhere in the house and bring it to him so that he could finally find peace…

“If there ever was a trap, this is it” – Hauk didn’t like it. “Reunited with his hand, he will rise and attack us.”

“True” – Lena agreed. “But do you see another way to lift the curse?”

No, they couldn’t think of anything else to do. One of them had to go and search the house for the hand – they didn’t dare to leave the basement in case that portal might snap shut. Lena volunteered to search for the hand.

“Are you sure?” – Hauk was doubtful. “The ghosts got you pretty badly last time.”

“Last time I was asleep – sleeping off too much brandy. This time I’ll go cloaked. Don’t worry” – she added, vanishing into thin air.

The hand was easy to find – now that the secret portal had been opened, there was a glow around it, no doubt a provision by the owner to make it easy to spot. Bringing it back into the basement, Lena prepared to put it to the draugr.

“Ready? Here he comes!”

With the mandatory evil laugh, a Nether Lich rose from the altar – the lich of Lorgren Benirus himself.

The fight was fierce, although it would have been a lot worse if the lich had been older. He had planned on at least 300 years of absorbing the magic of the land undisturbed, but it seems his grandson was too eager to get rid of the manor. Our mages fought for the house, but Lorgren Benirus fought for so much more – for his maturing being cut short, for the revenge on the people of Anvil who had shunned and ridiculed him during his life, for the desire to destroy the Mages Guild – or at least the Anvil chapter of it, led by Hannibal Traven at the time, and by Carahil now, the very mage who forced his hand to start his transformation. Had they just stayed out of his way, had they allowed him to dig up recently deceased for his experiments, no living soul would have been harmed until at least 500 years later. But no, Necromancy was evil, using dead bodies was wrong, and Lorgren had to die for it… which he did, but not the way the do-gooder mages intended. The Benirus Manor was to be Lorgren Benirus’ resting place until he was ready to rise. But now, through his grandson’s greed, his hand was forced again.

…

The lich of Lorgren Benirus lay defeated, the necromancy magic dispersed, the ghosts released. Will he rise again? Probably. Jowan wanted to burn his remains to prevent that, but Lena and Hauk insisted on putting him back onto his altar.

“He was a remarkable mage, if not entirely successful. If he’s done his rites right, he might rise again in a thousand years, when all that he knew in his life would have gone. We grant him the chance to immortality that he desired. We do not judge. Rest in peace, Lorgren Benirus” – Hauk finished the eulogy.

…

“So, are you going to have the house renamed?” – asked Jowan when they were safely back at The Count’s Arms. “Your deed said you could.”

“‘…submit the appropriate forms in triplicate to the Imperial Office of…’ – Oh no, not that again!” – Lena grimaced. “I’ve had my fill of running around the Imperial Offices when I was trying to get myself resurrected. Besides, Lorgren Benirus is still resting in the basement, it is still his house. We are just using it for a while.”

The workmen were clearing out the rubble, replacing the windows, fixing the roof. They shot sideways glances at the now closed portal in the basement, but the pay was too good to make them refuse the work altogether. The furniture was arriving in a few days. People in the city started talking of the new owners with respect. “Fixed that old Benirus’ house, they did. Great to have that eyesore out of the way!” – and not a word about Lorgren Benirus. Was that out of disdain or perhaps out of fear of him returning? Anvil, the city of secrets, had its ways.