“There she goes – the current Arisen and her pawn,” people would say seeing Lena and Scorpio around town in Bakbattahl. Pawns had all but disappeared from the city streets to the delight of the locals, still mistrustful of them. People would watch her for a few moments, then return to their lives and their affairs. The dragon was gone, and the people were even prepared to tolerate one pawn in their city – that of the current Arisen.

…

Once Scorpio could walk well enough, it was time to leave the camp at the excavation site and go somewhere more suitable for habitation.

“We’ll see you to Bakbattahl,” Rook said when Lena suggested that he and Mason head for the nearest riftstone. “In case there’s any trouble… not that I would expect any. But Lord Phaesus will need escorting, unless you want to end his life here? And Ambrosius? Isn’t he still alive?”

He was. Still collapsed in his cell, pale, but clinging to life.

“He will need care and treatment,” Lena turned to Lord Phaesus. “He lost a lot of blood. He is your subject, he is here on your orders. You decide.”

“He outlived his usefulness,” Lord Phaesus looked down at Ambrosius. “Leave him here to die.”

Lena put a dagger through his heart. “He deserves better.”

They teleported to Bakbattahl all together, causing a little stir at the oxcart station porticrystal. Lamond vounteered to escort Lord Phaesus back to the Forbidden Magic Laboratory under the Imperial Palace. “Are you sure he won’t escape?” Mason squinted at Lena when she announced her decision to let him go.

“Escape? And go where?” She smiled. “Besides, if I ever wanted another sip of his blood, that’s where I’d go to find him…”

“Until we meet again,” Lord Phaesus smiled, kissing her hand – he could be such a charmer when he wanted to. “My Lady.”

With Lamond and Phaesus gone, Mason, Rook, Lena and Scorpio reached Lena’s house without any trouble.

“Go home,” Lena hugged Rook. “Benita is waiting.” She kissed him, one last time.

“Don’t let me catch you causing trouble again,” he smiled. “Be well. And see you around…”

“It’s time for me to leave as well, Arisen,” Mason said his goodbyes. “I’ll be walking the roads, so if you need any help with your roast, just call… you never know.”

…

“Stop fussing over me, those cuts will heal in time!” Scorpio was protesting when Lena once again went about putting ointment on each and every cut and bruise on his body. “I am a pawn, I’m used to this…” Lena gave him a look. “Well, may be not in such quantities, granted… Oh alright, if you must…”

One day he ventured another question: “What are we going to do about your heart?”

“I don’t know…” Lena sighed. “The dragon didn’t have it… I wonder who does?”

“The Legion, who else? That’s why the old Arisen here still live after the dragon is slain.”

Lena nodded, it did make sense. But how to get it back from the Legion? And after that, how to return to Tamriel? She didn’t dare to think that far.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said decisively and shook her head. “We’re out of danger and you are alive, that will suffice for now.”

Scorpio didn’t press the matter.

“Come here,” he pulled her close. “I may not be capable of much else as yet, but I can still kiss you.” He took her in his embrace and she knew there was not a trace of the wall around his heart left. “My heart is yours. I know your heart isn’t mine, but I’ve got something else… and that’s more than enough. I may not understand how you deal with multiple bonds… but I shall not question ours again.”

“You are a part of me as I am a part of you,” Lena repeated what Lamond made her understand. “The bond only deepens with every trial…” She pressed her ear to Scorpio’s chest and listened to his heart.

…

The following few weeks were peaceful. Scorpio was recovering from his ordeal, but it was going to take time, ointments notwithstanding. He retained a deep scar on his abdomen where the dragon blood had been injected as some of the tissue had perished. Lena never went back to the Forbidden Magic Laboratory to check on Lord Phaesus, she was sure he would still be there, making notes about everything he’d learned. She wondered sometimes just how much he suffered from his cravings to be fed on, but it wasn’t important enough for her to go and check.

“You could have just killed me, you know,” Scorpio said one day. “I mean, sent me back to the Rift. That would have cured the Dragonsplague. That’s what every Arisen does: throw their pawn off a cliff.”

“It was too much of a risk,” Lena shook her head. “You didn’t just catch it from another pawn… I think you would have really died if I had killed you.”

“So what happens if I catch it again?” Scorpio gave her a long look.

“Then… you tell me about it,” Lena smiled. “Before it takes you over. And I shall probably have to throw you off a cliff…”

“I wonder what the nature of it is,” Scorpio mused. “I was unconscious of course, yet I remember visions… I remember flying… like if I had wings.”

“Like a dragon?”

“I don’t remember turning into a dragon,” he smirked. “But may be a bat? No, I jest – I couldn’t tell. The visions weren’t very clear.”

“Visions never are,” Lena nodded. “We’ll just have to deal with it if you do get infected.” She paused, then asked looking away: “Do you get called for pawn duty much these days?”

“Not now, no, not in my current condition,” Scorpio answered slowly. “Also, I think, since I am not bound to an Arisen by the Legion… I would not be their first choice.”

“That’s good,” Lena perked up. “I’d miss you.”

“But you aren’t supposed to even notice…”

“Oh but I do.”

“Then why did you ask?” He looked at her with a penetrating gaze. “I wouldn’t lie.”

“I wondered…” Lena looked down, avoiding Scorpio’s gaze. “I wondered if I stopped sensing it… You haven’t been called since we slayed the dragon, correct?”

“That’s right,” Scorpio nodded. “Since my Legion bond to you was released.”

“Hmm… The bond was released…” She repeated pensively. “So if you were to return to the Rift, would I even be able to get you back?”

“Of course, I would answer your call at once.”

“Answer my call… So this is then how, back in Gransys, you were able not to answer my call which made me jump off a cliff in despair?” She looked up at him sharply.

“That’s right… that’s the one choice we get. And I did it on purpose – to send you back home.”

“Well, don’t do it again!” Lena exclaimed hotly. “We return to Tamriel together or we don’t return. I meant what I said: I shall stay with you till the end of times… because unless I am killed, my life will have no end. I am not a regular mortal.”

“I heard you say that…” Scorpio smiled. “Wasn’t sure if I simply imagined it… it seems I did not.”

They stood on the edge of a cliff, the scenery of Battahl spreading before them.