“Being a vampire weighs heavily upon you,” Scorpio looked at Lena sideways as they were strolling through the wooded countryside in Vermund. “You have not been your usual self since you drank the dragon blood from the patch in my side.” He twitched as the scar on his abdomen gave him a painful pull.

“That still hurts?” Lena looked up with worry, noticing Scorpio cringe.

“Yes,” he nodded. “But don’t avoid my question.”

“Yes,” she nodded back. “Yes, it does weigh heavily upon me. I got infected by accident when I was young, I’ve done everything I could to cure it, and yet every time I attempt to rid me of vampirism, I only find myself sinking deeper in… When the choice is between vampirism and death… I keep choosing vampirism…”

“Death is not the answer,” Scorpio agreed. “For as long as you have something to live for, you will choose life, in whatever form.”

“But then the times when my vampirism is in remission, are nothing but a lie…” Lena said in a small voice. “Since I do not want to be mortal.”

“There’s more to it than just mortality, isn’t there?” Scorpio objected. “You could be permanently killed also as a vampire, there are always ways… Why is it then that every time you relapse, you insist on pushing it back in remission?”

“I like to feel warmth in my heart,” Lena answered without hesitation. “Not just warmth in my body – a good feeding does that already. I like the heartbeat…” She pressed a hand to her chest but felt nothing. “When the dragon took my heart, it was like being forced into perpetual void without the chance of escape…”

“And that is why we must find your heart,” Scorpio said firmly. “We cannot leave it behind. We cannot return to Tamriel without it.”

…

When they returned to Vernworth, Lena noticed someone waiting for her near her house.

“Glyndwr,” she stopped in her tracks. “He will want to go on a trip, no doubt. Show me how much his archery skill has improved since last we met… Why is it that people find it perfectly acceptable to wait for you at your house and then demand you depart with them the moment you return to the city? Like, may be, we’d want to rest and tend to our wounds first?” She turned to Scorpio, irritation clearly visible on her face.

“You could just refuse him, you know,” Scorpio shrugged.

“Then he’d be upset,” Lena sighed. “I have nothing against a trek, we are not exactly busy, and he’s nice company. But – right now? As in – immediately this instant? That’s insane.”

“That’s insolence,” Scorpio nodded. “But they all do it. It’s the way things work in this world.”

“Well, then he can stand there and wait for a bit longer,” Lena decided, turning on her heels. “It’s too bad I sold the mansion, but there’s always the inn. Come on.”

…

“Welcome to my inn!” Shakir greeted them as they entered. “The best hospitality in Vermund is right here! Do you just want to rammage in your storage again or will you be actually renting a bed or two?”

“I’d like a private room,” Lena got out her purse. “You’ve got one, don’t you?”

“Ahh, someone is waiting by your house and you would rather prefer some rest first,” he nodded. “We hear it all the time. Bath and breakfast as well?”

“Yes, please.”

“There,” he handed her a key. “Down the steps, then turn right. It’s the last door along that hall. Better than The Rose,” he grinned and winked, following Scorpio with his eyes.

…

“Something isn’t right,” Glyndwr said softly after they’ve been on the road for half a day and Lena didn’t say a word. She targeted most foes from far with her bow, picking them off one by one long before they could come near. If any survived her arrows, Glyndwr finished them in turn. Scorpio didn’t have to cast a single spell, hostile or healing. He too didn’t speak. “You’ve been away for half a year… I’ve heard rumours, but I am not sure what to believe. I wanted to check on you, that is all. I apologise if this was just an intrusion…”

Lena stopped, turning to face him. The Malachite Forest around them rustled its leaves, muffling every sound. The clearing they were standing on, felt private.

“I am sorry, Glyndwr, it isn’t your fault,” Lena sighed. “You’ve done nothing wrong, and I do appreciate the attention, truly…” She paused, then sat down on a mossy log, her companions sitting down as well. “We’ve gone through hard times… We made sacrifices… It isn’t true that anything that you manage to survive, makes you stronger.”

“If you don’t want to tell me, I understand,” Glyndwr said softly. “I can see for myself that your pawn is not just your pawn… He disappeared first, then you went to his rescue, that much is clear. But I feel that isn’t what is weighing on your heart.”

“My heart…” Lena looked up. “That’s just it. I haven’t got it.”

“After all you’ve gone through..?” Glyndwr was taken aback. “Slayed the dragon and all..? And… nothing?”

“And nothing,” Lena nodded.

Glyndwr was visibly disturbed by this. He got up and paced around the clearing, clenching and unclenching his fists, muttering something under his breath in Elvish and shaking his head. After a little while he returned and sat down again.

“I am of course your junior in every way,” he started cautiously. “Barely an adult… and I have no right to give advice…” He shook his head again and blushed, then looked up at Lena without raising his head. “But if I may? This might be of use to you.”

“Glyndwr, please dispose with the formalities!” Lena exclaimed, blushing as well. “You seem to know rather more about me than most people… which should make it easier to talk! Years isn’t everything.”

“So it is as I thought, you are much older than me,” he smiled. “Youthful looks notwithstanding. I daresay you have more experience too… But do you know Elves?” He looked at her with doubt.

“I know some elves…” Lena said without much conviction. “Dark Elves more than othes…” Glyndwr didn’t seem to understand, and she hastened to clarify. “In my world there are three elven races, they differ in just about everything, from looks to beliefs to traditions… The only thing they have in common is their disdain for humans… Even those with elven roots… particularly those with elven roots… or those like myself whose race is considered to be a cross of man and mer.”

“Then you know Elves,” Glyndwr nodded. “When you come to Sacred Arbour, they are happy enough to take your money, yet none will speak your language,” he smirked. “You think they cannot? They can… we’ve been living in this human land for generations… They understand everything you say, but will not speak it. I disapprove of that.” He paused, considering how to say what he had to say. “This land isn’t ours by right… It wasn’t always ours,” he corrected himself. “One day a group of elves arrived here from another world… They found this forest, wild and avoided by humans, so they settled here. The humans never made any attempts to evict them, yet the elves shunned humans nonetheless.” He looked at the ancient trees around them as if asking forgiveness. “My point is this: those elves had traveled from another world. How they did it and whence they came, is written in old tomes, closely guarded from prying eyes…” he smirked. “But I read them. They came from a world where the dragon held the Arisens’ hearts… They fled because the Arisen among them did not dare to slay the dragon… They sought to escape the fate that awaited all old Arisen in that world – they would perish when a new Arisen finally slays the dragon, slays it and regains his or her heart. You should retrace their steps,” Glyndwr looked straight at Lena. “You should go to the world where slaying the dragon restores your heart.”

“That old Arisen you spoke of…” Lena smiled. “I think I met her. She lives in a self-imposed exhile together with her ageing husband… Yet she does not seem to age herself.”

“An elf and a dwarf, yes,” Glyndwr nodded. “Another conundrum there. Just how many dwarves have you met in this world? Two, I wager. There’s a smith in Bakbattahl as well. Two dwarves in an entire world?” He smiled and his eyes twinkled.

“I see,” Lena grinned. “And they say it is only pawns who can travel across the Rift…”

…

“Good morning!” Lena greeted the receptionist at the Pawn Guild. “I trust you enjoyed my little gift from a few days ago?” A broad grin on the receptionist’s face told her all she needed to know. “Well then… This…” she placed a larger Godsway crystal before him, “…is of the same purity, but look at the size. Take it all at once for a trip of a lifetime or split it up for several milder rides.”

“What do you want for it?” He asked in a hoarse voice, not taking his eyes off the crystal.

“Gransys,” Lena said. “You know it, I presume?”

…

It was another storm in Cassardis, and people huddled in their houses to wait it out.

“This isn’t just a simple storm,” Rook stood on the doorstep of his and Benita’s house, pointing at the angry clouds that seemed to twist in a vortex.

“You think the dragon is coming?” Benita looked over his shoulder, hugging him from behind. “It hasn’t been fifty years yet… I wonder what’s brought it on.”

“Not what – who,” Rook smirked. “‘Tis the wolven hour.”

They went back into the house and barred the door. It the Rift was going to open over Cassardis, they would notice it soon enough, there was no need to get your house destroyed for it.

The vortex thickened, condensed and spit out a body. It fell onto the beach and remained still.

The storm continued to rage and anyone looking out the window, had the immediate urge to shut it and bar it from the inside. It is for this reason that no one besides Rook and Benita saw the dragon descend onto the beach. The dragon looked around, spotted the body and prodded it with his claw.

“You again!” He reeled, recognising a blond female that slayed him twice already. “What have I done to deserve it?!” The dragon’s roar blended with the roar of the storm. “Oh very well, if I must!” He spit a mouthfull of fire. “But this time I’m taking your heart!”

He split Lena’s chest in a much-practiced gesture… and reeled once again.

“No heart?!” He screamed in a high pitched voice, quite unexpected in a dragon. “What have you done with your heart?! I’ve got to have the heart for the magic to work!!!”

“You’ll manage,” Lena raised her head, pulling the wound together. “I will want it back when we meet again, so you better have it ready, Grigori,” she smiled. “And nice to see you too. I rather prefer you to the other dragon.”

“What have I done to deserve this?!” Grigori flapped his wings throwing a few fishing boats against the rocks, then rose into the air, circled the bay of Cassardis one last time and flew off, taking the storm with him as well.

“Here we go again,” Lena shook her head, clutching her open chest. Although the wound wasn’t deadly, it was still very painful and she blacked out, right there on the beach.