I was absolutely unsurprised that the first thing the Nords did after clearing out a vampire nest and returning to Morthal was to throw a party, though that was a bit uncharitable. To be fair to the men and women that were now breaking out barrels of ale and setting up cooking fires despite the time, any other province I had been to would throw a celebration after a battle like the one they just went through.

Those other provinces might have waited a day or two, but I suppose if Nords passed up a chance to drink themselves into Oblivion after a fight they wouldn't be Nords, would they?

I sighed and carefully shifted to a more comfortable position so I wasn't pressing on my wounds.

Taking an Ice Spike spell to the back was never fun, even when Ironflesh stops it from going more than a few inches instead of fully impaling you. And while I had used one of my better healing potions to patch the worst things up, it would be a few days before I was completely healed. And it was making me far more irritable than normal.

Things got better once the celebration began. I wasn't the only one that had been injured in the fight down in the lair and the rest of the partygoers had taken it as a mission from the Divines to make sure we never had a dry cup in our hands.

Hardly an hour into things the pain was buried under the pleasant buzz of alcohol. And while I still had a clear enough head to resist the urge to join the dancing, I did make the mistake of telling one of the partygoers I thought the Fighter's Guild was better than the Companions.

Objectively, I was completely correct. The Fighter's Guild was bigger, more well known to the other provinces, and wealthier than some old mead hall. Nords didn't appreciate objective.

"Loo', I'm telling you you firehaired grub-munching treehugger, da Companions 're worth any three of the Fighter's you care to name!" an old scarred Nord slurred as he waved his mug at me. "Any t'ree of em!"

"The ordinary members maybe, you crusty milk-drinking mudcrab," I shot back. "But the Fighter's guild has twice the amount of elites. And they can train new ones much better than your friendship circle!"

"Right, that's it!" the old man declared and slammed his flagon onto the nearest flat surface. "Only one way to settle this now, or are ya' scared girlie?"

If I wasn't injured there would probably be two ways to settle things, but no Nord was going to seriously argue for a fistfight with an already wounded opponent. So that meant drinking contest. Well aware of the others watching for my response I drained my own cup and slammed it down as well.

"Just don't cry when you lose."

-o-

The sound of some birds chirping angered the troll that decided to take up living space in my skull.

While I did my best to ignore the beast thrashing around in my head, I decided to crack an eye and see what predicament I was in. I could only remember a few hours past the first drinking contest and the rest was a blur.

The good news was I was still both fully clothed and not in a compromising position unlike some of the rare other times I got blackout drunk, but the bad news was I was filthy and lying very close to where someone had emptied their stomach.

Now that I acknowledged the puddle of sick, the smell was almost enough to make me want to add my own contribution. So, despite the troll protesting every movement, I stood up and made my way through the piles of unconscious partiers. I did have a quiet laugh at the sight of a passed out Erikur and Jordis. The two had collapsed quite close to each other but Erikur had latched onto a blanket in his sleep rather than the sword-maiden. I'm sure she would be disappointed when she found out.

I continued my aimless wandering trying to find a space not filled with passed out Nords while nodding politely to the few others that were up and about. Finding a spot that didn't smell like unwashed bodies or spilled ale was turning out to be harder than I first thought though.

I was about to give up on the idea of finding a nice secluded space and simply going back to where I woke up when I saw two figures in the distance. A man roughly shoving a smaller woman forward. And the woman had her arms bound to her sides.

I could think of a few reasons a man would be pushing a bound woman out into the woods while the sun had barely risen over the horizon. Very few of them were flattering. So after making sure I hadn't been spotted by the two, I silently stalked after the pair.

There were a few close calls where the man looked back to see if anyone was following him that I had to work a bit to avoid, but I did manage it. I was glad I had done so too, because after a bit I recognized the pair as Thonnir and his wife turned vampire Laelette. Hopefully this wasn't some elaborate murder/suicide or worse, Thonnir realeasing the vampire back into the wilds.

My waiting was rewarded when the two went deeper into the woods until they entered an ancient stone summoning circle. Waiting for them was the Court Mage Falion.

"I brought her." Thonnir grunted as he approached. "And I have the gem. Can you really do it?"

"Yes, but before we can begin we should address our visitor." Falion said. "You were followed."

"B-but I checked…"

"I'm sure you did, but few would be able to spot a Bosmir in the woods if they did not wish you to. I'm sure I wouldn't have if not for her injury." Falion responded looking in my direction.

I sighed and stepped out from behind a tree. I hadn't thought to look for magic or other less direct forms of observation. Sloppy.

"Court Mage, Thonnir. I hope you have a good explanation." I stated, hiding my displeasure at being found out so easily.

"Of course, but I do hope you listen to the full explanation first." Falion said calmly. "You see I have always been fascinated with the Planes of Oblivion. It is what drove me to study Conjuration despite the poor reputation it has with non-mages. I thought I would find like minded companions at the College but all I found was cowards too afraid of the unknown to ask questions about what could be found so I left.

"After some wandering I found this place, a relic created by people like me. Ones not content to just wonder about what lies in the Planes of Oblivion but actually desired to study them."

"So this is a sacrifice to bring something through?" I asked, looking at the still bound vampire.

"No! Something much more profound!" Falion denied. "A way to cure vampirism!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Through a summoning circle? That seems unlikely."

"To all but masters of Conjuration you would be correct." The mage admitted. "I know you professed little experience with the school yourself, but with the proper ritual you can summon the essence of the right plane to this circle, induce a deathlike state in the subject, and then…convince the plane that the subject's soul was claimed by using a substitute; releasing Coldharbour's influence and curing the condition."

"The gem Thonnir has. It's a black Soul Gem. You're basing your cure on Necromancy." I accused, and to my surprise Falion smiled.

"Excellent deduction, it's a shame you aren't more studied in my schools of magic. I feel like you would be a wonderful conversation partner."

"You understand what you described isn't a cure though? You are just substituting another soul."

He shrugged. "For now perhaps, I am sure there are improvements that could be made in the future. Though I suppose what must be discussed is what happens now? Will you try and stop this? Condemn a victim of the chance to be freed from her condition? Or will you stand aside and allow me to save her?"

From his attitude I could tell Falion was convinced that saw his ritual as something greater than it was.

At best he was simply damning another soul to Coldharbour, not saving someone from the condition. I had vague memories from earlier games in the series that were actual cures, not a trade that Molag-Bal likely allowed because he either didn't care as long as he got what was owed or it amused him someone was willingly offering him a victim to torment in exchange for someone that likely committed terrible acts in his name, willingly or not. At worst he was simply curing the symptoms but not severing the connection to the Oblivion Plane, not only sacrificing the soul in the black soul gem but simply delaying the original soul's own arrival when the person died later.

Unfortunately I had a very shallow understanding of the magics at work here and couldn't say which was more likely.

"I'm not in any shape to stop you," I finally admitted. "And I don't have the time to watch over you and make sure this isn't a terrible idea-" Not when I needed to secure the Elder Scroll "-but I will be back to check on you just to make sure this isn't another Oblivion Crisis in the making."

"Your lack of confidence in me is unfortunate but reasonable, I suppose. But do what you must to feel at ease." Falion agreed, far too easily in my opinion. "Will you be staying for the ritual?"

Stay and potentially draw the attention of a Daedric Prince thanks to someone messing with the essence of his domain? No. I really didn't want to be here for that. Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly judge how dangerous the ritual Falion was playing with without seeing it in action.

"I'll stay."

"Excellent. Then let us begin."

"This had better work, Mage." Thonnir grunted from a ways away.

I only now noticed he had his hand on an ax. If I had chosen to interrupt or forbid the ritual, would he have attacked me? It seemed likely from his behavior.

"I call upon Oblivion Realms, the home of those who are not our ancestors. Answer my plea! As in death there is new life, in Oblivion there is a beginning for that which has ended. I call forth that power! Accept the soul that we offer!--"

-o-

"--As the sun ends the night, end the darkness of this soul, return life to the creature you see before you!" Falion finished hours later.

The ritual was a fascinating thing to watch, even if I ended up understanding very little.

In many ways it was like watching a master artist at work. I could see what preparations and actions were made, but I lacked the understanding and background to comprehend why things were done or why they were in certain orders.

I could tell two things for certain though. One, Laelette was free of any influence from Coldharbour. The ritual had definitely severed that connection. And two, whatever Falion was doing was far more dangerous than he suggested.

Messing with one Plane of Oblivion was already insanely dangerous. Messing with three at the same time was practically suicidal, even if Meridia and Azura were considered 'nicer' Deadric Princes.

At the end of the day (technically the beginning because dawn just broke not long ago) the ritual was a success and there was one less vampire in the world, but I would not be encouraging more experimentation with this ritual even if leveraging Azura's realm of twilight and change with Meridia's anathema of the undead was brilliant. Just one of the Princes taking issue with the ritual could be disastrous.

Still, it worked. For now anyway.

The four of us returned to Morthal and I split off immediately. I had no desire to try explaining how the vampire was cured from her condition or exactly what the mage was doing in the woods. There were already two apocalypse scenarios I was getting tangled up in, I didn't have the time to poke my nose into what Falion was doing as well. Luckily there weren't many vampires getting captured and after destroying the nearby nest, close enough for Falion to get his hands on more so I could hopefully ignore the summoning circle in the woods until the Vampire trying to block out the sun and the Dragon trying to eat the world were dealt with.

Surprisingly, shortly after I returned to Erikur and Jordis, I was urged onto a horse and the three of us were rushing out of town without another word.

-o-

"Would either of you like to tell me where and why we are rushing off first thing in the morning?" I asked when we slowed down some. "I thought you would have wanted to eat before we left."

"A messenger arrived while you were away." Erikur replied, uncharacteristically grave. "All Thanes have been recalled to Solitude. Something is going on but the situation is too delicate to risk being intercepted by letter. We will be told more on arrival."

I nodded at the explanation even as I tried thinking of what might have caused this. It was still too soon for the Volkihar Clan to start making overt movements since even if she ran all the way, Serana shouldn't have made it back to the island.

I vaguely remembered there was something to do with the ghost of someone haunting the Blue Palace, but that shouldn't be something worth sending an emergency summons for.

Hopefully this was something easily resolved. I didn't want to get tied up in Solitude for too long. I had planned to stop in the city for supplies but the longer the Elder Scroll was left unsecured, the greater the risk of it potentially falling into either the Thalmor or Volkihar's hands.