Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter CVII - A Way Out

The journey down the mountain was always much more pleasant than up. And it was especially true when Bishop and Aeyrin weren't actually planning on staying at the monastery.

It was still reasonably early when Paarthurnax flew off to stretch his wings and since they got what they needed, they headed back down, first to pick up Karnwyr back at the monastery courtyard, and then back to Ivarstead for the night. It was the only night they should stay. Any longer might have been too dangerous again. Two nights. That was their limit for staying in a settlement. And one night only in one campsite in the wilderness. It was exhausting. It wasn't that much different from their usual pace, but it was exhausting just because they knew they had to take these precautions.

But there was nothing they could do about it. Every time, the Brotherhood had Bishop either hopelessly unarmed or outmatched. They knew what they were doing. And he clearly still wasn't on their kill list. Did they seriously still want to recruit him? After all this?

It was a mystery, but one that neither of them actually wanted to know the answer to.

Before they returned to the inn, they left the sack full of the magic snow by the local mailbox, along with a letter for Quintus. The sack couldn't actually fit in the box and Bishop was always nervous about sending out packages through these boxes, or even worse, leaving them right outside of them. Anyone could steal that shit. It was safer to catch a courier somewhere and send the package with them. But then it occurred to him that all that was in the sack was actually snow. Who the fuck would steal snow in the middle of winter? Who would steal snow any season? Nobody would ever recognize that something was strange about it, not when it wasn't all glistening at the top of that peak. It was probably safe there.

Besides, a courier was gonna pick everything up early in the morning. He wasn't sure how the entire service worked, but everyone knew that the boxes get emptied out each morning.

They headed straight to the inn right after. It was always fairly busy there in the evening. Apparently there were a lot of pilgrims again, as usual. Some of them actually gawked at Aeyrin with their mouths ajar, as if she was some kind of Divine revelation around that mountain. It used to be much more comfortable in this place when nobody knew who the Dragonborn was and what they looked like.

But fortunately, nobody bothered them and the pilgrims went back to their business soon enough. The two of them were free to grab a table in a secluded corner and wait for Lynly to make her way to them.

"Hi! You're back early," the barmaid chirped as she finally got a chance to stop by their table, after serving several other patrons.

"Better down here than with the fossils up there," Bishop smirked, eliciting a brief chuckle from Lynly.

"Lynly, do you still have that horker steak I had last night? That was so good," Aeyrin gave her an eager look. The idea of a delicious dinner kept her spirits up all the way down the mountain.

"Hold on," Lynly chuckled again. "Before you two swarm me with your food orders, I have something for you. A courier came by while you were in the monastery. It was addressed to the both of you." She reached to her apron string and pulled out a folded paper hidden between the pages of her small notepad.

Another letter? They were getting popular. It was unusual that it was addressed to the both of them though.

"Go on already, read it," Lynly smiled when she noticed their instant curiosity. "I'll get you some drinks in the meantime and we'll talk food later."

The letter was sealed, but the symbol on it was not one that either of them recognized. It was a diamond with an eye inside it and three long spikes.

But without any further clues, there was nothing left to do but tear open the envelope and see what the letter was about: