Unedited

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Sophie was silent as she rode on Ricin, Alexios silent behind her. The wind whistled about them, Ricin's wings flapping constantly and slowly as they cruised above the clouds.

"We are royals." Alexios started.

"Yup." Sophie popped.

It was silent for a moment longer before Sophie piped up, "What did she want to talk to you about?"

Kassandra asked that she be alone with Alexios near the very end of their visit. Sophie could not hear anything past the wall of rock about their conversation.

"She just asked about what has happened to our family after all these years." He replied, picking at the skin surrounding his nail beds. Sophie nodded, turning back to the sky in front of her with nothing more to it.

But she knew he was lying.

Alexios had nothing else to say. Nothing he could say.

"What do you think we are going to find when we get there? To the Throat of the World?" He asked.

Sophie shook her head, gripping the reins. Her Spartans have been all alone, defending the Ancient Vatarians while Sophie strolled about and took all the time in the world.

"Carnage." No hope in cherry coating it. There was one thing that Vincenzo made clear. He razed anyone who defied him to the ground.

"Great." Alexios grumbled.

It was silent again, forcing Sophie's mind back to things she tried to push away. All this time, all this damn time, the Morretti family were royal. And the main reason Vincenzo executed and hunted down the Morrettis was that his family wanted the royal title. Everything was changing fast, and she couldn't keep up. Cyrah was a spy; Blur was a spy; they had three artifacts while the Neverseen had none.

Eira was close to being found out, Halvar was under the control of the Neverseen, and now Kassandra was under threat.

What was the future of her Assassins after this? What will happen to everything she has built?

"There they are." Alexios pointed to the small group of ships, who all waved to her. Ricin dived for the deck of the main ship, the sailors scrambling out of the way.

Sophie and Alexios slid off the back of the dragon, who sneezed and snorted at the strong salty air. Sophie thought of beginning to hear the reports and thoughts of her men. Still, the heavy smog settling over the sea due to the approaching island made her just stare at the horizon. Her great aunt was on that island, along with thousands of ancient Vatarians. The Elders gave Vincenzo everything he needed, and now what? If Vincenzo, and thus the Neverseen, get their hands on Kassandra, it is practically game over.

"Soph," a familiar hand slid around her waist, giving her a calming squeeze. Sophie looked at Ruy with a gentle smile, finally looking away from the fiery blaze on the horizon. Ruy took a deep breath and held her tight, "How many do you think are..." Ruy couldn't finish.

How many of her Spartans and innocent Vatarians are dead? "Too many."

Ruy held her tighter. His breath was ragged. He finally got his robes fitted over his Dunmer armor and wings, the blue stones and polished plates of armor glinting against the blue fabric of vatarian make.

"When are you going home?" Sophie asked, smiling up at him.

Ruy perked an eyebrow, "When you do."

"I mean to visit your father. To see your people." The Dunmer kingdom then.

Ruy sighed, "They have been calling me the Lost Prince."

Sophie snorted, slapping a hand over her mouth when he whipped his head to her. Ruy glared as she composed herself, asking through quivering lips, "Is that so?"

Ruy rolled his eyes, "You can laugh."

Sophie burst into a fit of giggles, kneeling to keep herself steady. She grabbed his arm, using it to hold herself steady as she looked up at him with a big smile, "What next? Prince Charming?"

They both snickered at that, the approaching island feeling like a looming cloud over their time with one another. Sophie leaned against his arm, "I don't know what is going to happen here, but I don't like it."

Ruy kissed her hair, rubbing her back, "Yeah, I know. Me too."

"What if they get to Kassandra? What if they kill us all here and now?" Sophie began.

"Kassandra is well protected on the very top of the mountain by a dragon, she will hold out long enough for us to get there." Ruy glanced at the Spartans and Assassins behind them, watching them get ready for war.

The Spartans were angry. They thought their comrades would be safe with the relatively easy mission of protecting the Ancient Vatarians. They were wrong, just like Sophie was.

"Dear gods." Ruy turned to where his girlfriend stared, the island finally fully viewed. The Assassins and Spartans alike gaped.

Fire and smoke was awaiting them, along with lines of awaiting Neverseen and Esposita soldiers. They knew they were coming. Vincenzo had warned them. What she wasn't expecting was the silence.

"I need to get up to Kassandra." Sophie turned to Ruy, "Now."

"We'll cover you. I'll lead things down here." Ruy breathed.

Sophie strode through the now scrambling sea of Assassins and Spartans towards Ricin. Ricin's eyes were slits centered on the peak hidden in the clouds, a low growl escaping his mouth.

"Come on. We need to get to Tezca and Kassandra before it is too late." Alexios and Maha came up next to her, mounting Ricin without any words exchanged. They already knew they were coming. Sophie needed them both at her side. Her brother and her fellow Heiress.

Ruy approached her, holding up a wing to shelter Alexios's view. She leaned down to meet Ruy's lips, running her thumb across his cheek. She pulled away, looking into his lidded eyes. Dark azure with splatters of violet, the colors that she would see in her dreams

"I love you," Ruy mouthed to her silently, squeezing her hand that was wrapped around Ricin's reins.

"I love you too." She smiled, pulling back and sitting right in her saddle. Ruy pulled back his wing, giving Maha and Alexios a quick nod. Alexios narrowed his eyes at him but kept his mouth shut for once in his life.

With a quick flick of her heel, Ricin was sprinting off the deck of the ship.

Ricin growled and panted as he turned higher and higher.

"Shoot them down!" She heard from the sea of green and black beneath her.

But her men beat them to the punch. Ruy and Nour's voices sounded from the ship, "Fire!"

A vaulting of poisoned arrows from her assassins and fire arrows from her Spartans made the sky above the Neverseen lines during black. With the three assassins on his back leaning against his body, Ricin punched through them like they were nothing, the wood shattering on his scales like they were nothing.

And the beast vaulted for the peak beyond.

Wylie dialed her again and again, growling as he glared down at the red of his call going unheard. He strolled through the abandoned base of Brumevale, his mother's diary in one hand and his imparter in another. He groaned and shoved the imparter into his pocket, switching it out for his stress ball.

His mother kept bringing up Brumevale in her diary, mentioning she would meet Allesandro there from time to time to switch information. He felt like he should check it out. It was surprising that Allesandro kept this spy ring entirely secret from even the Black Swan yet met at some of their locations. The secrecy that man had kinda shocked Wylie to think that Sophie "Clums-a-lot" Foster was his daughter.

He had already ventured up the floating stones and the lighthouse, finding nothing. But, atop the lighthouse, he spotted a small outline of a building carved into a floating mass of rock. It floated below the lighthouse, almost completely hidden from view. There were the occasional other floating island far beneath the lighthouse, but none of them hold buildings.

(By Gerezon on DeviantArt)

Wylie found some rope to repel down, which nearly broke twice. But what Sophie said rang true. As of late, he has been noticing changes. Wylie is faster, more attentive. When a troll was speaking with her comrades in one of the physician classes Wylie sat through, he understood her perfectly. And he can see things, unlike any other elf. And that scared him.

Wylie was not the explorer type at all, and the overgrown moss peeking through the splotchy masses of rock proved troublesome. Throwing himself over the edge of the big rock and hoisting one leg over it, he tried to shimmy down to the floor beneath him carefully. But his cloak got snagged on a rock, tripping him and sending him tumbling down the side. Wylie landed on his butt, groaning and whimpering.

This was the last time he goes exploring on a simple hunch.

Rubbing his behind, he continued into the building, making notes as he did so. It all matched up with his mother's recounts. She mentioned Allesandro coming here often, but she would not divulge why in her journal. Wylie is here to figure that out.

Departing down a flight of stairs, he flickers on lights on the pads of his fingers, scanning over the pages. The light got meeker and the air danker, and Wylie considered turning back.

But the gentle meow of a kitten made him freeze.

An orange and brown tabby weaved between his legs, looking up at him with shining eyes and floppy whiskers.

"Uh, hi?" Wylie offered, stepping away from the cat and leaning down.

"How on earth did a stray get down here-"

"Don't hurt her!" Wylie didn't have time to react as a massive body came hurtling towards him, pushing him away from the cat. Wylie scrambled back, a melder tight his hands as he pointed it in front of him.

A large man held the tabby close to him, his eyes wide.

"Who are you-"

"Who are you?!" The man panicked, holding the cat tighter.

Wylie swallowed, "I'm Wylie Endal, a elven noble man from the Lost Cities. And you are?"

The man looked down at his cat, taking a step back.

Wylie put his melder back in its holster, his hands up, "I promise I'll do you no harm. I just here to follow my mother's footsteps."

The man swallowed, "I'm Seamus. Did Ruy send you?"

Wylie stopped, "Ruy?"

"He's my friend. We got separated after escaping a castle. I said I could handle myself once we did seperate, but..." Seamus tapered off.

Wylie sighed, "I do know Ruy, but he didn't send me. If you want, I can deliver a message for you?"

Seamus carefully put down his cat, scanning Wylie up and down, "You said you are following your mother?"

"No, I said I'm following her footsteps. She came here a lot. I'm trying to figure out why."

Seamus shrugged, "I have just been here for a couple weeks, surviving off the animals I find in the area. My pa was a butcher you know-"

"I don't want to hear about your disgusting survival. Since you are eating animals, I'm guessing you are Vatarian?"

Seamus cocked his head, "Do Elves not eat animals?"

"No, we don't. It makes us sick." Wylie sighed, his answer clipped. He didn't mean to come off as rude, but he was coming here to find his mother's secrets, not some random person and his cat.

"Well what are you looking for?" Seamus started, scooping up his kitten, "I've been around here for a while. My camp is set up in the middle of the base."

"Why the middle? Wouldn't it be easier to be near the entrance to be able to leave and exit to hunt?"

"It's warm near the middle. It's been getting colder here recently. I don't know why. There is a big device that puffs out warm steam. It helps all these plants grow never stops. This little one had been catching mice to help protect my stash of food!" Wylie turned to stare at Seamus as he pointed to his little kitten, "I've started calling her Mouse for that very reason!"

Wylie turned to look into the building, "This mechanism. Can you bring me to it?"

Seamus perked an eyebrow, but he grabbed the torch on the wall. Mouse skittered along in front of them, "Follow me, then."

Alexios spun around his sister's blade, swinging in and down with his bald on her foe. Ricin screeched as he swung his tail against the cliffside, rocks tumbling down and squishing the fae wolves that weren't running away.

Maha shot down the final wolf that went for Ricin's throat, her bow slackening when things went quiet.

"Yetis, wolves, ice creatures! You did all of this alone the las time you traveled to the top, Lia?" Maha breathed, hugging her coat closer to her.

Sophie shook her head, "I had Ricin." Ricin cooed, nuzzling against her head.

Alexios looked to the top, "We haven't run in to any Neverseen soldiers yet? Hasn't Vincenzo been holding this place for a little while now? There should be more invaders going for Kassandra-"

Ricin grabbed the back of Alexios's armor with his teeth, yanking him away from the edge of the mountainside as a screaming man was thrown from the peak. The man bounced against the edge, gripping the edge as the snow began sliding. He wore a green Neverseen scout uniform. The man fell and screamed as he bounced down the mountain. The four stared at him in silence, absolutely shocked into silence.

Alexios and Maha jumped at the ear defeating roar that sent tiny rocks down the mountain. But Sophie smiled, Ricin bouncing about on his feet and making a sweet coo.

Tezca had two more Neverseen scouts in his claws, throwing them off the mountainside. His fierce eyes snagged on Sophie and her friends.

"Protect the queen!" The dragon roared to them. Alexios was the first to move, hauling through the sheet of powder and ice, turning around the corners to the peak. Ricin, Maha, and Sophie followed him, skidding in front of the rock exit. Sophie banged and pulled at the entrance, kicking it in defeat.

"Tezca is the one who opens the entrance into the crypt." She growled. Sophie tried to see Tezca in the sky, but a small group of new Neverseen scouts turning onto the peak tore her attention away. They wore thick metal armor, green spikes poking out their armor. Poisoned spikes to protect them from Tezca's claws, mouth, and tail.

Wait. Metal.

Sophie rubbed her hands together, sparks flickering between her palms.

"Ricin!" Her dragon perked, snarling at the group of scouts.

"Leave now and we won't harm you!" The scout group called out. The small sparks in Sophie's palms grew to jumping bolts, and Ricin's mouth grew to a bright blue.

"Now!" Sophie and Ricin launched their bolts into the metal group of enemies in front of them. The bolts slung to the metal and the water of the snow sticking on the armor, the bodies frying on the inside.

They all dropped and rolled back down the mountainside.

Sophie clapped in relief, jumping on her toes a bit and looking at her sparkling hands. Her powers were finally her own now. Glancing over her shoulder, she cringed as she saw Alexios try to wedge his sword in between the rocks of the entrance.

"That isn't going to work, idiota!" Sophie stomped back, pushing aside her brother and yanking the sword from the stone.

"Tezca would burn away the rocks to reveal teh iron doors. They are too heavy to move!"

Maha strode past both of them. She hummed as she pulled her sleeves to her elbows and cracked her knuckles. She slid off her gloves and stuck them into her belt. She made two strong fists, an emerald glow shining between her fingers. She opened her fists to reveal the two anvils seared into her pals with ere glowing brightly. The stones in front of them rattled on shone the same color.

And with one firm punch, the rocks shattered into a million little pieces, revealing the iron set of doors.

The two Morretti siblings peeked over her shoulders, Sophie shocked, and Alexios terrified. Maha slid her gloves back on and gave them a sweet smile.

(Sibylline original. Please do not use without credit!)

"Shall we?" Maha smiled.

Maha's bowstring hasn't stopped since they entered the crypt. Draugr and Neverseen scouts following them into the crypt, constant screaming and feet sprinting through the ancient crypts that haven't had any living company in thousands of years. Sophie pulled her sword, the very sword Kynareth gave her during the Battle of Foxfire, out of its sheath along her back. The lightning drenched her blade, shadows crawling over her back and an icy wind blowing her hair about her head. The wet slime covering all surfaces proves to serve in Alexios's favor. With one flick of his hand, the water swarmed out the goop and into a vicious whip, beheading draugr and forcing the neverseen back. Sophie's blade never left her hand, the woman pushing further into the crypt. She finally entered the main chamber, Alexios and Maha behind her.

"Kassandra!" Sophie called out, taking two steps up the stairs towards the black throne.

But the queen was not waiting for them.