"This is unbelievable," Fendros breathed. He brought a hand to the side of his head and turned in place. "This is far too obvious and absurd and..." He let out the rest of his breath.

After some moments letting Do'rhajul's words sink in, Sabine added. "I would have tried to get the axe on my own either way. I wanted to make up for getting caught. Rhajul and Yerig helped me. I got the axe for all of us. I just do not want them to be executed. I will not let that happen."

Janius squinted his eyes, still confused. "Sabine, how did you three kill a dragon on your own? We were going to bring an entire warband down to that island."

Sabine's eyes did not leave the floor. "Rhajul used his shield, Yerig used his shouts and his knowledge." She eyed her staff. "I used this. It could absorb the dragon's breath. I trapped it in ice. The ice and the body are probably still there."

Even Meesei seemed to have difficulty coming to terms with the story that Sabine told about the events over the past day or two. "You...trapped an entire dragon in ice? I do not think even I could accomplish a feat like that, at least not in the middle of a fight. The sheer amount of magicka required to form stable crystals of sufficient size to stand against the strength of..." Meesei's sentence faded as her eyes went to the Staff of Magnus.

"The staff...we could only theorize on its power before. On what it could do. It is a font of magicka, is it not? I can feel it now just sitting here, brimming with power. The idea that this was in the hands of that zealot is even more frightening now than it was before." Meesei commented, now having composed herself enough that she was no longer in tears. Although, Sabine did not leave her embrace.

Lorag had kept his eyes firmly on Do'rhajul, and was perhaps even more suspicious of him than any of the others. But, even he could not ignore the story that Sabine told, and what it implied about her own accomplishments. He stepped forward in front of the others and looked almost as if he was amused. "So...you're saying that when you were captured, you still managed to finish the mission you started." He began, motioning towards Yerig. "You managed to break out of your bindings, disable and capture the majority of the enemy in the camp, convince our sworn enemy to swear his loyalty to you instead, recover two...or I guess with his shield, three legendary artifacts, then kill a dragon that we were going to use a small army to deal with. You did all that yourself, in about a day or two."

There was a silence in the room as Lorag paused and gave a look around to the others. "That's about the most damned impressive thing I've ever heard."

Sabine was not sure what to say. Everyone else had been questioning her, and with good reason. Of all the people to give her congratulations first, Lorag was not the one Sabine would have predicted.

For a few moments, she tried to work out if Lorag was being sarcastic. Her face ended up flushing at the possibility that her unwanted predictions on getting credit for these tasks was coming true.

Still lacking any answer to Lorag, Sabine stammered out a response to Meesei. "Arinette was limited with the staff. She did not know magic like we do. The staff is...describing it is not simple. It is like a strong river I can direct with my bare hands. It might run out of magicka like a river runs dry but I do not know when or how."

She sniffed. Her eyelids were drooping. "I am sorry for all the trouble I caused. I can show you what I did. But I will not let Do'rhajul or Yerig go unprotected. I cannot. Ri'vashi wanted to kill him, I could see it in her eyes. She refused to go through me but I cannot tempt her or anyone else they have hurt."

Meesei placed a hand on Sabine's staff, allowing her to at least feel the extent of the magicka held within. Though, even she could not discern the details of how the staff functioned just on her first impressions. "I think we should study the staff to test its limits and capabilities. I recall during the first ambush that Arinette was using the staff in a seemingly dangerous way, so it would probably be best that we try to understand it to the best of our abilities."

Meesei's eyes turned towards their two "guests", Do'rhajul in particular. She was silent, focused, and now difficult to read. "I do not trust you, Rhajul. You nearly killed me at one point in my life, and I watched you slay a respected friend of mine in Elsweyr. You have caused pain to my people that cannot be undone." She said, turning back to Sabine. "But I do trust you, Sabine. If this is what you wish, I can abide by it. We can give them quarters and put them under guard...for their own protection as much as anyone else's."

Lorag hummed, casting another suspicious eye onto his former commander. "Hmm, don't know how the people are going to take that. A lot of refugees from destroyed clans ended up here. But..." He began, placing his attention back on Sabine. "...you might be able to sell it to them. After what you pulled off, you're going to be a hero to these people. Defeating, capturing our enemy, then killing an actual dragon on top of it? You get to be a war hero, and the most accomplished hunter of any of the clans. If you're the one to tell the clan that Do'rhajul here swore himself to you, they just might believe it."

Lorag gave a single chuckle. "Hmph, after what you did, I doubt there's anything the clan wouldn't do for you. That's the kind of heroics that makes clan alphas. Maybe you'll even be able to calm down the Daggerfall clan's alpha. He's gonna be...angry after all this."

There was no more outward relief Sabine could express after pouring out everything on Meesei's shoulder. All the same, one more worry disappeared with what she said.

"Thank you," Sabine responded with a nod.

Lorag's conclusions were not as encouraging for Sabine as perhaps he was trying to make them out to be. She paid him attention but looked down and away at mention of the word 'hero.'

Sabine sighed and closed her eyes momentarily. She did not want to continue crying. "I do think I want to be a hero. I am not a leader like the rest of you are. But..." She opened her eyes and wiped her cheeks dry. "If I can convince the clans to keep Rhajul and Yerig alive, I will. I will do anything I can. I will stay in a room close to theirs to protect them if I have to. I just do not want any more death."

"It is all achievable, Sabine," Janius said. "I think you are capable. We'll stand by you on this. But that is all in the future." He tilted his head. "Was there anything else that happened when you were captured? There was still quite a time between then and you showing up at the Daggerfall clan."

Sabine opened her mouth and breathed in slowly. Her face went white. After holding her breath with her mouth open for a moment, she shook her head and blinked rapidly. Meesei could feel her tensing up. "I do not..." She stumbled over her words and shivered. "Ri'vashi said I could...wait to tell the council everything. I will wait."

Janius' face was torn in worry. "Th-that's fine, that's fine," Janius assured quickly while raising a placating hand. He looked to the others to let Sabine calm herself without everyone's attention on her. "A council meeting certainly sounds like the next move. I imagine there will be much to talk about. Not to mention, this news will spread around the clan like a fire in a dry barn." He exhaled. "We're just so relieved that you're safe Sabine. And that you've done all this? Lorag's right, it's frankly amazing. I'm glad you are here with us now."

Sabine bowed her head and nodded.

Fendros furtively gave Ahnasha a sad look. He turned to Sabine and spoke in a low voice. "I'm sorry the mission went wrong. I'm sorry. We love you, Sabine."

Sabine leaned into Meesei again and resumed weeping quietly. "Thank you," she managed to say. "I love you, too."

"I...suppose that makes sense, yes. You can brief every one of us at once. I got the impression that Ri'vashi wanted to hold the meeting today, but I am going to tell her and the others that we will be doing it tomorrow. You deserve to have some time to rest and recover after all that happened. When you feel like you are able, I would like for you to take me to this dragon's body before it begins to decay, but you do not need to right now." Meesei replied to Sabine after she requested to wait on her explanation. Although, as Sabine began to weep, Meesei hugged her all the more tightly. "I promise, Sabine, I am not going to let anything like this happen again, not as long as I live."

Meesei moved her head just enough so that she could see Do'rhajul. For a good few seconds, her stare towards him was hostile, but the more Sabine's words lingered in her mind, the softer her gaze became. "Sabine, you are...stronger and wiser than me. We will make sure they are not harmed; you do not have to worry yourself about it. Most of the clan does not know he is here, and Ri'vashi is not going to disobey direct orders so as long as he is at least being watched. I know her that well. We can find some trusted guards to look after them. Just try to recover as best as you can. I will be right here with you for as long as you need me."

With the obviously intense emotion of the moment, Do'rhajul felt out of place. He was not terribly great at dealing with such situations, and he felt that his very presence brought a sort of tension to the situation that they would be better without. Hesitantly, Do'rhajul turned his attention to the rest of Sabine's pack, not entirely sure of who exactly he should be speaking to. "As I told Sabine before, I do have information on Vile's organization, and other knowledge you might find useful. I am willing to share it all freely, if you wish to go somewhere to speak about it. I do not have any demands or terms, I will just tell you what I know."

Fendros was the one who answered Do'rhajul. He did so without hiding his lack of energy resulting from the past few days. "We will send someone to talk to you about such matters after you are accommodated...prisoner." He hesitated on the applicability of final word with how Sabine wished them treated. "Speaking of which," Fendros continued towards Meesei. "I can organise a guarded room now, if you like. This has been enough of a sufferance for you already, Meesei." Fendros pushed off the wall and gestured with his sword to Yerig and Do'rhajul. "Come with me, both of you. Janius, Kaleeth, Lorag, Ahna, let's escort them and let Sabine and Meesei rest."

Yerig and Do'rhajulo obliged Fendros' request without question. They would not have too much difficulty finding guards to protect the pair, though the best guards for them at the moment were agents who served under Saras, rather than Ri'vashi. Thusfar, even Ri'vashi had not spread the word of Do'rhajul's identity, but the guards would need to know who they were protecting if the pack did not want to risk them having a change of heart. Fortunately, Ri'vashi did not seem to be stirring up any trouble for the moment. In fact, she had returned to her quarters and had not left ever since confronting Sabine earlier that day.

Meesei, meanwhile, had no intention of leaving Sabine's side for at least the rest of the day. The pair did eventually get up off the floor and start actually using the furniture for its intended purpose, but Meesei still kept close to Sabine. She, of course, wanted to comfort Sabine, but the way Meesei was acting made it seem almost as if she was still afraid of suddenly losing her at some point, despite the fact that they were in the middle of one of the safest places for lycans in Tamriel.

It had been at least an hour, giving both of them time to calm to at least some extent. Meesei was still worried about Sabine and the state she was in, but was not quite sure how to approach it. She needed to know exactly what was wrong if she wanted to help. "Are you feeling any...better, now that everyone is back and safe in the clan?" Meesei questioned. "I am ready to go to the dragon's corpse whenever you are ready, but only once you feel like you are up to it."

In the hour they spent on their own, Sabine firstly spent some more time crying in Meesei's arms. She had so much tension across anywhere Meesei touched with her hands or any restoration magic. It did gradually taper, however. Sabine's release of emotions was replaced by a wave of fatigue. After Meesei examined her for injuries, Sabine hardly had enough energy to stay awake standing up. She tucked herself into her bed and slept for the rest of the hour. Strangely enough, she still held the Staff of Magnus up against her front with her arms wrapped around it.

Sabine awoke without much more energy, but with such a hunger that she could not go back to sleep if she tried. Thankfully, Meesei remained seated beside her bed. Meesei's request to see the dragon's corpse came after she and Sabine went to fetch some food.

Sabine answered after slowly chewing and swallowing the last of a piece of goat meat. "I just feel tired. I do not feel as scared but I...keep feeling...tight. Constricted. I do not know. It will not go away. I have not felt this way since before the ritual."

Staring ahead and constantly blinking away fatigue, Sabine preferred to divert the topic. "I feel up to going back," she said tiredely. She carefully stood up from her seat. "We should do that. I will open a portal here."

Sabine channeled a blue power from her staff to weave open a portal to the dragon's island once more. It just fit the height of her bedroom as they stood in it.

She walked towards the portal without stopping to let Meesei take in just how quickly and easily Sabine had opened it — let alone that she opened it without help.

Meesei started to stand up to help Sabine with the portal, but by the time Meesei had made it to her feet, she had already completed the portal in its entirety. Meesei started to vocalize something, but just ended up as being speechless. It was clear that there would be quite a lot of catching up to do.

Regardless, Meesei stepped through the portal right after Sabine. It was well after dark, so she cast a candlelight spell on herself just after stepping through to illuminate their surroundings, and the scene it revealed was certainly a lot to take in. Right in front of them was the dragon, dead in the exact same place and position as Sabine had left it. All that had changed was that the ice was now gone, and now-dried blood had pooled underneath the dragon's head.

"So this...is what you faced." Meesei said as she started to walk around the dragon, observing its features. "It seems even larger up close. You did not have to take that kind of risk in fighting such a beast, but, well, I do think you saved lives by doing so. We would have brought a warband, and some of them would certainly have been lost in the fight. I only have the stories of the Thu'um to go on, but such destructive power would be a terror even for an army to face."

After her amazement at the dragon subsided, Meesei started to pay closer attention to Sabine herself and how she seemed to be feeling. Part of the reason that Meesei had wanted to visit this place with Sabine was that it would give them an absolute guarantee of privacy. It was obvious that Sabine was being troubled, and Meesei wanted her to feel comfortable talking about it.

Sabine stood and stared at the dragon's head. Seeing it again made her no more comfortable. Now that the icy spear that felled the beast was melted, the ground around the head reeked of darkening blood. Its teeth were stained brown where it oozed out.

"I did not want to kill it," Sabine mumbled. "It spotted us. Yerig greeted it in its language. It wanted us to prove our strength if we wanted the axe. In truth, it was using all of its treasure to lure the Dragonborn." Sabine leaned on her staff. "We fought it. I trapped it. I got closer so I could try to make it unconscious and I thought it would give up. Then it tried to bite me. I had to pierce the roof of its mouth, just like Kaleeth did to Leaps' mother."

"Our enemies do not always give us the choices we would like, unfortunately." Meesei replied. Upon hearing Sabine mention the dragon's "treasures", she shined her light around the area to see everything that was collected near the watchtower. Although she did not say anything aloud about it, Meesei was certainly caught off-guard by all of the wealth collected together in one place, since Sabine had not mentioned anything about it back in Blackreach.

Meesei finished walking around the dragon and stopped beside Sabine, placing her hand gently upon her back. "It intended to lure the Dragonborn himself here, you said? The Dragonborn is a warrior of legend, and the slayer of Alduin the World-Eater, who was himself a godlike being. If this dragon was going to lure him here, then perhaps it never intended to survive from the start."

Meesei put her arm more tightly around Sabine and pulled her closer. "But I am more concerned about you than the dragon, Sabine. I want to know that you are okay. We are alone here, and you can take as much time as you need. If there is anything you want to talk about, then I am here to listen, for as long as you need me."

For the most part, Sabine was blank-faced. She slowly took a deep breath. Her shoulder twitched as she let it out. Drifting slowly, she turned and walked to a crate at the edge of the dragon's hoard. She sat down with her staff laid down beside her and looked at the scorched grass in Meesei's magical light.

She pondered silently. Meesei's words let her reflect. She cast her mind's eye back to the jagged memories of just a few days ago. Everything that happened from the cold night tied to the tree, the morning after, the entire day. A little hint of something else prodded her rapidly-panicking thoughts in the process. She remembered what the Hist made her do years ago. She could not hold this in, especially not to Meesei.

"I am..." Sabine opened her mouth to breath. She breathed rapidly, scared. She could not speak without tears springing from her eyes. "I am not okay, Meesei." She blinked rapidly as shudders overtook her upper body. She breathed in with a strain. "I am not okay. They did things." She broke down. "It hurt...It hurt..."

It took only a few words for the fears Meesei had experienced over the past few days to be resurrected. Her worries over what Sabine might be forced to endure had motivated her to find Sabine as quickly as possible, but ultimately, Meesei did not find Sabine, and had failed to stop her fears from transpiring.

Sitting in front of Sabine, Meesei leaned in and hugged her, holding her close and tight. "Sabine, I...I am sorry. I could not stop it. I tried, but I could not find you fast enough. Those monsters...inhuman monsters..." Meesei's face was out of sight of Sabine as she hugged her, but it was overtaken by the purest of rage. Meesei bared her teeth and could only barely managed to speak without giving away the anger seething within her.

"Who did it to you, Sabine? Which one of them hurt you? Did Do'rhajul hurt you? Or that Nord?" Meesei questioned.

"No," Sabine shook her head. "No, no, no, no. They looked away. Arinette and her followers did it." Sabine could not tell if she was letting out tension or working herself up more. She continued, barely intelligible. "They...nailed me to a tree by my hands. Then Arinette took her staff. Used a knife, almost killed me. Healed me. Burned me. Healed me. Kept me in pain. They all did. It kept going. All day, kept going. Burning, cutting, mending. Burning."

Sabine clutched her staff so hard her knuckles turned white and hurt. "Yerig confronted them. Called them bad for what they were doing. Do'rhajul saw and got to read the journal. I...had to use their protest as a distraction. I had to...push my hands until the nail went through. Then I paralysed Arinette. I took the staff and...I almost..."

Stuttering did not describe the struggle Sabine had in putting the next part into words. She choked on every attempt. "Killed. It hurt." She sucked in a breath. "I almost killed everyone. I almost...I could have torn them to pieces. I almost tore Arinette's blood and nerves from her skin. It was not my beast spirit. It was me. My beast spirit...was scared of me!"

Through every word of Sabine's explanation, Meesei began to tremble almost as much as Sabine was. It was even worse than she had feared, and she could hardly bear to even think about what Sabine was describing. To imagine Sabine, her Sabine, enduring such suffering was outright sickening. Meesei collapsed onto Sabine's shoulder, sobbing without a hint of restraint.

"They did...no, no, please...no. By the Void, you did not deserve anything like that. I would...I would have taken your place in a second. If I could turn back time, I...I would endure anything to stop it. So it was all of them except those two...they were the ones who...did it." Meesei lifted up her head from Sabine's shoulder and froze as she stared out into the darkened horizon. Her face was devoid of any emotion, but her eyes turned almost sinister. "Thank you for telling me, Sabine."

Meesei finally pulled back from Sabine so that she could look her in the eyes, even if she could hardly see through the tears in her eyes. Meesei held her hands on Sabine's shoulders, swallowing before she could speak. "Sabine do not...you do not need to feel guilty. Not for that, not for what happened. You had every right to kill them; anything you could have done, they would have deserved far worse. You did not kill them, you did not have to, but it would not have been wrong to. There is nothing wrong with you for wanting to."

"I do not want to kill them!" Sabine shouted out louder than expected. "You do not understand! If I killed them I would have been worse than them. I was so angry. I wanted to kill all of Vile's followers. I wanted to kill Do'rhajul and Yerig. I wanted to kill all the hunters. All the Imperial legion. All the Thalmor. I wanted to find Harriet and kill her. I wanted to find that vampire Neesa and kill her. I wanted to kill them all." She took a pause, breathing heavily. "Then I looked at Arinette when I held her in the air. Then realised I was like her. I wanted to make people suffer like they did to me. And I did not want to be like her. I do not want that. I do not want to be a monster. I do not want anyone I love to be a monster, either."

Sabine lifted her bleary eyes. "I do not want you to want to hurt them, Meesei. Please. Killing will not make the pain stop. I just want my mother."

"No." Meesei replied, her voice soft, but firm. "You could not be worse than them. You could never be worse than them, Sabine. Those people were monsters at the heart of their being. You were defenseless; you were at their mercy, but they took that chance to do such...terrible things to you. Then you had the power, then they were at your mercy, and even though you had every right to kill them, and they all certainly deserved death, you did not. You gave them mercy they did not deserve because..."

Meesei swallowed after becoming choked up briefly, through tears that were now running down the side of her snout. "...because you are better than me. You are better than...anyone. Anyone I have ever met. Because I would have killed them. Without any, any hesitation, I would have killed them. If I had that staff like you did, in that moment, after all you had suffered through, I would have torn them all to pieces and made them suffer through all of it. And I would have smiled about it. Because I am not as good as you. Do you understand, Sabine? You are a treasure to this world, more than this world even deserves. You have a sense of 'rightness', a strength of character and willpower greater than anyone I have met. After all you suffered through, I have no doubt that your conviction to who you are will not be shaken by anything that Mundus or Oblivion could throw at you. You are the person I wish I could be."

Pausing for just a moment, Meesei looked down and took one of Sabine's hands in both of hers. "You are better than me, stronger than me, and I know you will be able to get through this better than I ever could. The pain will not haunt you forever, because it is not stronger than your mind."

Sabine tightened her held hand around Meesei's hands. Sabine looked their hands. She still wept but she stopped her sobbing during Meesei's declaration.

Her blocked nose made Sabine's words distorted. "I feel strange," she said in a quivering voice. "You were always the strong one, Meesei. The champion. My mother. I always wished I could be like you. How is it you could want to be like me?" Her brow wrinkled in worry. She still avoided Meesei's eyes. "What happened after I was captured? I want you to tell me now."

Once again, Meesei shook her head. "No. Perhaps I could still best you in a magic duel, or some other trivial contest. Perhaps there was a time where it would have been appropriate for you to look up to me, but you have grown beyond me in every way that matters, Sabine. Your resolve and dedication to your beliefs are greater than my own. You are capable, patient, wise woman, and everything that I wanted you to become."

There was some hesitation from Meesei, and a look of shame obvious within her expression. "You have accomplished much more good these past few days than I have. After you were taken, I panicked. I wanted to find you quickly, no matter the cost. I went to the High Rock clans and demanded all of their resources to assist with the search. They protested, argued against me weakening their clans' defenses unnecessarily. They were willing to help, and volunteered some of their resources, but...I wanted it all. They argued it would be dangerous to them, but I did not care. I just wanted you. When the Daggerfall clan's Alpha said you arrived for a time, then left without a word of your destination, I did not believe him. I thought he was trying to trick me into changing my orders. I did not even allow him the chance to prove his word before I broke a chair over his head in anger. Then he showed us the prisoners."

Meesei looked away, letting out a long breath. "You would have handled it all much better."