All Roads Lead To You (A Skyrim Romance Mod fanfic)

Chapter Fifteen

A/N: From now on, I'm going to do my best to stick to a weekly schedule, with one chapter every Monday. If anything changes, I'll let you guys know. Thanks for reading!

Solitude wasn't much farther, and they agreed- through conversation this time- to keep going until they reached the city. Aruna felt a little better, after her talk with Bishop. She wasn't sure why he decided to stay, but she had to admit that it was nice not to be alone. She'd traveled a lot on her own, and while she enjoyed it, there were times when it was very lonely. She wondered if Bishop ever felt that way. It was hard to imagine.

After a while, Aruna realized that Bishop was trailing farther and farther behind. She stopped and waited for him to catch up, giving him a puzzled look.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"It's Karnwyr," Bishop said, scanning the surrounding trees with a frown, "he should have caught up to us by now."

Aruna looked around, feeling a little guilty. She hadn't noticed the wolf was missing until Bishop mentioned it, she'd been so preoccupied with her own problems. Now she joined Bishop in searching the surrounding shadows for his companion.

"Has he ever done this before?" she asked, "maybe he found a she-wolf?"

Bishop snorted at her attempt to ease his worry, "Karnwyr's not the type to linger if you know what I mean."

"No wonder you two get along so well," Aruna murmured, with a roll of her eyes.

He shook his head, "this isn't like him. I don't like this." He headed back down the road in the direction from which they'd come. Aruna followed him, watching carefully for any sign of the wolf. They retraced their steps back toward Dragon Bridge, Bishop silent and tense. Aruna gave him space as he searched for signs of Karnwyr. She'd never actually seen a tracker in action before and watched Bishop with interest. She wondered how he could see anything with only the moonlight to illuminate his path.

They were nearly to Dragon Bridge's namesake bridge when Bishop spoke, and his voice cut sharp through the still night.

"There," he said, gesturing to something on the ground that Aruna couldn't make out, "he was here...it looks like he headed out of town, due south. Come on."

They followed the tracks down the road out of Dragon Bridge, then east. Bishop suddenly stopped walking and swore harshly, kneeling down to take a closer look. "Signs of a struggle," he said, more to himself than to her, "and blood. Karnwyr's in trouble." He continued on without another word, more urgency in his step. The trail led them away from the road and into the forest. Bishop muttered to himself a few times, and once they had to backtrack when he lost the trail. They walked for hours until finally, Bishop stopped and held out an arm in front of Aruna, bringing her to a stop as well. He nodded toward the hillside that towered over the road to their right.

"See that?" he asked, and Aruna followed his gaze up until she saw it.

"Firelight," she said, "must be a camp. Or a cave."

"Stay here," Bishop whispered, drawing his bow, "if you see Karnwyr, take him-"

"I'm coming with you," she said, her sword already in her hand, "you have no idea how many there are or what you're walking into. You'll need the extra sword."

"Princess, I appreciate the thought," Bishop replied, "but this isn't your fight."

"And those dragons weren't yours," Aruna gave him an aggrieved look, "stop being an idiot for a minute and be grateful for the help. You decided to accompany me, so your fights are mine."