Viconia and I left shortly after, almost as soon as I had managed to hobble my way up stairs to the ground floor, and drag myself into Trygve's saddle. The door into the crypt was once again sealed with Sir Amiel's ring and while the magical wards would not have anywhere near the same power as they had when we arrived, the Knights of the Nine would not return to their deathless slumber again. Both Viconia and I were confident in the fact that the Cuirass and the Helm were well protected in our absence but both of us had trepidation at the monumental task ahead of us.

  The journey to Kynareth's shrine in northern Bravil County took far longer than what we would have normally expected. My injuries, especially the wound in my hip ensured that I couldn't ride for more than an hour or so without having to dismount and rest. Between the two of us we used restoration magicka sparingly, as these were injuries that needed time more than arcane talents to heal properly. Only a true master or expect in the arts of Restoration would be able to speed up the process so for the meantime I was forced to simply grit my teeth in the saddle, try to fight my way through the pain and ignore the way that every jostling movement that Trygve made was enough to send tendrils of agony through my body.

  It was even more difficult due to the fact that I couldn't even sit in the saddle properly. By the end of the first day when we made camp my back was locked and twisted from leaning to once side. My injured leg was completely incapable of being placed into the stirrups which meant that for the few hours' travel I felt like I was going to fall out of the saddle with each one of Trygve's steps.

  My impatience was also reaching cataclysmic levels, and Viconia's was growing as well. I was not used to my body being so weak and frail and I struggled to remain calm and in control. Viconia's annoyance was in my fidgeting and constant squirming which lasted until the evening of the first night where she declared that if I didn't relax or calm down she would knock me out and strap me across Trygve's back for the rest of the journey. The threat of another broken jaw or spiked drink settled both me and my vampiric side momentarily, but I soon began ensuring that any game that Viconia managed to catch was drained of blood before cooking.

  I couldn't even hunt and finding myself solely reliant on her for everything that I naturally took for granted was grating my nerves much more than I had ever expected. Even without the full use of my legs I would have been able to use my bow if not for the terrible gash in my left palm.

  For both of us it came as a relief as we finally made our way to the Shrine. The nights previous had found us staying in coaching inns and village taverns along the road which allowed us to gain full directions on where to find the shrine. County Bravil wasn't the most travelled to begin with, but this region of the Niben Valley was especially sparse and vacant, dotted with thick, dense forests and the waterways clogged with mangroves. It seemed entirely fitting that the premier Shrine to Kynareth in all of Cyrodiil was located here in amongst all of the greenery and it wasn't surprising to find it filled with dozens of pilgrims, worshippers and travellers.

  A priory house for the attendant priests was heavily overgrown with vines and creepers but as far as we could tell when we arrived it was used more for storage than living. Many of the priests seemed to prefer living in well-crafted tents and in similar way to be closer to nature, and although it wasn't by choice many of the arrivals were also living under sheets of cloth and tarpaulin. Dozens of the faithful were present, and there were neat rows of tents, and several horses tied up along the path leading through the forest surrounding the towering statue of the Goddess of Nature situated in the direct centre of a tiny clearing.

  Dozens of people moved about, and everywhere I could see the darkened robes of priests of Kynerath scattered among their number, passing benedictions and praying in seemingly random positions throughout the clearing and nowhere near the towering statue.

  Our arrival was not, and could not go unnoticed. The sight of our enormous steeds was enough to draw the eye even without our armoured forms sitting in their saddles. Between our ebony-mithril armours, Viconia's coal black skin and white blood hair we stood out to the road-weary pilgrims around us. As I slowly slid painfully out of my saddle there was a slight hush around those closest to us as they caught sight of the stiff way I rode, and the brown-yellow bruising that covered most of my face where my cheekbone and jaw had finally set after the week's journey. As I used Trygve to support myself while simultaneously cursing my injures and being thankful I could walk without really needing a crutch one of the several priests began moving over to us, making the sign of Kynareth as she approached.

  "Greetings Sir Knights. The faithful of the Goddess of Nature give you their welcome."

  Viconia's expression of distaste was slightly obvious and there were looks of confusion from those around us as they tried to understand her reaction. Many for the most part were more interested in how obviously injured I was especially as I shifted my weight and bowed as best as I could to the priestess.

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  Watching with a careful eye, the elderly priestess took note of the two of us and the way that Viconia strapped Dragonbane to her hip in anticipation for a fight. "What brings you both to the Altar of Kynareth?" She said carefully, addressing us together as her expression changed to that of concern when she saw the bandages that covered me in several places and the mottled bruising of my face. "It seems that you have endured great hardships to come this far."

  "The road has been long but the hardships have been the usual affair for us. We have come for a place to rest for the evening and to retrieve the Boots of the Crusader."

  My eyes narrowed as I watched her reaction to my words, as it was not a look of surprise or guilt at my knowledge of the Boots location. Instead it was a look of pity and sorrow that wasn't just from the injuries I had sustained already.

  "Ah," She said simply. "I feared as much. Your appearances say more of your reasons of being here than your words ever would."

  Turning and motioning for us to follow us through the small crowd of people that were gathering around us. "I am Avita Vesnia; high Priestess of Kynareth and I am afraid that it is quite impossible to acquire the boots."

  I hobbled after her, Viconia remaining by my side as we moved through the small number of people who were flanking us. "I am Kaius Desin, and this is Viconia DeVir," I said to Avita, hearing the usual chorus from the people around us as they realised who we were. "and neither of us are under any illusions of their retrieval being simple."

  "We may be far from civilisation here but we know of your names. You may remain here for as long as you wish, but there are several things that you may want to consider before you attempt the trial to claim the boots."

  The tiny priory house, which was little larger than a shack was being put to use as a hospice. Within the house the windows were wide open and revealed a stunning sight of a rolling vista that opened up on the other side of the clearing to the road. The shrine was located within the rolling hills of County Bravil and from this secluded spot where could see several dozen kilometres away to where the rolling Nibenay valley was cut by the sparkling waters of the Upper Niben a day's journey to the east.

  As we had entered we had seen how two of the horses tied alongside the road where obviously chargers or military steeds like our own, and it was as Avita opened the door to the priory house that we discovered who their riders were. Even before I entered the tiny stone building, the smell of blood and torn flesh reached my nose far before I laid eyes on its source. Inside the building where they were out of the elements, the owners of the two warhorses were laid out on cots and were not in a good way. Some of the monks were huddled over them doing their very best to dress their injuries but it was obvious that there was little more that could be done other than to make them comfortable as they died. Both of them looked as though they had been mauled, their arms and torsos shredded and hidden under layers of bandages where what little restoration magicka had so far kept them alive.

  "What happened to them?" I breathed, moving in closer and seeing just how bad their injuries were. It was almost like they had lost a brawl with a group of ogres before being mauled by a flock of cliff racers.

  "They took Kynareth's test, just as so many others have before them and paid the price of failure." Avita said softly, sorrow filling her voice. "There have been many over the centuries who have tried to retrieve the boots but Kynareth's creations guard her relic and only those who pass the test may be granted the boots. These two are among the lucky ones, as they still live and were returned. There have been countless others who haven't."

  Three of the individuals in the priory house were not monks or priests and they looked up at us as we entered, knuckling their foreheads in salute before continuing their care of their masters. These injured men were knights and their squires were doing everything in their power to ensure that their charges lived.

  Nodding to one of the squires dressed in his blood stained tabard I kneeled down over one of the wounded knights and looked over his injuries. His ribs had been crushed, an arm almost ripped from its socket and there were numerous other wounds across his body. It was obvious that he had been attacked by an animal, but whatever it was it had made a mockery of plate steel, peeling it open and tearing through the flesh underneath effortlessly. Even my first thought of werewolves had been quickly proven unlikely as Viconia picked up one of their breastplates that had been quite literally shredded by claws that would have had to have been as thick as my wrist.

  "They have been bitten," Viconia muttered as placed the armour that was now little more than scrap metal on the floor and looked over the knight closest to her. "and their wounds are deep."

  I nodded, looking over ruined features of one of the Knights. The heraldry of the two Knights and their three squires were unknown to me and they largely ignored us in their attempts to keep their master's out of death's clutches.

  "So the boots are here." Grimacing as I shifted my weight off my wounded leg I turned and looked at Avita.

  She shrugged. "No one really knows for certain as those who have attempted it have either never returned or have been left in such dreadful states. I would advise not attempting as far too many have tried and failed before you. Death is far too much of a price to pay for them."

  A crowd was gathering outside of the opened doors and a handful of the windows as the pilgrims and travellers came to gawk at us despite the insistence of the monks for them to go away.

  "We would like to request to stay the night."

  She nodded, clasping her hands in front of her as she did so. "The faithful are always welcome here."