An hour or so later, we met with Korst Wind-Eye near the Greathall. "Eldorf, you have survived!" he shouted. "We thought surely that the werewolves had done you in."

I explained to him what had happened, about Hircine, and the fact that he was the one behind all of these recent kidnappings. I also had the unfortunate job of passing on the news about Tharsten Heart-Fang, and the fact that he had also been a werewolf.

"The Bloodmoon Prophecy is no more," he said, "and the Skaal live on. The time of Tharsten Heart-Fang is passed, but the Skaal will remember him as a once-great warrior who has fallen. The prophecy is ended. The werewolves dwindle in numbers, the fire in the lake is no more, and the horkers have begun to return to the island. You will be honored among the Skaal for the part you played in this, Eldorf Dragonmeal."

"It is a shame about Heart-Fang." I said. "I was hoping he would have helped me defeat Hircine." I said. Korst nodded sadly. "I have heard whispers on the wind of the fate of Heart-Fang." he replied. "He had been tempted by dark magic and was corrupted by it."

"I can only hope that our next leader does not suffer the same fate." he continued. "As for who that leader will be...only time will tell. You would be a good leader, I think, but you are not Skaal-born. While you will be remembered with honor, you cannot lead. For now, I will guide the Skaal, until a time when the All-Maker lets it be known who will carry the mantle."

I agreed. I certainly didn't want to play the role of leader of a village.

"What's our next move?" asked Laurenna.

"Our time here is at an end" I said. "There is a report to be made back at the fort. I'm certain the men there would want to know what happened to Captain Carius."

"Yes." she replied. "I supposed we should give them closure."

"There is also the matter of an amulet we retrieved for a certain gentleman back in Ald'Ruhn" I added. "I'm sure he's wondering if we've become lost."

Laurenna laughed. "Wait until I tell him how much trouble we got into." she said.

We packed up our equipment and, with many hugs and handshakes, said goodbye to the village of the Skaal.

We encountered the usual number of Ricklings, wolves, bears, and several Spriggens on the way south, but we managed to handle them with ease.

It was a few hours later, walking through the pine trees, enjoying the smell of them in the air, when we finally came across a familiar sight.

Fort Frostmoth was just ahead.

While I was glad to arrive, I still regretted having to give the soldiers here the bad news about the fate of Captain Carius.

We headed straight to the General Quarters and found Gaca Artoria, still in charge of the day-to-day operations there.

I told her of what had happened, that Hircine was behind these kidnappings, the Skaal were not involved, and so on. She almost laughed with I told her about Castle Karstaag.

"So Karstaag Castle really exists?" she said. "All this time, we all thought it was just some old-wives tale." she said. "You found the Captain there?"

"Yes, he had been taken prisoner by the werewolves just like the others." I replied. "He fought bravely, but there were just too many werewolves at once. I felt his men should be informed." I gave her his sword. "This is the weapon of a brave soldier." I said. "Make sure it is given a place of honor here."

"I will." she replied, taking the sword. "What is next for you?" she asked.

"We have business to conclude in Ald'Ruhn." I replied. "The very mission that sent us here in the first place. I have an object of desire for him in my pocket."

With that, we headed down to the boat docks and spoke with Basks-in-the-Sun, asking him what he wanted to take us to Khuul.

"All I ask for is a pair of warm boots." he replied. "Is that too much to ask?"

Well, boots for an Argonian are pretty much out of the question. "How about 20 pieces of gold instead?" I asked.

He hissed, took the gold, and we got on board. Poor Argonian, his feeties must be freezing.