Jack forced his eyes to open.  Fighting hard against the darkness that wanted him to sink into unconsciousness.  Was Mark here?  He couldn't be.  He should be in Riverwood by now.  His body wasn't responding.  His vision was still unfocused and blurry... but someone was here with him.  A man was standing in the entrance way of the cave calling his name.  Jack's eyes turned to see the Frost Troll slide to a stop before reaching him.  This new man had drawn its full attention.  The Frost Troll struck the ground with its large furry white fists like an angry gorilla, roaring threateningly at the man.  Jack turned his blurry vision to the man to see him strike a torch to life.  The burst of warm light filled the cold cave, illuminating the man's armor.  Jack's heart skipped.  He recognized that armor... but was his vision playing tricks on him? 

Jack felt himself slipping into the dark and tried to move.  He had to stay awake.  He needed to know.  His vision was getting worse, like he was looking through teary eyes.  The Frost Troll charged toward the man, only to stop short and swipe a hand at him.  The man had held the torch out toward the Frost Troll, drawing his large sword.  A greatsword.  The fire reflected off the steel as if the blade itself was ablaze.  Trolls of any breed hated fire.  Their fur was extremely flammable as well as their thick rough skin.  Although, Trolls were too stupid and aggressive to run from a fight.  Jack's eyes processed everything in slow motion as the edges of his vision began to darken.  The man tossed the torch close to Jack, before swinging his blade high over his head to bring it down across the Frost Troll's torso.  It slashed the Frost Troll from shoulder to hip, forcing it to take a step or two back. 

The Frost Troll touched a hand to its chest to touch its own warm blood, but it only infuriated the Frost Troll.  The attack would have been enough to kill any human.  However, it was simply a battle scar to a Frost Trolls thick hide.  The Frost Troll thrashed its arms wildly and charged for the man.  Jack held his breath as the man spun out of its way, bring his sword around to slash across the Frost Trolls back as it bolted past him.  The Frost Troll stopped short to arch its back, roaring out a mixture of anger and pain.  The man stepped around to move away from Jack's direction, his sword trained on the Frost Troll.  The Frost Troll turned, grunting out threats as it locked its three eyes on the man.  The man stood his ground, waiting for the Frost Troll to make a move first.  The Frost Troll stood up to its full height to bang on its chest with another mighty roar, before it charged again. 

Jack blinked and his vision cleared for a slip second to reveal that the man was Mark.  Mark ran toward the Frost Troll as the Frost Troll charged him.  When the Frost Troll was close enough, Mark ducked a swing from the Frost Troll and thrust his sword up into the underside of the Frost Trolls large jaw.  Mark's sword burst up through the Frost Trolls skull, causing the Frost Troll to stiffen up in place.  Jack smiled to himself.  He should have known that Mark would always find him.  Protect him.  The darkness was shrinking his vision fast now.  The last thing he saw was Mark running toward him.  Mark kneeled before him, but Jack's body was numb.  He couldn't feel Mark's touch or say anything.  As his vision was consumed in darkness, he did smile.  Falling into unconsciousness, he let Mark's voice echo in his mind.  "Jack?! You're going to be alright! I'm right here". 

When Jack opened his eyes his body felt heavy and bruised.  The first thing he noticed was it was dark and he was outside.  He could hear the soft crackling of a fire behind him.  He could feel its warmth.  Then a soft warm leathery muzzle puffed air into his face.  Flinching away, Jack jerked upright.  Regretting it instantly.  His right side tensed up in pain that made him hiss, until he laid back down.  Jack held his side weakly, staring up into Argo's long face.  Jack blinked a bit confused.  Argo?  What was his horse doing here?  Jack pet Argo's soft nose, glancing around to look for Mark.  He wasn't here.  Jack turned his eyes back on Argo, whispering in a raspy voice.  "Where is he, Argo"?  Argo snorted, shifting around to lay down next to him.  Argo looked out into the dark, his ears perking up.  Jack pet Argo's warm back with a weak smile. 

He was happy to have Argo back.  Jack took a peek under his blanket then.  He was shirtless with bindings all around his chest.  Pulling back some of the bindings, Jack winced.  His whole right side was darkened with a violent looking purplish-black bruise.  Jack groaned softly as his side twinged with pain.  Argo suddenly clamored to his feet, nickering loudly and pawing the ground with his hoof.  Jack turned to look at what had unsettled Argo, his smiling returning.  Mark was walking out from the darkness with Tim behind him.  Mark was holding a bow and across Tim's back was a large Elk.  Mark looked tired as he stared at Argo, saying in a stern hushed voice.  "Argo! Hush! You'll wake Jack"!  Jack forced himself to sit up, telling Mark shocked but excitedly.  "Mark? What are doing here"?  Mark dropped his bow to rush over to him. 

Kneeling beside him, Mark placed a hand to his left cheek, saying in a rush.  "I'm here to take you home. Delphine never had a plan to retrieve you. She was going to leave you to find your own way home. I didn't agree. So, I tracked your carriage to the Embassy and waited".  Jack pressed his forehead to Mark's, whispering out in disbelief with a smirk.  "You stubborn, son of a bitch. How did you find me"?  Mark chuckled, answering casually.  "I saw the guards stir up and got worried.  I started patrolling around the embassy, when I saw Malborn and some nord bolt from a cave. I figured if they got out, than I'd go in to find you. I didn't realize those fuckers had abandoned you"!  Jack tilted his head to kiss Mark briefly, before saying.  "I'm glad you arrived when you did". 

Mark smiled, but it faded a bit as he very lightly brushed the knuckles of his free hand down Jack's right cheek, mumbling.  "If I had arrived earlier, than you wouldn't have gotten hurt at all".  Jack winced from even Mark's light touch.  He hadn't noticed his cheek was sore until Mark touched it.  Jack bit his lip, asking hesitantly.  "Is it bad? I've seen my ribs".  Mark dropped his hands to prop himself better, but his eyes never left his as he gently told him.  "It all looks worse than it is. He just bruised you up pretty bad. I think your ribs took the blunt of its hit. They aren't broken though. You're lucky".  Jack chuckled, then winced as his ribs seized up.  Mark put a hand to his shoulder, saying tenderly.  "I used the last of my health potions to get you through the worst of it".  Jack put a comforting hand on Mark's hand, telling him with a smile.  "Bruises, I can live with". 

Mark licked his lips nervously like he was afraid to ask, but he did anyway.  "Did you run into trouble inside"?  Jack nodded solemnly, telling him honestly.  "Ya. Most of it I could handle. But Mark... Thank you".  Mark raised an eyebrow a little confused, so he added sweetly.  "Wizards pretty much think they are immortal, because their magic can keep them from dying from the worst wounds. They get so used to fighting from a distance that they forget what it is like to fight in close combat. You have kept me balanced. It has saved my life more than once this year".  Mark slid his hand up Jack's shoulder to his neck, pulling him into long slow tender kiss.  When Mark finally pulled away, he told Jack with a smirk.  "I bet your hungry? I should start dinner. Stew should be alright, right"?  Jack nodded, slowly laying back down. 

Mark set to work skinning the Elk and cutting off cubes of meat to toss into the pot hanging over the fire.  Jack rested on his left side, watching Mark work.  He made it look so easy.  He knew Mark couldn't use magic, but he never needed it.  He was practically good at everything he tried.  He was just naturally gifted.  Jack scooped up a bit of snow to form a small snowball.  Picking it up, Jack winced as he threw it at Mark's back.  The snow burst across Mark's armor, but it got his attention.  Jack innocently smiled at him, asking sheepishly.  "Mark? Can you tell me a story"?  Mark rolled his eyes, brushing off the bits of snow from his shoulder, replying calmly.  "I don't remember a lot of them... but alright. What do you want to hear"?  Jack snuggled under his warm wool blanket, sweetly saying.  "I don't care. I just want to hear your voice. It's calming to me. You can read me the journals I found. Anything to kill this silence". 

Mark put down his skinning knife and began to wash his blood stained hands in a small stream.  Drying his hands off on his brown cloak, he moved to Jack's knapsack to pull out the journals.  Mark smirked as he showed Jack the journal with Delphine's name, before sitting by the fire to say a bit harshly.  "Let's start with this one. Maybe we can learn a little something about the snobbish creature".  Jack rolled his eyes, laying on his back to look up at the bright stars in the night sky.  Listening to Mark carefully open the journal and turn to the first page to read aloud.  "Status: Active. (Capture or Kill), High priority. Emissary level approval. Description: A female Breton in her mid 50's".  Mark huffed loudly in shock, telling Jack a little started.  "She sure doesn't look like she's in her 50's".  Jack flashed Mark a smile and he continued on. 

"Background: Delphine was a high priority target during the first war, for both operational and political reasons. She was directly involved in several of the most damaging operations carried out by the Blades within the dominion. She had been identified and was slated for the initial purge, but by bad luck was recalled to Cyrodiil just before the outbreak of hostilities. During the war, she evaded three attempts on her life, in one case killing an entire assassination team. Since then, we have only indirect evidence of her moments, as she has proven extremely alert to our surveillance. She should be considered very dangerous and no move against her should be made without overwhelming force and the most careful preparation. Operational Notes: She is believed to still be working actively against us within Skyrim. Although, we have no location on her. Assumed to be working alone, as no other Blades are known to be active in Skyrim, and she has in the past avoided contact with other fugitive Blades for her own security (One of the reasons she has so far evaded elimination). Her continued existence is an affront to all of us. Any information on her whereabouts or activities should be immediately forwarded to the third emissary". 

Mark closed the journal, holding it up as he asked Jack suspiciously.  "This can't be the Delphine we know. This sounds nothing like her. The one we know is a self-centered snob and I kicked her ass easy enough".  Jack shrugged, answering lightly.  "Well, she is in her 50's, Mark. She could be slowing down. It would explain a few things about her. I mean, how happy would you be to always be on the run and covering your ass. I'm sure it wears on you. I only had to do it for a day and I was stressing out. I can't imagine years of that".  Mark turned the journal over in his hand with a look of distaste as he bitterly mumbled out.  "Ya, well... She's good at driving people away now with that attitude of hers. The heartless bitch... I can't believe she is a Blade".  Jack sighed lightly, trying to lighten Mark's mood.  "Mark... I understand your frustration with her, but have a heart. She's probably rusty talking to people". 

Mark tossed the journal into the snow, snipping back.  "I'd like to have her heart on a platter. If she even has one. She didn't want me to come here to get you. She cares more about this mission and what you'd uncover, than your life. She doesn't own my life and she doesn't tell me what to do! I could have lost you today! That would mean nothing to her selfish ass. So, don't defend her".  Mark reached out to pick her journal up out of the snow and tossed it carelessly into the fire.  Jack bolted upright, watching the journal burn.  There wasn't anything really important in it... but it just hurt to see it burn.  He had risked his life for it.  Slowly turning to lay on his left side, Jack told Mark gently.  "I'm not defending her. I'm simply stating facts. Mark, I don't trust her anymore than you do. She is helping us find out more about these dragon attacks. That is it. That is all I care about". 

Mark turned to look at him with a calmer expression.  So, Jack added softly.  "I just want this all to be over. I want to live a simple life with you. Free from all this".  Mark nodded to him, then leaned in closer to the pot to stir the stew with the iron ladle.  After a moment, Mark told him in a much lighter mood.  "Me too. I just can't shake that I almost lost you today because of her".  Jack wrapped his blanket around himself tighter, forcing himself to stand up.  He wasn't in as much pain now, but he wasn't going to let Mark dwell on this.  Stiffly making his way over to Mark, Jack sat down beside him.  Wrapping Mark up in the blanket with him, Jack rested his head against Mark's shoulder.  Mark rested his own head against his, while Jack told him sweetly.  "Well, I'm here because of you and your stubborn pride. And I'm grateful".  To Be Continued...