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Everything seemed to happen at once as the assassins appeared.

The headsman Koffzal swung at an assassin who ran up behind him, but the small figure ducked easily and turned, a crossbow in their hands, and fired a bolt through the orc's arm. He howled and stepped back, and the crossbow-weilding assassin pulled me up from the killing block.

The assassin grabbed my chain with a bare hand, they were human by their skin color, and then melted the chain. It seared my wrists but fell away, and the assassin pressed short sword into my hand, and smashed my ankles chains apart with a single kick.

I turned now, blade in hand, and felt my old prowess start to come back to me as I engaged the soldiers in the courtyard. The guards came at me but I parried and blocked, knocking away their weapons and running them through with my steel blade. I turned to combat another guard and saw the headsman from the corner of my eye, his axe swinging over his head as he attacked an assassin that jumped nimbly away.

Parrying a swing from one guard I ducked away from him and moved backwards, then slashed the guards face.

"Fathhar!" a voice shouted my name now, and I whirled.

An argonian was across the courtyard, wearing the same clothes as the assassins but without the face mask. I moved through the guards now, killing those that got in my way until I reached the argonian woman.

"You must be Nam-Rei," I said. A guard swung at me now and I parried, and the argonian drove a knife into the guards side and kicked him away.

"I am," the argonian nodded as she parried a swing from a guard, then slashed his throat with her knife. "It seems our timing was good."

"It seems so," I felt myself smile now, and I realized that I wasn't going to die here.

"Lets get you out of here," Nam-Rei said.

"Agreed," I said in return. I parried another guard and ran him through with my blade, then Nam-Rei took my upper arm.

For a second I saw the scene before me, the mix and tangle of guards against assassins, and through the fighting I saw the guard Captain. We locked eyes for a single second, and then Nam-Rei and I were gone. Total darkness was all I saw for a second, then another scene meet my eyes. I could see all of Solitude, and Nam-Rei and I were on top of a high tower that overlooked the city. I heard small _wiss _sounds as more of the assassins appeared around us, but then the brief flash of darkness was back.

Nam-Rei and I continued this brief appear-and-repappear scenario, moving first through the area that was around Solitude, and then into the colder areas of Skyrim. As we left the area around the city though, the distance we moved became shorter. Eventually as we came into a wide plain that was covered in snow, one of the assassins handed me a hooded cloak. I took it with thanks and looked at Nam-Rei, who was standing beside me.

"Why save me?" I asked her.

She looked at me, and her eyes told me she was a bit nerved by the question. "If you must know," she said with a raspy voice, "Your father asked us to do it."

"My father?" I felt myself grin now, surprised by her answer. "How did he even know that I was in jail?"

"Even though he's a member of the Morag Tong any longer, He has a vast and loyal network of spies in Skyrim," said Nam-Rei, "And when he learned about your imprisonment, he sent word to our Brotherhood here, and we set you free."

Now my brow furrowed, and I asked, "So what happens now?"

Nam-Rei looked at me, then reached within the folds of the uniform she was wearing, and withdrew a small folded piece of paper. She held it out to me, and I took it. Unfolding the letter, I saw it was first addressed to me, and it had come from my father. It read,

Son,

As you more than surely know, I was a member of the Morag Tong, though not any longer. Our main enemies are any who dwell within Solitude, and any who support the House of Wolves.

And as I'm sure you know, your mother was was a skooma dealer on the island, although our separate trades never did cross. But now it is with a heavy heart that I do write to you of your mothers passing. I was just last month, and she went peacefully. We scattered her ashes over the northern cliffs of Solstheim and let the wind take them. I know that it's what she would have wanted.

And now, although I understand you have just been liberated from Solitudes prisons, I would ask you to come seek me back in Solstheim. I feel that you and I may be able to come to common ground on some things, seeing as we are both older and wiser.

Yours in corresponding Brotherhood, Tebin Na-Har

I read the letter once, then read the piece where my father spoke of my mothers passing. Her face came to my mind instantly, her grey skin, dark red hair and darker eyes. I closed my own eyes briefly, but opened them again, and folded up the letter that Nam-Rei had given me. I looked at the argonian now, and asked,

"When is the earliest we can reach the island?"

"Once you have been feed and rested," replied the argonian. The other assassins were either sitting on the snowy ground now or talking lightly with each other, as if my freeing from Solitude's jail hadn't even occurred.

"Where do you make camp or call home?" I asked. I pulled the cloak around my body now, and pulled up the hood.

"Just further into the plains," Nam-Rei turned now, pointing over the fields of snow, "Under a wide shelf of ice, where we are rarely disturbed."

"I wouldn't think an argonian would live in the northern ice plains of Skyrim," I replied.

"I have adapted well enough," she replied. I looked at her, and now noticed her light grey scales and blue eyes.

"Then lets make the rest of the journey to your camp," I said, "And once were there you can fill me in on just how I'm going to repay you freeing me from prison."

Nam-Rei nodded, and stepped up to take my arm again. The other assassins all began to move now, and as she gestured to them, the argonian and I vanished from the snowy plains with a _wiss _sound. The second of darkness was there, and then it was passing, and a scene of more snowy fields appeared. The sensation of moving from place to place in the blink of an eye can be most closely described as a tap to your chest, where it feels like your breath is knocked away for a second, and then immediately returns.

Nam-Rei and I traveled through the plains of snow and ice until we began to reach the Sea of Ghosts. The argonian and I appeared once more in the fields of snow, but now I could hear the Sea in the distance. The other assassins all appeared around us, the argonian said,

"From here we walk. Good anyways so that you and I may speak of what will come next."

"Very well," I replied.

* * *

So we began to walk. Nam-Rei and I took the lead and the other assassins walked beside or behind us. There were maybe eight more of them, all wearing similar black clothes, dark armor, along with hoods and face masks. Most of them carried swords at their belts, but two of the killers carried crossbows on their backs. Nam-Rei cleared her throat though, and said,

"Now then, I believe It's only fair that I tell you what happens next."

"Fair is good," I replied as I pulled at the cloak around my body.

"The Dark Brotherhood, as you may or may not know, were once tasked with killing the Emperor himself. Before the assassination took place though, the assassins last place of refuge was their sanctuary in Falkreath's Hold. Before the Emperor was killed aboard his private vessel, the Dark Brotherhood's sanctuary was invaded by the Emperor's private security force, and destroyed. All the assassins, killed. Then the sanctuary was burned to the ground, and the sole assassin who took the emperors life was to late to save his companions.

"After the Emperor's death, a temporary ruler of Tamriel was named, although since then a new legitimate Emperor has been named. But since then new Emperor's rise to power, any remaining supporters of the Dark Brotherhood have either been imprisoned or killed. Any individual who is suspected of worshipping Sithis, to whom the Dark Brotherhood pledged their allegiance, have either been imprisoned or killed. So now it falls to us, as the Wolves of Darkness, to finish what the Brotherhood could not."

"And what could the Brotherhood not finish?" I asked.

The argonian was quiet for a minute, but then she looked at me and said, "Much."

We walked a few more feet, then I asked, "When did my father leave the Tong?"

"Two years ago," said Nam-Rei, "It didn't have anything to do with your imprisonment, however that may make you feel. He left the guild, after naming his first General the new Grand Master. After leaving the Tong, I'm told that he and your mother settled in the east, near the newly-made city of Tel Mithryn. He wrote me maybe four months ago, and said that the Tong was still operating as if he'd never left."

"I suppose that means this new Grand Master knows what he's doing," I said.

"His name is Acotti Axtris, an Imperial, and he's more than able to handle the Tong."

* * *

The other assassins, Nam-Rei, and I all walked down a long slope of snow, and I could see the Sea of Ghosts ahead. To the left was a rolling plain of snow, and to the right was a large cliff that dropped off to solid ground. We went down the slope and then, set along the base of the cliff of ice, I could see all the tents that made up the assassins camp. The cliff hung over the tents almost like some leering, giant frozen hand, but I could see the faint glow of blue lines that ran up the side of the cliffs. The under side of the cliff was also just rock I saw, unlike the surrounding snow and ice that made up the top of the cliff. The tents also sat on ground I saw.

"You have a ward set up within the cliff?" I asked.

"To keep the ice in place, seeing as we live under the shelf," the argonian nodded. "We have lived here for the past six years, and have not been disturbed much. The occasional traveler who comes by to question us about our dwelling habits, and a horker or two may wander by and give us a free store of meat. For the most part, were left to live life as we choose."

How many people or other races live here?" I asked. The assassin who had followed us split up now, moving through the camp as Nam-Rei and I walked.

"Mostly dark elves and imperials," said the argonian, "But there are a few argonians who reside here as well. Many of us have a great concept and grasp of the magics that surround Tamriel, and those gifted in knowledge of the arcane tend to find us here, one way or the other."

I opened my mouth to ask another question, but stopped short as a young argonian boy bumped into my legs. He gasped as he stepped back, his bright yellow eyes looking up to meet my own dark red eyes. "S-s-s..." be began to stammer, but then another argonian male called out,

"Ka'Jar, watch where your going!" and quickly walked over to where Nam-Rei and I stood. The taller argonian pulled the younger back, then offered his apologies to me.

"No trouble," I held up a hand.

"Hm," the argonian nodded, then tapped his son on the shoulder. The young boy took his fathers hand as they both turned to walk away, and now I asked Nam-Rei,

"Are there many families here?"

"Some," the argonian female said with a smile. "My own family lives here near the back of the camp, closest to the cliff-side. The Elder Wolves also live near the back of the cliff-side, where the magic that wards away the ice is the strongest."

"The Elder Wolves?" I glanced at Nam-Rei as we walked past a large tent, where out front a group of argonians sat around a fire.

"The senior members of our order," said the argonian woman, "The Elder Wolves are those who know the most, speak the wisest, think the broadest. They know the best actions for our clan to take, and always know where light will touch the darkness."

"Are there many of them?" I asked.

"Only nine," replied Nam-Rei, "It was decided years go, when the Wolves of Darkness were still a small clan of only twelve men and women, that nine of the best thinkers, speakers, and the most knowledgeable individuals would make up the inner circle of the clan, should it grow in size. And in the coming years, we did just that. We grew, and so nine of the best were chosen to become the Elder Wolves."

"What other positions do members of your clan hold?" I asked.

"We have hunters and gatherers to find and bring food to the clan," said the argonian. "We have the smiths, who forge weapons and armor. The alchemists who mix potions and poisons."

"What about ranks?" I asked.

"Like the ranks of a platoon of soldiers?" she asked. I nodded. Nam-Rei was quiet for a minute, then said said, "We believe that no two assassins can learn in the same way, and as such allow each assassin to teach themselves. As for ranks, the Lord's decide this. The Lords name the assassins as they grow in skill, from the beginning position of Shadow-Hunter, to the last obtainable rank of Dark Lord. From lowest to highest, I believe they move from Shadow-Hunter, then to Shadow-Paladin. From there an assassin can rise to Dark-Hunter, Dark-Paladin, and Dark-Knight in that order. And from there I believe the order is Shadow-Advisor, Shadow-Lord, and then Dark Lord.

"There are numerous positions one can hold while also holding any given rank," the argonian continued, "For example, a Shadow-Hunter, the lowest rank of assassin within the our order, can also hold the title Master Alchemist, or Master Bladesmith, just as a Dark Lord may also hold the title of of Master Alchemist or Master Spell Weaver."

"Master Spellweaver," I repeated. Nam-Rei and I walked through the tents now, moving to the far side of the encampment. The sky was dark now, and fires and been lit all around the camp. It was cold in the ice and snow, but the fires that I passed by help to warm me. "What does a Master Spell Weaver do?"

"Ah," now Nam-Rei gave a light laugh and asked me her own question of, "You have not lived in Skyrim long, have you?"

"For the better part of..." I paused, counting the years I had spent in jail, "Maybe thirteen or fourteen years now."

"And never heard of a Spell Weaver?" asked the argonian with a smile, "Well to put it simply, we weave spells. Combining magics like fire and wards to create a ward of fire, frost or lightning. We have also taught ourselves to weave spells into clothing to make them almost as strong as armor."

"So you create spells then," I began to understand now, "And would I be correct in saying that the same spells would need to be bound to books or tomes before they can be learned and used?"

Now Nam-Rei smiled at me. "You are indeed correct."

I let a small smile of my own appear on my lips, then was quiet for a moment. Then, looking at Nam-Rei, I said, "I think the years spent in jail might have taken away some of the old brashness that I developed while I was with the White River Gang."

The argonian only returned my smile again, and put a scaly hand on my arm. "Rest assured, your among friends here now," she said. "Your brashness will certainly be tolerated, and I do not think it will take you long to find others who share your old woeful tones. Many assassins who came to us see us through a dream or vision, and many more find us because they have little left in life. They seek us out to find purpose and understanding, and most of all a sense of direction."

Nam-Rei and I began to slow down now, and we stopped near a set of tents and a fire that burned in a nearby ring of stones. "Do you think that's why I'm here now?" I asked. "To find a new sense of direction?"

She smiled at me. "I believe you are here in part because you father needs your council on a matter that his own assassins know nothing about. But yes, I do believe you are here to see a new path in your life. Maybe a path less traveled, or a completely new path that you never saw until now."

"What kind of path is it?" I asked.

Again Nam-Rei smiled, and shook her head. "That is for you to find out," she said before stepping into a tent.