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It took him a day and a half to reach the small gatehouse. He rode to it from the main road, taking his horse through two small trees. He slowed her from a trot to a walk, and took a hand from his reins to pull down the thick cloth that hid the bottom half of his face. His light yellow eyes looked through the thick snow to the gatehouse in front of him. He had read about them before, and knew they led into Dwemer ruins.

Swinging down from his horse, Gellos put a hand to her muzzle. She stomped the ground under herself, and Gellos ran a hand down her muzzle as he stepped away from her, and walked over to the gatehouse. The snow was thick and came past his ankles, and the falling snow was just as thick. Gellos peered at the gate from under his hood, and saw through the bars there was a lever. He looked at the gate again, then turned and walked back to his mare. He put a hand to her muzzle, and whispered to her,

"Go find Greywatch Fortress," he said, "go find Viarim. Be safe, Em, and don't worry about me. I will come back to you."

Em snorted in response, her deep black eyes looking into Gellos light yellow, but the she turned, swinging with the bags that were full of his books. She stepped back onto the main road, then stopped and looked back at Gellos.

"Go on!" Gellos threw up a hand. Em looked at him, then turned back and picked up a quick trot down the road.

Gellos turned and walked back to the gatehouse, and looked at the lever again. He held out a hand, and focused. He felt the freezing cold metal as if he was touching it through his glove, and Gellos tossed his hand down. The lever shook, then moved down with a loud click. Gellos stepped back as the gates swung outward, then he walked forward to the gatehouse inside. A second lever was in the middle of the floor. Gellos stepped up to the lever, then saw the large gears. There were four of them, and he saw the lever would take the floor up or down. Gellos put a hand to the lever, then with a second audible click, the lever came down in his hand.

The floor rattled, and then Gellos felt himself moving down. He saw the snow-covered tundra of Skyirm for another moment, then he saw the dark walls of the ruins. He turned around and held up his hand. A small ball of light appeared over his palm, then rose to hover over his head. Gellos pulled down his hood, and pulled back his hair again. He passed a hand down his face, feeling the start of a short beard, then let the floor carry him down.

He went down for a while it seemed, but before long he saw the doorway of the bottom of the lift. He saw a room come into view, and the lift stopped with a slight jerk. Gellos waited a moment, then stepped out of the circular lift and into a wide room. The ceilings were high and he could see long pipes, some letting out soft puffs of steam. Everything looked like it was made of faded gold, but as Gellos walked into the room he saw it was only bronze. He looked around, then saw a row of bars over a doorway. Past the bars was a plinth with a small half circle on the top. Gellos looked around, but when he didn't see any way to lower the bars, he looked back at them.

Holding up a hand he reached with his energies, and felt the bars, like he had the lever. Instead of pulling his hand down though, he moved it to the left. The bars groaned under the pressure, but they moved from the middle, bending to the left. Gellos put his other hand up, feeling the bars in both hands now, and moved his other hand to the right. The bars moved again, but only on one side. Gellos moved his hands apart from each other, pulling bars apart to create a hole. He looked at the bars, using his eyes to help them bend, then stopped and lowered his hands. He stepped over to the bars, then stepped through the hole he had made. He moved to the half circle, then reached to his belt, and pulled out the attunement sphere Viarim had given him. He set the small ball into the half circle, and heard a click. The half circled lowered into the stone, and when Gellos took the sphere back the plinth slid into the ground.

He took a step back from the lowered plinth, and the floor around it lowered, creating a set of steps that led down. Gellos moved back up to the new set of stairs, then moved down them. The passage was cool as he began to go down, and he put a hand to one pouch on his belt. It carried a quill, a bottle of ink and a roll of paper. Gellos had brought it to copy whatever kind of map he found within Blackreach. Down the steps he found a doorway, and he pushed the doors open.

He went down a short passage that led to another door, and he opened this one. Through the door he stepped into one of widest caverns he had ever seen. It stretched until he could't see it anymore, and all throughout he could see spots of lights and buildings. He looked up and saw the stretch of blue shimmers that ran along the ceiling. He looked back down and then, seeming to be on the opposite side of the place, was a tall tower that was lit near the top.

"That must be it," he said aloud. His breath just fogged ahead of him, and with a step forward, Gellos moved down a short slope. He found a path that led to the right and the left, and went right. Within the cavern he could hear hums, chirps and the calls of animals, or creatures. Gellos took his staff from his back and carried it in his hand as he walked, and on his belt he could feel the weight of the tonal key.

* * *

He soon found there were creatures within the cavern. They were white and walked with a hunch, and Gellos recognized them as the falmer. What used to be the Snow Elves, long ago. Now though, after their betrayal by the Dwemer, they evolved after centuries of living underground. The first falmer heard Gellos coming and swung its blind face towards him, pulling a crudely made sword from its back.

Gellos took a step back as the creature ran at him a swung. It missed Gellos arm and the mage turned, and put his hand out at the creatures back. He saw it turn, then felt the creatures weight as it was lifted up. He held two of his fingers down and left the other two and his thumb up, but only for a moment. He put his fingers down and the falmer let out a choking screech, then hung limp in the air. Gellos lowered his hand and the body fell with it. Moving bodies and objects had fascinated him as a young child, but now that he was older he began to see the uses, and advantages, it could have during combat. Holding or moving people or creatures was only hard it they were to heavy, in which he found he could use both hands.

Following the path Gellos found natural illumination throughout the cavern, and ahead of him two towers stretched across the path. A ramp led up to the right side and a bridge connected both towers. Past the bridge he saw a large building that was lit up, but he kept down the path.

Closer to the ramp he saw more of the falmer. Two on the right tower, and as they sensed him one hissed, and started down the ramp. The other one pulled a bow, and began to knock an arrow. For a second Gellos admired how they could smell and hear so sharply because of their blindness, but he took his staff from his back and made for the ramp. The other falmer met Gellos as his boots touched the ramp, and he stopped to first block, then parry a swing from the creature. He swung his staff and sent a wave of lightning down the creatures body, and kicked it over the side of the ramp. Up the rest of the ramp he slowed, then ducked as an arrow grazed his cheek. He felt the warm blood on his cheek, and he turned a corner and swung his staff at the Falmer. The creature hissed as Gellos' staff pinned him against the wall, and Gellos took the creatures face in a hand, letting another wave of lightning put the falmer down. He took his staff away and the creature slid down the wall. Gellos stepped back, then turned back to the ramp, and dropped back to the ground over the side.

He strayed from the path for a moment to walk around the tower, then went back down the path. The tower was closer now, and he could see a waterfall to the left of the tower. He heard the rush of water as he came closer, and saw a bridge that ran over a gap. He walked the path up the bridge, and stopped to look over the edge. Down below he saw a stretch of water that led to a large pool. He looked back up and crossed the bridge. He could see the tower in his peripheral vision, and over the bridge he resumed his walk along the path.

The cobblestone way to him left and up a short slope. The tower was ahead of him now and there were no falmer around him. He kept his staff in his hand though, as he walked the rest of the slope. He could see a lift that was inside the base of the tower, and up the slope Gellos put his staff on his back. It hugged against his chest as the strap pulled it to his back, and he walked up to the lift. He stepped up to the lever, and pulled it down.

A click sounded, and the lift jerked as started to move up. Gellos watched as the cavern of Blackrech moved out of view, and saw more dark walls come up. He could hear the soft push of steam as the lift moved upward, and felt, around him, the hum of magical energy. He waited by the lever, and turned when he felt cool air. He saw a doorway, and down a short hall he could see a giant sphere-like object. Stepping off the lift, he felt the hum of energy grow stronger.

He moved down a short hall, then stepped into a wide room, where the sphere was housed. He looked up, seeing the high sloped ceiling and, as he looked ahead, the top of the large sphere that seemed to rise out of the ground. Gellos walked into the room, passing a hand over his hair, and moved up the top of the large dwemer made machine. He looked at it, taking in the bronze coloring. He glanced to the left and saw a doorway, then looked back to the device, feeling the pull of the magical energy.

At the top of the sphere, Gellos looked at a set of three rings, all made of what looked like brightly colored sapphire. He knew it was some kind of crystal though, maybe Aetherium, and as he crouched down, the magical pull was almost overwhelming. It subsided some though as Gellos reached out to touch one ring with a gloved hand. He took his hand back though as the ring moved along another ring, almost like a sort of line. It moved to the left, and Gellos saw the small dot that was in the middle of the three rings. He reached out to touch the ring again, this time leaving his finger on as it moved.

It made a full circle, getting closer to the dot in the middle as it moved, then stopped. The small dot was in the center of the ring now, and he heard a click as the ring moved down, and was locked into place. Gellos looked at the other two rings, and saw he had touched and moved the largest one first. He put his hand to the smallest ring and, as he had assumed, it didn't move. Touching the medium sized ring had results though, and it moved like the largest one had. Gellos moved the second ring until it was aligned with the first ring, and it locked into place like its sibling.

Moving the third and final ring, Gellos set it to lock into place. A final click sounded, then the aligned rings lowered into the ground for a moment. Gellos saw a bronze lining appear around the light rings, and then it moved upwards. Gellos stood up and took a step back, and a pedestal presented the rings to him in a large circular. It was just bigger than his palm, and as he reached out to take it, it left the stand without resistance.

Gellos admired the object, but only for a moment. The pedestal quickly moved down, vanishing into the top of the device, and Gellos heard the first rumble. The ground under him shook, and as he stuffed the object into his pack, he looked up in time to see a chunk of the ceiling break away and fall down. Gellos moved backwards, letting the chuck smash into the device. He saw a felt more stone bits and chucks fall down, and he put up his hands as he began to move backwards. A larger stone chuck would have surely crushed him, but the stone slowed and then stopped as Gellos felt it's weight in his hands. He _held _the stone as more of the ceiling fell, and bit his teeth as the weight became harder to bare. Moving stone was no problem, but slowing down stone that fell from the ceiling was different.

Backing to the doorway, Gellos let his arms fall with a,

"Gah!" and he stumbled back as a wave of stone debris fell to block the doorway.

He hit the stone floor and coughed, his breath catching in his throat. He took a breath, then pulled up his face cloth as he tasted the dry dust in his mouth. He took away the cloth to spit, and pulled it back up as he came up to an elbow. He sat up, letting his hands rest on the floor. He moved his legs and arms, and seeing nothing was broken, stood up. He took a breath, then reached to his pack and looked at the object. It wasn't even scratched as he looked at it, turning it in his hand. It was the same on either side, and as Gellos gazed at it, he saw lines and dots appear on the object. It was a map of Skyrim, he saw the lines representing the roads and dots that represented the cities. As he kept gazing he saw another set of dots appear. Five of them, and then another darker spot that was a silver color. The new dots were a whitish color, and Gellos gasped as he realized the white dots were the locates of the other five tonal keys.

He hurriedly sat down and pulled out his paper map of skyrim, along with his quill and ink bottle. He set the tonal map beside the paper map, dipped his quill, then carefully made five circles along the paper, where the silver dots were. He circled both Falkreath and Solitude, and put one circle where the woodlands of the Rift were. A fourth circle was made north of Windhlem, and the fifth circle was marked north and just south of Morthal, in the marsh lands. Gellos looked at the circles, then took his quill and made an X that was east of Winterhold.

Looking at the paper map, Gellos put away the quill and the ink bottle, and examined the circles. He saw the circle around Solitude, then couldn't suppress a glare. He had been there only days before, and another key had been right under his nose. But his glare subsided as he remembered the face of the man he had seen while using the memory reading spell on one of the witch hunters, underneath Solitude. The man with the scars on his face.

Standing up Gellos folded the paper map, and tucked it, along with the tonal key map, into the outside pouch of his pack. Taking another look at the rubble-filled passage, he turned and moved through the room he found himself in, to a doorway that was across the room. To and through the doorway he found a lift, where he pushed down a lever. The lift jerked with a quiet hiss, then took him upwards. Gellos pulled down his face covering then dusted off his already worn traveling clothes. He paused when he saw he still only had one glove on, then realized it was still in the now-ruined tower room.

The lift took him up to another gatehouse, and as Gellos felt the cool rush of winter again, he closed his eyes for a moment. But only for a moment. As the lift came to hissing stop, Gellos moved to the gate, and pulled down a second lever. The gate swung outward, and he stepped off of the platform and into the still deep snow. He walked through the snow and back onto the main road, then took out his paper map, flicking it open. He looked at the map, then asked it aloud,

"Where am I?"

In response a pointed black dot appeared on the map, and a Gellos turned, looking at the new dot. It turned with him, and Gellos looked up. He turned around, then looked back at the map. The dot had turned with him again, and was facing in the direction of Morthal. Gellos nodded, folded the map, and tucked it into his pack. Looking ahead he pulled up his face cloth and his hood, only letting his light yellow eyes peer out. The snow was thick and falling faster, and as Gellos started down the road at a quick jog, he hoped the tonal key outside of Morthal wouldn't be to hard to find.

* * *

As she looked over the stretch of white tundra that was below her, Asha only glanced at her shoulder as she heard footsteps behind her.

"You'll freeze to death if you stay out here long enough," said a voice behind her.

"I'm fine," the young girl replied. She turned now, taking her eyes from the snowy plains to look behind her. Standing in his customary red and black robes was Viarim, a dark grey staff with a dragons head at top in his hand. His light golden eyes surveyed the dark elf girl for a moment, and Viarim said,

"You don't need to worry about him."

"I have never been able to feel someone like this before!" her cry of a reply was instant, and she looked at Viarim as if he had cursed her. "His magical strength is..." she paused, putting a hand to her dull red hair, "It is uncanny, master, and I have an unexplainable desire to know everything that he does!"

"Gellos is a highly capable mage," Viarim said, leaning against his staff, "he can take good care of himself, and you worrying about..." but he stopped as Asha turned around. They both heard a snort, and then, coming around a curve in the path of the mountain, a horse appeared. It was light brown one, small, and carried two bags on either side of its saddle.

Asha stared at the horse, but then, with only a glance back at Viarim, she left the steps of the Fortress and almost ran to touch the horse. She moved her gloved hands down the mares muzzle, and looked at the bags on either side of her saddle. She looked back at Viarim, who looked back at the dark elf in silence. But after that moment, he said,

"Well Asha, it seems you have again proven me wrong."

"This is his mare!" the dark elf examined. She looked over the horse, petting her muzzle. "And you, are Em," she whispered to the horse. The horse in question snorted, and Asha allowed a smile to touch her face. "This is a sign," she looked back to Viarim, who now stood at the bottom of the steps, leaning on his staff again. "He has sent his horse here for us to keep watch over, while he is out there, searching for the soul urn that will save the Elder's life."

Viarim only looked at the mare, then at Asha. "Very well," he said. "The horse will come along with us of course, as will you. I don't want you catching any kind of cold or snow-associated disease, worrying about one of my best pupils."

Asha looked at Viarim, then took Em by her reins and led her up the steps to the Fortress. As she passed the altmer, she whispered to the horse,

"What is his name?" as she stroked her muzzle. "The one that I watch over? Who is he?" but Em only snorted. Asha could feel the slight magic energy that the mare gave off, and as they came up the steps and moved into the courtyard of the Fortress, Asha heard his name, as if the wind had carried it across the snowy plains to her ears.

* * *

"Gellos..."

The mage let out a gasp as he sat up. His staff found its way to his hand, and a light spilled into his tavern room. He looked at the door, which was still shut and locked, then around at the walls. No one else was in the room and as Gellos let out a breath, he fell back into the bed. He closed his eyes, but as the light from his staff faded, he could hear the voices outside his room, and the scrap of a chair made him open his eyes again.

He sat up and then stood up, stretching his arms over his head. He rested his staff against the wall, then pinched the bridge of his nose. Waking from his dream, he had heard his name in his own ears. In the dream he had seen a girl. A beautiful girl. A dark elf, with deep red eyes a long black hair that blew in the gentle wind. She had been surrounded by snow, but for some reason, Gellos had felt as if she was right there next to him. He shook his head and let the dream clear away though, and picked up a leather coat that hung from a peg on the wall. He pulled the coat around himself, then pulled on his boots.

Picking up his staff Gellos stepped to his bedroom door, unlocked it, then pulled it open. He felt the warm of the fire first, then the smell of cooking food next. Jonna, the barmaid of the inn in Morthal, glanced up from putting a chair on the floor, and smiled at Gellos. "Finally wake, did you young master?"

"Ah, yes," Gellos returned her smile, and pushed his hair back from his head.

He and been in Morthal for three days, resting and eating. He hadn't left to search for the key yet, instead preferring to stay to his room and the inn, when it was quiet. Another mage in the tow, named Falion, was Jonna's brother and an avid caster of magic, and Gellos unexpectedly found most of his time was taken with taking to the other magic user. A redguard like his sister, Falion had a more learned understanding of the darker magics, specifically conjuration techniques. Failon quickly told Gellos that the Jarl of the town, Idgrod, didn't see any need for mages in her town.

"So keep any magic you practice to the inn that my sister runs," he said one night.

Going from his bedroom door and up to the fire, Gellos took a chair and sat down. He rubbed his hands together, and let the fire warm him. It was cold in nearly all of Skyrim, and Morthal was no exception.

"My brother never did car for the use of staves," said Jonna. Gellos looked away from the fire at the redguard, who added, "always said he didn't like the way the felt in his hand."

"Most mages don't prefer to use them," Gellos said.

"Although you do?" asked Jonna.

Gellos smiled, then said, "I'm different from most mages," before turning back to the fire.

He stayed there a while longer, gazing into the flames. At one point, unknowingly, he started to move the fire to his will, making it twist into spiral shapes along the pit. He came out of his trance when the tavern door came open, and a gust of cold air came in with him. A few of the townspeople had come inside, and Gellos glanced at them a moment before leaving the fire and returning to his room.

In his room he pulled open the wardrobe, and swapped his leather coat for his sleeveless leather vest and heavy hooded shirt. He left his coat in the wardrobe and shut the door, then took his belt from the end of the bed. Buckling the belt around his left hip he picked up one glove, then paused when he remembered he'd lost the other. Dropping the glove back he reached out to his staff as he turned to leave the room, and the weapon sailed to his waiting hand. Picking up his pack with the other hand he pulled it over one shoulder, then turned from his room.

Leaving the tavern and stepping into the cold air of Skyrim again, Gellos pulled up his hood and put his staff to his back. Letting both hands hang at his sides, he moved down the short step, then across a dock that was set over the marsh that all of Morthal was built over. On the main road he turned left, then took the paper map from his pack. He unfolded it and examined it again, looking at the stretch of marsh that was detail around the town. Looking at the map he asked it,

"Where am I?"

and saw the same black dot appear on the map again, as it had a few days ago. The dot pointed to the marsh lands, and the circle he had added to the map was down the road, then just west. He tucked the map away, and kept down the road. The day overhead was cloudy, the sun doing its best to shine through the gloom. Ahead of him he could see more of the main road, and all around him was the vast stretch of marsh that made up much of Hjaalmarch hold.

Further down the road Gellos slowed down. He saw two wolves up ahead, one occupied with a nearby deer carcass, and the other stood near the main road, keeping guard. Gellos walked slower now, and the wolf near the road saw him. The animal lowered its head and growled, its ears getting flat. The other wolf turned from the deer, its muzzle covered in blood, and walked up to its companion.

Another second passed, then both wolves jumped forward, leaving the dead deer at a run for the boy. Gellos backed up, taking his staff from his back. He jumped to the left as one wolf lunged for him and the other ran to the right. Gellos swung his staff at one wolf, a light orange glow picking the animal up from the ground and sending it into a nearby tree. Gellos spun on the other wolf, and brought up his staff as the animal jumped. It's jaws fastened around his staff and he forced it back, then threw his staff to the left, making the wolf whine. Gellos swung against with his staff, swiping the wolf with a flash of lightning. The animal snarled, but slumped down and fell to the road. Gellos looked at both dead wolves, then glanced at his hand. He saw the blood, then felt the dull throb of pain. He looked at his fingers, seeing the one large bit mark on his left thumb, and glowered at the dead animals.

Putting his staff back to his back Gellos resumed his walk down the road, and laid his wounded hand in his unharmed hand. He closed his good hand over the bad, and briefly closed his eyes. A warmth ran down his arms and into his hurt hand, and he felt the warm blood eek away as he walked. The second throb of pain was minor, and Gellos took his hands apart. He looked at the mark on his thumb, and figured the worst it would do was scar. Leaving his hands at his sides he carried his staff in his hand, knowing that the tonal key wasn't far away. He could feel the slight hum of magical energy in his ears, and picked up his pace.

* * *

Standing in the reading hall of the Fortress, Asha starred at the same page of the same book, not really reading what was written on it. Her mind was still occupied with the latest vision of the young boy. The mage, Gellos. Mother Ra' Sah had told Asha it was her task to watch over him, and in doing so ensure that he would make it safely to the Fortress when it was his time. Asha knew from experience that Clan Mother Ra' Sah of the Red Hallow Witches was rarely wrong.

"Gellos may very well be the one who can aid us in our fight against Clan Beltroth," Ra' Sah had said to Asha, "It is your duty to make sure that he is kept safe. Give him strength from afar, keep away the darkness that surrounds his sleep, and comfort him when his times seem troubled."

"Yes, Clan Mother," Asha bowed to the taller dark elf. Still just a girl within the Clan, Asha had already proven her own sretngh and worth on more than one occasion, and Mother Ra' Sah, much like Viarim, valued her youngest pupil.

"Go and meditate, Asha," said Ra' Sah. The older woman looked at the younger, but smiled. "You can grow to be just as strong as he is."

Asha closed the book in her hands, coming from her lull of thoughts, and put it back on its shelf. She looked at the shelves for a moment, then turned and left the hall, her light grey robes just brushing the floor. From the reading hall she moved up a set of stairs, and came to a corridor that overlooked the snowy plains of Skyrim. Asha put her hands against a column, looking over the stretches of white. Her breath fogged the air, and she closed her eyes. Asha let her thoughts drift, stretching out to feel again for Gellos.

She found him easily, and for a moment saw what he did. She knew he would feel her in his mind, but for that moment she saw a stretch of marsh. It was only for a moment though, and she opened her eyes as a powerful surge moved through her. Her breath fogged the air again, and as she looked over the stretches of snow, she quietly said his name again.

* * *

"Gellos..."

He stopped in the snow, looking ahead. He heard his name, as if someone standing next to him had whispered it. But there was no one else there. The ground underneath him was hard and scattered with snow, and ahead of him were the currently frozen marshes of Hjaalmarch. He closed his eyes briefly, and repeated his own name aloud.

"Gellos..." and as he spoke, he heard a girls voice. A light voice, but a girls voice no doubt. Opening his eyes again he felt a small tremor of magical energy, and looked over the frozen marshes. For a flash of a second, he had seen her face. A dark elf, with deep red eyes and black hair. He stood in front of the frozen marsh for a moment, her face still in his mind, but then cleared away the distracting fog.

He put one foot on the ice, and after it didn't creak, creak or moan, he put his other foot on. It held his weight well, even though the marshes had been frozen for the past five months. Gellos began to walk on the ice, slowly, letting the small pulses and tremors of the magical energy guide him. The ice was slick, but ridges cut into the bottoms of his boots let him walk the frozen marshes with ease. Looking to the left, he felt the tremors grow stronger. A glance to the right told him there was nothing that way.

Further across the ice, he felt it get just a little thinner. He didn't hear any cracking though, and quietly hoped he wouldn't end up having to _hold _the ice together like within the tower in Blackreach. He stretched further with his slight knowledge of the Sense, feeling the magical tremors growing stronger and stronger. It was like the steady rhythm of a drum, and as he stepped forward again, he looked down.

"There you are," he said quietly. The Sense had been right in leading him left. Just below him, buried maybe a foot underneath the ice and no doubt frozen, was the second tonal key. He crouched down, looking through the cloudy ice at the key. Standing up he took his staff from his back, and rested the end of it on the ground. He pushed with his mind, and a steak of lightning shot down the length of his staff, and into the ice. Gellos shielded his face, turning away as freezing water and shards of ice flew up. Chucks smacked to the ground, and Gellos looked over his arm. A hole was over the tonal key now, and Gellos could just see the top of it poking out from the ice. He glanced at his staff, then thought better of it and crouched down again. Another blast might have destroyed the key, or disrupted it's power in some way. Gellos reached into the freezing water, his bare hands already cold, but touched the key. He snarled as he took a hold of it, then pulled. It wiggled back and forth and then, with a second pull, came free from the ice. Gellos dropped back, the key in his hand, and let out a breath. He looked up to the cloudy sky, then, looking back to the key, quietly said,

"Thank you, elf," because he knew, somehow, she had aided him in the Sense, and helped him to find the key.

He stood up, tucking the key into the wider pouch on his belt, and put his staff back to his back. He pulled out his paper map and the quill. Tapping it to the paper he found it still and some ink on it, and he drew an _X _through the circle on his map. As he made to put away the map, he paused. Three of the other keys were in the same places. One however, was currently moving. The circle that had been around Solitude was moving down the road, towards Dragon Bridge, and Gellos starred at it. _Is someone carrying it? _he asked himself. He watched the circle move a moment longer, then tucked away the quill and folded the map. Turning back to for the main road, Gellos started down the cobblestone path, and back to the tavern in Morthal.

* * *

As the carriage began to slow down again, Sirino Arudius looked up from his hand.

"Why are we slowing, Captain?"

"The guards have hailed us, Lord Arudius."

"Ah, very well," the Imperial man continued to sit up, and rested his hands in his lap. On the back of his right hand was a set of dark markings. A strange, taboo like marking that he had acquired many years ago when he killed a powerful witch, named Veluth.

The carriage came to a complete stop now, and Sirino stood up, and walked off the carriage and stepped to the ground. He walked around the carriage as his Captain, a nord named Dergin, stepped down from his place as the carriage driver. The nord stepped ahead of Sirino, covered from his neck to his feet in dull but well used steel plated armor. Sirino himself was dressed in a set of dark brown robes, and had three long scars that ran down his face. Also courtesy of the witch, Veluth, those many years ago. She had missed his eye as she clawed at his face, after he had pierced her heart with her own staff.

"What's the trouble here?" Dergin asked the two guards who had stopped them.

"Nothing that will take long," one guard said. "We only wish to ask Lord Arudius here a few questions, about a recent event."

"And what event could this be?" asked Sirino.

"A few days ago, you had a group of four witch hunters, hunters from Clan Beltroth, hired to kill a mage. Is this true?"

"It is," Sirino nodded.

"And is it also true that you had been ready to accuse this same mage of practicing dark magics?" asked the other guard.

"It is," Sirino nodded again.

"Alright then," the first guard nodded, "That is all we needed to know, Milord."

"I hope your not planning on accusing me of anything," Sirino said.

"Of course not, Lord," said the other guard, "we only wished to hear you end of the story."

"Very well," Sirino nodded now, and turned to walk back to the carriage. Dergin stepped back into the drivers place, and with a whip, the horses neighed and the carriage got moving again. Sirino watched the guards move away, then looked at the back of Dergin's head. "We need to find out who kill the hunters, Dergin."

"Yes my Lord," the nord replied. "I will contact the Vigilant when we arrive in Rorikstead, and have them search for this mage."

"Do so with haste, my friend," replied Sirino.

"Yes, my Lord," repeated Dergin.