I was sick of the wilderness. I knew I needed to stay away from the major cities, but Morthal wasn't very large. I thought maybe the people would be out of the loop, and it would be safe to stay there. At least for a few days.

The stone buildings were a welcome sight after nothing but swamp and forest for days, and the sprawling town with it's bridges over the swamp and openness to the wilderness seemed almost exotic compared to the large cities I was used to. Solitude, Windhelm, Bruma. Skyrim had seemed like the perfect place, full of wilderness and unrest and chaos. But I hadn't counted on having to escape undying dragons or freeze during the frigid northern nights. Although maybe I just hadn't planned ahead well enough.

My horse's hoof beats clopped on the stone path as I approached the inn. A sharp gust of wind pulled a dark strand of hair into my eyes, and I could smell rain on the air. This was turning out to be a wise decision after all. I tucked the strand unceremoniously behind my ear and pulled the hood farther over my face. Nobody in this land was likely to recognize me, but I'd rather no one became familiar with my face. I dropped from my horse and tied her to a post by the front porch. Her black-and-white coat was shiny with sweat, and I felt a pang of guilt at the thunder rumbling in the distance. There was no stable in this town, however, so I retied her near some protective trees and left her to graze when I entered the inn.

The smell of greasy food and smoke filled my nose. A large fire blazed in the center of the inn, and a few large, scruffy men sat around it laughing, drinking mead and ale. A bard sang of legends and tales in the corner, and a tired-looking woman stood at the bar cleaning mugs. I skirted the drunken men, approaching the woman.

"How much for a room?" I asked, reaching for my coin purse. She told me 10 gold, and I gratefully obliged. She led me to my room. It was small, with only a single bed, a wardrobe, and a chest crammed into the space. It would be more than enough for now though, and I tossed my pack under the bed. I made sure to keep my orcish dagger securely hidden under my robes, and emerged from my room. It wouldn't be dark for at least another hour, and the storm was still a ways off. I thought maybe there would be a shop, somewhere I could stock up before I headed out again tomorrow. I came out into the dull light and cold air, and peered at my surroundings. It was a sizable town, larger than Dawnstar of Falkreath, but still a far cry from the major holdings. I walked slowly down the cobbled street. I followed the loud clangs of the blacksmith, and soon came upon a couple shops. I entered the general shop, and was surprised to find two people arguing inside.

"Come on! It wasn't that bad!" Said the young man across the counter from the shopkeeper. He was tall and muscular, with a mop of blonde hair on his head. He looked about my age, maybe 19 or 20. He was arguing with the shopkeeper, a thick, balding man wearing a grimy apron of about 40.

"You almost killed Valund!" The man cried. "You burnt off his eyebrows, Cayn!"

"A simple mistake! If this works then-"

"No." The stocky man interjected. "I'll be giving you nothing to do with any of your experiments. Now you may buy something more, ah, domestic, or you may leave." He glared pointedly at the younger man, who huffed angrily and stepped away from the counter. I stepped to the side as he stormed out of the building, barely noticing me, and approached the shopkeeper. He seemed to notice me for the first time.

"Ah! Sorry about that, just some personal business." He apologized hurriedly. "I'm Thoric, welcome to my store. How may I help you?"

I ignored his apology. "What did he want?" I said, gesturing towards the door through which the man had disappeared.

Thoric looked flustered. "Cayn? He wanted some void salts for his blasted experiments. Divines know what for, but I tell you it wouldn't have been good. Boy wants to go to the College, but is useless at all but destruction magic." His eyes darkened. "He's the dragonborn, you know. He went to High Hrothgar just the other month. I know I should respect him, but I simply can't endanger the rest of Skyrim by letting him loose with his attempts to learn how to turn invisible or whatnot."

I didn't know what a dragonborn was, but it seemed important. Anyhow, I didn't see how refusing to sell him void salts would fix anything. I looked down at the list I had to buy, and decided to help him out. I waved my hand subtly over the parchment, and the words void salts materialized on the note. I slid the paper across the counter. Maybe I could get some information out of this Cayn, and besides, I was curious about the College. I had heard of the College of Winterhold, and thought of going there. I could hear Thoric rustling about in the back of the shop, and soon he reappeared with a sack of goods. I looked through the bag to make sure everything was there, and I dropped a handful of gold coins on the counter. He thanked me profusely as I left.

By the time I was out of the shop the storm was much closer, and I could almost feel the electricity coursing through the air. I stopped a cranky looking woman on the street and asked her where I could find Cayn. She gave me a quizzical look, and pointed towards a farmhouse on the edge of town. As I approached the farmhouse I could see with some amusement some of the magical follies in the barnyard. A few of the chickens were a bright pink, and the goat's horns appeared to be on its knees. A large scorch mark darkened a stone near the river behind the house. I assumed this was where Valund had lost his eyebrows.

I knocked on the door, and a plump, older woman emerged. "What has he done now-" she started, and paused when she saw. She peered up at me, probably trying to see under my hood, but I disregarded her nosy behavior.

"I'm looking for Cayn. Is he here?" I asked.

"Cayn?" I noticed that people around tended to say his name with a bit of incredulity. I nodded. "He's out back." The woman, who seemed to be his mother, frowned. "But if he's trying to get you to do one of those silly experiments, you really shouldn't. Valund lost his eyebrows helping him." She said.

I've heard, I thought, a bit frustrated with how prying these people were. But I thanked her, and walked around the back of the house. Cayn was by a stack of logs, chopping firewood. As I approached I could hear him muttering angrily under his breath, and I decided not to surprise him while he was angry and had a large axe.

"Are you Cayn?" I called from a few feet away. He whirled around, lowering the axe.

"Yes." He said, a suspicious expression crossing his face. "Why?"

I retrieved the void salts from my pack, and tossed the small pouch of salts at his feet. "I heard you're looking for some of these. What are you doing with them?" I said as he started incredulously at the contents of the pouch.

"Uh… I was going to try and heal Rogr's lame cow… but… how…" He stammered, looking from the pouch back to me.

"I was right by the door while you were arguing with Thoric. You really should pay more attention to your surroundings, especially when you're practicing magic." I said, raising an eyebrow under the shadow of my hood. "Now, do you think you could give me some information in exchange?"

His expression morphed to one of gratitude, and he nodded. "Well, yes, but what could I possibly know that is of any importance?"

I shrugged. "I'm not from around here. I want to know about the College."

His brow furrowed at this, and I could tell that this was a touchy subject. "The College of Winterhold is the greatest congregation of magic users in Skyrim, with the greatest mage scholars and biggest library." His eyes took on a wistful look. "I've always wanted to go, but I can't even summon a blasted flame atronauch. All I can do is destruction magic, and it seeps into everything else I try to do." He sighed.

I made a split-second decision. The College sounded intriguing, and would be a wise place to go for someone with my talents. "I'm headed there, actually. You could come with me if you want." I regretted it as soon as I said it, but I couldn't take it back. I supposed it would be nice to have a traveling companion for once.

His eyes lit up, but he frowned. "I… I don't know. I don't know you, and if Delphine-" He went silent, as if he were about to reveal something he had realized was secret. I shrugged again.

"I'm leaving at sun up tomorrow. If you want to come, meet me at the road to Winterhold." I said. He was silent, but his gaze seemed to be fixed somewhere on the horizon and I could tell he was thinking. I turned, and headed back to the inn.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The next morning the air had cooled with the rain in the night, and I was saddling my horse as the sun first peeked over the trees. When I reached the road out of town, I realized that Cayn was already there. He was on his own horse, a big bay steed that seemed more like a warhorse than a farm horse. I realized that my hood was down, but I shrugged inwardly to myself. If we would be traveling with each other it didn't really matter if he knew what I looked like. As I approached he waved. "Morning!" He said brightly, and I couldn't help but laugh. He was just so enthusiastic.

"Morning." I said, wheeling my horse around him. "Let's head out. No point waiting around." In truth, I was nervous to spend anymore time here. It was too close to Solitude.

The air was misty after the storm, and the pale light created a glowing effect over the damp foliage. The dirt on either side of the path was damp, but the cobbles underfoot were dry aside from a few puddles. I looked at Cayn, who had a thick cloak wrapped around him to ward off the early morning cold. "What made up your mind?" I asked, hoping to have some conversation while we rode.

Cayn kept his eyes straight ahead, but he cocked his head to acknowledge the question. "I guess I realized that I probably won't have another chance. I'd never convince myself to go alone, and it was a decent opportunity." He said slowly. "People tend to pay more attention when a lone person comes into town from the wilderness, and I'd like to avoid too much attention."

I nodded. I could definitely understand that. I told him so, and he looked at me curiously. "What is your name? I forgot to ask yesterday." He asked.

I thought about this for a second. Of course I knew my name, but I didn't know whether I wanted him to know. I decided to trust him. "My name is Briani."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

New Characters:

Briani- Imperial woman, about 20 years old. Talented mage. Running away from- something.

Cayn- Nord man, also about 20. Master of destruction magic, but useless at all other schools. Dragonborn.

Dragon Language:

None!

Please R+R, all is appreciated!

~ElderSkie