As the blood dripped from my sharpened blade I couldn't believe what I had just done. I stared down into the carcase's cold, darkened eyes.

"Whoa," Gevir exclaimed. "You ran her down like she was a child just learning to walk."

He reached down with his long arms, wrapped them tightly around the deer and flung it over his shoulder.

"It's just too bad you had to chase her in the first place, you should learn to be more subtle."It was typical of my brother to give back handed compliments; he had always found it easy to point out the flaws in what I do.

On the trek back to the cabin Gevir made a point of telling me everything you shouldn't do while hunting and gleefully pointed out how I did everything on the list. It was my first hunt and I ran down a deer. Like he would focus on that for a moment.

Reaching the cabin, Gevir cleaned and then wrapped the deer in a large linen blanket before he placed it neatly into the cart.

Gevir was a large muscular figure, able to lift more than twice his weight when he needed too. He had always liked to show off by taking lots of heavy lifting jobs and finishing them in half the time expected. He used to have long hair like the rest of the population of Skyrim but cut it short to separate himself from the crowd.

"Another thing,"Gevir blurted, something I had obviously done wrong had just sprung into his mind. "Try to get a cleaner cut; this one was very hard to clean properly."

"Well I'm not going to be able to be very precise when I'm running after something like that," I retorted. He definitely didn't accept that reasoning.

"Which is why you need to be more subtle Fjer," he stated. "You're a small and agile girl; you should easily be able to sneak up on wildlife."

I never liked it when he called me small. I have always been comfortable with my figure. I'm not really small, just compared to my brother. Being thin allowed me to easily slip in and out of tight spots without too much hassle, also I didn't have all the extra weight of huge muscles slowing me down, letting me run faster than everyone I have ever known. Not even Gevir could catch me if I didn't want him to.

Gevir stared at me as I looked into space.

"You awake?" He questioned, startling me out of my thoughts. The sight clearly entertained him as he cracked a smile on his face. "There's one more thing I need you to do before you turn in for the night."

I raised my eyebrow.

"It's your turn to chop the firewood," he smiled. I had never been able to chop firewood easily, not with the first swing anyway. "You need to strengthen up a bit if you're going to help me work tomorrow." He then held out the axe to me. I snatched the axe from his hand and feinted chopping him instead while he laughed"you wouldn't," before I headed outside to get my remedial task over with.

Once the wood was chopped and put on the fire, we decided to rest for the night, in order to arise early and head back into the city.


A cold shock went up my spine. I opened my eyes to find myself laying down on the cold ground of the forest, the moonlight shining through the trees. I quickly sat up to survey my surroundings.

Had my brother put me there? Was he planning to test me somehow?

I felt around, my eyes not yet adjusted to the darkness, when I ran my hand over a cold metallic object. I knew the touch of steel. It was my dagger. I quickly grabbed the hilt and staggered to my feet.

Something was out there. The wind suddenly picked up, catching me off guard and nearly pushing me forward off my feet. The fallen leaves began to part on the ground in front of me, creating a circular patch of bare soil. I stared for a moment, unaware of what I was waiting for. My instinct told me to turn and run as far and fast away from here as I could.

Slowly, smoke began to rise from the bare patch of dirt that had cleared before me. The menacing cloud grew thicker and taller until it was at eye level. It began to whirl, the strength of the gust pulling in surrounding leaves and shredding them as soon as they touched the vortex.

It started to move. Slowly at first, but getting faster and faster, retreating back through the forest. Once it had gotten a short distance away from me it accelerated, faster than anything I had ever seen and my feet pushed myself after it. I did not know what compelled me to pursue the fleeing apparition but it was too late to stop now. It felt as though I were running on the wind; I could no longer feel the ground beneath my feet as it carried me ever closer to my target. Debris of broken twigs and stones flew back at me in the wake of the vortex, ricocheting off my body and leaving me with a scratch on my face and several on my arms as I drew nearer.

Seeing my chance, I launched myself into the vortex and it instantly dissipated, leaving only the broken trail it had left behind it as proof of its short existence.

My heart pounded in my head. I quickly regained my breath as I looked around me.

"Fjer!" I heard Gevir's worried voice in the distance.

I called out to him, waving to make sure he saw me before I sat down on the ground. The sound of crunching leaves and twigs under my brother's feet was the only thing I could hear as he fast approached.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, straight faced and with no hint of the worry that was present in his voice before.

"I don't know," I replied, I was drowsy and didn't feel like saying any more than the bare minimum.

Gevir knelt down in front of me and check the scratches on my arms and face.

"None of these look bad," he sighed "we'll get you cleaned up at the cabin; we need to be up early if we want to find work tomorrow."

Gevir then wrapped his arm around my waist and flipped me over his shoulder. Too tired to do anything about it, I let him carry me back to the cabin.


The sun had just fully emerged from the horizon when we arrived in the city. The first task my brother set out to do was to find the alchemist to acquire an unguent for my injuries.

Heading through the city, all the markets began to open. The noise of the crowd began to grow as men and women came to trade what they had to offer. The air became pungent with the smell of fruits and vegetables as we passed through the food market. All I had eaten for the past few days was rabbit stew and various berries that we had found while hunting in the forest. Anything we caught or found that had a decent taste and a good value was stacked in the cart to be sold. I assumed I would get a decent share of the profits for my deer; I would use it to buy myself the biggest fruit I can find.

The alchemist we had always gone too had been doing quite well. When we arrived at his usual stand we were pointed to a building that he had apparently bought with his profits. The thought of entering a structure filled with the disturbing things I had always seen on his stand made me shudder. Upon entering the store all I could do was instantly turn my eyes down. I had still already seen half the store, and would never forget what was in it. The most prominent item I saw in the room was the Rodmol wing.

The first and only time I saw a live Rodmol was when I was young. The giant moth had planted itself in the field my father used to tend and the local alchemist was asked to exterminate it. Rodmol were infamous for causing severe blight in crops and their unwillingness to leave any newly claimed food sources. Rodmol were also toxic to touch; a man would have to find a doctor or alchemist quickly after having contact with even the smallest Rodmol or they would develop plague-like symptoms and die within a few hours. When dealing with the Rodmol the alchemist had first prepared a concoction that would neutralise the toxic effect of the moth. Then he had to devise a way to drench the monstrosity with the concoction without harm. The Rodmol was fully grown, the size of a deer. What the alchemist did I thought was foolhardy and dangerous, at the time. The alchemist had slowly walked up to the moth slightly crouched and when close enough, with a sudden movement, threw the glass bottle at it. The bottle shattered on impact and the creature let out a crude shriek. It convulsed and writhed on the ground as the alchemist moved in and drove his spear through the moth's head. The alchemist did not accept payment for is work, he instead had the corpse loaded onto a cart and moved back to his shop to be dissected for ingredients. The alchemist used the remains to create insecticides and weed killers that greatly benefited the farmers. I have also heard that Rodmol remains can be used to create deadly poisons.

Not seeing any sign of the alchemist inside, Gevir strode to the counter and rang a bell that was placed precariously on the corner of the desk before placing it back in a much safer position.

"Just a moment," the old man said as he walked in carrying a bucket of dirty water. He scuffled over to the counter and placed the bucket on the ground, revealing the dozen drowned rats floating in the slime. Seeing my disgusted expression, the old man mumbled an apology before he moved the bucket out of sight behind the counter.

"We need an unguent for the squeamish girl," Gevir stated taunting me.

"Now don't make fun of the girl, there was a time when you couldn't come near my stand without a bucket," The old man winked, knowing it was a tale Gevir had not told me. "Let me take a look at you Dear,"

He knelt down in front of me as I presented my arms and let out a short thoughtful hum before going into the room behind the counter. He returned a moment later carrying a small hand sized bowl. "This should do the trick, give it an hour and you'll be as pretty as ever," he then continued to rub a small amount of the greyish paste onto my cuts. There was a slight searing pain for a second when it was applied to each cut, but it was nothing that bothered me.

"Do you know of any interesting jobs at the moment Gamand?" Gevir inquired, looking around the various ingredients and potions in the shop.

"As a matter a fact, there was a man looking to hire a team to protect him while he explored a newly discovered ruin," The shopkeeper replied. His tone made it sound like the idea was laughable.

"You don't think it's worth my time?" Gevir pondered

"The job's simple enough, and the man offered decent pay, it's just the way he strutted around talking about the job as though he wanted there to be trouble," Gamand scoffed. "The man himself seems arrogant."

"Where can we find him?" Gevir didn't seem to care about Gamand's comments.

"He made a point of telling everyone he was staying in the Dead Man's Drink," Gamand gave a disapproving look. "If you take the job, keep an eye on the man."


A.N. My first fanfic, I hope people enjoy it :)

The second chapter will be out as soon as it's ready. If I get good reviews I will try and get it finished faster.