Chapter 1.

Travius Velsala sat slumped at a table in the far corner of the Frozen Hearth, taking no time to go through three flagons of ale one right after another. He then sat up and straightened his spine to a more proper position in his chair, ran his hands through his slick black hair and let out a long sigh, the exhaustion began to kick in. He began to order another until he saw a small boy, he had never seen the child before, he probably belonged to an unfortunate trader who was tasked with making a trip to Winterhold. The boy was running around with a small wooden sword in his right hand while mimicking using a flame spell with his left claiming that he was a mighty battle mage. Travius grinned as he watched the child.

Travius began to recall exactly how he had gotten here and how he became a man with such notoriety. How much his life had changed. It was barely over a year ago Travius was a frontline battle mage for the Imperial Legion during the storm cloak rebellion in Skyrim. This child reminded him of the excitement he felt on the battle field. Travius always missed that feeling of power and dominance he felt during the war.

No storm cloak soldier seemed to be even the slightest challenge for him during the war. At the young age of 25 he had become the most powerful destruction and alteration user in the legion .Of course, being a Breton also gave him a natural ability towards conjuration. Mostly he used a combination of a conjured sword and fire bolt. He could also cast a flesh spell which made him almost impenetrable. He did on occasion conjure an atronach or raise a slain storm cloak to fight on his behalf; he loved the morale advantage this gave him over his enemies. Unfortunately, this practice was frowned upon by his superiors so it was kept to a minimum. Besides, using telekinesis to fling an enemy across the battlefield did a pretty good job of messing with his foe's mind anyway. His training made him no slouch with a sword either. Those who were responsible for removing bodies from the battlefield would often say that if the amount of charred bodies was any indication, Travius and the Dragon born could have probably took out the storm cloaks themselves.

When the war ended one year ago Travius decided not to return to the imperial city where he was raised, an orphan from as young as he could remember, he had no family to go back to. Truth be told no one knows who the family of this Breton boy with an unbelievable ability for magic or how he wound up on the streets of Imperial city. Although Travius was considered to be a very handsome man and would often win the favor of women (of all races) in order to find a temporary shelter and food. Travius had only person he felt any attachment or loyalty to. For as long as he can remember the orc Vhornyhak Molg was always at his side, he was his best friend, his companion, his brother.

Vhornyhak was not technically an orphan himself, but may as well have been. His parents were killed when the stronghold he was born in was pillaged. Vhornyhak and his older brother Burgaz were the only two who survived and that's only because their uncle was able to hide the children in the mine, merely 8 and 15 years of age at the time. When the unknown army that invaded had left the two children were found by an adventurer looking to scavenge the mine in the orcs absence discovered the two boys and had them sent to an orphanage in the Imperial city, however Burgaz was considered too old nor did the orphanage want orcs and the boys were cast on the streets. Burgaz found a job working in the Arena as an errand boy for the gladiators, his payment was training. He eventually became a combatant himself and eventually gained the rank of champion. His time and dedication went into becoming a gladiator and left little time for Vhornyhak. Less than a year after they arrived in Imperial city, Burgaz had all but abandoned his little brother. He gave him a small amount of gold when Vhornyhak would visit the arena but that was the only connection they had. Vhornyhak eventually took to living on the streets where he met a Breton around his age, Travius.

The two boys became the family they never had, when the boys were still young they relied on pity and begging for food and gold. Once they became teenagers they found acts of sympathy from people came few and far between. Since no one was interested in hiring an Orc and his spell casting orphan friend for legitimate work the two boys took to mugging and burglary. By the time they were 20 years old they both were finally caught and arrested when they robbed what they thought was a skooma dealer and turned out to be an undercover guard trying to make his way into a group of smugglers. By this time in their lives the boys had become an intimidating duo. Travius had become very efficient with destruction magic despite any formal training mostly learning from stolen spell tomes and scrolls. Vhornyhak had grown to be enormous, even by orc standards. Standing 6'10'' and almost 300lbs of solid muscle he was one of the most intimidating figures in all of Cyrodill. Given the boy's history and their reputation around the underworld as ruthless yet smart thugs they were offered a choice, spend the majority of the rest of their lives in prison or join the legion. The decision was simple. The next day the boys were official legionnaires. Three years later Ullfric Stormcloak killed the high king of skyrim and the the boys, now trained, skilled warriors were off to war.

During the war Travius discovered something about himself. His ability to kill and to do so with no remorse made him a great warrior but he was worried about what that made him as a man .He had only joined the legion as an alternative to prison. He had no real loyalty, no real allegiance to the empire and no real hatred for the stormcloaks. He happened to be in the Legion when a war broke out. He appreciated and valued the training but he was an outcast of society, he never felt like he was a part of the empire. That's what concerned him, despite him having no allegiance to the empire, he still killed for them. He killed a lot of men and it meant nothing to him.

When the war ended, Travius desired to stay in skyrim. When Vhornyhak agreed, Travius decided to enroll at the College of Winterhold to refine his magical abilities, where he became not just a student but the personal mercenary for the college. Travius was able to secure room and board for Vhornyhak at the college in exchange for labor and assisting Travius with his more dangerous projects. Eventually the newly appointed Imperial friendly Jarl Kraldar realized who Travius was and what he had done for the war effort, he immediately titled him Thane. Due to the lack of livable property in Winterhold, the Jarl had ordered the Frozen Hearth to convert its unused basement into a home for his new thane. The Jarl then assigned Vhornhyak to be Travius's housecarl.

Travius was snapped out of his reminiscing when he saw an enormous shadow behind him, and then heard the booming voice of the large Orc behind him.

"Travius, we have a problem outside that needs your attention, you should come with me."

"And here I thought you might be joining me for a drink Vhornyhak" said Travius with an obvious sign of exhaustion in his voice.

"You know I would love too, but this is serious, you may want to suit up actually". The orc responded,

"Suit up?...What's going on Vhornyhak?".

Vhornyhak looked around the crowd and saw that their conversation was drawing attention from the patrons all around the inn.

"We should probably discuss this in private, let's get moving".

The two men hurried into the quarters they shared at the Frozen Hearth. Since it was a basement it was one large room with two beds on opposite sides of the room and lined with Armor and special artifacts the duo collected while acting as mercenaries for the college. They both suited up in their enchanted armor they received from the college as a gift for their hard and dangerous work. Travius had a steel chainmail suit enchanted to make his magicka more abundant and fill his reserves faster. Vhornyhak's armor was enchanted to allow him to swing his 5 foot long war hammer with little to no fatigue.

"Sooooo, now can you tell me why I'm putting on my armor in the middle of the night?" asked Travius with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

"Some Thalmor agents have shown up and are demanding access to the college so they can arrest the new arch mage for the murder of Ancano. The Jarl is of course not even bothering to leave his Longhouse so the guards are refusing to get involved. No one is willing to cross the Thalmor I suppose."

Vhornyhak grabbed tightly on his chest armor to make sure it secured.

"The mages at the college however are blocking the entrance."

"Vhornyhak, I've been known to charm my way into a young woman's bed, but diplomacy in a hostile situation isn't exactly something I'm known for."

Vhornyhak then slapped him on his back, "I know brother, that's why I suggested we suit up."

Travius smirked and chuckled a bit under his breath and the two left the room and headed up the steps.

Chapter 2.

Twenty Thalmor agents formed a wide half circle around the entrance to the bridge that leads to the College of Winterhold. In the middle of that circle stood five mages from the college. Foralda, a high elf destruction master. Tolfdir, the eccentric , elderly professor and master of alteration. Brelyna Maryon, a young dunmer who specialized in the school of conjuration, and was slowly winning the heart of Travius. J'Zargo, an egotistical but talented destruction mage. The center of attention however was Yarwil Venir the newly appointed Arch-Mage . Varwil was a young Altmer who is responsible for ending the Eye of Magnus incident at the college, which ended with the death of Ancano, a thalmor agent.

The thalmor agent in the center of the group , a very tall lanky Altmer, developed a scowl the moment Varwil arrived.

"Are you Yarwil Venir? Archmage of The College of Winterhold?" asked the Thalmor agent.

"Yes" Yarwil stated calmly, staring directly into the Altmer'e eyes. "May I ask why I have armed men agents demanding my presence during dinner? "

"You need to come with me, you are wanted for the murder of Ancano Armion and treason against the Aldmeri Dominion" this time the Thalmor agent matching Yarwil's calm.

"Ancano murdered Savos Aren and Mirabelle Irvine. Yarwil acted in defense when Ancano turned on him as well. He's not going anywhere." Barked Faralda as she then engulfed her right hand in fire preparing it for a flame spell. Her left hand Began to glow with the blue light of a ward spell.

The twenty thalmor agents responded by preparing spells in their own hands. All in unison.

Yarmil and the Thalmor continued to stare each other down until the sound of an approaching Travius and Vhornhyak drew their attention. Travius locked eyes with the lead Thalmor as he approached, then turned to look at Vhornyhak who grew a look of concern on his face. They both know who this Thalmor was. His name was Volanare Armion, or has he was known to the legion 'The Inquisitioner'. During the war when the legion would capture a stormcloak controlled hold, Volanare led a special team that was supposedly to eradicate Talos worship. They would go through all the homes, businesses and temples in the hold and scour everything for evidence of Talos worship. They would also arrest people for prohibited substances such as skooma and moon sugar, or any excuse to arrest citizens. Anyone still showing allegiance to the stormcloaks or who dared to protect their property were taken to Mistwatch Keep and never seen again.

Volanare reached behind him and closed his fist when he saw the two warriors approach and the Thalmor agents all disarmed their spells in the same unison they armed with.

"Travius Velsala, Yes? I've seen you on the battlefield, very impressive for a lesser race" Volanare now spoke with the arrogance common amongst High elves. "I had heard rumors your talents were being wasted as a thane for this sorry excuse of for a hold. I'm sorry to see that rumors were true."

Vhornyhak and Travius now stood between the Thalmor and the Mages. Vhornyhak looked around to see what he had feared might happen. The altercation had drew the attention of nearly the whole town, forcing the guards to block the path through town to keep the citizens out of harms way.

"Why are you here?" sneered Vhornyhak

"Excuse me, I do not answer to Orc Housecarls" Volanare snapped. "Now please step aside while I retrieve my prisoner"

Volanare then motioned for his men and they began moving towards to capture the mage. Travius quickly threw a fire rune to the ground in the path of the Thalmor. Vhornyhak pulled his war hammer from his back holster and held it front of him and gave a thunderous growl to the oncoming Thalmor. The mages from the college re armed their spells, Brelyna even going as far to summon a fire atronach, awaiting her command.

"Back off! You must go through the Jarl, you know this. Maybe next time, if you don't show up in the middle of the night the jarl will be available to assist you, but no one is leaving here tonight." Travius spoke as he applied a flesh spell to his self and readied a bound sword and flame spell in his hands.

" I've had enough of this insolence! The White Gold Concordant allows the Thalmor jurisdiction through all of Tamriel. I could have this whole town executed for this hostile behavior! " Volanare was becoming increasingly more angry as he spoke.

Travius stepped up and put himself less than an inch from Volanare.

"To Oblivion with The White Gold Concordant. You are not taking the arch mage or anyone else for that matter. Leave now, come back tomorrow and speak with the jarl, or their will be twenty more dead thalmor to investigate."

Volanare looked around and realized the town guards all had their weapons drawn, many towns people as well. "We shall return tomorrow….but except repercussion for your actions tonight." Then he turned to look at the archmage. "Give yourself whatever name you want. I know who you are."

The Thalmor turned around and began to walk away when an arrow came flying through the air and going clean through an agents head.

Volanare turns around and shouts "This is how you treat a surrender ?! Enough of this, kill them all!"

The thalmor all at once threw fire bolts towards the mages, who were all already holding up a ward to create a barrier around the arch mage and charged at the group. All of their wards held except Brelyna, who was knocked out by the impact of the combined spells.

Vhornyhak grabbed his hammer and slammed it on the ground which caused a large enough shockwave to set off the rune Travius set moments earlier, killing two thalmor. He then swung his hammer in an upwards motion at a charging thalmor, hitting him square in his stomach, breaking his ribs and send him to the ground coughing up blood. Vhornyhak then stood up and lifted his leg and brought it down on the thalmors head, crushing it, ending the thalmors pain.

Two Thalmor charged at Travius he picked one of them up with telekinesis and flung him out of sight, probably off the cliff into the sea. The other he knocked down with a power fireball and then drilled his bound sword through his chest. He then took out three more thalmor with a duel casted fireball. Vhornyhak continued to crush the bones of the thalmor agents until finally there was nineteen dead thalmor either charred or crushed laying in front of them. Volanare had disappeared during the fray.

Travius immediately ran to the mages to make sure Brelyna was okay, which she was by the time he arrived. Once the mages realized that Vhornyhak and Travius easily had this battle (the mages didn't kill a single person actually), they focused all their magicka onto healing her. He grabbed her by her hand and looked into her eyes.

"I'm okay Travius, a little shaken up. However, if I knew you would hold me like this I would of thrown myself in the line of fire a long time ago." She said flirtatiously.

Travius had long been developing feelings for Brelyna but realized he had never shown affection like this before.

She smiled at him "Maybe we can do this again sometime. Not tonight though, I need some rest and it looks like you have some explaining to do." She points behind him, he turns around to see the captain of the guard with the jarl. He finally decided it was time to speak up.

"Get some sleep then." Travius then turned to Tolfdir. "Make sure the archmage has someone at his side at all times. I'll visit the college in the morning."

Travius then proceeded towards the Jarl and guard captain.

"When I appointed a legionnaire civil war hero to be my thane I wasn't expecting you to make our hold a target for thalmor aggression. What in Oblivion were you thinking!? You'll be lucky if the thalmor don't claim your head and mine along with it!" The Jarl said pointing at Travius.

" You should talk to your guards!" Travius then turned towards the guard captain. "since when do you have archers on rooftops?".

"I don't!, I have no idea who shot that arrow. Why didn't you just let them take the ma.."

"Enough!" the jarl yelled. "Travius, you and the orc go home. I'll have my housecarl find a courier to send word to the legion immediately. Let me see if I can resolve this peacefully. "

The jarl then turned to the captain. "Have your men clean this up, if you find anyone attempting to loot the bodies, kill them. Goodnight."

Vhornyhak caught up with Travius right as they walked into the Frozen Hearth. The big orc put his arm around his Breton friend. "Told you we should suit up. Lets get drunk."