The air near Lakeview Manor had a gentle nip to it, cold enough for one to know winter's chill was coming but not so much that one needed to bundle up in furs. A salmon swam among others through the cold rushing waters seeking out food among the rocks. It looked up, seeing a worm floating downstream and began to ride the current toward it.

As the salmon closed on its meal it gave the worm a quick nibble, testing to see if it were some sort of trick. When the worm did nothing but thrash about the salmon opened its maw and brought its meal in.


"Gotcha!" A small red headed woman cried triumphantly as she wrenched a fishing pole toward herself, hauling a large salmon out of the water. "Akonus, come look!"

A black haired man, clearly not a native of Skyrim, or anywhere else in Tamriel, glanced over with a smirk as he pushed up the wide, flat dome shaped straw hat on his head. He watched as the young woman struggled to grab a hold of the slippery fish before it flopped its way back into the water. When she finally got it her boots were soaked and the slimy fish oils splotched her light fur shirt but a victorious grin stretched across her lips as she set the fish down on the ground, next to a pile of smaller salmon.

"So I've caught the most so far, but you've definitely caught the largest." Akonus said as he pulled his line out of the water, another average sized salmon flailing at the end of the line.

"Mhm!" The red head replied, her great joy obvious on her face as she looked down at the set of fish. Akonus had pulled no less than eight, counting the last one out, of the water but hers was easily twice the size of all the others. "You think this will be enough?"

"Naspia, how many people are you trying to feed?" Akonus asked as he set the last fish down.

"Just the four of us." Naspia replied with a shrug. "But Lydia can eat a lot and Hail is getting big."

"He's still just a puppy." Akonus pointed out with a smirk as he pulled a straw basket closer to set the gasping salmon into. "And I don't think Lydia would appreciate you saying she can 'eat a lot'."

"Well she can!" The red head replied, crossing her arms. "I'm not saying she's getting flabby or anything. Her arms are bigger than yours! I'm just saying she needs more food than less active people."

Akonus chuckled and shook his head as he hefted the basket onto his shoulders. He turned to begin heading back to the house but a small hand latched onto his arm. He turned and Naspia leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Akonus narrowed his eyes at her as he face flushed just slightly red.

"Don't give me that look." Naspia said with a grin as she walked past him, heading to their home. Akonus sighed and followed her to the trail. "It's not a public display of affection if no one is around."

"My people would still find it unbecoming." Akonus retorted with a laugh.

"Your people are starting to sound boring." Naspia teased, picking up a twig form the ground and throwing it at Akonus with a smirk. "You know what that was? A stick in the mud, just like you."

"I look nothing like that." Akonus replied, causing Naspia to roll her eyes and shake her head.


"Where is he?" Naspia called out, raising the pitch in her voice as she approached her home. "Where is my handsome man?"

A high pitched bark echoed through the air as a half grown white wolf bounded from the steps of Lakeview Manor to greet Naspia and Akonus. The red head knelt down and laughed as Hail stood on his hind legs and put his paws on her shoulders, licking at her face.

"Okay, okay enough kisses." She said and Hail hopped off of her to prop himself up on Akonus' legs. Akonus bent down and ruffled the hair on the wolf's head, making a little growling noise that riled it up. Hail hopped back and forth, barking at Akonus and then sat down, wagging his tail as he watched the two of them make their way to the door. Naspia opened it and looked back at him, tapping her foot on the porch. "Inside, Hail."

The wolf jumped up and ran inside past the two of them and wandered off. A tall, dark haired Nord woman stood up and went to grab the basket for Akonus but he shook his head.

"I can manage to the kitchen, Lydia." He told her with a laugh. Lydia had never been fond of Akonus being around. It wasn't that she didn't like him as a person, but he swore himself to Naspia, just as Lydia was sworn to her. "But thank you."

"Fine, just don't spill fish guts everywhere." Lydia replied as he walked off. "So how was the fishing, my Thane?"

"It was wonderful." Napsia replied with a smile as she removed her furs, leaving only a thin wool shirt on. "Akonus caught all but one of the fish. But you should see mine! It's twice as big as any of his!"

"Well done." Lydai said with a laugh at the red head's excitement. "So that's twice now the Dragonborn has bested the Akaviri."

"Lydia!" Napsia exclaimed with a laugh, smacking her housecarl's armored shoulder. Lydia chuckled and went into the kitchen to help Akonus with the fish while Naspia knelt down, playing with Hail. "Who's my handsome man? You are!"

As Lydia walked into the kitchen she saw Akonus had already begun busying himself with gutting the largest of the fish, which had been accurately described as twice the size of the others. Lydia grabbed another of the fish out of the basket and began cutting it open alongside the Akaviri.

"So, no lessons today?" She asked, simply making small talk.

"Actually, the lesson was to find enjoyment out of smaller things in life." Akonus replied as he tossed the innards of the massive salmon into a pale. "Becoming stronger is always good, but if one doesn't learn to enjoy the simplicity life has to offer, then they risk falling down a darker path."

"So you took her fishing to keep her from becoming a conqueror?" Lydia asked sarcastically.

"Yes."


All was quiet at Fort Snowhawk, as usual. Trinbjol Swift-Hawk shifted lightly in his light armor, still having to get used to the new design of it. Ever since the battle of Windhelm the Imperial Legion garrisoned in Skyrim had formed a new understanding with the Stormcloaks. As part of the peace treaty that was signed with the Dragonborn watching over, the Stormcloaks were officially told that they still had to deny Talos as a Divine, but the Thalmor were also forced out of Skyrim, to keep hostilities from reigniting.

Though the Stormcloaks still flew their own banner they were now allied with the Legion which was all well and good, but to Trinbjol the new armor was uncomfortable and he thought it looked ridiculous.

"Quit your fidgetting, boy." Snarled Leif Hammer-Hand, the commander of Fort Snohawk. "You're making me nervous."

"Sorry." Trinjol replied. "It's just colder than a draugr's heart and this damned armor has no fur to it at all."

"Aye, I don't much like it myself." Leif replied. "But we can't..."

"Sir!" One of the guards shouted from inside the wall. "Sir, there's something you need to see!"

"Bandits?" Leif demanded, his sword arm itching to swing out.

"No, it's inside, in the dungeons." The guard replied.

"Very well." He replied with a bored sigh and nodded to Trinbjol. "Keep a sharp eye, lad."

"Of course, sir." Trinbjol replied and turned his attention back out into the wilderness. His curiosity began to plague him as he stood vigil, unable to help but wonder what could have gone wrong in the dungeons. They didn't have any prisoners that he was aware of. Perhaps a theif had found his way into the hold and got trapper. Or maybe some spiders had burrowed into the keep. In all likeliness, though, it was likely just a drunken man on duty that needed reprimanding. With a bored sigh Trinbjol stopped concerning himself with it and tried to think of a warm fire and mead as he continued his night's watch.


Leif entered the dungeons and his breath caught in his throat. There was blood on the ground. A lot of it. Some of it was pooled in various places, it was smeared, as though whomever had been bleeding out had been dragged off. And there were little, bloody footprints all over the places. Leif knelt down, unable to discern what kind of footprints but he followed them to a hole in the wall, large enough for a man to walk through with ease, yet in a dark corner, easily out of sight.

"Shor's beard, when did this happen?" He demanded.

"We are not sure, sir." One of the guards replied. "I was coming down to relieve one of the guards when I saw... this."

"I want torches placed in front of the hole immediately." Leif ordered. "And wake the lads up. We need to find out what's down there and kill it. No one hurts my boys but me and the back of my hand."

"Aye, sir!" The guard anounced and ran upstairs. With the slam of the door, a new sound was heralded. It sounded like a whispered growl, or a dry cough, if a cough could have malice behind it. Leif drew his steel blade and stepped back into the light of the torches.

"Come on if you're coming, then!" He shouted. He heard quick footsteps coming through the tunnel. At first it sounded like one set, then two, then more than he could pick out.


Trinbjol glanced to the side as another Stormcloak came up to relieve him.

"Tis colder than my mother-in-law's heart tonight." The other guard said in greeting. Trinbjol smirked and handed the torch he'd been holding over to him.

"I swear it is some kind of foul magic at work, here." Trinbjol replied. "A mighty demon has cursed us with an ever uncomfortable posting."

The other guard chuckled and nodded as Trinbjol began walking off toward the barracks. Just as he got to the door the fort's horn was blown, almost causing him to jump out of his skin. One blow meant they were under attack. The second bellow told him that someone had breached the gates, but if there had been no attack to begin with, that mean the attack had come from inside. Sprinting as fast as he could without slipping on the ice covered stone of the fort, Trinbjol came to the door into the main fort and threw himself inside. He was greeted by half a dozen other guards, all sharing a similar confused look.

"Who blew the horn?" Trinbjol asked of one of them.

"Grunferth did." Replied a female Stormcloak, one hand around a two handed axe and the other on her hip. "And now she's dead."

"Any idea where the attack came from?" Another guard asked up. Trinbjol thought back to Leif Hammer-Hand and drew his waraxe.

"The dungeons!" He shouted and ran to the door that lead downward. "The commander was called down there to take a look at something, but I didn't hear what!"

The other guards followed suit and the lot of them halted in their tracks as they came to the blood filled dungeons. There were no bodies anywhere. Just pooled, drying blood and a lot of dropped weapons. Trinbjol knelt down and picked up the steel sword the commander had wielded. One of the guards cursed under his breath while another was unable to keep himself from vomiting at the horrific sight.

Trinbjol's attention shifted to a torch laying on the ground that was partially conealed. It was in a corner, so it should have been perfectly visible. When he strode over to pick it up, he took notice of the large whole in the wall, a tunnel leading down and away within.

"I think it's safe to assume our comrades are down here." Trinbjol said softly as he grabbed the torch and began walking into the tunnel.

"Are you mad?" One of the guards demanded. "There's fewer than a dozen of us left and we didn't even know something was happening."

"And there will be none of us left if we don't do something about it and let it keep sneaking up on us." Said the female guard.

"I'm of the same mind." Trinbjol replied and continued down into the winding tunnel.


Naspia tip toed into the main bedroom, careful not to wake hail who was curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed. Akonus was sitting at the edge of the bed, meditating as he often did before he went to sleep. Naspia moved on to the bed and crawled up behind him. He turned his head and she kissed him on the cheek again with a smirk.

"See?" Akonus began with a smile. "Completely appropriate away from public eyes."

"But Hail is here." Naspia pointed out with a laugh. "And there was no one out there, earlier."

"Hail is asleep, and he's also a hound." Akonus replied with a laugh as he turned to face her, crossing his arms over his chest. "You never know who could be out in the woods."

"You're a such a worrier." Naspia replied, rolling her eyes.

"Kind of hard not to worry when you're around." Akonus teased.

"I'll give you something to worry about!" Naspia threatened and tackled Akonus with a smirk.


Trinbjol moved into a large, cavernous opening the tunnel opened up into. There were odd, glowing mushrooms dotting the walls, providing some small measure of illumination but the torches carried by the Stormcloaks was still the greatest source of light. He stepped forward, following the bloody drag marks until he came to what looked like some sort of cage made out of mudcrab limbs. Big mudcrab limbs. Trinbjol pushed on the only thing that resembled a gate and the limbs flexed inward, making way for him to enter.

Stepping through the gate, Trinbjol heard a soft, guttural growl and his head snapped to the left, where the noise had come from. A thin, spindly, evil looking creature, pale as the snow and barely covered in some kind of leather shambled toward him at a strangely high speed. The Nord bashed the creature's attack away, noting that its blade resembled another insectoid limb. The creature attacked again but he side stepped it and drove his axe into its skull.

The foul little creature fell to the ground and Tribjol unwedged his axe just in time to hear someone shout 'look out!' An arrow caught him in the shoulder and forced Trinbjol to drop the torch. He could feel a sting creeping toward his chest and knew right away the arrowhead had been poisoned. All at once he felt the strength leave his fingers and he dropped his sword, too. Another of the nasty little pale things came at him with a shield and blade, but he was unable to defend himself. It struck him on the side of the head and Trinbjol's world went dark.