Kyler poked at her stomach not understanding why she had pudge when she clearly had been traveling extensively to keep lean and mean. " Witt, something's wrong with me," She poked once more. " I think I've been cursed. Cursed with stunted…acrobatics? No, no…can't be. Athletics, maybe…"

Witt studied her from behind and then the side. " You're pregnant," He announced.

The beautiful clear sky and warm weather made the traveling in the hilly area easier. Traveling South from Bruma after three days spending time with their good friend, Petrine. Petrine almost convinced Witt to purchase a painted horse and Kyler talked him out of it by reminding him that they were saving up for a home in the Imperial City.

" I am not pregnant. It is not possible. Mer and Man are not known for having half-blooded-" She kept poking at the pudge. " Has to be a curse. What did Vae pick up now?" She shook her head, wind blowing her black hair about, and wished she had let Witt by that horse. The hills were becoming extremely tiresome to traverse, more tiresome than she last remembered.

Witt started to laugh now and nuzzled her neck as he hugged her from behind. " You're pregnant. I guess Mara is apologizing for her misdeed," Winded from an elbow to the ribs, he kept a firm hold on her.

" For the last time, I'm not pregnant,"

He kissed her cheek. " Someone is denying the inevitable…" He sang in her ear, the same breeze blowing his ponytailed brown hair across his cheek.

She turned slightly to kiss him. " Says the mage with a handsome voice," She teased him. " Should have been a bard." Adjusting her leather armor, she curled her hand around his.

His handsome face twisted in disgust.

Pulling away from him, she proceeded forward down the road. Witt followed her. " You know it's a possibility…If the Gray Prince was a child of a vampire and an orc, it is possible," He pressed.

" It sounds like you want me to be pregnant with your child,"

" Why wouldn't I?" He surprised her.

She clutched her satchel closer to her. " I didn't think you were a family man," She lowered her voice and smiled a little.

He slung his arm around her shoulder. " Vae was cold and detached, but she had to be. I just don't like a lot of people," He didn't clarify further. " But we were thinking about exploring Ayleid ruins, yes? Perhaps the ones that the Mehrunes Dagger was supposedly found at?"

" Maybe, and maybe we can look into why Herecil hasn't fulfilled his last tasking yet. I received a letter yesterday asking where our agent was,"

" I thought Herecil was reliable," He said in confusion. " Did you find Inerri and get answers from her?"

" Last I heard, she was doing some side work for the thieves guild," Kyler shrugged.

She didn't hate traveling anymore, but she wished she didn't have to travel as much as she was. It tired her out, and she had already committed most of the road to memory and a few off road short cuts. The extent to which Witt knew about caves and tombs surprised her for a mage working on recommendations from mage guild.

So far he had collected recommendations from Skingrad, Cheydinhal, and Chorrol. That left Kvatch, still in the process of being rebuilt, Anvil, Bravil, Bruma and Leyawin. Bruma's mages guild had been repaired after the attack on it Mannimarco, but there lingered that feeling knowing that people died there and further giving Necromancy a bad name.

" She might know what he's involved with," Witt suggested.

" I couldn't find her if I wanted to. The only person with the instincts and capabilities to do that is Vae,"

Witt shook his head. " I suppose we could wait longer," He frowned.

She smirked. " I thought you would say that,"

" She left your dead body to be eaten by wildlife and goblins,"

" You leave discovered dead bodies where they lay all the time-"

" She is your sister!" He placed a hand on her shoulder and forced her to stop walking and face him. " She was supposed to care enough to bury or burn your body,"

Kyler couldn't believe he was even arguing with her about this. " She has no emotion because she was trained that way-"

" Assassin's aren't purely emotionless. She has emotions. She just chooses to not use them! If she cared about you-"

" Which she doesn't, so why are you trying to make her care?"

The question stopped his argument. Now he looked at her thinking more deeply. " You don't care?" He sounded extremely confused.

She shrugged and pulled his hand away. " It hurts that my only known blood relative wants nothing to do with me, but I can't change her mind. I can't change who she is. That would be mandating that you start associating with a wider circle of people in and outside of the mage's guild," She poked his shoulder. " Which you won't do."

" I have my reasons for it,"

" I know, and she has her reasons for her behavior,"

" No, she doesn't-" He stopped speaking and turned his head to see a bear chasing down three unknown humanoids . " That's Glademist Cave," Rumor held that the Blackwood Company had tried to use it as an expanded base of operations.

Instead of reacting, Kyler crossed her arms and studied the individuals. " I think one of them is human, but the elvish looking ones make Bosmers look chunky," She chuckled. " I didn't think I'd ever say that,"

Witt propped up his arm on her shoulder. " When do you think one of them will bother to try and kill it?" The bear roared at the three people now splitting and scrambling to keep from falling. " Well, that's a start…" He didn't sound hopeful for them.

Kyler laughed. " In a spirit of good will?" She reached for her glass bow and the steel arrows in the quiver on her shoulder.

Witt sighed as he summoned fire to his hands. " In the spirit of good will," He agreed reluctantly, the scene too painful to watch. Witt whistled and moved closer in an attempt to distract the bear before it grabbed a hold of one of the strange elves.

Moving the bow back and forth, Kyler pulled back on the string and tried to properly aim but every time she got a respectable chance of hitting, Witt or one of the strange people got in her way. Growling in frustration, she moved closer and took up cover behind a tree and tried once more. Nailing it in the rear end, she quickly notched another arrow and attempted to score a closer hit to the heart.

Witt launched off a flow of fireballs at the back of its legs.

Several heavily armored knights charged from the opposite direction and stopped upon seeing Witt throwing fireballs alternating with dodging the bear's charges. One of them spotted Kyler as she missed two times before sinking another arrow into the bears back.

" Apprehend the Maleficars!" One of the knights shouted.

Both Witt and Kyler disregarded the strange word and continued to edge the bear into a corner before finally killing. Standing over the dead bear, Kyler turned to Witt. " A damn shame of a waste…." She shook her head. " I'll be lucky if I can get full price for the pelt,"

Witt turned his eye on the knights attempting to round up the three people. " Bandits?" He questioned her.

She turned now to see what he was seeing. The elf dodged their attempts at apprehension, and everyone seemed stunted in capabilities. The two humans finally found an abandoned short sword and clumsily engaged one of the knights in battle. " Maybe they're bandits, and the knights belong to a newly created but unknown order ?"

" Maybe we should intervene before this gets out of hand," He started toward the knights. One turned on him and Kyler when they within earshot of the small group." Stop knife ears! Stay where you!"

Kyler cocked her head. " Maybe he had a little too much ale?" She suggested in mockery to Witt while now studying his armor. " That's a strange armor. I've never seen that before," The knight now had his back to his comrades and unsheathed his sword. Kyler raised her bow and notched another arrow. " I wouldn't do that if I were you…" She warned.

The knight squashed a green stain cap under his boot.

An imperial soldier patrolling the road from the opposite end caught sight of the group ready to battle each other to the death.

" Halt!" He stepped in between the knight and human and held out his weapon. " Put down your weapons-"

The knight formerly attacking the human now turned to the soldier. " You must help us apprehend the maleficars, in the name of the Chantry,"

Kyler scratched her head. " Maleficars? Maybe it's stronger than the ale. Maybe they really are a bit touched in the head," Witt nodded in agreement. He had a bad feeling about this and glanced toward the cave door left wide open.

The soldier eyed up Kyler and Witt. " I didn't expect to see a member of the Anti-Necromancy Brotherhood to be in the middle of this. What did you do this time?"

" Nothing! This time it was all them," She placed her bow on her back again. " I swear, it wasn't us. Though I was wondering if the elf there was a Bosmer or…No. I just don't know what variation of elf that is."

The elf in question was now trying her best to edge closer to the soldier and took a step back each time she was within arm length.

Witt motioned the three people over. " I trust you'll take care of the three fools on errand?" He motioned to the knights. " They didn't even fight the bear. They were that useless…" Kyler nodded.

The three in question immediately moved under Witt's and Kyler's protection even as the soldier told the knights if they wanted their case heard, they'd have follow him back to the Imperial City. Two of the knights started following him.

" The maleficar will not leave my sight," He poked Witt. " That includes you, Knife Ears,"

Witt's eyebrow rose. " Touch me again and you'll be a roasted corpse no one will know who killed," He turned to Kyler. " We may need to get more help from the ANB."

The knight pulled Kyler back. " If you associate with the Maleficars and knife ears, we can never be allies,"

Kyler laughed. " I hate to break it to you, but if you keep calling elves knife ears, then I'll let Witt roast you ALIVE over a fire and then give you to the goblins as a gift. If you touch me again, I'll gut you like the low life you are. You aren't an imperial soldier, and I don't know what you're spouting off about the Chantry and maleficars, but if you keep doing it, I'll cut your tongue out, OKAY?" She forcibly removed his helm and shoved it against his chest. " Now follow us like a good dog and shut the hell up,"