"-And then I put Willow in the tent." Aela had to finish the story, Sage claimed to have blacked out after being thrown against a tree. Aela had glared at that excuse, clearly skeptical of his obliviousness.

"You honestly expect me to believe you don't remember breaking my ribs and taking on an enraged werewolf?" Sage shrugged at Aela's accusation but didn't raise his head. "It happens when..." he trailed off inaudibly, shame welling up inside his stomach.

"Stop screwing around Sage, what you did last night… It was scary. I'm no stranger to powerful magic but what you did..." Elijah spoke, having returned from the nearby forsworn encampment with clothing for Willow.

"What you did shouldn't be possible! Not for a normal person." Aela snapped cruelly, her patience wearing thin and Sage's submissive behavior only adding to her anger. "Now answer me! What are you hiding!?" She stood up and easily towered over the young Nord.

He opened his mouth but closed it a moment later, as if he couldn't find the right words. Aela tried to gleam something from his eyes but cursed the enchanted hood that kept a shadow over them. She took another step forward, wanting to push him harder but her view was blocked suddenly by a freshly dressed Willow.

"That's enough! Fact of the matter is, he doesn't have to tell you anything!" Willow had to look up in order to glare at Aela who stood a good 10 inches taller than her. "I get that you're angry, what he did was inexcusable but in case you've forgotten, you almost killed me! Yet you don't hear me complaining!" to Willow's credit her voice didn't waver in the slightest when speaking of her near-death experience.

"That was an accident that won't be repeated!" Aela yelled back and motioned to Sage "He is an unstable magic user! All it takes is one spell to go wrong for us to be scarred or even killed!" In the back of her mind Aela knew she should just walk away and leave the whole situation behind but she couldn't ignore Sage. She couldn't help but picture him inside the walls of Whiterun, with that same crazed look in his eye and unstable magic radiating from him. The risk to innocent lives was to great.

Willow narrowed her eyes, her right hand twitching slightly as she glared daggers at Aela. "His life was in danger, anyone would freak out! Just because you're afraid doesn't mean you can take it out on him!" her words seem to hit home and for the first time since meeting Aela they saw her cheeks flush if only slightly.

"I-I am not-" Aela was cut off by Elijah who gently put a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough; I think it's time we cooled off a bit." He spoke gently but firmly and for a moment it looked like Aela might argue. "…fine, lead the way" she grumbled and followed Elijah, her scowl deepening as she past Willow.

Once Aela and Elijah were out of sight Willow let out a heavy sigh and took a seat next to Sage, leaning her shoulder against his. "I-I'm sorry you got hurt…" Sage was unable to keep the tension from his voice. "If I had known it was you-" Sage started but Willow interrupted with a wave of her hand.

"But you couldn't have, what happened wasn't anyone's fault" She smiled and he opened his mouth to argue but decided against it with a light sigh, electing to just enjoy the comfortable silence.

"Do you wanna talk about what Aela said? About your voice not sounding like your own?" Her voice was gentle, lacking any kind of judgment and it made Sage's breath catch. You probably shouldn't tell her; at best she'll want to fix you. I don't need to say what the worst is. Vorohah commented dryly, the boredom in his voice suggested he couldn't care less either way.

Sage didn't say anything at first, silently debating if he should tell her about the voice that pushed him ever closer to his inheritance. "… Have you heard of Sheogorath…?" He finally spoke even if it was just a whisper. "Are you talking about the Deadric prince?" She confirmed and he nodded

"The deadric prince of madness to be exact…" Sage seemed to struggle with his words. "Well… he told me that uh… that he's my dad" He felt foolish speaking the words he was told only a few days earlier, hardly believing them himself. You can doubt it all you want, we both know the truth. He ignored Vorohah's voice in his head and looked over to Willow, praying she wasn't about to burst out laughing.

"Well… that would explain your eyes and massive pool of magicka." She scratched her chin thoughtfully but Sage could only stare at her in disbelief. "Y-you actually believe me…?" he didn't even try to hide the shock in his voice as his jaw nearly hit the floor.

Willow couldn't help but giggle at the expression on his face "You're not able to lie to me, not without me knowing something's up." She smiled that same smile she always did and he felt the dam break. He told her everything, about his father, about the voice that tormented him and even about how it helped him every now and then.

Willow listened without interrupting, a lump building in her throat as he talked about the voice that tormented him for so long. "At this point, I-I don't know how much control he has over me… It scares me sometimes..." Sage couldn't look up from the ground, his heart pounding in his chest.

He nearly jumped when he felt her arms wrap around him. "I'm sorry… I knew something was wrong but… I had no idea." She trailed off; the lump in her throat only seemed to grow as her vision began to blur. She buried her face in his neck as if to try and hide her tears. "Please don't cry… you couldn't have known" He wrapped his arms around her while he spoke.

Both refused to let go for what felt like hours but couldn't have been longer than a few minutes. "So Aela is-uh… Am I interrupting?" Elijah's voice barely registered to the pair at first, he couldn't tell if they hadn't heard him or were choosing to ignore him.

"Ahem" Elijah cleared his throat to get their attention and with a groan they separated and Willow stood up. "Where's Aela?" she asked, confused that Aela wasn't standing next to Elijah like she expected. "Well that's actually what I was going to tell you."

"There wasn't anyway she could have stayed with us at my peoples camp. They have a hard time trusting Nords, let alone a Companion with connections to the guards." Elijah cast an awkward glance to Sage when explaining the almost blatant racism towards Nords.

"So I guess that means I won't be able to stay?" Sage stated bluntly making Elijah flinch. "Not necessarily, normally I would say any Nord had as much chance of gaining forsworn trust as a man has of bedding Meridia." Elijah raised his hand to stop Willow who looked like she was going to argue.

"That being said" he continued with a glint in his eye "Despite popular opinion among my tribe we are not "thriving" as so many want to believe. Our numbers dwindle every time we clash with Markarth, and when they aren't harassing our hunters the Silver-Blood extort or downright steal from us." The anger in Elijah's voice reminded Sage and Willow of the shop owners and traders in Riften that had their goods confiscated because of some half-cocked "law" the guards would come up with.

"So in exchange for feeding and sheltering us, Sage and I are to become your weapons?" Willow was just as blunt as Sage with her statement, making it obvious she would follow Sage if he couldn't stay. Elijah gave her a charming smile "That makes it sound like I'm telling you to kill people with reckless abandon." Willow raised an eyebrow at his comment, clearly skeptical.

"I, along with my Tribe's chief, see killing as a last resort, nothing draws attention like a body count. What I would need you two to do is put on something of a performance." Elijah grinned as he thought more about it. Willow being a werewolf would be useful but not essential; after all they did have three different members of his tribe that already embraced Hircine's gift.

The thought of hiring an expert wizard was tempting but considering their stubbornness and their self-centered attitude it usually invited unrest among his people. That's why Sage was so useful, he was young, naïve and open-minded but had the abilities of those thirty years his senior if not more.

He wants to use us as a scare tactic for when his savages aren't enough. As successful as I'm sure it would be I somehow doubt you'll be able to pull it off without me. Vorohah's tone was dangerous; he was not some humans' tool.

Sage thought for a moment. Just think of it as a trade, we get to eat our fill and sleep comfortably and he gets a useful bargaining chip. Besides, Willow needs to someone's help getting used to her new beast spirit and he knows more than I do…

Sage hated to admit it but he knew little to nothing about lycanthropy and he wouldn't subject Willow to his Magicka again without a life-or-death situation. "I can agree to that. As long as you understand that I can and will refuse to kill innocent people." If those even exist. Sage ignored Vorohah and shook Elijah's extended hand.

"Wonderful, it shouldn't be too hard to convince the others since you'll be pulling your weight. Now come on, assuming this works out, we have a lot of work to do." Elijah said with more confidence than he felt. It wasn't the chief that he was nervous about but his advisor was another matter entirely.

Elijah led the Sage and Willow to the nearby forsworn encampment; a large gathering of tents surrounded at all sides by wooden stakes and, to Sage's eyes, a massive magic circle lined with strange runes. That alone was enough to give Sage pause but the color of it made him freeze in his tracks. He could hear Vorohah whistle in the back of his head. That is a shit-load of red. Sage couldn't disagree with Vorohah's statement as the entire magic circle was made of the same deep red Magicka inside werewolves.

"Sage…?" Willow nudged his shoulder to his attention. "What is it? What do you see?" Worry tinged her voice. "It's a powerful spell meant to gather large amounts of Magicka from the stars." Elijah interrupted while Sage tried to find his voice.

"… It's more than that" Sage whispered while quickly walking to the edge of the circle leaving him thirty meters from the wooden stake wall. Willow and Elijah followed closely, the former worried for her friend and the latter curious as to how much he could see.

Sage knelt to the ground and was about to place his hand on one of the hundreds of strange symbols surrounding it both inside and out when Elijah grabbed his wrist. "I really must insist on the "look with your eyes not your hands" rule. No need to antagonize anyone before even setting foot inside." He warned with a look that threatened serious punishment.

Sage let out a sigh "That makes sense… but you should know that the Magicka used in this spell is the same that is now inside you" He motioned to Willow and Elijah raised an eyebrow. "So even with precautions taken to hide this spell you can still see it clear as day huh?" Elijah commented, Sage just shrugged and they continued.

Elijah was tempted to push the matter, being a proper mage himself he was extremely curious about how he could control Magicka so freely and why his eyes constantly glow a vibrant blue. Despite that a larger part of him didn't want to antagonize an argument with the pair so he didn't press the matter. He would never admit that Aela's words about Sages instability struck a cord deep in his mind.

If there's one thing Elijah was good at it was reading people, having a negotiator as a father helped to say the least. Even with such little time he could tell Willow was confident in her abilities and knowledge and would stand up to what she thought was right without a second thought. He also knew that she felt guilty for whatever caused her separation from Sage.

Elijah knew Aela was similar to Willow in the sense that she too would never back down from what she thought was right even if what they each thought was right seemed leagues apart. The difference between the two seemed routed in the heritage and completely against it at the same time. Willow used a very Breton-like logic to defend her emotional attachment while Aela used a Nord-like pride to mask a fear based on fact, not blind superstition.

The point being that Elijah had no trouble making sense of the contradictory way people thought versus how the spoke. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, what he knew about Sage didn't add up properly.

When Elijah first saw Sage he was on the verge of killing all of them because Willow was dying so he immediately knew that their relationship was something more than simple friendship. That part was consistent with what happened early that morning when they were properly reunited.

The inconstancies started when Elijah thought about what Aela said happened after he was dazed and what little he had heard himself when he regained his senses. Sage somehow took on an enraged werewolf and succeeded in saving all our lives. That on its own could be attributed to his magical talents but when coupled with the complete disregard for Willow's safety even in beast form and his sarcastic attitude Aela told Elijah about.

Elijah had thought about all this and, assuming Aela was telling the truth, he knew that bringing Sage into a crowded camp filled with his people was a risk. With that in his mind he still chose to offer his deal to Sage, confident he could convince the chief to let him stay. He knew his tribe was no stranger to uneasy partnerships with unstable beings.

Once the trio arrived at the wooden gate Elijah waved to the sentry that stood on a small platform and pushed his way through the gate, motioning for Sage and Willow to follow. Inside they were met with the sight of several men and women, all dressed animal furs and brandishing crude weapons made from bones and fur. "Ya better have a good reason for bringin in another stray Eli, else the Matron is bound to get upset" A women pushed through the nervous guards.

Elijah and Willow recognized the women as Kaie, the woman who was rescued with Willow from the mage fighting ring. "Last I checked the chief accepted newcomers, so long as they live by our laws and worked to better the tribe." Elijah replied, his tone sweet as honey despite the hostility in his narrowing gaze.

Willow looked confused at the display but Sage hadn't even noticed, his attention drawn to the reach folk surrounding them. They have some powerful mages amongst them. Though that red Magicka wrapping around some of their limbs can't have been put their by a normal mage. Vorohah warned. I don't suppose you could tell me why it's so different from normal Magicka? Sage asked but Vorohah said nothing.

"It's a bit different when the stray ya bring hides his face with magic. What are ya hiding under that hood?" Kaie turned her attention to Sage who let a heavy sigh before tugging off the enchanted hood. He heard a few people gasp and even saw some of the peoples Magicka flare up in anticipation of an attack.

I raised my hands up, my fist closed showing I wasn't going to cast a spell. "hmm… yes I suppose both the Matron and the chief would want to see that." Kaie said and turned to lead the way to the largest tent at the center of the camp.

"Who's this Matron?" Willow spoke quietly to Elijah while they walked. "I prefer the term advisor but to answer your question she is a very powerful magic user who holds a lot sway around here." He explained while hiding his malice expertly, he did not like the supposed "Matron".

As they approached the tent Sage noticed how heavily enchanted the shelter was, glowing blue symbols adorned every side of it and a single red one sat brightly above the entrance. Those are powerful enchantments, meant to prevent the escape of any scent, sound or light, popular for tortures and organ harvesters alike. This could be fun… Vorohah's voice held a barely contained mirth that made Sage shiver.

I guess I should probably tell you that the Red Magicka, the very same stuff coursing through dear Willow and is currently surrounding us, is from Hircine. The deadric prince of the hunt. Sage nodded mentally at Vorohah's explanation.

That makes sense; I mean werewolves are often called children of hircine. So by that logic the two beings inside that tent, which are both glowing red instead of blue, are werewolves? Than why does Willow still have her Blue Magicka while those figures have none? Sage tried to get answers but as usually Vorohah let silence reign.

"Wait here." Elijah's voice brought Sage from his thoughts as Elijah entered the tent with Kaie. There was silence due to the nature of the enchantments surrounding the tent, forcing Willow and Sage to stand around somewhat awkwardly, surrounded by armed guards.

Elijah's head stuck out of the tent suddenly, causing the pair to jump slightly. "They'll see you now. Oh and try not to freak-out" He added before holding the fold to the tent open. Sage and Willow shared a worried look before entering.

Their breath caught in their throats at the same time, neither expected to see a man with an gaping chest wound calmly sitting at the head of what looked like a war table. The shock only grew when they saw the figure in the shadows to the man's right. It had scraggly grey hair, pale skin and a hooked nose with eyes as black as night. Its long, bony limbs all ended with four sharp talons giving it an incredibly distinct appearance that Willow recognized immediately.

"Hagraven…" The word escaped her lips before she good stop herself and the man at the table, who wore a large headdress made from a deer's head, frowned. "Do you honestly plan to insult my advisor and this holy sight's matron by using the term those damned Nords came up with" his voice was calm but his eyes held a dangerous edge in them. Oh we're off to a wonderful start aren't we? Vorohah laughed.

Sorry this took longer, work is picking up with Christmas and now ill be moving halfway across Canada on a four day driving trip with my family so that'll be fun. Uploads will probably get spotty but I shall do my best.