The air outside the cave was clean and crisp with just a slight chill. Mels took in a deep breath of it as she and Keth walked slowly down the hill. The Wood Elf had a question burning in her mind, but wasn't sure how to put it to the Orc. Keth strode down the barely noticeable path with ease and she wondered again what kind of person she had found herself in the company of. She bent suddenly to pick one of the purple flowers that she had seen a lot of since leaving the cave. She tucked the flower into her pouch and made a mental note to sit down and study all the different ingredients she had collected recently. With some effort she brought her focus back to the current situation.

Since Keth was an Orc, Mels decided on being direct and seeing what kind of response that got her. "You're not really a horse thief, are you?"

The large Orc that stood almost two feet taller than her barked out a laugh without missing a step. "I was wondering when you were going to ask," he continued to chuckle to himself for a few moments before continuing. "I thought I was being pretty clever, to tell you the truth. I've been trying to get close to General Tullius for months now, but this had been my best shot. I got chummy with some Imperial soldiers and one of them let slip that they were setting an ambush for Ulfric. I knew that if Ulfric was really there, Tullius would most likely be there too. That pompous ass of a General has been around the Thalmor too much. I knew he'd want to chance to talk down to Ulfric to his face, but only if he was bound and unable to do anything." Keth shook his head and they walked in silence for a moment.

"I stole that horse right there in front of the Imperials so that they would arrest me. I thought that if they lumped me in with the rest of the rebels, I could have gotten close enough to kill the bastard. It almost worked, too. That Imperial Captain was so intent on watching you go to the block that I could have gotten free and killed the General if that dragon hadn't appeared."

"So, you were only there to assassinate the General?" Mels shook her head in wonder. Without breaking stride, she bent slightly to her left and snatched the bud from a white flower. "What if there hadn't been an opportunity for you to kill him? You'd have gotten your head cut off for nothing."

Keth laughed again. "The thought had crossed my mind, but I ignored it so I could stay focused on the task."

They walked down the path in silence for a few minutes. The path wound and then turned to the left. Mels could hear water in the distance, but couldn't see it yet. "What will you do now?"

The big Orc grinned. "Like I said, I'm going to kill the Thalmor. I'm just not sure how, yet. They are the reason for this war and I know lives will be saved if I can get the Empire to leave Skyrim. If I can get rid of the Thalmor and General Tullius, this country will be a lot better."

Mels nodded. She had her doubts about a plan like that, but didn't feel like voicing them at that moment. They walked a little farther in silence before coming upon another winding curve. Off to the side of the curve sat a strange stone formation. A flat, mostly circular area overgrown with moss and the like held three stone spikes, almost as tall as Mels, sticking up from the ground an equal distance from each other. Mels and Keth glanced at each other, shrugged and walked over to the stones.

Each of the stones had an image carved into the surface and a hole in it near the top. The image that Mels was looking at appeared to be the Mage constellation. She traced her finger along the image absently. A part of her took note of the moss so she could collect a little bit of it later.

"They seem significant, but I'm not sure why," the Wood Elf muttered to herself. Thinking it may do something, Mels reach out and placed her palm on the image of the constellation. It could have been her imagination, but it seemed as if a soft humming was coming from the stone. A little shone in the middle of the hole and then shot into the sky. But Mels didn't feel any different. She turned to look at Keth. The Orc had placed his hand on the stone that held the image of the constellation of the Warrior. The same thing seemed to happen, light filled the hole and then shot into the sky.

"Did you feel anything?" Mels asked.

Keth looked at his hand for a few moments and then at her. "No," he said with a shake of his head.

"You've lived in Skyrim for a while, any idea what these stones are?" the curious Wood Elf asked.

"I think they are called the Staring Stones, or something like that. Not heard anything else about them, though." He glanced around at the other two stones and shrugged. "Did you feel anything?"

"No, I was hoping to feel something. I heard the stone hum a little, but that was it."

Keth laughed. "These are probably some ancient joke made by a mischievous wizard." The Orc cast a side-long glance at Mels. "Is that what kind of mage you are? The trouble-making kind?"

Mels laughed and shook her head. "No, nothing so fancy. I use magic to defend myself, nothing more."

"Oh," Keth said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"So, where are we going now?" Mels asked. The Orc's response was a grin.