Sitting in his chair, a luxuriant purple accented by soft golden tassels dangling from the forearms, Aderyn idly eyed the fire. Stirring the smoldering embers with a poker, magically held up by his use of telekinesis, he thought of all the recent memories brought back to him. He hadn't only returned to bury Aldrina, but also to start his life anew, a refreshing beginning amidst all of the losses he'd received over the years. Though, the only thing that had come of it thus far was frustration. Seeing his friends again had been nice, but the constant reminders of his past – some things he wished to forget forever – were more often brought about now. Perhaps it was a bad idea to come back and stay. Maybe he should never have come, or at least he should move on.

Cadogan's sudden yelp broke the silence, Aderyn's attention now focused on the dancing pup. Confused at first, the mental link, once applied, quickly uncovered the truth to Cadogan's movements. A sudden urge to release bodily fluids along with other flowing items passed through the link to Aderyn. Thankful for the useful magicka, Aderyn hurriedly grabbed his coat and lead Cadogan out to relieve himself of the past day's building burdens, lest his living area become the home to several much unwarranted guests.

The night was crisp, chilly, but nice. Stars filtering the heavens in such a clear spectacle took Aderyn's breath away. He hadn't seen a night such as this since he'd last been in Anvil all of those years ago. Winter's nights were always more beautiful - today the fifteenth of Evening Star, and the beginning of Anvil's colder times. Aderyn thanked the Nine for such beautiful scenery, simply amazed at the vastness of such an incredible wonder.

While it never snowed in Anvil, the southern climate too warm for frost to fall, the clarity of the skies in the south were only more beautiful in the frigid skies of the north – to Aderyn a decent trade, warmer and beautiful to freezing and stunning. Even so, he had occasionally visited the north just to see the skies, particularly in the hottest part of Sun's Height, a somewhat less frigid time up north. A single sunset viewed from atop a mountain could no less be described other than extravagant, and the sight afterwards of nature's sky beyond compare to even try to explain. Perhaps one could describe it as an ethereal presence of heaven just out of reach to grasp, but even that couldn't possibly sum up the luster of it all.

Aderyn's days in Cyrodiil had been by far the most exciting times he'd ever had in one place. The vast types of climates and weathering conditions – ranging from dry and arid during Anvil's summers, blustering blizzards during Bruma's winters, and all over rainy throughout the year – it all excited him and made him feel at home… though, least of all Bruma's blizzards.

Darkness began to grow over Aderyn's mind, his admiration of night's company disrupted by a sleek shadow passing through the courtyard of Anvil. Aderyn had been mostly out of eyeshot from the darkened figure, barely glimpsing it as it quickly made way towards the western part of Anvil. Trusting Cadogan to remain hidden with a few simple instructions placed through his altered command spell, Aderyn stalked the figure, trying his best to remain as silent as possible. The shadow quickened its pace.

The darkness in his mind grew stronger. Was he being warned? The last time this happened was when he had to deal with the dreadful necromancer Lorgren Benirus. Were the gods alerting him to danger? All sensations of warning ceased as the being stepped onto the front steps of Romiskeld's house, the warning now a concern for his friends. Though, Aderyn had to quickly dodge into cover as the figure looked around, apparently double checking to make sure it wasn't being followed.

Stepping forward, the figure vanished – somewhat – a poorly applied chameleon spell adding to mask his already stealthy movements. Aderyn quickly sped up to the house, applying his own spell, a stronger more effective invisibility spell at remaining unseen if you plan to remain action free. Aderyn did, at least until he found it appropriate to strike the being.

It was dark inside and the chameleon spell worked fine within the dark, but Aderyn's trained sense of sound, taught to him during his days as a fighter when working in darkened caverns, quickly revealed the location of the shadowed character – his… hers… its stealthy footwork quite sloppy in comparison to most trained thief's. Or was it an assassin? Aderyn's heartbeat quickened as the notion crossed his mind. The being was definitely headed in the right direction. Aderyn followed a decent length behind, trying not to alert it.

The being was an assassin. Aderyn's speed quickened as he saw the shimmer from a knife pulled out of its sheath right before Romiskeld's and Vigdis' room. And, catching the knife in the air before the fateful blow to Romiskeld, Aderyn wrapped his powerful arms around the creature's neck, giving it a quick, effortless jerk. The cracking of bones aroused the couple from their sleep, seeing the distraught blue eyes of their, yet again, savior. They realized what had just occurred, their very lives in jeopardy now safe once again.

Aderyn let out a deep sigh, his heartbeat returning to normal. It had been years since he last had to take another's life. The stress of his covenant reassured in his mind as he placated himself for taking the assassin's life – "He would have murdered your friends. You did a justifiable thing." Though, the more he thought about it the more he realized he could have simply subdued the being – it was a male Argonian, the thicker tail jutting from his backside revealed that – instead of ending his life. Questions of the assassin's mission could have been answered as to why he was sent to end the Nords' lives.

Aderyn vowed to pray for forgiveness from the gods should they see fit to answer his request. Still, he once again felt a certain satisfaction in risking his life to save that of another's – especially those of his friends'. But for now he looked into the eyes of Romiskeld and Vigdis, worry and concern for what occurred. Someone wanted them dead and they most likely wouldn't be safe here in Anvil.

The questions of who would have to be answered soon, and, come morning, Varulae should be returning. Aderyn's questions on the crystal still remained unanswered. A concern for that, as well, grew in his heart. The evil that crept up his arm on contact with the thing needed to be answered before he up and left town. Come morning things would hopefully start to add up.