Just as she thought, Arielle had been waiting upstairs. As soon as she unlocked the door to her room, Arielle followed her inside.

The room contained a small bed with a worn out dresser next to it. A copy of Alessia Ottus' Guide to Anvil sat on it next to an hourglass. The glass had clouded with age and dust. Bits of blue sand glittered in the candlelight. The cover of the book showed several signs of constant wear. The few blankets on the bed also seemed to have been put to several years of use. Something about that made Kalila feel a little sick. She took a seat on the very edge of the bed as Arielle began to speak.

"All right, it should be safe to speak here," Arielle said, closing the door behind them. "Once you've rested here for the night, you need to continue along the Gold Road, heading towards Kvatch. Do you know where that is?"

Kalila nodded. "East of here."

"Good. I shall be following out of sight, along with a fellow battlemage. Make no attempts to speak to us; trust that we will protect you. Should you be confronted by this cowardly mage, do not hesitate to protect yourself by whatever means possible. Do you understand that? This person will not hold back, so you cannot either. This fight very well may be you or them."

Kalila's eyes lowered to the ground. This was a lot to take in. Not in the Guild for even a day and she was set up in a potentially deadly fight. She had been in a few fights in her life, but nothing that resulted in more than a simple flesh wound. She looked up at Arielle. The woman seemed to have complete confidence in her. Otherwise she would have simply told Kalila to stay out of the way or run for cover. Forcing up all the stubborn determination that she held inside of her for years, she nodded once more. "Yes, ma'am."

"Once the mage has revealed themself, we will step in and settle the matter quickly. Now, make sure you get yourself some sleep. You'll need to be well-rested. And don't speak with anyone, not even me. We don't know if the mage might be someone here." She paused. "Any questions?"

Kalila thought for a moment. "Carahil gave me these scrolls." She pulled them out of the satchel. "Frost shields. What exactly does the mage use?"

Arielle frowned. "Well, we're not completely sure. The bodies have been found with several frost burns, so we do know that they will be using that against you. There were some markings on the ground nearby that suggest conjuration magic was at work, but by time we were able to investigate the area, we couldn't tell if it was an atronach or something else."

She nodded to herself. Not only would she need the shield scrolls, but flame attacks as well. If there were atronachs as well, that would require a little more planning. "Is it just the one mage?"

"As far as we know, yes. It's certainly not a large group, picking on lone travelers. Larger groups tend to stick to caves or abandoned fortresses. Even if it's a few of them, that's why I have a partner coming along, just in case. Between the three of us, we'll be able to take down a small group if it comes down to that."

"So when do we leave?"

"I would suggest being ready to leave around seven. Sound good?"

"Yes."

"Right then. See you in the morning."

Kalila left the room shortly after Arielle did. She was going to need some food in her if she was going to be at her best.

She took the meal up to her room, though she still wasn't sure about the cleanliness of the bed. The plate of seared slaughterfish with a slice of bread and olive oil sat on her lap. She picked at it as she traced her finger along the pillow. When not picking at her plate, her other hand found its way to the necklace her father had given her.

"So, I go down this road," she said, tracing to the side. "And I should be attacked around this area, I suppose. So if there's a group ready to ambush, they'd probably be around the rocks… if not, if it's just the one, they might follow me the moment I walk out the door." She frowned. "We can't get into it too close to this place or else someone could get hurt."

She let out a sigh. Sweeping her hand over the imaginary map as if to erase it. There couldn't be a set plan. She wasn't a general preparing to strike an opposing army. Not even a battlemage, like Arielle. Just a new face from the Mages Guild; a face that any mage who has been in the area for a while wouldn't recognize.

After she finished her meal in silence, she set her satchel on the floor and laid her head on it. She took the hourglass and placed her hand on it. "Evigilare faciatis; horarum novem." Most of the sand rose up to the top and slowly began to fall. Soon after she closed her eyes, she drifted away and dreamed of snow.