I woke when Ajira woke. She got up and walked to the front rail to watch the horizon. The ship was under way. The sky was still dark. A half dozen crew members loitered, having little to do with the favorable wind filling the sails.

The Argonian from earlier leaned against the rail further towards the bow. He was carving something with a small knife. The block of wood was not far enough along to tell what it was he was carving. He noticed Ajira at the bow. "Where are you headed once we make landfall," he asked casually. Ajira ignored him. He continued talking, oblivious of her desire to be left alone. "That's a nice horse you rode in on. I'd love to hear how you acquired it."

"Leave her be," I warned. "She's had a rough day."

The Argonian turned to me. "Well I've got to have somebody to talk to. What's your story stranger?"

I shook my head. "You wouldn't believe me." A mirthless chuckle escaped me. "You wouldn't even believe the half of it."

Blue pursed his reptilian lips. "I don't have to believe it. I'm just looking to pass the time."

"How about this," I compromised. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

He shrugged. "Fair enough." He turned to face me. His scales were different shades of green with a bright, almost iridescent streak running along each cheek and down his throat. He wore simple leather armor that covered his chest, but left his sides exposed. I deduced that the reason they called him Blue was because of the dark blue feathery plumage that grew on top of his head. I'd know a few Argonians that had feathers, although the majority just had rounded or pointed horns.

"I was hatched in Blackmarsh, although I remember nothing about it. My family was captured by a band of Argonian slavers and sold to Dunmer sailors. They shipped us to Vvardenfell to be sold when I was still very young. My parents were separated, but I grew up with my mother. When I was 9, my mother was bought and taken away. I never found out where. From then on, I was just another slave. Luckily, I was able to find something I was especially good at. My master imported horses from Cyrodiil and I developed a penchant for their care."

I scrunched my eyebrows. "Were you owned by the Drens?"

He nodded. "Your horses name is Traveler by the way. Appropriate considering the circumstances. I helped her mother give birth to her."

"Small world," I muttered.

"No kidding. Mother always said things happen for a reason. Growing up, I never quite believed her, but the more I see…"

He was interrupted by the Captain. "Blue, get up the rigging and adjust the sail. I don't want us blowing too far north."

"Aye Captain," he barked, putting his carving away. He cast me a last glance, saying, "I'll be back to hear your tale." He scurried up the ropes, leaving me with Ajira.

I stood and approached her from behind. "How are you holding up?" She took a deep breath, not answering. I moved to wrap my arms around her again, but she pulled away and said, "Don't."

I stopped and fell back, not wanting to offend her. "Ajira, you have my word, I won't let anything like that happen to you again. I'll keep you safe."

"Ajira believes that Han lu believes he speaks the truth." She paused, leaving me to wait on her conclusion. "But Han lu does not think this through." She turned to look at me with the eye that wasn't swollen. "Ajira believes that Han lu will always find trouble wherever he goes. Especially if he goes back to Cyrodiil after the things he has done."

I met her gaze, shamefaced, unable to argue. "Ajira, I'll do whatever it takes. Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it."

Ajira fought against tears. "Ajira thinks she will be safest if Han lu leaves her alone. Once we make landfall, Han lu should go his separate way and let Ajira make her own way home."

An arrow pierced my heart as my only friend announced her decision to cut ties with me. My next breath came in a shudder, the sorrow overwhelming me. "Ajira, I know I've made bad decisions in the past, but…" I had to swallow past a lump in my throat. My eyes welled up with tears and I could barely manage to squeak, "Please don't leave me."

With that, the truth was evident to us both. I needed her more than she needed me. We both knew it and I shook, knowing that our friendship was a bad deal for her.

"Han lu is a good friend, but Ajira cannot live in your world where she is always running and hiding from someone who is after her. Ajira makes potions. Han lu kills people. Ajira can't be with you without getting hurt and Han lu can't be with Ajira without bringing danger even if he stops his work, the Empire will always be after Han lu."

The floodgates of my emotions broke. I sobbed openly, driven to my knees. "No, please. Don't…" I babbled. I had no right to ask anything of her. She was right. I would always be dodging the Blades and if she was with me, she'd get caught up in the danger. I considered offering to circumnavigate Cyrodiil. To travel at the far reaches of the Empire where we could avoid trouble, but she wanted to find her family and I had to find mine. No matter what, I was destined for danger. The only thing I could do was cry, because I knew there was nothing I could do to salvage my friendship with the scholarly Khajiit.

Ajira offered no condolences. She walked around me to wait out the journey at the stern of the ship. I sunk against the rail on the bow and curled up in my misery. The sun slowly crept over the horizon and the ocean illuminated.

The creaking of the boat and the sound of waves were interrupted by a shout from the rigging up above. "Captain, there's a ship to the aft. She's flying the Imperial Dragon." Everyone on board rushed to the aft rail to see. Everyone but me. I just buried my head between my knees. Somehow, they'd found me. I just knew they were after me. I broke everything I touched.

"How in Oblivion did they find us," the Captain roared. His eyes naturally fell to me and Ajira. "You two! The guild assured me you two were clean, that no one was after you." He took a spear from a barrel near the cabin. "I should have known better than to take that contract."

Ajira backed away from the Captain and a few members of the crew. She ran back to hide behind me. With a deep breath, I stood and drew my sword to face them. I put on a war face and met the Captain's eyes. I let the hurt I felt turn to an unfeeling resolve and when I spoke, I sounded like a soldier. "Two choices Captain. The Imperial navy has orders to destroy any vessel trying to escape the quarantine. So you can either kill us and face them yourself, or let us make a stand with you. We're probably all dead either way, so it makes no difference to me whether I spill your blood in my last stand or the Legionaries."

The Captain sputtered with rage, looking from me to his men. My logic penetrated the Nord's natural hot blooded response. "Fine! Once they get in range, you're standing in front Dunmer. We can't outrun them, so it's only a matter of time before they catch us. Everyone get armed and get to your positions."

"We should drop the cargo overboard. We'll be faster without it," I suggested.

The Captain pointed at me with his spear. "I don't want to hear another peep out of you. I'm in command of my vessel!"

"They'll try to ram us you idiot! If they can punch a hole in our side, they won't have to risk their soldiers in a face to face battle. Our best chance is to move out of their way once they try to hit us. Then they'll pull alongside us and board. That's when we fight them, right as their men try to cross to our ship. Our weapons won't mean a thing if we can't make that maneuver."

The Captain growled in anger, but conceded. "Dump the cargo," he ordered, deflating!

The next two hours moved at a painstaking pace. We turned from our destination and sailed with the wind directly on our beam. Ajira and I helped dump the cargo. We even pulled the horse out and whipped at his flanks until he jumped off into the ocean. It was degrading, having to listen to it's terrified whinnies while it struggled to stay afloat. The sounds shrank into the distance and the thrashing figure suddenly disappeared under the water, not resurfacing. Blue watched, seeming to take the horses death personally.

Then, we waited. It felt like an eternity. The crew stayed at their positions, making minor adjustments to the sails to maximize our speed, but the faster navy galley behind us slowly overtook us.

Once she drew near, I hollered at the Captain. "I'm going to the crow's nest to see what I can do with my crossbow. They'll start shooting at us soon too, so kept an eye out."

With the weapon slung over my shoulder, I mounted the rigging and climbed. The swaying ship and the loose netting made for a difficult climb. I arrived at the top sweating and panting, but loaded the crossbow immediately.

I pointed the weapon toward the chasing ship and waited, gauging the effective distance. I saw a number of Legionnaires in their proud, shining steel armor with their own crossbows. My first shot went high, thudding into the deck behind my targets. I reloaded as our ship started taking fire, forcing the smuggler crew to duck behind assorted shields and pieces of cover. Ajira hid behind the cabin where she was out of firing range. I hadn't looked her in the eye since the whole thing began.

My second bolt struck one of the archers, punching through his chainmail. He fell and others pulled him back out of the fight. At a quick count, I estimated thirty or forty men onboard their vessel. Compared to the eleven on ours, I knew we had no chance.

I emptied my quiver, having only been provided a handful of bolts with the crossbow. If I'd been thinking ahead, I would have bought more from Arrille, but it was too late for that now. Shouldering the weapon, I mounted the rigging again and started to descend. I flinched as an arrow sailed past me, then doubled the speed of my descent. I was close to the bottom of the rigging when an arrow pierced my back. My whole body clenched and my fingers lost their grip. I stared dumbly as I tumbled down the rigging and off the edge of the boat. With a shock, I plunged into the salty water and clawed my way painfully to the surface.

The sailors didn't make any effort to retrieve me. I struggled past the pain in my back and fought to stay atop the small swells. All I could do was watch as the Imperial ship closed on me and passed me altogether, either oblivious or apathetic toward me.

The war ship pursued a little further before the smugglers used my tactic and tried to turn out of the way so the war ship would sail past them with its ramming momentum. They weren't fast enough. The merchant vessel turned to the left, but still caught the Imperial's battering ram in the stern, opening a hole in the hull and tearing the rudder off into the ocean. The smugglers prepared for an attack that never came. The Imperials let their ship slide passed the crippled smuggling vessel and waited for it to sink.

I was beginning to feel very tired. I noticed the water around me was turning red. I forced myself to concentrate and sealed the wound over with the arrow still inside me. This stopped the bleeding, but I couldn't get my blood back and I was getting cold. My eyes fluttered involuntarily. Maybe I could just let sleep take me. I'd botched everything in my life so badly, perhaps that was my best option.

A scene unfolded before my fading consciousness. A lone figure knocking on a familiar door in Balmora. Caius Cosades answered and ushered the hooded figure into his home. The hood was thrown back to reveal a Redguard, the woman from the taproom in Arrille's tradehouse. The spymaster curtly ordered, "Report Elone."

The woman took a handwritten note and read it off word for word. "I saw your special agent in Seyda Neen with a female Khajiit matching the description of the expelled Balmora mages guild member. I sent a scout to follow them. He was led to a smuggling ship in the uninhabited area of Azura's coast and reported back to me."

Caius clasped his hands behind his back and turned away, hiding the anger in his expression. "Understood. Thank you for your report Elone."

"What will we do about this sir?"

Caius shook his head. "There's only one thing to do. If Han lu cannot be controlled, then he is a liability. We'll inform the Navy of the smugglers and make sure an end is put to it." He turned to the woman. "Inform Sellus Gravius in Seyda Neen and rejoin me in Hia Oad. We'll coordinate these efforts personally. Han lu is one of our own after all. We bear responsibility for whatever he does."

"Yes sir." Elone, despite being dressed in a commoners travel cloak, saluted as though she were a Legionnaire in full attire. You can take the soldier out of the Legion, but you can't take the Legion out of the soldier.

The waves tossed me like a rag doll and I surfaced again, sputtering, lungs burning. On the watery horizon, the smugglers ship was burning too.

"Ajira!" I started stroking my way through the water towards the two ships as I saw the crew leaping from the lost vessel. The arrowhead in my back stung and tore. Even at the surface, I could hardly draw a breath from the pain. I mercifully blacked out again to find myself surrounded by fire. A golden masked figure stared through the flames at me.

"Fate will drive you to me. Succumb. Make your way to Red Mountain. Together, we'll drive out the mongrel dogs of the Empire and restore order and the law of the land."

I couldn't breath. My vision faded. I couldn't tell if my friend was alive or dead. I wished to whatever entity was listening to just destroy me and end my torment. Even consignment to Oblivion had to be better than this.

As my soul cried out, I felt comforting arms wrap around me. I focused on the contact, latching onto the one connection I had to realty. I was pulled to the surface where, despite it being midday, the two moons of Tamriel seemed to stand out in stark detail. A familiar comforting voice drove out all the other visions, filling my mind like echoes in a stone hall.

"You have a hard fate my servant, but a harder life faces you should you deny your duty. Sleep now and when you awake, take up your standard and shirk not. You are equal to the tasks ahead and I will provide you the companionship you desire." I had heard that voice once before. It was so peaceful, but more powerful than the voice from the golden mask. With the assurances and comfort of this being, I rested, trusting my fate to this unknown guardian.