Irina stood frozen in the field. She'd faced off with the spirits in the cave, but this one was an entirely different beast. It looked human, and worst of all— it acted like a child.

"What are you?" Irina asked. Her eyes were wide as she watched the figure float and bounce around.

"I told you, I'm a spirit!" it whined. "I don't know what I'm a spirit of, but I am sure I'm a spirit."

"Like a ghost?" Irina asked. A memory from earlier popped into her head. She tensed. "Are you attached to this amulet?"

The spirit let out a bellow of frustration. "No, no, no! I'm a spirit, not a person!" she put a hand on her chest. "I became whole in the Fade. And now I have followed you here."

"The Fade?"

"The big, big place you jumped out of. I've followed you here to meet you."

"Why?"

The spirit paused. It looked confused, frustrated almost. After a minute or so of thinking, it beamed as an answer popped up in her head. "I want to help you."

Irina didn't know whether to feel angry, frustrated, or confused. Right now, she was all three.

"Why do you want to help me?"

"I don't know."

It was so blunt Irina had to blink thrice to make sure she understood it. Exactly like a child. The spirit bounced a bit.

"You don't know?" The spirit nodded. "No motive, no goal, no nothing."

The spirit tilted its head. "I need a reason?"

"That's kinda how it goes most of the time."

"Then my reason is having no reason."

"That's not how it works."

The spirit huffed. "That's weird."

"I don't think that's the weird part of this conversation."

"I should be able to help for no reason," it said that like it was fact.

"I'm sure plenty out there would like help for no reason. But I'm not among them."

"Why?"

"The last time I agreed to something like that, I ended up stranded in a blizzard naked. Not fun times," Irina said.

"Perhaps you can offer your help to someone else?"

The spirit was saddened. "But you're pitiful."

"Ouch."

"You can't even use magic well."

Irina crossed her arms. "I'll have you know I am one of the top students in the College of Winterhold," she said. She could practically hear the lighting cackling. "I can cast spells, plenty of them."

"You're a really bad liar."

"And you're a mind reader, not the metaphorical type either," Irina replied. "Am I supposed to trust that?"

The spirit fidgeted. "I didn't mean to pry."

"Are you being honest?"

The spirit bounced enthusiastically. "I give you my word."

"I'm pretty sure that's what that bloke said before he robbed me in the snow."

"Ah, will you stop remembering that!" said the spirit. "It's not a nice thing to see!"

Irina perked up. Her voice lowered. "What do you mean, stop remembering?"

The spirit paused. It swayed nervously. "Spirits like to read; we can't help it," it said. It sounded like it'd been caught red-handed. "And your thoughts are really, really loud."

Memories of the cave flashed in her mind. A beast that spoke with her sister's voice— that mocked with the voice of her sister.

The spirit jumped. "I'm not a demon! Only demons do that!"

"And I should believe you because?"

"I'm not lying! I want to help you, Irina—"

"Don't say my name."

"I don't want to hurt you," it said. It pouted like a child. "You want me to ask you for something, correct? Then you'll trust me?"

"Not really."

"Then I want to follow you so I can see the world. In exchange, I'll help you with my magic."

"And you're some great wizard, I take it?"

The spirit gave a hmph. "No, but I can be even better."

"And you're no… demon. Is that what you call them?"

The spirit nodded. Here was Irina's dilemma.

She had absolutely not a single clue in all of Nirn what this damn thing was or how it operated. Was it more similar to Aedra or Daedra? Either way, anything related to them shouldn't be trifled with so naively.

But, the spirit was right. Irina was like a lost child here. She'd no direction, no point of reference. All she had was the ability to apply her knowledge of Tamriel to things that seemed familiar here and then make an assumption. Not exactly the most iron-strung strategy. A guide would be much appreciated. But at the same time, who's to say that the spirit didn't have its own agenda? What if it was only operating under the guise of naivety to be a wolf among sheep?

Irina looked at how the spirit fretted. She couldn't physically see its worry, but she could damn sure feel it from every quick and awkward movement it made. A bit of pity arose in her heart.

That was until it started doing it more, and then Irina realized it was reading her thoughts as she thought them. Her pity fell flat. The spirit stopped its movement at once.

"I'm sorry," it mumbled.

Irina sat back on the ground. The spirit followed slowly, and a sigh escaped from Irina's lips. She didn't want to deny free help, but she had to make sure free help came 'free,' and not with some weird Daedric-like binding.

She looked around the campsite. Fire dimly illuminated her possessions far off in the corner. Though small, Irina could faintly see the glow of gold that just peeked out from the shadow of the leather. A thought passed her mind. Then an idea.

"You say you wish to help me, right?" The spirit nodded once more. "Then consider this a small test," she picked up her satchel and pulled out the locket from earlier. It brightly reflected the green of the spirit's glow. "This locket I found is very dear to someone. Help me return it."

"But you don't know who that person is," the spirit said. "Why would you return it?"

Irina smiled. "Let me give you a small lesson about us mortal folk. We guard our keepsakes like rabid wolves. This locket belonged to a woman's husband, one that left too soon. Say we find her. We tell her what happened. She's heartbroken. As the nice people we are, we give it back to her. We aren't greedy after all," the metal chain wove around her nimble finger as she played with it. It was a fine piece of craftsmanship, with a small leaf and grape vine engraving outlining its glass center. It could catch a decent price on the market. "But times are hard right now. Money keeps people afloat, so we offer it back for a price. Not too high, not too low. Just enough to get by."

"Oh, so we're being sneaky! Like thieves."

"Thieves steal. I haven't done that. Yet," said Irina. "We're just being kindly adventurers looking out for our fellow man."

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"It's as you said— I'm quite lost here. The woman we're looking for is in a place called Redcliffe. Got any clue where it is?"

The spirit thought and thought until finally, it shook its head. "No."

Irina sighed. She made sure to put a lot of air into it. "Well, then that's too bad—"

"But I can use my magic."

Irina paused. She looked at the thing cautiously. "And how're you going to do that?"

The spirit smiled pridefully. "I'll show you."

The spirit floated over to where Irina stood. It looked down at the amulet, paused, and then put its hand on the locket. Its green form began to waver. Irina stared in anticipation.

"Before he died, he wanted to get to a place not far from here with lots of people. People like him! But some not magical like him. But all were lost. Yes, very lost like him," she said. "Men in armor held swords. Shouting, fighting and burning. One comes up to me and began to quiver. I speak, he yells. My hands spark, he draws his sword. Copper tastes bitter. I sleep with one last want, 'Viola, I hope you found your mother.'"

"Stendarr's mercy," Irina muttered. A sick feeling came upon her, but she pushed it down. Instead, she focused on more present matters. "How in Y'ffre's name did you get all that?"

"The necklace has memories it likes to talk about. Like people."

Irina let out a small chuckle. "So I assume you can hear the grass as well."

The spirit shook her head. "It's hard to hear the earth. People didn't make it," the spirit quickly added. "But I can try, though."

"No, that's fine," Irina said. "So this Redcliffe, where is it?"

"'In the east, I'll find freedom. I'll huddle up on the dock.'"

A port city, Irina thought. The east, freedom, and an ocean. If what the men earlier said was true, she'd be walking right into the den of 'apostates.' Whatever breed of mage those were. She'd have to be cautious.

"Alright, good job," Irina said. She grinned at the spirit. "I guess introductions are in order. I am Irina, currently a wandering mercenary. And you?"

"Spirits don't have names, but…" it trailed off. Suddenly it glowed as bright as a beacon, startling Irina. "I will call myself Sakn'vunen."

"That's a nice name. Where'd you get it?"

"I don't know."

"We'll really have to work on your conversation skills," Irina muttered. "But I guess anything is better than nothing. If we find this 'Redcliffe,' Sakn'vunen, I will gladly carry you to Oblivion and back. If we don't, we'll have to go our separate ways." she stuck out her hand. "Shake on it?"

The spirit hesitated. But after a moment, she quickly gripped the Mer's hand and shook it fervently.

How odd, Irina thought. She feels like air.

"I'll work hard!"

Irina smiled. "I look forward to that."

Before they set out in the early morning, Irina had given three rules to her possible, newfound companion.

One;, take the form of a rat at all times. Irina didn't know how the people of this world would react to the form of a more mystical being, but Irina did know that the most animosity people would give to a rodent would be poison and traps. Since Sakn'vunen didn't seem to have a physical form, neither of those would affect her.

Two; don't speak to random people. This relates back to the last rule. A speaking rat is an attention-drawing rat.

Three and the most important; Her mind was off-limits. Irina thought that this one would be pretty self-explanatory, but Sakn'vunen protested and complained with all her being. She only got her to shut up by stuffing a soul gem in her grubby little hands. Then the spirit did a complete flip and became clay in her hands. Or, more accurately, pocket.

With all that taken care of, Irina packed up the campsite, blew out the campfire, and started eastward.

Sakn'vunen was a talkative gal, full of small quips and comments about random things that didn't make sense to Irina but gave the warm feeling of companionship.

The only issue is that she genuinely didn't know how to shut up.

"I flew, and I flew and I flew until I saw that the goose wasn't actually a goose. He was a demon! A big, scary demon with thousands of teeth and tentacles. He picked me up and threw me into the air. What a rude fellow!

"Uh-huh." Irina stepped over a thick branch that blocked the road.

I should contact Lord Sheogorath when I find the city. She scrunched up her nose. Ah, I still have to write that letter to Elle.

"He opened his mouth to eat me, but I'm smart. Wisdom says so. I turned into a speck of dust and drifted off the cliff and away from the dream. I'm sad. I should've helped that man."

She observed a red bird collecting twigs on the side of the path. It flapped its wings widely when it saw the pair coming towards it, letting out a small squawk. "Yeah."

Fucking Elle. She better not be in my stuff. At least I locked the door—. Her eyes widened. I forgot to lock the door.

"He was a very, very small mage. A new mage. Pride had seen his want. So greedy!" The mouse looked up at Irina from her pocket. "Don't you agree?"

"Yep."

I should just pelt Alduin arrows and make him a pin cushion. Pincushions can't fly.

"Pincushions can fly with enough magic."

"Excuse me?"

"I saw an old man make a house fly because he was angry. Pincushions are much smaller. Surely, they can fly too."

"That's not flying; that's magic," Irina said. "And also, what was my third rule?"

"No reading you," the spirit said. It began to whine. "I'm bored."

"Then think of something that will make you unbored."

"That's stupid."

Irina shrugged. "It's worked for me."

"I don't like thinking."

"Then do something else. Play with your thumbs."

"That's even stupider."

The familiar shrill laughs of a certain white-haired Daedric Prince echoed through her mind, making Irina shiver. If she were to put the mouse on a rock and say she needed to pee, would it really sense anything wrong?

A smile formed on her lips—

"You can't take back what you said!"

"Third rule."

"I hate your third rule!" said Sakn'vunen. "I want to add my own rules."

"Go for it."

The spirit was silent. It never thought the Bosmer would actually agree.

"You're honest?"

"Shoot something out before I take back what I said."

"Yes!" There was another solid minute of silence. The spirit, after many careful deliberations, then spoke. "You must answer any question I ask. Truthfully."

Irina whistled. "That's a big one."

"It's fair. I've already agreed to help with my magic. And I'm guiding you."

It was Irina's turn to be quiet. The gal learns quickly.

"Okay, fine. It's our fourth rule," said Irina. "But I want to add a limiter."

"Why?"

"Well, it's a bit unfair. You can hear the private stuff inside my head— even what I don't want to say. And I also have to answer your questions truthfully."

"You gave the third rule!"

Irina glanced down into her shirt pocket. "And you follow it all the time?"

The spirit was quiet.

"See, that's the bias of it. I see you wish to take more than you give. Prideful, aren't you?"

"I don't—"

"That sucks. But I guess—"

"I agree to only three questions."

"Really? I don't mean to push you, Sakn'vunen."

"Three questions!"

"Okay," Irina said. Internally she was a bit reminiscent. Pholeri had used this same trick on her in Valenwood. "Three questions per day, then."

The mouse in her pocket shifted around to get comfortable. "I want to ask a question."

"Go ahead."

"Who is Alduin?"

Irina narrowed her eyes. "Third rule—"

"I didn't read your head! I saw you and that white-haired lady talk about it."

"Oh. Of course, Lady Sheogorath," Irina replied. She looked at the sky, trying to collect her thoughts. "Alduin is a dragon. A bad dragon."

"I've met dragons before. They're all terrible."

"Then you've met the wrong dragons. I've met quite the nice ones. None of them started out that way, I'll admit. But considering they gave up on eating souls, I give 'em a pass."

The mouse whisked its small head up. "Dragons eat souls."

"Oh yes. The purer, the better," said Irina. "Alduin, in particular, has eaten the souls of men and children alike. I think you'd be a nice appetizer to him."

"What a horrible dragon!"

Her throat hurt. She was trying so hard to hold back her laughter. "That's not even the worst of it! Where I'm from, people like to call Alduin the 'World-eater.' Do you know why?" The mouse shook its head. "Because Alduin has devoured whole worlds."

"That's not possible! You mess with me!"

"Oh, but it is. You see this scar over my eye?"

The mouse responded hesitantly. "Yes?"

"It's actually from when Alduin tried to devour me whole, but he missed. He only grazed me with his sharp teeth. They were like knives, Sakn'vunen. Huge knives. That was after he picked up a whole family with his taloned feet and plopped them in his mouth," Irina sighed. "I can still hear the screams."

There was movement in her pocket as the mouse began to bury itself deeper and deeper into it. It shook like a rabbit.

"Sakn'vunen?"

"Yes?"

"Any more questions? You still have two left."

"No, how horrible!"

Her laughter bubbled over, and she couldn't help but pause and take a moment to regain herself.

"Why are you laughing? It's not funny."

"Don't worry, Sakn'vunen. Alduin isn't here. Right now at least," she wiped the tears out of her eyes and brushed herself off. "If he does come 'round here, I'll be sure to protect you."

"You promise?"

She grinned. "You have my word."

It was midday when they'd found a sign. A literal sign. It was obviously old as it was tilting, and the wood was chipped from the wooden arrows pointing in different directions. But Irina could still make out the words on them.

"Redcliffe village is to the right," she mumbled. "Do you think we're close, Sakn'vunen?"

The mouse peeked out from her pocket. It turned its head in all sorts of ways before saying, "I don't know."

Very helpful, Irina thought but said nothing. Instead, she shifted the pack on her back and was about to move her foot forward. But Sakn'vunen interrupted her before she could.

"Irina, you should move to the right."

"Excuse me?"

"Right now, please."

She was a bit confused but did as she was told. Just then, she heard the whisk of the air and saw the dust fly. She shielded her face. Glistening in the sun's light was the iron tip of an arrow.

Her blood ran cold. Shit.

She quickly turned around and was greeted by a party of five. Two were farther in the back, holding onto bows and arrows. The three in the front were beefier and held a mixture of two swords and a great hammer. All of them were adorned with silver-plated armor. She couldn't get a good look at their eyes, but she could feel them size her up.

She looked at their chest. Her muscles tensed. Those bastards.

"Templars," Sakn'vunen said in her head. She sounded scared. "They're not happy."

"It's a bit rude to shoot at a woman with her back turned," She said. "Is there an issue?"

"Aren't you separated from your group?" said one. His voice was mocking.

"Group?"

"Don't play dumb. Look at the carnage your people have caused. All the while, you scurry down into Witchwood." said another. This one was more violent, a guttural tone to his voice.

"I've not a single clue what you're talking about," said Irina. She tried to keep her voice even, but damn, was it a struggle. "I'm merely a trader looking for safety in Redcliffe."

Laughter came from the mocking one. He drew his great hammer. "Redcliffe? Of course, a mage would run off into the horde. Did you think we'd let you off with that?" He pointed the sharp tip towards Irina. "We'll get you and send your remains to your buddies down in Witchwood. Show 'em what we think of your little rebellion."

"We can't be civil, can't we? Alright, I'll do the same." Irina said. She took out her bow. In response, the men drew their weapons.

"Not playing with magic, little mage?" said the one with the great hammer.

"Oh, I've got magic. Not the type-safe for play, though."

She shifted her stance so that her feet were planted firmly on the ground. Her back arched. The men in the back ready their arrows as the man in the front charged forward. Irina wet her lips. "Sakn'vunen?"

"Yes?"

"Hold on tight."

She drew in a long breath. The men in the back were just about to release their arrows; the frontman was just an inch from her. She screamed.

"Fus Ro Dah!"

For a second, all was silent.

The four others watched as their friend flew through the air and landed on the ground with a hard thump. He ceased to move. They stared at him. Irina did as well, with some surprise of her own.

That should've taken out the three of them.

"Maker's breath," said one of the swordsmen. He trembled and looked at her in horror. "What breed of mage…."

Taking advantage of the confusion, Irina lined up another arrow and aimed for one of the men in the back. The point soared in the air until it landed square in the man's chest. It was then that the other two regained their senses and began fighting.

Another responded, an archer in the back. "Don't worry about that! Take the bitch out!"

Irina dodged another arrow but wasn't as quick. She winced as it cut through the linen of her shirt and grazed her skin.

"To your left!"

Her feet reacted to Sakn'vunen's voice before her mind did, just narrowly missing a sword's swing by a hair. The man was still recovering from the weight of the hit when Irina turned her head toward him and let out another shout.

"Yol Toor!"

Flames spewed from her mouth. The man screamed in horror and shock, desperately patting away at himself to put out the fire. Irina gave him a hard kick to the side, throwing him to the floor. She used that moment to dodge the second arrow the man in the backfired.

She threw her bow to the ground and instead pulled out a dagger. She charged toward the man. He lined up another arrow, ready to shoot her straight in her heart.

"Wuld Nah Kest!"

The man's arms slackened. He stared at her, confused as to how she got so close. His eyes trailed further down to see the dagger lodged into his throat.

He fell. His eyes looked towards the sky.

Irina swayed as she walked, the world's colors blending together. She tripped over something. She didn't know what.

"Irina?" She could hear Sakn'vunen say. She sounded terrified. "Irina, are you okay?"

"Stendarr's mercy," She said. She held her head. It pounded like a hammer. "Fuck."

There was some movement in her pocket as it got lighter. She could feel the disturbance of the dirt as the mouse scurried across it.

"I'll help you, Irina! Hold on!"

The Bosmer shifted. Then, she felt a cooling touch on the middle of her forehead. Little by little, the pain of her headache dispersed, and the sky above became clear. She blinked a couple of times.

"Are you okay?"

She picked herself off the earth slowly. She could now see that Sakn'vunen had taken on her true form. Irina gave her best smile. "I'm fine, Sakn'vunen. I— What did you do?"

"I helped you with my magic of course!" said the spirit. She was oddly chipper. Probably because she'd finally demonstrated her magical abilities. Irina sighed.

"Then I thank you, Sakn'vunen."

The spirit nodded. "You're welcome. You should get up quickly. There could be more bad men around."

"If there were more around, I think I'd be dead," Irina said. She looked around the site and whistled at the destruction. Unrelenting Force may have lost some of its kick, but that didn't prevent it from putting a dent in the ground. She looked at the dead men on the ground and paused. Something off.

"Wasn't there five?"

Sakn'vunen replied hastily. "There was, but he ran off," the spirit pointed a finger to the left. "Somewhere over there."

The west, Irina said. She sighed.

"Off to tell his buddies, I suppose."

"Then we must leave, Irina!"

"Okay, okay. They're not gonna pop up from the bushes. Let's get our things in order."

Irina collected her bow and arrows from the floor for the next five minutes, and Sakn'vunen quickly turned back into a mouse. Irina took a ragout of her knapsack and wrapped it around her wound. She looked at it and lamented.

A close call. She touched her chest. Had Sakn'vunen not warned her, she'd be as good as dead.

Come to think of it.

The mouse scurried up the elf's pant legs and planted itself firmly in her pocket.

"How did you know that those men were there, Sakn'vunen?"

"I heard them," the spirit replied.

"How did you know he was going to shoot, though?"

"People talk, even when they're quiet. They like to speak about what they're going to do, how they feel about it. It's terribly noisy."

Irina huffed. "That's quite useful. Good job, Sakn'vunen."

The mouse squeaked in delight and nestled deeper into Irina's pocket. The elf patted it in response. She looked at the bodies on the ground and walked over to the one who wielded the great hammer. With nimble hands, she patted him down until she felt the soft touch of linen.

Bingo

She unhooked the coin purse from his belt and poured the contents into her hand. Out came some shiny coins of various colors, including copper, silver, and gold. She held up the golden one to the sky and observed the engravings on it.

'Ferelden Sovereign.' She squinted at the picture in the center. Is that dancing skeever?

She put the coins in her pocket (The one the mouse wasn't inhabiting) and repeated this process with the other bodies. She had three golden coins, twelve silver, and twenty bronze when she was done. It was a different way of currency than in Tamriel. Everything there was paid for in shiny septims.

"What are you doing?" Sakn'vunen asked.

"We're heading to a city, so we need coin," Irina replied. "I consider this reparation. May Arkay guide them."

She hiked up her knapsack one last time, adjusted the staff on it, and took a look over at the signs to make sure she was headed the right way.

The pair headed off onto the road, Redcliffe city in their sights.