The next shrine of Talos, according to the map, was located just south of Dawnstar. And so the trio walked north, leaving Whiterun for the cold of The Pale where the winds were harsh and temperatures dropped. Lydia shivered and pulled her cloak around her body. They needed to find the next shrine before the cold made them victims of region. M'rasha appeared next to her and held out a potion, "It'll warm you up."

Lydia drank the potion and felt the warmth spread through her body, "Thanks. Are we close to the next shrine?"

"It should be close. We did take the right fork according to Heimskr's map of the Weynon Stones," M'rasha replied, "Though at the rate that we're going we may become icicles first. By the Divines do I hate the cold!"

Lydia glanced over her shoulder at their other traveler and asked, "How are you faring, Heimskr?"

"I'm quite fine," He replied teeth chattering. Instead of taking their advice to put on his warm cloak (a gift from M'rasha), the priest proclaimed that Talos would protect him, leaving his only defense from the cold as his own flimsy robe. M'rasha held out a warming potion and Heimskr begrudgingly took it, mumbling his thanks.

"The last thing we need is our employer to freeze. Still need to get paid," the Betmer commented. Heimskr shot the Khajiit a dirty look before uncorking the bottle and downing the contents. But before the two could start yet another fight, Lydia stopped walking and pointed at something ahead. "Is that what I think it is?"

The two looked over and saw the familiar stance of Tiber Septim surrounded by some columns and smaller altars. The priest chortled at seeing the shrine. "See! The almighty Talos has shown us the way. He has brought us to the safety of his shrine! Come non-believers! Let us purify this holy place and continue our mission!"

Heimskr pushed by the women and began to sprint towards the statue but Lydia and M'rasha grabbed the back of his robe and pulled him into some brush. The priest opened his mouth to complain when the Khajiit moved the brush aside and pointed. "We've got company."

He looked to the area next to the statue and spotted several men dressed in armor. Two of them jogged towards them but stopped at the pillars.

"Hey Murk, did you hear something coming this way?"

"Think so. Maybe a caravan?"

"Or maybe your stomach!"

M'rasha crouched down and cast a Detect Life spell. "There's about 7 of them. Shouldn't be too bad. So how do you want to do this? I'll take out the two in front and we split the rest, left and right? "

Lydia nodded and pulled out her battleaxe. "That sounds good to me. You stay here Heimskr, and we'll have this place secure in no time, okay? Heimskr?" The warrior and mage looked around but the man was nowhere to be found.

"Oh no. Look." M'rasha gestured towards the statue. Heimskr, stone faced and hands clenched into fists, marched right past the two bandits and to the ruins where the rest of brigands were.. The leader whistled, silencing the chatter in the camp before turning to the intruder, "Well, look at what we've got here. A man of da cloth. Not smart t'come here alone."

Heimskr was not intimidated in the slightest. "I must do the Ninth's work."

"The Ninth? Who?"

"'Who'? Who you ask?" The priest closed his eyes and raised his arms to the sky. "Talos the mighty. Talos the powerful. Or as you would know him the father of the Empire, Tiber Septim. He has charged me, a faithful follower, to purify his Shrines, to bring back spiritual rightness to Skyrim. And you," He pointed to the man in charge, "You are desecrating with your filth."

The bandit leader scratched his chin. "You calling me filthy, priest?"

"Damn it Heimskr. I'm going to circle round. Lydia get ready to rush," M'rasha commanded. Lydia unhooked her bow, notched an arrow and aimed it at the bandit.

As M'rasha sneaked to the other side of the camp, Heimskr continued his tirade, "No. For you are not elves. They are the one corrupting Tamriel. Perverting what was once a great Empire. They should be the ones who kiss our feet and not the other way around! But you! You have brought shame on yourself."

"I ain't no elf lover. Kill-" A fireball engulfed the leader, cutting his order. He screamed and collapsed to the ground and was dead a few seconds later.

"He's not alone," another man shouted. Lydia jumped out of bushes and swung wildly with her ax while M'rasha hurled fireballs and ice spikes at the bandits. The ordeal lasted no more than a minute and when the screams and magic stopped, the only people who were still standing were the priest, the housecarl and the Dragonborn (Well Lydia and M'rasha was still standing. Heimskr was on the ground near the column reciting a prayer to Talos).

When Heimskr noticed that the bandits were dead, he jumped to his feet and smugly proclaimed, "Ha! That is what happened to the unfaithful! Talos we give you praise!"

Snarling, the Khajiit marched to the man and grabbed him by the cuff of his robe and began to shake him. "Are you out of your mind!?"

Lydia ran over and began pry M'rasha's hands off from the now terrified man. "M'rasha, let go!" It took a few tugs but Lydia finally wrenched her Thane's arms off, but instead of letting the Betmer free, she kept her hold on the furious wizard, a move that M'rasha did not like.

"Let me go!" M'rasha 's hands began to glow with unreleased magics but Lydia knew the older woman wouldn't hurt her intentionally. Instead she turned her attention to the slightly scared Nord. "Heimskr, go purify the shrine. I'll calm this one down." Heimskr looked warily and nodded walk to the statue and proceeded with the ritual. With that Lydia lifted the smaller woman in the air by her arms and walked over to where the dead bandit leader once sat. She sat down and placed M'rasha in her lap, wrapping her arms around the woman's waist before the Betmer could jump free.

M'rasha sulked at her embrace. "I wasn't going to hurt him."

Lydia rested her head on the Dragonborn's shoulder. "Uh huh."

"I was just gonna scare him."

Lydia chuckled. "Say that to the iron grip you had."

M'rasha looked over her shoulder at the younger woman. "That meant nothing."

"Tell you what. I'll buy you some fondue once we get to Dawnstar."

"Ahem." The women looked up and saw Heimskr standing, satchel on his back.

"The shrine purified?" The priest nodded. "Good, now listen Heimskr," stated Lydia as she released M'rasha who hopped onto the ground, "You can't go telling people what you're doing with the shrines."

Heimskr scoffed as the winds picked up. "And why not? It is my mission as high priest of Talos to spread his word."

"I understand but what do you think will happen if the wrong people heard?"

"I do not fear imprisonment or death," He boasted, crossing his arms.

"Then why did you ask us to protect you," M'rasha muttered as she retrieved her cloak from the bushes. Heimskr open his mouth and then closed it as fast.

Lydia flicked M'rasha's ear, getting a yowl from the Khajiit. "M'rasha is right though. I've heard how much you wish to do Talos' work to clean the shrines. But all your pride and bravado is attracting the wrong people. Do you understand how close we were from a Thalmor execution?"

Lydia's words seemed to do their job and Heimskr sobered up. "I-I do…"

"If you truly do, then lay off the public preaching. I'm not joking, Heimskr." Lydia's voice was stern. "Cause if you don't and we get too many people after us, M'rasha and I will leave you. We will quit this job. We've already had trouble with the Thalmor and it took us a long time for them to see us as no threat. And I will not risk that again. Do you understand?"

Heimskr turned his gaze to the floor feeling like a child being reprimanded by a parent. But Lydia was right. As much as he didn't want to admit it, for his quest to succeed he would have to calm his preaching urges. "You're right."

"Now that that is out of the way, let's go. It'll take us a few hours to reach Dawnstar and we still have one more shrine before that. So let's go."

Heimskr walked ahead of the two women. Lydia leaned over to the other woman and whispered. "Looks like he finally gets the message."

"I'm surprised that you threatened to quit the job," M'rasha replied.

"Somethings aren't worth a new battleaxe."

"New battleaxe?

"What did you think I was doing with my share. Buy a new dress?" Lydia asked with a wink. "Now come on before we lose sight of him and he gets into more trouble."

"Why do you think...Never mind, this is Heimskr we're talking about."

"Exactly."