A/N: Hi everyone! Yes, yes, I know this chapter update is long over due but life just gets in the way sometimes you know? Also as you may or may not know there have been quite a few requests for longer chapters and your voices have been heard! I will be doing my best with future chapters to fulfill your wishes and to hopefully leave you a little more satisfying with reading them. So thank you faithful readers and enjoy!

"Where is it?!" Brelyna exclaimed in frustration as she went through yet another chest in Kydin's Arch-Mage quarters and coming up empty handed. The mage had practically flipped his room upside down in her search for the Staff of Magnmus that Kydin had in his possession. All she had been able to find in her search were musty old tomes, clothes and the odd battle-ax or long sword he had stashed in his cupboards in the grand room. She even found the "A Guide to Skyrim" book that she had gotten him when he first arrived at the College all those months ago and he had first told her about the traveling he would be doing after he improved on his skills of the arcane arts. Brelyna smiled at the memory from when Kydin had been just a new apprentice at the College with her, Jazargo, and Onmund. She was such a klutz with her spells back then but Kydin had always been willing to help her perfect them allowing himself to be her test subject no matter how awry her spells went. Before losing herself in old memories Brelyna snapped herself back to her task at hand. She had searched the College high and low looking for the staff and she hadn't been able to find even a hint of it anywhere.

"It's not in the apprentice quarters, it's not in his Arch-mage quarters—Where could have that stupid Kydin have hid it?!" she growled under her breath thinking on how important her task was and of the conversation that she had just the other night with Tolfdir…

"Is there a way that we could somehow reopen the rift?" she asked Tolfdir. If the rift had somehow closed surely there must be a way to open it again. This theory that Tolfdir had was the only lead they had to go on based on the facts they pieced together. It was the only way to find out what happened to Kydin and where he had gotten to.

The senior mage pondered in thought. "We could locate another Elder Scroll—"

"No!" the red dragon, Odahviing, bellowed cutting him off strongly. "That would take far too long. We don't have the time to waste scouring the land for such a thing."

Paarthurnax sighed tiredly at the younger dragon's behavior. "I believe the mage had more to say on the matter, Odahviing, but I agree. Dovahkiin went to great lengths to get his hands on the one that he had recovered. No doubt that we would have to do the same. Plus an Elder Scroll has far too much power for anyone to handle. Not to mention being unpredictable."

Tolfdir agreed. "I too feel that way which was why I was about to say, before I was interrupted, that there perhaps is another way."

"What do you suggest, Tolfdir?" Arngeir asked.

"Though nothing is certain at the moment there is a high possibility that the rift was originally caused by the Eye itself. I'm thinking that if we were able to get our hands on the staff that Kydin has in his possession then we might be able to figure out how to reopen the portal." Brelyna nodded in agreement to his logic. She had helped Kydin many times in closing the rifts that they had found together scattered across Skyrim. If the staff had the power to close them surely it had the ability to create them if one knew how.

The Greybeards perked up at this news. "What is so special about this particular staff?" Arngeir voiced.

"It is not just any staff, Arngeir. It is the Staff of Magnus. It is the only known relic to have similar origins and properties as the Eye. If we brought it here it might be able to trigger some reaction with some of the magic that still lingers."

"And if your theory doesn't work?"

"Then we will have to look for another alternative, but for now this is all we have to go on. Brelyna," Tolfdir looked to her, "go back to the College and see if you can find where Kydin has secured the staff. Here," he said handing her a single iron key, "take my spare key to the Archmage's quarters. Hopefully it will be there. If not, then search the College from top to bottom if you have to. If you have no such luck then return here and we'll think of something else. Till your return we will do what we can here to try and reopen the rift ourselves."

Though as optimistic as Tolfdir tried to sound Brelyna knew that they would have very little success with that idea. And she had a feeling that Tolfdir knew better as well but they had to try all that they could no matter how small their chances of success might be. The College had already lost one Arch-Mage this year. They couldn't lose another especially when it was Kydin of all people. After all, he had come a long way since first joining the mages in Winterhold. He had grown immensely as a wielder of the arcane arts and had an affect on many of the members here-herself included. So, with her task given, she traveled swiftly back to the College riding back on Odahviing; which she needed quite a lot of encouragement from Tolfdir and Arngeir before sitting herself on the giant beast. Though as much as the thought of flying on dragonback terrified her, Brelyna knew that returning on horseback, as she had originally arrived here by with the others, would have taken her far too long as time was a pressing matter in this situation. So, she gathered her courage as best she could and clung onto the dragon for dear life.

And now here she stood in the Arch-Mage quarters without so much as a hint of an idea of where that blasted Imperial could have kept such an important artifact that could be the sole thing his life depended on right now.

"Ugh, this is so frustrating!" Brelyna yelled throwing a book she had been holding in her hand at the wall which to her cursed luck had instead smashed into a vase on a nearby table shattering it to pieces. With her luck it was probably some old, ancient, priceless vase that Kydin had found on his travels. Brelyna cursed herself as she felt tears start to prick at her eyes. Why was this simple task so hard? Why couldn't Kydin have hidden the staff in a logical place like any normal man would have done? But Brelyna knew that Kydin was anything but normal. He was a strong, smart, sweet, yet stupid, stubborn man that she missed all too damn much. She wanted to know what happened to him; she wanted to help him; she wanted him to come back home.

"You stressed out about something, Brelyna?"

Brelyna quickly wiped a hand to her eyes before turning to see who it was that had entered the chamber.

"Enthir," she said surprised to see the Wood Elf.

Enthir was a fellow mage at the College and one that came with a reputation of sorts known as the "guy that can do things." As to what those things were exactly Brelyna didn't have the slightest idea except for the fact that Enthir acted as a merchant to the members of the College. With the poor state that the village of Winterhold was in the merchants in town didn't keep the stock they once used to. Not since the terrible event that caused half of the cliff that the village perched on to collapse into the frozen waters of the Sea of Ghosts below. Naturally, the College had been blamed for the catastrophe since there had never been a clear explanation as to how the phenomena occurred, which also made the merchants reluctant to sell any kinds of goods to any members of the College. Having Enthir around made their lives somewhat easier than having to make the walk down to the village to only receive unfriendly look and sneers from the handful of villagers that remained in Winterhold.

"So, what's going on with you?" Enthir asked looking around at the state of the Arch-Mage's quarters. Scrolls and books were scattered around Brelyna on the floor and not to mention the vase she had broken just seconds ago was shattered in a poor state on the floor by the bed. "You pissed at Kydin or something? Just what did the guy do to make you ransack his chambers?"

Brelyna wasn't exactly sure how she was going to explain this. Tolfdir had asked her to keep Kydin's disappearance to herself rather than risk having the entire College falling into a state of panic. They had already lost one Arch-Mage this year and they didn't need to hear about the possibility that they might have lost another. Though she was sure that Nirya, who was only a student of the arcane arts compared to the other masters at the College and who always held herself and her skills far above everyone else, would have no issue volunteering for the position. Kydin himself had only been a student just months ago when their previous Arch-Mage, Savos Aren, had been killed by Ancano, a Thalmor spy who had been posing as an advisor to Savos at the College. Ancano had killed Savos in his plot to harness the supreme power of the Eye of Magnus. In the end Kydin had helped put an end to Ancano and saved the College from certain destruction as well prove himself more than capable for the role of Savos' replacement during the event.

"Ahhh," Brelyna dragged out as she tried to think of a logical reason for her to be in Kydin's quarters. "Tolfdir just asked me to find an item of his that he thought he left here in Kydin's room." Yes, she wasn't exactly the best liar in the land. In fact she was a down right poor one as Kydin had been so kind to bring to her attention time and time again.

"Oh, so he lost something. That's not very surprising as the old man is always misplacing things." Anyone that knew Tolfdir knew that the man had a bad habit of leaving his things in the strangest of places. As skilled as a mage that the elder was he didn't exactly have the best memory when it came to his belongings. "Need any help?" Enthir offered.

"No, it's okay, but thank you for offering," Brelyna tried to wave him off hoping he would just leave so that she could continue her search.

"Are you sure? I'm very good at finding things."

Brelyna debated with herself. On one hand she promised Tolfdir that she wouldn't tell anyone, but on the other hand… well, she could use all the help she could get if she was going to help Kydin.

"Alright," she accepted. "But, Enthir, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?"

The elf shrugged. "Sure, what's the problem?"

Brelyna hesitated before telling him, "Kydin is missing."

"Oh Honey," Enthir sighed, "there already is word buzzing around about that. Practically the whole College is talking about it."

"Well, so much for keeping everything hush hush," she mumbled.

Enthir laughed. "Well, what did Tolfdir think the rest of us would think after we saw a dragon that didn't terrorize the College for once but also saw a Greybeard riding it? Everybody knew something was up when we finally took our eyes off of the giant lizard and noticed the old man getting off it. Well, except the apprentices as those guys never seem to have a clue of what's going on." He rambled. "So, what's this thing you need to find for Tolfdir? Like I said I have a knack for finding things."

"I'm looking for the Staff of Magnus," Brelyna told him. "Tolfdir thinks that it will help us locate Kydin."

"Hmmm, the Staff of Magnus," Enthir scratched his head in thought. "Yes, I remember that item, but our fearless leader doesn't keep it here at the College."

"What?!" Brelyna exclaimed. "You mean I turned this College upside-down for nothing?!"

"Come on, Brelyna," the Wood Elf chuckled at her reaction. "You should know better than anyone that it's not Kydin's style. Keeping it here at the College would be such an obvious place. He didn't keep it here in case the Thalmor ever tried to come back for it. You don't know where they hide their agents these days. If his enemies want something from him he makes sure that they work for it."

"So," Brelyna started off as her mind began racing thinking of alternative places where a man like Kydin would hide a precious relic. "If the staff is not here then where in Skyrim could he have it?"

Enthir smiled knowingly. "Lucky for us I just happen to know where he has hidden it."

"You do?" Brelyna asked clearly surprised that Enthir of all people would know such a thing. "But, wait, how would you know where he is keeping it?"

"Because I'm the one that suggested the hiding place."

Alistair woke early the next morning having been in a restless state all night after hearing the story that the stranger, Kydin, had to share. He supposed it was his own fault as, after all, he was the one who insisted that the man tell the story. It had left him thinking on what Kydin had said about his land and the conflict between humans and the dragons that had again risen from the depths of their earthy graves all because of this Alduin. He was no ordinary dragon from what Kydin had described as "a black cloud of terror covering the land from all across the horizon spelling doom for all mortals." That alone was enough to give Alistair goosebumps causing him to wonder what this Alduin would be like compared to the Archdemon that led the darkspawn horde. If Alduin was as bad news as Kydin had made him out to be then he also questioned whether or not this would be a threat they would have to face once they united the land and battled against the Blight should they be the victors. He thought back on Kydin's response when he voiced his concerns on the possibility of it.

"Alduin would be much less of a threat here than he was in Skyrim." Kydin explained to him. "There he had a gateway to Sovngarde, the land of the dead, where he feasted on the souls of the departed to regain his strength. He won't have that here."

"How do you know that he can't gain access from our world?" Alistair asked.

"I've been to Sovngarde. The gateway is a physical portal in Skyrim located in the most highest and treacherous of peaks. Unreachable to anyone except for dragons. And it is the only way for one to gain access to the land of the dead where the souls of fallen heroes live out the rest of their eternal lives. Even if he were at full strength Alduin is not capable of creating such a portal."

With that explanation and Kydin's confidence Alistair's anxiety calmed down somewhat.

"But what about now?" Alistair continued to press. Though Alduin might not be able to replenish his true strength here it didn't mean that he wasn't capable of other means of destruction on his own. Alduin was a dragon after all and the last time he'd checked dragon's had the nasty ability to breath fire. "What damage can he do in the state he is in now?"

Kydin didn't hesitate in his reply, which to Alistair meant that the man had already pondered this question before in his own mind. "He is greatly weakened that I am certain of and seeing how he hasn't swooped down on me from the sky yet shows just how weak he really is." He looked up at the night sky, his keen eyes searching as if expecting his words to summon the beast. "If he truly wanted to he could find me."

"Swooping is bad," Alistair couldn't help but comment.

Kydin continued, "Alduin is a cunning devious beast and he will bide his time. There is no doubt in my mind that , even as we speak, he is trying to regain the strength he has lost. That is why I will find him as fast as possible and kill him, hopefully, before he does any serious damage here in your land as he has in mine."

A chilling thought came to Alistair. "Could he raise past dragons here as he has done in Skyrim?" If this Alduin could somehow locate the Old Gods that lay dormant deep within the earth and bring them all to life that would not only mean the end of Ferelden, but for the destruction of all of Thedas.

It was said that the Magisters of the Tevinter Imperium had worshipped the Old Gods thousand of years ago; seven to be exact. To this day four of the seven dragons that had been turned into Archdemons by the darkspawn had been slain since the first Blight hundreds of years ago. One Archdemon was bad enough, but if Alduin was able to summon the final two then that would no doubt spell doom for them all.

"You need not worry about that," Kydin assured him. "Alduin knew the locations of the burial grounds of his fallen brethren. If dragons are extinct here as you say they are, then sooner or later he will know that he is the only one of his kind here and that there will be no one to follow his self proclaimed leadership."

With his concerns answered Alistair continued to listen to Kydin's tales of slaying dragons on top of trying to straighten out a civil war to gain the sources he needed to face Alduin and he couldn't help but compare his crisis with Ferelden's own. With him being the last of the Grey Warden order in the land it was up to him and the rest of the party that had gathered together to unite the land, create an army, and face the Archdemon before the Blight had really begun. Ostagar was just the beginning of it. Also hearing whispers in local taverns about the possibility of a civil war of their very own was anything but good news. This whole situation was a mess. If only Duncan were here he would know what to do.

"Morning," Alistair heard Kydin greet him snapping him out of his depressing thoughts. Looking to his left from his seat around the campfire he saw the man yawning awake where he had slept against a tree the whole night. That couldn't have been very comfortable. "Sleep well?"

"Not really," Alistair replied.

Kydin chuckled weakly, "Did my little camp fire story keep you up all night?"

"What can I say," Alistair smirked, "you are a very good story teller."

Kydin shrugged before getting to his feet. "I get good practice from telling my friends back home tales of my adventures. Though, some of them are a little skeptical if half the stuff I say is actually true," he ended with a small chuckle as he took a seat next to him by the fire.

Even though Alistair had only known Kydin for only just over a day he could honestly say that the man beside him was one of the most interesting people that he had ever met. Just by looking at his gear Alistair could see that he traveled around a lot and had vast experience if the sword that he kept by his side said anything about it. He, for one, sure didn't want to go picking a fight with him. Sure the man seemed pretty rough around the edges, but he could see that Kydin was starting to lower his guard around them just a little. He wasn't such a bad a man as Leliana had complained about him the other day. But soon they would be parting ways when they arrive at Haven later today after all they both had their own duty at hand to see to. Still it would almost be sad to see him off when they were just starting to get to know the man.

Kydin looked around at the bodies that lay dead all around him. The townsfolk of Haven were not the friendliest of folk, to put it lightly. Since he and his acquaintances first stepped foot into the village he immediately knew that something wasn't right. The atmosphere, the people, everything gave off an odd feeling that had his skin crawling. He just got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and in the past his gut had not once steered him wrong.

"Well," he heard Alistair sigh as he approached him, "that wasn't entirely unexpected." Kydin couldn't disagree with him, especially, once they had found that corpse at the back of that little thrifty shop that they had first visited upon entering the village.

"What-to find a cult up in the mountains? This won't be my first time finding one," he said thinking on the number of shrines to various Deadra princes he had just happen upon while scouring Skyrim's many treacherous mountains. "You sure that this is the right place?" Looking around he could see that Haven wasn't a particularly large village that was nestled just short of the base of a few mountain peaks which was part of a range that Alistair had told him were called the Frostback Mountains. There were a few huts in the tree-lined clearing that they stood in but, looking farther up the path before them, Kydin could just make out the rooftops of more buildings. Chances were there would be more resistance up there as well for in a place as quiet and still as Haven the sounds of steel clashing and war cries had a way of echoing.

"Positive," Alistair responded confidently. "The man we came here looking for, Brother Genitivi, we found his assistant dead in his house with a fraud posing as him. His notes led us here." So, this was a save and rescue mission mixed in with a treasure hunt. Interesting. Well, since he was already somewhat involved in this he might as well help them out and see this through. Once again he found himself in a situation where his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"Well, then let us go and find the good Brother," Kydin said as he made his way toward the bottom of the next hill that would lead them up further into the village where no doubt others would be lying in wait for them.

Alistair studied him with a surprised expression for a minute. "You don't have to do that, you know. It's not like we expect you to. You're not involved in this; you can walk away."

"I know," Kydin replied slinging his sword casually over his shoulder to look back at him. "But I was never one to turn away from a fight. Nor do I take it too kindly when someone tries to make an attempt on my life."

But his words only seemed to leave the man at a loss, "But why?"

"Look, I don't make it a habit on turning my back on someone in need, alright. So if you want to save this Genitivi then I suggest we get going. We're wasting daylight here."

Alistair shook his head in wonder before jogging up to him as the others of the group began to follow them. "You know death could be waiting right around the corner," he smirked.

Kydin returned it, "Then I'm just going to have introduce him to my blade then, won't I?"