AN: I'm. So. Sorry. For. Not. Updating. This. In. Almost. A. Month. Really. I've been so busy with graduation and all of the other things that go with it, writing my Valedictorian address, and multiple prayers, that it just… slipped my mind! Luckily, I'm done with school until this coming fall, so I should be back to updating regularly again!

I woke up to the sound of jingling chains and the worst pain I'd ever been in. I let out a pained wheeze trying to figure out where I was and what had happened to me. My wrists were shackled to the wall behind me; that explains the pain in my wrists. The rest of the room I was in was bare, save a table pushed against the wall beside me. What was on the table made my stomach drop.

There had to be at least twenty glinting knives and embalming tools lying on the table. I've got to get out of here. Trying to keep calm, I decided my best chance would be to melt the chains around my wrists with a fire spell, and get out stealthily. I can't fight with these wounds. My hope turned to horror when nothing happened as I tried to summon my magicka. Now I was beginning to panic. Spell after spell failed to work.

When the spells didn't work, it hit me; I was really in deep now. I let a single tear roll down my cheek before stopping myself. I WILL NOT give my captors the satisfaction of seeing my weakness!

I could hear footsteps nearing the door to my holding cell; I began to pray. Please! Someone save me!

I had sent for a courier to deliver the bad news to Jorvaskr while I stayed in Winterhold with the mages. They told me that they might have a way of finding Isabelle, but weren't positive that it would work. We would be leaving to a Dwarven ruin called Mzulft; apparently there is an observatory that finds "powerful magical artifacts." That day that I met Isabelle on the road and she dragged me to Winterhold… She must have just left this place. Hopefully Isabelle or her robes will be powerful enough to show up on the map.

Five of the best college mages would be accompanying me: Colette, Faralda, and Tolfdir, Drevis, and Phinis. Between the five mages, every school of magic would be covered; maybe it would be enough to get us through the ruins. There have been tales of the mechanical guardians and the twisted Falmer that roam the ruins.

I decided that my greatsword would need sharpening before the venture into the ruins, and headed to the guard barracks in town. The Companions and the guards across Skyrim have an agreement of sorts, allowing us to use their grindstones when we need. As I sat at the grindstone, all I could think of was Isabelle. What if she's hurt? I don't know where to begin looking; if the Silver Hand has her, we don't have much time to find her.

I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't heard the footsteps approaching me until they were right behind me. "Vilkas, we're ready to go whenever you are."

I was surprised at how unobservant I was, to have Tolfdir sneak up on me. I didn't show my surprise and responded to the old man after standing and collecting my things. "I'm ready," I said, as I walked towards the exit. The other four mages were waiting in front of the barracks as I exited. The look on Colette's face summed up our feelings on this venture. This is going to go miserably; I can feel it.

Just as expected, it went miserably. The ruins were mostly empty until we got about halfway through; then the mechanical guardians showed up. A steam-powered behemoth that had to be at least fifteen feet tall almost killed us; Drevis quit poking things after that. We finally managed to reach the orrery with minor injuries; thankfully the Falmer never showed.

The observatory was impressive; I'll give it that. Thankfully, Isabelle had explained how to use the machine to Tolfdir before she came back home to Whiterun; apparently she wanted it investigated. It took a matter of minutes before Tolfdir had the machine up and running. The large crystal in the center of the room projected a map of Skyrim onto the wall below the control panel.

A little south of Dawnstar, a bright pinprick of light shone like a star. The location was very near a known Silver Hand hideout, Fort Fellhammer. We've got you now, bastards. You'll wish you had never fucked with the Companions.

Against my will, the mages voted to go to Whiterun first. They wanted to get the extra help from the rest of the Companions, and they wanted to stock up on potions. I knew that the mages were right, but I just wanted to get to Isabelle. She had already been missing for two days now; Talos knows what the Silver Hand had done to her by now. Just the thought of someone hurting Isabelle made the beast inside of me want to be set free.

The mages voted to stay the night in Whiterun and leave very early in the morning to attack the fort. Knowing that there was no use in arguing with them, I just agreed.

All of the Companions had come to at least like Isabelle. After telling them of Viranus' betrayal, and Isabelle's kidnapping, the entirety of Jorvaskr, minus Eorlund, Kodlak, and Tilma, were going to Fort Fellhammer. By the time we had left the gates, it looked as if we had recruited a small army. There goes any element of surprise we may have had.

The march to the fort was mostly uneventful; we decimated a small bandit group in the plains to the west of Whiterun. The rest of the trip was full of chattering between the warriors and the mages, except for Faralda. Faralda had decided to walk with me ahead of the group.

The elf finally spoke after a long silence. "So, what is going on between you and Isabelle?"

My face burned. "I don't know what you're talking about." I kept walking forward and didn't spare a glance towards the elf.

I heard her let out a rough laugh. "Well, you seem to care a great deal about her. I know she must at least be a very good friend."

I snorted. She thinks she can manipulate me. "She is a very good friend," I said simply.

Faralda let out a tiny snort. "You're going to make this difficult, aren't you? This generally works better if you just come out and answer me, instead of you making me make you answer me."

I just wore a small smirk on my face and ignored her. That is, until I felt a small shock. A yelp came out of my mouth at the pain, causing Faralda to laugh loudly. "What in Talos' name is wrong with you?" I yelled at the elf.

She wore the smirk this time. "Like I said, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. I will have a definite answer by the time we reach this fort."

Deciding that I didn't want to be shocked the whole way to the fort, I spoke. "What do you want to know?"

I heard her huff. "I already asked. What is going on between you two?"

My face burned. I honestly didn't know at all what Isabelle thought of me. Sometimes she seemed to care a great deal about me, and then others she seemed to hate me. I told Faralda just as much and listened as she laughed.

Before I could say anything she cut me off. "I'm sorry, carry on. It's cute how oblivious you are."

That shut me up. Oblivious? "What are you talking about?"

Faralda gave me an unbelieving look. "Wow. She said you were the smart one, too. She likes you, maybe even loves you. She told me so during her stay at the College."

I was shocked. I didn't know how to respond and just stared at Faralda, mouth agape.

Faralda let out another laugh. "I was going to try and coax a confession out of you, but that seemed like more trouble than it was worth, so I decided to just come out and say it. Someone has to get the ball rolling around here!"

I finally got over my shock and spoke. "Why hasn't she said anything?"

Faralda shrugged. "Maybe it wasn't ever the right time? Maybe she was scared you would reject her? There could have been a number of things keeping her from telling you how she felt."

Before I could stop myself, a grin began to form on my face. Instead of the usual scowl or smirk, this smile was full of happiness and nothing else. I stopped and grabbed Faralda into a bear hug. "Thank you!"

Faralda was looking at me like I was crazy, but I just kept on grinning even after I let her go. The woman I love likes me!

Upon my arrival at this horrible place, I figured that I had been kidnapped for a reason. Maybe it would have something to do with my duties as Arch-Mage? I was surprised though, when Viranus walked through the door. In simple terms he told me why I was here.

At first, he had just been sent to the Companions to infiltrate the warrior group and take it down from the inside out. Then I came and messed up his plan. By the time that Viranus had explained that he loved me, I knew that he was messed up in the head.

I figured he would be mostly harmless, until he backhanded me. Then I realized I was at the mercy of a psychopath, and there was nothing I could do about it. It had been about three days since he had begun his torture.

I had been sliced until I couldn't scream any more. The wounds littered my entire body; from ankle to wrist, I was covered in cuts and gashes. When Viranus grew tired of his knives, he would just use me as a punching bag. I could tell that he had already broken two of my ribs; I can only pray that he hasn't caused any internal bleeding.

The physical attacks I could handle. Viranus' verbal attacks were an infinite amount worse than his physical assaults. Today's "attacks" were the worst so far. They had left me feeling dirty and used, as I had stooped to Viranus' levels.

Viranus swaggered into my dank holding cell with a crazed look in his eyes. I knew I was in trouble. "Hello, my love. I was thinking… Wouldn't you love to see those parents of yours again? I could just have some of my men go and "pick" them up tonight? Wouldn't that be fun?"

I began to panic. "You leave them out of this. They've done nothing to you. I'm the one you want; not them!"

Viranus had a cruel smirk on his face. "Well damn. I figured you would want to see them. Too bad I can't call back my men. Woops."

My face paled. "You bastard! Don't touch them! I'll kill you! The Companions won't let you have them! When they find me here with you… you'll wish you were dead. Vilkas will come for me, and he will kill you!"

I had taken control, and Viranus knew it. "You stupid bitch! Don't talk about that miserable Nord in my presence again!" The sound of Viranus hand slapping my face resounded in the small room.

Instead of whimpering or cowering, I let out a dark laugh. "You can try all you want, but the sad truth is that you'll never be half the man that Vilkas is. You'll never be as fast, or smart. Best of all, you'll never have me. Vilkas does, not you."

By this point Viranus was too angry to retort, and instead, began to beat me until I blacked out.

I couldn't tell how many Silver Hand were inside of the fort. All I ever saw was Viranus and the same man that brought me stale bread and dirty water once a day. The man also gives me an injection daily, which I guess is what is inhibiting my magicka. Regardless of how much I thrash around to escape the needle, I still wind up taking it.

I've come to realize that the only way I'll be leaving here is if someone breaks me out. Viranus has made sure that I can't escape. All I can do is pray to Talos to send someone to save me.

AN: Well, that was pretty bad. That was also pretty boring. I'm out of my groove; hopefully I'll get back to par on my writing soon enough!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!