Malfor and Jorgensen approached a small, long abondoned mine at them bottom of large mountain, about a ten minute walk from the stables. They did their best to make sure no one was around. As they opened the door Jorgensen saw complete darkness and felt a strong sense of Daedric presence.

He was beginning to feel that he was being set up and placed his hand on his mace. They saw someone with a torch approaching them through a long hallway. They both remained completely silent as the torch moved its way towards them. As it approached closer Jorgensen let go of his weapon as he saw M' Arques approach them.

M' Arques put his finger over his mouth to indicate to be quiet as he led them down the dark hallway. They finally came to a wooden door and walked through it to find Anaelle and Kainnan leaning over Travius motionless body, Deena trying her best to occupy a very nervous Astrid. Trish and Aratore sat leaning on each other in a corner.

"Uncle!" Trish ran over to him with tears in here eyes.

He wasn't quite sure if her tears were joy or otherwise but it didn't matter much to him as she embraced him in a hug. He squeezed her tight and she winced as her chest rubbed his armor.

"Are you hurt dear?" He asked as he pulled a healing spell with his hand and ran it up and down her body.

"What happened to your chest, girl?" He asked her.

She pulled down her collar to reveal a freshly branded X on her chest.

"This Ink Son did that you?" He asked with an obvious anger in his voice.

She nodded her head and covered the brand back up.

"I'm too late to keep it from scarring but the pain should be gone and the rot won't seep in now." He said as she grabbed him and hugged him again, she squeezed him tight since she no longer had to worry about irritating her wound in his armor.

"Some received much worse than myself." She said as she looked to Travius and Aratore and loosened her embrace on him.

He walked over to Travius and Kainan stood up and extended his arm. The most obvious thing Jorgenson noticed was his dark brotherhood armor, exposing why Malfor didn't want the Oculatus agents in here. He was mostly concerned about the strong dark force he felt coming from Kainan. He could tell it was a Daedric aura. He felt the same energy from Travius body.

"Here's a man who needs no introduction. The names Kainan." He said.

Like most people he winced at the pressure of Jorgensen's shake. Jorgensen simply nodded to him and knelt down to Travius. Anaelle kept her focus on Travius. Travius armor was broken in several places. He looked studiously at the blue patterns running all over his face and chest he could feel the cold coming from his weak breaths. His eyes had taken the color of a dark icy blue.

Jorgensen cast a healing spell but despite feeling his breath could sense no heart beat, his lungs did not pump and his eye seemed lifeless. Jorgensen cast a detect life spell and found that despite him having no real vital signs he was still very much alive. Matter of fact Jorgensen had never seen someone glow so much in his vision with his spell.

"Touch him" Anaelle said to Him.

Jorgensen reached out and touched Travis with his hand and was so cold it hurt to the touch.

"What in Oblivion.?" Jorgensen said.

Jorgensen cast another healing spell to try and analyze the body again. His mind appeared to be the only active part of his body.

"Hes not dead is he? He can't be." Anaelle asked.

"We need him."

"No, He's in some sort of stasis. I've seen this before, A Daedra has his mind." He said.

We need to get him somewhere safer when he comes through. He has fresh scars. He'll need treatment when he comes back to his body.

These scars here on his side and shoulder seem like they should have been fatal wounds. The wound in his chest should have killed his almost immediately. The healing pattern indicates a rapid healing from a spell or potion. Did any of you give him anything?" He asked the group.

"I tried but he can't swallow" Anaelle said

Jorgensen then noticed the Gauntlet on his left arm and popped open the latch to the secret compartment. He saw all three soul gems were gone. The gauntlet was cracked badly and the vials were empty.

"Looks like he took something himself. Those concentrated potions from the college. All three of them." Jorgensen said

"He saw what happened to Vhornyak with just one, he wouldn't be so foolish." Anaelle told him.

"I don't know that he did it on purpose. Look at these ice scars on him. It starts at his lungs and it gets lighter and it goes down his arms and his face meaning that's the direction it was moving. It looks like it destroyed his armor on the way up. The gauntlet is damaged. I'm thinking the ice caused him to take them against his will.

These potions should have been destroyed after what happened with Vhornyak. This is just like Yarwil, messing with power he has no business attending to." Jorgensen said angrily.

"He had the best of intentions making them." Anaelle snapped at him.

"The empire had the best of intentions singing the White-Gold Concordant. How did that work out?" Jorgensen snapped back.

Malfor interjected.

"If you think anything about the White-Gold Concordant was done in good faith you have a gross misunderstanding about any of it.

This is not the time for this argument. Yarwil did not do this. His potions, as irresponsible and dangerous as they are, did not do this. We have no reason to assume he would be alive at all with out them anyway. You have said yourself this is clearly the doing of a Deadric prince. Yarwil is probably dead along with the rest of the college in any case."

Jorgensen said nothing as he knew Malfor was right and he walked over to Trish and Aratore. He noticed Aratore hadn't said a word since he got there. He was staring at the floor and angrily whittling a large branch. Trish sat next to him nervously. Despite his apparent angry attitude her look was more of sympathy than fear.

"You're awfully quiet, boy. You moving from bows to spears now?" He joked but Aratore just responded by throwing the stick down.

He saw the bruises on Aratore wrists and scratches on his face that looked like he had fallen on it. Jorgensens hand started to glow yellow with healing spell and laid his hand in Aratores shoulder.

Aratores flinched.

"Don't touch me!" He said quickly

"Aye boy, ok." Jorgensen said to him confused as he hovered his hand over his body and cast the spell and Aratores face healed up and then Jorgenson hovered his hand down his back and then as he approached his midsection he could fell where his real damage was.

"Oh my" he said under his breath.

Aratore jumped up as he felt the tingling and just moved to the closest wall and leaned against it.

Jorgensen looked at Trish.

"Why don't you distract the girls so Anaelle can help with Travius."

Trish just looked at him and then back to Aratore and seemed like she was about to cry.

"Of course Uncle." She said as she walked away.

Jorgensen gently approached Aratore who was trying to hide his tears as he leaned on the wall.

"I guess she told you. I guess everyone will know now. Everyone saw it." Aratore said.

"No one told me anything. I can feel what I'm healing when I do it. With the aside, It's in your eyes."

Jorgensen then leaned on the wall next to him.

"According to reports from the Imperials, this Ink Son does that whenever he takes over a clan. He does it to demoralize the leaders."

"Well, he skipped a few people." Aratore said

"Did he? The Jarl is gone, Travius is in here and he captured Vhornyak for a personal vendetta. He needed someone strong, someone the people looked up to. That was you.

When someone does what he did to you, it's not about the pain in the moment, it's about the pain in your heart afterwards. He wanted to break you. He wants you to hide in a cave in fear. Don't give him what he wants. When we rescue Vhornyak and take back your home, we need to make damn sure he sees your face when we do it." Jorgensen then walked over and picked up his bow and handed it to Aratore.

"What will it be boy? Will you succumb to his actions or will you carry on despite him?" He asked.

Aratore grabbed the bow and wiped his eyes and then stood up straight and looked at Jorgensen.

"I think I need a tattoo myself. Let's go get back my home."

Jorgensen then slapped him on his chest in excitement.

"There's my boy!" Jorgensen said.

………………………..

Anaelle was lying down next to Travius with her arm and over his frigid chest. Unlike everyone else the cold didn't bother her.

She was deep in thought, her mind flooded of her memories with him and of what had happened today. She jumped up when she realized something.

"Jorgensen, you said you believe this to be a Deadric power he is under right?" She asked him.

"I believe it without a doubt, yes. Which one I could not tell you, but I wouldn't put it past any of them." He answered her

"The arrow that was shot and sparked the violence with the Thalmor in the spring. It had some sort of deadric enchantment and a prayer written on it. Yarwil believed it to be a prayer to Boethia." She told him

"Sounds like the arrow that killed the prior Emperor. I would be inclined to agree with Yarwil, this is exactly the type of things Boethia would be a part of." Jorgenson spoke as he looked around to see who was in earshot.

"Who is your friend from the brotherhood? Malfor Implied you already knew him."

"I'm not with them anymore." She said quickly.

"That wasn't my point of asking. I don't know what he told you but he knows more about what's happening than he's letting on. I feel the same magic on him that I do on Travius." He said

"I agree. Now, take anything I say with a certain level of doubt as I haven't worked with him in nearly twenty years but something is off about him. He said he was here for a contract on a dockworker but that the forsworn took care of it before he could so he decided to help.

That alone is suspicious. He is rumored to be the listener here in Skyrim now. A contract on someone like a dockworker as far away from anything else as Winterhold is usually given to new recruits. Kainnan is too skilled and experienced to have his time occupied with something so low profile and isolated. Certainly if he is in fact the listener." She said

"You don't believe the rumors?" He asked.

"He is a braggart and a bit of a fame seeker. If he was the listener we would have all heard of it by now. He seems anxious almost though." She said curiously.

"He's acting almost as if he's guilty."

"Where does M'Arques come into play here?" He asked

"M' Arques has an ear on someone's lips and a hand in someone's pocket at any institution in Skyrim. It would be foolish for both sides if that didn't extend to the Dark Brotherhood."

"I'm going to head back to camp. We need to get Vhornyak. Things could very ugly tomorrow. No one leave here until I send word. Can we all honor that?" He asked everyone as he waved for Aratore.

………………………..

Demetri and his two fellow agents easily made it through the forest undetected and found the narrow road from the west of the city. They were probably an hours walk away from the city when they stumbled across an abandoned carriage with three bodies lying around it.

All three cautiously approached and inspected. The armor on the men was of the militia and certainly not forsworn as they two Bosmer and one Khajit.

All three of them had their weapons and the contents of their satchels emptied. The horse was gone and the supply chest was also emptied. The peculiar part was how all three seamed to have such drastically different wounds. One had with what was clearly a fornsworn weapon in his chest, another that had seemed to have been mauled by an animal and a third body whose head had been completely obliterated.

"One horse carriage, heading west. This has to of been it." Demetri said to the others.

"I'm willing to bet a saber cat didn't stab someone in the chest and crush someone's head. Either he got free or something real big and real scary roams these woods. Keep alert." He said

"Sir, we've got tracks." One of them said.

All three of them checked the ground and saw the tracks of a horse accompanied by paw prints that from a dog or a wolf.

"Looks like our big scary monster is just a friendly but probably very angry Orc. Let's see if we can catch up to him."