As the night wore on the small group marched ever diligently to Riverwood, the sky a mass of stars of all kinds of color, the larger moon was full to it's bursting point while the smaller moon was waning away. Magna yawned once more, tried from working at the forge all day, then the fight with the vampire a few hours ago, her nerves shot to Oblivion and back now that she was traveling with Baldar and a odd Orc that came to their rescue. They had traveled in relative silence for awhile, Magna following behind Baldar since he could see better in the dark then she ever could thanks to his cat eyes. Letting out a long sigh, Magna broke the silence by turning her head back to look at the large Orc male walking behind them for a moment before turning to look where she was going.

"So what kind of monsters where those hounds? They were rotting in places and last time I check not even the undead in the hall of the dead had dogs like that." Magna voice chipped away at the silence again, her curiosity finally eating away at her enough to speak.

"They were Death Hounds, the Dawnguard believes them to be dogs which have contracted Sanguinare Vampiris. The disease that makes people into Vampires." He said, twirling an axe in his hand like it was a common motion for him.

"I see… and you mentioned something about how the disease is becoming more volatile in reaction to your potions?" Magna pressed edging away a little bit from the Orc as he spun his axe, uncomfortable at how at ease he was with the weapon. If given the choice Magna figured she would rather deal with Baldar then with the axe twirling Orc if they went on a rampage.

"Yes, the best we can figure, there is some sort of tampering has been occurring. Whether just the virus itself has been changed or Molag bal tampered with it, we do not know. God help you if you're bit though. Your cat friend can attest to that."

"Here here." Baldar said dryly, obviously not happy wolfhound previous rolled her eyes a little bit at Baldar reactions but paused at the thought of a Daedric for could be messing in the affairs of mortals like this.

"Well have you found anything that might suggest you might need to start making stronger cure potions? The potions I have made in the past normally do the trick with anyone who has been infected but they never reacted like Baldar did. They normal just slept for a day to recover and had some digestive upset from the bitter taste." Magna mused half to herself and half out loud, rubbing a hand under her chin took she focused on the road beneath her feet.

"It's not the cure that needs strengthening. No matter what you give people, they will always vomit horrible black sludge." He said, tossing his axe up and catching it before finally stohead, giving slipping it between his , butre was anything that could help, I'd be the first to know."

"Yes but the convulmine, dammit, I have never seen a person convulse like that before. But I am sure you have seen more examples from your line of… wOrc." Magna pointed out, shifting the spell tome she haisten carrying since the attack giving it a once over again. If it was not for the poor light she would go ahead and be reading it while they walked but it would not do her eyes any is breaking she tried it now. With a heavy sigh Magna shifted the tome around in her arms drifting back off into her thoughts , pondering over what a person could add to a cure disease potion to help with any digestive upset so it would Magna, started to pass the black sludge. "There was several different things one would add to the potion but there is no way to really study its effects without a large sample group, someone who lives in one of the bigger holds would be able to do it…" Still deep in her thoughts Magna didn't see the slight glint of golden light by the nearby bushes.

Baldar put his hand out and stopped her from going any further forward before ducking down with his bow. "Magna, stop. There's something in that bush."

"What kind of eyes does it have?" The Orc asked, getting his axe off his belt and stepping up besides the cat.

"Lsigh, bute it has golden eyes. It's probably a bed, taking bush suddenly moved and Baldar loosed an arrow into the bush. The beast inside let out a growl and leaped from the bushes at him. Almost comically, the cat went to back up but the mud on the ground moved out from under him and his attacker landed on top of him. It then began to shower numerous licks over his face at a rapid pace. "Gah, damn dogs!"

Magna blinked slowly watching the wolfhound on top of Baldar showering him with 'kisses, a small giggling, bubbling up from her chest as she looked on at the disgruntled cat. I think it likes you Baldar." Magna cooed softly walking over to the hound holding out one of her hands for it to sniff. The hound stopped mid lick to look up at Magna. Staring back into the hounds golden eyes, Magna turned her body slightly away from the dog, as it walked over slowly sniffing at her hand for a moment before before giving it a lick with a happy bark. "Good dog! Can you get off the cat? Can you do that? Yes you can that's a good dog~" Magna sing sung at the hound who happily barked again freeing Baldar from the muddy ground.

"Gah, stupid dog!" Baldar said, pushing himself up and moving away from the dog and up onto a low hanging branch. "Why did he go for me!?"

"Well, obviously it was testing the weakest of us to see where it would fit in our pack." The orc proclaimed, wiping his nose with one finger. "You are weak after the vampire attack."

"How did he move that fast when he is already hurt?" Magna blinked at where Baldar was one moment then to the low branch he was holding himself up at the next. "He probably… are you a he?" Pausing Magna peaked at the hounds underside and nodded in confirmation. "Yep, definitely a he. Anyway, he was probably smelling the food you carry around in your bag. Poor thing looks like it's half starved." Magna pointed out running her hands down the dog's side feeling its ribs among the coarse curly fur.

"Then let it die!" Baldar hissed, glaring at the dog.

"You know, dogs are great animals to have in battle. I say you should keep him girl." The Orc said, crossing his arms and giving Baldar a smirk.

"What?! NO I will not kill the dog Baldar! Honestly that attacked must have done something to your head I swear." Magna huffed crossing her arms, the dog beside her seemed to huff as well and if she didn't know better Magna would even say it rolled its eyes at the group. "I think I should keep it like he said, after all we are not going to be together much longer, just until I get to the Mage Collage." She pointed out putting a hand on her hip with the other hand on top of the dog's head glaring back at Baldar from his perch.

"Yes, and what happens if they don't take dogs?" He asked, eyes locked on the dogs. "You'll end up asking me to take care of the mutt."

"Well I will just have to think of something to tell them to let me take him in with me. Maybe something about a magical experiment who knows I will think of something Baldar. You don't have to worry about me asking you take care of him." Magna felt her teeth grind down together, her fists clenching and unclenching. The dog in question growled at Baldar, braking quickly at the cat in the tree.

The cat let out a low growl and started to get down from his perch atop the branch. He seemed very hesitant to move forward but ended up rejoining the group. "If I have to take care of that thing…" He shook his head and took off down the road leaving the Orc and her alone.

"What's his problem?" The Orc asked, mockingly. The wolfhound woofed and trotted after Baldar pausing to look back at the Orc and Magna and gave another woof as if trying to beckon the group.

"Could be head trauma could be his attitude, take your pick."Magna shortly pointed out crossing her arms as she started to walk again, picking up the pace to make sure she didn't get left behind with the stranger. Watching her the wolf hound waited until she was close by and started to trot next to her once more, his tail wagging as if nothing had happened and it was the most care free dog in the world. "Don't worry boy, I will make sure you get some food when we get into town okay?"

The dog then sniffed the air and turned around and pointed to Baldar's sack with his nose. That was followed up by a small whimper from him. The cat met this with a glare and he grabbed his bag back from the hound. "No, you can't have my venison!"

"Since when can a Khajiit afford venison?" The Orc asked, obviously thinking that Baldar has bought it back in the city.

"I don't know where I got it, it was just mine. I found it in my bag last night and am saving it." He said, pulling his bag up and holding it to his chest.

Magna put a hand on her hip holding out her other hand giving Baldar a pointed look before speaking. "Then give me my bag then, you said you grabbed it before I came into the Inn today. I will share my food with the hound." Magna huffed taking a few more quick steps to keep up with Baldar. "When we get into Riverwood I will take the time to go hunting so you don't have to share."

Baldar reached into his own bag and pulled out Magna's nap sack. "Fine, here you go. But mark my words that dog will only lead us into trouble."

"OKay now you are just being silly, it's a dog Baldar not a Daedric prince in disguise." Magna growing tired of Baldar odd behavior did her best to hold her tongue on the comments she really wanted to say about Baldar cathood being the issue at the moment with the dog. Grabbing her bag Magna pulled it opened and rummaged around for the loaf of stale bread she had bought the night before. Splitting it in half Magna offered it to the wolfhound that only sniffed at it before trying to consume the bread and her hand in one bite. "Easy boy! No need to take my hand too, poor thing." Magna chuckled a little bit as the dog walked and chewed the bread, whimpering happily at the small meal.

The cat simple scoffed and took off down the path with his arms crossed, leaving Magna with the Orc. "You two have a curious relationship. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was your brother."

"Try more of a mutual forced relationship and you would be closer." Magna huffed feeling her face contorting into an ugly scowl at the thought of the slightly chance someone would have thought they would be related in any way. Beside her the hound made a snirking weeze that drew Magna attention to it once more with a raised eyebrow but quickly dismissed it once more. "I wonder how much longer do we have to walk till we reach the town…"

"Not much farther, up around this bend is the standing stones nearby. They are pretty good at marking when you are close." The Orc stated, cracking his knuckles casually and showing that it was a force of habit. Even though they had made it this far without incident, he was still on edge for whatever was coming. Magna noticed the Orc being on edge and it made her on edge in return, after all who knows when the orc would turn on them in a blood rage and simply kill them all under the guys of them being "vampires".

"Right, the Warrior Stone, the Mage Stone, and the Thief Stone that make up the Guardian stones." Magna nodded her head in acknowledgment to the orc keeping close to her new found hound friend feeling safer around the new dog then around then the Orc who still didn't have a name or the cat and his moods. Hearing the hound whimper again Magna sighed hearing her own stomach rumbling in hunger but the puppy dog eyes the hound was giving her at the moment was to much to resist and not give into. Pulling out the last half of her bread Magna tossed it up into the air for the dog to grab midair rather than biting her hand off trying to get it. With a happy bark the hound jumped high into the air grabbing a hold of the food with a wag of his tail chewing on it happily once more.

"You might as well give the dog your food and pick up something for yourself at Riverwood. The inn there has cheap food that's good for the cost. Enough that I always make sure to stop by on my way through town." The Orc declared, walking with her around the bend and bringing his hand up to point at the three stones. "Ah, there are the standing stones."

"That was all my food…" Magna dryly pointed out to the Orc rolling her eyes a little bit at his statement, a course she was going to give the food to the dog! She ate last night and would last a few more days before really needing to eat anyway, it gave her plenty of time to hunt along the way for more food, and the thought of selling the hide of whatever she manage to take down was not that bad either. Tilting her head to the side Magna looked up at the three standing stones, it was not the first time she had saw them, when her father took her to Riverwood a few times in her childhood he allowed her to look but not do anything else with the stones. Magna frowned slightly at the thought of her father crossed into her mind once more, making her shoulder sag a little bit at the thoughts.

"Yeah… there they are." Magna noted softly glancing a head where Baldar just kept walking now about 20 yards away from the small group of three.

""Have you chosen a stone yet?" The Orc asked, watching the cat walk away and then waving him off. "Don't mind him. Cats aren't ones to enjoy the company of a good dog like you got there."

"No, my… father did not like me participating in any kind of magic whatsoever. Including getting a blessing from a standing stone. If it was not from temple then you could forget about it." Magna shifted on her feet trying not to stay on one foot for too long before it started to hurt to much to stand. She chuckled a little bit to herself a small sad smile crossing her lips taking over the frown as she remember her time as a child trying to get out of going to temple or sneaking out in the middle of the night under her father's nose and studying magic just outside of the city.

"Well, the magic of the standing stones grant affluency skills of one's choosing. I think I remember you stating something about needing to get into the Mage's College? The Mage stone could help you with that." He said, throwing his thumb over his shoulder and pointing to the stone with a wizard design on it.

"And the Warrior Stone helps with combat related skills, some say even smithing is including in this blessing." Magna lightly touched the Warrior Stone tracing the hammer the etching was holding in it's hand lightly. "And the Thefts stone blessing makes your tongue quicker, your hands lighter and steadier, and makes your potions more potent." Magna pointed out knowing what each of the 13 stones said to dot around the land of Skyrim did from the books she was able to sneak away from her father from time to time. The hound came and nuzzled its nose into the back of her hand with a small whine breaking her out of her thoughts once more. "Maybe it will help, but I only know two spells, fire and one that makes animals become friends for a while."

"I was just saying it to help you with your studies. Chances are most students at the college have already taken the mage stone's blessing to help them with their classes." The Orc explained, gesturing to all the stones. "In truth, you can choose which ever stone you want."

"I know, just…" Magna sighed rubbing her forehead the headache from the night before coming back with a vengeance making her head pound with every passing moment. With another sigh Magna looked over the small cliff side, walking over to lean against the thieves stone as she watched the river flow and wind around the hills. From her spot up high she could see the small village not to far off, the small dot of Baldar from walking further away from them. The hound barked making Magna turn her attention back to the issue at hand if you could call it that as her new furry companion as it wiggled around on the worn stone pedestal in front of the thieves stone lifting one paw up and placing it onto the stone.

Magna eyes shifted between the dog then the Orc trying to decide between the two of them unsure on what to pick. If she picked the thieves stone she would be able to increase her chances of just talking her hway into the College, not to mention the blessings would enhance her potions allowing her to sell them for more than normal. But on the other had the Mage stone would help her with her mage and even then she would have to talk her way into the Collage. With a deep breath Magna reached out and touched the Thieves stone asking for its blessing, feeling the sudden rush of magic run through her veins with a quick zap that made her yelp in shock. The hound turned to the orc and gave it a smug look before turning back to its new master licking her hand in a form of comfort.

"If I'm going to get into the College I want it to be on my own skills without the help of a blessing."

The Orc shrugged at her choice with his hands out to the side. "It is your choice to make, guess you can always pay your tuition by picking pockets at the local in. You should be good at that in no time at all."

"Excuse me sir, but like I have stated before it also helps strength your potions and for your information I am the Alchemist for my town… well.. Used to be anyway." Magna ended bitterly crossing her arms over her chest and stalking off closely followed by the hound.

He shrugged and threw a thumb up over his shoulder to point down the path they were walking. "Alright, whatever you say, bosmer. You wanna continue down the path so I can declare you both safe and head back to Falkreath for my payment?"

"I'm not a Bosmer! I'm a Nord a NORD, what is with you people and calling me a Bosmer? Do you see me having amber eyes? Do you see my skin is pale not tree brown or amber brown?" Magna turned heel and marched back up to the orc and poked him in the chest with her cheeks flaming a little bit. "Between you and that cat I swear to the gods I am going to pull my hair out." Magna hissed and turned around again storming down the road to Riverwood. The hound stayed behind making wheezing sounds shaking its head from side to side, but stopped when it noticed the orc was still there. Flattening its ears the hound quickly made off after Magna barking to get her attention again.

She made her way in relative silence down the path with the Orc silently walking behind her. As they came up on the city, she saw that Baldar had stopped at the front gate and was waiting for the two of them. In his hand was a fish that he seemed to be eating raw.

"Hmph, took you two long enough." He said, with a full mouth and a few scales coming out between words.

"Yeah geez thanks for just leaving us behind." Magna hissed as she walked past him but paused and turned heel once more and walked back to Baldar. "Okay I'm not doing that slave bit again, figure something else out, I refuse to do that again." Magna crossed her arms waiting for him to come up with a plan. "I'm sure you will have something in your bag of tricks."

"This is Riverwood, not a hold city. There is no need to put on a charade because they couldn't do anything about it if they had a problem with it. Besides banding together and attacking us though I highly doubt that they would." Baldar said, obviously having scoped out the small town already for himself. Magna paused thinking about what he had said, it was true about Riverwood not being a hold city, after all she had visited it a few times but all it had was a few town guards and not that many at best one or two at a time. With a sigh Magna nodding her head figuring that Baldar knew what he was saying in regards to how other people treated his race, memory loss or no.

"Thank you for helping us get to Riverwood." Magna turned and nodded her head to the Orc before turning around walking into the city followed by the hound just wanting to lay down on a bed, or the floor, or anywhere for that matter at this point. Glancing up at the sky Magna sighed once again notiing how they were only a few hours away from sunrise and once again they would need to set out and start walking again. With a grumbling from her tummy drawing her attention Magna groaned and held onto it with one hand looking down at the large wolfhound trotting happily as could be beside her. "I hope that bread was as good as it looked, dog." The hound barked happily doing a single lap around the short Nord before licking at her hand.

"You know, I just realized I never got the Orc's name." Baldar stated, walking up beside her on the other side of the dog. His ears were laid back though, easily signalling his distance for her fuzzy companion. "Probably should have in case we ever meet him again."

"You know if you want his name so badly you can just go run and get it, he's big he can't get that far away in a minute we left him." Magna pointed out dryly, not really caring about the Orc's name but rather just wanted a bed.

"Yes true, but I don't want to run after him that badly. I think I'd pref-" Baldar was cut off as a high elf woman walked past dressed in all black with gold trimmings. The cat had completely lost his train of thought and any ability to function at the sight of this woman. Magna paused and raised an eyebrow at Baldar waving a hand in front of his face.

"You alright?" Magna questioned the cat with a bark from the hound that seemed to ecoo her question in the doggy language.

"There's… did you see… Woof…" Baldar said, unable to get his words together completely dropping his suave veneer and becoming practically a bumbling idiot.

"Woof…?" Magna grew concerned that whatever head trauma that Baldar had suffered before hand was finally getting to him, preventing him from even speaking correctly. "I think it's time we get some sleep… you're talking funny now." Magna started to tug at Baldar's arm gently trying to take the mental cat away from the High Elf before she decided to have Baldar arrested for leering or something of the sort. The wolfhound jumped behind Baldar and started to push behind his knees trying to get the cat to move.

The cat was pushed forward and snapped out of his astonishment once the elf woman was out of sight. Gently, he pushed Magna and the dog away before looking around and seeing where he was. His mood did a complete turn around as he was suddenly looking at his clothes and other belongings. "Ugh, damn it. I need to change soon."

"No you're going to bed, that is the second time tonight your mood has flip flopped Baldar. I might be traveling with you begrudgingly but that does not mean I have to travel with someone with head trauma and emotional control of a limp leak." Magna put her hands on her hip and puffed out a lower lip pointing to the Tavern just down the way. "You need sleep, hopefully it will help your head. I will probably have to make you a potion in any case to help get your health back up after all the blood you lost." Magna mused out loud as she turned heel and started to march to the Tavern with a purpose to her step. "And don't think that this means I trust you, okay?"

I just rather not go at this alone… even if you are a strange person.

The Khajiit let out a low growl but then shrugged and followed her into the tavern, pulling a bag of gold out of his bag. "Alright, alright. Rest does sound good right now."

"For once thank the gods we agree on something." Magna rolled her eyes at the growl clearly impressed with his little temper flair while they walked down the road to the Sleeping Giant Inn. Letting out a small yawn Magna covered her mouth as Baldar opened up the door stepping inside quickly, noting the lack of people awake at this hour. The only person who was awake was the Nord woman running the bar, currently reading a book the woman looked up at the small group as they walked in, quickly closing it and placing it under the bar out of site.

"What can I do for you tonight?"

"Hello, my friend and I would like to purchase a room for the… day." The Khajiit said, holding up his septim sack so that the woman could see it. His eyes taking on a more friendly and lighthearted glint than she would usually see them as.

"We don't get a lot of travelers here in Riverwood, the war keeps most folks away, these days." The Breton woman started standing up a bit more straighter while Magna could tell she was eyeing them with a little bit of suspicion. "Lucky for you two I have a free room that you may rent for ten gold, and I don't do bartering Khajiit."

Magna watched Baldar talk the woman into a room for the night, wavering on her feet slowly just to keep herself moving enough to keep awake just a bit longer. Lifting up a hand to cover a loud yawn, feeling the edges of her eyes water up from it, Magna looked around the Tavern a bit more. Like the one they had slept at before, The sleeping Giant was more like a longhouse in its general room style with the large open fire pit. Hides of different animals dotted the floor every now and again to help warm up the room, along with the wooden benches and tables covered with silverware to eat off of. Alchemy lab was stored in the corner, a slow green tendril of smoke drifted off of one of the glass beakers evidence of someone had done some late night Alchemy in the last few hours or so. Rabbits and pheasants hung behind the Innkeeper, plump and ready to eat, along with some cheese and vegetables that made Magna stomach grow loudly in the room. The Innkeeper raised a eyebrow at Magna before turning back to Baldar.

"Wanders like you must have quite an appetite, why don't you get some food with your room?"

"Sounds good, we'll take a meal and a sweet roll along with the rooms." He said, smiling and setting down a good sum of 30 gold for everything he ordered. "You can keep the change. I don't see us needing it any time soon."

'Very well, let me show you two to your room." The innkeeper only shrugged at the mention of keeping the change, and pulled herself out from behind the counter and showed the three to one of the rooms on the left. It had a single bed with a straw mattress, chest at the foot at the bed, wardrobe, chair and table. Along the floor was a large wolf pelt that helped keep the cold out form the chilly stone floor. Magna followed along behind the Innkeeper and almost cried with relief at the sight of the bed, moving to throw herself into it but paused turning to glance back at Baldar.

"You should go to bed so you can heal up faster Baldar." Magna rubbed the back of her head before moving into her own room, taking the wolf pelt off the floor and piling it up onto the bed ti give her something a bit more warmth while she slept. The wolf hound barked softly and jumped up into the bed and claimed his part, placing the long tail over his nose while he waited for for her to get some food and then go to bed.

"Alright, you too Magna. You gotta actually rest if you want to get in the College of Winterhold." The cat stated, turned around and walking into his room and letting out an audible sigh. Obviously, he was already laying back in the bed with the door open. She let out a small sigh glancing at Baldar but was happy that he listened to her for once now and went to sleep. Waiting for the food to be cooked and served Magna tooked her plate of rabbit and vegetables into her room closing the door behind her. The warm smell of food filled the room, making Magna acutely aware of how tired and hungry she was as she sat down on the bed. The hound picked up its head giving Magna it's evile puppy dog eyes but the rumbling in her belly guarded her against the animal tactics.

"No this is mine damnit. You can lick the plate once I'm done okay? Tomorrow we will go hunting and get you some food for the road alright?" Magna bartered with the dog that stared back at her with it's brown eyes until it huffed and pouted turning its head away. Before the dog could give her another look the plate of food didn't last for long as she woofed it down, Magna even breaking open the bones of the rabbit to suck the marrow out of the cooked meat. The Nord really didn't 'taste' her meal but more concentrated on filling her empty stomach with something other then water, once it was all gone Magna started to lick her fingers to get the last bit of grease off them.

Now with a belly full of food Magna let her new dog lick the plate of the remaining flavors and keeping the rest of the bones to grind down later by tossing them into her bag before laying down on the bed next to him. The straw bed was scratchy and itchy but the quickly approaching darkness of sleep was enough to help her push the thoughts of the itchy straw out of her mind. Grabbing the fur covers Magna brought them over her head while she used the dog as a makeshift pillow resting her head on it's big barreled chest. The dog let out another sigh but stretched out its long body onto the bed taking up most of the bed with its length, while Magna closed her eyes and allowed her body to rest until it was time to get moving again.

A breath on the back of her neck made Magna shake from her slumber and she looked up to see Baldar leaning over her. Her eyes tensed when she saw that blood was dripping from his mouth and several arrows jutted from his back and into view. Eyes darting right and left, she saw that they were outside and she wasn't laying down but standing.

"Magna, you… you have to run." The cat said, then his eyes widened and he fell down.

The nord sucked in a sharp breath before taking off down a path that the trees lined. She didn't know why she was running, or what was going on but the urge to survive was overwhelming any sense of confusion. Each step pounded onto the snowy ground, sending her further and further away from the bloody wounded cat. Leaping through the tree line Magna entered the forest the canopy of branches darkening the path around her. There was a weight in her arms, as she noticed this Magna lookee down to see what she was holding. But as she looked down her vision swam blurring whatever was in her arms. Crying out with a sharp yelp as her shoulder collided with a tree Magna forced herself to tear her eyes away and look ahead.

She crashed down to the ground and looked up only to see that she was no longer in the forest but something different. Looking up, she saw that she was at the bottom of some pit surrounded by a purple glow. As she started to stand back up, there was a sharp pain from within her, not her organs or bones but a pain that ran deep into her soul. Bringing her hands up, she watched her body start to split apart from the tips of her fingers. The split continued down her body until she was forced to pull away from it feeling a ripping and tearing at every point of connection. It finally stopped she she laid finished pulling away from the other body.

Crying out in agony Magna wrapped her arms around her chest holding herself tightly looking in horror at the body lying next to her as the pain ebbed into a dull content pain that dug into her heart. Magna watched petrified in fear, a silent scream leaving her lips as the body twitched and started to stand up showing its face. The body was like a carbon copy of herself, but with redder eyes. The copy stood still for a moment and regarded the Magna on the floor then lurched forward tackling Magna. Pulling its head back and opening its mouth the copy slammed its fangs into Magna neck…

Magna awoke with a start gasping for air, a hand shooting up to grab at her heart that thudded in her chest. A light sheen of sweat covered her pale skin making her feel sticky and yucky. Slowly Magna heart slowed down and her mind returned from its manic state to take note of her surroundings. She was still in her room but everything was tilted up, Magna quickly realized that it was not the room that was shifted but rather it being from her being on the cold floor. The dog was looking down at her from the bed giving a small sleepy whoof at her state.

The dream left Magna shaky even as it started to fade from mind, leaving her once more alone with her thoughts. What… what was that all about? Why do I feel so wary about it…" Magna other hand reached up and touched her neck where her dream self was bitten. Ug get a hold of yourself Magna! Does a Nord let silly dreams control their fear? No we don't so suck it up, dreams can't hurt you. Ug, I need to get out of here and do something...

Standing Magna grabbed her bow and arrows pulling the wolfhound off the bed with a grunt. "Come on you furball, time to get up. I'm not going to sleep after… that dream so might as well make myself useful and that means you too. You want to be fed after all right?" Magna huffed at the dog, who only growled at being disturbed from its rest. Rolling her eyes Magna grabbed her bag on the way out of the room, stepping outside into the twilight of dawn.

Tud. The deer that Magna had been hunting for about an hour fell over with a grunt, the large wolfhound pounced on top of the fallen dear biting into its neck to finish the job.

"Good job Tollak." Magna stepped out from the bushes, pulling out a dagger from her belt to start working on preparing the kill. The formerly named dog gave her a look before giving the young Nord a huff nugging the deer closer to her so she could get on with it. Chuckling softly Magna started to skin the animal taking care to try to preserve as much of the skin and meat as she could to sell. "I hope you know you will have to carry some of this back Tollak." Magna glanced up to give Tollak a look who in return gave her one that almost looked offended if Magna didn't know any better.

"OH don't give me that look Tollak, I can't carry all this back myself and between the three of us we won't eat it all before it spoils. Besides I need to start saving money for the Mage Collage, someone has to pay for boarding and supplies and since... " Magna paused in her cutting staring at the deer in front of her before swallowing."Since I'm on my own now that papa is gone, no one else is going to pay for me." Magna started back up with her skinning while she talked freely to the dog who sat listening to her silently.

"I want to make my own life, not let fate decide for me what I should do. Is that so wrong to want Tollak? I always wanted to travel and see Skyrim but papa never let me leave Helgen without him, he's always been like that. It's funny you know, he hated and even forbid me from practicing magic, so I had to sneak out at night after he went to sleep to read or try to do some kind of magic outside of the city. I got good at sneaking out, hiding my books, and I don't think he ever knew I was doing it behind his back." Magna tone softened, removing the last of the hide from the deer as she started to cut the meat off the bones into small manageable cuts. "I… never felt right doing that behind his back I always wanted to be upfront with him about wanting to practice magic but after he saw me practicing the first time he got so mad. I know we nords don't like Magic that much but it always felt right to me like it was a part of me… but he never explained why he didn't want me practicing magic. I know mother used to be a mage, even went to the Mage Collage, but papa didn't tell me that. No I had to find out by her diary I found when I was little, but the book was so worn with age and use it was falling apart. So I did my best to transcribe whatever I could into a new book so that it would last longer. I'm happy I did, papa found out I had the book a few months after I finish... I really wish he didn't take it away from me once he found out I never did find out where he took it. It's probably burned now anyway…" Magna sighed and fell into silence, working till the first rays of dawn touched the sky turning it a fiery pink hue. Finally the deer had been skinned and butchered as much as it could have been, the antlers broken off and the rest of the remains left for the wild life to feast on to continue the circle of life. On her way back to Riverwood Magna picked whatever ingredients for potions she could find filling up her bag with all kinds of goodies.

Now just outside of Riverwood, the bridge just in sight Magna sat down onto a large stone, a large waterfall making a small stream next to her feet as she took a small break from walking. Tollak trotted up next to her letting out a happy but muffled wolf from behind the large bone in his mouth. On his back was the deer skin strapped down with some vines, that wrapped around the meat from the deer.

"Maybe I should give Baldar a few more hours of sleep before waking him up, after the fight last night I rather him get some kind of rest." Magna spoke out loud to no one as she leaned back onto her rock looking down at Tollak who was chowing down on his new bone. "Don't get me wrong, he is still an ass but I guess I do owe him... Even if I hate it. But all I got to do is get to Winterhold, get into the collage and then we won't ever have to speak to each other again. He will be out of my hair, and he won't have to worry about me anymore." Magna waved a hand as she tried to explain her reasoning to the dog next to her who only paused and huffed before going back to chewing on his bone, not a care in the world it looked like. Magna stared at the dog for a moment but rolled her eyes and continued.

"I can either take another bath, or read the spell book...Or… I could do both." Magna nodded to herself agreeing with her idea and went to pull out the spell book she needed to read so that she could even get into the Mage Collage. Running her hand over the worn leather covered book once she placed it into her lap Magna felt the bubbles of giddy rise up in her belly at the thought of learning something new. Learning had always been one of her biggest pleasures and now she was once again about to experience something new. Shifting to get comfortable Magna took a deep breath to calm herself down and clear her mind preparing herself for the onslaught of magic that was about to flow into her.

Opening the book Magna feet the rush of magic enter her mind, teaching her the spell that it was made to softly Magna looked down at her hands and smiled turning back to the book as she started to read over the words slowly. While spell books allowed its reader to learn a spell as soon as it was open from the enchantment, there was a difference between knowing and doing. One could know how to do something all day long but until they were able to apply that knowledge and make it come into the physical world then it meant nothing.

Feeling the magic slowly fade away, leaving her with a pounding skull and blurry vision as the effects wore off after a few minutes. Sitting on her rock to steady herself Magna blinked a few times to clear her vision once more closing the book in her lap and placed it on the ground before straightening back up once more. Taking a deep breath Magna held her hands out in front of her pulling on her magica from within, trying to recreate the spell as how the book showed her to do. For a long minute nothing happened, Magna let out a breath she had been holding with a small huff allowing her arms to rest for a moment before bringing them back up, trying once more. This time a jolt ran down her fingers sending a shiver down her spine as the electricity crossed over her palm before fading from view.

Now smiling Magna repeated this step several times for over an hour until she could produce a small amount of sparks in her hands at will. Okay step one is done, now for step two, forming the ball. Magna stood up this time making sure her stance was wide but grounded, her hands held close to her chest as she pulled from the magica once more watching the sparks from over her hands. Trying to concentrate the magical energy into a ball between her hands Magna felt herself start to shake with the effort. Letting the spell go Magna took a few deep breaths in and out before trying once more. Until mid morning Magna practice, pushing her magic to its limits and then some trying to perfect the spell, but by the time her magica would no longer form to her whims Magna had only master shooting the sparks out about a foot from her center.

Taking the time to bath and clean herself up, Magna spent the rest of the morning trading her fur and the meat for both money and cured beef that would work better for the road along with a small pack to place over Tollak's back when she traveled os that he could carry some stuff as well. With the rest of her alchemy supplies in hand Magna returned to the Inn and worked on a few magical potions as well as one that would return Baldar to full health and vigor once again. Downing one of her magica potions so that it could work by the time they stopped for the night so she could practice some more, Magna went to knock on Baldar door before opening it up.

"Baldar I brought you a potion to-"

Standing in the center of the room was Baldar in only his underloins, looking at his book in hand while holding a loaf of bread in the other. "A potion to what?"

"O-Oh gods I'm sorry!" Magna tossed the potion into the room and slammed the door behind her, feeling her cheeks grow hot from the flush that started to build after seeing Baldar in such a state. Bring her hands to her face Magna slapped her cheeks trying to take the heat out of them before anyone could noticed. Seeing how that didn't work Magna simply went to one of the near by tables and sat, staring at the wall trying not to think about what she just saw. A wet nose nudged at her hand before the owner of the wet nose pushed its way into her lap. Looking down Magna saw that Tallak was sitting next to her with his head in her lap, with a begging look to his eyes.

"What you're hungry again? But I just fed you!"

"He's a dog, they are always hungry." Baldar said, exiting his room in his roughspun tunic from before. Granting Magna relief that he was no longer in the nude. "Still glad you're bringing him with?"

Magna turned looking at Baldar for a moment before petting Tollak's head with a smug smirk. "Yes, I am happy to bring Tollak with us. Maybe he can keep the vampires away." Magna paused finally noticing what Baldar was wearing turning her head away while she shifted uncomfortably.

"Hey… um Baldar I know this might seem rude but… Do you have any other cloths to wear? You know, maybe ones that don't make you look like a slave." Magna kept her voice to a hush whisper glancing back at her traveling companion.

"Yes, but those also make me look like a thief." He said, bringing his bread up and taking another bite out of it. "There is a trader here in town that we could possibly go to and see about getting me some better clothes."

"Yeah that is f-..." Magna felt a yawn interrupted her sentence before she could try to cover it up with a hand. "Anyway, yeah that's fine you ready to go now?" Magna asked turning around to look up at him again, this time holding a hand over her mouth when another yawn took over.

"I believe so. I don't believe that anyone here knows who I am considering that they never contacted me since we arrived." Baldar stated, waving to the inn keeper and receiving a tankard of ale in return. Magna watched Baldar drink some of his ale for a moment before looking down at Tollak rubbing one of his furry ears, electing a small tail wag from the dog.

"Look, you help me get to Whiterun and to the Mage Collage, and I will try my best to help you figure out who you are. No life debt or anything like that, no strings attached. I need your help getting to the Mage Collage and you could benefit from someone else trying to figure out who you are. Deal?" Magna turning back around, looked at Baldar with a level but tried look.

The Khajiit raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled a little at her, wiping a tear from his eye. "Magna, I haven't owed you a debt since I pulled you out of Helgen. I just didn't want you trapped in the world alone and without sanctuary."

"Okay I give up cat." Magna threw her hands up into the air in defeat giving up on trying to figure out the Khajiit. "Whatever, just forget that part then, but do we have a deal or not?"

"Yes, yes we do." The Khajiit agreed, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a kind and genuine smile. One that didn't have a hint of the cats mischievous side showing or an ounce of doubt in it. She only got to see if for a second thought as she threw his head back, drinking from his tankard in delight. Magna groaned laying her head down onto the table, wondering what she had gotten herself into with Baldar and their deal even if she was the one who made it. "At least this way it does not feel so forced and stalkerish for him to take me to the College."