I stumbled upon this story again and I re-fell in love with it! Enjoy guys! Tell me if you think I should continue:)

The room was dark and full of sleeping bodies. It was only by my night-eye spell that I could make out my new armor. It was heavy, steel, and ornate. In all aspects, it was not something I would wear. Oh how I missed my amber armor! Why on earth did I leave it in the Isles?

A loud bang signaled one of the windows flying open. Instantly a windy chill snaked through the entirety of the room.

I sighed and stood up, my legs cramped and shaking. I had not yet acclimated to traveling via horseback.

Apparently the latch on the window hadn't been bolted well. That or someone was playing tricks on me. I narrowed my eyes and sighed. So what, I hadn't laid out an offering to Sheogorath. It had been in the back of my mind since I sat down on my bedroll. Maybe it bothered me more than I cared to admit.

I heaved the window closed against the wind and made sure the latch was on tight. "Sorry, father. No offering for you tonight." I whispered. The window rattled forcefully, but thankfully stayed shut.

I remembered the words Jauffree had said to me. "You are now a Blade. Make your armor proud." How was I supposed to do that when every one of these Blades, who had been so kind to me, would hate me for what I was? They served the king of Aedra. And I? I was the spawn of Daedra.

I sighed, sitting back down on the lumpy bedroll. How had I gotten myself into this again? Oh yeah, fate, destiny, the hand of the Divines. I snorted. Talos must be off of his throne if he thought making me the Champion of the Emperor was a good idea.

Perhaps, I was thrown in that cell by accident, and he was up in Aetherius shading his eyes with one large dragon paw. Who knew?

I was tired, but the storm outside was still raging. I looked down at the foot of my bedroll, offering-less. Yeah, I was definitely not going to sleep. That was okay, though. After all, the sacrifice of my sleep was ensuring that my charade of being a hero could go on a little longer.

I grabbed a robe from the chest in front of my bedroll and shrugged it on. Perhaps there would be some good books in the library. As I walked through the darkness, my night-eye illuminated everything in a bluish glow. It was kind of creepy. With everyone asleep, nothing was moving, as if the breath of life had left the world. In the Isles, even at night, there was something moving. The air always felt alive and full of energy.

A flash of something bright attacked my left eye. I jumped, nearly tripping over myself. What had that been? Whatever it was, it had hurried under a weapon's display. My heart was beating faster than it ought to. Really, I had probably just imagined it. I moved on to the library, but something was tugging at the back of my mind. I needed to know what that little white thing had been! Inwardly growling at myself, I doubled back over to the weapons display. Cautiously, I got down on my knees and pressed my cheek against the stone floor.

I smiled. It was just a little white mouse! Besides scaring me, the creature's only offense was being cute. "Hey there little buddy. Wanna come play?" Of course he didn't understand me, he kept munching on his little crumb. I muttered a weak beast control spell, and his ears perked up. His little feet launched him over to me, and he climbed onto my outstretched hand. "Okay, nice, now I have a friend. Let's go read some books, okay?" He looked up in my face and squeaked. His soft warmth and wet nose against my fingers made me giggle softly.

With my left hand I pushed open the door to the library. I froze. I was not alone. There was candlelight at one of the tables. It radiated outward like a crown, anointing the last Septim. There was something about the soft glow of candlelight that I found beautiful. I let my night-eye spell disintegrate, and the world became black tinged with gold. Buried in a book, his head was held up by his elbows, and his hands twisted in with his hair.

Should I go? Or should I maybe ask him if he was okay? I didn't want to intrude but at the same time, would it be intruding? He had said I was his friend...

Before I could change my mind, I stepped forward silently. My plan was that he would notice me before I got too close, but I ended up right behind him without rousing his attention. Wait, was his candle really that close to the books? Sheol, the flames were nearly touching the pile of scrolls! I reached over his back and quickly pushed the candle away from the paper.

Martin jumped, arms brought up between me and him in some sort of defensive position. "By the Nine!" He exclaimed, breathing hard. "Abby, what in the name of Mara..."

I blushed, stepping back. "Sorry, I just kinda saw how close your candle was to the books and I didn't think to announce myself, I just sorta...I'm sorry for startling you!"

He chuckled, the worry leaving his face. "That's quite alright. Knowing me I was too deep in my book to hear you approach."

Well, at least he wasn't mad at me! He actually...looked kind of happy. "Can you not sleep?"

He shook his head, eyes reflecting the morphic flame of the candle. "No. The storms are louder here than they ever were in Kvatch." The smile had left him, and his eyes were remembering fire. Good going, Abby...

I nodded, looking out the window. The winds were whirling against the building, throwing up swirls of snowbanks and ice. I sighed, sitting down in an empty chair. "You know, I used to love storms...but now I can hardly sleep through them."

"Why do you think that changed?" Asked Martin. I turned my head to him, and he seemed to be sincerely interested.

I frowned. Because they were the embodiment of madness. Because they only served to remind me what I was running from. Because they were Sheogorath. "Because...because I feel like there is something watching me. I can hear voices in the wind."

I dared to look up in Martin's face. He wasn't frowning, or wary, or disinterested. He was nodding absently, staring into my eyes. "Yes, I can see why you would think that. I suppose everyone interprets storm clouds differently."

I appreciated him, I noticed. He was contemplative, he was kind, and he was something solid. He was nothing like the madness I was used to.

"Um, is that a mouse you have in your hand?"

I blinked at the sudden change in conversation. I looked down at the white, fuzzy creature, and smiled. He was reaching tiny arms up to clean behind his ears. "Yes, I found him scurrying along the ground." I held him up so Martin could see, and this time his face did take on a wary look. I laughed. "He's harmless. I think I will name him Haskill."

The Septim looked even more confused. "Are you keeping it?"

Could I keep him? If I fed him, and gave him a nice little home, surely it would be better than scurrying around in the cold with the risk of getting bludgeoned by the cook. "I think so." I looked around the room for anything to put him in when I spotted a large glass alembic. I ran over to it and grabbed it, slipping Haskill into the little hole. "There we go. Some grass bits will make nice bedding for you, won't they?" But I'd be gone before I could forage for them.

"Could you take care of him while I'm away?"

Martin frowned. "You're leaving?" If I wasn't mistaken, he sounded a tiny bit sad.

"Yes, Jauffree has a task for me, it's about finding the Amulet. I have to go to the Imperial City." I watched his face, and it appeared to sink as I talked.

"You are the only one here who doesn't bow to my like I'm a god." He muttered, rubbing his face with a hand.

"In some ways, you are." I pointed out, poking the outside of the alembic with a finger.

He sighed. "This is all so disorienting. One minute I am the son of a farmer, a simple priest. The next, death is raining down from the sky and I am the next in line to the throne of the empire?!" His voice was rising in pitch, and he buried his head in his hands. "It's insanity!" I made out through the muffle.

My heartstrings tugged for him. How much this must all be...and all of it he had to hide from the men in order to keep up their confidence. "No, insanity is giving a mad Dunmer the task of saving the world from mad Daedric cultists. Do you need me to cast a calming spell on you?" He didn't answer. "Martin, you are already doing a great job with this. Your dad said to me that it was my destiny to help you, and I am the least likely candidate in the plane of Nirn to do so. I think it's safe to say that you are not alone in feeling the impossibility of the situation." I reached out and tapped his shoulder, and he removed one hand to peer at me. "I believe in you, everyone believes in you, not because of your bloodline, but because of who you are. You believe in me, right?"

His head shot up. "Of course."

I smiled, heart warming a bit. "Believing in me is harder to do than believing in a man like yourself, so do me a favor and believe in him too, okay?" There was a pause, and he nodded. "Good. Now I won't have to worry while I'm away!" I stood up. "Well, you look after Haskilll, and I will be back as soon as I can."

"Wait, you're leaving now? In the storm?" I looked out the window and saw the swirling snow and heard the howling wind.

I smiled grimly. "I am used to walking in storms. I have my whole life." I gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. "Goodnight Martin, and try not to burn the temple down." I gestured to the candle.

He ducked his head a little. "I won't, I promise. Good luck, Abby, and be careful."

I snorted softly. Yes, as careful as was possible. I returned to grab my things, passing over the armor. I grabbed some cheese, bread, wine, and carrots from the pantry, and my cloak from where it hung by the fire in the great hall. The material was no longer waterlogged, I noted happily.

I grabbed the handles of the large hall doors, and pulled. Instantly, the storm flew inside, and I struggled to pull the doors shut from the outside. They finally came together with a dull thud, and it was then that I turned to face the full storm. I didn't even bother to pull up my hood as the ice crystals pierced my skin. I stepped forward into the gale, unflinchingly passing through the cold embrace of my father.

Okay, so perhaps challenging the might of my father was not such a great idea. Another sneeze passed through my body and I shivered, holding my robe close. Now I would have to meet with Baurus, and possibly fight evil conjurers, with a head cold. I glanced down at the piece of parchment in my hand, where I had scribbled down the name of the place Baurus would meet me. Luther Broad's Boarding House. I glanced down the row of shops, and saw no signs with that name. I continued my search down the road. It was in the Elven Gardens district, right? Finally, I spotted a sign that looked hopeful, making out the crescent moon shape from afar. Gratefully, I headed toward the building.

When I shut the door behind me, I took a moment to bathe in the warm air toasted with the smell of beef stew and moist bread. I opened my eyes to find a few occupants of the room sending me sideways glances. I sighed. Was it really that strange to enjoy the smell of warm food?

I glanced around and made out the Redguard I was looking for. I smiled and opened my mouth to greet him, but his eyes became wide and he gave me what I thought was a concealed shake of his head. I frowned, but kept quiet, and took the stool next to him as if I did not know him.

"Good evenin' lass, what can I getcha?" Asked a ruddy-faced Nord with a jovial smile. My mouth watered.

"Um, whatever stew is cooking, some bread and a pint of mead." My stomach growled.

If possible, his smile grew even wider. "Comin' right up!" For a brief moment, I let myself be surprised by how kind a Nord was being to a Dunmer.

"Don't look at me. Don't talk to me. Don't pay any attention to me." Whispered Baurus in a low voice, so that only I could hear. "See that man over there?" Trying to be as casual as I could, I looked around the room, catching the man Baurus had indicated in the corner of my eye. "His name is Astav Wirich, and if I'm right, he's been following me. Now, I'm going to get up and walk into the cellar. A few moments later, Wirich will get up to follow me. That's when I want you to follow him. Things might get hairy." With one more drink of his mead, Baurus got up and sauntered to the cellar door, entering.

A chair scraped across the floor and Wirich rose, brushed off his tunic, and walked into the cellar. I took a breath and stood, wincing at my muscles. This was going to be fun.

As soon as the door shut behind me, I was covered in darkness. I used my night-eye spell, and then I could see the back of Wirich, which was now shiny with conjured armor. "Arg!" Came a grunt, and a sword came down on Wirich from around the corner. The man blocked it with a mace, and I saw a perfect opportunity to strike him. A dagger materialized in my hand, and I crept up behind him. The Bladesman saw me hold up my dagger and smiled. The man stumbled into my blade as Baurus pushed him back, and his armor melted away.

"Nice job! Man, you mages are sneakier than I give you credit for. Sorry about that earlier, I really am glad to see a friendly face!" Baurus smiled, looking a lot happier than the last time I'd seen him. He glanced around. "All right, I'll keep a lookout, you search the body." I made a face, but bent down and patted Astav's body dutifully. I felt something in his pockets, and reached in to take it out. Huh, it was a book.

"Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes, Volume I." I held it up for him to see. He took it, leafing through the pages.

"Hmmm, people wanting to join the Mythic Dawn collect the four volumes. They say it's the only way to find Dagon's shrine."

Ah yes, the shrine of Mehrunes Dagon. It was shrouded in secrecy and horror, and it was the only one that no one knew the location of. That is, unless you were a follower of his cult. "So we need to find the other three?"

Baurus nodded. "That's what you can help me with. I have a contact at the Arcane University, an Argonian by the name of Tar-Meena. She should be able to shed some light on this, may even help find the other copies."

I nodded, taking the Commentaries when he handed them back to me. My nose suddenly itched. "ACH-CHoo!" My body bent over with the sneeze.

"Whoa there, you all right?" Asked Baurus, patting my back awkwardly.

I laughed, my voice congested. "Uh, yeah, I think I just caught a cold or something on the way here."

"Oh, yeah, Dunmer don't do well in the cold, do they? Why don't you come up and have that food you ordered before you go, you look like you could use it. Besides, you can tell me about the heir."

I inwardly winced. Oh how Martin would cringe at being referred to as 'the heir.' We climbed the steps and sat down, and my stew was waiting for me at the bar. I instantly dug in, and the flavor was delicious. "I think this is veal." I mumbled with my mouth full.

Baurus just laughed. I could tell how excited he was to hear about Martin, but he waited a bit so that I could eat some of my food. Finally, when he could wait no longer, Baurus asked about Martin. "So, what's he like?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "He's a normal human. He is a humble man who is embarrassed by people bowing down to him, flustered by the responsibilities of being Emperor, and guilt-ridden for being responsible for the deaths at Kvatch." Baurus paused, and I could tell that wasn't what he had expected to hear. I sighed. "He is a normal man. Of course he will get used to the idea of being Emperor, but next you see him, I'd refrain from the bowing." I dipped my bread in the soup, stirring it around. "He is kind, and soft spoken, and when he smiles, it feels like you've earned it. That's the kind of man he is, a good man."

The Blade took another drink of his mead, and I finished my stew in silence.

"What do you mean, I can't have it?"

Phintias rolled his eyes. "You can't have it because I already sold it. I can't just give it to you, I'd lose the trust of my clients!"

It was my turn to roll my eyes. I liked to be polite, but this man was so rude. "Like you've never done that before?"

Phintius pursed his lips. "You know what, Grey-skin, I-"

The door opened with a ding, and in walked a high elf of embarrassingly short stature. "I'm here for my book." He said in a high, candied voice.

"Of course." Said Phintias, glaring over the elf's shoulder to look at me. "Here it is."

"Ahh, thank you, thank you, you don't know how long it took me to find this! I am in your debt!"

I bit my lip in annoyance. I was feeling worse by the second. I just needed some rest, and this irritating high elf who had apparently travelled all the way from the Summerset Isles to get this book would not stop talking. Finally, he left the shop, and without even looking at Phintias, I followed him out.

Taking long strides, I jumped in front of him, palm out. "Give me that book."

The elf was startled, but angry. "W-what? No, you don't know how much I paid for this!"

I narrowed my eyes. "Yes, I do, I was just in there trying to buy it from Phintias before you arrived."

The elf donned a snotty expression. "Well, you were too late. I ordered it first, so if you want to join the Mythic Dawn, you will have to find another copy."

I stepped forwards and grasped his shoulder. "You fool, the Mythic Dawn murdered the Emperor!"

The elf's face contorted in fear. "W-what? Oh, my goodness...you must believe I never knew about any of that, of course not!" He shoved the book into my hands. Here, take it, I don't want it anymore! And this, this note!" I grabbed the note he was flailing in front of my face.

"What's this for?" I demanded. On the note was a location, and a time.

"The fourth book you can only get through a direct, face to face meeting with a representative of the Mythic Dawn, and you need all four of them to find out where the shrine is. That was a meeting I was going to attend to get the fourth volume, but I certainly don't want to have anything to do with it anymore!" With that, the elf hurried away, leaving me standing in the rain with the third copy of the Commentaries.

When I returned to Luther Broad's to show Baurus what I'd accomplished, I found him in the same place I left him. I set down all three of the copies in front of him, smiling. Tar-Meena had given me the second volume.

"By Talos, that was fast!" Grinned Baurus.

"And here is the location and time I have to meet with the Mythic Dawn representative to get the final copy." I handed him the note.

He looked at it with a strange look on his face. "I know where this is. There's a room in the sewers with a desk and a chair, and no one knows what it's used for but..." We looked at each other and nodded, agreeing that it was most likely used to pass on copies of the Commentaries. "Well, we best get going, we don't want to waste any time when it comes to finding the Amulet."

I suppressed a groan and told my tired limbs to behave as I followed Baurus out of the pub.

The sewers that Baurus was leading me through were mundane and smelly, and we trudged through the grimy water for what seemed like a mile. I let him take care of the pesky mudcrabs. There was no way my cold was going to get better soon after this. Finally, he helped me up the steep stairs onto relatively dry brick, and we walked through a dark tunnel and into a wider space.

"It's just through there." He pointed to a foreboding wooden door.

I nodded. "Okay, I can do this." I muttered to myself.

"Actually, I'm going to do it." Said Baurus matter-of-factly.

I blinked. "What, why?"

He laughed and put a hand on my shoulder. "Because, I want you to stay safe. There's a lookout up there."

I frowned. "But I know how to talk to cultists!" Then, I paused. He didn't really need to know that, did he?

He raised a brow. "You do, huh?"

I shrugged and scratched the back of my neck, feeling my cheeks redden. "I used to have a few friends who, ah, you know. They dabbled."

He frowned. "I still don't think it's a good idea." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "Abby, you don't look too good. I don't want you to have to fight. Just watch my back, I know how to handle myself." He winked.

I sighed. I really didn't want anything to happen to him. He was a nice guy. "Fine. Just, be careful."

He chuckled. "I always am." He turned away to go through the door, and I hurried up to the higher level.

There was a bridge that spanned across the room, but I stayed in the mouth of the doorway, where the shadows would cover me. I peaked out over the table, to watch Baurus take a seat. Soon, a red robed man was stalking towards him.

"Ah, if it isn't another Initate waiting to seek the glory of our Lord of Destruction." I rolled my eyes. Destruction? Even I would admit that madness was better.

There was the sound of creaking, and a gate across the bridge opened. Two Mythic Dawn members stepped out, holding torches. I froze. They were going to see me!

They walked closer and closer, and I pressed myself up against the stone wall. Sheo, sheo, sheo...

One of the red robed transients met my eye, and I blinked. "Hi."

"Arg!" He shot a fireball at me and I yelped, barely dodging. The flames licked at the side of my robes. There were two of them.

I thought I heard Baurus shout below, but I couldn't be sure of it. What if he needed help?

Scratch that, I needed help! They were both charging spells, and I summoned a magical barrier in front of me and charged, yelling the whole way.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" I hit them, knocking one of them off the bridge. The other one simply landed in front of me. Oh, gods, he had a sword too! I threw my hand up and summoned a skeleton, and it immediately started hacking at the downed cultist. He screamed and screamed, but he was on his back, and could do little to defend from it's blows.

Fire whizzed past my head, and I gasped. He was shooting at me from below! I stayed in the perfect middle of the bridge, heart hammering. Should I attack? Should I summon another creature? Should I help Baurus?

I took a deep breath and charged a frost spell. Okay, time to do this. I leaned over the stone bridge and shot ice as far as I could. I heard a grunt, and then a wail, and then nothing. I let the spell go, and then looked around. The cultist had been frozen! I smiled. "Hey Baurus, are you-whoa!" The stone in front of me had become icy, and I slipped as I put my weight on it.

I tumbled to the stone floor in a heap. It hadn't been far, but I didn't land well.

"Abby, are you okay?" Asked Baurus, coming to kneel next to me.

I nodded. By the Nine, I wasn't going to get over this cold, was I?

He grinned, holding up a book. "Look what I got!"

I gave him a feeble thumbs up.