As a huge blast of freezing wind from the blizzard outside hit his tent, Hardvak's sigh rose back to his face in the form of white smoke. The sound of which annoyed him more than it should've. He lived in the cold for most of his life and for so for something as menial as that to annoy him proved that he had been away from civilization for too long of a time. Sure, Atmora had always been on his places to visit since he was a kid but if he had known that absolutely nothing was out here…Well. At the very least, he would've brought some company.

Of course, visiting at this particular time hadn't been his idea. No, that honor went to his highness, Titus Mede. Emperor of the Empire and an all-around pain to deal with it.

Hardvak sighed again. He knew he really shouldn't talk about the man that way. He was certain if the two just sat down to chat he'd be a decent enough guy. It wasn't the emperor's fault that the only times they met were under less than friendly circumstances. First, the attempted assassination of his cousin then himself. Then when Skyrim formally announced its independence. And then finally, little over a month ago when he sought him out personally for a favor.

Now Hardvak didn't have to accept. And looking at where he was now, alone in cold in his ancestral homeland, he probably shouldn't have. But the aging man looked like he was just barely holding it together. His once burning energy that resonated despite his elderly appearance, had dwindled to an ember. Like it was powering an old puppet rather than a mortal man. The Aldmeri Dominion re-declaring war on the Empire had doubtless taken its toll on the bastard.

So, with that in mind, Hardvak's admittedly sappy heart couldn't help but feel for him so he accepted. And with his bag packed, he set off on yet another quest. Crossing the northern sea and arriving at the frozen land of Ysgrammor and Talos himself about three weeks ago. Searching for what was supposed to be an Imperial outpost somewhere in the wilderness.

His ears took note of the moans of a dying wind and he quickly exited his tent to look around. As expected, absolutely nothing had changed. The ground around still remained frozen solid and covered with snow and still expanded out in all directions for gods know how many miles. Granted the sky above was still filled with clouds which prevented the sun from shining down and reflecting on the snow so scratch that, one thing had changed. He sighed yet again and folded his tent back up and strapped it back to his back before continuing on. He looked down at the clothes and cloak that kept him warm and made it a point to head to Solstheim after this mission and thank Frea and the Skaal for the clothes they gave him. True to her word, they kept a man warm even in the coldest area on the planet despite how itchy they were.

To be fair that may have been more him than the clothes. He had heard that as you enter twilight years your skin begins to change more than you want and since he had turned fifty yesterday, he officially admitted himself into that category."Happy birthday to me….." He grumbled as his trek continued. Despite the complaints, and the boredom such a journey had brought him so far. He was actually somewhat grateful for the isolation that Atmora brought.

Places like these, which was kindly for white empty flat plains of ice devoid of all life, allowed him to really think about things. Fifty years old. That was a long time for someone who still adventured for a living. Ten years more so than a certain Harbinger whom he had the courtesy of knowing in life. If that man felt ancient back then, He wondered how he would feel right now. The thought brought a smile to his face as he remembered not only Kodlack, but Aela, Vilkas, Farkas, Skjor, and all the other Companions whom he had fought and bled with over the years. Some still alive and others who had long since passed. He made another note to stop by Whiterun after this and challenge his old Shield Brothers and Sisters to a drinking contest before focusing back on the task at hand.

After several more hours of trekking through an empty wasteland, he finally came to his destination. A small camp composed of a single large brown tent. With a thankful sigh, Hardvak entered through it expecting to see somebody. It didn't matter who. When he didn't see said somebody, he immediately assumed that he was out studying whatever it was that the Emperor asked him to study, which would be the same thing he had asked Hardvak to look into. Sure enough, he found a note on a nearly empty table.

My lord Dragonborn,

If you're reading this I'm glad you arrived in one piece. I would like to apologize for my absence but not long after I brought word to the Emperor, the anomaly began to act strangely. Fluctuating on and off for hours on end. You'll find it and me, a half a day's journey to the north, if you can bring some food, I would greatly appreciate it. My thanks.

Seric.

Of course, he had to walk some more. His sigh morphed into curses and angrily pulled scroll from his backpack. Channeling some Magika through it, the scroll unrolled and exploded in white blinding light. When it faded, he heard several hard thuds and saw several pieces of armor now in the floor.

"I'll half to tell J'zargo that these storage scrolls actually work," Hardvak said actually impressed at the mage's latest invention. The Khajit had come quite a long way since the malfunctioning fire scrolls. Hardvak quickly slipped on a modest set of steel-plated armor on, because since when were fluctuating anomalies ever a good thing; and exited the tent to resume his trek. Soon enough, his thoughts began to drift yet again only this time to a thing he usually didn't think about. The future.

Did he really want to keep doing this? For a huge part of his life, he had lived the life he had always wanted. A life of adventure, exploration, violence, excitement, politics, warfare, in short, all the elements of a life that would make a great story. But such a way of life had its costs. Whenever he came home to any of his houses, he immediately noticed how quiet things were. Nobody there to criticize him for being late, nobody to shout at him for getting blood on the floor, nobody to ask how his day was and annoy him with a hundred questions of the outside world. Pretty much all the things he had seen families go throughout in his travels through Skyrim and beyond.

Yep, everything he was initially glad he didn't have to go through, was now something he wished he had. He laughed at how sappy it sounded. But he had always been a little sappy. How else do you get the nickname " the Heroic"?

Still though, sappy or not, he admitted to himself for the first time that an adventurer death might not be what he wanted. Maybe he would be content dying in a bed somewhere if he ever did make it back to a bed of his own. Here, Hardvak found himself at a crossroads. The Emperor had given him this mission because he was worried about the Thalmor creating a weapon to be used on the Empire. But if he had to guess by reading the notes he was given before leaving. Seric was describing a portal. And a unique one at that. Said uniqueness stemmed from the fact that what the researcher wrote, read like a picture of a Gate of Oblivion.

Now Hardvak hadn't been alive when Oblvioin Crisis went down but he had always held a mild curiosity about the subject so when he read up about them for a mission, he ended up reading about whole armies of Daedra soldiers could charge through at any moment. Wreaking havoc and death onto anyone and anything in their sights.

To put it simply, if this was indeed a Gate to Oblivion, and it was activated, and whole armies and can move through it, odds are he and all of Tamriel were going to be facing another invasion.

Now he could've brought this to the Emperor's attention before he left but he didn't. He could've organized his allies across Skyrim and have them come with to quell the potential threat but he didn't. He just set out on his own for the coldest land on Nirn without a word and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. His working theory was that a part of him wanted to go out as a hero would. Fighting an army of monsters for Tamriel. An exciting end to an exciting story. That way of dying still had its merits even as he wondered if that's still what he wanted. The wind began to pick up again.

"LOK VAH KOOR" Hardvak shouted not eager to walk into another blizzard. As his powerful echo spread out through the air, the blizzard began to dissipate rapidly until it disappeared from existence completely. With the air around him clear, his journey continued. When the sun began to set on his on the horizon, he finally caught sight of the anomaly.

It was a massive structure rising high above the flat sheets of snow and ice and styled in a manner that was strikingly similar to a Gate of Oblivion. There was just one problem, where the two spires of an Oblivion Gate were supposed to be black and have an almost alive look to them where instead metallic and had an almost golden color to them and where a red portal was supposed to be, instead, a solid blue one existed. It took a full three seconds for Hardvak to groan in realization.

"Dwemer. Because why not…" He grumbled continuing towards the object. Soon another tent came into view, and just outside it stood the man he was supposed to contact.

"I was beginning to wonder if anyone else was on this damn continent," Hardvak called out to the man. He wore a standard hooded blue cloak he had seen countless other mages wear but when he turned around and spoke back to him, he revealed something no other mage ever had. The face of someone who was dead.

"Yes. I do apologize for your journey." The man said in a raspy voice that was identical to the man Hardvak had known. A man he had watched crumble away to ash so many years ago. "But I felt you would want to see this."

"Septimus?!" Hardvak asked taking off his helmet to see clearly. His widened eyes amused the fallen mage.

"Good to see you again Dragonborn," Septimus replied with a small bow. "You've gotten older."

"And you…. haven't," Hardvak replied steadying himself and raising his guard. Septimus laughed and for the first time, Hardvak realized that the madness that had once infected his voice was gone.

"Yes. Well, it seems that I still had some use in this world after all." Septimus looked down to his body. It was uncommonly pale. Even more so than Atmora could make it. So, he was still dead or at least mostly dead. From there, It didn't take a genius to know that magic was responsible for his appearance here.

"Should I be expecting Mora to join us?" Hardvak asked turning his head, waiting for the tentacled Daedric Prince to show himself in one form or another.

"No. Fortunately not," Septimus replied with a firmness in his voice that made it sound alien. He seemed certain this wasn't the work of a Daedric lord. "As for how…That reason still eludes me."

"But you're sure Mora's not behind it?" Hardvak asked again. When Septimus nodded, he lowered his weapon slightly. "Fine. Still though your back from the dead. Not exactly something that happens to a lot of people." Hardvak smiled.

"No, but unlike most, I seem to be better for it. My madness from the Elder Scroll, it's gone." Septimus said in what almost sounded like a happy tone. He pointed to his mind and gave a smile. "I haven't thought so clearly in a long, long time."

"I'm happy for you," Hardvak said glad to see the man seemingly at ease. "Your colleagues back home will be overjoyed to see you. We'll leave after…." Hardvak noticed the mage's smile dimmed at his words and realized that going home wasn't an option for him. "You can't come back. Can you?"

Septimus shook his head yet still held his smile. "Despite my predicament, it is good to think freely again."

"What predicament?" Hardvak asked. Septimus tone's flipped when he replied.

"I…. don't think I have much time left." Septimus breathed. "When I awoke here on Atmora, a powerful voice echoed throughout my mind that I needed to bring you here. One that I haven't heard before or since. And once you were here…that I would return to my rest." Septimus said in a sad yet peaceful tone. Hardvak frowned with pity at the man's position.

"Can I do something to help?" Hardvak asked. "Maybe there's a way to prolong…:

Septimus raised his hand to silence him. "I appreciate the offer Dragonborn. More than you know." He gave a thankful smile as he remembered the kindness the Dragonborn was capable of. "But, I think this is beyond even your power." Septimus' gaze then switched to the massive structure before them. "Put me out of your mind and listen well. Whenever the anomaly fluctuates it sends out a powerful burst of magic that spirals out across Atmora creating blizzards."

"I noticed," Hardvak replied remembering the last blizzard as he looked upon the structure with awe. "So, it's safe to say the thing's unstable. Any idea what activated it?"

"None." Septimus sighed. "At least nothing on this side of the gateway."

"This side…." Hardvak repeated realizing what Septimus meant. "You think someone's trying to come through?"

"It's my working hypothesis, yes." Septimus ran his fingers through his beard. "As for whom it is and why…" He looked back to Hardvak who grumbled.

"You need me to figure that out."

Septimus nodded. "And the quickest way to do that was through a letter to the emperor of a Thalmor plot."

"So you're Seric then?" Hardvak asked raising the note he found.

"Oh no. That poor boy went home a week ago. I've been running his outpost ever since. Just been using his name." Septimus said with a small amount of wry in his voice. Hardvak chuckled at the man before replying.

"I wish I had known you like this," Hardvak said remembering the shell of the man he had met before. Lost in his own scattered mind, looking for answers to questions that shouldn't be asked.

"Yes. I did sort of lose it at the end of my life didn't I?" Septimus said in sad remembrance. "What was it I used to say? Dig, Dwemer, in the beyond. I'll know you're lost unknown and rise to your depths." Septimus said mimicking his old madness.

Hardvak laughed at the joke before remembering. "I guess you haven't had anything to eat then. Right?" Septimus shook his head allowing him to continue."Well then. Here." Hardvak said tossing him something. Septimus caught it and smiled.

"Dragonborn…thank you." He said biting into the sweet roll.

"If you're going to face the gods soon. Best not do it on an empty stomach.." Hardvak said with a smile of his own as Septimus finished. Almost as soon as he did, however, his body once began to shift to an all too familiar sight.

"I appear my time is at an end," Septimus said as he watched his lower half begin to crumble seemingly unfeeling towards it. Hardvak started to move and intervene almost on instinct but a raised hand from Septimus stopped him.

"One last thing Dragonborn," Septimus said as his body withered. "Be careful. I know not what lies beyond that portal nor of the voice that resurrected me but I can't imagine it bodes well for you or Nirn."

"That's usually how these things work out." Hardvak nodded. "Can't say I like the idea of charging through a portal though. That voice you heard specify if I had to go through or wait?"

Septimus gave a knowing smile." Actually, it said your sense of adventure would get the better of you." Hardvak's raised eyebrows gave Septimus one last laugh. "Farewell, my friend," Septimus said with a wave before vanishing into a pile of ash. Hardvak stood alone there for several seconds with a frown before replying.

"Be at peace Septimus." Hardvak breathed. Wishing the soul of the man well wherever he ended up before shifting his gaze toward the gate just in time for a fluctuation.

The air around him began to move forward at a rapid pace until the wind began to hiss around his ears and the cold dripped down to obscene temperatures even for Atmora. It was there standing several feet away, the previously blue portal shifted to a light green color and Hardvak made a choice of either getting out of the way or charging in. And right then regrettably or not, his Nord blood kicked in. With a proud yell, He charged through the powerful winds and just before reached the entrance he shouted yet again.

"WULD NAH KEST" He screamed as he shot forward like an arrow from a bow and into the portal.

A/N: Well there you go. Pretty fun chapter to write honestly. Hope you guys thought so too. See ya later.