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It didn't take Breylin and I long to reach Dawnstar.

Coming to the town, I didn't notice if much had changed. I had only visited it once before, when I had still been with Brekish and his gang. We had come there to trade with a merchant and "get rid" of a crate of spices we had borrowed from another merchant. The later merchant hadn't need his spices anymore, and the Orc had known someone who would pay good money for the crate.

Walking my horse past the first row of shops I stayed to the right, keeping out of the way of the fishermen and townsfolk. I saw plenty of guards walking around, and on a nearby dock a group of traders stood near a small ship. Sailing had shown up to Skyrim with a large boom, ten or so years ago. It had mostly been small ships that sailed the seas around Skyrim, trading with ports like Dawnstar and Solitude.

Moving past the shops, I glanced at Breylin, who sat atop her favored brown horse. She and named him Swift. The black horse I had was going unnamed for the time, but I liked the way he calmly trotted through the town. I took a hand from the reins to rub my face, then pulled down my hood. The lightest of snows was falling to the ground, and my horse snorted, his breath, like mine, fogging the air. I reached back to touch the cool metal of my sword handle, then adjusted the neck wrap I wore. Breylin looked back at me now, her mouth covered by her face mask, but the way her eyes slanted told me she was smiling at me. I smiled back, then looked ahead.

We walked our horses up a slope and to the left, where a stable was set up and overlooked the bay. Breylin came to stand beside me, and rested her hands on my right arm. Behind me our horses both snorted, and she asked me,

"Do you have any proficiency in magic?"

I looked at her, not caught off guard by the question per say, but wasn't sure how to respond. "No, I suppose," I replied, "I haven't ever used magic in my life, and while I was with White River, we used swords, knives, axes. A redguard, his name was Salin, used magic to heal my broken nose one time, but that was it."

"I'm asking because I was almost hoping that you didn't have a firm grasp in some schools," Breylin said from under her hood.

"That sounds insulting," I said as I looked at the bay, then glanced at her.

"I assure you it's not," she squeezed my arm. "I only want to take this opportunity to teach some of what I know."

"Is it safe to assume that you know a lot?" I asked with a sly smile.

"I don't like to say," she replied with a smile back. Looking back at the bay, she pointed. "Look there."

I looked where she was indicating. A dock that stretched into the bay, where a small ship set. I could see men on the vessel and on the docks. On the docks one man was moving his hands and talking, and seemed to be in charge of what was going on.

"Look at the men on the dock," said Breylin, "Focus on them, and my voice, and ignore everything else."

Watching the men, I did as she instructed. I had never listened to anyone except the farmer on Solstheim and the White River Gang, but with the latter I would even ignore what Brekish sometimes told me. I wasn't opposed to taking instruction, and now I figured was a good a time as any. So I let out a low breath, and focused.

"The world around you can always be manipulated," said Breylin. She kept on hand on my arm as she continued with, "It's up to you how you manipulate it. Watch the man talking, and focus."

So I focused. I watched the man talking, and the three other men behind him. On the boat were also four men, and one stood with his arms folded over hist chest. Around me, I ignore the chirp and hum of insects and birds, and watched the men moved his arms and talk.

On the dock, the man moving his hands stopped moving, and the man on the boat held out a hand of his own. I saw his lips move but, like the dock men, I couldn't hear what he was saying.

"You can't hear what their saying," as if reading my thoughts, Breylin looked at me. "I can't either, so don't feel bad. What you can do, however, is pick out his aura."

"His aura?" I glanced at the dark elf.

"The shadowy lines around his body," she said in a quiet tone.

I looked back at the men on the docks. Then, with a blink, I saw what she meant. I looked at him, watching him move his hands again. Now I saw the aura, a thin, shimmering black array of lines that seemed to wrap around the outside of his figure. It looked like the outline of a drawing. "Do all people have auras?" I asked.

"If you know what to look for, yes," said Breylin. "I know this is your target, the merchant who's harassing the father, since I was the one who gathered the information on the assignment. The man on the ship is named Arul. The bad merchant is named Hurn. When you look for an aura, it helps if you can associate a certain emotion with them. Anger, greed, grief," she paused, "lust."

I let a small smile come to my face as she continued with,

"His aura is black. Why?" she asked.

I looked at him, taking in his features, his aura. "Because he steals," I said after a moment, "he bribes. swindles," the words left my mind as the images drifted through my mind like fog in a field.

"Yes," she nodded, squeezing my arm, "Because he's bad. And now, I will leave it to you to bring the him to death."

I looked away from the dock and at Breylin, then asked, "Is there any specific way I should do this?"

"Quietly, if you think you can manage it," she replied. "I know that your no stranger to combat, but more discrete actions should also hold hands with your more aggressive fighting styles."

"You have an interesting take on the world," I said quietly.

"A mage only knows what the world can teach her," Breylin said with a small smile. She leaned forward and put her lips briefly to mine, then with a step back said, "After you finish this, come back to the meet me on the main road," she began to walk away, then looked over her shoulder and added, "wear your hood. I'm sure people will be looking for the escaped prisoner from Solitude, even out here."

With I nod I looked away, still feeling the touch of her lips, and pulled up my hood. The thick leather helped to shroud the noise around me, and walking down the slope and back into the town, I began to let a plan form in my mind.

* * *

There was only one guard on the docks, and the nearest patrol guard only came to the shops that were across from the docks. But as I walked to the dock, my plan now seeming fairly solid, I wasn't worried about any of the guards. For a moment, I was surprised at how in two short days I had changed from a seemingly half-mad prisoner to a somewhat well shaped assassin-in-training. I didn't think long on it though.

At the docks the guard stopped me, asking what my business was.

"I'm a bounty hunter," I lied, "Need to talk to Hurn, I'm a friend. He'll know me."

The guard narrowed his eyes in the slit of his helmet, but turned and called out,

"Hurn!"

And the man on the dock stopped with his hand in the air, turning to the guard. I saw his face, a well made one with light brown hair and eyes to match.

"Aye?" the man asked.

"Friend of yours here," the guard gestured to me.

Now the man on the ship looked at me. I meet his eyes, and he waved a hand. "Let him on," said the man named Hurn.

The guard looked back at me and stepped aside. I nodded as I stepped onto the docks, and Hurn turned to face me. "Stay put," he pointed to the man on the ship. Walking towards me he held out a hand and asked,

"Who might you be?"

"Well I'm not your friend, that's a lie," I said. I folded my arms over my chest and glanced at the man on the ship. Aurl. I nodded to him and said, "I'd ask you to kindly leave that man on the ship alone. Along with his men of course. Not every father can be born a rich man."

"You've got no business getting involved with my affairs outsider," said Hurn with a glare. He was well built, a stocky Nord. But I had killed men his size before.

"True, I don't," I said, "but that merchant and I have a common interest it seems, and that same interest doesn't include you," I paused, then with a smirk said, "Sorry."

"You bastard," Hurn shot me a glare now, and pulled a knife from a small scabbard on his hip. I took a reflexive step back and pulled my sword from its' sheath, and for the next two seconds, no one did anything.

Then Hurn took the first swing, a wide one that I stepped past with ease. I turned and faced his back, but he came around quickly and faced me, scowling. His men were behind me, but they didn't make any move to join in. Hurn stepped forward and jabbed at me, but I smacked the swing away with ease, and Hurn snarled as he took another step back. He kept his knife up as he moved to the left, near the edge of the dock now, then came forward with a swipe. I ducked and swing with my free hand, catching him in the side. The nord let out an

"Ugh!" and backed up again.

I pressed my advantage and stepped forward, swiining with my blade to catch the nord in his middle. He blocked my hit but recoiled hard, and I took the momentary stop to finish the already short fight. Another swing to his middle caught him across the chest, and the nord cried out and stumbled back. He fell back but held onto his knife, and I didn't waste time in swiping the weapon, along with two of his fingers, out of his hand. The nord cried out again and, with a third and final plunge, I ended the fight.

With reason I had attached the attention of the city guard, but the two of them only stood at the dock, watching. With luck they would assume that Hurn and I had gotten into a disagreement, and I had handled it within reason. Looking away from the guards I faced the other three men who had been with Hurn. They all looked at me, dressed in thick furs and carrying knives and swords, but one of them said,

"We've got no quarrel with you."

"I'd say the same," I nodded.

"Come on," the man muttered to the other two, and all three of them walked past and down the docks. I gave the two guards another glance, and one of them nodded. Returning the nod I turned around, and stepped over to where Aurl and the other three men stood.

"Would you be Aurl?" I asked the man in front. He wore a deep red coat and black under garments, and carried a sword on his belt. The men behind him wore leather armor and carried short swords.

"That's right," the red coat man nodded. "Who might you be?"

"Fathhas Ah-Tar," I replied.

"A pleasure," the man, a nord, said. He studied me for a moment, then asked, "What happens now?"

"Nothing, I would assume," I gave him a small shrug.

"You represent the Wolves of Darkness, don't you?" he asked.

"Although I'm new to their ways, yes," I nodded.

"Then you've an ally in me," he replied. "Call me Captain Aurl Stren."

"Again, a pleasure, Captain," I gave him the smallest of bows.

Aurl nodded to me, then let his eyes flick upward and to the side for a moment. "Call down your friend from the stables," he said with a look back at me.

The request caught me only slightly off guard, and as I opened my mouth he said,

"I've got Captains eyes boy. I've seen most of the Seas around Skyrim and all of Tamriel."

I closed my mouth, then couldn't help but smile as I turned around, looked to where Breylin was at the stables, and raised a hand.

* * *

Breylin came down from the stables, and on the dock, we spoke with Aurl.

"Take this," he tossed a bag to me, "least I can do for getting those thugs away from my men and I."

"Many thanks," I caught the bag, feeling the instant weight it had.

"Would you require anything else of us?" Breylin asked.

"Only that you sail with me if you ever need to reach any port in Skyrim," Aurl said with a smile.

"We'd be honored," I said.

With a nod Aurl said, "Then if our business is concluded, I'd like to thank you once more before my men and I leave port."

"The pleasure was ours," said Breylin.

Aurl nodded again, then turned to his ship. Breylin and I turned from the ship and moved down the docks, back to the stables. I pulled down my hood and ran a hand through my short hair, and Breylin asked,

"For your first actual assignment, I'd say you did well," she paused, "but it's not for me to say. Your performance will be examined by a Lord, and they will go from there."

"Very well," I nodded.

Up the slope and back to the stables, Breylin ran a hand down Swift's muzzle while the horse chewed a carrot. I stepped into the saddle of my own horse, and looked at Breylin. "Do you still want to accompany me to Solsteim?" I asked.

She glanced away from Swift and looked at me, "Your tone sounds like you'd rather have me stay here."

"To..." I paused, "To keep your safe," I said.

Now Breylin looked at me fully, running her hand down Swift's muzzle. "Keep me safe?" she repeated.

I didn't immediately reply. It was that moment I realized, with perfect clarity, that a part of me was in love with Breylin. Because she belong to a group that I could easily call home, and her own kindness and compassion had far surpassed any other woman I had ever been with. "Because I love you," I said. I swung down from my horse, and stepped up to the other dark elf.

"Is that right?" she asked me. She stepped up to me, her eyes looking into mine. "You could say that already, after just two days? After two days with someone you barely know?"

"These last two days," I put a hand to her chin, not taking my gaze from hers, "They've been like no two other in my entire life. In almost twenty eight years, the last two days have been unlike any other. Mainly, because they've been spent with you," I paused, looking into the elf's deep red eyes. "You've shown me more compassion, and love than any other woman ever has. I wouldn't trade these last two days for any amount of gold or fame in the world," I paused again, then smiled, "And while it may sound so strange to hear this from the same man who robbed men and woman on horseback just four short years ago, I feel like I've had my eyes opened wider than I ever have in all my l..." but before I finished, Breylin stopped me with a kiss.

I felt her lips on mine, and closed my eyes. Let me say it again. No other woman has had this effect, this... sway over me. It seems to stop the world around us for a moment when we kiss. Although it was a short one, Breylin came away from me, and looked into my eyes.

"Your story is a long one," she said quietly, "as is mine. But now, seeing as our fates are intertwined and the gods seem to favor us both," she paused, then smiled, "So if your request is to have me stay behind with my safety in your mind, then I will oblige you."

I looked at her, her deep red eyes seeming to hold such sway for a moment, then leaned in and kissed her again. Her lips let a warmth spread through me, and I put my hands to her face. Her cheeks were warm underneath my gloves, and her lips pressed against mine with a passion.

When we pulled away, the only thing I saw in her eyes was a soft love. And although I couldn't see them, I knew my own eyes held the same love for her.