Keeper of the voice

The campfire was beginning to splutter now, rather than the healthy crackled it had been no more than thirty minutes ago. It was cold, even by Skyrim standards this night, and fire was life out here in the forested mountains. The ability to create fire with magic was useless without the means with which to keep it burning. The young woman had gathered what dry wood she could find, and was terrified by the thought she was going to have to venture into one of the many caves in the side of the great mountain. A cave may offer shelter from the cold, but it brought with it all new kinds of danger. Bears and wolves would be the least of it, unintentionally stumbling upon a group of bandits was not what she needed right then. A cloud of vapour escaped into the air as she exhaled heavily, longing for the place she had once called home. The place she could never go back to if she wished to keep her family safe. Of course, they were only family in the sense that she had known these people most of her life and loved them dearly, even if they weren't blood kin. Dark hair brushed her shoulders as she looked down at the silver ring that hung on a chain around her neck. She had been close to being married, once. To the king of the guild, no less. He had sworn he would have her head when she had broke it off, the night she had discovered the truth about herself, the night she had left the Thieves Guild behind.

The man standing on the mountain not far away didn't even notice the cold. He wasn't sure he even knew what cold was anymore. Betrayal and death were cold and that was enough for him. He sat watching the fire below as he whittled away on a stick he'd picked up a few steps back. His knife made soothing sounds in the darkness, reminding him that he was alone. He'd always been alone and probably always would be. It was for the best. After all, no one needed to see the things that he'd seen. At least not until it was their time. 
Soon enough, the young woman below him would see what he had seen. But unlike him she would not be coming back from it.

The young woman finally made the choice to let the fire die. Regret filled her the moment it did. Not only did the warmth quickly leave, but suddenly the darkness of the forest was suffocating. She Had packed up her few belongings, checked her weapons and her armour before making the daring choice to head into the mountain. The optimist in her was suggesting maybe instead of bandits, she would find undiscovered riches. The absurdity thought alone made her chuckle quietly to herself as she walked.

The young man again got to his feet, dropping the doll he'd been working on. One day he would have to remember that thwe part of himself the had a child was long gone. His daughter had been dead for years, along with his joy or anything remotely close to it. 
His prey was moving. He needed to focus on that and nothing more. He had his orders.

Perhaps it was fatigue masquerading as carelessness, but the young imperial didn't even realise she was being hunted. Years as a part of the thieves guild had made her somewhat arrogant in the belief she could simply disappear with the shadows. The cave entrance was unguarded, which was a small relief, as she approached. Long tendrils of moss hung over the opening, and there was a faint smell of decay. Not exactly homely, but better than the ice covered mountain. Once her 'camp' was set up again without the windchill biting into her bones, the young woman simply stared down at the ring she now played between her fingers. Why did doing the right thing have to feel so terrible?

Her assassin might very well have caught her right then if a half frozen young woman hadn't stumbled into the cave's entrance gasping for breath. It was not hard to hear the sounds of wolves gathering behind her, snarling and snapping. "Please help..." The little blonde pleaded, falling to her knees as she stared at the stranger across the fire. "I don't want to die."

The dark haired imperial remained seated by her fire, seemingly not moved by the other woman's plea. "Then you shouldn't be on the mountain." She replied rather coolly, though one hand had moved to the sword at her hip the instant she had heard the first twig snap.

"I don't know where I am. My father...he..." She turned her head as the first of the wolves revealed himself. His yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness. "There's werewolves...please..." The young woman was covered in mud, the tips of her yellow blonde hair weighed down with dirt.

The other woman's sapphire eyes flicked to the cave entrance where the werewolf was poised and snarling. "It isn't my place to interfere with natural selection, survival of the fittest and all that." She remarked, smirking a little as a long forgotten memory resurfaced. She had a rather angry scar on her inner thigh from a careless encounter with a wolf when she herself was no more than a child. The man who would grow to be her king had told her then only the strong survive.

The young woman rested her head on the mud in front of her, sobbing openly. she was list and alone. her father had sold her to the Werewolf king in order to save the rest of the village from being slaughtered. on the night she was to be sacrificed to him she made a run for it and didn't look back. it probably wasn't the better choice.

There was a heavy sigh as the woman rolled her eyes and rose to her feet. "At least be a Nord about this and face death with a little dignity." She commented, though had her orc sword free and was placing herself between the girl and the wolf. "Sovngard wont welcome the meek."

"I don't want to go there. I want to live and have a family of my own...." The young woman said softly, picking up a rock though her fingers were stiff and bleeding. "I will repay you. I promise."

"That's a hollow promise." The dark haired woman scoffed. "And a family? You must be some kind of idiot." She added before kicking dirt at the wolf and lunging forward.

The woman threw her rock, striking the dog in the nose. It angrily snarled at her but turned and went for the woman with the sword. the others began to surround them.
Not far above them, the man was watching. He was smiling ever so slightly. he loved seeing a blood bath. this wasn't bound to end well. especially since the Werewolf king was keeping close watch on the winner.

The woman who looked more imperial than Nord seemed to be holding her own against the wolf, despite her small stature. It wasn't long before the smell of blood filled the cave opening, though it wasn't entirely clear who it belonged to. There was a howl in the distance, and the other wolves seemed to back off and leave this one to fight alone.

It wasn't long before the wolf was lying dead on the ground and the young woman was once again making a break for the fire. 
"Did you hear that?" She breathed. "That was him. Their king. he's probably sending his hunters."

"And yet you're still here." The dark haired woman remarked, blood now smearing her pale face. She didn't exactly like people outside of the guild at the best of times, but this woman was testing her patience when she was purposefully trying to avoid people.

"Are you wounded?" The young woman asked, tearing at the edge of her snow white gown. "I can patch you up. its the least I can do." She added gently. "Thank you so much for saving me. I shall repay you somehow."

The woman shook her head and held up a gloved hand to prevent the other woman from getting any closer. "You can repay me by leaving. You heard the howls, it's only a matter of time before the pack leader finds you."

"I can't. Please? I don't want to die." The young woman pleaded, once again beginning to shake. "They were going to offer me as a sacrifice to save my father's village. Not mine anymore I suppose. please...I promise not to be any trouble...just don't leave me to die out there..."

"You can't stay here." The woman replied firmly. "Get that into that air filled bobble head of yours! Staying here, with me, is far more of a danger than those wolves!" She insisted firmly. "I'll make this easy for you, have the camp. I'll leave."

The young woman looked completely devastated. She simply stayed where she was  nodding her head. "As you wish. I'm sorry." She breathed. that said she dropped her eyes and stared at the ground. she should go back to the village and face her father once it was light. I'd any of them were alive that was.

"Is that how you do things? Look helpless in the hopes others will save you?" The other woman asked as she started packing up her things. "It's a wonder you haven't been killed before now."

"You'll excuse me if I don't seem to find myself in trouble too often. Except for the occasional  slap on the hand for stealing grapes from the table before supper." The little blonde began trying to wipe mud off her pet nose. of course it did nothing but smear. "I am the daughter of Jarl Sevlonk after all."

"A noble?" The woman spat the word with great hostility. "Well poor you, suffering through all those years of plentiful food and warm soft beds!" She was shoving things into her bag with a little more aggression now.

"I wasn't saying that to offend you." The little blonde said, her bright eyes watering. "I just meant that I'm not accustomed to trouble. please forgive me miss?"

"What does the forgiveness of a stranger matter to you?" The woman replied rather bluntly. "You will never see me again, and I will spare the pampered daughter of a Jarl little thought once I leave this place."

The young woman cringed. Up until a few days ago she wasn't used to being spoken to this way. "I wish the best for you, savior." The silence was heavy through the night. Aside from a few wolves sniffing at the opening of the cave there was nothing. Near morning the little blonde fell asleep. She wouldn't know if the other woman left or not.

Ultimately the other woman hadn't actually left the Jarl's daughter alone. She also hadn't got the slumber she herself wished for. The dark haired woman didn't trust others enough to fall asleep around them, but she found her conscience had prevented her from letting the wolves simply have this meek little creature. "Just until sunrise..." she promised herself, cleaning the blade she had used to kill the wolf.

The man who'd been sent to kill the warrior was still sitting in a tree outside the cave. He'd been sitting there all night. This changed things a bit but not much. He knew dark haired woman would leave. It was only a matter of time. Then things would be back on track. 
Until then he interested himself with the tendrils of smoke coming up from the village the Nordic woman had been running from. The screaming had stopped hours ago but the smell that came with the morning breeze was horrific. He was willing to bet the Werewolf clan had something to do with that. Had their Jarl not given in to the demand for a sacrifice? Was that why the girl was running?