Within the high snow swept peaks of the Throat of the World, knelt a solitary figure staring down at the world below. Snow caressed the figure's shoulders, clinging to the swaying crimson cloak adorning its back. How long it had been since the figure had moved was a mystery to all but one.

That one being made its presence known to the figure as the wind starts to creep from a light breeze to heavy gusts, followed by the unmistakable throbbing of heavy wing beats, “Little Dovah....” the creature rumbled loudly above the crackle of the uplifted snow from its landing, “What troubles you... I have not seen you this uneasy since the battle of Sovngarde many years ago...”

The smaller figure rose an arm to protect his eyes from the blast of snow created by the dragon. As the snow settled around them, beneath the jet black, full faced steel helmet that the smaller figure wore, a small smile crept onto his lips. But it did not last for long as it was soon replaced with a deep sigh, “Paarthurnax... my friend,” the figure spoke in a deep, rich voice with a thick Nordic accent, hidden eyes gazing upon the massive frame of the ancient dragon who looked down upon him, “Something is happening; the magic within this land has become even more chaotic than normal. I have not felt this much unease before.”

Paarthurnax frowned ever so slightly, if a dragon was even capable of such subtle movements, “Your judgement is not something I often put in question, but... we are in a time of peace, a peace which you yourself have brought upon this land.”

The figure raise an eyebrow underneath his helmet before he slowly reached up to remove it as it often got a little stuffy inside if he wore it too long, even in this cold environment. A well groomed, yet thick dark brown beard grew from his chin, though as he tugged and straightened out his matching moustache, a pair of piercing golden eyes looked down at the valley below, “Perhaps, but when one evil is removed, it does not take long for another to take its place. However, I cannot put my finger on this sensation,” muttered Bardac as he squinted at Paarthurnax.

With a tilt of his massive head, Paarthurnax replied, “While what you say is true... any evil that rears its head in this time will be confronted by the full force of the united holds of this land. Holds which you united.”

Bardac let out a deep snort and waved his hand dismissively at the dragon, “Do you honestly expect me to believe that they united simply because I asked them to?” Bardac soon shook his head and looked down at the College of Winterhold in the distance, “But... matters aside. If there is an imbalance of magic, the college would be the most logical place to start,” though under his breath, he muttered to himself, “It seems retirement will have to wait... Talos help me, one of these days I am going to be too old to be saving everyone,” however before he could start his journey back down the mountain, the wind died down to barely a whisper, exposing the unmistakable sound of crunching footsteps beneath the snow, “Expecting someone?”

Paarthurnax looked round to the end of the pathway then shook his massive head. Bardac in the meantime picked up his helmet in his arms and walked close to the dragon's side to meet a strange sight. In the pathway stood a figure, fairly short and pretty skinny in Bardac's mind, but as its weak looking frame drew closer, he was surprised that such a creature could have made it to the top, let alone been able to pass the Greybeards who lived below them in High Hrothgar.

The strange two legged figure, adorned in a thin crimson robe stood before them, seemingly frozen in place. As the seconds ticked by, Bardac closed his gauntlet covered hand over the hilt of his blade, Dawnbreaker, though as Bardac glanced at Paarthurnax to meet his gaze for but a moment, he caught the smallest amount of movement out of the corner of his eye. Bardac started to draw an inch of steel while shifting his position ever so slightly, expecting if anything the strange being to attack, but as time ticked by, nothing happened and as the duo focused their gaze back upon the path, Bardac was somewhat disturbed to discover the creature had vanished.

“That was... unusual,” murmured Bardac as his grip slackened on Dawnbreaker's hilt.

“Indeed...” Paarthurnax responded in a deep and thoughtful tone, concern was also growing within the dragon, this appearance troubled him somewhat as the only two legged beings to ever appear this high within the mountain were Bardac who stood beside him and on rare occasions the Greybeards who lived far below.

Meanwhile, stood upon the very peak of the mountain, unbeknown to the two below him was the creature in question, robes billowing in the wind as a large, snaggle-toothed snout became exposed from beneath the shadows of the hooded robe. “Oh my friends,” the creature spoke with glee, slowly rubbing its hands together, “What fun we shall have,” and with a turn and wave of its cloak, the creature vanished from sight.

The journey down the seven thousand steps that wrapped themselves around the mountain took a few hours to complete and by the time Bardac had reached the town of Ivarstead below, the sun had already started to set. With a sigh from his lips, Bardac made his way to the nearby Vilemyr Inn; even for a Dovahkiin the wilds of Skyrim were no place to travel at night. The inn was as quiet as always except for a few town guards and the odd traveller that stopped in to settle down for the night.

“Room for one, Svidi and the usual supplies,” Bardac called over to the female Nord who was stood behind the bar. Bardac usually stopped in this inn before he ventured out on his trips to stock up on food and mead.

Svidi looked over with a smile and replied, “Coming right up Bardac! One room as well as some mead, bread and cheese. Can I also tempt you in some freshly smoked trout? It's hanging out back!” though a moment later she bent down to pick up a large, copper key from beneath the counter and as she stood back up, she tossed it over to Bardac.

With his hand outstretched, Bardac easily caught the key. “No thank you, the smell of the trout would simply attract predators,” he replied with a shake of his head, “Thank you though, save some and I will try it when I return,” and with that out of the way, Bardac entered his room for the night. A low sigh escaped his lips while he used his foot to shut the door behind him. “Will I ever get a break?” he muttered to himself as he slipped off his gauntlets and helmet, he then placed these carefully on the table beside him before running a hand through his unkempt hair. At least he had a decent night's sleep to look forward to since this inn always kept its beds in great condition.

“Knock knock!” came the voice of Svidi from behind the door and as it swung open, she came in holding a platter of various breads and cheeses as well as six full skins of Bardac's favourite drink of choice, mead, “This should keep you going until you reach the next town,” Svidi smiled sweetly at him, “Though, may I ask where you're going?”

“Winterhold,” replied Bardac as he took the platter from her and started to fill the linen sacks around his waist. Cheese in one, bread in the other while the six skins were given their own bags, “I need to speak to Tolfdir in the college.”

“Winterhold?” asked Svidi curiously, “Well, I hope your trip goes well. I heard rumours the weather is getting a little... crazy near the college at the moment. Increased wraith activity.”

This got Bardac's attention as he looked up from stuffing one particularly stubborn skin into a sack, “That... does not sound too reassuring...” Bardac murmured quietly with a frown. After a moment of contemplation he said to Svidi, “I will be leaving when the sun rises. Thank you again for the supplies, how much do I owe?”

Svidi chuckled slightly and swooped down to kiss Bardac's cheek, “You don't owe me a thing, you saved this Inn enough times from bandit and dragon attacks. I've yet to repay the favour,” and with a playful wave goodbye, Svidi left the room and shut the door behind her.

This left a rather bemused looking Bardac to stare at the door for a moment, though with a shake of his head and a sigh from his lips, he murmured, “Well that was... awkward.”

Untying the sacks from his waist, he then placed them on the table next to his gauntlet and helmet, he also untied Dawnbreaker and his trusted shield, Spellbreaker and placed them down by the table as well with a soft clatter of steel on steel. Only then did he swing his legs onto the bed, his eyes closing as he tried to catch some much needed rest and sleep before the trip in the morning.

By the time the sun rose above the horizon, Bardac was already boarding the cart near the edge of Ivarstead, “Winterhold,” called Bardac to the rider of the cart as he settled himself in the back seat, “If you can get me there before dark I will pay double,” he added.

“Before dark? That'll be pushing it!” replied the rider and with a crack from the reigns, the cart lurched forward from the power of the horses in front as they took off at a gallop, “But it's nothing we haven't done before! These brutes here can make it!” the rider said over the pounding of hooves on the cobble track, though that soon eased off as the track turned to dirt.

Bardac hung on with all his might as the cart swayed and lurched, but it wasn't anything new, these cart riders were an insane bunch, this one even more so as Bardac recalled the several dozen near death experiences he'd gained at the hands of this very Imperial. Then again, he'd probably go insane too if all he did was travel the same routes over and over again, “Get me there alive and it will be triple,” Bardac called out before bracing himself down on the seat. He hated these infernal carts, but it was the quickest way of getting where he needed to go without having to ride a horse himself. After all, he had a bit of a reputation among the stables of not being able to keep horses alive for very long.

It took four long, backside-numbing hours to reach the outskirts of Windhelm, the last major hold before Winterhold, “Just stopping to feed the horses!” called out the rider as they pulled into the stables. Even the most well trained horses couldn't make such a long journey without a stop or two, though Bardac wasn't complaining.

As Bardac got out of the cart to stretch his legs, his main goal was to regain the feeling in his backside which had been lost not long after the first hour of travelling, but he couldn't complain, it was him that asked to be there as quickly as possible. Which reminded him, “Here. For the first half of the journey,” Bardac said as he walked up to the rider, placing a small amount of gold Septims into the rider's outstretched hand. While travelling by cart wasn't the most comfortable, at least it was cheap.

“Ah! Thank you!” replied the rider as he pocketed the Septims with a grin on his face, though as he watched Bardac climb back into the cart, he asked. “None of my business, but why do you want to go to Winterhold anyway? Nothing there but a bunch of old buildings, stubborn men and a weird college.”

Bardac let out a sigh and shook his head. People could be so nosy sometimes, not to mention rude, “I need to visit the college and speak to someone,” he said while adjusting his helmet a little. After half an hour had passed which was plenty of time for the horses to get a decent break, Bardac looked over to the rider and asked, “Want some mead?” as he pulled out one of the skins from its linen sack to take a long and much needed drink. In one swallow he nearly drained half of the pint sized skin.

With a grin, the rider climbed back onto the front of the cart and caught the skin which Bardac tossed to him. “Well I can't say no to...” he paused to take a sniff around near the neck of the skin, “Egh! Nord Mead? No thank you,” he then threw the skin back to Bardac who caught it easily, “I swear by Honningbrew.”

With a snort from his nose, Bardac replied, “Honningbrew? I would not touch that stuff with a Horker's lips!” mead was a subject close to Bardac's heart, after all he practically lived off the stuff, “Though I think we can both agree... Black-Briar, that simply needs to be burned and be done with it.”

The rider roared with laughter and looked back to Bardac for a moment before cracking the reigns to set the horses going once more, “You're alright Bardac, for a piss drinking half dragon.”

“Hey! Wait, no... I will give you that one,” chuckled Bardac. He had been called far worse and as the cart lurched forward for the second time, Bardac settled into his seat for the second half of this backside numbing journey.

“Rider, stop,” called Bardac as Winterhold came into view. Something wasn't quite right and the chill Bardac felt beneath his armour was unusual for this time of year even in this part of Skyrim, “Do you see what I see?” he said as the cart lurched to a halt just outside the outskirts of the hold.

“I sure do,” replied the Rider as his eyes squinted, “I've never seen Ice Wraiths that far in the town before. You going to be alright?”

Bardac didn't reply, instead he hopped off the cart and offered the rider the coin which Bardac owed him. Only after a minute or two to survey the town from a nearby rock did Bardac return to say, “I have an extremely uneasy feeling about this... there are Ice Wraiths all over the town. I suggest you get out of here as quickly as possible.”

As the horses slowly brought the cart back round, the Rider looked over his shoulder and called, “You be careful out there!” before quickly heading off with a final crack of the reigns.

It was quiet, eerily so except for the whistle of wind from between the run down buildings that made up this derelict town. Bardac's guard was high, his head on a constant swivel to try and catch any movement from between the buildings. However as an Ice Wraith lazily floated by, Bardac's guard as well as his bemusement only grew, Ice Wraiths usually attacked on sight and the closer Bardac got to the bridge leading to the college, the more Ice Wraiths he saw simply floating around in the air, “This is not right...” muttered Bardac to himself as he stepped onto the bridge, one hand enclosed tightly around the handle of Dawnbreaker while the other was poised to grasp Spellbreaker at a moments notice.

As Bardac crossed the main bridge leading to the great structure that housed it. No one could be seen despite the changes Bardac had brought during his time as Arch-Mage. He had turned the college from an unknown, feared and outcast place to a proud, noble college for all those who wished to seek training in the Arcane Arts.

Bardac's brow creased underneath his helmet the closer he got to the large oak doors leading into the main hall. Both Spellbreaker and Dawnbreaker were drawn, his shield held close in front of him while his sword was held low, ready to strike at anything that posed a threat. 'What in Tamriel going on?' he thought to himself as he walked into the centre of the main courtyard, eyes scanning the surrounding structures for a sight or a sound. However, the only sound he could hear was the howling gusts of the sea breeze and the crackling of ice covered branches shedding their hanging icicles. The only thing he could see was an endless splattering of grey and white as the snow laid upon the cobblestones and pathways that made up the courtyard.

Bardac could feel the hair on the back of his neck prickle as a chill swept through his body, but as he approached the doors leading to the Hall of the Elements, something stopped him from opening them. His fingers enclosed around the large handle and what he felt caused him to hesitate. A faint vibration could be felt through his gauntlet, he hadn't felt such a thing since retrieving the Staff of Magnus from the Labyrinthian and returning to find that accursed, insufferable High Elf Ancano activating the Eye of Magnus.

Bracing himself, Bardac slowly opened the door, the loud creaks of the hinges echoing through the staircases and corridors in front of him and once he stepped in and shut the doors behind him, nothing except silence could be heard, the unnerving silence of something amiss. Then it struck him, an ungodly smell of decaying flesh; it was a smell that caused Bardac's stomach to churn violently and it took every ounce of self control to stop himself from filling his helmet with vomit. A secondary set of doors blocked his way into the main hall beyond, though something was drawing him forward despite every nerve in his body telling him to retreat and come up with a better strategy.

After a second or two to consider his options, Bardac decided that the only way was forward and as he slowly opened the door into the main hall, the stench he'd only just got used to grew tenfold. Bile rose in his throat, though only the power of his will made him swallow it back down and continue forward, however what he saw next stopped him in his tracks. The hall was littered with the bodies of the students and teachers that lived at the college, a sickening sight that almost brought the Nord to his knees. Among the fallen, he spotted the corpse of Tolfdir, a dear friend and mentor to Bardac as well as a fellow Nord.

“No... no...” Bardac whispered as he rushed over to Tolfdir. The elderly Nord's eyes and mouth were wide open with the silent scream that told the utter horror of his last moments in life, “When I find who did this, they will pay... dearly,” Bardac then reached up to close Tolfdir's eyes as tears soaked slowly into his beard. He might have been a seasoned warrior, but the death of such a companion was always hard to swallow, “You will be remembered...”

Soon, the sound of laughter echoed through the main hall. Not just any laughter though; this was a cruel and foreboding cackle, “Well well! What do we have here? A little bug to join the swarm,” cackled the voice near the ceiling high above, “Isn't this just lovely. Sooo glad you could join,” the figure spoke once again as its hands, which were adorned with long, thick nails not unlike a Hagraven. Clacked its fingers together, it slowly rotated upside down making it appear that it was standing on the ceiling.

Bardac stood from the corpse of his fallen friend as he looked up at the robed creature above him, though instead of giving the creature a chance to explain itself, a powerful burst of lightning erupted from Bardac's outstretched hand, “I will relish the feeling of driving my blade through your heart if you are responsible for this... who are you?”

“Oh I believe I can answer that,” came another voice from behind Bardac, this caused the Nord to turn swiftly to see who spoke and to the Nord's horror, he saw none other than Sheogorath. Backing up the steps that circled the hall onto the higher level to make sure that he could keep both figures in his view, Bardac couldn't help but feel as though he walked straight into a trap.

“You see. When I first met my little friend here—” Sheogorath said, though was interrupted for but a moment as a loud crack echoed, this noise was caused by the figure above disappearing and reappearing almost instantly slightly behind Sheogorath as the god gestured his arm behind him, “I just knew I had to... have a little fun with the one that they call the Hero of Skyrim,” his arms then opened out wide as a grin crossed his face. “Nice title by the way... very fitting.”

Bardac's grip on his sword and shield tightened. One strange creature was bad enough but even with the powers of the Dovahkiin, Bardac was still no match for a god like Sheogorath, “Explain yourself... why have you done this?” he paused for moment before bellowing, “WELL?!” the unrestrained force of his voice shattered the glass above them and as the shards cascaded down upon the three, Bardac rose Dawnbreaker to point the tip at Sheogorath and the strange being beside him.

“I see your mastery over the ways of the voice have greatly improved since our last encounter,” Sheogorath chuckled with a wiggle of his finger in an ear, “But I can't take all the credit for this little mess, you have to thank my new friend,” Sheogorath then turned to face the being behind him, “Why don't you introduce yourself? Don't be rude to our guest.”

Bardac's eye twitched. These two creatures were simply toying with him and as the cloaked figure took a few steps forward to pass Sheogorath, the figure slowly remove the hood of his robe to expose a human, a plain human. Though perhaps Breton in its blood since he seemed a good foot or two shorter than Bardac, who stood at an impressive six foot and seven inches.

The now un-hooded figure flashed a snaggle-toothed grin towards Bardac as his eyes were finally cast into light. A sick, almost diseased shade of yellow filled the once usual white of the eye while the colour around the pupil was a bright, demonic shade of red, “Well certainly my dear friend. They call me Discord. Lord of Chaos, at your service,” Discord finished his speech with an over-exaggerated bow and a low cackle that could freeze the bones of a Frost Troll.

Bardac's anger was threatening to boil over at these two unworldly beings, but deep down he knew that he stood very little chance of surviving an all out confrontation with them. The only thing Bardac had on his side was the element of surprise. So, with a deep inhale of breath, Bardac drew from the power of the blood and soul within him and bellowed out, “Yol Toor Shul!” as the words left his lips, an immense gout of flame followed aimed directly at the two beings.

Discord's eyes widened as the wall of flame approached, he only had a split second to react and as he disappeared from sight, only to reappear a second later above an unscathed Sheogorath and called out, “He breathes fire? You didn't tell me he breathes fire!” but as Discord looked down, he was in for yet another surprise as the corpses surrounding the main hall remained completely undamaged while his cloak smouldered slightly just from the heat of the flame.

With a glance up to Discord, Sheogorath brushed off a little bit of burning ember from his shoulder, “Didn't I? Oh dear, I guess I didn't. Be careful, he breathes fire. He also breathes ice and various other nasty things,” and with a loud chuckle Sheogorath shrugged his shoulders, “Seems his power has grown too... I felt the heat off that one.”

While Bardac knew he didn't have a hope in harming Sheogorath, the fact that Discord dodged the flames meant that he was much more susceptible to at least high level spells. However, Bardac was not in the mood to mess around and as Discord's attention was still distracted, powerful bolts of lightning erupted from Bardac's fingertips and even before his fingers had finished smouldering, he pulled his arms back like one would when holding a bow.

Sheogorath just watched from the side with a grin on his lips, he wasn't really one to take direct action against things. Besides, Bardac and Discord were providing him with some much needed entertainment, though he did wince slightly as one of the bolts of lightning fired from Bardac struck its target, causing Discord to howl out in pain and drop to the floor as the electricity caused his muscles to convulse.

“That look like it hurt,” chuckled Sheogorath as he gestured towards Bardac, “Though you might want to get up so... too late,” the god groaned. Before his eyes, Sheogorath watched as Bardac unleashed a salvo of long, shimmering arrows from a ethereal bow grasped in the Nord's hands. Each arrow struck its target, pinning Discord to the floor and no matter how much Discord struggled, he couldn't dislodge himself from the multiple arrows pinning down his robe.

“As I said before... I will relish in the feeling of my blade piercing your heart,” growled Bardac as his left hand extended towards Discord. The sound of stone cracking echoed through the hall as the marble floor which Discord was pinned to started to rise slowly, splitting near the edge of the holes which the arrows created, but still kept them pinned firmly in place, “You come to my college, you kill my students... my friends... my mentors,” Bardac's voice grew ever stronger as the stone and Discord who was still pinned in place rose in front of the Nord, bring the Lord of Chaos into a more upright position, “However, do not worry... I am not without mercy, you will not feel a thing.”

Discord couldn't understand it, these arrows made it impossible for him to move or even teleport from the stone his back was firmly against. “Sheogorath! Do something!” pleaded Discord, his eyes wide with the realisation that any moment his life could come to an end.

“What do you expect me to do?” said Sheogorath with a shrug, “You got yourself into that mess, I'm sure you can get yourself out of it.”

“Enough foul beast! Meet your end!” bellowed Bardac as he once again drew upon the power of his blood and soul, Bardac roared, “Wuld Nah Kest!” wind billowed in from the shattered windows, surrounding Bardac as the power of the Thu'um he summoned accelerated him at a blinding speed towards Discord, those deep red eyes widened as Bardac drew ever closer to cleaving Discord in two. However, just before Bardac could pierce through Discord's heart with a powerful thrust of his sword, a blinding flash of white light surrounded Bardac, his eyes closed though he carried the attack just in case the flash was a diversion. Instead of the sound of metal striking flesh and bone, in its place came the sound of splintering wood. His eyes slowly opened and beneath that thick, steel helmet, he came face to muzzle with a pair of soft purple eyes.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing, staring back at him was the eyes was a tall, light grey coated equine with a horn. A horn as long as his arm with a look of shock plastered over its narrow muzzle. Bardac took a few rapid steps back, withdrawing his sword which was embedded in the splintered edge of what appeared to be a throne while a few soft white strands of hair laid on the edge of his blade. Bardac continued to back down the steps, his head on a constant swivel as he took in his new and strange surroundings. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, nor could he believe what he then heard.

“What is the meaning of this!” bellowed a voice from in front of Bardac. The voice came from the equine which he nearly beheaded, “Who are you and how did you get here?”

Bardac continued to back up, too stunned to speak. That is until his shield clattered against the wall behind him and with a quick look over his shoulder, Bardac realised he'd backed himself into a corner.

“I will not repeat myself,” spoke the large, white equine that was now walking towards him, flanked by a large number of smaller equines, each one clad in a golden armour, “Who are you and how did you get here?” they didn't look too pleased from the expression on their faces, but this simply raised more questions than it answered since Bardac had never seen equines with such expressive faces before.

“Princess, orders?” spoke a small, winged equine flanking the larger equine's left side, the feminine voice then dropped to a near whisper, “Before it regains sense and teleports out of here.”

The large equine, which was now identified as a princess replied just as quietly, “Nothing, for now... stay alert.”

However, Bardac had already regained his sense, though not much as he would have liked. With a large, white orb suddenly appearing in his left hand, he mustered as much sense as he could spare and cast his spell. In that instance his body disappeared from view as his invisibly took hold, though he remained where he was. This trick always worked as the equines in front of him scattered almost instantly into a well trained and rehearsed search pattern.

“Fan out! He won't get far!” called out one of the smaller Equine, however the Princess seemed intent on staring exactly where Bardac had first disappeared.

Bardac couldn't tell if the Princess could see him or not, but as he slipped along the edge of the wall, he couldn't release the breath he was holding despite the Princess still staring intently in the corner. Finally he rounded a nearby corner into a corridor, releasing a silent sigh followed by a whisper to himself, “Where in Tamriel am I...”