Marcus Tullius looked to his grandson, both overjoyed at the prospect of seeing the young man, and worried beyond belief at the precarious position that he was in. There was no doubt, however, that this was Reman Tullius who knelt before him, chained and collared. With the wave of a hand, the warden and legate were dismissed, allowing the two men time alone. Marcus was still stunned at his grandson's bravado, allowing himself to be captured was a risky move, even for a Tullius. But, there would be time for anger later, right now, family took the priority.

“We thought you were dead.” There were few things that Imperials cared for beyond their families and friends, and seeing his diseased grandson, Marcus was nearly brought to tears.

“For the longest time, I might as well have been.” Reman felt small, next to his grandfather, he was still a child in his own mind. This reunion was four years in the making, and the young man couldn't help but feel nervous about it. “But, things are different now, better than they were, anyway.”

“Why did you leave?” Marcus was likely limited to only speaking a few words at a time, he might lose himself otherwise. The query was simple enough, but provoked more thought than one would expect. With a deep breath, the lycan began his explanation, hoping that it was believed by both Marcus Tullius, and himself.

“When I was bitten, I lost consciousness.” Marcus saw the young man's eyes fog up, losing himself in the past as he always did as a boy. “When I awoke, I could tell that something was... wrong, like I wasn't myself.”

“We could have helped you, taken you to a healer.” The general wanted nothing more than to help his grandson, even more now that he was actually here. For the past four years, Tullius had felt helpless in a way, and the campaign had shown such. But, things would improve after today, they must.

“I didn't want to risk anyone, I may have transformed at any time.” Few things were as powerful as speaking to a long-lost relative, and even the young werewolf had to admit that he was overwhelmed by the rush of emotion. “Self exile was the only way to be certain that I wouldn't hurt anyone.”

“Why haven't you tried to contact me before now?” Tullius wasn't angry at the boy, mostly just himself for allowing his own blood to suffer in isolation for so long. “Surely, you've had ample opportunity to do so.”

“I wasn't in perfect control of myself, not until recently.” Only now did Reman consider himself worthy to return to his family, if they would even take him back, that is.

“But you transformed, it's in the report, you haven't been cured.” Marcus wasn't trying to prove the younger man wrong, he simply pointed out the weakest area of Reman explanation. Certainly, there was more to this story than the aged Imperial knew, and he'd do his best to learn it before the day was out. “Doesn't Hircine still have a grip on you?”

“The Huntsman is out of the equation, he no longer has any claim to my soul.” The lycan's words held power, freedom from his Daedric oppressor. It seemed that Imperials always managed to escape tyranny, even from a god. “I defeated him in combat, and my soul is my own.”

“I have to hear this tale, all of it.” Tullius wasn't born yesterday, but he knew honesty when he heard it, and there hadn't been a single time when the man could recall his grandson lying to him.

“Could you let me out of these bindings, first?” The Imperial wiggled in the chains for emphasis, the tight links constricting his chest and cutting off the blood to his hands and feet. Nodding, General Tullius unlocked the cell door, but was still apprehensive about letting the younger man free. It killed the aged soldier inside to allow his own grandchild to sit in prison, and he was scared to be near him. But what if he'd changed, what if he saw the older man as an enemy, an obstacle in the way of his freedom?

“It pains me, but I must ask the you not move until I have re-locked the cell door.” Under normal circumstances, the young lycan would be angry, but this was his grandfather who was speaking, he simply couldn't find the rage to hate the older Imperial. With a nod from Reman, Marcus undid the many locks that held the chains to the werewolf's prison. Work completed, Tullius hurriedly left the cell, locking the barred door shut, and sealing his relative within.

The lycan stretched his freed limbs, allowing his blood to flow once more. Numbness fled the extremities, granting mobility and dexterity to his fingers. Reman reached under the tight collar, and with a sharp tug, the silver gave. The Imperial tossed the scrap to the stone floor, glad to be rid of the bindings which had kept him so helpless.

“Now, Grandpa, pull up a chair, this is going to take a while.”

@#@#@#@#@#@#

The island wasn't far from the shack, a map inside the dead man's journal had pointed them right to it. The journal had listed it as being on a lake, but this was only a large pond by pony standards. Still, it was in the center of a large field of ice, and a thick fog hung over the ice. It was only a few inches deep, but Fluttershy couldn't see her hoof when she'd tested the ice in the first place.

“At least we're out of the wind, I was worried we'd freeze out there.” Rarity spoke as though the mares were inside, but that wasn't the case. The ponies were sitting beneath a cliff, using it as a buffer against the frigid winds. “Though I don't see why we haven't tried to enter the ruins yet.”

“Because those guys over there don't look too keen on sharing the place.” Glade pointed a hoof towards a trio of people, two humans and a Dunmer, who seemed to be trying to cross the ice. But, for some reason, none of them had actually taken more than a few steps before running back to the shore. “I think they're scared to try and reach the ruins.”

“Girls.” Pinkie tried to get the other ponies' attention. None was given to her, her words falling on deaf ears.

“Should one of us try and listen in on them, or something?” Dash looked like she was going stir crazy, she needed something to do. “'Cause I so volunteer to scout them out.”

“Girls.” The second try was the farthest the pink party pony of Ponyville ever got, before now, and it would hopefully stay that way.

“That don' sound too smart t' me.” Applejack didn't like the look of those people, they way they moved just didn't set right with her.

“Girls!” Pinkie almost shouted, but had kept her voice quiet, even in the yelling. She had something important to ask, and she was going to ask it. “Has anypony seen Gummy? He was right here, but I can't find him.”

Almost on command, the tiny alligator waltzed into the open, right near the locals' campsite. The toothless gator wandered into the fog, his tail the only visible part of him. One of the men seemed to take notice, and moved towards the wriggling, green thing that stuck up from the thick mist. The human yelped as the toothless vice clamped onto his arm, the human grumbled something, before pulling Gummy from his limb. He seemed pretty mad, but Pinkie had a good feeling about the stranger.

That was, until he punted the baby alligator towards the island.

There was no a verbal response, no playfully absentminded name the pink mare could have called the aggressor, she simple sped off, ready to attack. Glade and Dash were the only two who even had a chance of catching her, but the Element of Laughter left them both in the dust. The pony launched herself at the man, going full speed, plenty of force to take him down. Hooves came crashing long before the human's colleagues could respond.

“Meanie! Let's see how you handle somepony your own size!” Pinkamena Diane Pie wasn't a mare to be trifled with, she may have seemed cute and bubbly, but when she was angered beyond her tolerance, bad things happened to bad ponies. The flat maned mare reared back, a strong punch that was sure to cause a lot of damage. A cyan pegasus was the only thing that saved the human's face from being smashed in, Rainbow Dash did the very best to keep her friend from doing something that she'd never forgive herself for.

“You things picked the wrong day to get lost!” The lone Dunmer of the strange group roared at the ponies, charging into battle with sword drawn. There wasn't a logical explanation for why he was so quick to ignore the strange equines, but he still did, focusing solely on killing the interloping mares.

He ran for three steps, before disappearing beneath the fog.

There hadn't been a splash, or the sound of ice breaking, or anything of the sort. He simply vanished from sight, sinking below the cover of the mist like a lead balloon. His companion was smarter, a woman that threw magic at the ponies form a distance. Though each projectile was deflected, courtesy of Twilight Sparkle, the exploding fireballs cleared the fog from the ice's surface. The elf from before banged against the frozen water, barely a silhouette, before a dark shape bolted into him, taking the Dunmer with it.

Out of magicka, and too stupid to flee, the woman drew her knife from her belt and ran into the fray. She, too, made it three steps before a hand pulled her under. This time, the dark shape stayed where it captured its victim. There was some movement, before one of the two silhouettes fell into the dark water below.

It didn't take a genius to figure out which one sank to the depths.

“Everypony, run for the ruins, we're faster than any human!” They didn't need to be told twice, even Luna followed Twilight's command, and the eight sprinted towards the Dwemer ruins in the lake's center. The silhouette, however, was also faster than a human. Or a pony, for that matter. It effortlessly passed them, before going about ten feet ahead of the farthest mare.

“It's toying with us!” Glade was... angry, for some reason. Normally, she'd be kind of scared, but something was making her very, very mad right now. There was a spark in her head, a desire for power, and the easiest way to obtain the boost she needed. But, using the Ring, she resisted. For now.

“What's it doing?” Fluttershy was about to have a heart attack, but was starting to calm as she noticea Twilight and Luna readying a spell to dispatch the monster beneath the ice. It had to bring part of itself up to reach them, so long as they payed attention to it, they could hit it when it made a move. The opportunity seemed to be ready to present itself.

A head, draped in cloth, began to emerge frm the ice. Whatever it was, it knew how to wear clothing, a fact that was horrifying on a deep level. Its face, if it had one, owas covered by a mask of some sort, or perhaps that was its face. As it rose from the ice, its black hide revealed itself to be some sort of dark armor, with many straps and belts holding the various pieces together. It fully emerged from its frozen domain, and may have been ready to attack. It... glided over the ice towards the ponies, before Luna fired her bolt of magic.

The creature dodged.

Its body had contorted in ways that went against anything they'd seen Reman do. This monster had unnatural flexibility, the ability to pass through ice as though it was nothing, and who knew what else it could do? Before Twilight could fire, something passed her, flying at incredible speeds at the creature. Summer Glade was taking the initiative in this confrontation.

However, this wasn't the pegasus the group knew, this was somepony else entirely. Brown fur, shaggy mane, claws in place of hooves, Glade had transformed without a sound, and without signaling that she was changing. But, something was wrong about the picture. The former guardspony wouldn't rush in like that, lycan powers or no. the realization dawned on everypony very quickly. Somehow, Glade had lost control of herself, and was just as feral as Reman had been at the Festival.

The strange monster wrapped its arms around the lycan's body, pinning her wings and forelegs against her chest. More surprising, the creature wasn't attacking, if anything, it seemed to want to avoid hurting her. Then, much to everpony's surprise, a masculine, lightly accented voice echoed from the masked terror, even causing the feral lycan to ease her thrashing.

“Would one of you hurry up and put this one to sleep? I can't hold her all day.”