Reman hated regeneration sometimes. The cold was making the skin of his feet split in places, and quickly closed, only to crack again after a few minutes, the lacerations wouldn't heal enough to really fix the damage, only prolong the pain of walking. Of course, Summer Glade was flying next to him, using her wings to completely avoid the freezing soil.

“Why did you run this far?” The Imperial was a bit grumpy, his burning soles and numb toes were grating on his patience like nothing else.

“You would panic if you were in my shoes, and you know it.” The pregnant pony wore a smug smirk and flapped her winds a bit faster, just to rub in one of her advantages over the land-dweller. The two had stopped briefly at the dead sabercat and snowbear for breakfast, an enjoyable way to start the morning, and a subtle reminder of the clean stripe on the human's torso. But at least Reman wasn't cold and hungry, Glade wasn't that sadistic of a pony.

“Can't you fly me back?” The man eyed his friend's wings, which were a little larger than the average pegasus', and could therefore carry slightly more weight. The mare gave him a flat look, before she noted the blood he left in every footprint, and understood his reasoning behind the request. That didn't mean she could hold him aloft for long, or maybe at all. Still, she wasn't about to leave him hanging, so she drifted behind the man and put her forelegs under his arms. The pegasus flapped her wings as hard as she could, and quickly lifted the Imperial.

She promptly dropped him.

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

After her short sleep, Twilight had gone back to her studies, paying little attention to the newest member of the motley crew. The lavender unicorn let the brunette woman sleep, cuddled next to Pinkie, snoring her cares away. The Element of Magic quickly found herself in the animonculory, where she was surprised and a bit worried to find the books she'd been reading had moved down the table, next to the soul gems. Twilight quickly levitated the tomes back to her seat, ignoring the slight chill she felt as she lifted them. The magical pony decided to try another one of Reman's beginner guides, and chose the one for Conjuration, something Twilight felt she could grasp easily. She quickly scanned the first few words of Homunculi to Xivilai, a Primer.

You work with powerful forces, take care they do not overwhelm you. The words were scribbled in the flowing writing of a skilled master, likely someone Reman had encountered in his travels. The instructions and example were written in a way that a new apprentice or child could understand, and this School even seemed easy to alter for unicorns to use. The basic summoning spells were for binding things called Familiars, and reanimating the corpses of those who were weak-willed in life. Twilight was going to stay far away from those. The basic procedure for summoning of the wolf-like Daedra was fairly simple, just elementary manipulation of magical energy. She had done more difficult things in school, so all she really needed was a large, flat surface to cast on, and the animonculory had plenty to offer.

The Element of Magic pulled from within, shaping her energy into the fine needle required to reach Oblivion and bring the Familiar to Nirn. Two balls of purple light spiraled around her horn, starting at the base and launching from the tip. The twin spheres flew and sank into the ground, before a dark purple vortex open and surround the impact zone. Finally, the purple pony would see what her power had drawn from the infernal realm of Oblivion. The swirling maelstrom lasted a few moments before fading and revealing what it brought forth. It was...

“Nothing?!” Twilight hung her head in defeat. What seemed like the simplest School so far had proven just as difficult in practice as Alteration had been in theory. Anger boiled within the lavender mare, anger at the Schools of Nirn's magic, anger at Reman's blatant flaunting of his skills, anger at everything that existed. The rage bubbled and grew in intensity, a spark became a raging inferno in seconds. The young mage hadn't felt anything like this since she tried to disprove Pinkie Sense, like her mane was about to burst into flames if she didn't find a release for her anger. Much to Twilight's surprise, Nirn's ambient energy seemed to respond to her temper, stoking her power higher with every beat of her heart. This contradicted everything she had learned while studying under Celestia's wing, magic was about knowledge and skill, not wild abandon and heated emotions.

The energy of Oblivion and Nirn seemed to swirl around her, promising power beyond measure. It was so easy to tap into the flickering magicka that presented itself so readily, Twilight wasn't about to kid herself, the sweet possibilities were enticing on a deep level. The book's words rang in her mind, and the Element bearer knew she was being lied to, whatever power was on the other end of the connection was after her very soul. This was a moment that was only theorized in Equestria, but it was still universally feared by all who held the power of magic: lethal-power backfire. All she could do was scream and hope somepony heard her in time. Twilight's breath caught in her throat, silencing her better than any gag.

A horrific tendril seemed to invade the mare's consciousness, like an infernal squid prying information from her skull, leaving an odd numbness wherever it found information to copy. This strange manifestation was akin to Hircine's Aspect of Guile, but its master must have been very different, as there was nothing in the student's mind the Huntsman would deem important. The invasive tentacle appeared to find Twilight's struggling mind amusing, a sideshow to laugh at while riffling through the ringmaster's personal possessions. The purple pony could feel the endless abyss tremble with glee as the intruding appendage receded from whence it came, just as suddenly as it arrived.

Terrified beyond belief, Twilight Sparkle fell to her haunches, wondering what in Equestria just happened.

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

Uriel Tullius was a man of simple pleasures, and watching the sun's ascent was among those select few. The Imperial sipped from a steaming mug, some warm Khajiit brew that used naturally occurring jungle bean as an ingredient, it was horrifically bitter, but at least it woke him up. The dawn's light allowed the young captain to extinguish his candle, but still have enough illumination to read his grandfather's letter. The Legionnaire mused over what he'd read, his older twin was still alive and well, Reman had left Solitude a number of days ago, bound for parts unknown. Of course, the elder brother would be returning to the capital as soon as possible, under order of their grandfather, with a few unique individuals in tow.

Uriel sighed, it was just like his brother to do things in unusual ways, at least that hadn't changed over the years. Consistency or no, the young Legion officer was on his way to Castle Dour, where he would finally get visual confirmation of his twin's life. Granted, the man was just as likely to offer a hug as he was to slug Reman right in the face for all the trouble he'd put the family through. With or without the curse of lycanthropy, the twins' mother had worried herself half to death over the missing heir, it was only by the mercy of Stendarr that she hadn't done something rash in her grief. Uriel huffed and shoved the crumpled letter into his thigh pouch, no sense in getting mad now.

At least he could enjoy the walk to Solitude in peace.

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

Antonius Tullius never cared much for the civil war, he was only there because his father had asked the man to serve as one of his legates. The greying Imperial was overseeing the Markarth detachment, the largest occupying force outside of Solitude. Antonius held firm belief in the Nine, and their ultimate plan for every man, woman, and child that lived on Nirn, so receiving a letter pertaining to his lost son wasn't outside the realm of believability. He would be lying if he said that his time in the Legion had drained the man's passions in some way, but he was still overjoyed to read his father's message. The aged Imperial was looking forward to seeing Reman after these years, but was concerned about the boy's well-being, lycanthropy was mind-altering at best, and it was possible that the young man he would see in Solitude would only be his son by blood.

Then there was the boy's strange message to his family, that he would be bringing guests with him. Hopefully, they would be able to get through the heightened security, with Emperor Titus Mede's upcoming visit to Skyrim, it wouldn't be easy for anyone to enter the city's walls. Marcus, Antonius, Reman, and Uriel would be in the same room for the first time in four years, so the Penitus Oculatus could shove their authority up their collective ass. The fact that Cassius would be unable to attend the reunion was a sad thought, but he had passed on shortly before his younger sibling's infection, and wold not wish to see them mourn at a time for celebration. That was for another day, after heavy drinking and equally fierce battle, only then would the hardened warrior allow himself to shed tears for those who had been lost.

Saying a silent prayer to the Divines, the legate spurred his steed onward.

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

If walking on snow barefoot was bad, slipping on ice was that tenfold. A passing dragon had been Glade's reason for dropping the Imperial earlier, and the two had ducked behind some rocks until they had been certain it had left the area. At the moment, they were less than thirty yards from the entrance to the ruins, and the pregnant pony was using the relaxed portion to rest her wings. She did this by piggybacking on Reman, and lent her feathered appendages to her forebear for use a blanket, her wings trapped a surprising amount of heat. For a moment, Glade noticed her forebear seemed to be lost in thought, though the man quickly refocused as they neared the bronze door.

“Something wrong?” The Imperial stopped walking, they were within the ruins' borders, the stone before the door was heated slightly. Reman sighed like he had been keeping something on his chest for a long time.

“Less than a month ago, I was just passing through life like a dream.” He looked to the sky, the clouds moved over the misty ground as it burn under the sun's morning rays. “Like I've only suddenly woken up and gained awareness of myself.” The lycan blinked a few times, before coming to a realization of sorts. “Have you ever felt like that?”

“I can't say that I have.”

“Perhaps I need to lie down for a while.”

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

Renoir was boiling some water when Reman and Glade walked in, but respectfully payed them no mind as they made their way to the Imperial's private chambers. They weren't going to do anything besides sleep, the lycans looked too tired for physically demanding activities. The vampire just shook his head and chuckled as they went by, partially glad they weren't at their each other's throats. At least things would be on their way back to normal, or at least however close things got to normal for the odd pair of friends. The old mage returned to his book for an hour or so, until a gentle tap on his foot roused his attention.

“I trust that you're Reman's friend?” The woman that was brought in the previous night was standing next to Fluttershy, a hand on her hip. However, her stance wasn't the man's focus so much as the silver sword she had pointed at him. The yellow pony next to her seemed to be trying to calm her down, and was having some effect to that end. There were two ways Renoir could go about fixing the woman's fear of him, and he liked his first idea better. However, Fluttershy had a better plan.

“L-Lynette, this is Renoir.” The shy pony introduced the woman to her elder, trying to keep peace in the strange land. “He's a healer.”

“Sorry about that, just saw the eyes and went into attack mode.” The brunette sheathed her blade and extended a hand in greeting, and the vampire reciprocated with the standard High Rock handshake of his day. “I'm Lynette Jemane, Reman's ex-fiance.”

“Renoir Belmont, Reman's best vampire friend.” The mage flashed a toothy grin at his own subtle joke, hoping the younger Breton would pick up on it. Instead, the archer focused solely on one facet of the man's introduction. Apparently, she was a student of history before coming to Skyrim.

“A Belmont that became a vampire?” Lynette cocked her head, she knew the sad tale of the Belmonts, but never thought she would meet one. “I thought you all died when those vampires attacked your compound.”

“I didn't have the good fortune of burning alive, sadly.” Renoir noted the horrified look on Fluttershy's face, and regretted being so truthful. Clearing his throat, the old mage decided to attempt to fix the situation. “Perhaps we should focus on a more positive subject.”

“You never did tell us how you met Reman.” Luna was awake, and made her presence known, the immortal alicorn yawned and made her way to the others. “I suppose that would be a better story than not dieing horribly in a fire.” Renoir shot the Night Princess a flat look, but understood that she had a point, it would at least be a bit better than recalling the night of the massacre. With a deep breath, the crimson-and-black-eyed man began his tale.

“Well, it started on a boat to Windhelm...”