Despite how sick he felt, Reman wasn't scared of heights. He was scared of falling from high places, which made his pilgrimage to High Hrothgar all the more difficult. Needless to say, riding in an open sky chariot was nearly impossible. The lack of actual walls and complete absence of any sort of roof was incredibly nerving to the Imperial. The ground dwelling Elements noticed Reman's discomfort, but only Fluttershy understood the man's suffering.

Glade and Dash were flying next to the chariot, both were easily keeping pace. If the two were talking to each other, they couldn't be heard over the wind, not that any of the chariot's occupants cared for what they would be saying. The howling wind provided an odd silence, a blanket of white noise that was both frightening and relaxing. The constant drone of the gusts reminded the Imperial of the whirring gears one often finds in Dwemer ruins, the rhythmic rumble had lulled Reman off to sleep a number of times.

It was in this relaxed state that the lycan began to think about his skillful deceit of the ponies, nothing malicious, just his way of getting Glade alone. Despite how things went, sex hadn't been Reman's intention, he had genuinely desired to ease his pack-mate's worries, but either way, the mare was at ease the following morning. But, that paled in comparison to Reman's true guile, for, rather than sending the ponies on a useless scavenger hunt, the Imperial had made certain that he could use some of the items he had requested.

Phinis Gestor, of the College, had taught Reman much about the art of Conjuration, including the use of summoning circles. Despite their use being banned by the Mages Guild shortly after the Oblivion Crisis, the circles were an important part in many summoning rituals and spells, if a bit tedious to prepare. The process was very long and drawn out, but saved an incredible amount of magicka in the long run, putting energy into the runes is much cheaper than actively casting. However, they couldn't be placed like the rune of the Destruction School, they had to be painted or carved, made part of the circle.

That was where two of the items came into play. Rarity had secured large jar of ink, and Pinkie had acquired a hammer and chisel. Reman really didn't want to ask why she had them, the party pony just did.

“We're approaching the Middle Plains, ETA twenty seconds.” When had Shining Armor erected a barrier to block the wind? Regardless, despite Reman's lack of familiarity with the acronym, the Imperial guessed that they had twenty seconds before the chariot ride was over. Sure enough, the vehicle began to slow and descend. The carriage touched down gently, strange for something of its weight class. The chariot's occupants exited, hooves and boots crunching the many small rocks scattered across the ground.

The Middle Plains seemed more like a wasteland, there was little grass, and the sun-baked earth was littered with bleached bones. At least the maps were correct about the boulders, they would provide decent cover from any nasty tricks Hircine may use. A small gust of wind reminded Reman of how much he would need it, wearing so little armor. The Imperial had removed his abdominal and lumbar plates, leaving everything from his ribcage to waist exposed. The armor's armguards were likewise removed. The strange alloy wouldn't hold the ink well, if the tests the Imperial had run were any indicator.

Of course, Glade was wearing her entire suit, she wasn't involved in the ritual, so the mare couldn't be used as part of the circle. Besides, her armor was light, she could afford to wear it, her guerrilla-style attack strategy wouldn't be hampered by the miniscule weight.

“Everypony that's not casting or fighting, get in the bunker.” They built a bunker in a few hours? That was pretty impressive, the earth and cinder block structure looked like it could take a beating before it collapsed. Even then, Reman had no doubt that Shining Armor would put a forcefield around it.

“That's not necessary, we still have quite a while before we're ready.” The Imperial was all ready using a stick to draw in the dirt, the sun-baked clay was perfect for this. It would take at least an hour to draw this, plus several more to chisel the designs onto the rocks, and Reman knew how much it sucked to be stuck inside a cramped space waiting for something to happen. While Shining Armor looked annoyed at the Imperial's suggestion, he said nothing, clearly trying to be the bigger stallion and just let things go.

“I haven't seen a summoning circle in quite some time.” Celestia had wandered to the busy lycan, interested in his use of the forgotten art. While the Princess was aware of Reman's ability to use magic, she did not know the extent, but Glade's report had shed much light on the mystery. Lightning and magical weapons from thin air were hardly easy spells for a Unicorn to cast, but the Imperial hadn't had the slightest difficulty. “It almost takes me back to the days when Starswirl was my apprentice.”

“That so?” Reman could multitask, the shape of the circle's runes was important, nothing fancy, just the words Hircine, Unbound, and Challenge, all written in Daedric script. Only the central ring needed the special characters, everything else was a switching station for magicka, like tumblers falling into place. “I didn't know you had students before Twilight.”

“I've lived a long time, Reman, and seen many things.” The Solar Princess' voice was full of nostalgia, a hint of somber remembrance for those no longer among the living. The Alicorn wore a sad smile, and while her feeling were genuine, there was more on the Princess' mind at the moment. “I must ask, are summoning circles in common use in your world?”

“No, in fact, it was illegal for the longest time.” Smalltalk was a wonderful way to take his mind off of things. Reman had finished with the innermost tier, now he just need to draw the magicka stores. The light blue glow of raw magical energy enveloped the pointed bone that was used to scratch the runes into the sun-baked soil. Though neither the Princess nor lycan saw it, Twilight Sparkle gasped slightly. “I think your current student is a little surprised by my magic.”

“You heard that, too?” Celestia looked impressed, not many others possessed her hearing.

“You'd be amazed at the things I pick up.” Reman gave a cocky smile. When he returned to his work, the Imperial was amazed to find that this portion was complete. All that was left was to paint himself and chisel runes into the boulders inside the circle. Reman had only been working for about forty-five minutes, at his best guess. “Princess, could you bring me the jar of ink, please?”

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

Progress was slow, but steady. After a grand total of eight hours, Reman had successfully etched the proper runes into the many boulders within the circle's area. It was mid-afternoon and hot, but the ritual was ready to go. It wouldn't be wise to challenge Hircine at this hour, the battle would likely carry into the night, so everyone settled on the morning as the perfect time. Most of the party were seated around a campfire, enjoying supper, while a squadron of guardsponies were keeping watch.

It was needless to say that the food being served was vegetarian, which was almost useless to Reman. It was no surprise that the lycan had excused himself to hunt in the forest, however, nopony expected Glade to accompany him. The two weren't gone long, just under an hour, and they sat down like nothing was out of the ordinary. Rarity couldn't help but notice a small smear of blood on Glade's lips, similar stains were on Reman's hands, only now did the white Unicorn realize that she was sitting next to a killer.

“So, what do you do for a living?” Cadence was trying to be nice, the Imperial felt it was entirely unnecessary, but the look Celestia gave him said otherwise.

“Depends on what work comes my way.” The man only spoke between mouthfuls of the vegetable soup he'd dipped from the communal pot. For an omnivore that mostly ate meat, Reman found it to be oddly enjoyable.

“What about the work you do the most, then?” The pink Alicorn smiled, if only because the Imperial wasn't being hostile to her. Shining Armor still didn't like Reman, but that couldn't be helped.

“If I'm not scouring ruins for treasure, then I'm probably doing a little work for the Dark Brotherhood.” Reman grinned as he took sip from a canteen, though the reason for his positivity was unknown to the ponies. The Imperial wasn't lying, he truly had connections within the shadowy group, and regularly completed contracts for them, if only for the money.

“What's the Dark Brotherhood? The name sounds a bit morbid.” Celestia had no idea how right she was, but Reman wasn't about to tell her. While the Five Tenets were no longer in use, and he wasn't technically a full member, the Imperial wasn't about to give out any information that he didn't need to.

“They are a group that could use someone of my... specific skills.” Reman wiggled his brow at the Solar Princess, sending a silent message, complete with its own implications. At that moment, Celestia realized that the Brother was likely a group of hired killers. Was this seriously the lycan she had set free from the dungeons?

“I think it's best if we let the subject lie, shall we?”

For once, Reman found the Solar Princess to be completely agreeable.