Elder Scroll series 1. Chapter 1

Even in the middle of the night the sky shines with the two moons Secunda and Masser as well as millions of stars. Two guardsmen are patrolling the pathway just outside of Ivarstead, passing the time with stories of adventures long since past.

"I swear by Talos! The entire skeleton was buried underground 'cept for the arm and hand!" the first guard says enthusiastically.

"Ya ya and inside its hand was a legendary sword which got stolen off you a moment later by a group of Kahjiit bandits." the second guard waves him off, obviously not believing the tale.

"But even if it were true I got you beat. Once, when I was back in Riften, I came across this massive stone just behind the town. I was patrolling late that night see? And decided to get a closer look, when suddenly I heard something so I rush to the bushes all quiet like right? I thought they looked suspicious, dressed all in black with masks covering their faces. There were only two or three of 'em and they all walked up to the stone. At first I couldn't see anything happen but a moment later they started walking into the stone!" He says loudly causing the first guard to flinch slightly.

"Alright, I'll admit that it sounds interestin but what did ya get out of it?" the first guard asks.

"Well umm… wait did you hear that?!" the second speaks with a hushed yell. The first guard perks his ears upward.

"I don't hear anything… wait… no I do, what the hell is that?" the first says a bit confused.

"Is that… crying?" He runs to the sound with the other guard on his heels. What they find in the middle of the field shocks them both. A small basket with a wailing babe inside, all wrapped in blankets.

"What in the world? A babe? Nord or Breton right?" the first guard asks when he has the child in his arms.

"Look at his chin, its gotta be a Nord. Why would someone leave a child out here?" the second responds getting a closer look. The child stops crying and looks up at the guard and starts smiling. The guard chuckles mildly and bounces the child in his arms to try to get it to laugh a bit more. It works and the child laughs, reaching for the man's beard. A small flame shoots from the babe's hand and sets the guards beard alight. He jumps back and drops the babe, the second guard acts quickly and dives to catch it.

"Careful you troll brain!" the guard yells to his partner from the ground.

"The little runt just set my beard on fire" he tries to explain while patting out the last bit of embers on his face.

"Magic?! That's it I'm not dealing with this!" the second guard says trying to hand off the little bundle of blankets to the first guard.

"Oh come on, I know that magic is used by those blasted Thalmer but we can't just leave it out here to die. Isn't there a place in Riften?" he asks trying to be kind but still not accepting to hold the child.

"Ya, a courier was handing out pamphlets in town, something about an orphanage. So… What? We just pay a courier to bring it there?" the second guard asks only half serious but the first guard shrugs and pulls out a coin purse and parchment paper.

"Here, you know how to write so just say that he needs to go to Riften" he hands the small parchment to the second guard and starts walking back towards Ivarstead.

"Were just going to leave it on the courier's doorstep?" the second guard doesn't sound completely on board with the plan while he jogs to catch up with the other Nord. The first guard nods and holds the child while the second finishes the note. They both quietly enter the small village and hurry over to the courier's house where they gently place the baby who starts to cry as soon as he is let go. The two guards panic and run away before they can get caught. The courier opens his door and looks around drowsily before his eyes rest on the small crying babe on his doorstep.

"Hello little one, what are you doing here?" He coo's softly and picks up the child. The parchment falls out of the blankets to the ground. "What the…?" He picks up the parchment and reads it carefully.

"Riften eh…? Alright well I have a delivery that way anyway but I suppose for now you need something to eat. Goats milk is all I got kiddo" he says walking back inside and making a makeshift bottle to feed the child. That morning they're on their way to Riften..

It takes about 6 hours for the courier to get to Riften and to the orphanage

"Thank you madam, the child was simply left on my doorstep with a note to bring him here. Now then I should get back to work" the courier says with a slight bow and walks off.

"Hello there. You're going to be staying with us from now on." The woman speaks softly and calls for the other children in the orphanage to come say hello. A bunch of kids ranging from ages of 4 to 15 rush into the room to look at the new addition to their "family". All the kids surround her near immediately to try and get a closer look at the small Nord. He starts crying when a kid accidentally knocks him a bit too hard.

"Emily! Be careful! He is too small to be that rough" she scolds

"Sorry Michel…" she responds with her head down. Michel raises her hand over the babes head and takes a deep breath. Her hand starts to glow slightly as she summons magicka into her hand and presses it gently onto the child who calms down instantly.

"And that, children, is what you call illusion magic, a calm spell" she tells the children around her who are staring with wide eyes.

"Hey look, he is doing it too!" one of them point and sure enough from the babes hands a glowing light is flickering slightly. Michel stares, her eyes just as wide as the children's around her.

"My goodness. To even be able to attempt at such a young age…" she whispers more to herself before shaking her head to snap out of the slight trance.

"Alright children off to do your chores, I need to feed… Sage" she says with a slight pause to think of a name. The children let out a collective sigh at the thought of having to clean but rush off despite that while Constance sits down with a bottle and feeds the newly named Sage.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sage! Could you come out here and help me repair this door!" Michel calls me from outside. I quickly grab a spare hammer from her toolbox and helped her to hammer in a few nails.

"Where did this new hole come from?" I ask curiously

"Not sure, I was hoping you knew something but I suppose not" she answers while trying to hold a nail steady in an awkward position. She suddenly yelps when she strikes her thumb instead of the nail with the hammer.

"Are you alright!?" I ask surprised by the blood coming from under her nail while she puts the blood finger in her mouth to prevent a mess.

"Here, let me see it." I tell her and pull her hand closer to me for a better view. I put my own hand over it and concentrate, focusing a warm tide of healing Magicka through my hands.

"Healing hands is it now?" she asks, inspecting her thumb. I nod but look down. She has told me to try and keep my Magicka use to a minimum but instead of scolding me she pats my head

"Thank you Sage. This kind of reminds of when you were brought her nine years ago, you tried to copy a calm spell I used then." She sounds like she is talking more to herself then me but I nod none-the-less.

"You didn't forget my birthday did you?" I ask to change the subject a bit which causes her to smile kindly.

"Of course not! A boy only turns eleven once right? How on earth could I forget" she speaks with mock hurt in her voice, causing me to giggle a bit.

"Now off you go, your birthday isn't until tomorrow so you still have some chores to do" she says motioning for me to go inside. I sigh but go inside anyway, most of the chores are already done and the other children are playing games around building.

"Hey Sage! You can make magic right?" a small child comes up to me and asks as soon as I walk inside.

"Yes but it's most people call it Magicka and you don't make it, Gabe, you use it." I correct him not unkindly. For as long as I can remember I could always understand Magicka far better than anyone my age, even better than a High Elf child that stayed with us for a short time.

"Can you turn invisible?" he asks me, ignoring my correction.

"I can for a little bit but I'm not supposed to." I tell him while remembering the first time I saw that spelled used. It was in the marketplace and someone trip over a patch of air that turned out to be a thief using an invisibility spell. Before I could see what happened next Michel rushed me as well as a few other kids inside. Gabe grabs my hand while I'm lost in thought and drags me into the basement. I look around at the familiar basement but I don't resist the smaller child as he drags me deeper.

"Hey Sage, could you help us out a bit?" I recognize the voice as a 15 year old Wood Elf named Drake. He is considered the "boss" among us all because of his age but is always getting into trouble with the guards.

"What d-do you want Drake?" I ask trying to sound brave but my voice ends up breaking.

"I want you to make me invisible so I can get us some food, no biggy right?" He speaks firmly and looks down over me for intimidation. I can feel my legs quiver slightly and I find myself nodding to him. He grins menacingly before he grabs my arm and drags me outside.

"Alright now do it" he says after we arrive in an alley next to the inn's storehouse. I shake my head and backed up a bit.

"I-I can't. I can only turn myself invisible, I don't know of any type of spell that turns others invisible." My voice brakes from fear of being beaten up, it won't be the first time Drake's beaten me up for not being able to do something. Instead of getting angry he just smiles.

"Then you'll have to do it and if you don't we'll all beat you up everyday until you do." He threatens me with his two friends flanking me. I nod quickly to avoid being hit and he pushes me forward a bit to encourage me to hurry up. I take a few deep breaths to gather my Magicka and get it all to the center of my body. I look back at Drake once before casting the spell. I look down at my hands to find them near completely translucent, all that remains of me is a small shimmer in the air. I know that I have a minute at most so I rush into the storehouse and start grabbing as much food as I can carry. Mostly there are bread rolls and even some sweet-rolls but I know I have no time to try to find more.

"Stop right there! Don't move, we no you're there!" I hear a powerful voice from behind me and I instantly put my hands in the air which causes all the food to fall to the ground. Before the guard grabs me the spell wears off and I'm completely visible.

"A child from the orphanage eh? Well come on then, you're in allot of trouble" he says grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the food. I have no energy left to fight back, the invisibility spell drained me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, I just like to thank you for continuing to read my fanfiction and ask that if you see any grammatical errors to please leave them in the reviews. Past tense and future tense is what I'm mainly worried about. If there are too many mistakes then just give an example or two, thank you! I would also like to thank Ms. Atomicbomb for the suggestion/advice.**

"Here you are Michel, try to keep your children out of trouble" the guard says strongly before he walks off leaving me with her.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" Michel asks me, not raising her voice but not being gentle. I look up at her drowsily and before I can say even one word I collaps to the ground, unconscious.

I wake up a few hours later in bed with Michel sitting next to me dabbing a damp cloth on my head. My eyes flicker open and she instantly gives me a look with a mixture of both disappointment and worry.

"Why did you use your Magicka to such an extent only to steal?" she asks me softly and I can't help but feel a mixture guilt and shame tighten in my chest. I look away from her; I knew that if I told her the truth Drake would follow through with his promise to beat me up. She sighs heavily and places the cloth to the side

"Try to remember that magic is both a good and bad and the way you use your own Magicka depends on how others around you will see magic as a whole. I know that you wouldn't have put so much stress on yourself for selfish reason… now get some sleep, I'll see if I can talk some sense into Drake" I flinch heavily at the name.

"How did you know it was him?" I ask grabbing her hand to stop her from leaving.

"I notice things among my children Sage and I'm worried how he will turn out once he leaves here." She speaks calmly but I still refuse to let go.

"You can't tell him… He's almost 16, right? So he won't be here for much longer anyway!" I say a bit too desperately.

"Yes I suppose so but you shouldn't run from all your problems. They're are bound to catch up to-"

"Promise you wont bring this up with him!" I interrupt her, pleading

"….Alright fine, I promise I won't talk to him about this, but you have to realize that you can't run from everything. Now get some sleep, the other kids will be in here soon" she agrees and walks out of the room with only a quick glance back to me. I know she is worried but I can't get Drake in trouble or it would only turn out far worse for myself. I fall asleep before the others came in that night.

_"you have to run! No one here cares about you! Not even Michel with her kind words and soft touches. She talks about you to the other adults, about how much of a freak you are!" I couldn't tell where the voice was coming from; I couldn't even tell where I was._

_"_**STOP IT**_!" I screamed back at it but it never listened._

_"They all hate you! There scared of you! Why do you think none of the others will play with you! Why do you think Drake beats you! _**IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE HATED AND FEARED!"**

_"_**STOP IIIT**_!"_

I wake up with a start, panting and drenched in my own sweat. I look around scared for a moment, thinking I'm still in the dream but once my eyes adjust and I can see the other beds with the children sleeping soundly in them I calm down. I decide that I need to get some air. I jump out of bed quietly as to not wake the others and put on my shoes. I place my hands over my feet and concentrate on gathering my Magicka and wrapping it around my feet. I smile at myself for successfully casting a muffle spell but I don't stand around to celebrate for long before quickly getting outside. The night air feels good on my face as I walk outside. I make sure to stick more to the shadows to avoid being seen and questioned by the guards. I want nothing more than to be alone tonight but fate seems to have different plans for me. While I'm wandering the alleyway I hear a quite whimpering and a voice that is to quiet for me to understand at this distance. I know it is a bad idea to follow it but I give into my curiosity not a second later and ran to the alleyway the noise is coming from.

"Shut up brat! Unless you want to end up like your mother." The voice is male and obviously annoyed at something. When I get closer I see a small girl leaning over a motionless lump on the ground. A man holding a knife that is dripping with something is standing less then a foot away from the girl. I gasp loudly when I realize that the knife is dripping with blood and the man whips around. He grins that same grin I've seen so many times on Drake.

"Hello there little boy, what do you think your doing here." He says closing in on me. As he gets closer I try to back up and end up tripping over a protruding rock. I land with a grunt but I don't stop trying to scramble backwards, away from the man. For a moment time seems to stand still and I hear the familiar voice from my nightmares speak.

"_You know the spell, just use it!" _Is all it says before I come back to reality. I raise my hand towards the man and I can feel my Magicka, cold as ice, moving into my palm.

"S-stay back! Please!" My voice breaks from desperation and the man laughs at me. He ignores me and continues walking forward.

"Why couldn't you just stay back…?" I whisper to myself with tears of fear falling from my eyes. An ice spike shoots from my hand and lands inside the man's throat, cutting off his laugh with a sickening gurgling sound. The little girl behind him screams loudly when the man hits the floor with a thud. I hear the guards rushing to the scene, drawn by the scream, but I don't know what happened after that. I still hadn't recovered from the invisibility spell and the ice spike was too much for my body to handle which cause me to collapse for the second time that day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for taking so long, been a bit occupied with work and such but I'm hoping that it will ease off soon so I can give a chapter a day. As always I'm very open to suggestions and advice on how to better the story just leave it all in the reviews, thanks!**

"_You killed someone!" the figureless voice yells at me._

"_I had to! You told me to!" I attempt to defend myself._

"_Do you think they will care?! Sure they may say to your face that your innocent but behind you back they'll be afraid of you! They will think of you as a freak! They will think you're a monster! And guess what…?" it quiets down as if it's coming closer to me. I try to bring my hands to my ears but that does nothing to block out the harsh words._

"_You _**ARE**_ a monster!" it screams into my ears and all I can do is curl up and whimper. _

"_MONSTER!"_

"_FREAK!" _

"_ABOMINATION!" different voice kept chanting this around me as if I'm in the center of a circle with them surrounding me. Suddenly I can feel a warmth, I glowing warmth that quiets the voices. A part of me wants to scramble for it so it won't leave but I'm afraid if I move it will flicker out._

"Wake uuup. Come on you've been asleep for like ever!" a female child voice starts to wake me up.

"Hush child, he can take as long as he needs" Michel's familiar voice wakes me up completely. I look around at the familiar surroundings and hope that maybe it was all just a bad dream. The sight of the little girl from the alleyway stomps that hope out before it has the chance to bud. She is holding onto my hand tightly and it reminds me strongly of the warmth from my dream. This little girl, I can now tell she is a Breton and that she is at least 2 years younger than me, is able to quiet the voices.

"Are you alright Sage?" Michel snaps me out of my little trance and I nod quickly to her.

"Just a bit tired, thank you" I say politely, feeling awkward for some unknown reason.

"How could you be tired? You've been asleep through the entire day!" The little Breton girl says with her mouth agape.

"Hush Willow, you don't need to scare him" Michel said a bit sharply and the Breton looks down at the sheets with embarrassment.

"Sorry Miss Michel…" she murmurs quietly and Michel places a hand on her head

"It's alright, and please since your staying with us just call me Michel." She comforts Willow kindly making her smile again. I sit there the entire time trying to understand what is going on, thankfully Michel noticed my confusion

"After what happened to her mother Willow will be staying with us until she is adopted" she explains and I remember the lump under the crying child, that must have been her mother. I look down at my hands, feeling to uncomfortable to make eye contact.

"I-I'm sorry… maybe if I got there sooner…" I'm not entirely sure why I'm apologizing but it just seems like the only thing I can do. Willow shakes her head and raises my chin to make eye contact

"Mama isn't dead. She always told me that as long as I remember her then she can never die." she says with a smile and I can see a slightly shocked look on Michel's face. I know that she was thinking the same thing as I am, that this child is far stronger then most others. I know there is something different and I can't help but smile at her own smile.

"Well come along children, now that you're out of bed you can get some chores done and show Willow around" Michel says, shaking off the shocked look. Both Willow and I nodded and run off quickly.

Over the next 5 years Willow and I kept close together, mainly because the other children were mostly Nords who mistrusted the magic that both Willow and I started practicing in private. I tried to teach her some new spells the way I learned but she could never seem to get it unless we got our hands on a spell tome.

"How can you learn magic without a spell tome? Mama always told me that you had to read one to be able to understand how the spell worked." Was something she asked often and my reply would always annoy her to no end.

"I just see a spell and get it, I can't really explain it." is all I would say and It was the truth, I never understood how I was able to use my Magicka so easily. Whenever she asked the question like that, with wonder in her voice, I always felt better about my powers and abilities rather than ashamed. With so much happening I all but forgot the approaching day. The day that I would have to leave the orphanage.


	5. Chapter 5

**Just like to thank those who have continued to read and also ask for a bit of advice. I have played Skyrim on both pc and console so should I stick with the normal Skyrim spells and logic or should I incorporate some mods and such into it? Leave any suggestions in the reviews please and I hope you enjoy the fifth chapter**

"Are you sure you have to leave tomorrow? I mean Michel loves you so I bet you could convince her to let you stay a bit longer..." Willow says trying to fight my upcoming departure.

"Rules are rules Willow, " On your sixteenth birthday you will be considered an adult and will have to leave the orphanage," those were the exact words all of us are told when we were brought here." I try to explain to her but I find myself wanting to stay even a day longer. I know that if I really try I might be able to convince Michel to let me stay another night but that would just make everything more painful. I place my last shirt into my burlap sack; I only have two, and tie a knot around it.

"There, all ready for tomorrow, just need to get the money I've saved up for a carriage." I say more to myself then to Willow but that doesn't stop her from asking why.

"I'm heading to Winterhold, to join the mages college," I say with a hopeful smile but Willow looks at me with squinted eyes.

"How on earth will you get in? Sure can cast spells but you're an idiot when it comes to the actual logistics! You don't understand how magic works or how your Magicka turns thoughts to reality" she points out with a touch of anger entering her voice.

"I'll figure it out, besides I can't really take you with me now can I? You're not old enough to leave" I say firmly but I can tell from the smirk she gives me that she has already thought of something to get around the rules, much like she always has.

"Adopt me then." she simply shrugs as if it isn't a big deal at all.

"Your serious... aren't you? I mean how that would even-or why would... It won't work" I sound very unsure of myself but before she has the chance to continue Michel walks in with a few children running in from behind her.

"Hey you two, have you decided that your going to help me yet or still bickering about tomorrow?" she asks with a tired smile and I hop off the bed to help rush the children into there beds

"Hey Michel...? mind if I spend the night outside? I kind of need some air" I smile hopefully.

"Of course, just try to stay out of trouble and of course no magic. I know that you and Willow have been studying and practicing." she says with a chuckle while tucking a child into bed. I thank her quickly and rush out the door before she can change her mind.

I walk to the gates and give the guard a nod before pushing them open and walking through them. I wave the guard off as he warns me to be careful. Right away I run east of the city until I came to a large rock with an odd black, bird-like insignia on it. I go to its left and search for the rock I placed there a few years ago to safely hold all my gold. It doesn't take me long to find it and with a smile I open the top of it and pull out a small coin purse. I know it holds about 80 gold coins and I have already asked the carriage driver how much it would cost for a trip to Winterhold. He said about 50 so that should leave me with 30 for some food when I get there.

"So this is where you've been running off to after you get paid for your odd jobs" Willows voice startles me to no end.

"By the divines! Willow you scared me half to death! What are you doing out here anyways?" I ask trying to calm my breathing.

"Snuck out of course. You're going to need my help and you know it" she says with a smug smile and I sigh heavily.

"All I need to do is pay the carriage driver and that's pretty much it. I'll be there in no time" I say with a convincing smile

"Why don't you want me to come?! Why do you want me to stay here alone?!" she yells at me with anger growing to fury in her voice. Before I can answer we both hear a deep growl coming from behind me. it only takes a moment for the creature to pounce at me but Willow is able to jump in front of me to keep the saber cat's jaws off my throat. I hear a sickening crunch as its jaws wrap around her arm but the crunch seems to be coming from the beasts teeth. When I look at Willow all around her I see a dim light covering her skin and in an instant I understand the weaving of Magicka into ones own flesh and write the stone flesh spell into my memory. I use it to punch the beast with the hardness of stone. It yelps and jumps back but refuses retreat right away. I have to launch an ice spike at its feet to scare it off for good. I crouch down to inspect Willows arm which is only bleeding slightly.

"You didn't put enough of your Magicka behind the spell…" I say while casting healing hands to close the wounds quickly. She shakes her head

"Why do you want me to stay…?" she repeats her question from earlier.

"Because I don't want this to happen to you, this trip wont be easy and I couldn't bare the thought of you dying" I tell her quietly while helping her back to her feet

"And how do you think I would react if I found out you died? How would I even know!?" her voice starts to get louder again and I sigh heavily in defeat

"Fine, I'll talk to Michel about it. If she'll let me then I'll take you with me to the college. Now come on, we should head back before anything else happens" I agree with her plan finally and started walking. I can tell that she is pleased with herself for convincing me. This journey was bound to be hard but I can't help but let a smile slip at the fact that I won't have to face it alone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hope you enjoyed the chapters before this one and I hope you continue to read and leave reviews. I'm still asking your opinion if I should incorporate mods into this story and also if you have any suggestion you'd like me to consider please don't be afraid to leave them in the reviews. Thank you once again!**

"Absolutely not! No way I'm I letting one of my children go out that far north. She'll freeze to death!" Michel sounds angry but not entirely sure of herself. Willow and I came in the night before and decided that we would wait until morning to ask Michel about the adaptation. I woke up first so I decided that I would ask her alone.

"Come on, you know that won't happen because were both perfectly capable of handling ourselves." I try to sound determined and it seems like my words are starting to have an effect on her.

"And what if I just leave without telling you?" Willows voice makes us jump, we must've woken her up and that means that the other kids will be awake as well.

"I would be extremely upset… could you help get the other children ready for breakfast? I just need to talk to Sage about this" Michel says after calming from the initial shock. I motion for her to go back to the other kids before she can continue the argument. She listens but not before giving me a menacing glare as if saying that I better not screw up.

"You know she will leave… You might as well let me protect her." I say quietly so that the children that are rushing out of the room can't hear me. She sighs heavily, much like I did the night before.

"I am running out of room in here… and you two have been through allot…" she whispers more to herself but the horrible memory of my and Willows first encounter with each other surfaces. Those dreams haunt me often but I have never once regretted what I did because I know that if I didn't do what needed to be done, Willow could have easily been killed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring back bad memories" Michel says when she notice my dark expression. I wave off the apology

"it's not to bad anymore, it has been 5 years since then" I say with a smile, forced mostly and Michel obviously notices but drops the subject none-the-less.

"Fine, I'll deal with the paper work but I swear if I hear something bad about you two I will bring you straight back here and punish you myself!" she points an accusatory finger at me strictly and I chuckle before agreeing to her "terms".

"Now go help her with the breakfast. I'll add some items to your sack so you two don't starve or freeze on your trip." She is walking away as she speaks so can't see her face but I swear I can hear tears in her voice.

When I get to the table Willow looks at me curiously and I give her a smile, telling her that I was able to convince her. she immediately brightens up and happily hands out all the children's breakfast before sitting down next to me to eat her own. a few hours later Me and Willow are at the gates of Riften with Michel talking so fast we can barely catch any of her words

"And watch out for wolves! Make sure that you don't drink saltwater and keep away from Mudcrabs and Skeevers, they carry all kinds of diseases! Try to remember that-" she continued on like this for another five minutes before I place my hand on her shoulder

"We'll be ok, alright? You have the other kids to worry about so just focus on them. Don't worry about us" I say with a smile and Willow nods to add emphasis. Michel looks at us for a few moments in silence before hugging us tightly

"Just be careful… and don't be afraid to come by anytime to visit" her voice brakes only slightly and she let us go. We turn and walk outside the gate with a few glances back at Michel before it closes completely. We look at each other and smile happily, we may have been on our own now but that also means freedom that we could never have felt inside the walls of Riften. We all but run to the nearby carriage and I hand the man fifty gold pieces

"Winterhold please" I say with a smile and the man nods before taking the gold and motioning for me to get in the back where Willow is already waiting for me with our sack of supplies.

"Ready?" she asks with a hand outreached to help me into the wagon.

"Ready!" I accept it with a cheery smile and we were on our way.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, I've been busy as hell with work and school T.T hope you can forgive me and enjoy the next chapter of rejected! **

"Sage! Sage are you alright!" Willows familiar voice wakes me up. I can feel blood dripping down my face but I can't remember what happened and I don't have time to think about it. I looked around and realize that I'm underneath the flipped carriage.

"Sage! please answer me!" Willow continues to call for me. I tried to call back but just end up coughing up blood and when I feel around my stomach I easily find at least two broken ribs. I take a deep breath and focus my Magicka throughout my body. I yelped when the bones start cracking back into place from the healing spell.

"Sage!? Was that you?" I hear her run up to the carriage and try to lift it to no avail.

"I'm here… What happened?" the healing spell is working and I can talk again albeit with a raspy voice.

"I don't know, suddenly the driver yelled and the carriage started flipping. I was flung out but I landed on a soft spot of bush." She replies after giving up on lifting the carriage. Once the spell has finished pushing my bones back into place I try to lift the carriage and determine that it is impossible for only two people.

"You need to get help! We can't lift this on our own" I tell her firmly to try and prevent her from arguing. Before she has the chance to respond an oddly familiar voice calls out

"That won't be necessary, my men will gladly help you." The way he says it reminds me of how Drake would speak to a wounded bird before snuffing out its life. When the wagon lifts I can see several hands holding it and one pair sticking underneath to pull me out. I accept it, ignoring the voice in the back of my head telling me to run far away. I look at the men who have dropped the wagon and are now inspecting us. They're all wearing crude leather armor made from the pelts of animals and none of them seem to have any better weapon than iron. I open my mouth to thank them but two behind me grab my hands and force me to turn around to face what can only be their leader. I really wish I listened to that voice telling me to run when I had the chance.

"Fancy meeting you here Sage" the man speaks with a sickeningly familiar grin.

"Drake…" The name sounds like a disease to me and I know Willow has no good memories about him either. He walks towards me with that horrible grin of his and pulls out a dagger and glass vial filled with some bluish green liquid. He empties the contents of the vial onto the dagger and stares me dead in the eye.

"It is so good to see you again my friend" he says cheerfully as he plunges the dagger into my stomach. I gasp in pain and bite my lip to stop myself from screaming out.

"Oh don't be such a baby; it's just a bit of Magicka poison. I made it myself special for you" He sounds very proud of the poison but I can't dwell on the thought as my vision starts to blur.

"You, heal his wounds and make sure he doesn't pass out" Drake commands one of the men and I can feel the healing energy start closing the wound on my stomach. It doesn't, however, help the feeling of being completely drained.

"You know I'm a bit curious to see how you will react to this particular poison. It drains all Magicka and completely stops any kind of regeneration. Some of my men argued that it was to powerful and that any mage affected with it wouldn't be able to cast even the simplest of spells for over a month." He explains while pulling out another vial of it and turning to Willow.

"Of course it doesn't work terrible well with Bretons because of that pesky Dragonskin ability of there's. Letting them absorb Magicka directly from an outside source overpowers the poison and simply hurts there regeneration. Same basic concepts with high elves with their Highborn power but you don't have any special traits to help you, do you Sage? You're just a regular Nord who use a bit of magic to get what he wants" he says with a anger touching his voice while dipping the tip of the dagger into the vial.

"So this shouldn't have to much of an affect on you" he smiles to Willow but she starts shaking her head with panic in her eyes

"B-but I don't know how to use Dragonskin yet!" her eyes were locked onto the dagger and I could almost taste her fear. Drake simply shrugs

"Well then I guess were going to find out exactly how powerful it is." Just as he finishes speaking Willow pulls one of her arms free and pushes the blade in Drakes hand upwards to his face. He cries out in pain with blood dripping from his eye while one of the bandits punches Willow and gets a firmer grip on her arms. Drake growls angrily before snatching a health potion from one of his men and drinking it. The bleeding stops and the flesh already starts to mend itself.

"I was going to offer a spot amongst our ranks but now… I'm just going to kill you!" He growls at her and picks up the knife he just dropped. I try to struggle against my captors but the poison has completely drained me of my strength. suddenly all I can see in my mind is Willow being stabbed over and over again. the image continues to play in my head on a continuous loop until something inside of me finally cracks and shatters.

"_kill them all" _


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the delay hopefully I will be able to pick up the pace soon and get some more chapters out quicker. Remember if you got any suggestions feel free to express them, thanks!**

Blood curdling screams fill the air as fire horribly burns the two men holding me. Before anyone can react I launch balls of condensed fire at two more of the bandits that bathe their entire bodies in fire. Everyone watches in horror as their screams echoe in the distance until they not but ashes on the ground. I turn my glowing blue eyes to Drake who quickly drops his dagger and put his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, alright calm down I wasn't really going to do it. I swear." He says with a nervous smile while sweating heavily. I start walking up to him slowly and he motiones desperately for his men to stop me. The ones foolish enough to attack me are set ablaze with fire so hot it reduces them to a smoldering pile of ash. When I reach him I glare for a moment unsure of what to do.

"Consider yourself lucky." I growl before grabbing his face with a fiery hand. His screams of pain are barley muffled by my hand, I bet that you can hear him half-way across Skyrim. He passes out after a few moments from the pain and falls to the ground like a rag doll. Alive but burnt beyond recognition. I command the remaining men to leave and take Drake with them. They quickly oblige, terrified of the monster standing in front of them, and pick up Drake before running off. I can see Willow looking at me with a mixture of confusion and fear. I know I should feel sad but as my world fades to black all I can feel is joy. joy that she wasn't hurt.

_"She'll hate you after this." the darkness speaks quietly at first but it soon starts getting louder._

_"You know that she's afraid of you now!" It laughs at me with it's demonic voice._

_"Shut up! That isn't true!" I yell into the darkness but it just seems to swallow my words. _

_"Where is your healing light now?! The one that drives me away. The one that she makes!" It yells into my ears._

_"Shut up!" I yell uselessly back at it. _

_"She's gone! She left you on the side of the road and ran for her life! And you know what?" it whispers inside my head._

_"Not a single person would blame her for running from a monster!" It screams into my ears and I can start to feel tears drip down my cheeks._

_"Tell me, how good did it feel to burn all those people? Did you laugh while they screamed in pain? I bet you wished there were more people to kill!" It laughs hysterically as it continues its assault on me._

"Sage? Please wake up." Willows voice wakes me up. I jump up quickly only to be forced back down by dizziness.

"Whoa, calm down, your alright you just need to take it easy." Willow whispers softly while pulling a blanket from our bag over my shoulders. I'm still shivering but not from the cold. The darkness's voice is still fresh in my mind and feel as if Willow is avoiding my gaze.

"Are you alright?" I ask trying to break the awkward silence.

"I'm ok, just a bit tired." She says with an obviously forced smile. before I can think of something to say my stomach growls loudly causing Willow to show a genuine smile.

"Hungry? Well you have been out cold for two days." She speaks as if it's nothing and I just stared at her in shock.

"Two days?! By the eight it felt like a few hours!" I cursed loudly as Willow hands me some salted beef.

"You passed out after overusing so much Magicka… I actually thought you were dead and by all rights you should have been…" she whispers more to herself then to me. once I again I notice that she seems to refuse to look me in the eye.

"Maybe it would've been better if a monster like me ended up dead…" I say quietly to myself and the sharp pain in my cheek happens so fast I don't know the cause at first. Willow slapped me.

"How could you even think about saying that!" she nearly yells and all I can do is stare in surprise.

"How do you think I would react?! What do you think I would do without you!" Her cheeks are red from rage and there is tears in her eyes.

"Willow I killed people, I burnt them alive!" I respond in the same aggressive tone of voice as her own.

"And what do you think they would have done to us?! You were able to defend both of us while I was shivering like a pathetic little girl!" she is yelling now.

"… That's why you refused to look me in the eye…"

"What would you do? I couldn't do anything and had to watch you nearly kill yourself trying to save us both" she says crying silently. I sigh and put my hand on her head.

"Please don't cry, the College will teach you how to defend yourself. Until then I don't mind protecting you. Now get some sleep you have been watching me for two days and I think you deserve a break." I speak quietly but hope my words will at least comfort her. she nods slowly and lays down while I stand up. I don't know how much more we will have to go through but I hope that it'll get easier. We have a long way to travel and neither of us know exactly where we are but I honestly believe that it can't get worse than this. I was wrong.


	9. Chapter 9

**I hope you all enjoy this installment of the Rejected series and I hope you will continue reading.**

I wake willow up at about noon with a quick nudge.

"Come on, we should continue heading north. How much food do we have left?" I ask her curiously.

"Not enough… I thought that we would be at the college within three days so I only pack enough for that." She is rummaging around in our packs while she speaks. I sigh and grab my bag.

"Well we should start moving sooner rather than later." I say helping her to her feet and heading north.

"How do you know that we're heading going north?" Willow asks suddenly as we come up to a road.

"The sun rises in the east and sets in the west so I just use that." I point at the sun for emphasis. We continue to talk about thing that would never really matter for most of the day, only stopping once to eat the rest of our food. I'm extremely grateful for the lack of silence. I can't help but remember when we were back at the orphanage and how we would go outside the walls of Riften to explore and talk.

"Soo… what happened to you back there with the bandits? I mean I could literally see Magicka radiating off you" Willow asks after a few hours of walking. I stay silent for a long time and right when Willow opens her mouth to speak I reply

"I don't know… all I could see was Drake walking to you with that dagger then a burning rage filled my body." Willow nods to show she is listening.

"All I could think about was Drake hurting you and that just made the rage worse." I am whispering to myself now but Willow can still hear clearly as I continue

"when all I could see and think about was Drake killing you I couldn't help but listen to the voice… and I liked it."

"Wait, what voice?" she asks, worried. I look up, a bit shocked at my own slip up.

"It's nothing. Come on! I see snow up ahead so Windhelm should be close now." I completely avoid answering and run off ahead. When Willow catches up I point at a light in the distance.

"There is Windhelm, we can rest there for the night" I say with a smile and continue running. I hear Willow call for me to wait but I don't want to take the chance of her asking more about the voice. I only stop to wait for her at the large gates into the city. I'm smiling until I see her frown.

"We need gold to get a room, remember?" she bursts my bubble in just 8 short words. I sigh but lead the way inside the town anyway thinking that we might as well warm up in the inn. It wasn't to busy inside the, Candlehearth hall, so we are able to sit right at the bar where a female Nord bartender is talking with what looks like a mercenary or sword-for-hire.

"yep, the guards just dropped the bounty off. The Jarl is offering anyone a full 500 gold reward to whomever can kill it" the bartender peeks my interest with the mention of such a large reward.

"Ay but it's a vampire and inside a cave at that, who knows how many could be in there just waiting for someone stupid enough to go inside." The man replies, pushing the paper that the bartender place in front of him away. He takes the last swig of his drink and walks outside. I jump into his vacant seat and grab the bounty. It says that the Jarl is offering a 500 gold reward to whoever can bring him the head of the vampire living in the cave just south of Windhelm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you"" the women says putting her hand over the bounty notice. I shrug carelessly, not really listening. The women sighs and moves her hand so I can pick up the bounty.

"Hey Willow look at this. 500 gold just for killing a vampire." I say as I rush back to her. She looks at me with wide eyes

"500 gold?! We won't have to worry about food for weeks! But vampires are deadly creatures." She adds the last part nervously.

"Oh come on, it's just like taking care of some wolves back in Riften" I point out while thinking of the odd jobs the guards used to throw our way.

"I guess… from what I've read vampires are among the undead so fire is the best thing to use." She explains and I can already feel the slight burning sensation in my hands as I recall the flame spell and firebolt spell.

We stay at the inn only long enough to get directions to the cave before heading out quickly. Neither of us talks much on the way to the cave, maybe because we are scared but I have to enjoy the exciting feeling swelling in my stomach. Once in front of the cave we stop and try to make something of a plan.

"So you will head in first and I'll stay behind you to watch you rearguard. I can only cast one or two firebolt spells with the amount of Magicka I have but if there is only one vampire you should be able to handle it easily. Just remember to be careful and attack as soon as you see it" Willow explains it all very quickly and even though I can hear fear in her voice there's also a large dose of excitement. Once we are inside the cave I charge up a firebolt in my hands to get ready and to give us a source of light. As we get deeper I can hear sounds of movement but the darkness is so complete I barely see anything past the light of my spell. Suddenly a quick flicker of movement catches my eye and I turn rapidly only to find nothing there. I take a deep breath to try and calm myself down but my heart refuses to slow its rapid pace. The only thing I can hear is Willows somewhat rapid breathing and nothing else until I hear a quiet crying sound.

"That has got to be it… remember that they like to play with your mind so don't fall for any of there tricks" Willow whispers from behind me and I nod in response before heading towards the crying. As I get closer I can tell that the crying voice belongs to a little girl but it doesn't make sense why I little girl is this far from any town and inside such a dark cave. Then I see her. Her skin is far too pale to be human but I see her small trembling body. Her teeth are far too sharp to be human but I see how they chattered from the cold. Finally her eyes are far too red and vicious to be human but I see the tears dripping from them. All I see is a little girl crying and I can't let my fire fly at something so small and fragile. That hesitation gives the creature the perfect chance to launch itself at me with that pale trembling body and those glowing teary eyes. It latches onto my neck with those Sharp chattering teeth and starts draining me of my life. It feels like it is ripping out part of my soul violently and consuming it with an unending hunger. It is the most painful thing I have ever experience then suddenly it is gone and I can smell burning flesh while the cave lights up with fire. Willow has ripped the creature off of me and has set it on fire before it knows what is going on. Its screech doesn't sound human but I can almost feel its pain. When the screams finish Willow starts moving her lips but why doesn't she make any noise? My head feels dizzy and I realize that I am passing out again. I really have to stop doing that.


	10. Chapter 10

I regain conciseness but I don't open my eyes right away, I'm scared that another creature of darkness looming over me with hungry eyes.

"Please say that's you Willow" I beg and Willows sigh of relief is nothing but comforting.

"Well you were out of it for awhile. About 20 minutes I think. I have a question" she says suddenly with a smile that seems to mask something underneath.

"Yes?"

"Are you an idiot!? Why didn't you attack it right away!? You may as well have titled your head and told it to take your blood!" she screams at me with rage causing me to jump back in surprise.

"I-I thought it was just a little girl" I say weakly trying to defend myself

"It was a starving vampire with a pale sunken face and eyes like an animal! How in Meridia's name did you think it was a normal girl?!" tears were pouring out of her eyes now. I can't think of something smart to do so I just put my forehead to hers and whisper

"I'm alright, I promise" she sniffles a bit and nods

"Then let's get out of this cave and get our reward. I already put the things head in a sac" she stands up after she is done talking and starts walking without another word. I follow behind quietly; I know that even if she forgives me it doesn't mean that she still isn't angry. The sun is shining brightly outside and I squint my eyes almost completely shut. It seems far brighter than normal but I just ignore it, thinking that it has to do with the blood-loss. I still feel weak and light headed so when Willow isn't looking I try to cast a quick healing spell but it doesn't have any effect whatsoever. I look at my hand a bit confused but once again I simply ignore it, chalking it up to blood-loss again, and continue following Willow back to Windhelm. When we drop disembodied head at the stewards feet all he does is stare at us for a moment with disbelief in his eyes.

"You two kids killed a vampire…? How…" He says shocked but he still pulls out the purse of coins and hands it to us. We accept it but before we can leave a man that is dressed as a noble approaches.

"Good evening, I couldn't help but overhear that you two killed a vampire all by yourselves. That's quite impressive but not very surprising that a Nord was the one to kill it. I would like you to consider joining the rebellion and fight for what is right. Of course the invitation is extended to the Breton." The man's voice is far deeper than I expect it to be from how he looks. Another thing I notice is the way he only extends the invitation to Willow after I looked at him with offense.

"I thank you for the offer but I have my own journey to attend to. Come on Willow" I say with a bit of an edge on my voice and I head to the door. I turn back once only to say

"Oh and it was her who killed the creature, I just got in the way" I smile sweetly and walk out.

"You know that was the leader of the rebellion that you just talked down to right?" Willow speaks up once we are out of the jarls castle. I shrug

"I didn't care for the tone he took when he talked of you" I say simply and I can clearly hear Willow Chuckle from behind me. it doesn't take us long to get back to the inn and once inside I let Willow take care of paying for our room. I feel weak and drained, and not the same kind of drained like when I use too much Magicka. This feeling is like not eating for days but not being hungry. I lay down in the bed that the Inn-keeper lets us use and take my boots off.

"I'm going to grab us something to eat, I'm starving! Want anything?" Willow's stomach growls loudly as she speaks as if to put emphasis on the point.

"No thanks I think I'm just going to sleep, I don't have that much of an appetite" I shake my head and wrap the blanket around myself. Willow looks a bit worried but drops it and goes to grab something to eat while I close my eyes and let sleep take over.

_It is laughing again but not hysterically like it normally does. Its laugh reminds of someone who heard a mildly funny joke. I try to ask what it is laughing at but my mouth refuses to move, as does the rest of my being.. _

_"I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one. Red is such a beautiful color isn't it?" the sound of the voice is the same as before but it is far more sane than before almost as if it just got smarter. _

_"Do you pity yourself? Remember that if you do that you're just pitying me" It chuckles again while a shadow starts forming in front of me. Fear grips my heart and all I can think of what will happen if this voice is given form. I try to yell my protest but once again my voice is blocked by nothingness. _I can't feel the light next to me through my own fear this night.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone, been quite a long time since I updated this (sorry bout that, no valid excuse) and some of you may have realized that the previous chapters have been changed. That's because I feel more comfortable righting in the present rather than the future or past. That being said if I have made any mistakes that you feel I need to correct please don't hesitate to message me or write it in the reviews. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I encourage you to reread the previous chapters if you have not already done so. Enjoy!**

"Are you sure you're alright?" Willow asks for the fourth time since we left Windhelm.

"I told you I'm fine, just a bit winded is all." I force a smile to improve my point but the grunt she gives me in response tells me she isn't convinced. It's been only an hour since we set out and I continue to slow us down much to my displeasure. At the rate we are moving we'll have to spend the night outside in the freezing weather. Though the cold doesn't bother me I know that Willow is shivering furiously underneath her fur cloak.

"Maybe we should stop so you can eat something. You didn't have any breakfast at the inn so you must be starved" She sounds worried but it's obvious to me that she wants to keep moving to get out of this cold sooner.

"It's alright I had something to eat before you woke up." The lie slips easily from my lips but she doesn't respond this time and just keeps walking.

"The sun's setting; we should stop and set up camp before it gets to cold." I all but collapse at her word, despite wanting to go further I find myself completely drained and feeling very ill. I set up the tent in silence as Willow stokes the fire the driest wood she can find in the frozen landscape surrounding us. She begins cooking some meat from her pack after I'm finished with the tent but I stop her when she adds some for myself.

"It's fine I'm too tired to eat anything." I state causing her to glare at me

"You're going to collapse without anything in your stomach. You know that right?" She forces some dry tasteless meat into my hand "try to at least eat this, for me?" her eyes remind me of a small puppy and I find myself accepting the meat despite my lack of appetite. She offers an encouraging smile before continuing to prepare her own meal.

Once inside the tent I sit on my bedroll with the meat in hand. I stare at it for a few moments in despair, I feel as if anything I swallow will simply be forced back up. I place the meat to the side and rap myself inside my blankets, deciding against eating it. I force myself to close my eyes and ignore the growing discomfort in my jaw to try and get to sleep. I can only pray that the nightmares won't reach me.

_"I do wish that I could give you a good night's sleep but alas… what would the fun be in that." The form that speaks is blurry and unrecognizable but sounds like it's getting smarter._

_ "Please leave me alone…" I whisper back at it, wishing for it to leave me._

_ "Trust me sage, you may want me to leave but when the end finally comes I'll be all you have." The form is right at my face and though I can't see it I feel as if it's grinning. _

"_Ah, it looks like it's almost my time. Red is such a beautiful color isn't it?" His blurry form clears and I'm forced to stare at pale, red eyed duplicate of myself. I try to scramble backwards but the darkness around me doesn't allow me to move. I stare at myself and all I can do is laugh at how the gods seem to take pleasure in screwing with my life. He is smiling at me as I look into the void around us, laughing hysterically. Suddenly his hand is on my cheek and he whispers into my ear. _

"_Don't go and loose your mind yet, what would the fun in that be."_

"Sage wake up!" Willows voice wakes me up but as soon as I open my eyes she jumps back with a yelp. She is staring at me with fear painted all over her face and before I can ask what is the matter she hands me a small mirror she keeps in her bag. Inside the mirror I find myself staring back with, red hungry eyes and pale skin. I gently place the mirror on the ground slowly and stare at Willow, dumbfounded.

"I-I'm a vampire…?" I ask unsure of myself but Willow doesn't answer, just stares back at me. After the initial shock the fear fades from her eyes and I'm surprised to see her original curiosity take over.

"How are you feeling?" she asks while approaching me quickly and staring directly into my eyes.

"I-I feel allot better actually…but also a bit hungry" I stutter a bit and she responds by forcing my mouth open and starts inspecting my teeth.

"Amazing… your canines have already sharpened to a deadly point. From what I have read about vampires you want need to drink right away because you still have your own human blood inside you but it won't take long before you'll need to feed." She backs off now but still doesn't sound scared, she sounds as if she's trying to solve a puzzle.

"Then I need to cure this before then!" My own voice is dripping with fear; I don't want to kill anyone simply because I feel a bit peckish. She still doesn't seem scared.

"I know I know… I remember overhearing Keerava from the bee and bard talking to someone about a person who knows everything about vampires and undead creatures. I can't remember anything but the fact that the person lives in Morthal" She is already packing up our belongings as she speaks.

"That's pretty far to the west… though I suppose we can be grateful that the carriage driver back in Windhelm wasn't there to drive us to Winterhold. Who knows what would've happened if I turned in the back of his cart." I say while packing the tent into my pack and swinging it over my back. Willow nods in agreement before putting the fire out and leading the way.

While we walk I try to think of how much more time this incident will add onto the trip to Winterhold. The accident with the cart wasn't too bad and probably would have added only a day or two of travel time but this vampirism isn't a small detour like that. I don't want to risk showing up at the college only to be denied access because of the danger it poses.

"How much longer do you think until we can finally get into the college?" I share my thoughts with Willow who stops to think about it for a moment. "Suppose another week maybe? Depends how long it will take to cure you" She holds no doubt when she speaks of curing me and honestly I'm extremely grateful for it.

"You're going to want to pull your hood up; the sun is starting to rise and from what I have read, as long as you're fully fed than the sun should only be a bit uncomfortable. When you start to feel the sun burning even slightly we'll have to set up the tent to hide until nightfall." Willow explains and I only nod, letting her deal with all the complications. Even back when we lived in the orphanage she was always the one that made the plans, a natural tactician I think is what Michel used to call her.

The sun is just as Willow had said it would be, just a bit uncomfortable. Wherever sunlight touches my bare skin it feels as if insects are crawling all over the area but I can easily tell that it is getting worse. It won't be to long before uncomfortable turns into pain. Soon I'm panting heavily form exerting myself in the sun but I refuse to slow down and drag Willow down with me.

"You have got to be one of the most stubborn people I have ever met." Willow's voice catches me off guard causing me to jump a bit when I almost bump into her back. She laughs and pulls the tent from the pack on my back.

"I'm fine, come on lets keep going." I try to protest but she ignores me and sets the tent up anyways. I give in and help her by placing some extra blankets on top of it to prevent and stray sunlight from leaking in. Once we're both finished I step inside and lay down on the ground, the cold didn't bother me in the slightest, most likely a side effect of the vampirism.

"If you need anything I'll be out here for at least another hour before trying to go to sleep." Willow calls from outside the tent and I respond with a grunt. All things considered the trip to Morthal is actually turning out rather peaceful, excluding the few stray wolves we have had to deal with. I just hope that this isn't the calm before the storm.


	12. Chapter 12

_He's sitting at a table now, drinking from a teacup while wearing a mild grin. I stare at him for a time before he seems to notice me. _

"_Please come, sit." He motions at the chair just on the other side of the small round table. I flinch at the sound of his oddly cheerful voice but obey and take a seat. He stares at me with my own face before chuckling._

"_You truly are scared of me. You have so much power yet your scared of a little delusion in your own head." I start shaking causing him to laugh borderline hysterically. No matter how calm his words seem and how put together he looks I can easily tell what underlines all of it. This is a being that can compliment you while at the same time ripping your head off then go laugh about it all. This thing, whether its man or not, is insanity taken to a whole new level. He grins, showing off his sharpened canines._

"_so I suppose that means you wont give me control of your body?" What does he mean by that? Is it possible for him to read my mind? _

"_No I can't read mind, though that would be fun. Does it really surprise you? We are inside your noggin after all." He pours something into a second teacup and hands it to me. I take it numbly but avoid the urge to take a sip._

"_Why are you here? Why do you torture me?! And why did becoming a vampire do this to you?!" My hand is trembling now._

"_So many questions, but I suppose it cant be helped. To put it bluntly, I am the price you must pay for your power. He decided that I would be the best one to deliver you sweet madness." _

"_Who-?" He cuts me off with a glare._

"_Let me finish. Thank you. Now about the whole vampire thing, which I really must thank you for, the answer is simple. Vampires normally go insane because of the "voices" telling them to hunt. Telling them to kill. I merged with this supposed voice. Though in reality the voice is really just instinct and imagination and I just absorbed power from it." I stare at him, completely confused._

"_My goodness you're a slow one. What I'm saying is that I would have become like this no matter what, becoming a vampire simply sped the process up a few years." He's inspecting his nails now but his eyes focus on me. We sit in silence for what seems like hours before I say anything_

"_You mentioned that someone decided you would be the price… who was it?" he grins menacingly._

"_Now where would the fun in telling you be? What I would be worried about, if I were you, is what you're going to do about that girly friend of yours once your blood starved. Will you tear open her veins just to satiate yourself? Maybe you'll loose control and rip her head off, ha! Now that would be something to see." He's laughing loudly now, I try to cover my ears to block him out by that has never worked. _

"_You're wrong! I would never hurt her!" I yell back while standing up so quickly my chair flies back into the nothingness surrounding us. He only stares at me with a hand over his mouth as if trying to cover the fact the he's laughing. _

"_Oh don't be such a hard-ass. You wont have to worry about that because she'll be gone by the time that happens. Oops, did I say that out loud?" he's laughing again but I charge at him anyways, hoping to get some answers from him, but once I touch him everything disappears and all I can hear is willows' screams. _

I sit up quickly with sweat dripping from my forehead but I have no time to wipe it off. The sound of battle coming from outside draw my attention but a large Orc is standing at the exit of the tent with a sword drawn. He is wearing animal hides as armor and his sword looks to be steel.

"You're our prisoners now, if you move you die" he says sternly, pointing his sword at me. Before I can reply another man runs into the tent and starts commanding the Orc but I can't hear what he says. All I can focus on is the frost coating one of his hands, a frostbite spell. It's not strong enough to help me kill them and any other spell I have is ranged giving them the chance to dodge. Despite that looking at his hand now I get an idea. I let my Magicka rush to my hands and I will for it to change only slightly as to condense all the cold energy into my hands.

The Orc nods to the other bandit and reaches to grab me but is surprised when my hand reaches up to his chest. Before he can knock it away I let out the condensed cold at point black range, freezing his torso in an instant. With a slight flick of my wrist I change the spell in my hand to an icespike and send it flying at the second bandit. His hand glows brightly before a wall of bright Magicka blocks the ice from hitting him but it seems to shatter under the force, causing him to stumble almost out of the tent. I take my chance and lunge at him, dragging him back inside. I should kill him and be done with it but something stops me from releasing another spell into him. A noise coming from his neck seems to pulse and pound inside my own head. Of course… I need to feed… why not now? I sink my razor like fangs into the man's neck and drink deeply. It tastes so sweet but it's over far too soon and I find myself wanting more.

"_Let me have control and it will taste all the sweeter" _the voice rings inside my head, making me run outside to try and get away. Once outside I see four more bandits already tying up Willow who's only barely conscious. I charge up another spike attempt to let it fly but a sharp pain in the back of my head interrupts me abruptly. There's five of them but the blow to the back of my head stops any more thoughts from happening as I fall to the ground.

"What do we do? We can't sell a vampire so we should just kill him right?" I can hear the men talking but I can't really understand it.

"He doesn't deserve a quick death for killing two of our guys but we don't have time to wait around. Tie him up and leave him to burn in the sun. and by the nine can you hit him properly so he doesn't try anything" another sharp pain sends me reeling into a dreamless sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you alive, Mr. Vampire?" A young and obviously female voice wakes me up.

"Your wound is gone so stop being lazy." She sounds a bit annoyed. I sit up slowly with a groan and open my eyes to see a little girl staring at me with curious eyes. I look at the brown haired child for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"H-how did you know…?" My voice is a bit scratchy but still understandable

"Your fangs are very sharp. Falion always told me that people with sharp fangs and red eyes are vampires. He also told me to stay away from them but you seem nice." She smiles brightly and I offer a small one in return. I look around and suddenly remember what happened. I look back to see my campsite in shambles and the men who took Willow are nowhere to be found. I look back at the girl

"Do you know where Morthal is? I need to help with something." I ask and she doesn't hesitate to nod enthusiastically.

"Of course! I live there! Falion brought me on a trip to learn more about the forces of nature and magic but we're heading back in the morning." I look around and realize that my skin isn't burning at all but it looks to be as bright as day. Most likely do to the vampiric blood rushing through my veins. The girl grabs my hand and all but drags me away, she is very friendly it seems. I look back at what's left of my camp and try to fight the sudden urge to cry.

"I will find you… just wait a little longer." I whisper too quietly for the girl to hear.

All I want to do is run off now to try and find Willow but I know that as a vampire with no experience I'll end up dead before getting even a single lead.

"There you are Agni. And who might this be?" A rough male voices tears me away from my thoughts.

"He was hurt in the woods! He's a vampire!" the girl who the man called Agni has let go of my hand and is standing in front of a Redguard whom I assume is Falion.

"So he is. And let me guess, you just not bare to leave the creature alone and helpless in the woods so you offered him help." He sounds agitated and Agni shakes her head.

"No! well yes but he's going to Morthal just like us so it's ok!" Falion just sighs

"And what do you have to say about this, vampire?" He directs this to me and I try to sound confident.

"Well I'm trying to find someone in Morthal so I would be in your debt if you could take me there… before the sun rises if that's possible." From where the moon is it looks like the sun hasn't been gone for long so that should give us plenty of time depending on how far we are.

"hmm… fine, It shouldn't be to dangerous at night if you can spot out any danger in the darkness." I agree quickly and help him pack up his tent before heading out.

Agni doesn't seem to mind walking in the dark and actually looks to be enjoying it. Falion on the other hand is completely emotionless, not letting a single crack show on his face. I catch movement from the side of my eye and tap on Falion's shoulder to warn him. Instantly both his hands light up with Magicka. The dark purple glow hints that he plans to conjure something from the planes of oblivion. I let my own Magicka rush to my finger tips, preparing to let loose deadly ice spikes at any moment. Falion gives me a nervous glance but seems to understand I have no reason to turn against him. He lets out a sudden surge of Magicka and from his hands I can almost see the gate of oblivion open just as a Flame Atronach flies out. The night is immediately lit up with its fires causing the bandits around us to gasp slightly. I quickly write the spell down in my memory and summon forth my own to aid Falion's.

Once one of the bandits gathers enough courage to attack Falion lets loose a different spell at the man before the Atronach's can get to him. This spell is not an attack or defense spell and it doesn't seem to have any effect on the man but once he is set ablaze by the powerful fire creatures I can see the Magicka that Falion wrapped around the man stop his very soul from leaving this existence. Instead it directs the soul towards Falion who raises a pitch black crystal to contain it. The other bandits think better of attacking and run off into the night. Agni comes out from behind Falions robes nervously when he offers her encouragement.

"So you're a wizard eh? And a conjurer at that. Perhaps we have more in common than I thought." I only offer him a smile, thinking that it probably isn't be the best time to try and explain my power. He leads the way and it only takes another hour arrive at the small village known as Morthal.

"And here we are. Who did you say you were looking for again?" Agni speaks up, finally finding her voice after the bandit attack.

"There's supposed to be a man who knows allot about vampirism around here so I was hoping he might know how to cure it." I answer while looking around the city at the surrounding swamp. I hear a chuckle come from Falion, I raise an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"This at least gives me the chance to repay you for helping me with those bandits. They wouldn't have run so quickly without a second wizard there."

"You know how to cure vampirism?! Will you please help me!" I beg him but he only waves me off.

"Like I just said, will help you since you helped me." He turns his attention to Agni.

"Agni you go back home and try to get some sleep while I help your friend here." She nods and runs down into the village while Falion leads me around it.

"You're a lucky one, normally I would charge you for the materials needed for the ritual." I nod my thanks just as we approach what looks like an ancient ritual site with large stone protruding out of the ground.

"You're even luckier than I thought; this ritual needs to be preformed at dawn. The sun should start rising any moment now. Just wait in the center and don't move until the end, understand." I obey his instructions and stand in the center of the protruding rocks. From his bag he pulls out the same black crystal that he used to contain the bandits soul then he waits in silence for the sun to start rising. Once we can see the great ball of light from over the hill he takes a deep breath and begins.

"I call upon Oblivion Realms, the home of those who are not our ancestors. Answer my plea! As in death there is new life, in Oblivion there is a beginning for that which has ended. I call forth that power! Accept the soul that we offer! As the sun ends the night, end the darkness of this soul, return life to the creature you see before you!" I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my chest as my heart begins to beat once more. The pain forces me to my knees before forcing me into a fit of coughing before finally knocking me unconscious.

"_Now that isn't very nice. Did you think that curing yourself would rid you of me?" The man that wears my face is standing over me with a mild grin. _

"_Come on, aren't you tired of all this fighting? You've lost your little friend and have no way of finding her so what's the point? Just give up and let me take control." It's voice sounds so enticing it almost makes me want to listen to it. _

"_I can't… It's my fault that she came out into the wilderness and it's my fault she was kidnapped. I refuse to give up on her even if I have no way of finding her!" My voice is full of the conviction that I feel. _

"_Ugghh you are such a pain… how about this, I'll tell you the best place to start looking and in return you give me full access to your waking moments, sounds like a good deal right? And besides to lead you to where you need to go I'll have to be able to speak with you even when you're fully awake." He pulls a cup of tea from thin air and sips from it gingerly. I don't know if this is the best idea but I don't see any other options. Besides what could he possibly do if all he can do is speak inside my head? I can just ignore him. _

"_Fine… you have a deal." He throws his teacup behind him without a second thought and extends his hand to shake mine. I take it nervously and he shakes it happily._

"_And so the deal has been struck. See you on the flip side" His grin reaches to his ears and I realize that his sharp fangs are gone. I'm actually cured. _


	14. Chapter 14

**I feel like I have to apologize for the unannounced hiatus I went on and really I don't have any excuses. School was a bit of a pain but now that I've graduated I should be able to update a bit more. I would also like to thank everyone that has followed and favorited this story. I saw another fanfic that wrote down all those who followed and favorited and I like the idea so hear goes. Artmeis Fowl II, CauldronCalamity, Darth Rabbits, IndraUchiha, Mithari, Ms. AtomicBomb, Reiajade, Willee, ajvb19, menacedude, promix and Drem yol lok Odahviing. Thank you all of you for supporting this fanfiction. Without further ado I hope you enjoy the latest chapter in Rejected**

"Hey, are you alright?" Falion's voice wakes me up and I look around groggily. "Huh…? What happened?" I ask while mentally trying to get a hold of myself. "I cured you of your vampirism. The grogginess is just a side effect of the ritual, it will wear off shortly." I nod and try to stand up slowly but successfully.

_"you look like a fool" _the voice in my head startles me slightly and causes Falion to look at me oddly. _"Now he thinks your crazy." _ I can hear the voice chuckle. "I'm going to repeat my earlier question. Are you alright?" Falion asks with worry. "Ya sorry, just thought I heard something." I lie easily and he shrugs and turns to start walking back to Morthal. "You coming back to Morthal or heading out?" He asks when I don't follow him. _"Actually we are heading to solitude, slavers took Willow and they are bringing her to the docks over there."_

"I'll be heading to Solitude actually, looking for a friend of mine." I state with determination.

"I see, well then I wish you luck on your quest… I'm sorry I don't believe I caught your name."

"It's Sage, and I am indebted to you Falion." I say while walking up to him and extending a hand. He shakes it firmly and gives me a nod before heading back to his home. _"Come on then and lets go, unless of course you don't want to find Willow. Personally it doesn't matter to me." _The voice sounds bored now. "What should I call anyways?" I ask once I start walking North, North West. _"Well I suppose Vorohah or Voro for short will do for now. The dragon word for madness seems appropriate." _

"Wait, you know how to speak Draconic? I thought that language was died with the last dragon" I ask rather surprised but I don't get an answer, only more silence. This is going to be a long trip.

I can feel dried blood crack on my arms as I try to move to get more comfortable. "Hey! Don't try anything stupid back there." My captors snapped. I sigh, I doubt they knew who it was that moved since I am crammed in this cage with several other people. All of us have our hands tied behind our back and a separate rope ties us all together to prevent us from running. When the wagon lurches to a stop the slavers let us out of the cage and direct us towards a cave with weapons drawn as if saying they will kill us without a second thought if we try anything.

Once inside the cave we are thrown into a large cell filled with other prisoners, all of which look stern faced and battle hardened. Some of the have dried blood while most all of them have scars littered around there body. "Hey, what do you think these people want?" One of the other new prisoners behind me speaks once the slavers have left. I turn to see a high elf boy that looks a tad bit older than me with no facial hair and blonde shaggy hair on his head. "I have no idea, I try not to make it a habit to get beaten, captured and crammed into a cage." I speak with a humorless chuckle. "You must be some kind of crazy to joke in a situation like this." The boy says with nervous smile, I admit it is a bit odd to see a shy High elf. Every other one I have met thinks they are better than everyone else. "Yea well if you knew the person that I travel with then you would understand why I'm not really afraid… I'm Willow by the way." I tell the elf. "I'm Valano." He says with a friendly tone.

"Alright newbloods! Listen closely because I will not be repeating this." One of scarred prisoners calls everyone's attention. "This is a fighting pit. Meaning you will be forced to fight someone for entertainment. Before a match starts a weapon is chosen at random for you and your opponent. Once you are given the weapon and are in the pit you will have to kill your opponent using any means necessary! The more you win the more food and drink you will have as well as women or men if you choose. Since I know someone here wants to ask something foolish like "what if we don't want to fight." If that is the case then you are welcome to lie down and die. That it is, and could someone please get those ropes off them!" someone obliges and quickly unties us. Once untied I move to the corner of the cell and sit down to rest. Valano takes a seat next to me and offers me half a load of bread. "Got it from one of the other slaves, seemed like he felt bad for us." I accept it gratefully and start eating. "So you had a traveling partner? Where are they now?" He asks, obviously trying to start a conversation. "He was killed when I was captured…." I say bluntly, though mentally the hope that he is alive is the only thing keeping me from the brink of tears.

"You don't believe that do you?" He states after a long silence. I don't reply. "Well it's alright I'm sure he is fine since you don't seem to worried about him." In reality I am extremely worried about him, last I saw he was knocked out and being tied up for the sun to burn him. I hope somehow he was able to escape, maybe someone stumbled upon him though it isn't much comfort if most people came across a vampire they would try to kill it instantly.

"Hey you! Breton!" A voice from outside the calls and I look up to see one of my captors standing there. His ebony armor tells me he must be one of the leaders of this group of slavers to be able to afford it. I stand and walk over to him, knowing that it would turn out worse if I tried to ignore him. "You don't need to fight you know, since you're a girl a mean. Look around, not many girls right? That's because the women are brought out for… servicing the costumers." He says with such a sickening grin I can feel my stomach flip on itself. I spit on the mans face "I'd rather die than let you filthy scumbags touch me" I hiss at him. His hand shoots between the bars and grabs my hand with an iron grip before yanking to the bars, bashing my head on them. "Listen here you little bitch, you have no idea what you have just done. You! Bear of Windhelm! Your getting an easy kill next round with this stupid little girl!" He hisses and opens the cage to drag me out. I cant fight back as my head is swimming because of the impact from the steel bars. I'm lead to door and already I can hear the cheers of drunken foolish begging for blood on the other side. The large man that the slaver called the bear walks out of sight and I assume he is going to a separate entrance. "You should have taken my offer" the slaver hisses into my ear and pushes me through the door.


	15. Chapter 15

**Decided to try and cough up another chapter sooner than the last. I hope I have written everything in a way that makes sense XD I also think I should explain the small arena that Willow is in. the place she actually fights is a simple circle with stones walls going up a few meters than a cage ontop of the to keep them inside. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and if you have any comments don't hesitate to write a review.**

"_Stop gawking, you look like someone who just saw skeever get up and offer you some tea." _ Voro sounds annoyed but in my defense I was raised in Riften, the home of every kind of scum on this earth. Solitude was nothing like that, the several salespeople I see show no fear in having there wares stolen. Everyone seems far happier and even eager to enjoy the rest of the day where as in Riften you get the distinct feeling that everyone there is either drowning themselves in mead or plotting there next scheme.

"How does a city run so well I wonder? Anyway where am I going?... Voro?" He is silent, as if refusing to answer. I sigh deeply and keep walking forward, hoping that I may stumble onto something. It doesn't take long for me to get distracted by a man running back and forth between people, begging for help. Something to do with his master is all I can hear from where I'm standing. I go to move in the other direction when Voro decides to speak up.

_"Speak with him, help him and it may turn out in your favor" _as cryptic as ever but I decide to listen to him thinking that I have no other leads to go on. I don't even have to walk towards the man when he charges at me. "You there! Will you have pity on an old mad man?" The man is eratic and even with the few words he has spoken he sounds delusional. No wonder everyone in town ignored him.

"Hello there… are you alright?" I ask referring to his pale complexion and the slight twitching of his left eyelid. He shakes his head so hard I looks as if its going to fall off. "No! I am not alright! My master has abandoned me! He has abandoned his people and his throne! All to just go on vacation! Please you have to convince him to come back!" I force myself to nod at the madman though the only thing I want to do is turn and walk away. "Oh wonderful! He was last seen in the Pelagius wing but you'll need the hip bone!" I numbly accept the bone from him, not really understanding what is happening. "Thank you again!" he says before running off.

_"Now that was entertaining, don't you think so? Now come on, one of the servants left the door unlocked to the Pelagius wing. We should go quickly." _Vorohah says as if this was just and average evening. "How in Mara's name do you know that the door is unlocked?" I try to pry from him but only succeed in looking like a madman myself to anyone nearby. My face turns red from embarrassment and I rush towards the blue palace. As I walk inside the guard eyes me wearily but lets me pass thankfully, it was probably a good idea to use the last bit of gold from the vampire bounty to buy a new tunic from a store called the Radiant Raiment.

Once inside I follow the directions from Vorohah to get to the Pelagius wing. The entire place is covered in dust, spider webs and screams out "Neglect". "Looks like no one has been here for at least a few months. Speaking of which I have no idea who I'm actually looking for."

_"Just go that way. My lord wishes to speak with you." _He chuckles quietly. I sigh, knowing that he wont answer any questions even if I tried to ask so I choose to simply follow his instructions once again. Suddenly my senses are completely overwhelmed by a flashing blue light and feel like I have been thrown up into the sky and spun around like a rag doll. "What in the name of Akatosh is happening?!" I try to yell over the wind only for it all to stop a moment later with me standing next to a table with a man dressed in the most peculiar clothing sitting at its head. "Aha! You've finally arrived! Wonderful news, just wonderful! How do you do m'boy?!" his voice sounds hysteric and the grin he wears is simply increases the idea that he has completely lost his mind.

"Who- who are you?" I stutter, still confused and disoriented from the portal. "Who am I? Who am I ?! can you believe the nerve of some people?!" He turns to his right and sitting there enjoying a cup of tea is my own reflection, Vorhah, completely visible outside my mind. "I truly can't milord. Some people have no sense of manners nowadays." I look at him in shock than back at the madman at the head of the table. "You're a madman!" I yell, my fear starting to get out of control.

"Jolly good guess m'boy but I fear your only half right! Or half-wrong, whichever you prefer. I am a mad**GOD**, the mad god actually. Sheogorath! At your service." He stands and makes an exaggerated bow. "And I must say that it is a true pleasure to meet me son after so many years." His grin just widens further as I know my face drains of blood. "It appears that you have shocked the poor boy into silence." Voro says while taking a sip of tea. "Hmm…" Sheogorath scratches his beard and quickly (and when I say quickly I mean it felt like time slowed slightly as he walked) moves in front of me to inspect me further. "Ha! It seems your right Voro, I owe you a wheel of cheese!" The mad god starts laughing hysterically while Voro only smiles over his teacup. "B-But you're a Breton!" I'm finally able to speak, referring to him saying he is my father. "Ah yes, well your mother was a nord. That and I thought it would be more entertaining if you were a Nord, just think about it. A Nord, a race of men who distrust the mere mention of magic, being the worlds greatest wizard! Ha!" He continued with his mad laughing while I sat there, dumfounded. I was the child of a deadric prince.

I'm going to die. This is the only thought going through my head as I look up at the giant of a man standing across just on the other side of this caged pit. This man, who has earned himself the title of a bear, is going to kill me simply because the man who threw me in here commanded it. "The Bear of Windhelm won the last round so he gets his choice of weapon!" A man standing just outside the cage calls out. "I'll kill her with my own two hands!" The man growls and the crowd erupts in cheers. "And what is your choice women!" The man yells at me, causing me to jump and say the first thing that comes to my mind. "A knife!" I yell and the crowd starts laughing. Someone from the audience tosses in an average steel dagger and I quickly scramble to pick it up. I grip the dagger so hard my knuckles turn white. I try to take a few deep breaths to come myself but only end up shaking even more, there is no way I am walking out of here alive. "Begin!" The man calls and instantly pain explodes in my face, I couldn't even see the bear move he was so quick. I fall to one knee but quickly stand back up and raise the dagger to try and defend myself only to have it knock out of my hand and have another punch delivered directly to my skull. This one send me backwards and the back of my head feels like it cracks against the stone behind me and I fall flat on my face to the ground.

I can numbly hear the roar of the crowd as the bear walks around, reveling in there cheers. As everything goes black a picture of my mother lying limp in an alley comes to my mind. I couldn't do anything as that man stabbed her. I was useless. I was weak. "No!" It takes me a moment to realize that I'm the one who spoke. "I refuse to die here!" My right hand erupts in flames "I won't be helpless ever again!" My body moves on its on and my fist, propelled by fire, connects with the mans face, burning him deeply. He cries out in pain and turns to me with pure rage in his eyes. he charges at me and wraps one of his hands around my neck while the other holds my arms away. "Stupid mage! If you can't point those blasted hands at me than your just as weak as ever!" He hisses with spittle flying from his mouth. Again I feel the anger start boiling in my stomach at this hulking behemoth who thinks he knows the first thing about magic. My mother taught me that mages use there hands because it is the safest place to expel magic from and its far easier because people already see there hands as tools. It doesn't mean that it is the only way to use it. "I already told you… that I… won't die here!" I speak slowly while trying to breathe with his hand clamped around my throat. He smiles but it doesn't last when he sees me open my mouth to reveal a small flame. "Burn" I whisper before releasing the spell from my jaw and bathing the man in a torrent of fire. His screams are heard for only a few seconds before he collapses. Dead. I'm breathing heavily when the crowd completely looses there minds and starts cheering like a god visited them this day. I won.


	16. Chapter 16

**This chapter is going to be a Sage only one but to those of you who like Willow better fear not! Next chapter I plan on making it very Willow orientated. I would also love it if some of you would tell me if my Sheogorath is good, he is by far my favorite deadra XD speaking of reviews I would also like to thank CauldronCalamity for the review! Kind of gave me encouragement to make this chapter so soon after the last. And without further delay, I hope you enjoy!**

"You're telling me my life is just some deadric prince's entertainment?!" My blood starts to boil at the thought of being someone's plaything. "But of course! Though most every important mortal is some deadra's plaything, even I was! But I ended up becoming a god so looks like I showed them!" He goes off again, laughing like it's all a big joke.

"Why?! Why would you screw my life up so much that even my own mother wouldn't want me?!" I yell at him angrily. "Careful boy! Or I'm likely to play skipping rope with your intestines!" He says with anger booming in his voice. "Just think about it for a second Sage. You have more power and potential than any other wizard on the earth, so what if it comes at the price of being Sheogorath's toy? You get to do what you want with that power." Vorohah's voice sounds like the voice of reason though he acts like he is talking to a child.

"But I never wanted it… I just wanted a family" I try to reason with the mad god. "You don't want those eyes then? Maybe I should pull them out for you?" He is in front of me in a second with his fingers forcibly keeping my eyelid open on my right eye. I stand perfectly still, frozen from fear. "Or maybe I should give you eyes to surpass even my own! Ha! I think that would be an appropriate punishment for rejecting my gift! Don't you think so?" He says, turning to Vorohah who starts laughing.

"Of course milord, he may even come to see it as the gift it truly is. It may take some time of course." At that word Sheogorath's hand starts moving far faster than any human could possible think of doing. Even my own eyes can't understand the complexity of the spell he weaves and because of that even I'm surprised to see dust appear in his hand when he is finished. "What's that?" I nearly whisper, my curiosity overpowering my fear and anger.

"It is my gift to you my mortal son! I hope you enjoy it, Ha! What am I saying? Of course you will!" once the last word leaves his mouth he blows the dust into my eyes and the burning sensation that follows nearly knocks me unconscious. Its like getting red hot coals stuck underneath your eyelids, it burns like the intensity of the sun. When the pain finally subsides I can't even remember falling on the ground.

"Oh master! Does this mean you will finally come back to your people?" I recognize the voice of the madman who got me to do all of this. "Yes yes, how about you go ahead of me?" The mad god's voice is followed by the distinct sound of a portal opening than closing a moment later. I open my eyes slowly and immediately close them when all I can see is a blinding bluish white light.

"Oh you're awake? Then I really must apologize for blinding you… my bad! You won't be able to look directly at any deadra who is too powerful but other than that I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself! Now be gone! I have some cheese to pack… oh and Voro? I command you to stay with him, I release you from my service for duration of this mortals lifetime!" he says haphazardly as if it doesn't really matter.

"Of course, I shall deliver him to the bitter mercy that is madness. _When the time comes at least." _Vorohah's voice transfers into my head halfway through his sentence and I know that I am going to be stuck with him for at least another while. "Excellent! Now off you go, and remember! If you ever need help just call on your old pappy Sheo! As long as you have some cheese to give me with you that is!" Sheogorath's laughter is drowned out by the sound of a portal opening around me.

_"Come on Sage, you are on a bit of a time limit. You haven't forgotten about Willow have you?" _Voro's voice wakes me up and I find myself laying face down on in the blue palaces Pelagius wing. I stand up a bit dizzily and open my eyes to find the air around me has a slight dim blue glow. "What in the…?" I say, completely confused.

_"It's the magicka from the portal. Portals use a lot of magicka and even after they have closed they leave behind a sort of "Magic residue" that stays for a few days." _Vorohah explains and I nod. "So I can see magicka? I thought I could do that befo-" I cut off when I see a small glowing blue dot in the corner of the room. Upon closer inspection it turns out to be a small spider. _"Jeez you really are slow! Before you could only see magicka when it was being formed into a spell, which is something everyone can do. You were different because you could copy what they were doing and mimic it once you saw it. Now you can see Magicka in its raw form, before it is molded by an outside source. As you can see from that spider every living thing, whether it can cast spells or not, does have a bit of magicka inside its body" _He tries to explain to me, again talking to me like I'm a child but I let it pass only because I actually have no idea what is happening.

"So basically your saying I'm going to be able to see Magicka while its still inside people and animals? What's the point of that?" I ask Voro, earning a heavy sigh from him. _"You know what? I don't think I can explain this properly to a mortal. You'll learn on your own soon enough. Willow is in a cave in the Reach, just start heading south from Dragons Bridge and you should run into it." _His voice suggests he truly does not care, as if even telling me is a pain. I decide to ignore his tone and head out the door to the main room in the blue palace.

A woman who is dressed in a hooded blue robe is just on the other side, waiting for me it seems. As soon as I see her I can tell from the bright blue light in the center of her abdomen that she is a powerful Mage but the red pentagram surrounding the ball Magicka has me confused. "What were you doing in there?! I sensed a great deal of Magicka in there but the door wouldn't open no matter what spell I used to open it! Well, care to explain yourself?!" She sounds very angry but when I meet her eyes both of us end up flinching back. Her red eyes are exactly like mine were before I met Falion. She is a vampire but why did she flinch when she saw me I wonder?

_"Oh I guess I should mention that your irises are glowing blue now." _ I don't know if Vorohah can hear my thoughts but if he could he would hear me cursing him to the depths of oblivion for not telling me earlier. I move to cover her mouth so she doesn't draw attention but the movement of the magicka in her body tells me that I only succeeded in scaring her into trying to defend herself. Time seems to slow as the tight circle of magicka in her abdomen leaks and a large bit of it moves down her arm in preparation for a spell. I jump back only to be knocked back further and cut up terribly from the Ice storm spell. An idea pops into my head suddenly and I realize that Voro is the one who put it there. I freeze her feet to the ground to give me a moment to prepare a ward spell that I doubt has ever been used in such a way.

It is ready in moments and I rush forward just as the women breaks free form her icy restraints. She is too late however as my hand connects with her stomach and the powerful ward spell is wrapped around the ball of magicka in her abdomen, cutting it off from the rest of her body. I know I only put enough magicka into the spell to last a max of three minutes.

"Put you hands up! or I'll shoot!" a guard with a bow and arrow commands and quickly I put my hands in the air. "Don't shoot him!" The vampire yells and he listens, not shooting me but keeping the arrow aimed at my head. The vampire looks at me with a rather pissed off expression "Put him in jail for now, I am going to want to speak with him shortly." She commands and the guard quickly listens, escorting me to the prison. Great, I have made an enemy of the court wizard of solitude.


	17. Chapter 17

**And here is the Willow part that I promised :) I would also like to thank The DJ Absolution as well as cnith for following! And I will also say that I love any reviews you guys wanna give, whether there praise or criticism I will accept them! Thank you and enjoy. **

A warm feeling passes through my body and causes me to open my eyes slowly. "W-what happened?" I ask groggily as the mage finishes with his healing hands spell. "You passed out after the fight, most likely from the hit to your head. Nothing to worry about however, I have already healed it right up. Now you just need to rest a bit" The healer is obviously female and even sounds a bit like a doting mother.

"No! she just cost me nearly thousand Septims for braking the rules in a non-magic fight. She will be fighting tonight with other mages and she will win!" The slavers voice makes me jump slightly. "B-but sir, she hasn't fully recovered yet and besides I thought you had to be invited to be able to join the mage fi-" She is interrupted by the slaver slapping her, hard, across the face.

"You do not! I repeat do not talk back to me!" He shouts with anger booming in his voice. To the healers credit she doesn't cry out or tear up she just nods and looks at the ground. "Yes master. Please forgive me…" She barely speaks above a whisper and the slaver just grunts and turns his attention to me. "Come on, we need to leave now if we have we want to get their on time." He commands me and I nearly laugh, I think I'll enjoy killing this man. "I said lets go!" He hisses and reaches to grab my arm. I smack it away and start charging a firebolt spell in my right hand. All he does is grin before I feel a shock run through my body and force me to my knees. For the first time since waking up I notice the collar around my neck, the collar which the slaver grabs to pick me up by.

"So you finally noticed this little jewel. It was given to me as a present for showing the crowd such a good performance. It stops whoever is wearing from casting any kind of spell by sending a strong electric shock whenever it sense you charging your magicka." His grin widens as he all but drags me out of the cave and throws me into a carriage. The driver looks at me in my chains and is about to say something when the slaver hands him a bag of gold. The driver simply nods and starts riding. I sigh and look up at the sunny sky, such a beautiful day and I am stuck in chains.

A few minutes later the slaver draws my attention back to earth by holding out two spelltomes. "I would suggest reading these. You won't live long if you can't cast a ward or summon a weapon. The mage fights are held in a bigger arena and the fights themselves have no real rules. Just kill your opponent and you will be rewarded with a few luxuries. Lose and you'll be dead, lose and survive and you'll wish your opponent killed you." His glare tells me not to test that promise and I only nod in response while accepting the tomes. The first is an average ward spell while the second is for summoning a sword from oblivion. Well on the bright side of all this at least I'm learning new spells. I hope Sage is doing alright at least; maybe he is out there trying to find me. At least that is what I hope and he is not a vampiric corpse by now, burning in the field that I last saw him in.

It doesn't take long for us to arrive at another cave, this one, however, is twice the size of the last and is built inside a large mountain. There are several Orcs guarding the entrance and only let the slaver and I enter when he hands them an envelope I assume is the invitation he spoke of to the healer. The inside is far noiser than I expected it to be, all the noise is mainly cause by gamblers trying to make there next bid. I even see a slaver trying to sell a few Dunmer who have collars similar to mine wrapped around their necks.

"Your in the next fight so I suggest preparing yourself." My slaver says to me while leading me deeper into the cave until we come across a large arena that is surrounded by all sides with seats filled with all sorts of different men and elves, all of them begging for blood. In the center of the arena I can see two high elves fighting each other with summoned blades. My slaver pushes me in the direction of a cage that is attached to the arena, meant to hold the next fighters I assume.

"Remember if you win I will reward you with someone special. Lose and I'll torture you myself." He commands before closing the cage behind me and leaving to find a seat. I move to the closed gate that leads inside the arena just in time to see one of the high elves get decapitated. A sliver of fear lodges itself in my stomach and again I feel the fear of death. "Come on Willow, you can do this. Just remember to cast your ward and you'll be fine." I whisper to myself for encouragement. Suddenly the gate lifts open and I'm forced to walk into the area. Once inside the arena I feel a slight buzz and I know that the collar has been deactivated.

"The newcomer faces a hard challenge people! She must fight the lightning blade of the islands!" The high elf across from me raises his hands at the mention of his stage name by the announcer. "Rules are same as always! Don't shoot the crowd and kill your opponent! Begin!" He bellows and immediately the High elf summons a sword in his right hand and prepares an electric spell in his left. I ready my ward and summon my blade as well. He only glares at me for a few moments before flicking his left wrist and shooting out several streaks of lightning. I cast the ward spell just in time to absorb them and charge with my blade, hoping to catch him off guard. He easily sees it coming and blocks with his own sword. "You're magic is nothing when compared to mine!" He hisses at me. I open my mouth but instead of replying I let out a stream of fire, hoping that he wouldn't be able to dodge at such close range. Unfortunately his reflexes save him and he rolls out of the way but I don't give up. Instead I try to follow him with the flames still spewing from my jaw.

He runs around dodging my flames until I run out of magicka and am left with only my blade which I know doesn't have to much longer until it is called back to oblivion. He smirks at me, knowing that I've run out of magicka, and decides to try and finish me off with a stream of lightning from his left hand. An idea comes to mind and I know that it is now or never. I focus on the blood running through my veins, the Breton blood and even when the lightning hits me I bear through the pain and continue to focus. My Breton blood has power; both my mother and father were Bretons and powerful mages at that, there is no way I wouldn't inherit the ability from my ancestors. As I continue to focus I feel the electricity less and less until it is giving me power rather than taking it away. I can hear the Elf curse my dragonskin but I don't let him think about it, my blade begins to fade as its time runs out. I rush at my opponent with my blade aimed at his neck so naturally he tries to block it with his own blade. The timing is perfect as my blade disappears and I spin while summoning another sword in the opposite hand only to sheath it in his stomach.

Caught completely off guard the Elf coughs up blood and looks me in the eyes, confused as to what just happened. I open my mouth and let him see the flames inside it for a moment before letting them free. In moments his body is nothing but charred bones and ash. The crowd starts chanting with glee "Dragon! Dragon! Dragon!"

"The Dragon has emerged victorious!" The announcer yells and is subsequently drowned out by the cheers coming from the crowd. "I won… my god I actually lived through this a second time" I say to myself and feel a laugh start to rise from my throat. I was not happy for killing the elf nor was I happy to hear the roar of the crowd. I was happy that I'm actually surviving these fights. I'm happy that I'm alive.


End file.
