Aria nodded off half-way through the journey to the border in the Jerall Mountains. It was such a boring thing, waiting in a carriage. There was the occasional beast in the trees. Frostbite spiders travelling alone, not daring start a fight without their whole pack backing them up in the hunt. Wolves, who scattered as the carriage came through - if they wanted to rip a horse's throat out they had four humans to deal with. It wasn't worth it, but if they were really hungry they would've attacked anyway. And the other nuisance? Dragons. Aria heard they could see for miles with those massive, sharp eyes. Occasionally a few that lingered in the mountains would pass overhead, apparently unconcerned about the carriage. Besides, it was protected on both sides by thick forest. An attack could only be from behind or in front, or above - in a tight environment, the dragon might have a harder time than one might think. Aria was awake during the dragon's deafening calls, her hand rested on her Akaviri blade's hilt, but that was about it as far as her worries went. Bandits were rarer in the mountains, too. It was cold and unforgiving, so camps were useless. If bandits operated in the area, it would be from a cave or a barrow, perhaps even an old, forgotten fortress.

As the carriage reached the Bruma gates from north of the border, Aria rather ominously awakened. Something had alerted her... She looked up at the guards on the border crossing outpost, narrowing them. They didn't move, signal the carriage through or tell it to stop. Shouldn't they be greeted by one or two men? ...Aria could smell the blood with her heightened senses. Blood. The guards were dead, leaning on their posts as if they were relaxed.

"Stop. Take the carriage back onto the road. Cronic, with me. Client-man, you stay with the driver." Aria spoke clearly and confidently, giving the two no room to argue. Cronic didn't need to be told why - he was sharp, he'd travelled and likely seen things like this before. The work of bandits, usually. But on an Imperial border station...? What in oblivion had happened here? Aria jumped down from the carriage as the driver brought his horses back around, trotting off with the passenger. Both of them prepared hunting bows, eyes peeled as they waited for the Odd Jobs duo to make a decision.

"This is awkward... Does it feel like we're being watched, Cronic? Only, ...the smell of blood is very fresh. I could never get used to it. These people were killed within the hour. Maybe in the last few minutes..." Aria said, her katana being slid ever so carefully out of its saya.

(Well, they're already mixed up in the Solstheim issue. Now Skyrim also has it's Vampire problem, which in turn becomes Aria & Cronic's problem. XD)