Sabine fluttered onto the wood of the floor in the centre of Meesei's room as soon as she opened the door. She had to hop to avoid the others shuffling in behind her, but soon stood still and pointing her beak down.

Janius chimed in, crossing his arms. "It still stands that they wouldn't start anything violent in the city. All they can do is watch." He peered down at Sabine. "Call me naive, but if they keep watching, we might be able to approach and talk to them. If they are splitting up to keep an eye out like that Gerig and the Breton woman, it's not as if they'll have everyone pressuring them. They'd probably just walk off, though."

Some purple sparks arced from Sabine's feathers to the floor at regular intervals.

"I wouldn't count on it being that simple," Fendros said. "Meesei, we might have to spend our nights magicked away, maybe back home, and come back into our inn rooms in the morning."

"Do you think they'll try to sneak in and take us by surprise?" Janius asked.

Fendros nodded. "It's possible. Unless we have a good way to alert us of their intrusion, we had best not be there in the first place."

The purple arcs intensified and brightened around Sabine's raven form. With a bright glow, the bird swelled and elongated into Sabine's previous shape, clothes and all, squatting on the floor. She was breathing heavily.

"Are you alright, Sabine?" Fendros asked.

Sabine jerked her head across to look at Fendros. She was pale and wide-eyed. "Uhm, yes," she answered, slowly standing up. "It makes my skin crawl. That is all."

"How...long have you been able to do that?"

"I only made it consistent a few months ago," she stepped out from the centre of the group and took a seat on the bed to catch her breath. Her head slumped down. "It is a spell that requires...strange thoughts. I do not like using it."

"It is an entirely different form of magic to what most of us use." Meesei commented. "The witches of Glenmoril practice magic as old as the Breton race itself. It does not surprise me that they are the group in Tamriel most proficient with shapeshifting magic, considering that they are also the closest to Hircine. Regardless, it is nothing I could accomplish, not without extensive training. This also means that the Breton, that zealot Arinette, it at least as well-trained and dangerous as Sabine. We should not underestimate her. You saw how she spoke to Do'rhajul, how...demanding she was with her supposed leader. Do'rhajul commands them, but he may not be the only one pulling the strings."

Shortly afterwards, Meesei finished writing down everything she could remember about the people she had seen in the market. It would be useful information to give to their agents. "Fendros is right; it would be safest not to sleep anywhere near here. But, if we do wish to attempt to make any of them doubt their cause, I feel we will need to do more than simply speak to them. It is possible that we could have given them some doubts today, but ultimately, anything we simply say may be written off as lies or manipulation. And Arinette shall certainly be doing everything she can to calm their worries. To have any chance of converting any of them, we would need a way to prove our words."

Sabine turned her head up to look at Meesei with a small measure of surprise. It wasn't often that she heard Meesei declare Sabine's superiority in an area of magic, however esoteric it might be.

Janius huffed a laugh. "It's a clever trick, Sabine. And just what we needed. Good thinking."

Sabine nodded in thanks. "It was Ahnasha's idea."

"Getting back to our plans, how would we prove anything?" Fendros lifted his palms in a shrug. "I doubt they would stop to study how the towers work. And anything about the spread of lycans from our end could be dismissed as lies as well." He crossed his arms. "If they think we're out to spread lycanthropy across Tamriel, simply not doing that wouldn't say much."

"We do not have to prove that," Sabine said between breaths. She put her hands on her knees and sat up straight. "We have to prove what Vile wants. Attacks on Talos or..." She swallowed. "...proof that they are infecting people."

Meesei nodded in agreement. "Indeed, it may be easier to discredit Vile's intentions than to prove ours. But, it still shall not be easy. The possibilities which I see are that either Do'rhajul knows of Vile's plans and is simply intending to keep his men loyal through his lies, or Do'rhajul himself has been tricked. It is impossible to say which is true at this point, though for Do'rhajul to be unaware would require that Vile's scholars in his Elsweyr fortress were hiding the fact that they were spreading lycanthropy, in addition to researching their poison. It would be difficult, but not impossible."

"If he is being tricked, then how could we prove that if he doesn't believe anything we say?" Kaleeth commented. "We learned all of this through our own experience and our spies, and I guess some help from that Thalmor. But, we can't just show them those documents he stole, even if we did still have them, and they'd have no way of knowing they were real anyway."

Meesei hummed a moment, leaning back in her chair. "That is true. I am not sure how we could prove that Vile's zealots have been hunting Talos worshipers. We have seen it firsthand, but it is not as if we can convince Do'rhajul to go searching for them to prove it to himself. If we knew enough about his experiences to point out some kind of inconsistency between what he has witnessed, and what he has been told, then we might possibly be able to convince him with words alone. But, we do not have that much detail about his life. We will need actual, physical evidence. We first learned of the gas by experiencing it firsthand, and while any who are magically inclined in Do'rhajul's could observe the gas taking a soul, that would require demonstrating it on a live lycan. We learned of their plan to spread lycanthropy through our attack on their fortress, and the notes we stole from their scholars' laboratory. If Do'rhajul is truly unaware, then that laboratory was likely being operated by one of Vile's loyal zealots."

"That would be just it, wouldn't it?" Janius said, lighting up. "We have already learned all we can from those documents, made copies of them, all that. We could show him the original copies. Surely he would recognise them."

Fendros cast his eyes down. "We can't guarantee that. Even so, we could use the documents to find out if he does know while shaking up any in his group that have doubts." He looked up, taking a deep breath. "We attach a note declaring that he's either ignorant or complicit and ask that if he was ignorant, he meets us in the city again to explain things better. If he doesn't show, he would have known after all. We could also deliver it via someone else, such as Gerig, or anyone other than Arinette, to add dissent. There is little to lose in trying and certainly much to gain."

"Lorag," Sabine asked cautiously. "You said that Do'Rhajul was acting like a puppet. Do you think he would normally be acting this way if he knew about the lycanthropy spreading?"

Everyone knew that Do'Rhajul was a sore topic for Lorag. Sabine only asked what everyone was thinking to ask anyway.

Lorag was skulking in the corner, arms crossed in silence. He had a blank, emotionless stare, but it did not take much to guess what he was thinking. "Not the man I knew. He was a committed soldier; a true legionnaire if I ever saw one. Protectin' the innocent, serving the people, he lived all of that. 'Course, this might not be the man I knew. If he is the same, the he don't know; if he does know, then I don't know him anymore. Either way, we can always just kill 'em all."

"That is an option, and not one we should discount." Meesei remarked. "We should not stake too much on the idea of changing their minds. I am not opposed to trying, but we should not take too much of a risk in doing so. I can get those notes, the originals. They have been filed away, though I imagine it might take some time for the scholars to dig them out of storage. We made copies to send to our own scholars, so the originals have little actual use to us anymore. If we are lucky, he might recognize the handwriting, or even just the cover. But, that would require some luck that we should not rely upon."

"We will need to find out where they are in the city." Kaleeth pointed out. "And...well, we still need to go check to see if that Orc has come back, don't we? It's getting very close to time for her to return. I wouldn't be surprised if she's already back right now."

Fendros sighed. "I wish there was more we could do if and when we come to blows. Without knowing their individual capabilities, the best I can think for us to do is stick together and be on alert. You're right, Kaleeth. We should find this carriage driver, in any case."

"I can follow them if I have to be a raven again," Sabine added, with only a portion of enthusiasm.

"Now that they know that you can do that, Sabine, I would still stick with the rest of us," Fendros said, pushing off the wall he leant against. "The first thought that I had to catch Arinette was to use a net or an arrow."

Sabine nodded. The pieces put themselves together in Fendros' statement.

Fendros glanced around, settling on Meesei. "So, it's still morning. What are we going to do first?"

"At the very least, you should probably only try that in places where ravens actually live." Ahnasha pointed out to Sabine. "Honestly, that Nord was right to be angry at her; it was stupid to think that we wouldn't catch on. She might underestimate us, or just be that overconfident."

"Possibly." Meesei commented, though there was little else for her to say on the matter. At this point, they had mostly just speculation about their foe, and would not likely be able to figure out much else from their inn room. It was probably best for them to just resume their search as soon as they were ready. "I believe we should go to the stables and see if the Orc has returned. Though first, I will return to the clan and ask the scholars to search for those notes. It should not take me too long to do so, and I would like to have them get to work sooner rather than later. Pack up our belongings in the meantime. We shall not be staying in this inn again."

---

It took only about half an hour for the pack to depart their inn. They were traveling fairly light, so they did not have too much to pack, and Meesei needed only to instruct the scholars in Blackreach to find the original notes, so she created a portal back to her room in the inn as soon as she could. Out of caution, she did take a magicka potion from Sabine to quickly restore her reserves, since at this point, they did not truly know when they could be attacked.

As at least one stroke of luck for the day, the estimate they had for when the Orc would return seemed to be accurate. Asking around the stables as they had been for the last week, someone finally mentioned that an Orc carriage driver had stabled her horses. Although, it was somewhat harder to actually find the Orc herself. There were several who worked in the stables that knew her, and confirmed that the Orc was, in fact, Daraza, but it took about half an hour and a bribe of ten gold coins to get someone willing to go to Daraza's home in the city and bring her out to them.

The pack was waiting out in the stables, taking the chance to visit Leaps while they could. Most stable hands were wary around the giant reptile, so they did need to come out occasionally to interact with him. It took roughly another fifteen minutes of waiting before an Orc woman came walking into the stable. She did not seem like she was dressed as a traveler, as she was not wearing the usual desert robes and instead wore a simple pair of light brown breeches and a matching cloth shirt. However, it was possible that she did not intend to leave the city so soon after returning. "So, I hear you've been askin' around for me. That true?" She asked.

Contacting Daraza after the while of waiting would have felt like a more fortunate turn in the heads of the pack if Do'Rhajul's group had not been preoccupying them. There was not a sense of safety in obscurity any more. As such, they were anxious. Even being in a closed area like the stable had them on-edge.

Nevertheless, when Daraza the driver entered the stable, Fendros took the lead as he had been with their other interviews. "If your name is Daraza gra-Nargal, that is most certainly true," he said directly, placing a hand on his chest. "My name is Fendros. We need to ask you a few questions about your latest fare, Cyrus Derrunding. It is a matter of the utmost importance."

Daraza gave a long sigh before mumbling to herself. "Knew all this would come back to bite him..." Running her hand down her worried face, she eventually focused back on the pack. "Alright, who'd he end up crossing? One of the bandit gangs? Red Masks? Desert Marauders? Or did he actually end up attacking the Thalmor like he was saying? Not that...most of you look much like Thalmor."

Meesei shook her head. "Cyrus has not upset anyone. At least, no one we know. We represent the Synod, and our interest lies in the weapon he has come to wield. We believe that he may not be aware of the fact that it is a cursed relic, and one that could be quite dangerous to him. We seek to find him so that we can purchase it from him, and bring the relic into safe-keeping."

As was common for the friends of Cyrus that they had spoken to, the Orc seemed to be suspicious, but unlike the others, she did not look to be surprised. She also did not look like she was going to demand for them to leave at any moment. “Not going to lie, that’s not easy to believe. The Synod, if you are Synod, has always just wanted power. The curse thing just sounds like an excuse, but…we can still talk. And only because, the way I see it, Cyrus is going to be dead no matter what, especially since he accepted that bounty to kill that dragon.”

Ahnasha raised her brow at Daraza. “Wait, so Cyrus actually accepted a bounty to go try and kill an actual living, breathing dragon?” She said both with near disbelief and dread. Collectively, Ahnasha, Meesei, and Lorag gave a mix of sighs and groans. It seemed that this Cyrus had started to buy into his own legend.

Fendros, Sabine, and Janius each gave their own expressions of disappointment upon hearing of Cyrus' activity. Fendros was surprised that Daraza had an informed opinion of the Synod, but with the lycans he had met before, he could be more surprised at seeing someone from such a walk of life. More importantly, they could use the goodwill if they helped Cyrus.

"Look, last we heard, you took him to a village with an East Empire Trading company outpost to pick up the bounty," Fendros said, turning a hand up. "We need you to let us know where to find him to find that weapon. And..." He glanced to the pack. "We did not follow him this far only for him or his axe to be lost to a dragon. We promise to talk him out of it or, failing that, keep him from getting himself killed. Can you help us?"

Daraza let out a long breath, uncertainty growing in her expression. "I...I don't want to just send a group of strangers after my friend. I mean, it's not like we're the closest of friends or anything, but I still don't want him to get hurt. But, I know he's probably not going to come back if he goes after that Dragon. It's been messing with the East Empire Company's trade, sinking ships, burning travelers along the coast. The Legion itself hasn't been able to deal with it, and they put a ten thousand gold bounty on its head for someone else to put it down. Cyrus isn't ready for that; I know he isn't. He was at least not stupid enough to try to kill it alone, but that team he joined still isn't equipped to deal with something like that. And even if they could, who knows what kind of people they are? I half expect one of them to put a knife in his back so they don't have to split the reward. I spent half the trip trying to talk him out of it."

There was a pause as Daraza thought, but with some reluctance, she finally continued. "If there's a chance you can get him to stop...I know where he went. The Dragon lives on an island off the coast of High Rock, near Daggerfall. He got on a ship and set sail not long after I left him in that village. It's not far at all to sail there from Sentinel, so you could be there in a day or two. I don't know exactly where he's staying, but it won't be hard to find where he's going. All the locals know which island to stay away from."

Fendros pursed and relaxed his lips. He had his own doubts in his expression as he glanced to the pack yet again. Thinking for a moment, he could not reason that Daraza would be lying without stretching possibilities. He instead followed up directly.

"If we can help him, we will," Fendros said. "But we need specific place names, if you have them. The name of the island, or any settlements close to the island we can reference. Sailing blind onto the south of Daggerfall may end up quite a distance away, and we cannot delay any longer."

The Orc gave a light shrug. "I suppose I can tell you what I know." She answered.

Daraza did not have too much more information to give, so they did not speak for too much longer. She told them that the closest settlement to the island which was still inhabited was Daggerfall itself, which was where Cyrus and the other bounty hunters had gone to plan their hunt. From what Daraza knew, they were at least intending to scout out their target and learn more about the dragon before sailing for the island. She seemed to think that, if they were quick, they could reach Cyrus and speak to him before he committed to the hunt. Otherwise, the island on which the dragon was residing was not settled, so the Orc did not have its name.

Daraza did not stay around long after sharing her information, insisting that she needed to rest. But, the pack had what they needed, so they now only had to decide how to act upon it. "So, I guess we're going to Daggerfall." Ahnasha commented. "Are you going to teleport us there, Meesei?"

Meesei hummed in thought for a moment. "Honestly, it may be faster simply to sail there from here. I do not have a safe place to teleport to in the city, and the nearest clan would still be something of a walk."

Fendros itched at the back of his ear. "With Do'Rhajul on us, I would normally think that teleporting would be the better move. However, we need to get there as fast as we can." He shrugged. "Besides. It's not as if Do'Rhajul will be riding on the same ship as us."

"Sailing will not take long," Sabine added. She otherwise appeared ambivalent.

Janius looked around. He had nothing to add but lips curled in between his teeth.

"I do wish to avoid any potential confrontation with Do'rhajul, which teleporting would limit...but I certainly want to avoid the possibility of having to fight a dragon. I will not lie, that would be the ultimate test of a hunter, but now is not the time for such things. It would be far easier to obtain the axe before Cyrus sets sail for the dragon's island." Meesei reasoned. They seemed to be in a fairly private spot at the moment in the stables, though that privacy also came with some worry for Meesei. It was not inconceivable that Do'rhajul or his followers could carry out some form of sneak attack where they were.

"Taking a ship to Daggerfall would improve our chances of finding Cyrus alive. If he and the other bounty hunters actually begin their hunt of the dragon, we will have to approach the situation assuming that we will have to kill the dragon ourselves. From the Orc's description, I doubt we would be able to sneak onto the island and steal from it unnoticed, and it is attacking everyone it sees."

Kaleeth looked worriedly towards the entrance of the stables. "If only it would attack the General."

Janius breathed out from his nose. "If only," he agreed, before lifting his head to everyone. "So, does anyone know how to slay a dragon?"

The first answer was a mostly-stifled laugh from Fendros.

"What is it?" Janius asked.

"Oh, nothing, I just had something of an absurd thought." Fendros raised his brow. "I thought we might lure Do'Rhajul to the dragon, but..." He grinned and shook his head.

Janius angled his head. "Why is that so absurd an idea?"

Fendros looked surprised. "Well...luring his team without the dragon attacking us is a wishful thought, as is presuming he would not find out about the nature of our destination if tried to follow us."

Ahnasha gave a light shrug. "I have a feeling the General and his team would follow us, even if they knew, but a dragon could work against us just as easily as it could work for us. Dragons are smart, and we don't really have a way of making it focus on them. It might end up accidentally helping us, but that would really just be a gamble."

Kaleeth tapped a claw against a wooden railing as she thought. "Are you sure? There might be something we can do if we think hard enough. Maybe...lure the General to the dragon and then make ourselves invisible with potions?"

Though she considered the suggestion for a moment, Meesei shook her head. "No, Ahnasha is right; dragons are intelligent. They, in fact, have access to ancient and powerful magic in the form of their shouts. I have only...academic knowledge of that form of magic, but I do not doubt that it would be able to reveal us."

"Yeah, I'll fight a dragon, and I'll fight Do'rhajul, but even I'm not stupid enough to try to fight both at once." Lorag commented before standing up to his feet. "Look, we can debate this all day, but if we really want to try to find that moron Cyrus and talk him out of gettin' himself killed, then lets just go to the docks and take the first ship to Daggerfall. Just get out of here before the General has time to figure out what we're doing."

Fendros nodded firmly. "Good point. We need to use all the head start we can get. Meesei?" He looked to her. "If we're heading to Daggerfall at any rate, we can continue talking on the ship."

"I wonder if we could reason with the dragon?" Janius said jokingly. He unfolded his arms in preparation to move.

"I do not feel like more talking with strangers," Sabine responded.

Regardless of how serious Janius was, Meesei did still answer him. "It would not be impossible to speak with a dragon, but unfortunately, based on the bounty on its head, it is attacking people indiscriminately on-sight. And without knowing its motivations, there is no way of knowing how...optimistic the idea of talking with it would be."

"Still can't help but to wonder what it would take to bribe a dragon." Ahnasha said, chuckling lightly.

---

Following Lorag's suggestion, the pack set to work quickly on moving themselves out of the city. As much as Meesei was hesitant to split up, they did not have time to be too cautious. Ahnasha went to the docks to find and negotiate the price of hiring a ship to take them to Daggerfall, while Meesei found a place to open a portal in order to bring Leaps back to Blackreach. It was difficult and expensive to find a ship that would transport him, and they could always bring him back just as quickly should they need him later.

With enough coin, Ahnasha was able to convince a captain to accelerate his schedule and leave sooner, as opposed to the next day, but they still had to wait until later that evening. For the rest of the day, the pack did what they could to make themselves scarce in the city. They spent most of their time indoors at a tavern that they picked in as random of a fashion as possible, then when it was finally time to leave, they made their way to the docks as quickly and inconspicuously as they could. Unfortunately, they had no way to know if they had done so unnoticed. It would be foolish for them to think that Do'rhajul or his team would willingly let the pack out of their sight, so they just had to hope that they had been successful in evading them.

The rush that the pack had been in to secure transportation made itself evident when it came time for the pack to settle in for the night. Ahnasha had been told that they would actually be given three separate rooms to themselves for the journey, which was not untrue, but what the captain had failed to mention was the fact that each of the three rooms was meant for only one person, and that individual would still be cramped in the small space. Since they were on a moving vessel, a return portal would be impossible if Meesei tried to teleport any of them away, so they would be stuck on board for the night. For now, it was more comfortable for them all to stand out in the narrow hallway outside their rooms with the half of their belongings that would not fit inside.