"So what if I am?" I stepped away from Vilkas, hands on my hips as I addressed these two. How did they even manage to get back here? The Companions training yard was one of the only private places we had.

"I won't ask you again! Are you the one they call Dragonborn?!"

"Have care how you speak," Vilkas growled behind me. "This is the Harbinger of the Companions you're addressing, and you—"

The next thing I knew, Vilkas was sent flying backwards as the first stranger summoned a firebolt spell.

"Vilkas!" I screamed, fear gripping my heart. But it didn't take long before my fear turned to rage. My blood boiled, my Thu'um begged to be released, and I happily obliged.

"Fus, ro DAH!" I Shouted harder than necessary. The strangers were sent sailing into the training yard's wall. I didn't wait for them to recover, and neither did any of the Companions who had seen what happened. Ria ran to my aid as I tackled one of the assailants. We grappled hand-to-hand for a while, until I managed to rip her—yes, it was a woman whom I had tackled—mask off. She was a Dunmer with black eyes and white hair.

"Your lies fall on deaf ears, deceiver!" she spat as I slammed her head into the cobblestone. "The real Dragonborn shall rise, and all shall see the truth! None shall resist his—"

Ria ended her before I could get anymore information from her.

"Death to the false Dragonborn!" the woman's ally screamed, apparently recovered from his collision with the wall. He came at me with a steel dagger, but he didn't get very far before the point of a sword pierced his belly. He gurgled, then fell to his knees. What surprised me was that no one stood behind him. And as he fell, I saw that only half of a blade had pierced his back.

"Tyra?" I asked, standing up. She was standing twenty yards back, her palm bloodied. She gave me an awed look, then she started running to me.

"Are you all right, Harbinger?" she asked.

I started to nod, but then I remembered what had sent me into such a rage in the first place. "My husband!" I yelled, heading full-tilt back to the pavilion. Farkas knelt next to a motionless form, worry etched into his features.

"Vilkas!" I cried, tears falling to my cheeks as I slid to a stop next to his still body. I laid my head to his chest, praying to every Divine I knew that I would hear something.

Please, please, please, please...

The gods were on my side today. Vilkas's heart pumped steadily, and his breathing stayed even.

"Thank the Divines," I whispered as I sat up. Then I stood and surveyed the training yard. "Is everyone else all right?"

The others nodded from their spots around the dead strangers. Aela was kneeling next to the woman, patting her clothing down. I didn't pay attention to her long. I turned to Tyra, who'd stuck to my heels as I ran to Vilkas.

"What did you to to your hand?" I asked, taking her wounded hand in mine.

"I tried something my father taught me: dagger throwing. But I didn't have a dagger, so I improvised."

"And you saved our Harbinger's life," Farkas said as he stood up. He pressed his fist over his chest and dipped his head. "My name is Farkas. Vilkas is my twin brother. We've been with the Companions for as long as we can remember."

Tyra nodded in greeting. "My name is Tyra. My father has told me about the Companions and how he wanted me to join up as soon as I could for as long as I can remember."

"Well, let me be the first to welcome you."

"Thank you." Then she turned to me. "So Vilkas is also your husband?"

I nodded. "Yes. We haven't been married long."

"Strange to see two warriors that are wed to one another."

Before I could make a comeback, Vilkas groaned and sat up. "What did I miss?"

I dropped to my knees next to him and pressed a deep kiss to his lips. "Oh, gods, Vilkas, don't you ever scare me like that again!"

He chuckled and curled his fingers into my hair. "I'll try to hold myself back. What happened? After I got knocked out."

"Ylva nearly Shouted the attackers to pieces," Farkas said. "They went flying back into the wall, then she wrestled with one until Ria killed it. The other... well, that's even more amazing than your wife using the Thu'um."

"What's more impressive than my wife's Thu'um?"

"Our newest whelp throwing her broken blade into the other assailant's back, saving Ylva's life."

Vilkas gaped at Tyra. "But you were just up at the Skyforge."

"I climbed down the rocks below it. I heard fighting, and I knew that I could help. So that's what I did."

Now it was my turn to be amazed. This girl was full of surprises.

"Harbinger, we have something!" Njada said as she ran to us. She held a bloodied piece of paper in her hands. "We can't make sense of it. Can you?"

I took the page from her, reading over it.

"Board the Northern Maiden docked at Raven Rock. Take it to Windhelm, then begin your search. Kill the False Dragonborn known as Ylva before she reaches Solstheim.

"Return with word of your success, and Miraak shall be most pleased."

Miraak... I've heard that name before.

"What is this?" Vilkas asked, taking the piece of paper from me. He read over it, brow furrowing. "Solstheim? But that's near Morrowind. How could news of your being Dragonborn have gotten their so quickly?"

"I don't know. I don't know who Miraak is, but I've heard the name. I don't know why these radicals would want me dead. And I don't know why all of this is coming from Solstheim. But I do know one thing."

"And what's that?" Farkas asked, crouching down across from me.

"It's time for a trip to Solstheim."