The black wolf was resting soundly on the ledge about eight feet above the three companions who were also sleeping peacefully. If anyone happened to peer inside the cave and supposedly saw the wolf on the rocky shelf with the three Companions below it, the passerby could be easily forgiven for thinking that the wolf actually belonged to them or at the least was a member of their party.
All of a sudden the boom of a horrendous thunderclap went off inside the cave causing the very air itself to shake. However it was only the black wolf who could hear it. He jumped up in fright at the rumble, cracking his head against the cavern roof before he saw Sheogorath sitting on a rock watching him.
“What the hell!! Damn you, can’t you wake someone up quietly?”
Sheogorath laughed then leaned over Sotek and whispered in the Black wolf’s ear in his usual ecstatic but heavily sarcastic voice.
“Wake up, they will be up in a minute”.
The wolf groaned at Sheogorath, shook his head side to side then prepared to put his plan into operation. He gazed down at Aela one last time before he made his move.
Sotek sneaked down the ledge as carefully as he could before he headed towards the exit where Aela had chosen to sleep. He guessed she chose that location so she would be the first one to reach him should he have the misfortune to fall in her trap. He pulled the rope trap by his maw, moving it to a new position to just a single step away from the entrance. Once it was reset, he entered the cave again and headed towards Aela’s quiver. He sniffed her hair which caused old memories to come flooding back to him.
He found the impulse to lay next to her in the hope that she would know who he was nearly overwhelming but he knew he couldn’t take that chance. He struggled with the temptation to touch her knowing she will only see a wolf. Slowly and carefully he pulled out from her quiver an arrow then he gripped it tightly in between his fangs. Only then did he slowly work his way around the fire so he faced Vilkas.
At that point Aela murmured in her sleep. She rolled over towards him and slowly opened her eyes to see the wolf staring straight back at her. She closed her eyes once more and rubbed them with the backs of her hands before chancing a second look. For a few seconds they both faced each other, both equally bewildered at seeing the other one gazing back at them.
He suddenly kicked hot ash and cinders towards Vilkas, instantly waking the three Companions up. Vilkas desperately flailed about trying to wipe the burning hot ash from his face.
“Bloody hell... It’s that bastard wolf”. The black wolf threw his head to one side, jabbing Farkas with the arrow which cut into his leg. He then charged at Aela who tried to prevent his escape until he knocked her to the ground before fleeing the cave and running towards the undergrowth. In the cover of the bushes he stopped running and turned back towards the exit. There he stood as still as he could while he watched the cavern in the hope that the companions would remember what happened at Sotek’s trial.
Farkas shouted out as he grabbed his leg. A feint trickle of blood seeped through his fingers adding to the fear and pain which no doubt made him believe the injury was far worse than it actually was. His mind which was still reeling from the sudden shouts came to the one possible conclusion it could think off. He yelled out in anger as he stumbled across the cave floor.
“He bit me! The mangy bastard bit me”.
Aela drew her dagger from her belt as she ran outside as she heard the wolf howl out and growl in agony.
She excitedly yelled at her two ‘brothers’ as she disappeared from view after drawing to the wrong but wholeheartedly predictable conclusion to the wolfs distress.
“Yes! I’ve got him. I’ve caught the bastard”. Aela was ecstatic, blindly she ran straight into her own trap which the Black wolf had moved earlier. With a loud ‘whooosh’, Aela was dragged off her feet and left dangling upside down. The victim of her own making.
Vilkas and Farkas came outside to find the Black wolf sitting thirty yards away staring at Aela as she struggled to get free.
They both slowly turned to her in equal surprise and shock. There she was hanging upside down. Her foot was caught in the trap whilst her dagger lay on the ground three feet beyond her reach. She was slowly swinging sideways, with a slight spin to her momentum. Just enough for her to see the two shield brothers standing there watching her. Farkas started laughing as she helplessly hung there.
“Ermm your armour looks cool, but you are aware that when your upside down we can see your loincloth? You know, I feel we should point that out. Damn it, she’s practically our sister... Wish it was someone else, I would feel far more comfortable with this entire situation then”.
Vilkas chuckled loudly as he pointed to Aela’s backside.
“What? You would be happier if Tilma was hanging there instead?”
Farkas screwed his face up and shook his head at the thought.
“Hell no... Besides, Kodlak would kill us!”
Aela screamed at the top of her lungs whilst she desperately tried to raise her armoured leather dress over her loincloth.
“I’ll bloody kill you if you don’t get me down you pair of bastards!” She screaming did little to improve her situation. She started going red in the cheeks but that was due to the blood rushing to her head rather than any embarrassment she felt.
“Get me down you bloody morons!” She shouted at them both then she saw the wolf watching her. She instantly flailed about trying to get at him, which was impossible. Even if she did manage to grab hold of him, it would have done nothing to help her in the position she found herself in.
Vilkas looked at her and tutted despite her obvious distress. He grabbed her by the hair and lifted her head up playfully before calling out to Farkas.
“Did she say please?”
Farkas looked at him then sat down a few feet away from her on an old log. He shook his head as his eyes bore into Aela’s.
“Now you mention it, she didn’t... And I’m not sure I like being called a moron”.
Vilkas tapped Aela on the cheek softly before walking away from her to join Farkas. He sat down beside him and joined in with the rib pulling.
“You know you’re right... I’m not keen on the name calling either”.
Aela could have killed them both happily at that moment. She huffed initially but she soon started pleading with them as she was unable to do anything else.
“Guys? Let me down please”. She did her best to remain calm but anyone could see she was under duress. Her face kept screwing up whilst her tone rose several pitches higher as she just managed to prevent herself screeching at them.
Farkas laughed at her in the safe knowledge that she couldn’t do anything to prevent them taking the piss out of her.
“Oh please is it? A second ago it was ‘morons’”.
Vilkas was enjoying it just as much as Farkas if not more so. He watched Aela slowly spin around which gave him an idea.
“I wonder what would happen if I span her around really fast. Do you think she would puke?”
She screamed at him despite the fact that he hadn’t moved towards her at all.
“Don’t you bloody dare! Please guys, let me down! I’m sorry, let me down!”
Something in the undergrowth caught Farkas’s eye. He looked across the clearing at the black wolf who slowly stepped out of cover.
“I don’t bloody believe it! The bastards sitting there watching us”.
Vilkas slowly reached into his pack and threw a small piece of meat at the black wolf. All the while Aela was still hanging upside down. She turned her head around so she could see it without causing herself to spin any faster. The wolf just sat there and watched her before it rose to its paws and slowly went to the meat before greedily swallowing it almost whole. Sotek allowed himself a slight smile as he whispered to Sheogorath.
“Now they should start to think about things”.
Sheogorath clapped his hands wildly as his head rolled over his shoulders in time with Aela’s spin.
“Oh master stroke there. However she isn’t going to say ‘I love you’ where she is... And you shouldn’t be watching her backside either! Have some decorum, you dog”
Sotek gleefully sighed as his eyes fixed on Aela’s body one last time.
“Yes, I guess you’re right... It’s so bloody tempting to bite her on the ass though”. The Black wolf slowly crept to the end of the rope and then to everyone’s amazement, savagely attacked the peg. Moments later Aela gave out a scream as she fell to the ground with a loud ‘thud’.
After getting herself up to her feet, she pulled her armor around herself properly then started thumping both Vilkas and Farkas at the same time. All the while the Black wolf sat there and watched them fight.
Once Aela has finished extracting her revenge she composed herself then turned her attention to the Black wolf.
“What the hell is it doing sitting there watching us for?”
Vilkas and Farkas slowly moved alongside her so they wouldn’t spook it. Aela slyly glanced at them both then whispered to them almost as if she knew that the animal could understand her.
“When I say now, we charge forwards and grab the bastard... Now!” Aela shouted out then as one all three dived for the wolf but he was quicker. He turned around and ran off along the mountain side as the three companions fell in a mangled heap upon the ground.
Farkas instantly yelled out as he felt claws dig into his sleeve.
“He’s got me, he’s got my arm”.
Aela relaxed her hand, releasing her fingernails from his limb. She angrily snapped at him purely out of her failure to capture the wolf.
“That’s me, you moron”. The moment she got to her feet, she promptly gave Farkas a light kick in his side. “Get up you oaf”.
“Oi... Do I look like a wolf?” He stated in return. He was just as wound up as Aela was, but his reasons was down to the way she was treating him rather than the wolf who had so far to date evaded them.
Aela laughed as she walked up to him and sniffed at his chest.
“No but you smell like one. Is it me or is something not right with this?” She asked, having never experienced anything remotely like what they were facing.
“Hell nothings right with any of this”. Farkas stated as he grabbed his equipment. They packed up all their gear then once again gave chase.
As Sotek ran along an old trail, Sheogorath quite unexpectedly appeared in front of him. He stuck his head around a tree as if he was hiding himself as he started talking.
“Well so good so far... Their certainly taking notice of you now, shame your plan didn’t work”. Sheogorath didn’t know whether to cheer or to cry so he done both and promptly burst into tears. “I’m so happy... ‘Sniff’ ‘sniff’ ”.
Sotek groaned to himself as he watched the pathetic looking Daedra blow his nose on an enormous handkerchief.
“But it did work. They are starting to take notice of what I do... Now I need to get to the plains”. He felt a quiet confidence which he had been lacking over the last few days. Now he honestly felt like he was getting somewhere. He was gaining control again and he was far happier with the way things were going. Far too happy as it so happened. In direct opposition to Soteks happy state, Vilkas was getting to the point where he had enough. Unfortunately for Sotek, Vilkas also had a plan of his own and it was high time he implemented it. High time indeed.
“Aela, hold up” Vilkas shouted as he drew to a stop.
Aela cursed as she saw the wolf disappear through the trees ahead of her.
“He’s getting away”. She helplessly watched on while in the distance Sotek worked his way through the undergrowth as he headed off on the next part of his journey.
“There’s a short cut, up here”. Vilkas pointed out a mountain track which he headed towards despite the fact that it was going in a different direction compared to the wolf.
Aela huffed then shoulder barged Farkas out of the way, or rather she tried to. The result was such that she bounced off him and lightly hurt her shoulder for all her troubles. She drew her bow and decided upon scorning him instead.
“Farkas, you’re in my way damn it. Shift yourself”.
Farkas just smirked at her then stepped to the side so she could pass him. She shot him a glare as she took the lead. The three of them went above the path the Black wolf was following. They made their way along an old dirt pathway which led partially up the side of the mountain. Aela looked down below to the forest pathway which the wolf was travelling on. It was a good hundred feet below them now so Aela notched an arrow but she held the bow loosely in her hand.
A few minutes later Aela’s eyes fixed on movement below them. Her hands automatically pulled her bow taught as she prepared to aim at the wolf who had only just come into sight. Patiently she counted down the seconds before firing off the projectile which would hurtle down the mountain towards her target
Vilkas shook his head at her as he rested his hand on the tip of her arrow.
“Don’t! We’ll surprise the cunning bastard. You’ll get your chance”.
“Where the hell are they?” The black wolf looked around but he couldn’t hear or smell them at all.
“You lost them? Oh well done you great twit... How is she going to say I love you if she’s lost?” Sheogorath stated as he looked up in the sky as if he expected to see Aela fly overhead.
“She isn’t lost, she just isn’t here!” Sotek started to look around then continued slowly around the mountain.
Over the next few minutes Sotek’s mood turned from being happy and in control to one of concern and worry. He had lost the Companions scent in the wind and more importantly Aela’s. He was now convinced that she was somewhere else. This in itself was a mixed blessing for he knew he was then safe from her bow but at the same time it would be impossible for him to coax her into admitting that she loved him if she wasn’t there. She needed to be following else he couldn’t lead her to the one spot he needed to reach. It was crucial that she arrived there as well.
His whole predicament was the pinnacle of the saying, ‘a double edged sword’.
The Black wolf suddenly smelt something in the air. He paused for the tiniest fraction of a second.
“Aela? She’s here? Damn it!” He started to run towards the plains but was too late. An arrow shot out from nowhere and slammed into his hind leg. Instantly he burst into flames while at the same time a massive burst of ice damage struck his body from Aela’s bow enchants Sotek had placed upon her Dragonbone bow when he made it for her. The force of the impact alone sent him sprawling across the ground.
He uncontrollably tumbled down a bank and with a big splash, hit the river which ran from Riverwood, past Whiterun and coursed its way through the landscape to run under Valtheim towers. He tried desperately to reach the bank but with the damage he sustained and the arrow in his hind leg, he could do nothing to prevent himself from being washed downstream by the current. He whined in agony as he was dragged over the waterfall into the raging waters fifty feet below.
His hind leg bashed against a rock which heavily bruised it but thankfully it didn’t complicate his injury. It did however snap off the arrow causing a searing pain to shoot through his body. By the time the current washed him into the bank he was half drowned and bleeding badly from several cuts from ragged rocks and branches which were also swept downstream.
Barely conscious he lifted his head up as he heard footsteps approach him. Half expecting an arrow to finish him off or the quick slicing of a dagger against his throat, he looked pitifully up at a large brutish figure clad in pure silver armour. A silver sword rested in the man’s hand which bought Sotek to one horrifying conclusion.
He half choked on water as he struggled to mutter a single word which bought a new terror to his assaulted senses.
“Sil... Silverhand”.
Comments
It made me laugh when Aela and Sotek are staring at one another. As for the moment Aela dug her nails into Farkas's arm.
"He's got me, he's got my arm". Hilarious. .
You'... more
Ok, ok, I put Winterhold. I was Tirreeddd... *Whines....
Fixed
A lot does go on within these chapters. At the end of it all he still has to find out the Under Croft ... more
Car... more