U.O.T.W. Chapter 81 Cries And Lies

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    Knowing the three Companions were mere moments behind him, the black wolf tore open Aela’s pack in a frenzy of wanton destruction. The contents scattered around and fell upon the ground while the vials of healing potions smashed upon impact with the stony pathway. Having satisfied himself with the damage he had wrought, the black wolf added one final touch of insult to injury. He cocked up the hind leg which Aela had shot the day before and relieved himself over the contents of the backpack. The puddle of urine spread out and slowly engulfed the various items which Aela had previously kept in her pack.

     

    The sounds of heavy plate boots running along the pathway drew Soteks interest away from his handiwork. He lifted his head up as his ears homed in on the Companions. The faster paced sound of a pair of heavy Nordic boots caused the wolfs fur to stand up along the nap of his neck. He whipped into action and ran along the pathway towards the river.

     

    Sotek flung himself down the bank as he sprinted towards a massive widening bend in the river where the current was at its weakest and the water itself ran shallow. His paws thudded into the ground as they struggled to keep up with his momentum then with a series of splashes he ran through the water kicking a spray of white foam as water splashed out with every brisk tread of his paws. Within a few moments the wolfs claws tore into the far bank as he began his climb.

     

    Aela had tracked the wolfs movements with an arrow held taught in the drawstring of her bow. She had seen him cross the river but she held the bow tightly as she waited with the patience of a true huntress. Just as the wolf began its climb, Aela released the arrow despite the simple fact that the range was well out of her kill zone. The wolf barely made it to the top of the bank when the arrow thudded into the ground just a mere few inches from the wolfs hind leg. It turned towards her for a fraction of a second before it ran full bore once more away from the Companions and disappeared across the hills and grassy tundra which seemed to open up before the wolf’s very eyes.

     

    While all this was going on all Farkas and Vilkas could do was watch on helplessly. That was the moment when Vilkas noticed the remnants of Aela’s pack which was discarded on the edge of the pathway. The broken vials still rested amongst the stones and rocks in various pieces from when they first broke. Upon an immediate inspection, a strong pungent smell originated from the yellow puddle. Farkas held his nose to prevent himself choking on the strong odour and backed away from the shredded bag. He screwed his nose up and pointed to the littered puddle.

    “I found your pack…”

     

    Aela huffed as her bow lowered in her hand. Her eyes scoured the far bank but she knew the wolf wouldn’t reappear to give her a second chance. Her next attempt at shooting it wouldn’t be so easy. She would have to work for it. She could easily picture the predator running across the expanse of land which stretched for miles. Without even looking back in Farkas’s direction, Aela’s voice snapped out her orders blatantly demanding the return of her pack.

    “Well pass me the bloody thing then!”

     

    Farkas never gave her the satisfaction of even looking at her. Instead he had a big grin on his face as he watched Vilkas instead. Vilkas was in the process of prodding the bag with a stick and poked at the contents before throwing the stick in the undergrowth. He started laughing as he walked past the various items without giving them the courtesy of a second glance.

    “You don’t want it. Trust me”.

     

    Aela fell quiet and turned around to face them both directly. Her face scrunched up as she followed Farkas’s finger which pointed to the mess strewn along the path. Her mouth fell open and for a few seconds she was stunned at the state of her pack.

     

    She shrieked out angrily as her fingers clenched around her bow.

    “My bag! look what the bastard done to it! I’ll bloody kill him”. She turned to the direction he ran and leaned forwards as if it would improve the volume of her hollering shout. “You bastard! I’ll bloody kill you!”

     

    Over the brow of a small hill, not too far from the riverbank, the black wolf came to a rapid stop and looked over its back towards the three Companions. He couldn’t see them but that never stopped a large wolfish smirk cover his face as he listened to Aela’s voice which was still yelling out with the equal ferocity of a dragons roar. Sheogorath appeared once again in front of Sotek and grinned madly as he held a hand to his ear.

    She has a pair of lungs that one don’t she. I have to wonder how loud she can howl”.

     

    “Depends... If we’re hunting she’s loud... During sex though, she’s very loud...” The inapt comment proved to be amusing to them both and they started laughing together as Sheogorath joined in with a short yowl along with Sotek who imitated Aela’s howl. The whole episode came to a sudden stop as an arrow flew just over the wolfs head causing him scramble backwards and fall to the ground in shock. “Whoaa!”

     

    Sheogorath laughed even louder as the wolf’s claws tore into the earth as he ran off away from his pursuers.

    “Touchy isn’t she. She’ll never find a husband with that attitude”.

     

    Sotek’s head turned sharply to the side as he shot a look towards Sheogorath but in his haste he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. At that moment he realised Sheogorath was just trying to distract him, and he was falling for every trick the Daedra Lord could muster, as well as distracting himself. The wolf pulled himself up and set his mind to the job at hand, traversing the plains.

     

    The plains was a rolling tundra of low crested hills and shrubs with little in the way of cover unless you kept to the edges where various ruins dominated the landscape. A central mountainous hill sat right in the middle of the land splitting it in two halves. Although the peak itself was far smaller than any mountain, its size made it stand out for miles around. The other main feature was a river which passed under a large stone bridge in the process of running the length of the plains.

     

    The Black wolf slowed down slightly as he listened to Aela’s yelling which was little more than her screaming at Farkas and Vilkas just as much as she was at him. He shook his head at her temper as he whispered to Sheogorath who had remained constant by his side.

    “I don’t suppose her threatening to kill me will count?”

     

    Sheogorath shoved him playfully in the side which almost sent him hurtling down the river bank.

    I’m afraid not, but it’s tempting to count it”.

     

    Before he could steady himself, Sotek heard the thunderous rampage of Red as she charged towards him. He rolled his eyes as his paws picked up the pace.

    “Oh hell! Here we go”. He burst into full speed and headed into a copse of trees then suddenly stopped alongside one while Red rapidly closed in upon his position.    

     

    Sheogorath however for some strange reason known only to himself kept on running while he waved his hands in the air frantically as he wailed loudly.

    “Run for your lives! Hircine’s hound is coming... The bitch of the Hunting grounds. Flee you fools, abandon the plains!” He then stopped alongside a deer and practically screamed at it causing it to flee in severe distress. “Run little deer... Run you fool, do you want to be a pair of boots? Or eaten? Or a pair of eaten boots? No? Then run!”

     

    It was only when the deer headed off that Sheogorath seemed to notice that he was by himself. He hastily strode back over to Sotek as his eyes fixed on Red who was determined on tracking the wolf down.

    “Ok you’re a big black wolf, but she’s a mentally unstable werewolf. She’s desperately trying to kill you. You know that don’t you? You do? Well yes of course you do... I have to ask... Haskill will want to know and he gets all moody if I can’t fill in the details. I have to make them up... Such a terrible chore. Why are you stopping?”

     

    Sotek gave a wary glance at the Daedra Lord before answering his question dryly.

    “She isn’t angry enough yet”.

     

    “What? Hello? And they call me mad, well you’re a complete mental case... When you die you want to team up? You're way more fun than Mr moody breaches ‘I am the lore’ Haskill”.

     

    Sotek laughed to himself as he saw Red turn towards him. The very ground started to shake as her large paws drew the three hundred pound behemoth towards him. His eyes narrowed as she accelerated faster with every second to speeds which belied her bulk.

     

    He quickly turned towards Sheogorath and shook his head slightly in refusal to the Daedra’s suggestion.

    “No thanks. You’re not crazy enough for me, I’m after her”. He then bit into a thick flexible branch and pulled it back to near breaking point whist he tried to move out of Red’s line of sight.

     

    Red came charging in through the trees, oblivious to any danger. For her it was the matter of a  single truth. What danger could there be? She hunted these plains for years by herself. She was the one which caused predators to be afraid. Even the mammoths had a healthy dose of apprehension when she drew near them. She ran headfirst into the area where the black wolf was hiding in then she stopped as her senses fed her mind with the precise location in which her prey was hiding.

     

    Her eyes fixed on the side of his head as he peeked out from around the tree. She snarled loudly then approached him fully intent on her kill. Sotek counted down slowly while he kept his eye on Red’s approach. Each second drew her closer towards him and his inevitable demise. Suddenly he let go of the branch causing it to fling outwards at speed to smack Red full in the face. Having been caught in complete surprise she fell to the wayside as she howled out in pain and anger. Now fully intent on the kill, she gave chase as the black wolf broke cover. Red ran as fast as she could despite being temporarily half blinded as she pursued the wolf who she had now upgraded from prey to foe.

     

    Sotek ran as fast as he could in a overly large but quite deliberate circle. A few times he felt his paws start to slip which caused him to straighten out in an attempt to stop himself from falling. Red was trailing him relentlessly, to fall now would be to fail. If his paws lost their grip and he fell, he knew he would die.

     

    He kept to the large circle which Red was obliged to follow. As he passed a small brow of a hill he momentarily disappeared from Farkas and Vilkas’s sight. The pair of them were scouting along the top of the river bank in case the wolf tried to use the feature for cover like he did earlier near Valthiem’s twin towers. He appeared in their view from the other side of the small hillside.

     

    While desperately keeping up to his full speed as he was fully aware that Red was rapidly gaining on him, he seized his chance. Sotek turned sharply and held his breath as his paws slipped slightly on the grass. Luckily for him, his claws dug in the ground giving him the vital grip he needed to maintain his heading, head on towards both Vilkas and Farkas who were watching him come hasty towards them.

     

    They easily saw him approach them as he tore through the small bushes and shrubs while he homed in on their position. He showed no signs of veering off what so ever. Instead he growled out as he bolted ever nearer to them. Both Companions drew their weapons as they started to charge towards the wolf to meet him head on. They cried out as their swords were raised in the air whilst their boots pounded along the edge of the river. As one they charged at him, neither of them backing down.

     

    He ran at them as fast as he could despite the fact that they were prepared for his assault. What they weren’t ready for though, was his next move. As he neared them, Sotek suddenly threw himself on his side. He landed on the ground heavily and skidded past the two brothers. In complete astonishment they watched him slide between them both despite their close proximity to one another. At the same time, Red looked up in shock as she ploughed straight into both Companions who themselves were too intent on watching the black wolf get to his paws and run away. The three companions were sent sprawling in a mangled pile of limbs fur and armour as the force of the impact took them over the edge of the bank to land in the shallow river below.

     

    Sheogorath suddenly appeared alongside Sotek. He himself ran on all fours keeping up easily with the black wolfs speed. Sotek made good use of the confusion and managed to gain a considerable lead on his pursuers.

     “Oh that’s as good as the mud pit! The look on her face! I’ve seen people with some faces on before like the time I gave a farmer a talking turnip but a werewolf look like that? Nope, never before. Haskill will never believe me. Such a shame. He’ll have to fetch the cheese if he doesn’t”.

     

    Sotek pondered quietly to himself as he tried to work out where cheese came into the whole scenario. He finally grumbled at Sheogorath’s remark as he guessed it meant very little if anything at all. but at least with the open plains in front of him, he could make his way towards his destination. All the while he listened to Aela screaming once again to the others, while they were shouting back at her just as angrily.

     

    After a mad ten minute dash across the plains, Sotek started slowing down due to exhaustion. The last night he had any meaningful sleep was when he was overlooking the Companions in the cave. The night when he was found by Florentius, he felt too uneasy due to the merc. His constant vigil had a price and he was starting to feel the cost. With still a good half a day’s chase to look forwards to, he gave in to his body’s needs and looked around for somewhere to rest.

     

    The black wolf searched amongst various large boulders which formed part of a large rocky outcrop. Fortune favoured him for he managed to find a small overhang which was practically concealed by various shrubs providing excellent cover for him to gather some much needed rest. The ‘roof was just high enough for him to creep under and mercifully deep enough to hide him. There he rested up as he lazily looked out across the plains, preparing himself for the last part of his journey.

     

    Sheogorath appeared once again and sat on one such boulder, slowly tapping the heels of his velvet red shoes against the rock. He gave the companions who were by now in the distance a curious glance as he quietly talked to Sotek.

    “So your great plan is to make her mentally unstable... Then hide?”

     

    Sotek sniggered slightly as he rested his head between his front paws. His ears pricked up at the slightest sounds just in case the Companions should happen to pass nearby. Inside he was confident that Aela couldn’t track his paw prints across the rocks. She was a good tracker, but not that good. He allowed himself a faint smile as he replied to the Daedra Lord.

    “She was always mentally unstable, but at least I can rest for a while".

     

    As he followed Sheogorath’s gaze he saw Aela fade from view due to the simple fact that she had started to climb a gentle slope up the side of the mountain range which formed the north boundary of the plains. The wolf sighed softly as Aela’s boot left his field of view leaving him clueless as to her actual destination. All was not lost though because although he didn’t exactly know where she was, he knew precisely what she was doing there.

     

    Sheogorath on the other hand pleaded ignorance. Despite what he said though, Sotek didn’t believe for one second that the Daedra Lord didn’t know what was going on.

    “What’s she doing up there? Why isn’t she down here?”

     

    “They can’t find me so she is trying to get some height to see me when I break cover” The Black wolf watched the two brothers in the distance as they slowly made their way towards his rough location. In his mind he couldn’t help but wonder just how close above him Aela actually was.

     

    “Ohh, so she has a plan. Well, will her plan work?”

     

    The black wolf laughed to himself as he watched the sun start to set behind the mountains. He knew it would be dark in a couple of hours. That was when he would seize his chance with both paws.

    “Not if I break cover once dusk sets in. That’s only a few hours away”.

     

    Sheogorath clapped his hands excitedly as his eyes gleamed with an insane disobedient playfulness you would expect from a child who was up to mischief.

    “Oh wow, you figured out all the angles well done... Oopps!”

     

    “Oops? What oops? What the hell have you done?” Fortune may have favoured him, but one thing was sure... Sheogorath didn’t. The overhang started to fill with a dense black smoke causing Sotek’s eyes to water. Then he could smell it, the ‘oops’ Sheogorath was referring to. “Hircine damn you Sheogorath”.

     

    “Sorry it was an accident, at least I think it was, hang on I’ll check”. Sheogorath chuckled profusely as he prepared once more to disappear so he could check if his act of setting on fire the shrubs the wolf had used for cover was an accident or deliberate.

     

    Sotek didn’t care one way or another. He cursed at the Daedra Lord as he once again prepared to run for his life.

    “Don’t bloody bother!” The black wolf broke cover from the overhang leaving the burning bushes behind him as he ran.

     

     

Comments

9 Comments
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  September 28, 2015
    Hi Exuro
    Sheo, he is one of the more interesting Daedra out there. So much writers can do with him. At least despite all the problems he's causing, Soteks finally managed to reach the plains.
    I wanted to sort out something with the prev/next b...  more
  • Exuro
    Exuro   ·  September 28, 2015
    Great chase I like how Sheo was like, “So your great plan is to make her mentally unstable... Then hide?” Well that sounds boring, starts a brush fire.  
    Man you're raising the par for the prev/next buttons too; think I'll have to up my game after ...  more
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  September 27, 2015
    Thanks for the likes and comments everyone. If you do happen to start from the beginning Librarian feel free to comment on parts you like and parts you don't.
  • BlueDremora
    BlueDremora   ·  September 27, 2015
    I love this! Gotta star reading the whole thing from episode 1 
  • ShyGuyWolf
    ShyGuyWolf   ·  September 27, 2015
    Awesome piece bud.
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  September 27, 2015
    Yes, another fine installment of this long chase. Sotek's proving quite clever in all of this despite having a crazy Daedric Lord on his back. Well two, if you count Hircine. I like how you've done Sheo. Very good. And the Companions mash up was fun to re...  more
  • Meli
    Meli   ·  September 27, 2015
    Sotek, I can agree splitting the chapter worked, especially as it left us with a cliffhanger!
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  September 27, 2015
    There's always a few thing saren't there. On it right away.
    So pleased your still enjoying the read Meli. I decided to split the chapter in two which I feel paid off. As you can see from the ending it's a great cliffhanger.
    EDIT:
    Fixed t...  more
  • Meli
    Meli   ·  September 27, 2015
    Sotek, you're fantastic you know that? I love this
    Problem is I can't pinpoint a favourite part 
    Couple of little things:
    While all this was going on all Farkas and Vilkas could do was watch on helplessly. That was the moment when Vilka...  more