In a desperate gamble, almost as if he was playing for time, Sotek called out to the female shadowscale in the hope of striking a spark of curiosity within her.
“Why say I’m pathetic? What gives you that right?”
She rose her hand, steadying the blade which would so willingly cause Sotek’s blood to flow. With an air of smugness she approached him while he was still held down by a shadowscale boot.
“What gives me that right? I give me that right. As to the reason, most would want their partners out of harm’s way”.
Sotek’s face abruptly changed. No more did he have a look of fear but one of knowing and assertiveness. He sneered back at her with contempt.
“Why would I bother with Aela?My trouble was the whelps were in the hall; not her, you daft mare!”
The female assailant kicked him once again as hard as she could. Sotek however had braced himself and tightened up his stomach muscles, lessening the kicks effectiveness. Her voice’s tone rose from the anger she had felt after witnessing the lack of reaction from her boot.
“That’s stupid, you fucking idiot”.
Sotek stifled a second groan as he was kicked again. Despite the pain, he managed a small false chuckle which soon turned to a roaring laughter.
“I’m an idiot? I’m following false tenants because I dither about without the stupid guidance of Sith? Seth? Whatever the hell it is. You’re the idiot. The Whelps? Why the hell do you think I needed them out of the way?”
She swung her head around and stared at Aela for a few seconds as reality crashed down around her. Stepping back away from Sotek she yelled out a warning to her counterpart.
“He’s the Albino, kill him!”
Upon hearing her command, everything in Aela’s mind came together in a flash. Sotek hadn’t been able to defeat the shadowscales and he knew it all along. That wasn’t his plan, he had Scarface; it was the beast who had the task of dealing with the assassins. For that to work he needed everyone who was unaware of his double existence out of the way. Aela knew… so did Farkas, Vilkas and Tilma; the only ones left in the hall.
The moment Sotek started transforming, the assassin plunged the dagger in his neck as deeply as he could. Muscles grew in size and thickness at alarming speed while bones strengthened as their density increased. Both fought the blade as they bound tighter adding to the tough resistance of thick fur; all of them working together to lessen the weapons ‘bite’.
The blade had done significant damage to its target, but such as it was, it wasn’t enough to avoid the inevitable outcome. With a snarl tempered on spite, Scarface twisted his head around, snapping at the calf of the shadowscale. The assassin lifted his foot just in time and avoided the saliva dripping fangs which slammed shut. With the agility one would expect from a seasoned Shadowscale, the Argonian leapt out of the way. Yet, due to Scarface’s size and the vast amount of floor space his bulk demanded, the male shadowscale lost his footing and stumbled backwards. With lightening reflexes he reasserted his feet, planting them both firmly on the wooden floor.
Or rather he would have if it wasn’t for the fact that the other shadowscale had raised the crossbow at Tilma and started to squeeze the trigger.
Aela saw the danger and screamed at Tilma to move while she tried to run between them, using herself as a shield. Her heart almost stopped as she expected to feel the bolt slam into her chest, ending her life which she gave willingly in defense of the maid.
Scarface saw the danger as well but he was too far away to intervene in saving either Tilma or Aela who so unselfishly put herself in mortal peril. The black werewolf’s solution was no less dramatic and a whole lot more effective than simply ‘taking a hit’.
He knew the female was too far out of his reach so he improvised. The male assassin screamed as he was yanked upwards, high in the air as Scarface’s paw grabbed his leg and swung him around like a rag doll.
Just as the female shadowscale fired her crossbow, she was struck by a second missile. A screaming Argonian whose leg was twisted and tangled; broken in three places as he was thrown full bore like a living projectile. He struck her full in the side, sending the bolt off wildly, missing Aela’s torso by mere inches as the bolt thudded into the wall a foot above Tilma’s head.
The maid’s eyes were fixed wide open as she stared at memories of her life. Aela fell on the floor where she expected to be hit and she found herself feeling somewhat confused as to what had just happened. A whining cry took her attention where she saw the female sprawled on the floor seemingly unconscious from where she hit her head. Laying on top of her, in a daze was the cause of the groaning. A semi conscious shadowscale who was now wracked with pain as his leg was contorted to the point where his foot rested next to his hip; his leg bent in two places.
Scarface was now on his hind paws and he puffed out his chest and lifted his head up. Fearing the worst, Aela scrambled to her feet and ran towards him, yelling out as quietly as she could.
“Don’t howl! Scarface, listen to me. You obey me! Don’t! I’m warning you… don’t howl!”
His temperamental frustrated reply resulted in a frontal paw slamming onto a table. The surface buckled for a fraction of a second then caved in under a sound of cracking timber, creating a massive hole in it but the wood still held on, trapping his paw. In a rage he hit it with his other paw as he snarled his defiance at the wooden object.
Now both paws had smashed through the top of the table and yet the frame still held together. Scarface lifted his arms up and growled at the table which now resembled a set of wooden shackles, ‘cuffing’ his paws together.
He puffed up his chest and threw his arms apart, causing the remnants of the table to seemingly explode, showering the hall with splinters and broken firewood.
Aela covered her face, shielding herself in her arms from any projectiles sent her way. She turned around to see Farkas and Vilkas run across the hall towards the two shadowscales.
Using straps of leather which just so happened to be laying close by, Vilkas bound the female assassin’s hands and feet together then laid her on her stomach so he could bind her tied feet to her hands, leaving her in a prone position whilst being unable to move.
Farkas grabbed the other shadowscale by the arm and twisted it round, causing the shadowscale to yell out in pain. His cry became a chilling scream when a loud ‘snap’ rang out as Farkas broke the arm by forcing the elbow back on itself against his rock like knee.
Throughout this time, Tilma remained sitting in the chair with her head flumped on her chest. Tears freely fell from her cheeks, drawing Aela towards her.
“The bastards tied her to the chair? Vilkas! How could you let them do this?” She drew her skinning knife and cut the straps, freeing Tilma from her confines all the while Aela fixed her dagger like stare on the two brothers.
Tilma, who was clearly shaking, fell into Aela and grabbed hold of her arms. She tried to stop shaking and her voice was broken as she stammered back.
“They… it’s not their fault… Kodlak… he went to Dragonsreach then they came in… I haven’t even finished… preparing breakfast…”
Aela grabbed Tilma’s arm and tugged up the sleeve of her dress. Both wrists were scuffed and burn marks clearly showed where the shadowscales had bound her hands together.
“Those bastards…” The she-wolf headed to the main table and poured out a large brandy in a flagon from Kodlak’s personal decanter and passed it to Tilma.
Once she was happier in Tilma’s mental state, Aela turned on Farkas like a female wolf who had lost her cubs.
“How could you let this happen? Why didn’t you intervene?”
Vilkas shoved her away from the two of them, causing Scarface to growl a warning at him; letting him know not to overstep his own boundaries.
Vilkas shouted back at the black werewolf.
“You can cut that crap out!” He then tried to explain the events leading up to the situation he had unwittingly walked into. “I came up here to find Tilma on the chair and that whore pointing a crossbow at her. What was I supposed to do? One step and she would have been shot! She’s been in that bloody chair for hours, the poor bloody cow. What would you have done?”
Aela glanced back at Tilma who gave her a weak smile in return. She hated to admit it but Vilkas was right. All she could have done was wait for an opportunity to present itself. The Companions now had the advantage and she wasn’t about to let it go by infighting. Snapping her fingers at the wounded shadowscale, Aela barked out her orders at her siblings.
“Vilkas you’re right. However now we have some questions to ask. Get that bastard up on his feet”.
Farkas unceremoniously grabbed the broken arm from the shadowscale and yanked him up while Vilkas secured the other arm, preventing the assassin from struggling. The shadowscale’s eyes seemed to glaze over as he mentally fought back the pain. This was an ability he learned when he was younger; to block out torture and severe injuries during his excursions and assassinations. Drawing upon reserves of strength, he kicked out at Aela, catching her in the knee.
“Aghh, you bastard of a whore!”
Her hand formed a fist and she moved forwards to punch him but Scarface intervened by bringing his left paw crashing down on the Argonians foot. Bones shattered in several places as over forty stone of power and muscle hammered into it like a sledgehammer into an apple. Scarface kept his paw on the Argonians boot, pinning him in place. The Argonian screamed out in pure agony.
No amount of training could fight back the pain and his mind snapped with terror. He desperately flailed about trying to release himself but the two brothers held tight, almost threatening to tear off his limbs with the overwhelming force they used as they pulled on his arms.
Aela grabbed his chin and thumped him as hard as she could in the jaw, splitting his lip in the process. Such wounds had little effect which didn’t surprise her in the least when she looked down at Scarface’s hind paw. Blood formed around the fur and claws while it still rested upon the Argonians crushed foot.
She decided to approach the whole situation from a different angle; Aela’s angle which was rather unique given her closeness to Red. With her eyes fixed upon the male shadowscale, she moved next to Vilkas. Holding Vilkas’s arm, Aela gently stroked his muscular limb with the tip of her fingernail, almost but not quite scratching it while she spoke in her most husky and sexily voice as possible and addressed the shadowscale.
“This is Vilkas. He’s my shield brother. He’s not very happy with you”. Then she slowly wrapped herself around Scarface to reach Farkas. Keeping up the same voice she turned to the assassin and whispered in his ear.
“This is Farkas. He’s my shield brother as well. He is not happy at all with you”.
Then she wrapped herself around Scarface’s arm, and pulled out the dagger that had stuck in his neck giving Scarface cause to growl in pain.
Blood spurted outwards but the flow stopped within moments and soon it was naught but a trickle. Aela lightly stroked the fur which covered the wound so she could check his injury but her look of concern soon changed to one of awe as she silently wished Red’s own abilities were like Scarface’s. Aela was fully aware of her limitations and knew they weren’t anything like what Scarface could do.
Pushing Red’s short comings aside, she spoke once more using her husky sexy tone.
“And this great big, fur ball of a werewolf, is Scarface. You see Sotek’s a werewolf, and so am I. My werewolf form is called Red, and Scarface here is her mate. You’ve pissed him off and out of all of us I’d be more worried about him. Then again that’s ‘cause Red isn’t here at the moment”.
“Are you going to talk him to death?”
Aela spun around to see a much more assertive Tilma standing before her. The maid waved Aela out of the way and took control of the situation. She gazed upon the shadowscale who had drifted into unconsciousness and tipped a flask of water over his head, waking him from his release of the pain.
Aela then turned back to the male assassin and grabbed him by the throat.
“Now, tell me quickly. Are there any more assassins coming?”
He shook his head weakly as tears ran down his cheeks.
“N, n, no”.
Aela smiled at him and patted him like he was a dog answering his mistress.
“Oh very good. That’s a good boy. Now, where are you from”.
His answer was to spit a mouthful of blood in her face. Whatever reaction he was expecting for his defiance, he didn’t get it. Aela sighed in disappointment then knelt down and scooped up a palm full of blood. She smiled back at him then licked her hand, drinking the red liquid like it was water.
Blood covered her but she showed no signs of caring. She wiped her hand on his own face, smothering his cheeks in his own blood.
“I’ll ask once more. Tell me or I’ll get Scarface to make you answer. Tell me!”
A weak Argonian voice whispered back at her. The shadowscale’s strength finally left him and he broke down, telling her what she wanted to know.
“The Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary... Falkreath”.
Aela wiped her face on her arm, wiping off the blood with the sleeve of Sotek’s shirt which she was currently wearing. She turned to Tilma as the maid spoke to her.
“You can’t let him live. They can’t leave knowing what they know!”
Aela nodded in agreement. She knew Tilma was right and even if she wasn’t, Aela’s thirst for revenge was far from being quenched. She went to whisper into Scarface’s ear but she realized she couldn’t reach it even if she stood on a chair so she tugged on his fur pulling his head down towards her; all the while Scarface’s eyes were fixed on the assassins. Aela whispered two words, sealing the Argonian’s fate.
“Kill him”.
All it took was one swipe of his claws. Scarface slashed the shadowscale wide open from the groin, along his stomach, to finally shatter his ribs; all in a single, lethal blow. Blood splattered across the two brothers as the corpse was torn from their hands and flung across the tables to the other side of the hall from the impact.
A high pitch scream alerted the Companions of the fact that the surviving Shadowscale had now regained consciousness. Her terrible cries even carried across the Wind District where several of the cities populous turned towards Jorrvaskr’s doors.
Kodlak, who was currently sitting at a large table in Dragonsreach heard the scream too, along with Jarl Balgruuf and Irileth. Kodlak knew the female yells were not of his pack so he quickly concluded what had happened. With dread in his hastening steps, he cut short the discussion of that evenings event concerning the ‘funeral’ and hurried out of the door.
Irileth, much to Kodlak’s displeasure, stayed by his side and commented on the disruption.
“What in all of Tamriel was that? It’s coming from Jorrvaskr! Quickly Kodlak! Trust in your Skyforge steel”.
Horror filled Kodlak’s face as he gazed across to the hall. He knew what had happened, the air was riddled in the stink of death and fur.
Unaware of the incoming ‘visitors’, Aela’s own thoughts were focused on Scarface. The she-wolf was completely caught up in the moment and Red’s will fell upon her. Such were Red’s wanton desire for flesh, no doubt fueled by the smell of fresh blood, that even if Aela fought back the urge to change she still would have. The big thing was though that she didn’t want to prevent Red from breaking out. She fell on the floor on her hands and knees seconds before the transformation even started.
With a loud growl, Red pounced on the hapless bound foe, knocking aside tables and chairs as she charged towards her prey. She clawed her way to the warm fleshy food with blatant regards to killing her prey first. The unfortunate shadowscale screamed as she was eaten alive.
Farkas just shook his head, as he covered his ears from the chilling yells.
“They are, they’re a pair of bloody animals. Red! Kill her damn it”.
Scarface stood up and watched Red eat. He moved towards her and growled, commanding her to back away. She shuffled backwards, snarling with every step of her paws while blood dripped from her fangs and watched as he approached the body. Scarface leaned over the shadowscale and bit the neck, almost severing the head, finally killing the shadowscale.
He moved away once more, allowing Red to continue with her meal which she did so eagerly. She shuffled to the side and gave a low snarl, telling Scarface to join in with her feast.
Seconds later Tilma threw up from the sounds of crunching bones and gnawing of fangs.
Scarface lifted his head up and chewed on a fleshy piece of flesh while his head turned towards the door. Footsteps… he could hear footsteps running up the stairs leading to Jorrvaskr. He growled a warning to Red and hurriedly swallowed the remainders of his meal before whining loudly as he transformed back to his Argonian form.
Kodlak, who was now a mere few seconds from the double doors of Jorrvaskr, grabbed Irileth’s arm and yanked her back, preventing her from reaching the threshold.
“Wait! Ermm… best let me go first. It’s ermm… Aela. Aela’s probably stabbed one of the Whelps again. She stabs Sotek all the time. Wait here, I beg of you, wait here! That’s not a request!”
Irileth glanced at the door and nodded although she still drew her blade and traced along its fine edge with her finger. She agreed to his demanding request although she made it clear she wouldn’t stay out of it for long.
“Very well. I’ll remain here on guard but if I hear one sound then I’m coming in. I don’t like this! The air, it’s tainted with something, I can sense it!”
Sotek looked around the hall with fresh eyes and cringed at the site of the place. Red was still chewing a leg which protruded from her mouth when he grabbed her by the nape of her neck.
“Stop!! Damn it Red look at the place!!”
He caught a glimpse of Tilma and groaned when he noticed Red’s and Scarface’s intermingled paw prints.
“Please don’t tell me he took her. Damn everything’s so fuzzy. Why’s there so much blood? Two bodies don’t hold that much do they?”
He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and looked down at his arm which was now caked in Argonian blood. He could hear the conversation between Kodlak and Irileth, causing him to cringe while Red pulled at his arm, causing him to strain as he prevented her from continuing her meal.
“Red, stop it. Damn it all Aela… Red, you have to change back. Let Aela go, you hear me?”
He unwillingly released her, hoping she would transform but she ignored him and carried on eating. He knew it had been a while since she ate and the taste of blood was too strong. He lightly kicked her in the rump, earning a small snarl for his efforts.
It was just at that moment when the Harbinger’s worst nightmare was realized. Kodlak pulled the door ajar, just wide enough to squeeze inside lest he allowed Irileth to catch a glimpse of what he was undoubtedly sure to find awaiting for him. Nothing he could have done prevented the shock of what he found and the fact that he just gawped at everyone inside the hall stood testament to it.
Both Red and Sotek were equally smothered in blood which still dripped from them, forming small puddles. Two bodies lay on the floor, one of them little more than a chewed up mangled husk while the other one was a morbid ‘island’ in a sea of yet more blood. The difference here was the pool was the size of a small lake; least that what Kodlak mentally compared it to.
Unsure of what to say or even do, Sotek stared back at him. The scent of the Dunmer who was only a few feet outside, wafted in through the narrow crack of the doors. Sotek felt the urge to peek through the gap but he feared to incase his gaze would be met by a pair of eyes looking back at him.
Before Kodlak could even think about saying anything, Sotek took immediate charge of the carnage and barked out his orders at his fellow siblings.
“Farkas! We need furs to wrap the bodies in. Get them from Aela’s and my room, we can replace them later. Vilkas, explain to the Whelps, make them understand this never happened. Tell them… not to piss Aela off else she’ll gut them like she did with these poor bastards. I’ll help Tilma clean up, I need you two and Aela to get the carriage to the east wall. I’ll wrap the bodies in furs, you three hide them in the bear cave so we can remove them later. Whatever you do… Vilkas are you listening? Don’t unwrap the bodies. We may need to move them later. We got two hours before the Harbinger gets back, move it. Red will you please change? I need Aela here not you!”
Sotek then tore away from his belt a pouch of gold septims and thrust it into Kodlak’s gut. He blurted out a few words as he shoved Kodlak outside, almost sending him sprawling down the steps in the process.
“You’re too early. Look at you, you need a drink? Yes? The Inn has plenty; bye, we’ll see you in a few hours. And don’t stay out late”. A second later he slammed the door right in the face of Irileth.
The Harbinger stood there stunned while Irileth looked back at him with surprise and shock plastered across her face. She pointed to the door as Kodlak took her by the hand and marched her down the steps away from Jorrvaskr.
“He’s done it! He’s actually kicked me out. The Harbinger, kicked out of his own hall. Irileth you’re looking pale. You need a drink? Yes? Very well; you come along with me. Everything is fine. Yes… fine. I’ll bloody kill him!!” Then he slowly trudged off towards the Bannered Mare before Irileth could even think of approaching the double doors.
Sotek’s first job was to remove all traces of the two werewolves, including the bodies as the claw marks were an obvious sign that a beast had attacked them. Bloodied paw prints proved to be a burden which Aela’s aching back swore testament to but it was with some fortune that Tilma was a capable maid. Her mixture of frost salts and ash proved to be greater than Red’s capacity for creating a mess and within half an hour all the bloodied paw prints were removed although there was still plenty left to clean up.
By now they were in a position where the Whelps could help with the cleaning. Each one silently took a hand brush and bucket from Aela, each one averting their eyes lest they fell prey to the Companion who, according to Vilkas, went on a blood bath and hacked the two assassins to pieces with Sotek’s axe.
Aela was still covered in blood which did nothing to break the myth which became a nighttime tale between the whelps; ‘Psycho Bitch vs. Shadowscales’. Not one of them dared to tell her the title of it though.
Many hands proved to make light work and before the sun could reach noon, the hall was looking close to its normal self, lest the fact that a table was now in a broken pile in the yard and a few rather large stains marked where the bodies fell.
With Aela’s help, Sotek moved the two rolled up corpses outside and laid them in the yard which, for the moment at least, was off limits to the Whelps. Once this was done they headed downstairs to finally remove their bloodied cloths and shared a bath between them. Throughout all this time, except when they had to, neither one said a word to their counterpart.
Aela quickly patted herself down with a towel and threw on an old pair of trousers which she happened to pinch off Sotek several weeks ago along with one of his shirts. She gave Sotek a worried smile but he failed to return it. He stared back blankly and watched as Aela closed the bathing room door before returning to the hall.
Within a few minutes Aela was complying with Sotek’s orders along with Farkas and Vilkas who aided her. She handed over a pouch of gold to an eager and rather curious Bjorlam with two instructions. One, he rode the cart to the wall behind Jorrvaskr and waited for two large parcels. Two, he kept his mouth shut.
Two hundred gold secured his silence along with his cart and within a few minutes the four of them were heading to the rendezvous where they patiently waited.
To say the four of them sat quiet would be a stretch of anyone’s imagination. Even before they were half way around Whiterun’s perimeter wall Aela was franticly tapping her foot.
After about ten minutes, Aela was beyond her limits and hissed at her siblings.
“What the hell iss he doing?”
Sotek had his own agenda and worked hard by himself pulling the two bodies towards the wall. Already a damp patch of sweat smothered the back of his clean shirt as he toiled with the bundles of fur.
After what seemed like ages, the three Companions along with Bjorlam saw Sotek’s head pop up above the wall along with a wave of his arm. He initially struggled but he finally managed to cast the first body over the top of the wall and lower it with rope to eager hands below.
Vilkas and Farkas lifted the first of the two bodies between them and threw it on the cart while Sotek franticly whispered down at them.
“Don’t throw it you idiot’s. Aela control your apes damn it!!”
His hasty retort earned him the right to duck behind the wall as a stone flew over his head and banged loudly when it hit Jorrvaskr’s roof. He peered over the top to see an angry female fist being waved at him.
Once the cart had set off towards the bear cave which he, Vilkas and Aela had explored a while ago, Sotek hoped to breathe somewhat easier. Instead dread still claimed his heart and with a weary groan, he headed back inside the hall.
Tilma, who had by now fully recovered from her ordeal, saw the limp Argonian tail trailing across the still damp floor and knew Sotek was troubled. She took his hand and quietly led him outside to the training area so they could talk.
“It’s no good worrying now young man. What is done is done”.
Sotek shook his head while he stared at a crack in the flooring lest Tilma saw his shame.
“It’s far from done though isn’t it! Harbinger’s going to kill me Tilma. You see that rafter up there? I’ll be swinging from that within the hour. I’ve endangered you, them, Aela! The Nines knows what everyone in this hell hole thinks”.
Tilma sat in silence as she listened to him while she wondered how best to help. Even Sotek wasn’t sure what he expected from her. What he got was a few words of wisdom and a dismissal from the yard.
“Sotek, it’s no good sitting here worrying about what Kodlak will say. You had little choice in the matter. Don’t give me your ‘there’s always a choice’ back chat. Go; talk with the Harbinger. You’ll only feel worse if you leave it”.
Sotek gave Tilma a sorrowful sigh and wearily walked away from Jorrvaskr. He tried to sound more assertive but the anxiety clearly showed in his voice despite the fact that he looked like he was smiling. His tail told a different story as it dragged along the ground.
“Thanks Tilma. It’s been a bad day today hasn’t it?”
She gave a chuckle then proceeded to enter the hall.
“It’s certainly been unusual. Not one of Jorrvaskr’s typical days. Unusual; unusual circumstances as well. He will understand”.
With every step Sotek took, he could feel the eyes of the city upon him. He felt like a leper, bearing a banner of shame upon his back. He had hoped to have thought about what to say when he confronted the Harbinger in the Bannered Mare but Kodlak beat him to the punch by seeing him descend the steps to the plains district.
Leaving his drink behind, Kodlak exited the Inn and confronted the Argonian.
“Come with me! Now!” He turned away from Jorrvaskr and angrily paced through the market drawing more attention to the pair of them. Slipping down the narrow passageway between Belethor’s shop and Arcadia’s Cauldron, Kodlak made his way to the dead part of the city where a few desolate huts stood. He moved to a small walled guard post which was devoid of anyone and beckoned Sotek to follow.
Sotek found himself unable to look at the Harbinger and ended up focusing on a part of his shirt instead. A small white button held his gaze; it reminded him of the moon due to its silvery sheen, causing Sotek to slip back several years when he was working on a decrepit smuggling vessel. He, along with the captain, had fought off titanic waves which threatened to break the ship’s hull into pieces upon rocks when a break in the storm allowed the twin moons to cast their glow upon the ship. His mind was thrown back to the present when he snapped out of his trance under the Harbinger’s raging shout.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
Sotek’s tail flicked sideways and slithered between his feet, leaving him to face the Harbinger alone. He gulped loudly and with a dryness to his voice he hissed back quietly.
“He can explains. He… Harbinger…”
The Harbinger’s eyes went wide open with rage. He shook his fist in Sotek’s face while he fought the urge to lash out.
“No! I don’t want to hear it. Whatever it is, keep it to yourself. I’ve known you to act hastily and the Nines know Aela does but this? Damn you! What will it take for you to understand?”
The Harbinger held Sotek’s shoulder firmly and wagged a finger straight at him. His voice carried with it a fear which only a father could know when his family faces a danger even he himself couldn’t protect them from.
“You are walking on dangerous ground. Walking? You’re bloody running across it with blatant disregards to the danger! You’re dragging Aela along with you, us all along with you. Reel it in before we are discovered; I cannot let this happen again. Do you understand? You never change around Whiterun again. Ever!! We’ll all be killed, all of us. You are so used to being around werewolves that you fail to see the threat we are or the threat we face. You love Aela? Don’t answer, listen… for once, shut up and listen! Play this game again and you may have to watch her hang! Is that what you want? I’ll be in the hall in one minute, you had better bloody well be there by the time I arrive. Get the hell out of my sight!”
By the time Kodlak arrived inside Jorrvaskr, Sotek was, as instructed already there waiting. The young Argonian sat on his step with Aela nervously sitting beside him. Both she and Tilma asked him about what Kodlak had said but he kept the one sided conversation to himself. Kodlak walked past him and chose to ignore the pair of them. He sat at the table and glanced across the hall to see the mainstay of it was back to order albeit a table was missing. Tilma placed a plate of bread along with some sliced meat and cheese in front of him but he slid the plate away and rose to his feet. In total silence, he walked across the hall and ventured downstairs, leaving Sotek and Aela watching him.
Both their plates of food remained on the table.
Both plates of food` remained untouched.
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