The Cold is Vile

  • Disclaimer: Mature Content

     

    Wind whistled through the towering pines, spraying snow over the traveling party. “I hate this cold”, exclaimed a burly Redguard. A Nord replied, “We’d all be warmer if you shared the mead, Haadir.”

     

    Jerjolf, the Nord, pointed at something in in the snow. “A trap.” A white furred fox was caught by the leg, and was in the process of chewing itself out, which explains why it’s snout and leg were dripping with blood and peppered with bits of flesh.

     

    “I think that we should end its misery,” said the third and final member of the crew, an Orsimer named Bugak.

     

    “I do not agree,” stated Jerjolf, “We should give it a chance to live. Let’s move before it gets too dark.”

     

    “I hate the dark!” shivered Bugak.

     

    Jerjolf looked into his friend’s eyes and smiled.

     

    ~

     

    Finally, they had reached their destination. It was a log cabin. Very homely. Jerjolf opened the door.

     

    “It’s just how I imagined it”, smiled Haadir, “Complete with a big fireplace! Although it seems to lack the wood. Bugak, go get us firewood.”

     

    Bugak found an axe and hesitantly went out the door.

     

    “Might as well look at the thing right now. Who knows how long Bugak will take?”

     

    “I guess we can look over it”, sighed Jerjolf.

     

    Unbeknownst to them, Bugak was not actually getting firewood. He was sitting on the porch, scared to go off on his own. For a while, he contemplated going and chopping wood for the fireplace, but ultimately decided against it. With his back metaphorically against the wall, he began to go back inside.

     

    Before Bugak burst through the door, he heard someone inside say “--kill him tonight, when he’s sleeping” a little too loudly.

     

    Bugak’s brow furrowed.

     

    Jerjolf pleaded, “I do not think that we should go through with this plan. Bugak is innocent and dumb. He has done nothing wrong.”

     

    Haadir persisted, “That is even better reason to sacrifice Bugak. It says right here to kill a ‘pure being’.”

     

    “I just don’t feel too great about us murdering a friend.”

     

    “You will feel great when Clavicus rewards us.”

     

    “I do not know. Let’s say we put this scroll back in the bag, return it to its spot in the crypt. What do we lose?”

     

    “Are you insane, my friend? What do we lose? The joy of fame, the flash of coin; a fancy house to raise your kids; a better wife or two or three. We’d lose the possibility to live ideal lives.”

     

    “I just cannot make sense of such a selfish action. It is unfair to poor Bugak. I need to think this through. Do not act rash tonight.”

     

    Outside, Bugak sat back down. He tried to process what he had heard.

     

    Exasperated, Haadir vented, “Now I am hot. The air in here is choking me.” and walked over to the door and threw it open.

     

    All he saw was footprints leading off into the woods.

     

    ~

     

    Bugak ran into the menacing black evergreens, leather boots crunching the icy snow. Fiery tears ran down his green mug before they froze on his skin. “I thought they were my friends.”

     

    Bugak, exhausted, collapsed on the ground. He picked himself up from the burning snow and looked around wildly. The Orc was lost and the sun was setting. “Jerjolf! Haadir!” He jogged in a random direction, hope fading. The axe was close to slipping out of his grip. As he slowed down, realizing his fate, he noticed something in the distance, behind a tree. It was an old Wood Elf, clothed in robe.

     

    ~

     

    It was night and there was still no sign of Bugak at the cabin. The wind was blowing with a vengeance and a torrent of snow was pouring down from the heavens like a waterfall. The inhabitants spent their time tapping on the log walls and eating bland wafers.

     

    “We might not get the chance to off Bugak at all. He’s lost for sure. He’s probably freezing to death”, shivered Haadir.

     

    “We have waited enough. We should go look for him.”

     

    “If you want, then you can go. It’s pointless looking for someone at night. Especially with the weather like this. I know that you, Jerjolf, are a ‘hero’, but that is just a waste of time.”

     

    Haadir shook his head as Jerjolf was getting ready. Jerjolf was a Nord with a heart of gold, he thought, but he’d die out there in those conditions.  The Redguard slumped back in his chair for a bit, and then suddenly got up and grabbed the scroll from the bag and looked at it one more time. “...a pure being...”, he read aloud. He cast a glance at Jerjolf who was still preparing for his journey. He contemplated on his next course of action. Haadir began to quiver as he put the scroll down. He reached for his belt and pulled out his dagger and floated over to Jerjolf who had his back turned. With a cry, he viciously stabbed the dagger into Jerjolf’s muscular back, piercing his ribs and heart. Blood and water sprayed from the wound onto Haadir as he pulled the steel out. He felt powerful, so he stabbed Jerjolf again. Then Haadir violently flipped Jerjolf onto his back and stared into the Nord’s eyes while he slit the Nord’s throat. Crimson life pulsed out of the deep neck wound, and Jerjolf’s mouth filled with the sticky ichor. Haadir got up, dripping with warm red liquid and began to read the scroll to finish Vile’s bidding as Jerjolf choked on the floor.

     

    ~

     

    The bloodlust disappeared from Haadir’s eyes. He dropped the scroll mortified at what he had done. He cast a glance at Jerjolf who was mutilated and covered in a crusty black blood. Haadir began to convulse. He fell to the floor on his hands and knees and vomited uncontrollably. The acid burned his throat and nose. Tears ran down his face, but they were not of just of heaving.

     

    After awhile, he got up, crumbled to the floor, got up again, brushed himself off, and walked over to the door. It wouldn’t budge. It had snowed so much that it blocked the only way out. He was stuck in the festering stench of the cabin.

     

    ~

     

    Haadir woke up to the sound of crunching. He looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Jerjolf hadn’t moved an inch. He soon realized that someone was digging away at the snow that blocked the exit.

     

    After half an hour, the door opened.

     

    Bugak stepped into the cabin, axe in hand. He noticed that a body covered in black blood and horrific wounds was on the floor. Blood smears on the floor marked a trail up to a disgusting creature, alive and breathing raggedly. Covered in a horribly fragrant muck, the thing was pale and gaunt, and looked like it was about to die. It started to crawl towards him.

     

    “My friend”, the thing rasped.

     

    “What happened?” Bugak gestured towards Jerjolf.

     

    “I… murdered him”, it choked out.

     

    Bugak’s knuckles were whitening around the axe. “Do you know why I came back?”

     

    It shook its head no.

     

Comments

8 Comments   |   Karver the Lorc and 3 others like this.
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  August 3, 2018
    This is one of those stories which raises the fur on the back of your neck. Hope theres more to come.
  • Gollum
    Gollum   ·  July 7, 2018
    If the elf had anything to do with Vile lorewise, it was unintentional. I had initially written more about the elf and Bugak, but it ruined the pacing so I had to omit it. I had a feeling it was too vague, though.
    • ilanisilver
      ilanisilver
      Gollum
      Gollum
      Gollum
      If the elf had anything to do with Vile lorewise, it was unintentional. I had initially written more about the elf and Bugak, but it ruined the pacing so I had to omit it. I had a feeling it was too vague, though.
        ·  July 7, 2018
      Oh I get it. What happened originally? Did Bugak kill the elf?  Or was the elf like a guide or something? But yeah, good story, man. Very creepy. 
      • Gollum
        Gollum
        ilanisilver
        ilanisilver
        ilanisilver
        Oh I get it. What happened originally? Did Bugak kill the elf?  Or was the elf like a guide or something? But yeah, good story, man. Very creepy. 
          ·  July 7, 2018
        He was a guide. I don't know if you noticed, but I had all of the dialogue written in iambs. After Bugak spent some time with the elf, he would lose the iamb in his speech and just talk normally, while Haadir in the cabin would still be stuck in iambs.
        • ilanisilver
          ilanisilver
          Gollum
          Gollum
          Gollum
          He was a guide. I don't know if you noticed, but I had all of the dialogue written in iambs. After Bugak spent some time with the elf, he would lose the iamb in his speech and just talk normally, while Haadir in the cabin would still be stuck in iambs.
            ·  July 7, 2018
          Wow, I did not notice that, but I can see it now. That’s some serious though you put into it. Kudos, seriously. 
  • ilanisilver
    ilanisilver   ·  July 7, 2018
    I was intrigued. I like the story, and the tension is great. I feel like I’m missing something, though. Who’s the elf?  Is this a clavicus vile lore thing I’m not familiar with?
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  July 7, 2018
    Hey Gollum, it's interesting. I'm curious as to what the scroll has that makes people wanna kill for it. 
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  July 7, 2018
    Well, this was...vile. Heh. It is interesting what people are willing to do for some vague promise from some scroll, isn't it? I think this plays very nicely into what Clavicus represents. You have to do something for a promised reward and when you do it ...  more