C.O.T.W Chapter 70: Bad Blood


  • Hasir shrieked so loud that Inigo nearly upended his chair in his haste to rush to Hasir's side to see what the problem was,

    "My ears are sensitive enough as they are, why must you abuse them further?" He asked

     

    Hasir grabbed the khajiit's head and turned it in the direction of what he was looking at. Inigo screamed as he too saw those hungry,

    glowing eyes. He glanced at Hasir; a look of pure terror on his face,

    "What is Harkon doing here?" He walked over to a juicy looking Imperial seated across the table from the man, "Hi, who might you

    be?"

     

    After a long silence, Harkon spoke to both Hasir and Inigo,

    "Nice to see you two again, I heard you are curing your vampirism cat." He said, loathing the fact someone would cure the dark gift

     

    The woman eyed him as she chastized him for his rudeness, he quickly apologized, saying he was out of line,

    "Anyway, introductions are in order." He stood up and extended a long pale hand to the woman sitting across from him, "cat, lizard,

    may I introduce my daughter Serana." The woman who was clothed in a black hooded cloak, silimar to one her father wore nodded

    and said she was pleased to meet them. She told them the reason for her and her father being there was they wanted to stop Molag

    Bal's plan.

    Hasir and Inigo looked scared as they gazed into Harkon's eyes, fearing they would be next in line for lunch,

    "Er, Lord Harkon, don't you remember us at all? You tried to save Inigo from the curse of being a vampire." He said

     

    Lord Harkon removed his hood, despite his daughter's constant pleas for him not to do so,

    "Ah yes, Hasir nice to see you again, tell me, why do you think vampirism is a curse when I can smell the wolf on you?" He asked

    coldly.

     

    Hasir glared at him angrily and told him that unlike vampirism he does not view lycanthropy as a curse but rather a gift bestowed on

    him by Hircine. Harkon scoffed at this and told Hasir that he and Serana were in the same boat as Hasir. the Argonian furrowed his

    spiky eyebrows and asked what he meant by that,

    "My dear lizard, have you forgotten that one singular event binds us? That to destroy us will, in turn, destroy all werewolves as

    well?"

     

    His eyes glinted eerily in the near darkness of the inn,

    "What I am talking about is the union of our ancestors Inga Wolfheart and Fredrick Bloodborn." He chuckled slightly, "please do not

    tell me that you've forgotten this already? As I said before both your species and mine have a common enemy, shouldn't we be

    working together instead of tearing each other apart?"

     

    Hasir shook his reptilian head, he serious as an arrow to the heart as he gesture to his friend, whose eyes took on an orange glow,

    "I don't believe you, all vampire are a bunch of merciless murders! Now you want to turn my friend into one as well?"

     

    Harkon smiled coldly and responded with the same ferocity the Argonian had shown seconds before,

    "I can say the same of you brutish savages, tearing into man, mer and beast meat without a second thought." He thought about his

    next words care as he also tried to keep his ever rising temper in check, "Hasir, I was trying to save your friend, I told you this once

    before, don't you open your water-logged ears? If I can spare the khajiit the fate of being Molag Bal's slave for all eternity, all the

    better."

    Hasir sighed and did his best to keep his anger at bay,

    "Listen Harkon I can argue this all day... ubt, it is Inigo's cleansing ritual tomorrow and I want to be well rest for it." He said,

    yawning, "If you'd like, you can stay for the ceremony; but if you do, be sure to keep your damn cloak on." He smiled at them and

    started toward the table to grab his khajiit friend and he toward the room that Inigo paid for both of them, "So sorry we do not have

    coffins for you to sleep in, so the choice left are sleeping on the cold floor or a warm bed, your choice." He walked over to them and

    smirked in mock amusement, "Oh that's right you are already cold and dead, so, you might feel more at home on the cold,

    unforgiving wooden floor." 

     

    He nearly smacked Harkon in the face with his tail as he walked behind Inigo who led the way to their room situated on the left side

    of the inn. Inigo helped Hasir with undoing his leather straps; the Argonian gave a hiss of relief after he removed the iron armoor

    and set the pieces against the wall by his bed. The khajiit did the same with his furred armor and they both got into bed and turned

    out the light.

     

    Inigo lay awake for the next few minutes while he listened to Hasir's rythmic snores. Only after thoose minutes have elapsed did the

    khajiit start to feel sleepy,

    "Well, time to hit the sack." The khajiit giggled at this while he drifted off slowly; he had no idea why hitting the sack was

    synonymous with going to sleep, the khajiit had very different expressions for such things. Even though he had been in Skyrim for

    almost two years, some expressions and idioms were lost to him.

     

    He was flying over the little settlement of Lilmoth in Blackmarsh. Molag Bal had sent his most loyal followers to the farthest reaches

    of Tamriel to gain souls to help liven up his cold, dead land of coldharbour as well as obtain souls for his torturing pleasure. The black

    khajiit was to be sent to Blackmarsh where rumors of the werewolf who married the vampire Altmer from ages past was said to be

    residing. The black Khajiit landed in the swampy village and produced a thin ebony dagger from beneath his black hooded cloak and

    asked aaround town if anyone had seen anyone who knows the descendant of Inga Wolfheart who currently resides in Lilmoth. 

     

    One Argonian after another fell to the ebony dagger enchanted with the rare purple fire soul burning spell that he had used weeks

    previous. The broken corpses and blackened bones of a hundred dead Argonians littered the streets of the Blackmarsh town as the

    cloaked figure walked, cloak billowing in the wind, past houses which he incinerated with a well-aimed flame spell. He activated his

    'detect life' power and searched for any remaining Argonians. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he found what he was after,

    "Perfect, Hopefully he has the answers both I and my master seek." He purred darkly to himself

     

    A giant tree surrounded by huts appeared the closer the figure got to it; he acsended the step which looked like they were cut of one

    of the neihboring trees. He went into a particularly sweet smelling hut where something was cooking over a fire,

    "Hello there." He purred, "I am looking for the descendant of Inga Wolfheart, is he or she here?" 

     

    The Argonian named Iskenaaz shook his spiky head,

    "No, er, sorry, you might have the wrong hut, no Wolfhearts or descendants of that name are living here ... Who are you? I haven't

    seen your face around here before."

     

    The Khajjiit smirked evilly at the cowering Argonian,

    "Foolish lizard, I am tasked with finding the one with the blood of Inga Wolfheart so I can obtain his or her blood and be one step

    closer to ressurection Faolchu the changeling." The Argonian gave him a blank look." The khajiit lifted the clueless Argonian in the air

    and slammed him full force into the wall, "Oh, you haven't heard of him? Of course you wouldn't know him." He said, sneering at the

    Argonian struggling to get to his feet, "You filthy swampfolk never broaden your horizons much do you?" 

     

    The doomstrider told the scared Argonian the story of how faolchu came to be and that he was a breton in the Imperial army who

    was obsessed with immortality and tried to prolong it by pledging himself to a daedra prince, the foulest of all daedric princes, Lord

    Hircine. He then told the Argonian of how he ultimately betrayed Hircine and the wolflord had him killed for want an easy out. Molag

    Bal was so furious when he heard of both this act and the union of bat and wolf that he resurrected Faolchu and become obsessed

    with purifying the bloodline, even if that meant wiping out every werewolf on the face of Nirn.

    The Argonian gasped and repeated what he had said before; the khajiit said he did not believe him. the Argonian screamed aloud as

    fangs sharp as daggers pierced his neck. Inigo's greedily drank the Argonian's blood, but it was not the one in the dream; his eyes

    snapped open as he heard a bloodcurdling scream; he looked down, gasped and nearly fell over the bed he was renting in fright. 

     

    Hasir looked at Inigo with sheer disbelief; he had no idea his friend would let his vampiric urges overpower his usually calm

    demeanor,

    "What in Oblivion Inigo!? I thougght I was your friend, now you see me as little more than a walking bag of blood!" He said shocked

    as his hand felt for the puncture marks in his neck; A fresh stream of blood seeping from beneath his fingers. Hasir turned pale as a

    sheet upon seeing it, "Inigo...I think...I think I'm going to faint." He said weakly as he swayed dangerously. Inigo disappeared to get

    the Argonian some ice cold water, cursed himself for being a stupid kitten, remembering he had some water already on him and

    went back into the room; when he returned, however Hasir had already collapsed to the floor.

     

    Inigo ran to the Argonian's side, opened his mouth and poured a third of the water bladder he had removed from his bag down the

    unconscious Argonian's throat, saving the rest for later. A soft hissing escaped the Argonian's lips as he slowly regained

    consciousness,

    "Inigo, we have to cure you of your vampirism before things get worse." Hasir said, looking at him warily, as if he might strike again

     

    The Khajiit shook his head, pointing to Hasir's bed,

    "No, that can wait, for now though, I think you should rest." He said authoritatively. "By the way, what made you faint anyway?" He

    asked, looking at the Argonian in confusion. 

    Hasir told the curious khajiit it was nothing and instead made up a story about the werewolf blood reacting adversely to the newly

    introduced vampire blood. Inigo immediately saw through this 'story,'

    "My friend, you know you can tell me anything." He said, smiling at the Argonian while helping him to his feet. "if anyone were to

    react badly to the blood it would've been me." He said.

     

    Hasir thanked him and asked him about what made the khajiit bite him in the first place, if it was his vampiric thirst or something

    else,

    "I had a dream last night that I, among others, was tasked with finding the two Aldmer, the race that birthed both the Altmer race

    and the dunmer race, which Molag Bal turned his own kin into. In the dream, I was tasked with going to Blackmarsh to find a

    descendant of Inga Wolfheart." Inigo glanced at Hasir's shocking expression, "well not me, but my other half that Molag Bal wants to

    show more should I become his servant."

     

    Hasir gawped at him, though he hardly believed that Molag Bal would want such a nice and caring khajiit for his army,

    "You don't mean... the doomstrider?" He asked him, shocked

     

    Inigo nodded, affirming Hasir's worst fear which was losing Inigo to that evil and heartless daedric lord,

    "Yes, one and the same, in my dream though he had long pointy canine teeth like sharp daggers and bloodshot red eyes."

     

    Hasir's forehead creased as he considered this 'fact,'

    "So he had little to no sleep and... he had dogs in his mouth!?" He asked, his face contorted in repulsion

     

    Inigo shook his head in frustration,

    "Hasir, did you fall on your head when you hatched?"

     

    The Argonian considered this and shook his head, wondering why Inigo would take this apparent dig at his psyche. He finally came

    to the conclusion that the khajiit was joking. Hasir roarred with laughter as he exited the romm and went a nearby stream to wash

    up before going to the ritual circle that falion spoke of. Inigo ran after Hasir, whom he finally caught halfway down the path that led

    to the nearby marshlands.

     

    The khajiit and Argonian stripped out of the armor, setting them on the grass near the marsh, submerged themselves in the water

    and proceeded to clean themselves. When they were satisfied with their cleanliness, they got out, dressed and went to the ritual

    circle deep in the woods. 

     

    They met Falion who was standing on the eastern edge of the circle; upon seeing them, he smiled,

    "Welcome, vampire, are you ready to begin the ritual of life?"

     

    Inigo had to think about this for a minute: on one hand he enjoyed sneaking about a night; on the other hand, however he did not

    much like the idea of slowly descending into madness to become the monster he saw in his dreams, which was fated to happen,

    regardless of whether he tried to run from it or not. Inigo took a long breath before speaking,

    "Yes, I'm ready. Let's get this over with already, I want my normal vampirism-free life back." He said, tail slamming down in the dirt

     

    Inigo handed Falion the filled black soul gem, Falion pointed to various spots outside the circle where he wanted those not

    participating in the ritual to stand outside of the circle. He beckoned Inigo to stand in the middle of the stone circle. As if in prayer,

    the redguard raised his hands to the heavens,

    "I call upon Oblivion and the daedra that dwell there, take back the blackened soul of the creature that now stands here in this stone

    connection to the realms of beyond. Make pure that which has been impurified, mend that which has been broken and heal that

    which was thought to be unhealable." 

     

    As if in answer to his prayer, a beam of white light shot down from Aetherius, reflected off of the black soul gem and straight into the

    scared khajiit; to Inigo, the light felt like a ray of sunshine on a warm day. The khajiit felt something snap inside of him, pushing the

    light away as if it burnt him; for a moment, Inigo's fur turned black as night complete with long teeth and eyes bright as a ripe

    tomato,

    "Your holy magic cannot save this soul, he belongs to Lord Bal now, begone Aedric follower!" With a wave of his black-furred hand,

    the light vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

     

    There was an explosion of shadowy energy, which expanded, knocking everyone unconscious, shattering the soul gem and, in turn

    killing Falion as some of the dark energy flowed within him, shutting down his bodily functions all at once.

    When the Argonian got to his feet again, he gasped in horror as he saw Falion's lifeless corpse laying feet from him. He looked all

    around the circle for Inigo, but he was nowhere to be found, he didn't even understand what transpired; it all went too fast. He had

    no idea what happened nor did he knew where Inigo went.

     

    Inigo reappeared in front of the ruins of the old fort, having regained his usal blue fur color. He scratched his head with a clawed

    hand,

    "Why did whatever happened to me send me here?" He thought

     

    As if on cue, a voice answered him which sent shivers up the khajiit's spine,

    "I did what had to be done, I bet you were going to get rid of me easy, didn't you?" The voice chuckled darkly, "Well sorry to burst

    your bubble, but I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

     

    Inigo spun around drawing his ebony dagger, expecting to find someone standing behind him,

    "Show yourself, you coward! Iningo laughed, Ah, I get it, your just bad vibrations in my brain, a side effect of that warm light." He

    still felt rather uneasy despite foolishly shouting into the complete darkness of night that enshrouded the ruined fort.

     

    The voice said he got the situation half right,

    "Oooh, so close furball, you just scrapped the surface of the mead barrel, want a hint?"

     

    Inigo shook his head and continued failing his blade around in the darkness. The voiced chimed in again saying that it is indeed in his

    head,

    "Well, you got one thing right, furball, I am in your head." Inigo scoffed at this, "Liar! you are hiding, come out now before things get

    ugly."

     

    The voice laughed with delight at the khajiit's stupidity, saying how ironic and true that statement really is. It directed Inigo to look

    down into the pool of water just off the dirt road; he did so and gasped. For a moment he saw his pale blue face with those lamp-like

    red eyes staring back at him. He turned away; he could not bare to see himself like this and guessed what happened must've been a

    dream or he imagined it.

    He thought it was a dream; that is, until his reflection dissolved into a black khajiit with red eyes and began talking,

    "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, furball, my name's not important, for now just call me the Doomstrider. Think of me as the

    tails end of a coin, you can wish me away or predict the coin will land on heads but eventually all coins land on tails." Inigo's face

    screwed up in confusion, He wracked his 'brain' to think of another analogy, one that a halfwit like Inigo could understand, "Ok, erm,

    you know the yinyang right?" Inigo nodded, "We are symbiotes of each other, like it or not, I cannot live without you and you cannot

    live without me. If you start an action, then more often than not I am going to finish it, right?" Inigo nodded again, "My aim is

    simple: to help Molag Bal find the traitor who married the filthy mutt long ago, see, lord Bal wants purity in the bloodline and to get

    that, he'll cut away any impurities he finds until he does get it, do you understand now?" 

     

    Inigo nodded and a disturbing thought occured to him,

    "Erm, what about Hasir, the companions and other werewolves out there? Please tell me they're safe."

     

    The doomstrider shrugged halfheartedly,

    "Sure, I would not want to harm your friends." He lied

     

    Inigo drew a great sigh of relief,

    "Thank the Divines."

     

    A cold grin played at the edges of the black khajiit's face,

    "I was lying, you blue baffoon, Molag Bal was right, an idiot like you would never fit in." 

    Hasir walked over to Falion's corpse, wondering what that explosion was, and closed Falion's eyes. He stood up and cursed the

    heavens,

    "Hircine damn you, when I get my claws on whoever did this, that person'll be sorry." He said, shaking his fist at the blue sky. His

    tail hung limp as he truged back through the marshlands toward the inn where he and Inigo had slept the night before.

     

    Hasir looked mournfully at the entrance and turned away As he walked away from the inn towards to tree were he tied his reptilian

    steed to, an everburning question ran though his mind, Who was that black-furred Khajiit? Hasir dismissed this thought a filed it in

    the back of his mind and would continue to work this thought out later; for now though, he had to get to the Whitefish chapel to

    discuss this strange happenings with Hircine. He got to this tree and untied his steed and, as an afterthought he untied his friend's

    steed as well. He mounted up and let the on his own steed as the horse galloped fast toward Whiterun; the lizard steed ran

    alongside it for a few miles untl he veered off to the right.

     

    A feeling of equal parts confusion and delight played on his face as he saw Inigo staring into a pool of water in front of an old,

    abandoned fort. Hasir rode close to him and dismounted,

    "Hi Inigo." He jerked to a halt and gestured confusedly to the pool of water, "Inigo, why are you staring into the water? Did you lose

    a sweetroll or something?"

     

    The blue khajiit shook his head,

    "Now, you know ... you know that black furred khajiit I was telling you about in the temple of kynareth all those months ago?" Hasir

    had to wrack his brain of a bit but nodded, Hasir told Inigo how he had a similar enounter in a dream he had a month ago in the

    hilltop monastery. Inigo nooded and said it was that khajiit who he saw in the pool a few minutes before. He also told the gaping

    Arogonian that it was the very same khajiit who had made the vampirism cure fail and it was this khajiit that killed Falion; but by

    what manner though, he was not sure.

     

    Hasir placed a scaly arm around the frantic khajiit's shoulders and led him to the reptilian mount; Hasir helped the khajiit on the

    back of the creature and he took the front, spurred the creature to life and sped toward the whiteriver chapel.

    The reptile thundered past the fort at full speed; while it was closing in on the route to the chapel. Inigo again asked Hasir why he

    had fainted,

    "Why did you faint back at the inn?" Hasir stared straight ahead and said nothing, "You know you can tell tell me anything, right?"

    Hasir nodded while his eyes remained fixed on the road as it stretched beneath the darkening afternoon sky.  "Inigo, you're right, I

    didn't want to find out about this as you might consider me weak."

     

    Inigo waved a paw-like hand through the arm while his other one retained a vicelike grip on one of the spikes that protruded

    outward from the rocky saddle,

    "Just say what's on your mind, don't be afraid to sound foolish my friend, let the wolf out of the cage... er... so to speak."

     

    Hasir took a deep breath as he decided to take Inigo's words as truth,

    "Okay, Inigo, you got me, the truth is... I fainted because I cannot stand the sight of blood. Once I catch sight of the crimson liquid I

    become as stiff as a board and topple over like a tree in the forest."

     

    Inigo's forehead creased; He could not fathom why Hasir couldn't stand the sight of blood but his wolf had no problem with blood,

    "My friend... er, Hasir, why do you and your wolf not share the same shortcomings?"

     

    Hasir did not respond for the longest time as he was still manuevering the beast through the fields by the river. Inigo squealed with

    fright as the white horseheads came ever closer. He yelled for the Argonian to stop but the cruel sense of purpose made Hasir ignore

    Inigo's frantic yelling, which was even harder to hear because his hands covered his mouth.

     

    Hasir's train of thought got momentarily derailed as he looked at the khajiit in suprised shock,

    "Who in Tamriel told you that? I don't remember telling you about my... condition."

     

    Inigo told the shocked Argonian that he smelled the wolf on him. He said that being blind, or partially blind and partially deaf in one

    ears left him with a nose heightened past than that of normal khajiit. Hasir laughed and punched Inigo in the stomach, causing him

    to groan,

    "Okay, stop pulling my tail Ingo," He said smiling slyly, "Come on, how did you really know?" 

    Ingo shook his head, signaling that he wasn't joking. Hasir eyed him with suspision,

    "By Hircine, you're not joking, ok now I feel like a stupid hatchling." He said with a slight titter 

     

    Hasir glanced skyward as he sighed,

    "Well Inigo, I guess you will see tonight; As for why Twilight does not share my aversion of blood, I have no easy answer." He said

     

    Hasir felt the transformation begin as he fumbled in his bag for the ring of Hircine. He felt cool metal with his clawed hand, which

    was shaking terribly as the transformation casued his whole body to shake. The Argonian managed to jammed the ring on his

    shaking hand; the eyes of the wolfhead shone bloodred and the shaking stopped.

     

    Inigo looked comprehensively at the Argonian, who just moments before had been shaking uncontrollably and then gestured to the

    ring,

    "What in Oblivion happened, is that a magical ring, or does it somehow cancel out the moon?"

     

    The Argonian leaned against the white steeled chapel exterior, held up hiis finger with the wolfhead stilll shining and told Inigo, who

    had leant next to him about the influence of the moon on lycanthropes,

    "See this?" He said, brandishing the ring, "This is called the ring of Hircine, its purpose is to help lycanthropes gain control over the

    beast that yearns to be let out once the moon rises." Hasir laughed at the khajiit's dumbstruck expression, he knew that the khajiit

    was about to ask some stupid question about werewolves and the full moon.

     

    Hasir shook his head in surprise,

    "Inigo, certain werewolves do not need the full moon to transform. This ring causes even those werewolves, the kind that I am, to

    control their transformations and the ensuing bloodlust,

    "Come on Inigo, better not keep Hircine waiting, he will be pleased to see these totems," He gestured to his bag, "with any luck he

    will either make me a full companion or remove my force wolf form and restore my werewolf form or, at the very least tell me who or

    what can reverse the curse placed upon me.

    Inigo followed Hasir inside and down the white marble steps. The Argonian withdrew the iron sword for its sheat and pricked by

    himself and the khajiit. Inigo looked at him skeptically. Hasir smiled weakly,

    "This is the only way to enter the chapel and as I cannot yet transform at will... this is the next best thing." Inigo asked him we he

    had to give a blood tribute as well. Hasir shot him a fertive glance and told him to just put his hand up to the stone. 

     

    The statue accepted Hasir's blood and granted him entrance but stayed solid went Inigo attempted to follow him,

    "Erm... Hasir, I think there is something wrong  with this door... it... won't... budge." The frustrated khajiit said, slamming his body

    repeatedly against the door. Inigo tried to pry the door opened with his claws but no matter what he tried, the wall stayed solid and

    immovable.

     

    Inigo called out to Hasir from the door hoping against hope that the wall was thin enough to make the khajiit heard,

    "Hasir, I don't know what I did, but the door will not open for me."" He heard rumpling as he knew the concerned Argonian let him in

    by pressing his open palm against the other side of the door. The khajiit flung himself onto the floor of the cathedral as the

    door slid closed behind him. He got up to expect a warm welcome, instead the inhabitants who were in the middle of a prayer to

    Hircine and Kynareth looked up and turned toward Inigo.

     

    Aela got up and waled toward Inigo with her hand =s on her hips,

    "Inigo, I should cast you from the companions for what you did!"

     

    The khajiit furrowed his eyebrows,

    "Nice to meet you too." He said, jokingly

     

    Kodlak stepped out of the deer-antlered bench just in time to see Aela fling herself, teeth bared an hands formed into fists, at the khajiit

    who had shrieked in terror and dived behind the shrine to Hircine. Kodlak rushed to the khajiit's aid and helped him to his feet,

    "Aela, what are you doing? you should focus more on a person's inner appearance and less on their outward appearance."

     

    Aela opened her mouth to protest but Kodlak's owlish stare shut her down. She resigned to the fact that the old man held the right

    to accept anyone into both the companions and the church of the wild hunt no matter their race, divine alliances or what disease

    they are afflicted with.

     

    Aela shook her head in sheer disebelief that the harbinger could either be this stupid or completely disregard the guidlines he helped

    to build,

    "I'm sorry harbinger, have you not noticed that a non-lycanthrope invaded our sacred 'werewolves only' space? She flung her fiery

    head back and barked a laugh, oh, that's right, you are too busy with this 'accept everyone' crap to even care."

     

    She looked disdainfully at the male khajiit,

    "If it were up to me, he would be gutted with my weapon and his head cut off." She said, rather coldly.

     

    Hearing this, Inigo made to grab Aela's throat as he did not much like her making fun of him when weeks ago, they had been jovial

    to one another, even going so far as seeing each other as lovers. Kodlak and Hasir intervened; Kodlak holding Aela back and the

    Argonian doing the same with the angered Khajiit. Hasir told Inigo to relax; Aela, however, was still struggling to grab hold of Inigo

    despite the fact she was held firmly by Kodlak. Her fingernails repeatedly raked against the harbinger's cuirass like a wolf clawing a

    car to get at the person trapped inside.

     

    While Inigo was being restrained by Hasir, he was fighting hard to keep calm even though he knew that he could burst and lash out

    at any moment. Ingo finally broke free of Hasir's grasp and flung himself at the harbinger who flung his arms wide to prevent the

    khajiit advancing towards Aela.There was a flash of purple light which nocked Kodlak into a nearby pillar. Inigo, fur black as night, fangs

    bared advanced on Aela eyes glowing with rage,

    "Greetings nord, you know why I am here, yes?" He asked, pinning the female nord against the floor by her neck

     

    Aela's eyes went wide with fright as she stared into the  raw meat-like eyes,

    "W-w-who are you?" She stammered, "what the fuck do you want, you monster!" She yelled at him as she spat in his face

     

    The creature looked at her as its cat-like tongue slid across its lips,

    "First I am no monster, well yes I guess I am, but, My lord sent me to find the descendants of Inga Wolfheart so I can kill that

    person." He said, grinning evilly, "if I do this, my lord will reward me greatly and advance his plans." He pondered on Aela's second

    question, "My name is not impoortant, you may call me the Doomstrider."

     

    Aela spat at him again as she attempted to push him off of her,

    "What do you mean 'plan?' Just who the fuck is your lord?" She yelled, spittle plastering the khajiit's grinning face

     

    The khajiit told her that his lord is Molag Bal and also recounted the story of an ancient union of bat and wolf that Molag Bal

    unfortunately had a hand in and now, realizing his mistake, he wants to purge Tamriel of all those who he deems impure so he can

    retain the purity of his creations.

     

    Hasirr rushed over to Aela who was spread-eagled on the floor gasping for breath,

    "Aela, are you alright, I have not idea what has come over Inigo lately."

     

    Aela nodded shakily and got to her feet as Hasir made her sit on the bench to catch her breath; Inigo came over, sat down and

    apologized,

    "I am sorry Aela, I have no idea what came over me." He said head hung in sorrow

    Aela screamed for the harbinger's help in getting this beast off of her; thinking quickly, Inigo covered her mouth and spoke softly,

    "There is no need to scream, that monster is gone, calm down, ok?" He said, eyeing her with concern

     

    The female nord nodded and the blue khajiit pulled his hand away from her mouth, At least she stopped screaming thought Inigo as

    Hasir took a seat next to him and asked if what he had seen a few minutes ago was the same creature he saw that stopped Falion

    from curing Inigo's vampirism; Inigo nodded saying that like the Argonian, he also has a dark side. He told Hasir that what he had

    told him in the temple in Whiterun was true; the spirit known as the doomstrider had, in fact, latched itself onto the blue khajiit

    because it had seen true evil in Inigo, or the potentiality for it anyway. 

     

    Valhira raised her hands, called for quiet and asked for Inigo and Hasir. They walked apprehensively towards her,

    "Yes, you called for us?" They both asked, confused looks on their faces

     

    Valhira nodded and gestured to the shrine of the wolflord near the back of the temple which was surrounded by three inward-facing

    benches, each decorated like the benches that faced the altar,

    "Hircine would like a word with you too." She said, a slight sneer spreading across her feline face

     

    Hasir was overjoyed as he heard this, "Finally, my time has come, I will no longer be a whelp." He said proudly as his tail swayed

    behind him; he and Inigo walked over to the statue of Hircine and sat down in one of the benches. He yawned audibly and, unable to

    keep his eyelids open any longer, drifted off to sleep.