Hasir awoke the next morning to find the rest of the search party waiting for him by the door. Mere-Glim asked Hasir where they
were going. The Argonian hissed indignantly,
"Mere-Glim, do you have swamp water in your ears? We are going to rescue my grandmother, remember?" He saaid, waspishly
The confused Argonian shook his head. Hasir huffed in annoyance as he slid his hand down his face, "Hsss... Glim, I think you
obtained the hist's shortest branch when you were a hatchling; either that or your egg spent too much time in the shade." He shook
his head and asked if everyone else was ready. Hasir grabbed the map from the table and left the shack after the others. They
trudged thrrough the snow back to snowpoint beacon, descended the stairs and emerged on the other side near the horses.
Hasir mounted his steed while Inigo and the others mounted up on their horses. Hasir took the map out of his trouser pocket and
scrutinized it; he traced a possible path with his clawed finger. When he was satisfied with the route, he pocketed the map, slying
smirked at Aela while giving her a slight wink and sped off toward the fort. Aela just sat there,, mouth agape when Inigo rode beside
he on his steed that he rode from Whiterun and turned to the gawking nord,
"Ermm... Aela, why are you staring at his horse's butt like that, you're not into beastiality are you?" He asked, sniggering slightly
Aela closed her mouth and shuddered slighty,
"What in Oblivion? That's disgusting." She said as she turned to Inigo, "get you're head out of your ass." She said as she could just
see Hasir as he turned onto a cobblestone road heading northward towards Dawnstar, "It's just, with Haasir everything has to be a
competition, and I am about at the end of my leash with this." Crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out at the rapidly
diminishing Argonian. Aela groaned and motioned Inigo and her companions to follow her; she might as well make sure Hasir does
not get into any trouble or else he would be up to his scales in murky water.
Inigo didn't understand this and to add to his confusion he knew next to nothing about Argonian language and culture,
"Errrm, Aela, what does that mean?" He asked perplexedly
Aela shook her head and said that she did not understand either. She said, however that they had to catch Hasir; they shot after
him, hooves kicking up snow in the process. About a mile from where they had started, Aela's steed sped along Hasir's horse
matching it stride for stride. Among the blur of snow, Aela turned and grinned evilly at the Argonian,
"Hasir, thought you would hurry off to the fort without me? You seriously cannot hope to extract the mother on your own." Aela tried
to expound on this thought further but Hasir shot past her stationary steed. Aela could hear the steady drumbeat of galloping hooves
as Hasir sped ever onwards toward the city of Dawnstar. Aela spurred her horse on again and she galloped hard toward the direction
that Hasir went.
Hasir hissed a sigh of relief as he looked back and saw Aela's horse was nowhere to be seen; he sniffed the air and couldn't find her
scent anywhere. Suddenly, Aela's horse appeared out of nowhere, blocking Hasir's way forward,
"Aela, get out of my way, I have to do this alone. I cannot allow you-any of you-to get injured or killed on my behalf. If any of you
die for me or get maimed helping me I cannot allow that." Aela looked rather thoughtful and decided, in the end, that she, Inigo and
the rest of the companions were going and that if Hasir tried to stop them, she would be prepared to fight him.
Hasir held up both of his hands as if in surrender,
"I'm sorry Aela, but," He heaved a sigh, "I often put the egg before the egg mother."
Aela screwed her face up at this,
"Mind telling me that in Tamrielic?"
Hasir swore and slapped his forehead causing his lizard steed to snort in indignation,
"Xuth, I forget that you are not well versed in Saxhleel phrases. I said that I often act before I think out the situation thoroughly."
Aela, Hasir and the companions sped onward past Morthal and onward toward the city of Dawnstar. The city walls loomed ever closer
and Aela began to wonder why they were going into the city when Hasir turned to the sooutheast and confirmed the fort's exact
location with the map. The horses and the nagahide sped on towards frostflow lighthouse, the light on top shone like a beacon that
could be seen all the way from the city of Dawnstar. They rounded the lighthouse and went a few inches downwind of the massive
stone structure.
Hasir slowed his steed and dismounted it. The rest of the companions dismounted as well and beheld a small stone fort. The wooden
door was flanked on either side by a black werewolf head on a long, thin black shaft thrust deep into the snowy ground. Hasir did not
think much of the fort and voiced his concern to his other companions. Inigo was the first to talk among the companions who were
rooted to the spot, mouth agape,
My friend, errm my nose is not picking up any wolf scent, er, beside yours I mean." He said turning a deep shade of scarlet, "I do not
know if my nose even knows that this is Mai's prison," He gestured toward the small fort situated among aspen and pine trees. "I
smell silver on the air, we may have to go quietly, my friend." Hasir and Inigo broke off from the group and crept behind one of the
trees. Two Silver hands guards were patrolling the door making a stealthy entrance impossible. Inigo drew his bow, knocked an
arrow and fired.
The silver hand did not see the arrow and it struck his neck flinging him sideways into a nearby tree, holding it fast like a man on a
hangman's noose. He disposed of the other Silver hand member in a similar fashion. He grinned at Hasir's shocked expression as he
burst out of covering as he silently gestured to Hasir who followed him. Inigo slunk to the fort door and tried to push the door open;
it did not give way. Inigo swore loudly,
"Inigo, allow me," Hasir said as he reached into his bag for his supply of lockpicks. Hasir set the lockpicking kit into the snow and
unfurled it. Inigo stared in shock at the long, thin pieces. The argonian, seeing Inigo's shocked wonder, nodded, "Inigo, do you know
what this is?" He asked, gesturing to the
The khajiit shook his head. Hasir launched into an explanation of what the impliment was called and how it functioned,
"This," He said, holding up an impliment a bit larger than a toothpick, "is a lockpick." He smirked at Inigo, "The function should be
self-explanatory.
Inigo was about to nod and immediately shook his head instead,
"Sorry my friend, you might as well explain it againn." He asked smiling toothily at the Argonian
Hasir slapped himself in the face with the hand not holding the lockpicking kit,
"Inigo, are you thick? You place the lockpick in the lock and maneuver the pick to align it just right. If you did the process correctly
you should her a 'click.' if not, well we'll get to that later." He laughed at Inigo's face, "No Inigo that does not mean the lock will
explode." He said chuckling, It took Hasir several minutes to compose himself, "It means that the lock is open."
Hasir looked at Inigo and handed the khajiit a lockpick and probe,
"Now that you know what each one does, I am anxious to see you try it." Hasir shrugged, "don't worry if you break a lockpick
or two, I've broken my fair share of lockpicks, it may take you a few tries; it did for me."
Inigo crouched before the lock on the wooden door, inserting the lockpick and fiddled with the lock, manuvering the lockpick this
way and that making sure not to put too much pressure on the pick; he did not want to give the Argonian reason to gloat. After a
few minutes of many near breaks of the lockpick, Inigo called out, his voice hard to hear amidst the howling snow,
"My friend I have done it! I picked my first lock." Inigo said rather excitedly, tail dancing excitedly behind him
Hasir came out from behind a nearby tree where he feared the worst and grinned whole heartedly,
"Well, done, see I knew you could do it." He siadd thumping Inigo on the shoulder. Hasir crept to the first of the two dead silver hand
members and rummaged around in the pockets.
Inigo wondered what on Nirn his Argonian friend was up to,
"My friend, we've no time to collect trophies from the dead, have some dignity!" He said, dryheaving into a nearby snowbank. Hasir
looked up, saw the khajiit's disgusted face and flashed him an apologetic look.
He told the khajiit that he was just looking for any items that would assist them in some way-gold, armor or weapons; Inigo nodded
and bade Hasir to get on with what he was doing before the blue khajiit interrupted him. Hasir went over to the second silver hand
body and did the same pilfering of goods he did with the first corpse. In the end Hasir came away with three sacks of one hundred
septims each, two silver longsword and a silver bow with matching arrows.
He left the bloodied armor alone and, walking over to Inigo, he handed the blue khajiit one of the bags of gold while he pocketed the
other gold pouches. He also handed Inigo the silver bow with the matching arrows. Inigo looked at the slender bow which was the
color of the silverware rich people usually possessed and furrowed his brow curiously,
"Errrmm, my friend, if I take this bow, what will you use?" He asked, clearly indicating that the Argonian had no bow; that was until
Hasir smiled and extracted a bow with a matching set of arrows from his bag, "Inigo I already have a bow and more than enough
arrows." He said as he strapped the bow and quiver on his back, pulling the leather strap taught.
He gestured toward the door and pressed his finger to his lips,
"Let's be smart about what we do from this moment forward so no rushing in flinging arrows like a mad cat, okay?" He looked over
to Inigo who was busy firing arrow after arrow into a haybale with a target painted on it to test his new bow.
Satisfied, he sheathed his bow and turned back to the Argonian. Hasi's tail thumped into the snow,
"Having fun?" He drew a deep sigh, "Inigo, did you listen to anything I said or do I have to go over the plan again?" Inigo nodded,
lessing Hasir's displeasure somewhat. Hasir crouched and moved toward to door motioning for Inigo to do the same.
Inigo turned to him and spoke in a whisper,
"We will go in and attack the silver hand when they have their backs turned and with any luck, we will be out of there before they
realize what is going on."
Hasir nodded slowly and advised him again to not fire aimlessly like a mad khajiit,
"Yes, Inigo, I agree with you, we should attack swiftly, get Ocheeva-in whatever state she may be-and get out of there." Inigo
started to open the door but Hasir thrust an arm out, "Better go carefully," He removed his arm and he entered the fort after the
khajiit.
When inside the fort proper, the overpowering stench of silver met the Argonian nostrils. He pushed this away and began descending
the stone staircase. He walked as quietly as he could so he would not alert the silver hand members that were sure to be waiting for
them in the next room. He descended the first set of steps and then the second followed by Ingo.
Before opening the door, Hasir turned to Inigo with a worried expression on his face,
"Inigo, I-" He began but he stopped himself knowing full well what he was about to say would be foolish to say. Inigo looked
reassuringly at the Argonian, placed a caring paw on his friend's shoulder, My friend, you can say it; I will not judge you." he said
kindly.
Hasir exhaled sharply and relaxed himself,
"Okay," He said slumping his shoulder a bit, releasing the built up tension, "Be careful, Inigo, I would hate to lose a friend who treats
me with more kindness than the others do, mainly Aela." His voice dropped to a whisper, "I don't know what she has against me."
He frowned as he thought on this.
Inigo's mouth gaped as he thanked Hasir for his kind words as the khajiit thought he had no friends left after that botched thieves
guild job,
"Thanks Hasir, I-I needed that." He sighed appreciatively, "you see, over my life, I saw many of my 'friends' break ties with me, so
much so that in the end, I was all alone." He said mournfully, slumping to the floor by the west wall. "After that 'parting of ways'
happened, I traveled around the continent of Tamriel, I joined the Morag Ton in Morrowind." His face fell, "Not my proudest
moment, I'll admit but I did meet some people." He sighed, cradling his head in his hands, "Most people shunned me or averted
their eyes wherever I traveled and this happened even in the guild."
Inigo glanced at his feet and sighed,
"I guess that was because of my odd colored fur."
Hasir shook his head, trying to make sense of all of this,
"Assassin's guild? You told me you joined the thieves guild."
Inigo's brow furrowed and then smiled rather jovially,
"I, er, well, I joined the thieves guild when I was a young kitten and then when I got older, I saw a flyer hanging in Vivec City. I felt
hope surge within me and I thought I could right my childhood wrongs so I enlisted below the Arena district of the city."
Hasir looked at him with stunned astonishment,
"So how did you get caught by the guards in Riften?" He asked incredulously
Inigo got to his feet as he told Hasir about how the master of the guild, Neloth tasked him with going to a small camp near Hla Oad
because he had an honorable writ of execution out on the female Argonian residing there called Kassamae. Hasir creased his green
forehead and asked why the Morag Tong had been tasked with killing his mother.
Inigo stood up straight and yelled as loud as he dared even thought he was supposed to be quiet,
"I don't know, ask master Neloth not me! I was only his messenger khajiit." Hasir looked as if his eyes could scorch Inigo's fur. Inigo
was about to answer when footstep thundered from the other side of the door.
Inigo instantly wished he hadn't opened his mouth; this was punctuated quickly by a hard punch to the khajiit's shoulder complete
with a scowl of disapproval. Inigo decided a bit too late to turn tail and run; the door opened and two men stood there, one
brandishing a silver greatsword and the other a silver longsword and shield. They both were outfitted head to foot in wolf head
helmets, engraved silver cuirasses and matching gauntlets, greaves and boots.
The first silver hand member, a tawny khajiit fur with black line set deep into him brown fur and yellow almond-shaped eyes named
Jo'tharr turned to his fellow silver hand, an ashen-skinned dunmer named Verminial,
"Oh look a lost cat and lizard, we will have fun skinning you." He said, his lips curled into a malicious grin.
Hasir growled loudly at this and crouched down, snarling at the two silver hand members,
"I will be wearing your skin before you even think about touching me or my friend." Inigo brightened at hearing the Argonian calling
him friend. This was enough for him to unsheath his silver bow. Inigo watched in shock as Hasir dropped to the floor and
convulsion, through these convulsions he screamed like he was being stabbed by a thousand daedric daggers. His screams became
yelps of pain.
The two silver hand members laughed; feeling as if one of the Companions of Whiterun dropped into his lap,
"what a lovely surprise, the lost little lizard is actually a lost little wolf." He said as a twisted smile obscured his face
Twilight got to his paws, panting heavily as the transformation took most of his energy. The wolf snarled as he smelled the silver
greatsword before Jo'tharr swung it. Twillight swiftly rolled to the side as the greatsword came down with a great 'clang' on the cold,
hard stone floor. The impact was so forceful that it rang out amongst the walls of the fort. Inigo drew his bow and fired the arrow.
The arrow struck the high elf in the right eye with so much force that the elf was flung several feet backwards. Inigo smirked as the
elf's life was ended,
"Bullseye." He turned to see how Twilight was faring and realized Twight wasn't there. Inigo sheathed his bow and went into the next
room where he small stone ruins that might have long ago been an archway of some kind; He descended some more steps and then
he saw what he was looking for; he smiled. In a long hallway, Twilight was busying dodging the furious khajiit's deadly swings with
his sword. Inigo began whooping and cheering the wolf on as he sat on the lowest step. The wolf did not hear him. His had eyes and
ears ony for the khajiit that stood before his that was out for blood.
Jo'tharr know he had know chance of taking his prey in the cramped space; he made a horizontal arc through nothing as the wolf
effortlessly leapt back from the deadly blade. This process went on and on until Twilight and Jo'tharr were staring each other down
near the step that Inigo sat on. Inigo's glowing eyes went wide as Twilight lunged at the high elf's left arm and clamped his powerful
jaws snapped shut, like a bear trap that was slowly constricting the poor animal to death, severing the khajiit's wrist from the rest of
his arm.
Inigo's face screwed up with disgust. He had never seen anyone be dismembered so brutally before. His eyes flitted in horror
between the yinyang wolf and the khajiit who was yowling in pain while attempting to stench the stead flow of blood from the blood
stump. He watched Twilight snarl menacingly as long strands of saliva dripped onto the khajiit's silver cuirass. Inigo stood up and
hurried to the wolf's side, looking down with contempt at the cowering khajiit,
"Better not anger my wolf friend any further or you might lose your head." He sneered as he looked at the khajiit's left arm, which
was begining to turn white, "Surrender now and your wrist will be the only thing that you will lose."
The weakened khajiit got to his feet, falling to his knees once because of the massive blood loss. He charged at Inigo and his wolf
companion; face screwed up like a mad cat denied skooma. Inigo ran at the khajiit and was about to attack when he stepped
suddenly to his right. Jo'tharr sighed in relief, a false hope that he had spared him when a strangled, blood curdling scream made
Inigo's fur stand on end; the wolf had sheared through the khajiit's neck with his claws sharp as daedric daggers.
The head bounced across the floor like a grotesque, oddly shaped bouncy ball only to splatter against the far wall. Inigo turned to his
wolf friend, knelt down and patted him on the head,
"You are quite handy in a pinch my furry friend." He said, laughing heartily at his joke
Twilight growled at Inigo and turned towards the door, either meaning they needed to press on or that he did not appreciate the
khajiit patting him on the head as if he was his pet; this was not lost on Inigo, however, as he shrugged,
"What did I do, my friend, tell me please!" he Yelled but Twilight did not respond; even if he could, Inigo could not hope to
understand him. He called out after the wolf again but Twilight had picked up another scent from the room beyond, four other scents
to be precise.
Twilight backtracked to the stone steps and turned to the left where the scent grew stronger, so mcuh so tat Twilight began to feel
dizzy. He brushed these unwelcome feelings away and padded into the room. Twilight lifted his muzzle up and sniffed; the mixed
scents of silver and something that smelled like rotten fish met his nostrils. He inched closer to the source of the smell when out of
nowhere, a black claw swiped at the wolf, who deftly avoided this attack.
Inigo heard the sound of fangs brushing against claw and ran to his friend's aid. When Inigo entered the room he skidded to a halt,
his mouth gaped in horror. The owner of the white fangs mere inches from Twilight's razor sharp claws stepped out of the shadows;
what Inigo saw made his fur stand on end and even his fleas shrieked in terror: A black wolf a bit bigger than a normal wolf stood
there watching the scared khajiit, saliva thick as spider silk dripped onto the floor, pooling around its front claws which were black as
night and long and thick as daedric daggers.
Inigo started to call out for Twilight as the wolf had raised its right paw and snarled menacingly at the black and white wolf, but his
voice got caught in his throat as he stared into eyes as orange as the fires of Oblivion. Inigo wondered why this wolf did not stand on
two legs like the common werewolf. Inigo felt a silver blade whizz past his left ear as he realized that the wolf was not alone. An
Argonian clad in the same wolfhead helmet and armor he had seen moments before came out of the shadows followed by a breton,
also decked out in the same armor.
Inigo braced himself as the Argonian and the breton walked towards him teeth clenched and silver longswords gripped in their
hands. They swiped at the khajiit but missed as Inigo dodged out of the way with lightning-quick reflexes. The Argonian was one
step ahead of the khajiit and slashed the air with his longsword a minute before Inigo got there; the khajiit cried out in pain as the
sword grazed his cheek, leaving a red burn mark,
"ARRGH!! by the gods, that hurt, now you leave me no choice, I will feast on your blood." He growled in a deep voice, quite unlike
his own.
As he said this, his teeth became sharper, his eyes took on a blood red appearance and his fur began to turn black as coal.
The black khajiit leapt, fangs bared at the breton who screamed as fangs pierced his neck and was quickly dranked of blood. The
doomstrider flung the body at the wall, ran over took the sword and killed the wolf who had lunged for his throat. As soon as the
wolf drew its last breath and slumped to the ground, the doomstrider placed his foot on the wolf's corspe and yanked the sword
free.
He smirked evilly as he turned to the Argonian who had dropped his sword and began running for the exit.
Sensing the lizard's fast heartbeat as being fear, the doomstrider picked up the silver sword, ignored the burning pain and flung it
across the room; it soared through the air like a cliffstrider and pierced the Argonian, named Naga Qoa'ta or dead-fish clean though
his sternum,
Naga Qoa'ta looked at his chest in disbelief as blood pooled from the fatal wound the sword had made, said something inaudible,
though it might have been a prayer to the Hist and keeled over; driving the sword in further. Inigo half ran over to the dead Argonian
just as the sun was coming up and Hasir was returning to his Argonian form. Hasir got up wearily and smelled blood not to far from
were he lay, panting; he walked over to Inigo and looked down, he nearly jumped out of his scaled as he saw the dead Argonian,
"What the Xhuth did you do?" Hasir asked, eyes wide in shock, "Why did you kill a fellow Saxhleel? he did nothing to you. You
monster," He snarled, poking Inigo with a clawed finger, "How dare you kill one of my people in cold blood, what is wrong with you?"
Inigo looked taken aback by Hasir attitude,
"Me? This lizard tried to kill me, If I hadn't defended myself-" Hasir hissed scoffingly at this, "Don't give me that bullshit, you killed
him because he was a silverhand member, sure, I get it," He said eyeing the khajiit scathingly, "but did you even think 'I am going to
spare him because maybe I might upset my friend'?" He said, crossing his arms and turning away in a huff, "no, Inigo you did not,
so maybe next time you see an Argonian think of me, of my culture before you slaughter a Saxhleel. By Hircine you can be such a
fucking idiot sometimes."
Inigo swiftly turned away from him in anger but caught Hasir doing something out of the corner of his eye that Inigo found
disgusting, not only that but he was kneeling next to the corpse, muttering some sort of prayer to the abominable fallen lizard. He
exhaled forcefully and walked over to the forlorn Argonian and knelt down beside him, head bowed, even though his brain said
differently and listened to the Argonian's words,
"May clear water show your soul the way to the hist." He stopped, sensing Inigo beside him, smiled and continued, "may the hist
hasten its journey to its next body, whatever gender that may be."
Inigo opened his eyes and fixed the mourning Argonian with a confused look,
"Erm, my friend, why mourn for the enemy? They did not show you mercy, so why show them mercy?" Hasir's eyes bore into him
with such intensity that Inigo feared he might catch fire.
Hasir turned away from him and towards the corpse, placing two fingers on the dead Argonian's eyelids and sliding them closed,
"Inigo, if I killed one of your clan members, how would you feel?" He hissed indignantly at the khajiit, who quickly apologized.
Hasir glanced over to Inigo, cursing himself for his rude behavior, even though what Inigo said still left a sour taste in his mouth,
"Inigo, I'm sorry, it's just ... I am deeply connected to all Argonians regardless of whether they are enemies or friends." Hasir tried
to word this in a way Inigo could understand, "As I said before, we are all connected to the hist, but they are more than just trees;
they are sentient beings."
Inigo's brows narrowed in comprehesion,
"My friend, I do not understand." He said, shrugging
Hasir stood on a rock the same shade of grey as the wall and told Inigo how Argonians came to be,
"In a time before time itself, my land, Blackmarsh, was devoid of all life, except for several types of ancestral lizards. They wandered
close to the large pool of amber liquid that surrounds each hist drink and began to drink the sap, morphing them to a humaniod
lizard shape. Different region's trees made one single humanoid lizard. Blackwood made its lizard into a race of Argonian who had
feathery wings and tails, the Topal Isle's hist made their lizard into toad-like Argonians and the Murkwood tree made their lizard into
the kind of Argonian that the dead Argonian and I are."
Hasir finished his tale and turned toward Inigo, who sat, eyes wide in sheer awe and disbelief about how the Argonians were
created,
"That was... erm, rather enlightening my friend, really it was, but we have to rescue the elderly Argonian." Hasir snapped out of his
revelry and know that Inigo was right. He said something in Jel to his fallen comrade and followed the khajiit into yet another
hallway, through a doorway, through another hallway free of enemies and finally into a large room liit by two chandiliers that hung
from the ceiling a few inches apart. Every step Hasir took caused his nostrils to burn horribly. A raised platform stood in the back
right corner of the room; a cage stood on it next to the bed draped with a wolf fur pelt.
Hasir felt that same feeling of dizzyness he experienced in the room with the black wolf as he ascended the steps toward the cage.
Hasir reached out for the silver cage; but as soon as he touched it an unbearable pain, like the pain he had experienced with the
mirror he had picked up but this was not just a burn mark on his hand, what he experienced a pain so great that it felt as if his
entire body was on fire, He blocked the pain as much as he could; wrenching his hand free of the cage as if the whole thing was a
deterant.
He turned to Inigo and shook his head,
"Inigo, I can't touch the cage to pick the lock, can you try or are you a cowardly little kitty?" He smirked seeing Inigo's shocked
expression.
Inigo scurried over to where Hasir stood several inches to the left of the cage as if it were taboo and put a caring hand on his scaly
shoulder,
"My friend, I cannot touch the lock as I see no possible way to not suffer unimaginable pain like you had." He said, then noticing
Hasir's confused look he expounded on this, "My friend, remember, I am a vampire and cannot touch silver much like how you can't."
Hasir was about to ask what in Oblivion the black furred khajiit was that appeared after he had regained his Argonian form when a
glowing white portal appeared in the corner opposite the cage. Hasir gasped as, out of the portal stepped Ceralyne and Mere-Glim.
Both Iniigo and Hasir wondered where the Altmer and the Argonian came from.
Hasir's face screwed up in confusion,
"Where in Tamriel did you come from." He asked gesturing toward the muddy green Argonian and his cohort. Mere-Glim said he was
in Langley's house with the altmer when she had one of her visions again.
He hissed a sigh as he saw no inkling of knowledge on this in either the Argonian or the khajiit's face,
"Ceralyne told me that her vision showed a barren plane of Oblivion that was once Tamriel teeming with vampires and lots of other
undead." He strode over to Hasir who asked him how she saw this. He shook his head to signal not to interrupt him. He took a deep
breath and continued, "Somehow she teleported me into one of her visions, not the Coldharbour one but another one." Glim looked
at his eggcousin who opened his mouth to interrupt again; yet again Glim shook his head, "The vision I was teleported into took
place a few minutes before Molag Bal wiped the slate clean. I saw a dark furred khajiit threatening the citizens of Tamriel; his face
visible in a bluish black cloud, that if they handed over the two descendants of the betrayers, the only thing that led to the
'impurity' of Molag's children, then everyone but those that told him and his master what he wanted to know and were correct in
their story, will die but if they remained silent, everyone on Nirn, including the planet itself will die." He said in a gruff voice
As he finished his tale, his eyes suddenly caught sight of the eldery Argonian curled up on the floor of her cage, clutching her knees
to her chest. He ran over to the cage, fishing in his bag that he had set by the cage; removing a lockpick. He faced the cage and
picked the lock with no trouble at all; he smiled when the door swung open. Hasir heard a muffled 'thump' of a body hitting the
stone floor.
Mere-glim crouched down, felt Ocheeva's pulse and turned toward Hasir who stood in the corner of the room arms crossed, looking
thoughtful,
"Hasir, come quickly, she is alive but," He shook his head glumly, "By the hist, eggkin, her pulse is very faint." He said as Hasir
punched the stone wall next to the cage and cried out, whether from the pain rippling through his arm or hearing that his
grandmother was dead, or nearly dead.
Hasir's senses came back full throttle as he wrenched his right hand away from the wall, giving a yelp of pain; forgetting that he had
wounded his mended right wrist months before. He went over to Ocheeva's liimp body and bathed he in a golden light which
eminated from his outstretched hands.
Color flooded the elderly Argonian's body and her eyes fluttered open. Hasir looked at her and smiled,
"Nice to see you again." His face fell suddenly, "Erm, excuse me for asking, but, er, how did you end up like this? Who did this to
you?" He also regaurded her frail body that was not that way days previous. "You look frail, grandmother, you need food."
Ocheeva sat down on a stone ledge near the cage she was forced into,
"Hasir, I was forced into that cage by awful men, literally starved...almost to death so how do you think I feel?" She snapped, tears
trickling down her face. Hasir smiled broadly at her as if that insult went straight through him. He then turned and muttered, "you
need to put your wolf on a leash." Hasir gestured to Inigo to signal their departure but he stopped when heard something odd
coming from Inigo's throat.
The Argonian's eyes furrowed as he fixed on Inigo, confused,
"Inigo, are you...purring?" he looked for him to Ocheeva in disgust, "Hircine, Inigo, have some self respect," he said, striding over
and slapping the khajiit with his palm, "That's my grandmother...and besides it would never work, I mean, you and her?" He asked,
his face screwed up in disgust, "she-er-she is too old for you."
Inigo looked up and got to his feet, shocked that Hasir would even suspect him of such things
"How dare you accuse me of such things my friend!" He bristled. After a few seconds of shocked anger, his hackles relaxed and he
started stroking his tail nervously, "I was... just happy she was okay, that's all. Do not read more into it, please."
Hasir stormed over to him, mad as a raging bull,
"No Inigo, it was more than that. Hircine's claws, you need to get checked out by a healer because that'ss not what I saw, not what I
heard back there either!' Oh, by the way, what was that purring about huh?" He asked, infuriated with the khajiit.
Inigo was getting even more and more flustered by the minute,
"I was just, she makes me happy, I don't know why-but it is not a sexual thing, my friend, I assure you." He added, seeing Hasir's
angered expression. "I-also purr when I'm happy or excited."
Hasir laughed-a high, cold laugh that made Inigo's fur stand on end,
"Yeah, well, at this moment I don't give a damn why you purr! Why the fuck do you have googly eyes for my grandmother, huh?
think you can get some sick pleasure by looking at elderly women? Find another way to get your rockss off, you stupid cat! Leave my
grandmother alone, do you hear me?" He thundered, eyes burning bright with hatred
Inigo heard enough of this, he had no idea his friend could be so heartless and cruel, not to mention belittling. Inigo felt the same
force that had overwhelm him when he 'attacked' Aela overpower him again. Black fur sprouted while blue ffur receded and his eyes
turned a reddish color,
"Enough of you bossing this khajiit around, I will teach you some manners." The vampire khajiit growled
He ran toward Hasir, head down, intending to drive the Argonian into the wall behind him. The Argonian side-stepped the attempt
and spun around, walking over to the cage so he was right in front of the open door. The Doomstrider smirked and ran full force at
Hasir, knocking him backwards in the cage. The khajiit reached a clawed hand through the bars and held Hasir by the throat, lifting
him off the ground by a few weet. He sniffed the air, taking in the Argonian's foul scent,
"Blood; and not just any blood, you smell just like the Argonian who married that aldmer vampire, tainting the once proud pureblood
vampire bloodline of Molag Bal with your filthy dog germs." The Argonian struggled against the Doomstrider's grip, "You make me
sick. When I inform Molag Bal of your indiscrestion foul Saxhleel, you'll beg for the fires of Oblivion."
With those words, he wrenched his hand away from Hasir's throat, slammed the door of the cage and retreated to a far corner of the
room. for a long while, Hasir lay there, too scared to get up, too scared to do anything, least of all touch the cage, fearing it would
case him serious injury if he did. The Argonian got down on his hands and knees, ignoring the severe pain coursing through them
and began to transform. Minutes later, he stood near the rear of the cage, panting heavily.
The Doomstrider came ouut of the shadows and leered at the wolf through the bars,
"So, you thought you could hide from me? Ha! He pressed his face to the silver bars of the cage; he knew the risks, howvere the
hatred of the wolf standuing not ten feet from him burned hotter than the bars. "I could smell the stench of the wolf on you already,"
He wwalked around the cage, stopping ocassionally to leap out of the way whenever Twilight snarled. "How interesting that you
chose this moment to transform." He walked out to the wall to a weapon rack, pulling a large silver sword down; feeling the weight
of the weapon. "You know, I could leave you for the silver hand, but what would be the fun of that?" He said smirking, "after all my
lord gave me a task to perform and I intend to see it done."
The wolf snarled and growled at him; insisting that he was crazy. Was he also going to participate in the killing of the gildergreen,
thereby killing all other plants as well as systematically killing of all the animals that fed of the plants?" Hasir thought, he tried to yell
at the Doomstrider; he tried anything to make the khajiit see reason, but all that came out where snarls and growls. The
doomstrider leapt at the wolf with the silver sword, forcing the wolf the shrink back against the cage; Twilight yelped as hot silver
burned his fur like if he stepped into a fireplace full of white hot coals.
The Doomstrider shrugged and then jabbed Twilight in the shoulder with the silver blade,
"To tell you the truth, I always found my outside Molag Bal's sphere of influence." He said through gritted teeth as he eyed the wolf
maliciously. Twilight tried hard to get free of the harmful blade but the Doomstrider saw this and grabbed the wolf's shoooulder and
forced the blade in deeperr. Twilight yelped even louder as white light flashed inside his canine brain. He, however, fought the pain
and the urge the pass out. "Yeah, that's right wolf, I may have been sent from Coldharbour to eliminate your kind, but that doesn't
mean I have to blindly obey Molag Bal. I go my own path, one that hopefully that piece of kwama dung cannot see."" As he finished,
he put him foot on Twilight shoulder and kicked out hard as he could, sending the wolf flying and landing with a thud onto the cold
floor of the cage.
The doomstrider grinned, placed the sword back on the weeapon rack and retreated into the shadows.
Inigo slept soundly only to be awaked by the pitifful whines and yelps of Twilight a few hours later. The blue khajiit slowly opened his
eyes and saw the Argonian laying against the back of the silver cage with a three inch long silver wound on his left shoulder. He
gasped and ran over to the cage, wrenched the door opened, grabbed his friend and sat him down in a chair by the table.
Hasir seemed pretty pale, even by Argonian standards; Inigo grabbed a tankard from the table filled in with some mead from a
bottle on the table and splash Hasir with it. He could see the Argonian's tail swish weakly from side to side, Thank the Divines, he
not dead. Inigo breathed as the mead suffused his friend's scales, causing the Argonian to hiss weakly, in truth it sounded more like
a croak from a frog rather than a hiss.
Inigo had thought his friend's eyes would snap open to greet the khajiit but Hasir's eyes remained closed as if deep in sleep. He
guessed the hiss and movement of the Argonian's tail was merely a reflex, nnot a telltale sign of consciousness, even though he
knew next to nothing about neither the habits nor the unconscious reflexes of the Argonians. A soound made Inigo lpeer all around
the room,
"Hello, is someone there?" He called to almost complete darkness. He had guessed either Mere-glim or Ceralyne had summoned the
portal againn, but they weren't there; Inigo guessed they went back to their previous duties. The blue khajiit's orange eyes roved
the scene more carefully and saw, out of the darkened corner near their table, a tannish spotted tail flick out ffrom the shadows.
Hee smirked to himself as he got up, grabbed the tail and pulled it out of the shadows,
"Affraji, what on Nirn are you doing here?" He asked, trying hard not the chuckle at Affraji's pain expression
The leopard-like khajiit got up, yanked her tail out of Inigo's grip, and for good measure, stuck her tongue out at him,
"Affraji couldn't help but overhear that khajiit has a problem, She offers her services, if blue khajiit is willing to take them." She said,
bowing low to show her sincerity.
Inigo grinned wide and gestured to Hasir,
"Affraji, my friend here is hurt bad, can you help him?" He said, furrowing his eyebrows
Affraji nodded and inquired what the problem was. Inigo walked over to Hasir, beckoning Affraji to follow and showed her the bright
silver gash on the Argonian's shoulder. Affraji thought on this a moment and asked Inigo that they should bring him to her house on
the shore of the Sea of Ghosts. Inigo was about to ask something but changed his mind,
"Affraji, I thought you had a ship? When did you afford money to buy a house?" He asked curiously
The leopard khajiit crossed her arms and frowned,
"Hrmmm... perhaps there is alot Affraji has not told you. This one still has her ship, but she wanted a permanent home as well so
she asked around the city of Windhelm to acquire some gold to buy herself and her crewmates a proper place to lay their head and
tails."
Inigo's mind reeled about the many questions he had for her; finally he settled on one,
"Are we going to go to your house or your ship? Make up you minding you blasted cat!" He fumed. Affraji just frowned at this, not
wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing she did not know the answer. Affraji took a few deep breaths to calm her down, "This
one was just telling blue khajiit about buying the house. This one will use the ship as she has all of her medical supplies in the main
hold of the ship."
She uncrossed her arms and glanced at Hasir, "We can bring Argonian there until he recovers. Does blue khajiit know who did this to
him?" She asked. Inigo was about to tell her a white lie because in truth, he definitely didn't know who had done this; she waved a
hand in the air, signalling they had better get to the ship that was moored just outside the city; he could explain there.
The trio left the fort; ocheeva in front with the two khajiit bringing up the rear, Inigo drapped the unconscious Argonian over his
shoulder and followed soon after. Despite Hasir's weight, the blue khajiit carried him as easy as a hunter would a large haul of fish.
When they finally got outside of the fort, they found a carriage with a beautiful chestnut horse waiting for them.
Inigo hesitated for a mement, then pointed confusedly to the carriage,
"Ermmm... my friend what is this for? Surely we can walk there no problem."
Affraji looked at him if he was stupid. Did he really want to stop even few miles and do battle with the bandits they might meet while
on the road the lead northeast to Windhelm. Inigo shrugged this off and got into the back of the carriage as he propped the
unconscious Argonian between the seat and the wall next to him, and bending down to help the aged Argonian into the carriage,
showing her to the bench next to where he sat.
Affraji was happy that the stubborn khajiit finally came to his senses and decided not to follow his first course of action. The khajiit
told Bjorlam where she want to go, paid the required gold and climbed in the back, sitting next to Ocheeva. When they were ready,
Affraji gestured to the driver to whip the horse into action. The chestnut horse's hooves beat like a drum on the cobblestone road as
they ventured north toward the city of Windhelm.
