C.o.t.W Chapter 107: Nature's Fury

  • K'hairi led the way to the city stables where Inigo and Xelzaz waited while Hasir walked up to Bjorlam. The carriage driver turned to

    the Argonian and smiled.

    "Hasir, nice to see you again. Is everything ok?" He asked

     

    The argonian smiled; petting the horse's luxurious mane of black hair,

    "Everything's fine." he said, looking up from the horse's brown coat. "I... that is to say, my sister..." Hasir thought about this and

    decided not to breach the topic with Bjorlam. He asked how much a trip to Lost Knife Hideout would cost. Bjorlam raised an eyebrow

    at him and told him he'd never heard of such a place. 

     

    Hasir's tail thumped on the ground as he swore. He told Bjorlam about what his sister told him. He'd thought that telling him would

    make the location of the cave clearer to him; but after telling him, he was just as confused as ever. Hasir dropped to one knee and

    shuddered as his wolf gained control over his senses. He felt the familiar feeling of the 'wolf' running over snow, between rocks and

    trees as he neared a cave that Hasir had never seen before.

     

    The argonian slowly came back to his senses and turned to Bjorlam, who looked just as shocked as the khajiit and female argonian

    did. When Hasir spoke, his voice came out as dry and cracked,

    "Bjorlam, I saw a cave by a pond, with a large stone bridge seperating it from Whiterun. I also saw several rocks containing different

    ore deposits. How much will it be to hire your carriage for that?"

     

    Bjorlam screwed his face up at this rather unsual explation; he had no idea what Hasir was on about. He shook his head; clearing it

    of any confusion  and offered two alternate options to the Argonian,

    "You don't need gold, keep it, you have two options: use a carriage with a driver who barely knows where this 'cave' is. The second

    option is you can go thre with certainty and use horses, your call." He said as he sat back in his seat and grinned.

     

    Hasir walked back over to Inigo and K'hairi,

    "What do you guys think? Horses this journey and carriages the next two?"

     

    They nodded. Hasir strode back over to Bjorlam, apologizing for any incovenience they may've caused.

    "No trouble at all." Bjorlam said with a grin, "Hopefully you find what you're looking for and feel free to look me up when you lot are

    in this neck of the woods."

     

    Hasir waved back; beaming. Inigo and Hasir mounted up on the reptilian mount while K'hairi took the black steed behind them and

    headed off in the direction of the cave.

    The trio was silent on their journey except for the steady beating of their steeds' hooves over the terrain. As the pair manuevered

    through a valley, Inigo pointed out a number of rocks whhile Hasir and K'hairi had their gaze fixed ahead.

     

    Inigo called out to Hasir who growled and looked at the inquisitive khajiit,

    "What Inigo?" He snarled, forcing the khajiit to recoil a bit. "What could possibly be more important than us reaching our

    destination?"

     

    He gestured to the shiny 'rocks' and asked if they could stop to inspect the interesting rocks as they might have some use in making

    soul gems.

     

    Hasir turned back, slapped Inigo and snarled,

    "Inigo, you can sightsee later."

     

    Inigo groaned and followed Hasir and K'hairi down a cobblestone road the stretched beside the Throat of the World mountain. Ingo's

    horse followed the twists and turns of the roads until it came to an abrupt halt in front of a camp with wooden poles surrounding the

    camp which acted as its walls.

     

    Hasir jumped off his steed and hurried over to Inigo who had his bow drawn and pointing at a guard tower. Hasir's eyes went wide,

    waving his hands over his head as he ran toward the khajiit.

     

    Inigo lowered his bow as he raised a black eyebrow, wondering what in oblivion he was on about. Hasir looked at him concerned,

    "Inigo, you've no idea what our plan is. Put that away before you call unwanted attention." Inigo nodded and placed the bow on his

    back and the arrow into the quiver.

    Ingo fell back and followed the two Argonian as they sneaked to the camp entrance, glancing upward to make about certain that

    they were no guards on duty. Hasir, seeing no movement proceeded to the gate. K'hairi grabbed one of his bone spike and pulled

    him back. She had to stifle his protests in order to kept their stealthy pretense. 

     

    The female Argonian gestured to a spot a few inches about the pointed ends of the wooden wall,

    "What the fuck do you think you're doing mud for brains? Trying to get us found out?"

     

    Hasir snarled back at K'hairi and sneaked underneath the guard towers along with the khajiit and Argonian. Hasir was about to speak

    when K'hairi put a finger to her lips; signaling him to be quiet. Above them, two Silver Hand members; one standing on the wooden

    platform and the other sitting in a chair, his sword propped beside him talked in hushed tones, patrolled the wooden platform.

    "Szarthis, does anyone know if the existence of the fourth nature conduit laying under the sleeping tree?"

     

    The other Silver Hand member, a khajiit by the name of Szarthis, groaned audibly and shook his head,

    "Fjondil, I highly doubt anyone knows of the location of the supossed 'third' nature conduit much less the sleeping tree. For all we

    know, people only know of the one in Krovaxis and that secret is guarded by a dragon whom the Doomstrider has placed to protect the

    Welkynd stones and a piece of paper with instructions in which order to light them up; needed to activate the portal, at Karthspire

    camp and the Doomstrider also gave a special weapon that is to be used to open the icy barrier in front of the cave entrance to the

    temple at a snowbound barrow."

     

    K'hairi watched as the silver hand members walked down the steps and went inside the mine just off of the camp.

    K'hairi sneaked toward thee camp folloowd by Hasir and Inigo. She instructed them not to draw their weapons as they did not want

    to be discovered. Hasir looked back at his egg-sister and raised an eyebrow. K'hairi shook her head, signaling that they can speak on

    the topic later. Hasir nodded and opened the gate while K'hairi silently opened the other. While Inigo and K'hairi advanced toward the

    mine, Hasir went up the wooden stairs and his eyes fell upon the silver sword that the khajiit left behind.

     

    Hasir had to fight the urge to reach out and grab it but he knew it would cause him great pain. He jerked his head away in disgust as the

    scent of Silver assaulted his nostrils. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a wooden crate of weapons near the silver sword. The argonian's

    eyes went widde as he rifled through the box. 

     

    After minutes of throwing various weapons aside, He pulled out a steel waraxe and sheathed it. Hasir knew he only had three dragon

    scales on him and knew he needed to kill one more dragon to completely smith the armor the harbinger 'said' he needed. Hasir cast

    about for any animals he could kill to create the bits of leather he needed. 

     

    One thing stood out in his mind; what was the sleeping tree the khajiit and nord were talking about? He'd thought he would

    go see what the others were up to and would check out the camp with the odd name later.

    As he entered the mine, he found K'hairi and Inigo a short way down the tunnel. Hasir ran to them and stopped halfway, gazing at

    the mine. He looked at the earthen wall and cieling, as though they seemed familiar; almost as if he'd been here before. Hasir shook

    this revery off as he looked back as the female Argonian's sword sliced through the nord'sneck like a knife through scrib butter. 

     

    Hasir ran toward the dying nord and started to ask him about the third nature conduit but the nord's head dropped, lifeless to the

    floor. The male Argonian growled and rounded on K'hairi,

    "By the nature gods K'hairi, why did you kill him?" He snarled; pinning her to an earthen wall by a gate that led further into the

    mine. Hr eyes tried to avoid his, but she knew it was fruitless. 

     

    She glared in his blue eyes burning hot as the fires of Coldharbor and gulped,

    "Brother, the Silver Hand are evil! Can't you see that?" She asked, a little concerned

     

    Hasisr hissed soflty. He eased up a little on her shoulders so as to  not break her in half,

    "Yes... they are evil but... we could've learned a very valuable information from them." He said in disbelief. "like where the fourth

    nature conduit is, for instance or the bits hidden away in Ironbound Barrow and Karthspire camp. Now I am going to look for, and

    question, the other Silver Hand member, Szarthis." Hasir shot Inigo a disapproving glance; thinking on what the khajiit was going to

    say before he said it, "don't go killing him before I get a chance to do so, understand?"

     

    K'hairi nodded. He released her and lockpicked the cell door he'd thought he visited before. He sneaked down the hallway

    surrounded by mud and rock walls and crouched behind an upturned wagon and saw a tan khajiit with a map unfolded on a desk in

    the far corner of the mine.

    He heard footsteps behind him. He whirled around to see Inigo and K'hairi running down the passageway towards him. K'hairi, being

    true to her word, stopped and crouched beside her brother while Inigo rushed at the other khajiit; his sword raised above his head.

    Hasir made to run at the dumb khajiit but K'hairi shook her head,

    "Don't egg-brother, it is too dangerous, if he spots us, he will come straight for us. What's worse, he might even make Inigo's head

    roll on the floor like a cabbage fallen from a merchant stall." 

     

    Hasir turned to her and smiled. K'hairi's eyes filled with fear as her brother's motives became painfully clear to her,

    "If I don't do something, my last chance at questioning their motives might all be for naught." K'hairi stifled a sob as she watch Hasir

    fling himself at the blue khajiit, knocking him sideways into a wall full of iron ore.

     

    Hasir ignored Inigo's frantic protests and advanced on the tan khajiit, flung himself at the creature and positioned his hand over the

    khajiits mouth.

    "Be quiet Szarthis, lest you want me to end you life right here and now. Do we have an understanding?" The khajiit nodded and felt

    the pressure on his mouth lessen. "Good, now what In oblivion did you mean by there being a third nature conduit?"

     

    Szarthis gulped and cleared his throat. He knew that if he fled or lied in anyway that the Argonian would make good on his promise, 

    "Please don't kill this one." He said, horrified, "Szarthis was only under orders to dig under the sleeping tree. He had no part in

    the placing of the conduit. Maybe it was already there, Szarthis does not know."

     

    Hasir strode to the desk and picked up the map; it had three locations circled on it,

    "Where is the sleeping tree camp?" He snarled; eyes boring in the scared khajiit's face

     

    Again, Szarthis gulped,

    "This one heard his guild members taking; the camp is located a short ways from here." He said, shivering

     

    The crazed Argonian asked him if he had any other interesting tidbits of information. The khajiit nodded,

    "Yes, they also told him about a special weeapon that is stored somewhere in a snowbound barrow as well as a drawing and four

    welkynd stones at some camp. That is all this one was told, Szarthis didn't even want to join this 'guild', have mercy on this one."

     

    The khajiit looked innocent as a kitten as he plead for his life. Hasir eyed him coldly and snarled.

    "Sorry. Even though Id like to spare you, you are a minion of Molag Bal and, for that, your life is forfeit."

     

    He unsheathed his iron waraxe and swung it at the khajiit's head. There was a sickening 'crack' as the axe cleaved through bone.

    The khajiit's lifeless body slid to the floor. He looked from the body to Inigo still struggling to his feet, folded the map and pocketed it.

    Inigo got to his feet and walked over to the desk andasked Hasir if he could see the map. Hasir obliged and smoothed it out on the

    desk, Hasir gestured to the circled areas,

    "Okay, so we should visit this location first," He said, gesturing to a point near the watchtower to the south of Whiterun, "to see if we

    can intercept the Silver Hand and shut down the fourth nature conduit then we can tackle these two." He said pointing first at Ironbind 

    Barrow and then to Karthspire camp." 

     

    With that, Hasir folded the map, put in in his pocket and left the mine the way he had come, with Inigo and K'hairi behind him. They

    found themselves in tthe camp again and navigated outside the camp and mounted onto their steeds. K'hairi took point as both Hasir

    and Inigo had no idea where sleeping tree camp was. 

     

    They galloped past the camp and turned at right as they neared the fork in the road near the Throat of the World mountain and rode for a

    short way more up up ahead of them rose a fine plume of smoke that seemed to dance with the frozen wind. Hasir saw that the smoke

    was coming from a huge campfire. Sitting near the campfire, using a tree as a backrest, was a creature that, at least to Hasir and Inigo,

    seemed to be carved out of the side of a mountain; at least seven fet talll with a beard of mossy grass, wielding a club the size of the tree

    the creature lent against.

     

    K'hairi held her hand up and told that they should leave their steeds behind and continue on foot. Hasir cocked his head at her,

    "Why should we make  the journey harder for ourselves? We are almost there." He gesturedtoward a giant gnarled tree standing in

    the miiddle of an oddly purple pool of water, "Look, I can see the tree that I guess the camp is named for. Can't we just-"

     

    She shook her head in protest as she grabbed his arm and pulled so hard that he tumbled off of his mount,

    "No, we can't." She said, a scared expression on her face, "don't you know what that is?" She gestured to the mountainous creature,

    "that... is a giant. If he see you messing with his mammoths, he'll clobber you with his club."

     

    Hasir looked unamused at this and waved a hand toward the empty field,

    "What mammoths?" He said as he scanned the area, "Do you mean behind that big brown thing with tusks?"

     

    K'hairi nodded and told her egg-brother that if he injures, or kills, one of the giant's 'herd' than the creature will be on the offending

    threat like fleshflies on a bog blight. She looked over and saw that Hasir, having heard none of this, had sneaked up behind the

    creature and took a mighty swing at it with his waraxe. K'hairi bit her lip as she heard the mammoth utter a cry and fall to its knees.

    The next thing she heard was Hasir laughing as the big giant lumbered towards him. She knew she had to do something as her

    dumb as rocks brother was about to die for his ignorance.

    The female Argonian unsheathed her longsword and ran, screaming, at the giant. Her brother gasped and stepped aside as the

    earth shook with the force of an eruption of Red Mountain.  K'hiari sheathed her sword, grabbed the fallen club and swung it as if it

    were an Argonian's tail. Hasir gasped as the giant's head soared past his to land in a nearby hot spring. 

     

    Hasir and Inigo walked over to a pool of water dominated by a large tree as if it recieved nourishment from the strange liquid. K'hairi

    joined them and glanced at the gnarled bark and then to Hasir and Inigo,

    "I hope you know that this tree wasn't always here. Some legends say this tree was borne from a spore that fell from a floating

    island that dominated the skies of Tamriel many years ago, in the beginning of the fourth era. The island had various Hist trees,

    rogue ones that somehow broke free of the hist trees of Lilmoth in Blackmarsh. This tree must be an offspring of one of those

    rogue trees." She look at Hasir, who was in awe at the tree; almost as if entranced by it, "Right, I've no idea where this 'fourth

    conduit' is. We've got to find it before the Silver Hand activate it." She turned and warned Inigo and Hasir to back away from the

    tree. "You lot stay away from that tree." She sniffed the air and snarled, "I smell the foul stench of witchcraft..."

     

    Her protests fell on deaf ears as Hasir was not listening to her but, rather, a voice inside his own head. She gasped as Hasir held up a

    vial close to the bark as the tree began to bleed not purple sap as was to be expected, but a strange orange substance.

     

    Inigo sensed that something was wrong and ran to prise Hasir free of the tree's grip but was shocked to see Hasir's normal blue eyes

    had turned orange as well. His mouth opened but a voice unlike his flowed from his lips,

    "Ignorant fools! Did you not think I would not catch wind of what goes on without my ever-seeing eye? There isn't much that

    escapes my notice."

     

    Hasir's claw dipped into the pool, now riddled with the amber liquid. "I bet you're wondering what this is..." He said gesturing to his

    claw; amber liquid dripped from it like water from a stalactite, "it's a concoction I cooked up in my realm that enables me to

    control every being that enters it. Oh I can just steal their souls and be done with it but I hunger for utter and total control, not just

    of people's souls, but their minds and bodies as well." Hasir's lips curved into a smile quite unlike his kind smile "My aim of complete

    domination of Tamriel inches ever closer; I have azure plasm that dots my realm and controls mortals there and now I have amber

    plasm that enables me to control them here as well."

    Inigo ran toward the Argonian and attempted to snapped the suddenly power mad Argonian out of whatever possession had taken

    him over. Inigo took great care to not step in the pool filled with amber liquid as he tried to pull the possessed Argonian's hand from

    the tree. Inigo called over to K'hairi and Xelzaz who had just rode up to the camp to help them. After long minutes of trying,

    unsuccessfully, to seperate the Argonian, Xelzaz told the Khajiit and Argonian to fall back while he tried something.

     

    K'hairi looked at Xelzaz; fright enveloping her like a bear trap,

    "I don't know you. What are you going to do to my brother?" She asked

     

    Xelzaz called a spell to his hands; Inigo and K'hairi gasped as they saw the strange spell rotating around his hands.

    "I am Xelzaz. Nice to met you fellow Saxhleel. I am a lawman of house Telvanni. Now, please, I have to concentrate."

     

    Hasir's odd amber eyes zeroed in on the magical Argonian,

    "Foolish argonian, you cannot hope to match my strength! I am the king of all Daedra, they bend to my will. Even if you kill me, the

    amber plasm will spread and infect the trees of Skyrim and the death of the trees will, in turn, make the grass and animals die... and

    soon the inhabitants of Skyrim will follow. This is my grand plan."

     

    Inigo eyed his 'friend' with wide-eyed concern, 

    "Hasir don't do this, it's not you." 

     

    Hasir planted his clawed feet in the amber plasm pool, lifted Inigo off his feet and flung him toward a tree atop a cave nearby. K'hairi

    cringed as the khajiit's body hit the tree and bounced off, laying unconscious near the mouth oif the cave. K'hairi ran to Inigo and

    shook him. His head lolled lifelessly from side to side. K'hairi glared at her 'egg-brother' and went into the cave near where Inigo

    fell. 

     

    Once inside the small cave, K'hairi cast about wildly for anything that could either help Inigo or help them defeat the thing inhabiting

    her brother's body. She saw nothing except a black chest inlaid with bronze fastenings, a corpse and another giant. The giant saw

    the Argonian before she had seen the giant. The female Argonian dodged the giant's club, disarmed it and swung the club down on

    the giant's head. With the giant felled, she proceeded to open the chest.

     

    She grabbed a lockpick from her bag and inserted it into the lock. She moved it left and right until she felt resistance and heard a

    small 'click' as the chest opened. K'hairi took the gold and the five potions of Sleeping Hist sap from the chest despite her not

    knowing what the potions did. A few moment later, after searching the body for anything useful, exited the cave and walked over to

    Inigo.

     

    She shook Inigo and yelled his name numerous times but the khajiit lay motionless. Shrugging, she took out a bottle of the tree sap,

    uncorked it and drank it. For a few moment nothing happened but slowly, the world became both blurry and bathed in a purplish

    hue. She unsheathed her sword, nettlebane, and ran at the Argonian. Hasir saw this and flung her against a rock. 

     

    She got up, dazed and when the world swam into proper view again, she glanced at the empty bottle still in her claw and got an

    idea. She gathered up all the bottles of sap she could carry and poured them all around the sleeping tree. The purple sap flowed aroud the

    tree like a tributary empties into a river. She smiled as she saw Hasir's eye return to normal and hugged him,

    "Egg-brother! I thought I lost you." Hasir looked around him and asked her what happened. "Well," She said, "What do you

    remember?" Hasir told her that the last thing he remembered was holding a vial up to the tree as it bled an odd orange substance and all

    went black. 

     

    K'hairi told him that he talked about this 'amber plasm' as it was from a different realm. She told him he spouted nonsense about

    controlling not only people mind and bodies but also their souls. Hasir looked at her and gasped,

    "You mean...? No."

     

    She nodded as a tear fell from her eye,

    "I'm afraid so Hasir. Molag Bal possessed you." 

     

    Her looked from her to the small purple moat around the large tree,

    "That purple substance, what is it?" She handed him an empty bottle. He looked at it carefully, "Sleeping tree sap? Did that drive

    away the thing possessing me?" She pocketed the bottle and nodded. 

     

    Xelzaz's hands fell and the magic faded as he and Inigo walked over to the Saxhleel pair standing near the tree,

    "Shame I did not get to use my new spell, but at least you were able to find something that worked." He told her, smiling

     

    They talked for a bit until Inigo reminded them of their task. The three companions nodded and wondered how to get to the conduit

    located under the sleeping tree. Xelzaz prodded the tree for a hidden button or something that might open some passage below the

    tree and found nothing. Disappointed, he walked back to the group; tail dragging behind him. Inigo walked past him and pressed a

    hidden lever on the cave face. A sound of moving stone startled the forlorn Argonian and followed Hasir through the newly made

    hole around the back of the cave and called Inigo over to them.

    Inigo passed through the hole and nearly bumped into the three Argonians as they stood stock still and beheld a long stone

    passageway descending into the earth lit only by torches at random intervals in black brackets. K'hairi took a torch out of its bracket

    and led Inigo, Xelzaz and Hasir down the passageway; now lit with tons of warm orange light. A short ways on, Hasir knelt down and

    placed his hand on the stony floor. K'hairi ran to her brother, thinking his was wounded in some way.

     

    Inigo grabbed her arm and shook her head,

    "No, don't worry about him. He'll be fine. That is how he gets in contact with his wolf." K'hairi's face screwed up as she tried to

    imagine a great wolf spirit rising out of the Argonian's body. He just knelt there, eyes closed as if listening to the stones.

     

    Hasir's mind bathed the torchlit passage with differently colored auras: blue, red and yellow. Once the aura's faded, He stood up and

    turned back to K'hairi,

    "I got in contact with my wolfspirit, twilight, and saw that..." He looked from Inigo and K'hairi, wide-eyed and worried, "We're not

    alone."

     

    K'hairi shrieked and Inigo groaned,

    "We'd better go slow along this passageway lest we attract some... unwanted attention."

    The Argonian and the khajiit crouched and walked down the cavern. Inigo's nose caught a tinge of silver on the air that neither

    Hasir nor K'hairi had noticed, ran to catch up with them and told them of what he'd smelled,

    "My friend, my nose caught a whiff of silver and where there's silver you can bet that the Silver Hand won't be too far behind." Both

    Hasir and K'hairi cast him clueless looks while Inigo groaned, "Hasir you must know of the Silver Hand, and don't look at me like

    that!" He snapped. He turned and stared at K'hairi, "The silver hand are the enemies of werewolves...."

     

    K'hairi shot daggers at the khajiit, who prompptly shut his mouth,

    "I know all about them. Hircine's sister, Kynareth, told me. For Kynareth''s sake Inigo keep you voice down. We don't want to-"

     

    A nord hand flew out of the shadows and covered her scaly mouth and instructed his fellows, who soon revealed themselves, to

    round up the other Argonian and Khajiit.The nord jabbed the male Argonian in the back with his dagger and pushed Hasir along the

    length of the cavern. Hasir could hear the protests of his companions as they too were hurried along through the cavern.

     

    Hasir could hear K'hairi praying. He lent toward her but, the Silver Hand member seeing this, forced the dagger deeper into Hasir's

    scales. His screams of pain filled the cavern as the dagger pierced his scales. He walked on for about an hour when the nord forced

    him on the ground. He heard loud thuds next to him as the companions were forced to their stomachs and with daggers pointed downward

    at them.

    The burly nord called out to someone whom the Argonians and the khajiit could not see. A rotting white paw stepped out of the

    shadows and looked from the golden conduit which lay next to him to Hasir and grinned horribly. Hasir gasped in shock as he saw

    bits of flesh and fur hanging off of his rotting body.

     

    Hasir glared at the undead werewolf and snarled,

    "Faolchu? What? How?" He asked, half getting up from the floor.

     

    Faolchu strode closer and picked up Hasir's chin with his rotting left paw, and smiled widely. Hasir shivered as the stench of wet,

    decaying dog emanated from his rotting mouth. His teeth were corpse-white as they hung from gums that looked like they had long

    since detiorated. When he spoke, his voice came in a raspy croak,

    "Hasir." He said, bowing low, "How nice it is to...meet you." He said grinning. 

     

    He instructed the Silver Hand members to bring the Argonian and his companions to their feet. He waved them away and circled

    around the Argonian and his companions,

    "I know why you came here. You seek to destroy that which my new master, Molag Bal, seeks to create. As you know, his creation

    and my former master, Hircine's creation, mated a long time ago in an 'unholy union.' Now I know what you're thinking." He said,

    eyeing Hasir's screwed up face, "How can a werewolf switch relations? Well," He sighed, "When I was alive, I served Hircine, and as

    you can imagine, Molag Bal didn't seem pleased at this " He said, gloomily, "As you can guess, he disliked Hircine because he was

    cast out of Aetherius. So to get his revenge after hearing he was rejected again by one of his creations marrying a mutt." 

     

    He strode closer to Hasir who had to fight the urge to vomit,

    "I was sleeping soundly in my house in High Rock when a vampire sneaked its way into my bedchambers; smelling this, I sprang out

    of bed, changed into my werewolf form and went to attack him. He produced a silver blade and stabbed me." Faolchu shook his head

    in disgust, "That moron just laughed as I lay bleeding on the stone floor. He vanished just before I died."

     

    Hasir, K'hairi and Inigo looked on shocked. Not hearing this, Faolchu continued,

    "Just as I was 'going away' I woke up in a small cage in Molag Bal's realm of Coldharbor. One of his foul servants forced me to

    transform and gave me a choice: serve Molag Bal or die... again."

     

    Inigo was about to asked how an undead creature could die again when K'hairi elbowed him in the ribs. Faolchu grinned at her,

    "Thank you Argonian. Anyway, that was my decision. I chose not to serve Molag Bal. The vampire bombarded my mind with magic;

    so much so that I did not feel like myself and forced me to do such terrible deeds. Molag Bal wants me to kill you but, after much

    trial and error, I broke free of the vampire's mind magic." He swiped a claw at Hasir, who ducked; catching the silver hand member

    in the chest instead. He turned toward the other Silver Hand member and sliced through his armor as if it was made of leather and

    bite the poor high elf's head off.

     

    Faolchu turned to the machine in the center of the cavern and repeatedly bashed it with his long fangs and ripped it out of the earth,

    crushed it to plate metal and flung it at the remaining Silver Hand member. Hasir gasped and pointed behind Faolchu as the dark elf,

    eyes burning with the fires of Oblivion, who raised his silver sword and ran at the werewolf. Faolchu saw this too late and his turned

    and was run through by the sword.

     

    Hasir ran to the fallen werewolf's side while Inigo ran at the dunmer and stabbed him with his dagger. Inigo walked over to the

    Argonian, who was trying to staunch Faolchu's wound. He had no idea that the weerewolf was still loyal to Hircine, even after death.

    Faolchu tried forming words with his mouth but his hand fell from Hasir's grasp as his grey eyes closed, for the last time.