Darnand placed Kayla’s pack on the ground near them. Aravi dug into it until she found one of the larger vials marked with a healing symbol.

She showed it to Kayla. “Will this one be adequate? I think I saw a larger one towards the bottom.” She dug into the pack more.

"That's fine, that's fine. Look for a warming potion. I'd say it resembles green sludge, but my potions usually do. It has a red cork." Kayla's teeth chattered before she drank the healing potion.

Red cork? She saw a bunch of potions in irregularly shaped vials. Even with her improved vision, it was difficult for her to see with the deep shadows cast by the fire.

"I don't see any with a red cork, but this one is orange." She held the potion out.

Kayla gave Aravi a mock irritated look before taking the bottle.

"That's the one. Thanks Aravi." She held it up to the fire to better are the cork.

"Huh. Maybe it is orange." She pulled the cork off and smelled it. "Yeah, this is the one." She guzzled it's contents quickly. It would take a few minutes for the potion to start working, but at the moment they were out of danger.

For the moment.

Aravi watched and waited, seated quietly at the fire next to Kayla.

Inside though, she was far from calm. Kayla's alive! Aravi felt energized, it was like her friend was back from the dead. Her tail was twitching with nervous energy.

Kayla seemed to be recovering well, so she started to pay more attention to her surroundings. "How soon do you think you will be ready to move?"

"Physically, in the next twenty minutes. My armor is still wet." She felt on the inside of her armor for a moment. "With my armor still wet, the next hour or so." She stretched her long arms and arched her back, popping her shoulders and spine. She looked down at her left breast and sighed.

"If only it were true that scars were greatly revered in Skyrim. I'd be having men throw themselves at me. Look at this!" She pointed to the angry red splotch where the arrow had exited.
"Right next to the damn werewolf wound. I don't know how in Meridia's name I'm still alive."

“We aren’t leaving until your armor is in good shape.” Another hour. Not bad. She didn’t relish the idea of sitting in this cave for any longer than needed, but she wasn’t going to have Kayla walk around in this dangerous cave almost naked. None of her clothing would fit the much larger Altmer either.

Kayla examined her new wound and commented on its proximity to a werewolf wound.

Something deep within her stirred, as if it heard Kayla’s words. Gods. Not now.

Her own curse had been largely dormant, but every now and then, it had its way. It started pushing. It’s going to come out soon. Within a week, she would have to find somewhere to give in, or risk transforming and killing friends or bystanders.

Driven by morbid curiosity, she asked, “A werewolf wound? How did you survive something like that?”

She watched behind the eyes of her own beast. She didn’t know how someone could manage to survive something like it.

Kayla looked over at Aravi, noting the Khajiit's face was unreadable. Her tail was still, the end twitching ever so slightly. She was waiting for something. Probably her answer.

"Boring story. A boy I grew up with had gotten bitten. The moons came out one night when we were sixteen, and he tore up the town we lived in. He'd eaten women, children, men, cattle..." She sighed. "He was about to eat an infant after killing its mother, but I shot a fireball at him. He gave me this wound in turn. When I fell back, I had fallen next to a guard he'd killed, and by some stroke of luck, was able to get the sword out in time to put it through his chest. We were sixteen." She sighed again and pushed a log further into the fire with a bare foot, avoiding the flames.

"Call me crazy, or stupid, but had he told me he was infected, or he was already turned, I would've still been his friend. I was there when he got arrested for beating up a guard." She shook her head

"Nevermind me. I'm just talking. There's no sense in carrying around that story any longer. There's a huge difference in beating up a guard and maiming children." she pulled her knees to her chest and let out a frustrated breath.

Now they're going to get angry with me.

"Call me crazy, or stupid, but had he told me he was infected, or he was already turned, I would've still been his friend."

"I think I understand that," Salyan said once Kayla had finished speaking. "You look out for those close to you even if it's sometimes against your better judgement; just what people do."

Compared to Kayla's accidental lycanthrope friend, Salyan's own company approached normal, though the Shivering Isles meant that you couldn't exactly be choosy with your companions unless you wanted to be alone. As bold as Kayla's confession was, however, Salyan decided not to disclose some of the people she had made friends with; none of them would probably react favourably to the revelation that the woman who was her best friend practised cannibalism.

She had been wondering if it would be safe to tell anyone in this small group of Mundus-inhabitants she had met. She was pretty sure Aravi would react disfavourably, and that Kayla would be at best cool and cautious about it. Vera was still a struggle to read, and Darnand was the only one Salyan felt would be at all relaxed about such a thing, though only because he'd be too curious about the Isles to bother with being upset.

"Darnand," she said. "How are we doing for soul gems?"

"Call me crazy, or stupid, but had he told me he was infected, or he was already turned, I would've still been his friend."

"I think I understand that," Salyan said once Kayla had finished speaking. "You look out for those close to you even if it's sometimes against your better judgement; just what people do."

Aravi heard these words, but she wasn’t sure she believed them. She didn’t know Salyan well enough to know if she was being honest, or if she was just going along with Kayla.

Kayla… Aravi wanted to believe her. She wasn’t just talk, was she? The scars that covered the other woman’s body proved that she’s seen the ugly side of life. She knows what werewolves do. She’s always been so open… unless she’s an excellent liar… No. This secret says with me. The only other person that knows is Kharjo. She’s never told anyone else. And anyone that’s seen her wolf is likely dead.

Another hour. Perhaps I might take the time to examine those bat-creatures. Darnand did not recall a description that would match them in his Field Guide to Wildlife of the Southern Holds. He had to admit that such texts were sometimes incomplete, the authors’ intellectual curiosity often leading to their early demise.

From the look of the broken furnishings they had passed Darnand hypothesized that the Falmer had taken over this cavern system fairly recently. There had been no buildup of scat under the flyers’ roosting spot, and the large number of spider nestlings indicated a new colony whose population had not adjusted to match incoming prey species.

Kayla reclaimed Darnand’s attention as she recounted her killing of a friend-turned-werewolf. She seemed distressed by the recollection. Darnand felt the urge to press on alone into the Falmer hive rather than attempting to console a mostly naked female who had just kissed him. Such matters were far outside his area of expertise. He shifted his feet.

Salyan spoke to Kayla, earning Darnand’s gratitude. “You look out for those close to you even if it’s sometimes against your better judgement; just what people do.”

Darnand found himself slowly nodding his agreement. “One’s friends are the family one makes for oneself,” he murmured. “Affection and discernment do not always coincide.” Memories of dark deeds and impossible decisions shifted in that hollow place where he kept them quiet. With an effort he left them sleeping. He wondered if Kayla had lost anyone close to her when her friend rampaged through their village. Other than the involuntary werewolf himself.

Salyan spoke again.

“Hmm?” Darnand replied. “Yes, soul gems.” He patted the shoulder bag. “We have collected a fair amount of energy, but I am equipped to capture twice what we have acquired thus far. I should like to continue, when we are ready.” He glanced at Aravi for confirmation.

Darnand caught her eye.

“Yes, we should make the most of this expedition. As much as I would like to turn around and go to the surface, if we don’t fill those we would just have to go somewhere else.” With less help probably.

Finding Kayla alive relieved a great deal of her worry, but Vera’s eye still weighed on her mind.

"There's no point backing out now," Salyan nodded with agreement with Aravi. "Though I think that as soon as we've got enough soul gems we should call it quits; most of this expedition seems to have been nothing more than an exercise in us getting our backsides kicked. Though I suppose that, if nothing else, this cave might have run out of unpleasant surprises."

Kayla felt guilty. She stared at the fire, sparks flying up as a log shifted. If it wasn't for her being slow and getting shot, the expedition might have gone better. She frowned at her armor, deep in thought.

The chitin on the armor itself is very strong, but the arrow had just happened to pierce between the seams...any heavier and I'll have to wear steel, and I can't do steel. I need flexibility. But if I'm so clumsy, why not hide behind a wall of armor?

Another log shifted, snapping Kayla back to the present. She scooted Dawnbreaker closer and thought back to the Wobbly Goblet. She wondered how well Irvana was getting along, and if Westley and Ylenno had stuck around. She'd missed both Westley and Ylenno, and Irvana was a new friend she was glad to have. Abiene was very kind as well, and Kayla looked forward to getting to know her better. Salyan seemed nice enough as well, if not a bit quiet and guarded. But Kayla understood that. She was among strangers, in a cave, and there had been injuries. She was serious as well.

"If everyone agrees, then I'm with you on heading back as soon as we have enough soul gems. I think we all could use a hot bath." She made a groaning noise. "Gods, a hot bath would be fantastic. I will never take them for granted again." She pulled her knees closer and rubbed her calves.

The mention of werewolves had caught Vera's attention easily like a roasting piece of meat or the prospect of money. Apparently Kayla had encountered a werewolf and lived to tell about it, and even had scars as evidence. Vera could related. She's faced werewolves before, and had invisible scars. Not all wounds were physical.

Lycanthropic legends were just that. Legends. They were creatures so rare that most who tried looking for them never found what they were searching for. When one tends to transform into a giant murderous hound, there is no choice but to keep such fact a secret.

Kayla's friend was sixteen when it happened. It was rare. A good number of the infected are adults. Young adolescents and children typically die in an encounter. Her first transformation came at the age seventeen in her family's crypt countless years ago. It was a curse to become such thing as a young age.

As if I didn't have a thousand pounds of burden on my shoulders already.

The altmer explained what occurred between her and her friend and the aftermath of his rampage through the village. She's been through a lot and Vera could see it. The scars weren't just the ones decorating her exterior. Life screwed her over and she fights every day to defy it. Her grandfather's words echoed true: Grab life by the throat and make it squeal.

"Call me crazy, or stupid, but had he told me he was infected, or he was already turned, I would've still been his friend. I was there when he got arrested for beating up a guard."

Vera wished she never heard those words, for they forced her down and back through the wilderness of memories. Lycus had people who still tried to help him, to befriend him, only to be six feet under after their lives ended at the tip of claws and fangs. She wasn't any different. The truth was that those who try to tame fire will get burned, and those who try to befriend the force of nature will surrender to its whims, no matter how deadly.

Precisely the reason she makes no friends and forms no attachments. She wouldn't experience what she experienced the first year she was a werewolf. Never again. She wouldn't handle it.

“One’s friends are the family one makes for oneself."

Lycus was her only family. Her only friend. He's been a victim of pain and horror. He's had a broken youth and yet even though he was dragged to the depths of the despair he clawed inch by inch to the surface for that one breath of respite. He's been there and he's done that. Only he understands what she's been through and how to avoid repeating the same history again. Or try.

She looked at everyone and nodded, rising to her feet. "Lets press forward," she said. "No sense in overstaying our welcome where we're food to those who live here." Behind her helmet, she smiled as she walked off into the deeper areas of the cave. "Lets get this movable feast on its way."

"If everyone agrees, then I'm with you on heading back as soon as we have enough soul gems. I think we all could use a hot bath." She made a groaning noise. "Gods, a hot bath would be fantastic. I will never take them for granted again."

“You will have to fight me for the first bath,” Aravi said with a smile. “We are leaving after this, whether or not we fill all of Darnand’s soul gems.” She had intended on filling all of them, but after everything that has befallen them, she was eager to leave as well.

An hour passed quickly and Kayla announced her armor was dry.

"Lets press forward," Vera said. "No sense in overstaying our welcome where we're food to those who live here."

Vera lead the way and said something behind her helmet that Aravi didn’t catch. She didn’t ask the mercenary to repeat herself either.

They took the high path this time, which curved back towards the large chamber with the waterfall. They passed through another narrow passage, and found themselves in an area that looked like an old Imperial fortress. Cut stone made up the walls. A path lead forward and another turned right.

Keeping her voice low, Aravi said to the others, “The path forward goes nowhere. There is a timber bridge that spans across the dead end. I don’t see anything moving.”

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any.

Darnand followed Aravi and Vera, keeping his soul trap spell at the ready. If this was to be their last chance to capture energy he did not wish to miss any opportunity.

They reached an open area where a wall of dressed stone had been broken through. Darnand silently agreed with Aravi’s assessment. The foundation of an old fort. Someone has connected this cave system to the Imperial structure.

Darnand turned his attention to the building’s interior. A long bar stood along one side, and tables and chairs lay in disarray down the center. He saw no sign of spider webs, chaurus eggs, or the bizarre totems that the Falmer placed about their dwellings.

Aravi spoke. “The path forward goes nowhere. There is a timber bridge that spans across the dead end. I don’t see anything moving.”

Darnand supposed that Aravi would not be satisfied until she checked the dead end. Leadership came with responsibility, and Aravi seemed to be feeling its weight. He stepped into the ruined structure, glancing around and careful of his footing.

The chamber continued beyond, he could not see how far. Darnand stopped. It would be foolish to— “Hurk!” The breath left his body in a rush as he hit the stone floor. Something was dragging him toward the next chamber by the legs. Rolling simply pinned his arms in a sticky mesh. It had come from thin air and somehow trapped him. What the f—

When he spotted the creature, even his thoughts ceased for an instant. It was a chaurus. A big one. And he was being rapidly drawn toward its mandibles.

“Gods,” he gasped, flopping like a fish. “Look at those maxillae!”

Juice drooled from its maw and dripped over the jagged, chitinous fangs.

“Help!,” Darnand yelped. “Anyone, help!”

Vera didn't see anything moving either but she was alert for the slightest movement. What she saw of the Falmer earlier she saw none of it here. In the thick darkness the chamber was barren and seemingly lifeless and quiet as the grave.

This is pointless. Not even a bug to soul capture.

She held her tongue. She wouldn't give the group an earful of complaints. Some of them disliked her already. Rubbing salt in the small wounds wouldn't help. She looked around, and sighed with growing impatience. She stopped at her tracks and searched around. Darnand and Aravi were behind her, as was Salyan and Kayla.

This is going nowhere.

"Hurk!"

Vera heard the sound as soon as it hit her ears and she whirled behind her. It took seconds for her vision to adjust to the darkness and what she saw prompted her to unsheathe the blade from her boot; Darnand was being dragged away to another chamber by a chitinous creature. She only saw the front of the legs pulling the frightened Breton away.

The huntress took to foot. Frustration, annoyance, pain from her wound had inspired her to run faster than she should have. Even though she was cased in armor, she ran as fast as a person who was wearing a layer of cloth. Her boots rang and echoed through the chamber walls, bouncing off of them along with Darnand's scream. She pounced into the chamber to where the creature was.

She's just about had it with these pests. Anymore and she would go crazy. As if she wasn't already . . .

Vera tailed Darnand's flailing hands and jumped. Her leap took her over the Breton and right above the over-sized charrus. She wasn't strong enough to bring it down entirely but she stabbed away at the creature with violent abandon. Her combat dagger digging into the creature's shell, though her primary aim was the eyes.

She poked through the eyes and tried to dig her dagger into its jaws. Maybe she could ruin its appetite.

The charrus, having enough, released Darnand and moved with such quickness that Vera was flung off its back and to the sticky floor nearby. Her blade wasn't in her hands. It was still stuck in the flesh of the charrus just near its mouth.

Vera searched for her spare knives as she confronted the growing pain in her eye and the blow the impact her done to her.

The time needed for Kayla's armour to dry out passed quickly, and they set out once more. Salyan stayed towards the rear as they traversed the narrow passages and entered what looked like subterranean ruins. A cellar that had broken through into the caves, perhaps? It had to be; the alternative, that the caves had grown up around this ruin, was too far fetched for Mundus.

They stopped by a rope bridge, and as Aravi tested its weight something grabbed Darnand from nowhere, a sticky organic net that dragged him to the floor. Salyan gave a gasp of shock as she saw the stuff attached to the mandibles of another Chaurus, a gigantic specimen of razor fangs, chitin hide gleaming slick in the light.

Vera leapt forwards in a split second, stabbing her dagger into the beast's head. That was enough for it to release its hold and a jerk of its head sent Vera flying away. Enraged by its injuries, the creature turned to pounce on the prone huntress.

Plucking the correct strings on her lyre, Salyan sent a fear spell racing towards it, a bolt of noise that sounded like a pressed scream and a whimper. It hit the Chaurus, and it jerked bolt upright as if hit by lightning, casting about it as if only just seen some hitherto unknown threat and scuttling back into the darkness.

Salyan hurried forwards, drawing her knife and beginning to cut Darnand free of the sticky web.

"That fear spell won't last forever," she said. "As soon as it wears off it'll be back; we need to get ready."

Aravi eased the tension on her bow. It’s gone.

“That fear spell won't last forever. As soon as it wears off it'll be back; we need to get ready.”

She brought the bow back up, pointed in the direction the beast went. “Anyone hurt?” Her question was directed more towards Vera. Darnand seemed to have been lucky.

Why does it always have to be spiders and chaurus?

She heard a sound and she drew the arrow to its full extension. "I think it's coming back, get ready!"

Kayla drew Dawnbreaker, grateful that the glow was dull instead of bright. She hadn't quite figured out the exact mechanics behind the brightness, but at the moment, she was glad. The skittering beast was dealt with quickly, and the warming potion she had drank earlier was wearing off. She knelt, keeping her eyes trained on where the charrus has disappeared, and reached inside her bag, fumbling for potions.

When her hand closed around the correct one, she popped the cork and quickly drank it, coughing. she needed to work on the taste. Warmth and energy flooded her limbs seconds later, just in time for the chittering sound that signaled an attack to be heard.

"Get read-ACK!"

A drop of venom hit her cheek as the charrus spat at her. She hissed in pain and wiped it off. She tossed a light spell at it, hitting it square in the face. It reared up, clearly visible to anyone who wasn't aware of it before.

"Kill it!" She tossed a fireball at its underbelly, making it screech in pain.

Darnand scrambled to his feet, tugging at the remains of the chaurus snare. While he had been focusing on a spell that might dissolve the material at the expense of his robes and possibly some skin, Salyan had simply cut him free.

“Thank you.” He sent a soul trap at the fleeing creature. “I am uninjured.”

Vera had been flung to the stone floor, but she was moving in a way that suggested she was ignoring her pains. Kayla greeted the returning chaurus with fire. It reared up with a tooth-shattering screech and turned on its rear legs. Arcane fire lit up its shape as it skittered away into the ruin.

“That should alert the others,” Darnand said.

Kayla had been recovered alive, and their return route through the caverns was probably still clear. This wrecked tavern area made a good fallback position if they should discover more Falmer than they could take on at once. It would be difficult to tell Falmer from allies if he relied on life detection magic for his sight, and having one’s soul snared was an unnerving experience even if it was not wrenched away by the spell. He did not wish to accidentally trap his friends’ souls.

A moment’s hasty reflection confirmed that he really did not have a black soul gem in his possession. Still, it was best to be certain and avoid hitting them with his traps.

Darnand cast a night-eye spell and followed the chaurus.

The ruin included a tower that had likely sunk into the cavern system as the ground beneath it subsided. A gem in his bag hummed as he dashed up the circular stairway. The chaurus had succumbed to its wounds.

At the top the stone wall had been opened again. Darnand stepped past the smoking chaurus hulk and into another natural cave. He knelt in an alcove-like area, looking out into a vast cavern. He could see benches and tables, an area set up for weapon and armor repair, and a large, fenced in pit with a stream running through it.

Adjacent to the pit there were a number of flat-topped cages. They looked big enough to contain frost trolls.

“Interesting,” Darnand said softly to himself. “A fighting pit. I have seen such a place before.”

A quick fireball from Kayla saved Aravi her arrow. The creature screeched and retreated. The now familiar soul trap spell showed that Darnand was back on his feet, uninjured.

“That should alert the others.”

Aravi nodded in agreement, but said nothing. As their small group crept farther along, a gem in Darnand’s bag indicated that the chaurus died. One less to worry about, she thought thankfully.

They entered another cave, and Aravi’s heart sank. They were up on a stone shelf, and below them was a ringed pit with a fence around it. In the middle of the pit was an enormous chaurus. Eggs were attached to the walls around it. Smaller chaurus were in attendance around it. These at least were smaller than the ones she normally encountered, with smaller mandibles. A heavily armored falmer stood close by. Aravi knew from experience that it would be a tough opponent. One of their mages was nearby too, ice covered the end of its staff indicating a frost enchantment.

Several other falmer were in the cave too, but these wore the more typical loincloth. They would be a challenge only if they manage to surround their party. There is enough of them that they could if we are not careful.

She looked around at the rest of the cave. The first thing she noticed were large iron cages. They were situated outside of the pit where most of the falmer were. They looked strong enough to hold a bear or a sabre cat. A key was stuck in one of the locks.

The second thing she noticed was three falmer tunnels in the pit area. That must have been how they got in. The tunnels were too small for any of them to fit. It wasn’t like she wanted to explore them either.

The third thing she noticed was the scent of fresh air. There was an exit nearby. After this, they could leave and make their way back to Cyrodiil.

“None of them know we are here yet. We should come up with a plan and take them by surprise,” She whispered to the others.

Salyan blanched in shock as she saw the immense Chaurus and the gathering of Falmer that surrounded it. Her gaze darted over the scene for a few moments, taking it all in before she retreated back into concealment with the rest of the group.

“None of them know we are here yet. We should come up with a plan and take them by surprise," Aravi said.

"I can hit the big one with a frenzy spell," Salyan said. "Something that size would be sure to give the others a lot of trouble while it lasts. The only issue is that mage should be able to dispel it before it can do any damage; if we want that plan to work, we'd need to take them out of the fight first."

"Hit them at the same time," Kayla suggested in a whisper. "Someone count a signal, and Vera or Aravi hit the mage, and Darnand or Salyan hit them with the spell."

Kayla herself wasn't above jumping into the fray, but that was reckless, and there were others with her.

Darnand nodded. “Salyan, if you would cast the frenzy spell? I am certain that yours surpasses mine in strength. I shall concentrate on trapping as much energy as I am able. It is an excellent idea for you archers to target the spell-casters. Let us take a moment to find cover.”

Darnand positioned himself so that he could flatten to the ground quickly enough to evade the slower-moving Destruction spells he had seen Falmer use. He would not be able to duck ice spikes or their shock spells, and his Birthsign weakened him to magical attacks despite the protective charms he wore. The hair on his arms stood up in dreadful anticipation.

“If we are ready?” He glanced around to be sure that they were before drawing the soul trap to his hand. “On my count, let us proceed on one. Three, two, one!”

On Darnand's count, Salyan leaned out, channelled her magicka, plucked the tone she needed and cast her frenzy spell. It buzzed forwards, rage made sonic, and hit the Chaurus in the abdomen.

It shrieked, thrashing at its attendant insects, pulping several of the smaller ones with sweeps of its legs. Rising up an immensity of chitin and fury, it grabbed at another Chaurus with the razor curves of its mandibles and sheared it in two, yellow ichor dripping from the severed halves. It charged at a group of the Falmer who were attending it, huge pincers snapping as its bulk hit the loincloth-clad degenerate elves, biting and gnashing with berserk abandon.

“Three, two, one!”

The arrow she had been holding at the ready was released. A breath later, the falmer mage was knocked to the ground by the force of Aravi’s arrow.

As Aravi drew back another arrow to be sure the mage was finished, the enormous chaurus Salyan frenzied saved her the effort by putting one of its legs through the mage’s abdomen. She eased the pressure on her bowstring and watched a moment. It was too soon to tell where she should send her arrows.

Kayla watched in silent glee as her suggestion was turned into a reality. She clapped Salyan on the back, grinning.

"You're a genius with that instrument! Aravi! You're a godsdamned dead-eye!" She surveyed the rest of the cave, the fresh air rushing in giving her brain more oxygen and lifting her spirits. She surveyed the cave while the giant Charrus thrashed about, looking for more victims. She nudged Darnand and pointed to a precariously-perched boulder above the Charrus.

"How much force would that take? I can climb up there and push it onto the Charrus if the group can keep it occupied. Unless someone else has a suggestion?"

Salyan’s spell hit the chaurus with magnificent results. Darnand’s world narrowed to the frenzied queen and her panicked subjects. Each soul trap must hit its mark at the correct time. Too soon and his will would stay bound up in the spell while the untargeted casualties mounted. Too late and the soul’s energy was already released and wasted. He slipped into his battle state, all concerns set aside as he focused on the task at hand.

Someone gave him a nudge.

“How much force would that take? I can climb up there and push it onto the Charrus if the group can keep it occupied. Unless someone else has a suggestion?”

It was Kayla. Darnand blinked at her for a moment while he gathered his wits. She was speaking of a boulder balanced above the thrashing queen.

A gem hummed inside his bag. He quickly assessed the situation.

“I am no terramancer, but it does not appear from here that the structural integrity of the ceiling depends upon that rock.”

He blinked at Kayla again.

“That is to say, go ahead if you wish. Oh, and I should like to collect a few of those eggs when we are finished. As many as we can carry comfortably. We should burn the rest.”

A silent check of his magicka reserve informed Darnand that he was low, and the floating sensation in his head was a sign he should not consume any more potions. The big chaurus looked like she had some fight left. Darnand shuddered to think of finding himself in close quarters with such a beast. He prepared to trap her fading energy before she died. She would provide a great deal of power. He must not miss.

Vera held her hand above her helmet, her head one big annoying daze. The creature scurried off into the tunnels and Darnand was right behind it after the overgrown insect. The group went after it and she trailed behind them like a wounded pup.

Whatever those giant bats bones were made off, it wasn't a natural element. She wasn't healing naturally like she should have. Steel, iron and mundane metals could cut her but they would close. Silver, daedric or otherwise . . . that's something different.

Vera looked down on her fingers. When these turn into claws, they are just as strong as any enchanted weapon. Perhaps the bat's winged talons are too?

She reached the end of the tunnel to see the enormous beast and her nest, with Falmer in their company. Aravi whispered of a plan. Salyan voted to put the creature's mind into a frenzied state. Darnand suggested they take cover and concentrate their arrows on the mage, who's arcane abilities could dispel the Imperial's.

What captured her interest was that the area had cages made for large beasts . . . sort of how she remembered Lycus telling her when he was once detained in his wolf form. It was meant to contain large predators. Opposite of it was an area made to hold weapons. Nothing these gangrel pests could come up with. It was made by intelligent people . . .

Like humans.

Aravi took out the mage, Darnand cast his spells and Salyan did her work. After the damage was done, Kayla proposed to push a boulder located high above the charrus, inquiring about how much would it take.

Vera didn't wait. "I'll do it."

If anyone had the strength, she had. Sure, her counterpart could battle a sabrecat barehanded and hold off a tree trunk from crushing him in a rainstorm. But she had the strength of three men combined. She could do it.

It was the least she could do.

Vera jumped into a full run as the charrus continued to screech about. She jumped and climbed to where the boulder was. It didn't seem too heavy. But she didn't waste anytime pondering on the exact weight. With the group busy and the charrus still at large, there was no time for subtlety.

Vera stretched her arms and clawed at the stone with both her hand and began to push. She took one step forward, and then another, and another. Straining with all of her strength and the enormous boulder began to move and roll.

As ever, she was in a world of pain. The pressure seemed to rise to her head and she felt her eye hurt even more.

I need to heal. I need to fix this right away.

With one heavy shove, she pushed the large rock onto the gargantuan creature. The stone crashed, crushing the charrus to the floor. Vera heard the wonderful music of rock crushing insect, almost like how she use to run around stomping grasshoppers as a child. The charrus didn't make so much as another sound.

"Okay!" Vera shouted, trying to blink away the pain behind her helmet. "The six-legged son of a bitch is dead."

The boulder Kayla spotted came crashing down on the giant chaurus. The creature’s tough chitin would have turned aside their weapons, but it was no match for the crushing weight of the rock. With a final screech, its movements ceased.

That went a lot better than I expected. Considering how events went before this.

She held her bow for a moment longer, waiting for any sign of movement. When there was none, the arrow returned to its quiver, and the bow was replaced by a dagger.

“Darnand, how many did you get filled?”

The one frenzy spell was surprisingly effective, sending the huge chaurus rampaging through its lesser brethren, and the sniping of Aravi and Darnand's spellcasting was enough to thin their ranks before Vera somehow gathered together the strength to shove an entire rock on top of the giant insect. After that, the chamber fell silent, charnal stillness filling the room.

"Well," Salyan said after a few moments. "That went better than expected."

"Darnand, how many did you get filled?" Aravi asked.

"It have better have been enough," Salyan added. "Otherwise I will not be happy."

The huntress' arms trembled, her eye bulged, her stomach felt weak and still her body endured. Her mind, however, was flirting with thoughts of the hunt. As Aravi exchanged words with Darnand, and Salyan expressing her impatience, Vera turned her attention to one corner of the chamber.

Her ears naturally perked up, picking up faint sounds in the close distance along the caverns. She didn't think the group heard it, but she did loud and clear. Without saying a word to the others, she took the liberty to investigate further. She did so by pacing around, looking at the ground and "investigating" the dead inhabitants. But as she got closer to one of the tunnels she was able to discern voices. Voices that belonged to men and women, not creatures.

"I'm telling you. I heard it. It sounded like a woman to me and a man screaming."

" . . . That means those pale goblins are dead?"

"Don't know. But whoever is in there we'll take em' out. We got more folks this time."

"As long as I get a good percentage off of our next target."

"Shut up. We want to be the ones who surprise them this time. Whatever or whoever they are. What's in there won't come out."

Vera removed her helmet from her head and gently held it by her hip. The tangles of her hair almost forcing her to shake her head but the pain in her socket wouldn't allow it.

At least she had her ears.

Vera searched around the area, eyeing each cage, each table, cup and chair and an instant realization hit her like a warhammer. This is was an outlaw's hideout before they were expelled, she thought. Now they're here to take it back . . . full force.

Vera hurried to the mouth of the tunnel and went further in. Her eye couldn't see them from too far but she could hear the sound of their boots and their armor. It sounded almost like an army. There might have been a dozen of them or more.

The sounds were the same as when she was being hunted by the Legion and a very persistent man who invaded her sister's shop many, many years ago.

We can't fight all of these people, Vera told herself. By the Huntsman, I can't even do it . . . not in this state.

Kayla had a good beating. Aravi, as lithe as she was, would not be able to hold off all these men at once. Salyan could try and melt their ears off, but that probably wouldn't do much good anyway. Darnand . . . he can only cast his spells for so long.

Me and my partial blindness? I'd be on a leash at Hircine's already. I should've saved that boulder for later.

She would have the fight of her life unless her injuries were treated promptly; the pain was sapping her strength at a steady rate. Throbbing pangs spread from her socket to the side of her face, pulsing with every beat of her heart.

I haven't shifted. The full moon isn't for another two weeks.

Logic said: There is only one way to fix this eye of yours.

The Beast whispered: There is prey about. Did you taste of their flesh? Drink of their blood? Why wait?

Vera murmured: "Damn it."

The Imperial hurried back to the group that were just a few feet away from the back entrance of the tunnel.

Now, with the thought of hunt and the prospect of flesh, her skin felt hot and feverish, despite the chills that set her body quaking. She looked at the cages, and then she looked at Aravi. She's the only one in this chamber capable of doing what I do. She's the only one who has the gift.

But could she turn? Right here and now and kill her friends under the command of her hunger? She doubted it. Aravi couldn't do it. She wouldn't kill a friend to survive. I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to turn here either and kill them . . . I'd doubt she'd paid me after their remains are all over the place.

She had to admit they were formidable in their own right and they did more to help and much less to hinder. That, by right, meant they at least deserved another chance at life.

Then she saw the cages, and the sounds of the boots hitting the cavern floor and their distant whispers seemed ever so close. Time was running out.

Vera marched over to Aravi, grabbed her by the shoulder and pointed at the tunnels. "We're in a bit of a problem here," she whispered. "There are people. Armed people. They're heading our way and they won't feel a second's hesitation to kill us where we stand. They're trying to take this place back."

Vera's head fed her images of Salyan, Kayla, and Darnand lying in a pool of blood, with meat and innards . . . and then she imagined the bodies of the faceless bandits.

She took in a deep breath. She looked at two humans and the High Elf. "If you value your lives I want you three to get in those cages and lock yourselves in them. I want you to do it now."

Salyan's words echoed in her head: You look out for those close to you even if it’s sometimes against your better judgment; just what people do.

Then Kayla's words mimicked in the caverns of her brain: Call me crazy, or stupid, but had he told me he was infected, or he was already turned, I would've still been his friend.

Aravi and Kayla were close, and Salyan and Darnand were too. Ever since that friendly snowball fiasco, she knew they held each other close. They wouldn't reveal Aravi's secret, and if they truly valued their own lives, they wouldn't rat her secret either.

The blond lycanthrope turned to the feline, and with a much more gentle voice that befit one of kin, she said "I hate to admit it but we don't stand a chance unless we turn. Trust me on this."

She swallowed gathering puddle of saliva. "Channel your hatred, your fury and all your hunger toward whatever comes through that tunnel."

Vera slid off a gauntlet from her hand and tossed it aside by a rock. She closed her eye. She didn't think Aravi would refuse, but time was running out. She would rather kill them all than be a prisoner or worse. "Hircine, guide and father of us all, grant us strength, speed and guile. Smile upon our desire for blood, and sate it. Set me loose on my enemies."

A hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked, spinning her around.

“Hey-“

Vera ignored her protest and delivered the worst news imaginable. She looked around, and saw exactly what Vera meant. This used to be a very large hideout. Its location was perfect and the space in here made it valuable. You could fit a lot of people and material in here.

What in Oblivion are we going to do?? We can’t fight them. We can’t outrun them.

Vera had the answer for that too. It took Aravi a moment to realize what the woman was suggesting. She’s a werewolf? How did she know I was…?

There wasn’t enough time to sit and talk about it.

She turned to the other three. “Do what she says. Those cages over there, lock yourselves in them. We…” She looked over her shoulder at Vera, who was in the process of removing her armor. “We are werewolves. There is an army of bandits and outlaws coming. Too many to fight. We will transform and deal with them, but as beasts, we won’t be able to distinguish between you and them.”

That was a lie really. The beast could tell, it just didn’t care…

“Please hurry, we don’t have much time.”

Darnand watched astonished as Vera single-handedly pushed the boulder over the edge. By the Nine, she possesses the strength of a dremora! He wondered what enchantments she might be wearing.

“We have filled all of the largest gems,” he answered Aravi’s question. “If we come upon a nest of skeevers their energy will not be wasted, but we have filled enough even of the smaller gems.” He grinned at Salyan, relieved that the fight had concluded without the need for grave-digging. Or cairn building in this sort of place. “I hope you will not be displeased. Our expedition has been a success.”

Darnand immediately thought of Vera’s ruined eye. Perhaps he had sounded a little too jovial to one who had suffered such a loss. He turned to apologize but found her no longer with the group.

Fresh air drifted in from the back of the pit, but Darnand doubted that an exit would have been left unsecured lest whatever had been contained in the cages simply trot out the back door once released. Though it would be worth checking.

However he had a few more tasks in mind before they sought egress.

“Kayla, your ideas have produced favorable results. Have you a suggestion as to harvesting chaurus eggs without becoming thoroughly enslimed?”

Then Vera returned with death in her eye, and the world seemed to slide sideways.

Werewolves? Vera and Aravi?

Aravi looked shocked for an instant. Then she turned to them and spoke. Her voice had never sounded so sweet to Darnand nor had her features ever looked so refined. Werewolf.

“Please hurry, we don’t have much time.”

“One of the cages has a key,” Darnand said to Salyan and Kayla. “I suggest we run.”

Kayla's breath caught in her throat. Her mind flashed back to the memory of Domas running after her, and the sword in her own hand piercing his chest. She knew her face looked horrified. Darnand said something, and it sounded foggy. She blinked, then looked back at Aravi.

"Give me your bow and arrows." She said numbly. "I'll cover you from the cages, if any leak in. I don't know the plan. I just don't know the plan."

She was panicking, but she couldn't let Aravi know that. She suddenly gave Aravi's hand a firm squeeze.

"Be safe. Please." She said before roughly grabbing Salyan's arm and Darnand's arm in each hand and running towards the cages. The key was found on a nearby untouched stool, and they were locked in.

"We are werewolves."

Three words. That's all it took. Three words to reveal her most sacred, deepest, darkest secret she's maintained for many years now. First it was Abiene, now it was four others who learned of her true nature.

“One of the cages has a key. I suggest we run.” Darnand warned Salyan and Kayla. Vera didn't stop to see them run. She wanted her focus to be entirely on the prey that mattered; the bandits.

"I suggest you pray." Vera murmured. Yeah, like praying to the gods ever done any good before. "For those bandits, I mean."

She laughed, almost at her own strange jest. Her professional attitude almost evaporated completely, replaced by her typical day-off nature. She didn't think she was too fearful of a group of bandits. She's handled worse before.

Are you scared, Vera? You shouldn't be. Its wolves and sheep. Wolves and sheep. Wolves and sheep!

Vera loosened the belt around her waist and dropped it near the helmet. She slipped out of her heavy cuirass and set it aside, breathing deeply now that the weight had been lifted from her. She then bent over and unstrapped her obsidian grieves and boots and padded leggings, sliding them from her legs.

Around her naked body where bruises and small cuts and wounds that began to slowly heal with the passing minute. Her obvious injures seem painted over a well-muscled body of a warrior; her abdominals were decently but not overly sculpted. Her shoulders weren't broad to exaggerated proportion but visibly strong. Her legs, red from the pressure of her boots and grieves, were too strong for any Cyrodiilic woman of noble birth. But many years of running- both after prey and from hunters-conditioned them to perfection.

She didn't ponder too much on Darnand possibly eyeing her physical private areas. It wasn't her first time being seen by men naked. Anything wouldn't compare to waking up a morning in Skyrim's wilderness nude and huddled next to a long-haired male stranger with no clothes and an inspired manhood.

He fell in love with my backside from that day forward. Can't blame him.

She casually loosened her hair and caressed the yellow strands down to the back of her head and just as casually unclasped her huntsman's vest covering her breast. They, along with the other clothes, dropped to the ground.

Kayla's heart was beating at a rapid pace as she fearfully grasped Kayla's hand. She then ran off with Darnand and Salyan. Vera's lips drew into a grin.

Prey always run and hide in their little dens.

"Don't look so downcast," there was an optimistic tone in her voice as she directed her words to Aravi. She smiled, with a good-spirited heart, for what may even have been the first time to a temporary employer. She didn't want to think too much on her secret being unveiled. There was a time to complain and murmur about it later. As for now, she would engage in her ultimate hobby and way of life. Who says one can't survive and have a thrill out of it at the same time? She deserved a bit of self-humor once and awhile to help ease her daily pains. "This is going to be sporting. You like to hunt, don't you?"

Vera cast her head back, massaging her scalp and craning her neck to the side. "This will be fun like . . . " her words trailed off. "Playing in the snow with your friends and throwing snowballs."

Her tone was thick with excitement and an odd, peculiar playfulness. She added a slight whisper. "They'll be safe in the cages."

She walked off slowly, step by step, toward one of the corners, a bit further from the cages. "A shame they won't share our, well, at least my sense of fun but . . . this is something reserved for a select few."

Her own heart was beating hard, and then it began to swell. Her mind pumped in new, bestial thoughts that would overpower the conscious mind of a woman. Soon, her mind would not belong to her. It was a frightening thought. One she tried to cast aside by singing. Time with the Companions had that effect on one.

Salyan should play her lyre for me.

"Oh, there once was a few bandits named Outlaws the Dead Who came riding to Whiterun from ole Rorikstead! And the braggarts did swagger and brandish their blades as they told of bold battles and gold they had made. But then they went quiet, did Outlaws the Dead when they met the brave huntress Vera, who said; 'Oh, you think you're so tough and you're full that speed, now I think it's high time that you roll over and bleed!' And so then came slashing of claw and steel as the brave lass Vera charged in, full of zeal. And the braggarts named Outlaws was boastful no more! When their entrails and heads flopped around on the floor!"

It took three words, two minutes and one swift action on Kayla's part to completely rock the foundations of their small group's dynamic.

Aravi and Vera were lycanthropes, and they smelt trouble coming; suddenly the group was in danger, more from two of their own than the approaching bandits. The revelation from Aravi and Vera was enough to send Kayla into a full-on panic, and Salyan and Darnand were grabbed and practically dragged into the protection of the cages. Kayla locked it behind them, Aravi's bow in hand. She looked tense, immensely wary, probably residual shock from being forced to remember what she had done to the last werewolf she had met.

Ignoring the jokes that Vera was making, Salyan turned her attention to Kayla, taking her hand.

"Kayla," she said, making sure she kept steady eye contact with the Altmer. "I know you're afraid, but you need to stay calm. We're going to get through this alright, I promise you that. We will all survive this, and when we're done all will be well, but we need you to be calm and for you to be in control. Aravi and Vera will need that bow and they'll need a steady hand and mind behind it. Alright?"

She gave Kayla an encouraging smile.

"Come on, I know you can do this."

Kaylas eyes were wide as Salyan's voice, thick and sluggish, wormed its way into her ears. Why was she talking so slow? Or was her hearing distorted? Everything seemed hypersensitive, her senses overloading as she went into nearly full-blown panic.

"Calm. Right." She said, her eyes still wide and owlish with fear and nerves. Werewolves! And they're going to eat those men!

She numbly dug through her bag as she kept one eye on the two lycanthrope women. On her knees, she dumped a few potions out, the thick bottles clattering onto the bars.

Two wolves yanking on the bars might not hold...stop it!

Again she saw her sword, but this time through Aravi's chest. She began to tremble hard, her hands barely able to uncork the calming potion bottle. Some spilled on the front of her armor (A vision of Vera slashing through her armor and delivering a killing blow) before she chugged the whole bottle.

"Calm. I'll be calm. For my friend." she said to herself, though her voice wasn't quiet. What little resolve she had was slipping. Whatever panicking instinct had told her to flee to the cages was telling her to run the hells out of there, the opposite way.

For the first time since she was sixteen, Kayla was truly afraid of, and for someone she loved.

Darnand examined their cage from the inside, probing for weak points that a cave bear would have missed but an intelligent being might exploit. The hinges and locks seemed exceptionally solid. Even the metal floor was part of the cage. The knowledge did not stop his heart from pounding. What we are about to witness few have survived to describe.

Salyan spoke to Kayla in a calm tone. Darnand realized that their Elven friend was experiencing an attack of panic. His mind leapt immediately to the key to their cage. If Kayla let herself out they would all be killed. He expected that both of the werewolves would receive grievous wounds, since the situation seemed so dire that Vera had been willing to expose her condition. One or both of them might not recover. He knew little about lycanthropy or daedric healing. Darnand made himself accept the worst so that if it occurred he would have the strength to face it. He had no idea how to impart his resolve to Kayla.

Kayla dropped to her knees, dumping potions bottles onto the ground. She gulped a potion.

Darnand murmured to Salyan. “If anyone should approach our little fortress… that is to say any of the approaching mob… do you know a spell to immobilize them? Even if Kayla and I were to fall under it, I should think that would be preferable to, say, leaving the cage too early.” He gave her a significant glance before looking away.

“My magicka is spent,” he continued. “Kayla, do you have any poison of paralysis? Perhaps we might prepare a few arrows for you. Or even a dagger I might use should anyone reach through the bars. I believe we must trust in Aravi and Vera to look after themselves now. Our best way of helping them is to secure our own safety.”

Curiosity made his head burn, but Darnand kept his eyes away from Vera and Aravi as they prepared to transform. He knew Aravi to be a private person. Though modesty was certainly among the least of their concerns, at the moment it was the only thing he could offer.

He kept his voice even. “To that end, who has the key?”

Darnand’s face was neutral, a mask. She expected that from him. Kayla’s face however showed horror. She told herself it was a perfectly normal reaction to news like this. It made her feel sick. Salyan’s expression was similar to Darnand’s. Aravi couldn’t guess at what she was thinking. Kayla asked for her bow and quiver, and she wordlessly handed them over.

“Be safe. Please.”

“You too. Don’t open the door, no matter what happens to us. Keep it locked.”

She turned away from her friends. Vera was undressing and talking to any that would listen. Aravi could see the other woman was looking forward to this. The hunt was thrilling. She even enjoyed feasting on the flesh and blood of those her wolf hunted. She remembered the terrified faces, the taste of their blood, and the crunch of their bones. It made her sick.

Vera, already nude, started talking to her.

“Don’t look so downcast. This is going to be sporting. You like to hunt, don’t you? This will be fun like… playing in the snow with your friends and throwing snowballs. They'll be safe in the cages.”

“I hope they are,” was all she said. She took her Elven helmet off and dropped it next to Vera’s pile of armor and clothes. Modesty was the last thing on her mind, and she quickly stripped down. I hope they are.

She started breathing deeply. Vera’s singing was drown out by a rush. Her heart hammered in her chest. Fire poured into her veins, as the ancient magic started taking hold of her. A bone deep ache settled into her limbs. Her skin started tingling, then itched. Hearing and smell became more acute and her vision became less important as these new senses took over. Then the physical pain started as her body morphed into the shape of a terrible beast. She screamed in pain.

Her weight more than tripled as her bones took a new shape, elongating and thickening. Muscles grew in a matter of seconds. Her scream turned into a rumbling roar of agony.

When it was over, she was something else. Something built to kill.

She smelled the air. Blood and sweat was heavy in the air. And so was fear. It made her hungry.

"I can hear you!" Kayla said to Darnand, her voice sharper than she had meant it. She tapped her ears. "Elf ears, mage." The potion was beginning to work, unclenching her nerves and muscles. She slowly stood up, flinching a little as a scream ripped from Aravi. She handed Darnand the key.

"The potion will only last a half hour. There are several strong magicka potions in my bag, but don't make yourself sick." Her voice was beginning to sound more confident, despite hearing her friend's skin ripping from the change. She took a steadying breath.

"I'm fine. We need to keep quiet until they start attacking. We don't want to draw their attention to us."

[iIf we survive tonight,[/i] She thought, I will never be afraid of anything else.

She gave them an assured smile before picking up Aravi's bow and arrow, ready to pick off any straggling bandits.

Vera knew fear. She's seen it a lot; in the eyes of her bounties before the takes their life, in the eyes of her prey before she devours them. She's seen fear in her own eyes when gazing at her own reflection in the water. She understood exactly what Aravi's friend felt. She's been there.

Fear for and of a friend.

Just then, a few significant seconds before voluntarily triggering the physical metamorphosis of woman to monstrous wolf, she thought of a friend she never wanted to lose. Someone she couldn't bear to lose.

Praxedes was the best friend she ever had. A sister. The only sister.

“I hope they are,” Aravi says.

Sometimes, Aravi, hoping isn't enough. Sometimes hoping your loved one will come out of this safe won't guarantee their survival. I hoped. I lost. Not even in death will I see her again.

That was the penalty for people like them. Lions and wolves don't befriend the lambs. Try as they might, in the end there will be one standing and one dead. One way or another.

Vera traveled through time to once again see her sister's dead body beneath the ravine at her feet, a result of taking her own life in pain of what she had become, and to escape certain fate whilst choosing another.

All because I accepted my lot in life . . . and because she couldn't stay away from a loved one.

She frowned, deeply now. Her jaws tensed so that bones could be seen visibly through her skin. Beneath her professional and cynical demeanor, her callously cold treatment of others was a deeply disturbed soul. She knows it, Lycus knows it too. He's suffered more.

When she heard Salyan and Darnand comforting Kayla, she couldn't help but wonder how could Aravi make friends?

Allies is one thing. Friends is something deeper, like a lake. A lake that can drown one if he or she isn't careful.

I nearly drowned . . . and you might drown today, Aravi. Do you not despair?

She couldn't fathom the idea of forming relationships with her friend's kind. Kayla killed her friend. It was an act of survival, she couldn't blame her. If her friend was triumphant, she would be skipping along Auriel's feet taking a detour to Sovngarde. It always ends in death and either side always walk in torment, day by day, with grief clawing at their hearts and dark memories chewing in their minds and pushing them to the edge of insanity, and shoving them over.

All. The. Damn. Time.

If somehow she survives this and if Darnand, Kayla and Salyan don't . . . she had to admit their deaths wouldn't sting. If she died, she doubted they would care either. Because of the barrier she's placed. The only wall she could build to keep her from falling into the depths of that lake and drown in her despair.

Vera decided not to ponder on the past even if her mind tried to rebel against her accepted order of things. What has happened has happened. She wouldn't allow it to happen again.

Her eye was set on the entrance where the bandits would be coming through. Through their help, she would finally have her eye restored. She looked at Aravi and saw her already transforming.

Let the sport begin. I call first blood.

Vera accessed the deepest, most primal parts of her soul and called out to the power within her. A cold, mountain where she felt both hot in fury and cold in mawkish emotions. She brought forth that ancient, pure once-dormant power to light, and the rest was nothing but blackness. She felt the familiar heart-pains, the itching beneath the skin, the intense heat, the organs in her stomach realigning with the bones that served to protect and accommodate them.

In the throes of her disturbing change, her glassy amber eyes turned into feral yellow orbs. A canine snout protruded from her freshly scarred countenance, which was already healing itself with preternatural speed. Her open jaws gave room to sharp-pointed fangs made for tearing flesh and chewing apart bone. Her claws, as sharp as Hircine's spear, poked through her fingernails. Thick, black bristles sprouted from her skin and face at the same time and her mass grew and grew until Vera the huntress was no more, and in its place now was a large nearly seven-foot tall black werewolf. The mangled eye was half-healed by the surge of unnatural healing coursing through her.

The beast shook her hide, casting away bits of skin and yellow strips of hair. She bent low, sniffing the ground and then lifted her muzzle to catch the scent in the air.

She smelled it. It was good.

Nevermind the dead that littered the floor, or the insects. The lycanthrope saw prey. Live prey. A score of them coming through the tunnels. Her ears lifted and caught the ruckus the herd was making. She didn't understand them. Not entirely.

"You all heard that roar. Be on you guard. Draw your weapons."

" . . . I never heard anything like it. Whatever it is. Its big."

"Women. Crying. What in oblivion was that?"

The she-wolf turned to the other one, and sniffed once more. There was no indication there in her body language that suggested she was prey or a rival. But another hunter, seeking to fell the same game of the same herd.

She didn't roar as the other one did. She crept alongside the corners of the wall despite her enormous size. She blended in with the darkness, her fur veiled by the shadows of the chamber, away from the lit areas. She climbed the stone formation with her powerful claws and remained high above the tunnel, shoulders strong, eyes set, tail swift and tongue moistening her black lips.

Silent.

The herd marched through the cavern, weapons drawn, visibly alert and agitaed. She waited patiently and they once more made more noise.

"What the hell happened here?" one said before pointing his finger at something. "Who the hell are they?"

"Someone locked them in there." A woman said.

"Ain't no one here to lock em' in there. Who are you?"

More poured through the tunnel out into the open and when the werewolf saw further distress as one cried out "Werewolf!" at the other hunter, she leapt.

She jumped from the hiding place on the stone formation, eyes wide, jaws even wider and claws set for the kill. She tackled one of the men down, her weight effortlessly bringhing him down. Her teeth went for that one weak spot: the throat.

She bit down hard into the yelping prey and began to drag him away from the others, tugging violently at the squirming creature at her jaws. "Stendarr! Dibella! Kynareth! Akatosh! Gods! Gods! Mercy!"

The wolf looked back and saw prey… three of them. They didn’t run from her though. That was no fun. She turned her attention forward. Another wolf was with her this time, and her instincts directed her actions. They were pack now, with prey approaching. The other wolf darted to one side, she darted to the other, flanking them.

Then she waited as the herd came near. It was agitated, but they still came into the open. Her instincts were conflicted. Her muscles trembled with anticipation, but she waited for the other wolf to make its move, to announce their presence.

The herd came fully into the open, and a shout rang out, panic swept through them. That was the signal.

She let out a terrible roar that echoed off the walls. She loved it when the prey ran. She cut off the herd’s escape, moving between them and the exit, forcing them to run further into the cave instead of outside. She let out another roar and leapt onto her first victim's back. Her weight pushed it to the ground. It screamed until her jaws closed on its neck. Bones crushed and hot blood filled her mouth. It was dead, and there was more prey. Lots more.

She left the dead one and raced after the next, quickly overtaking it on all fours.

Aravi’s scream turned into a fearsome roar. Darnand clenched his loosening bowels and kept his eyes on Kayla while she spoke. He willed his hand not to shake as he pocketed the key.

“Agreed,” Darnand replied to her remark. “It would be wise to avoid notice so as to allow the intruders and the werewo— our friends to focus their aggressions on one another. I believe I can cast through these bars, but I should not like to try it. And as you have already pointed out, I will be of no use at all in the throes of potion toxicity.”

And I should not like to explain a tragic result to Aravi’s mate. Nor would she wish to describe our deaths to our loved ones.

There was no sound from Vera. The implication frightened him more than Aravi’s roar. Darnand knelt in the stale straw and dried animal dung on the cage’s floor, unwilling to risk even a whisper. Vera is stalking something. By each of the Nine, I hope it is not we.

An armed group entered the cavern. “Who the hell are they?” someone called out.

“Werewolf!” cried another before Darnand had time to swear. The fight was on.

The beast killed the man, and as soon as she had attacked she had ran into the fray once again. In the torchlight she appeared almost a creature without substance, a dark shape composed of black and dark shadows. But her head was lowered and her ivory fangs gleamed in the falling torchlights.

Her strength was tremendous, her speed legendary. Centuries' worth of potent ancient blood contained within that single body, and all the access to the world's most savage, untamed magicks unknown to man, but known to only beast. Her eyes saw everything in the room, from the tallest creature to the smallest insect.

She pounced on another man whose armor was too much to keep him standing. Her jaws can break a man's thighbone, the longest, strongest bone in the entire body. She chomped her jaws on him as he squirmed for freedom. The spine snapped under her fangs. His death scream was one of horror.

The wolf tore into his skin, digging into his flesh until her eyes was fully healed, and her body strengthened for another night. That was until the prey bit back. The wolf felt a blow to her back and she whirled around with aggression to her attacker. An iron sword was driven into her fur, but it did nothing but infuriate her.

She pulled the weapon with her massive hands, and reached out to grab the man by the throat. His feet dangled in the air as she lifted him off the ground and with a powerful throw, tossed him across the chamber, into two others and straight into the side of the cages. He hit the ground once and never again got up.

While the others focused on the other werewolf, she drove her full attention to a woman banging on the door of the cage. "Let me in! Let me in! Gods sakes, let. Me. In!"

She jumped on all fours, eyes wide, mouth slicked with saliva and panting. She leapt in the air, across it and over to the woman.

"Ah!"

The wolf tackled her down right by the cage, and bit down on her neck with such strength that bones broke audibly across the chamber as she shook left and right while human hands pounded against her muzzle in a futile attempt. Her teeth clamped down and began to pull and pull until muscles and tendons snapped, along with everything else. The werewolf tugged at the body, biting through the armor and tearing away the metal to reach the contents within the bone. Her hands pulled off the steel, and raked off the pieces of cloth until reaching what she desired. She sunk her snout into the side of the fallen prey and began to feast. The wound on her back, not dire, began to close and reform itself into something new. Her nose was bloody and her fur a mess of red.

And it wasn't over.

When the attack began, Kayla kept her sharp eyes focused on any stragglers that passed by, Aravi's bow in her hands, arrow on the string. She was ready to take out any bandits that passed by the two women.

Until one did, and begged for their help.

The woman looks straight at Kayla, fear in her eyes, tears streaming down her face.

"Let me in! Let me in!"

The rest of her plea was drowned out as blood rushed to Kayla's ear at the sight of a huge black wolf descending upon the woman, tearing her apart. Bones crunched, flesh ripped, and eventually the woman was dead. The potion had its work cut out for it as Kayla's mind took her back over a decade, seeing her friend rip out his own father's throat.

She dropped the bow, letting it fall with a clatter as she stared at Vera.

Nothing will ever be the same after this. She realized. I can never unsee this. She looked to Aravi to see the normally small Khajiit woman follow Vera's lead and rip apart another bandit. Her fear mixed with another emotion: heartbreak. She had wished that her childhood friend would have shared his secret with her, and now that she learned of her friend's secret, she wanted to take it back. She didn't want to know.

She hoped she'd live long enough to change her mind.

She cornered a group of three. There was nowhere to go but up, and none were tall enough. She relished their predicament. They were hers, to play with and kill as she pleased. With the taste of blood on her tongue, she roared yet again. The smell of urine let her know just how terrified her prey was.

She enjoyed it.

One of them turned towards her and sluggishly jumped at her with an axe. She smashed his hand with a powerful blow, dislocating his entire arm. Next, she pinned him to the ground and yanked on the injured limb with her jaws. His screams of pain became higher pitched as she twisted and pulled on it. She looked up, and saw one of the others hoisting the other up on his back. One would escape if she didn’t act.

A snap of her jaws silenced the screaming man. Then she leapt at the one pulling herself to freedom, snagging the woman’s leg in her jaws. Gravity did the rest and the wolf ended up on top of the one trying to escape. It was a female, she could smell and see. Her claws reached into the screaming woman’s flesh, worming up into her chest cavity, shredding her innards.

Stars exploded in the wolf’s vision. The other one bellowed again and swung his mace. Rage replaced bloodlust, and the wolf roared louder than ever. The prey didn’t flinch, but bellowed back at her. Despite his courage, he lasted no longer than the one with the axe.

Salyan was vaguely aware that, on some intellectual level, she should probably be horrified at what she was seeing. Yet even as Aravi and Vera, or the monstrosities they had transformed into, slaughtered the bandits en masse, she did not feel any kind of real horror. Even when a bandit woman scrabbled at the door of the cage, begging to be let in, she was unmoved.

She supposed that this was probably due to her upbringing on the Shivering Isles. She had spent most of her childhood in a world intimately steeped in violence, a world of murderers, cannibals, rogue sorcerers who experimented with the very matter of life and with it all presided over by a capricious, whimsical god. What she was seeing right now didn't shock her, because what she was seeing was something normal. The thought was almost a little unnerving.

Fingers resting on the right strings, Salyan watched the massacre beyond the bars, ready to cast a calming spellsong should either of the two werewolves try and break in; she wasn't sure it would necessarily work, but unless Darnand had some miraculously powerful spell that could disable Aravi and Vera without killing them then it was their best chance.