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"But who knows how long it will take for the Legion to learn of what is happening?" I replied. "You and your squad will be missed in the next day at least but it could be a week before anyone else comes. Besides that, we need to confirm that the Castle really is the source of the evil in the county. All the evidence points to it but it isn’t going to help anyone if five hundred Legionaries arrive and assault an empty castle. That’s not even taking into account if it’s full of the Nine-only-knows-what."
"Ma always used to tell me stories of a hidden entrance in the Botany." Ylfgar added, tapping his finger against the crude drawing of the castle." But if there is one then I doubt think that anyone other than the Count knows about it."
"Nearly every castle and fort built by the Empire has at least one sally point." Chewing my lip, I looked over the drawing and made a few marks of my own.
"Sally point?" Viconia asked suddenly, listening intently to the conversation.
"A secret entrance, usually only accessible from the inside but most usually rely on deception to remain hidden. During sieges the defenders can use them to conduct ambushes and raids on the attackers. Otherwise they make the perfect place for those within to escape or smuggle in fresh supplies." I pointed to a few places on the eastern walls around the gatehouse and the main towers, and the walls near the Botany. "These would be the best places for one if it exists, but there’s no telling how they would be designed or whether they would be accessible from the outside."
"You’re planning on getting into the castle one way or another aren’t you."
I nodded to her. "We need to know what is going on here."
Rolling her eyes, Viconia swore under her breath and ignoring the other two men in the room she pouted. "You’re such a wael. What’s going on here is that tonight we are most likely going to get attacked by a pack of creatures unlike anything we have faced before. Let’s worry about that first. Come morning if we are still breathing then we can entertain your delusional fantasies of singlehandedly taking a castle full of daedric horrors."
"It’s better than sitting around waiting for the end of the world or for plan B..."
She stared for a moment, looking someone confused. "Plan B?"
Pointing to Hadrgar I smiled. "Plan B is that we wait for the rest of his friends to arrive and turn the castle into rubble."
With little benefit left from browsing the map, the group of us wandered off to prepare for nightfall. Hadrgar wandered downstairs and within half an hour I saw him gorging himself on an entire leg of smoked ham, washing it down from mugs of water from the dozen or so casks drawn from the town well. My brief chat with him and the mere presence of someone showing some compassion had put him back on the road to recovery but it would remain to be seen whether it would hold up to the horrors the darkness held.
Ylfgar returned to mustering the defenders, ensuring that every inch of the hall was barricaded and fortified as best as it could be and that everyone was armed as heavily as possible. Viconia and I returned downstairs, and with only a little cajoling managed to lead Ultrin and Trygve into the hall itself for their protection. As formidable as they were, neither Viconia or I held any illusions to what would happen to the pair of warhorses if they were left outside of the protection of the townhall. Finding a small room on the ground floor that once used to be some form of meeting room or jury chambers we managed to haul out some of the furniture and make enough space for the pair of destriers.
Knowing that there would be little opportunity for rest, Viconia and I retired to one of the several rooms turned into dormitories for the militia, finding a handful of makeshift beds made from piles of furs and various cloth and linens. Not bothering to remove our armour we both simply threw ourselves into one of the corners, laying down haphazardly and finding ourselves dozing lightly with her pressed into my side. It was a growing habit during our travels on the road that she would sleep pressed into me, one arm thrown over me and head resting on my chest so she could mould her body into mine. It was comfortable and enjoyable, but for the handful of hours that afternoon neither the two of us or any of the militia got much rest with the increasing fear.
"By Shar you aggravate me sometimes." She muttered as we lay there in the dark. For a while she had been alternating between softly napping and staring into the dim light of the room with her burning eyes.
Her sudden words startled me from my semiconscious state and I blinked repeatedly. "What?"
"Are your ears merely for decoration?" shifting slightly I felt her hook a leg over one of mine and rest her head on the back of a hand on my chest. "I said that you aggravate me."
"I’m fairly certain I do that regularly, but that sounds like you have a particular grievance."
"Ha. Ha..." The burning coals of her eyes shifted and she tilted her head up to me. In the gloom there was only the faint suggestion of her features; the high cheekbones, the shape of her jaw and the hints of her pointed ears in amongst the pale hair. "But you are correct. I admire people with standards. It is pleasant even when I can’t comprehend or stand them."
For a moment I was silent and simply stared at her. After a time, the burning glows rolled in their sockets and she sighed. "It’s your morals at the moment that are digging away at me lately. Like a splinter under a nail."
"The whole "trying to do the right thing by people’ thing?"
She nodded. "That, and also the we must save those people and the poor and penniless need help too." She mockingly deepened her voice and pulled her shoulders back to imitate me. All it did for a moment was make me snort and draw my attention to the way it pushed her breasts forward through the daedroth scale armour.
"Helping people is what we are supposed to do in the Guild and as Knights."
"Lu’oh xunus usstan ragar usstan xuil folt natha wael?" Despite the words in her native tongue it was more sarcastic than bitter. "Yes, but not for free. I can understand throwing ourselves into Oblivion and killing minotaurs and vampires when it is our mission or that we are contracted to do so. But it’s this suicidal nature of yours to stand before every danger that assails the surface on a whim is almost sickening."
Shifting slightly to meet her gaze properly I ran my fingers through her hair idly. "I know you don’t approve but I can’t simply sit back and watch people suffer needlessly."
"So you will instead alter the world? Bring about peace and harmony and stop all the wars and give every beggar and cripple his own castle?"
"Of course not."
"So why would you pay the guild’s cut for contracts out of your own purse? Or give what was all intents and purposes a stipend to that ssindossa you fed on in Leyawiin?"
I brushed some hair from her forehead and thudded my head into the padded cloth under us. "I have no way to describe it to you Viconia. Our worlds are different and I’m not sure if I can simply tell you or explain it all too you."
"Our worlds are different." She whispered, her fingernails tapping lightly on my breastplate in a rhythm that matched the beating of my heart. "I am Drow. You are a surfacer. Those in the Underdark must deal harshness, or otherwise receive it. You surfacers however seem to thrive on charity."
A finger caressed my cheek. "It is not your job to give to those too weak or pitiful to drag themselves from the shithole of their lives."
"But it is my job to protect those who can’t protect themselves." My own fingers traced patterns on the ebony flesh of her face and followed the curve of her jaw. "At least it used to be."
"Used to be?"
"Being a forester. A Legionary. The Legion exists to protect the Empire. Sure it might be the greatest military in the history of Tamriel and whose purpose is to crush everyone and anything dumb enough to be a threat, but that’s not all of what it is. The Legions protect. They are the shield for those in the Empire who need it, and the sword that slays what threatens them. The Legion fights and kills and dies so that everyone else outside of its ranks doesn’t have to."
"You’re not in the Legion anymore mrannd'ssinss."
"I know." I felt my thought go dark for a moment and I knew that she felt the shudder course through me. "In my first years in Vvardenfell I watched a group of Ordinators round up a tribe of ashlanders and butcher them. They slaughtered the men, brutalised the women and some of the children and once they had finished having their fun they killed them all. Cut off their heads, threw them into a pile and moved on. Despite the fact that some tribes were technically enemies to the Empire it was the Legion’s policy to step into such situations and stop pointless massacres. We did nothing, the Tribune ordering us to stand down and simply watch. Killing our foes in battle is one thing, but killing entire families right down to the infants and old folks? That’s not the Legion way."
"Men and Mer alike fear monsters." She replied. "You kill a village and ten others will surrender when you arrive."
"I know. But that is not who or what I am."
"You would be the one standing before the town with sword in hand waiting for the enemy to arrive."
"Exactly." Kissing her lightly on the forehead I couldn’t help but feel melancholy. "I know it bothers you but I don’t know whether I can change my nature."
"It bothers me less than what it did when we first met, and I am slowly getting used to it." there was tiny shrug from her and she held me tighter for a moment. "I would prefer if you were at least a bit more mercenary in your beliefs. Helping those in need may be noble on the surface but it doesn’t keep clothes on your back or your belly filled."
"I’ll keep that in mind."
Digging her fingernails into my jaw she twisted my head down and kissed me, the spark of her desire flickering into existence for a heartbeat. "I’m not the Drow I used to be but I at least understand you. Better than you realise."
"I’d die for you Viconia."
She patted me on the cheek before rising. Stretching out her spine and rolling her neck, the coals of her eyes watched me while I too rose into a sitting position. "It always pleases me when a male is willing to die for his betters, although I do not wish to part from your company just yet."
"Because I get you free things?"
The laugh was musical and sent shivers down my spine. "That, and that the sex is adequate."
"Only adequate?" despite the darkness of the room I knew she could see the comical look of despondency on my face.
"You have much to learn mrannd'ssinss." Rising to her feet she buckled Dragonbane to her hip and checked the harness’ tightness. "But I happened to be an excellent teacher..."
We fell silent for a few moments while we finished dressing and arming ourselves for the coming battle. As I finished strapping my pauldrons and tightening my breastplate I once again found myself the centre of her undivided attention.
"You may be pleased to hear that I have come to decision." She said simply and I found myself staring into the cold, yet burning pits of her eyes.
"A decision?"
"Yes wael; a decision." She ran her fingers through her hair, bundling it up and preparing to cover her head with her coif and hood. "I have decided that despite my discomfort I will follow you in your attempts of righteousness and morality."
"Follow me? You are not beholden to me Viconia."
"It is my choice. I am not some waif in need of protection or one to cower behind a protector arrayed in steel." Lightly she kissed me on the cheek and pulled her hood tight over the chainmail coif. "I will allow you to perform your good deeds, not because I think that it is right to do so but that it seems to benefit us in the long term."
There was a smile on her face when she regarded my expression. "It would still pay for you to be a little less selfless all the time, but I have realised that if not for your "heroic’ mannerisms we would have never been as successful as we are."
"So despite your misgivings you’re happy for us to go about helping people."
She shrugged. "In a way. Everything we have accomplished and the names we have throughout the lands would have been diminished if we had simply done it the way I had believed to be right. We certainly would not have been made knights, we would not have been successful in our mission of the Blades. I doubt that we would have even made it much past Chorrol all those weeks ago."
"What would you have had us do?" I asked simply.
"I would have gotten every coin out of every contract we could. Intimidate and threaten and take and take until there was no more blood and meat to be had from the bone. It is the Drow way, and we would have failed. Your beliefs have lead us to receive two or three times as many contracts as what we would have in the ways of my kind. In the end we were even gifted with more than we would have been if we took it by force."
The burning eyes stared into my soul and I smiled slightly at how she stood there, proud despite the somewhat humbled admission of what she believed to be personal weakness. "Tomorrow, if we live through the night I will follow you into the castle and face whatever it may hold. Not out of expectation of glory and riches but because it is what you believe to be right."
"I don’t want you to blindly follow me wherever we go though."
"Oh, don’t just misunderstand my acceptance of your beliefs for doting obedience. If you are wrong or being an idiot I will tell you." the smile grew until I could see the hints of white teeth in the darkness. "And if I think you are being even more monumentally stupid than usual then I will knock you unconscious to spare me from having to pick up the pieces later."
The shadowed form of Yulfgar appeared in the doorway with the faint burning light of a lantern in his hand, revealing sunken features from fear and the slow creep of infection from his wounds. "Night has fallen." He stated simply.
"Not long now." I muttered to myself, rising to my full height and giving Viconia a quick kiss on the forehead again before buckling Sunchild and the Light of Dawn to my person.
"I think we’re ready." There was not much conviction in his voice but with the situation that we were in it was not surprising. "The doors and windows are barred, and everyone is armed with everything we could find. I’ve even ensured that as many torches and lanterns we have are lit and scattered through the building."
"Good." Sparing a glance to Viconia she grinned slightly before walking out of the room and leaving us to follow. "Whatever happens tonight will not be forgotten."
Ylfgar chuckled darkly. "No matter how much booze we drink..."
Viconia and I made our way to the barricade near the front doors. Enormous beams and supports of wood had been hammered into them in the previous hours and grooves had been chiselled into the floor for the angled beams to lock into place. Normally it would have filled me with comfort knowing that even a battering ram would have struggled to gain access, but not knowing the supernatural horrors that were coming for us I was filled with dread instead.
Owls could be faintly heard some distance away from the darkening village and the silence that fell over the land with the coming of darkness was somehow worse than the growing expectation. No one spoke, their voices silent as each and every man and women listened with straining ears and gripped weapons of various make and lethality with whitening knuckles. As the minutes dragged on, nerves were frayed to breaking point, cold sweat trickled down spines and soaked padding and armour plating and left hands trembling. It was almost a relief when the far off howl rippled through the silent streets, rolling and flowing from thatched hut to thatched hut before reaching our ears. It was powerful and spoke of endless hunts under the stars, a darkness and depravity that spoke to the bestial side of our souls, and most huddling around us made various signs to call upon the protection of the divines.
Even before the howl had been lost to the night, another joined it in the cry of anticipated slaughter that we could feel deep in our bellies. It was joined by one after another until the silence of the night was ripped away by the blood curdling cries of the bloodthirsty and those damned by a God.
"Easy lads." Ylfgar called out to the dozen or so militia huddling in the barricaded hall. He spoke loudly, but not too loud to draw attention to the creatures baying for blood on the village outskirts. "We’ve been expecting these bastards and we’re ready for them."
Weapons trembled in damp and sweating hands and eyes stung from the salt from their brows despite the winter’s chill. The smell of fear was growing stronger now and as much as I knew that it was coming from me as well as everyone else there was something horrifying how I enjoyed the taste of it on my tongue. The fear was lending strength to the vampire, and even while I listened to the howls I could feel my face tightening involuntarily.
Over two dozen men and women were within the hall, most of which were on the ground floor surrounding the main entrance while the others stood vigil over the very few windows and potential entrances on the second level. There were not many places for the werewolves to gain entry and the roof was far too thick to breach without a significant assault which left the creatures only a few places to force their way inside. Our hopes and plans were to bottleneck the beasts in any entrances they forced, as we all knew that once one or more were inside it was as good as finished.
We all listened as the howls grew in volume and proximity as the creatures moved into the village and began prowling the streets. Snuffling and snorting reached our ears on occasion, as did the sounds of splintering wood and breaking of furniture as one or more of them gained entry to a house or building. Every single one of us remained deathly silent, not even whispering or talking as we couched and curled into balls. Almost to a man we were wishing and hoping with every ounce of our souls that the werewolves would leave or not notice our presence. Some of those around us mouthed prayers to their various gods and deities, calling upon every bit of spiritual protection they could think of in the hope that even the smallest amount would allow them to see the night through.
The snorts and padding of paws on cobblestones grew and faded as the creatures moved about and at one point I could hear one moving about the marketplace with my enhanced hearing. In the dark the mind conjured all sorts of horrors and the sounds of the beasts in the village made it all too easy to imagine what awaited us if we were to fail.
For the better part of an hour they roamed the streets, and I couldn’t help but hear the way that a group of them returned to the site of the massacre the evening before. Viconia was by my side, sitting next to me on a chair taken from somewhere in the hall and she saw my paled expression as my vampiric senses allowed me to hear them consuming the remains of those left inside the Faregyl Inn.
"What in Mara’s name are they doing?" I heard one of the militia whisper a few metres away from where Viconia and I sat. So far the pack hadn’t come close to the hall and seemed content on roaming the village unhindered.
"They have all night." Replied another, dressed in thick padded leather and a rough kettle helm pressed into his skull. From the look of the helm it must have been a family heirloom. "They don’t have to rush anything."
A scream echoed out through the night, drawn out and horrifying and everyone who heard it flinched and went pale. It was no werewolf howl, but instead a cry of agony and terror.
"What the fuck was that?" exclaimed one of the militia, too loudly for my tastes but we all were now a lot more uneasy than what we were before.
Another scream ripped through the night and the scent of fear and panic became ever more noticeable until I felt as though I was bathing in it. At least one of the militia lost control of their bowels and retreated into a nearby room and we all were now looking amongst ourselves with confusion.
"There are people out there!" Someone called out, and I saw more than one of the militia rise from where they had been waiting and start towards the doors.
"Hold!" I hissed to them, trying to shout but not make a noise at the same time. "Something’s not right about this."
"Of course there’s something not right!" The militiaman in a suit of rusted chainmail jabbed a finger in my direction. "There are people out there and we aren’t helping."
"Anyone out there is dead anyway." Another replied as what could only have been the sound of a child dying horribly echoed into the night.
"Gods help! Someone help my daughter!"
With glances between themselves a handful stepped forward to move to the doors and found themselves facing me. "It’s a trap." I hissed.
"Mummy!? Mummy, save me!"
"You don’t know that!" one tried to push past and I pressed my fist into his chest and threw him back into the others.
"TalosprotectmeohgodsIDON’TWANTTODIE!
"Listen to the werewolves!" I snapped, and at my tone and expression they stopped and listened for a moment. Despite the calls and the screams there was no change to the howls of the beasts. They continued to move about the village, entering homes and almost casually sniffing about. Everyone realised with a start at exactly what I meant. The screams should have been drawing the creatures like moths to a flame, or at the very least should have been caused by them. Instead there was no change in their behaviour, and they simply continued their snuffling and snorting and panting as they roamed the village.
Another drawn out scream, female this time echoed and cut deep into our souls before breaking down into a horrible fleshy gurgle of the dying.
"What in the hells does that mean then?"
I shrugged at the speaker and motioned for everyone to step back away from the doors as carefully as they could. The screams and calls of terror and pain were growing louder and more frequent and were now entering the village as well. "There is something else out there."
"Don’t let the monsters eat me daddy! Daddy please!"
Viconia’s eyes were glowing in the flickering shadows of the hall and I could see the white-yellow light building within them as she tasted the scent of magicka on the air. There was a pressure building in my skull and I could sense the growing power in the village that only made me feel even more fearful than I had before. Viconia however seemed to be made of stone, not even twitching or trembling in the slightest as she weaved the magicka out of the air with swirls of her fingertips.
"There’s a mage or purveyor of magicka out there." She said with a strange echo in her voice that resonated the power. "Something hidden, but monstrously powerful."
"I’ve never yet met a wizard that can throw spells about with a knife in the guts." My tone and words brought grim smiles to a handful of the defenders but their courage was hanging on by the merest threads. Almost to an individual they were looking on Viconia and I for strength through our reputations, and knowledge that we were the only experienced fighters in the entire group.
"Ignore the noises of the night." Her words cut through the group and they were all gazing upon us now. "They are nothing but illusions and conjured apparitions to unman you all; parlour tricks for the weak and feeble."

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