Inigo saw the lights of the city drawing ever closer; cutting through the darkness like a knife through butter. They made it to the city
around midnight, tied their steeds to a nearby tree and dismounted and walked along the wooden planked walkway to a wooden
shack with a non decsript wooden front door. Once inside, they saw a hooded man hunched over an alchemy table,
"Inigo, wait! This guy might be a vampire luring you into a trap."
The khajiit rolled his orange eyes at him,
"My friend, you are just paranoid." He said, chuckling as he approached the man.
Inigo guessed this shadowy man's name was Falion. He extended his hand and Falion shook it.
"Greetings, my name is Inigo and you must be Falion." The man nodded. Falion saw his eyes, they had a bad hunger to them. Inigo
asked if the redguard was the scholar that he heard can cure people of vampirism; Falion nodded and walked away from the alchemy
station and toward the nervous khajiit, "I will need you to fill a black soul gem." Falion rubbed his chin while he glanced at the
alchemy station, "I have some empty black soul gems if you don't have any of your own." Inigo said he would require an empty soul
gem.
Falion went over to a stock of multiple soul gems and found an empty black soul gem next to some grand soul gems,
"Do you know a spell called soul trap?" He asked, eyeing Inigo with curiosity. The khajiit shook his head. Falion told went over to a
shelf next to the table with the soul gems and pulled a spellbook fro a stack of books and handed it to Inigo, The khajiit opened the
book and immediately gasped as blue images leapt off the pages and dances around the khajiit for a few seconds and then
disappeared.
Inigo thanked the redgaurd and went to the door with Kodlak and proceeded to open it,
"Oh, uh, khajiit, black souls are required to fill that gem, animals souls will not do; only men, mer or beast's souls will do." Inigo
thanked Falion again and stepped out into the cold air.
Kodlak and Inigo put their heads together to determine where to obtain a black soul and immediately thought of halted stream
camp, the bandit camp near Whiterun. They went to where their steeds were tied up untied the ropes from the trees, mounted up
and sped off toward the bandit camp. They passed various road signs and clattered over several arched bridges before they came
two wooden doors each designed with a diagonal rope that held the wooden timbers together.
Inigo made his steed slow and dismounted. He walked toward the door as a bandit lookout aimed his arrow directly at his heart,
"Khajiit, stop, come no further, what is your business here?" Inigo took out his own bow, nocked an arrow and fired. The arrow
rammed into the bandit's chest with the force of a fast-moving carriage. The bandit's body was blown back several feet. He sheathed
his bow and walked toward the bandit camp. He tried sneak around so he could capture a bandit's soul undetected; he was nearly
successful, then a bandit caught him, drew his sword and ran toward the khajiit. Inigo said words unknown to him and fired the spell
at the bandit; the bandit kept running as aura of deep purple enveloped his body, Inigo nocked another arrow and fired, piercing the
bandits heart. With him dead, purple strands of magic leapt off of the body and enveloped Inigo. With the bandit's soul captured, the
khajiit mounted his steed and he and the nord harbinger went back to Morthal.
Kodlak panicked as the sun began its ascent over the mountais,
"Inigo, we have to hurry unless you want to be a pile of ash when we arrive." The khajiit scoffed in indifference but increased his
speed nonetheless. They got to the city by early evening.
They dismounted they steeds, tied them to the same trees as before and walked into the redguard's home,
"You've got the filled black soul gem?" Falion asked, "good, we will begin the 'returning of life' ceremony shortly, I will meet you at
the summoning circle." This comment was met with confusion on Inigo's part, "Summoning circle? What does that have to do with
me regaining my mortal status?"
Falion smiled and pointed them towards a local inn in the city a few doors down from the his house,
"Get some sleep and we will discuss it more in the morning, you must've had a long day." Inigo and Kodlak said they did and
stepped outsitde in the frigid air and trudged along to the inn, it's sign swinging lazily in the slight breeze.
Kodlak took a wolf fur from his bag and wrapped it around himself,
"Harbinger, where did you get that lovely fur?" the khajiit asked turning to Kodlak
He looked at Inigo and frowned, He gestured to Inigo with the expression still on his face,
"Why are you asking me? You are built for this kind of weather while some of us need to brave the elemnts in other ways."
Inigo scoffed at him and, Kodlak glanced in the khajiit's direction saw a look of sorrow on his face,
"Look, Khajiit fur may look warm but trust me, it does no favors when faced with the heat of Elsweyr."
Kodlak held his hands in front of his face,
"Okay, sorry I asked."
The blue khajiit shrugged this off and suggested that they get moving to the inn that was just up ahead; he was freezing his tail off.
They passed under the sign off the inn and went inside. The frost that seemed to cling to the two travelers like kwama dung fell
away almost immediately as the war air from the fire wafted in their direction. They spotted a table with two chairs a few feet from
where they stood, walked over and sat down. Kodlak said he would go to the counter and order them some drinks, Inigo nodded and
sat back while he watch the nord walk to the bar.
The woman eyed him from behind the counter,
"Hello, how can I help you?" She said smiling broadly at him
The nord said he would like two tankards of mead for him and his companion. The woman brought up two tankards from beneath
the counter as well as a decanter and fill each mug to the brim. Kodlak grabbed the two tankards and thanked the woman. He then
realized he did not get her name. The redguard smiled at him,
My name is Jonna, nice to meet you." She said, offering him her hand in greeting, "Please, do'nt hesitate to call me if you need
anything else.
Kodlak said he would and took the tankards over, placing one in front of himself and sliding the other one across the table to Inigo.
The blue khajiit looked at the honey-colored liquid and pushed his tankard away, frowning,
"If it's all the same to you harbinger, I had my fill of mead for a lifetime." He then proceeded to tell the harbinger about what
happened many months ago at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun. The harbinger did not frown or get mad as Inigo expected him to but
understood, took Inigo's tankard, drank half of his own in a single gulp and poured the unwanted mead into his own tankard.
He placed the empty tankard back on the table and smiled at Inigo,
"There, your mead worries are solved." He said, beaming at the khajiit, "Can I get your anything else? An Elsweyrian or Cyrodillic
beverage perhaps? How about some Elsweyrian fondue from your homeland, canis root tea and a slice of braided bread." Inigo's ears
perked up as he heard 'Elsweyrian Fondue.' The Argonian said he was thinking about ordering himself something as well.
The khajiit lent over the table, beaming at Kodlak,
"Now that you mention it, some Elsweyr Fondue will definitely cure this cat's woe, go order some for me will you?" Kodlak frowned at
Inigo and said he is not his errand boy, the khajiit can get it himself. inigo went up and ordered the fondue, tea and a slice of braided
bread.
Ingo walked over to the table, tail swaying from side to side, and set down the wooden plate and wooden cup in front of the khajiit's
chair. Hasir smiled as he saw Ingio's face; He told the khajiit that he is also getting something to eat because he was hungry as a
wamasu. He sauntered over to the counter,
"Can I have a snowberry crostata, a raw rabbit leg, juniper berry mead and apple and cabbage stew?"
Jonna nodded, grabbed the required ingredients from the shelf below the counter and went downstairs to the stove, fished a pan
from the ooden cupboard positioned against the stone wall, set it on the stove and started cooking. A few munites later, with all the
ordered items were prepared, Jonna placed them on two wooden trays waiting on the table against the wall as well as a cup set for
the tea which the redguard poured from the decanter.
Upstairs, Hasir tapped his claws incessently on the wooden counter as his stomach growled like a hungry wolf. The Argonian turned
and walked away. He turned around when he heard footsteps behind him; He licked his lips in desperation as he could smell the
aroma that wafted up from the cellar as Jonna came up and set the two trays and the cup on the table between Inigo and the
Argonian's place at the small table.
He sat down, tail hanging limp as a dead snake, and proceed to tear into the rabbit leg before him, tearing huge chunks off with his
teeth. Inigo eyed him as he ate the aplle and cabbage stew with great zeal. The khajiit nearly spit out his food as he watched the
speed Hasir was tearing into his meal. The Argonian nearly choked as he spotted two people sitting at a far table with their hoods
up. Hasir told the confused khajiit that he will be right back and for Inigo to keep his food warm.
The khajiit agreed. The Argonian walked over to the far table to introduce himself,
"Hello, my name is Hasir, and who might you two be?" Hasir asked as he leant over the table as he beamed at them
Hasir nearly choked on his snowberry cortata as he looked into his cold, dead glowing red eyes.
Hasir shrieked so loud that Inigo nearly upended his chair in his haste to rush to Hasir's side to see what the problem was,
"My ears are sensitive enough as they are, why must you abuse them further?" He asked
Hasir grabbed the khajiit's head and turned it in the direction of what he was looking at. Inigo screamed as he too saw those hungry,
glowing eyes. He glanced at Hasir; a look of pure terror on his face,
"What is Harkon doing here?" He walked over to a juicy looking Imperial seated across the table from the man, "Hi, who might you
be?"
After a long silence, Harkon spoke to both Hasir and Inigo,
"Nice to see you two again, I heard you are curing your vampirism cat." He said, loathing the fact someone would cure the dark gift
The woman eyed him as she chastized him for his rudeness, he quickly apologized, saying he was out of line,
"Anyway, introductions are in order." He stood up and extended a long pale hand to the woman sitting across from him, "cat, lizard,
may I introduce my daughter Serana." The woman who was clothed in a black hooded cloak, silimar to one her father wore nodded
and said she was pleased to meet them. She told them the reason for her and her father being there was they wanted to stop Molag
Bal's plan.
Hasir and Inigo looked scared as they gazed into Harkon's eyes, fearing they would be next in line for lunch,
"Er, Lord Harkon, don't you remember us at all? You tried to save Inigo from the curse of being a vampire." He said
Lord Harkon removed his hood, despite his daughter's constant pleas for him not to do so,
"Ah yes, Hasir nice to see you again, tell me, why do you think vampirism is a curse when I can smell the wolf on you?" He asked
coldly.
Hasir glared at him angrily and told him that unlike vampirism he does not view lycanthropy as a curse but rather a gift bestowed on
him by Hircine. Harkon scoffed at this and told Hasir that he and Serana were in the same boat as Hasir. the Argonian furrowed his
spiky eyebrows and asked what he meant by that,
"My dear lizard, have you forgotten that one singular event binds us? That to destroy us will, in turn, destroy all werewolves as
well?"
His eyes glinted eerily in the near darkness of the inn,
"What I am talking about is the union of our ancestors Inga Wolfheart and Fredrick Bloodborn." He chuckled slightly, "please do not
tell me that you've forgotten this already? As I said before both your species and mine have a common enemy, shouldn't we be
working together instead of tearing each other apart?"
Hasir shook his reptilian head, he serious as an arrow to the heart as he gesture to his friend, whose eyes took on an orange glow,
"I don't believe you, all vampire are a bunch of merciless murders! Now you want to turn my friend into one as well?"
Harkon smiled coldly and responded with the same ferocity the Argonian had shown seconds before,
"I can say the same of you brutish savages, tearing into man, mer and beast meat without a second thought." He thought about his
next words care as he also tried to keep his ever rising temper in check, "Hasir, I was trying to save your friend, I told you this once
before, don't you open your water-logged ears? If I can spare the khajiit the fate of being Molag Bal's slave for all eternity, all the
better."
Hasir sighed and did his best to keep his anger at bay,
"Listen Harkon I can argue this all day... ubt, it is Inigo's cleansing ritual tomorrow and I want to be well rest for it." He said,
yawning, "If you'd like, you can stay for the ceremony; but if you do, be sure to keep your damn cloak on." He smiled at them and
started toward the table to grab his khajiit friend and he toward the room that Inigo paid for both of them, "So sorry we do not have
coffins for you to sleep in, so the choice left are sleeping on the cold floor or a warm bed, your choice." He walked over to them and
smirked in mock amusement, "Oh that's right you are already cold and dead, so, you might feel more at home on the cold,
unforgiving wooden floor."
He nearly smacked Harkon in the face with his tail as he walked behind Inigo who led the way to their room situated on the left side
of the inn. Inigo helped Hasir with undoing his leather straps; the Argonian gave a hiss of relief after he removed the iron armoor
and set the pieces against the wall by his bed. The khajiit did the same with his furred armor and they both got into bed and turned
out the light.
Inigo lay awake for the next few minutes while he listened to Hasir's rythmic snores. Only after thoose minutes have elapsed did the
khajiit start to feel sleepy,
"Well, time to hit the sack." The khajiit giggled at this while he drifted off slowly; he had no idea why hitting the sack was
synonymous with going to sleep, the khajiit had very different expressions for such things. Even though he had been in Skyrim for
almost two years, some expressions and idioms were lost to him.
He was flying over the little settlement of Lilmoth in Blackmarsh. Molag Bal had sent his most loyal followers to the farthest reaches
of Tamriel to gain souls to help liven up his cold, dead land of coldharbour as well as obtain souls for his torturing pleasure. The black
khajiit was to be sent to Blackmarsh where rumors of the werewolf who married the vampire Altmer from ages past was said to be
residing. The black Khajiit landed in the swampy village and produced a thin ebony dagger from beneath his black hooded cloak and
asked aaround town if anyone had seen anyone who knows the descendant of Inga Wolfheart who currently resides in Lilmoth.
One Argonian after another fell to the ebony dagger enchanted with the rare purple fire soul burning spell that he had used weeks
previous. The broken corpses and blackened bones of a hundred dead Argonians littered the streets of the Blackmarsh town as the
cloaked figure walked, cloak billowing in the wind, past houses which he incinerated with a well-aimed flame spell. He activated his
'detect life' power and searched for any remaining Argonians. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he found what he was after,
"Perfect, Hopefully he has the answers both I and my master seek." He purred darkly to himself
A giant tree surrounded by huts appeared the closer the figure got to it; he acsended the step which looked like they were cut of one
of the neihboring trees. He went into a particularly sweet smelling hut where something was cooking over a fire,
"Hello there." He purred, "I am looking for the descendant of Inga Wolfheart, is he or she here?"
The Argonian named Iskenaaz shook his spiky head,
"No, er, sorry, you might have the wrong hut, no Wolfhearts or descendants of that name are living here ... Who are you? I haven't
seen your face around here before."
The Khajjiit smirked evilly at the cowering Argonian,
"Foolish lizard, I am tasked with finding the one with the blood of Inga Wolfheart so I can obtain his or her blood and be one step
closer to ressurection Faolchu the changeling." The Argonian gave him a blank look." The khajiit lifted the clueless Argonian in the air
and slammed him full force into the wall, "Oh, you haven't heard of him? Of course you wouldn't know him." He said, sneering at the
Argonian struggling to get to his feet, "You filthy swampfolk never broaden your horizons much do you?"
The doomstrider told the scared Argonian the story of how faolchu came to be and that he was a breton in the Imperial army who
was obsessed with immortality and tried to prolong it by pledging himself to a daedra prince, the foulest of all daedric princes, Lord
Hircine. He then told the Argonian of how he ultimately betrayed Hircine and the wolflord had him killed for want an easy out. Molag
Bal was so furious when he heard of both this act and the union of bat and wolf that he resurrected Faolchu and become obsessed
with purifying the bloodline, even if that meant wiping out every werewolf on the face of Nirn.
The Argonian gasped and repeated what he had said before; the khajiit said he did not believe him. the Argonian screamed aloud as
fangs sharp as daggers pierced his neck. Inigo's greedily drank the Argonian's blood, but it was not the one in the dream; his eyes
snapped open as he heard a bloodcurdling scream; he looked down, gasped and nearly fell over the bed he was renting in fright.
Hasir looked at Inigo with sheer disbelief; he had no idea his friend would let his vampiric urges overpower his usually calm
demeanor,
"What in Oblivion Inigo!? I thougght I was your friend, now you see me as little more than a walking bag of blood!" He said shocked
as his hand felt for the puncture marks in his neck; A fresh stream of blood seeping from beneath his fingers. Hasir turned pale as a
sheet upon seeing it, "Inigo...I think...I think I'm going to faint." He said weakly as he swayed dangerously. Inigo disappeared to get
the Argonian some ice cold water, cursed himself for being a stupid kitten, remembering he had some water already on him and
went back into the room; when he returned, however Hasir had already collapsed to the floor.
Inigo ran to the Argonian's side, opened his mouth and poured a third of the water bladder he had removed from his bag down the
unconscious Argonian's throat, saving the rest for later. A soft hissing escaped the Argonian's lips as he slowly regained
consciousness,
"Inigo, we have to cure you of your vampirism before things get worse." Hasir said, looking at him warily, as if he might strike again
The Khajiit shook his head, pointing to Hasir's bed,
"No, that can wait, for now though, I think you should rest." He said authoritatively. "By the way, what made you faint anyway?" He
asked, looking at the Argonian in confusion.
Hasir told the curious khajiit it was nothing and instead made up a story about the werewolf blood reacting adversely to the newly
introduced vampire blood. Inigo immediately saw through this 'story,'
"My friend, you know you can tell me anything." He said, smiling at the Argonian while helping him to his feet. "if anyone were to
react badly to the blood it would've been me." He said.
Hasir thanked him and asked him about what made the khajiit bite him in the first place, if it was his vampiric thirst or something
else,
"I had a dream last night that I, among others, was tasked with finding the two Aldmer, the race that birthed both the Altmer race
and the dunmer race, which Molag Bal turned his own kin into. In the dream, I was tasked with going to Blackmarsh to find a
descendant of Inga Wolfheart." Inigo glanced at Hasir's shocking expression, "well not me, but my other half that Molag Bal wants to
show more should I become his servant."
Hasir gawped at him, though he hardly believed that Molag Bal would want such a nice and caring khajiit for his army,
"You don't mean... the doomstrider?" He asked him, shocked
Inigo nodded, affirming Hasir's worst fear which was losing Inigo to that evil and heartless daedric lord,
"Yes, one and the same, in my dream though he had long pointy canine teeth like sharp daggers and bloodshot red eyes."
Hasir's forehead creased as he considered this 'fact,'
"So he had little to no sleep and... he had dogs in his mouth!?" He asked, his face contorted in repulsion
Inigo shook his head in frustration,
"Hasir, did you fall on your head when you hatched?"
The Argonian considered this and shook his head, wondering why Inigo would take this apparent dig at his psyche. He finally came
to the conclusion that the khajiit was joking. Hasir roarred with laughter as he exited the romm and went a nearby stream to wash
up before going to the ritual circle that falion spoke of. Inigo ran after Hasir, whom he finally caught halfway down the path that led
to the nearby marshlands.
The khajiit and Argonian stripped out of the armor, setting them on the grass near the marsh, submerged themselves in the water
and proceeded to clean themselves. When they were satisfied with their cleanliness, they got out, dressed and went to the ritual
circle deep in the woods.
They met Falion who was standing on the eastern edge of the circle; upon seeing them, he smiled,
"Welcome, vampire, are you ready to begin the ritual of life?"
Inigo had to think about this for a minute: on one hand he enjoyed sneaking about a night; on the other hand, however he did not
much like the idea of slowly descending into madness to become the monster he saw in his dreams, which was fated to happen,
regardless of whether he tried to run from it or not. Inigo took a long breath before speaking,
"Yes, I'm ready. Let's get this over with already, I want my normal vampirism-free life back." He said, tail slamming down in the dirt
Inigo handed Falion the filled black soul gem, Falion pointed to various spots outside the circle where he wanted those not
participating in the ritual to stand outside of the circle. He beckoned Inigo to stand in the middle of the stone circle. As if in prayer,
the redguard raised his hands to the heavens,
"I call upon Oblivion and the daedra that dwell there, take back the blackened soul of the creature that now stands here in this stone
connection to the realms of beyond. Make pure that which has been impurified, mend that which has been broken and heal that
which was thought to be unhealable."
As if in answer to his prayer, a beam of white light shot down from Aetherius, reflected off of the black soul gem and straight into the
scared khajiit; to Inigo, the light felt like a ray of sunshine on a warm day. The khajiit felt something snap inside of him, pushing the
light away as if it burnt him; for a moment, Inigo's fur turned black as night complete with long teeth and eyes bright as a ripe
tomato,
"Your holy magic cannot save this soul, he belongs to Lord Bal now, begone Aedric follower!" With a wave of his black-furred hand,
the light vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
There was an explosion of shadowy energy, which expanded, knocking everyone unconscious, shattering the soul gem and, in turn
killing Falion as some of the dark energy flowed within him, shutting down his bodily functions all at once.
When the Argonian got to his feet again, he gasped in horror as he saw Falion's lifeless corpse laying feet from him. He looked all
around the circle for Inigo, but he was nowhere to be found, he didn't even understand what transpired; it all went too fast. He had
no idea what happened nor did he knew where Inigo went.
Inigo reappeared in front of the ruins of the old fort, having regained his usal blue fur color. He scratched his head with a clawed
hand,
"Why did whatever happened to me send me here?" He thought
As if on cue, a voice answered him which sent shivers up the khajiit's spine,
"I did what had to be done, I bet you were going to get rid of me easy, didn't you?" The voice chuckled darkly, "Well sorry to burst
your bubble, but I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."
Inigo spun around drawing his ebony dagger, expecting to find someone standing behind him,
"Show yourself, you coward! Iningo laughed, Ah, I get it, your just bad vibrations in my brain, a side effect of that warm light." He
still felt rather uneasy despite foolishly shouting into the complete darkness of night that enshrouded the ruined fort.
The voice said he got the situation half right,
"Oooh, so close furball, you just scrapped the surface of the mead barrel, want a hint?"
Inigo shook his head and continued failing his blade around in the darkness. The voiced chimed in again saying that it is indeed in his
head,
"Well, you got one thing right, furball, I am in your head." Inigo scoffed at this, "Liar! you are hiding, come out now before things get
ugly."
The voice laughed with delight at the khajiit's stupidity, saying how ironic and true that statement really is. It directed Inigo to look
down into the pool of water just off the dirt road; he did so and gasped. For a moment he saw his pale blue face with those lamp-like
red eyes staring back at him. He turned away; he could not bare to see himself like this and guessed what happened must've been a
dream or he imagined it.
He thought it was a dream; that is, until his reflection dissolved into a black khajiit with red eyes and began talking,
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, furball, my name's not important, for now just call me the Doomstrider. Think of me as the
tails end of a coin, you can wish me away or predict the coin will land on heads but eventually all coins land on tails." Inigo's face
screwed up in confusion, He wracked his 'brain' to think of another analogy, one that a halfwit like Inigo could understand, "Ok, erm,
you know the yinyang right?" Inigo nodded, "We are symbiotes of each other, like it or not, I cannot live without you and you cannot
live without me. If you start an action, then more often than not I am going to finish it, right?" Inigo nodded again, "My aim is
simple: to help Molag Bal find the traitor who married the filthy mutt long ago, see, lord Bal wants purity in the bloodline and to get
that, he'll cut away any impurities he finds until he does get it, do you understand now?"
Inigo nodded and a disturbing thought occured to him,
"Erm, what about Hasir, the companions and other werewolves out there? Please tell me they're safe."
The doomstrider shrugged halfheartedly,
"Sure, I would not want to harm your friends." He lied
Inigo drew a great sigh of relief,
"Thank the Divines."
A cold grin played at the edges of the black khajiit's face,
"I was lying, you blue baffoon, Molag Bal was right, an idiot like you would never fit in."
Hasir walked over to Falion's corpse, wondering what that explosion was, and closed Falion's eyes. He stood up and cursed the
heavens,
"Hircine damn you, when I get my claws on whoever did this, that person'll be sorry." He said, shaking his fist at the blue sky. His
tail hung limp as he truged back through the marshlands toward the inn where he and Inigo had slept the night before.
Hasir looked mournfully at the entrance and turned away As he walked away from the inn towards to tree were he tied his reptilian
steed to, an everburning question ran though his mind, Who was that black-furred Khajiit? Hasir dismissed this thought a filed it in
the back of his mind and would continue to work this thought out later; for now though, he had to get to the Whitefish chapel to
discuss this strange happenings with Hircine. He got to this tree and untied his steed and, as an afterthought he untied his friend's
steed as well. He mounted up and let the on his own steed as the horse galloped fast toward Whiterun; the lizard steed ran
alongside it for a few miles untl he veered off to the right.
A feeling of equal parts confusion and delight played on his face as he saw Inigo staring into a pool of water in front of an old,
abandoned fort. Hasir rode close to him and dismounted,
"Hi Inigo." He jerked to a halt and gestured confusedly to the pool of water, "Inigo, why are you staring into the water? Did you lose
a sweetroll or something?"
The blue khajiit shook his head,
"Now, you know ... you know that black furred khajiit I was telling you about in the temple of kynareth all those months ago?" Hasir
had to wrack his brain of a bit but nodded, Hasir told Inigo how he had a similar enounter in a dream he had a month ago in the
hilltop monastery. Inigo nooded and said it was that khajiit who he saw in the pool a few minutes before. He also told the gaping
Arogonian that it was the very same khajiit who had made the vampirism cure fail and it was this khajiit that killed Falion; but by
what manner though, he was not sure.
Hasir placed a scaly arm around the frantic khajiit's shoulders and led him to the reptilian mount; Hasir helped the khajiit on the
back of the creature and he took the front, spurred the creature to life and sped toward the whiteriver chapel.
The reptile thundered past the fort at full speed; while it was closing in on the route to the chapel. Inigo again asked Hasir why he
had fainted,
"Why did you faint back at the inn?" Hasir stared straight ahead and said nothing, "You know you can tell tell me anything, right?"
Hasir nodded while his eyes remained fixed on the road as it stretched beneath the darkening afternoon sky. "Inigo, you're right, I
didn't want to find out about this as you might consider me weak."
Inigo waved a paw-like hand through the arm while his other one retained a vicelike grip on one of the spikes that protruded
outward from the rocky saddle,
"Just say what's on your mind, don't be afraid to sound foolish my friend, let the wolf out of the cage... er... so to speak."
Hasir took a deep breath as he decided to take Inigo's words as truth,
"Okay, Inigo, you got me, the truth is... I fainted because I cannot stand the sight of blood. Once I catch sight of the crimson liquid I
become as stiff as a board and topple over like a tree in the forest."
Inigo's forehead creased; He could not fathom why Hasir couldn't stand the sight of blood but his wolf had no problem with blood,
"My friend... er, Hasir, why do you and your wolf not share the same shortcomings?"
Hasir did not respond for the longest time as he was still manuevering the beast through the fields by the river. Inigo squealed with
fright as the white horseheads came ever closer. He yelled for the Argonian to stop but the cruel sense of purpose made Hasir ignore
Inigo's frantic yelling, which was even harder to hear because his hands covered his mouth.
Hasir's train of thought got momentarily derailed as he looked at the khajiit in suprised shock,
"Who in Tamriel told you that? I don't remember telling you about my... condition."
Inigo told the shocked Argonian that he smelled the wolf on him. He said that being blind, or partially blind and partially deaf in one
ears left him with a nose heightened past than that of normal khajiit. Hasir laughed and punched Inigo in the stomach, causing him
to groan,
"Okay, stop pulling my tail Ingo," He said smiling slyly, "Come on, how did you really know?"
Ingo shook his head, signaling that he wasn't joking. Hasir eyed him with suspision,
"By Hircine, you're not joking, ok now I feel like a stupid hatchling." He said with a slight titter
Hasir glanced skyward as he sighed,
"Well Inigo, I guess you will see tonight; As for why Twilight does not share my aversion of blood, I have no easy answer." He said
Hasir felt the transformation begin as he fumbled in his bag for the ring of Hircine. He felt cool metal with his clawed hand, which
was shaking terribly as the transformation casued his whole body to shake. The Argonian managed to jammed the ring on his
shaking hand; the eyes of the wolfhead shone bloodred and the shaking stopped.
Inigo looked comprehensively at the Argonian, who just moments before had been shaking uncontrollably and then gestured to the
ring,
"What in Oblivion happened, is that a magical ring, or does it somehow cancel out the moon?"
The Argonian leaned against the white steeled chapel exterior, held up hiis finger with the wolfhead stilll shining and told Inigo, who
had leant next to him about the influence of the moon on lycanthropes,
"See this?" He said, brandishing the ring, "This is called the ring of Hircine, its purpose is to help lycanthropes gain control over the
beast that yearns to be let out once the moon rises." Hasir laughed at the khajiit's dumbstruck expression, he knew that the khajiit
was about to ask some stupid question about werewolves and the full moon.
Hasir shook his head in surprise,
"Inigo, certain werewolves do not need the full moon to transform. This ring causes even those werewolves, the kind that I am, to
control their transformations and the ensuing bloodlust,
"Come on Inigo, better not keep Hircine waiting, he will be pleased to see these totems," He gestured to his bag, "with any luck he
will either make me a full companion or remove my force wolf form and restore my werewolf form or, at the very least tell me who or
what can reverse the curse placed upon me.
Inigo followed Hasir inside and down the white marble steps. The Argonian withdrew the iron sword for its sheat and pricked by
himself and the khajiit. Inigo looked at him skeptically. Hasir smiled weakly,
"This is the only way to enter the chapel and as I cannot yet transform at will... this is the next best thing." Inigo asked him we he
had to give a blood tribute as well. Hasir shot him a fertive glance and told him to just put his hand up to the stone.
The statue accepted Hasir's blood and granted him entrance but stayed solid went Inigo attempted to follow him,
"Erm... Hasir, I think there is something wrong with this door... it... won't... budge." The frustrated khajiit said, slamming his body
repeatedly against the door. Inigo tried to pry the door opened with his claws but no matter what he tried, the wall stayed solid and
immovable.
Inigo called out to Hasir from the door hoping against hope that the wall was thin enough to make the khajiit heard,
"Hasir, I don't know what I did, but the door will not open for me."" He heard rumpling as he knew the concerned Argonian let him in
by pressing his open palm against the other side of the door. The khajiit flung himself onto the floor of the cathedral as the
door slid closed behind him. He got up to expect a warm welcome, instead the inhabitants who were in the middle of a prayer to
Hircine and Kynareth looked up and turned toward Inigo.
Aela got up and waled toward Inigo with her hand =s on her hips,
"Inigo, I should cast you from the companions for what you did!"
The khajiit furrowed his eyebrows,
"Nice to meet you too." He said, jokingly
Kodlak stepped out of the deer-antlered bench just in time to see Aela fling herself, teeth bared an hands formed into fists, at the khajiit
who had shrieked in terror and dived behind the shrine to Hircine. Kodlak rushed to the khajiit's aid and helped him to his feet,
"Aela, what are you doing? you should focus more on a person's inner appearance and less on their outward appearance."
Aela opened her mouth to protest but Kodlak's owlish stare shut her down. She resigned to the fact that the old man held the right
to accept anyone into both the companions and the church of the wild hunt no matter their race, divine alliances or what disease
they are afflicted with.
Aela shook her head in sheer disebelief that the harbinger could either be this stupid or completely disregard the guidlines he helped
to build,
"I'm sorry harbinger, have you not noticed that a non-lycanthrope invaded our sacred 'werewolves only' space? She flung her fiery
head back and barked a laugh, oh, that's right, you are too busy with this 'accept everyone' crap to even care."
She looked disdainfully at the male khajiit,
"If it were up to me, he would be gutted with my weapon and his head cut off." She said, rather coldly.
Hearing this, Inigo made to grab Aela's throat as he did not much like her making fun of him when weeks ago, they had been jovial
to one another, even going so far as seeing each other as lovers. Kodlak and Hasir intervened; Kodlak holding Aela back and the
Argonian doing the same with the angered Khajiit. Hasir told Inigo to relax; Aela, however, was still struggling to grab hold of Inigo
despite the fact she was held firmly by Kodlak. Her fingernails repeatedly raked against the harbinger's cuirass like a wolf clawing a
car to get at the person trapped inside.
While Inigo was being restrained by Hasir, he was fighting hard to keep calm even though he knew that he could burst and lash out
at any moment. Ingo finally broke free of Hasir's grasp and flung himself at the harbinger who flung his arms wide to prevent the
khajiit advancing towards Aela.There was a flash of purple light which nocked Kodlak into a nearby pillar. Inigo, fur black as night, fangs
bared advanced on Aela eyes glowing with rage,
"Greetings nord, you know why I am here, yes?" He asked, pinning the female nord against the floor by her neck
Aela's eyes went wide with fright as she stared into the raw meat-like eyes,
"W-w-who are you?" She stammered, "what the fuck do you want, you monster!" She yelled at him as she spat in his face
The creature looked at her as its cat-like tongue slid across its lips,
"First I am no monster, well yes I guess I am, but, My lord sent me to find the descendants of Inga Wolfheart so I can kill that
person." He said, grinning evilly, "if I do this, my lord will reward me greatly and advance his plans." He pondered on Aela's second
question, "My name is not impoortant, you may call me the Doomstrider."
Aela spat at him again as she attempted to push him off of her,
"What do you mean 'plan?' Just who the fuck is your lord?" She yelled, spittle plastering the khajiit's grinning face
The khajiit told her that his lord is Molag Bal and also recounted the story of an ancient union of bat and wolf that Molag Bal
unfortunately had a hand in and now, realizing his mistake, he wants to purge Tamriel of all those who he deems impure so he can
retain the purity of his creations.
Hasirr rushed over to Aela who was spread-eagled on the floor gasping for breath,
"Aela, are you alright, I have not idea what has come over Inigo lately."
Aela nodded shakily and got to her feet as Hasir made her sit on the bench to catch her breath; Inigo came over, sat down and
apologized,
"I am sorry Aela, I have no idea what came over me." He said head hung in sorrow
Aela screamed for the harbinger's help in getting this beast off of her; thinking quickly, Inigo covered her mouth and spoke softly,
"There is no need to scream, that monster is gone, calm down, ok?" He said, eyeing her with concern
The female nord nodded and the blue khajiit pulled his hand away from her mouth, At least she stopped screaming thought Inigo as
Hasir took a seat next to him and asked if what he had seen a few minutes ago was the same creature he saw that stopped Falion
from curing Inigo's vampirism; Inigo nodded saying that like the Argonian, he also has a dark side. He told Hasir that what he had
told him in the temple in Whiterun was true; the spirit known as the doomstrider had, in fact, latched itself onto the blue khajiit
because it had seen true evil in Inigo, or the potentiality for it anyway.
Valhira raised her hands, called for quiet and asked for Inigo and Hasir. They walked apprehensively towards her,
"Yes, you called for us?" They both asked, confused looks on their faces
Valhira nodded and gestured to the shrine of the wolflord near the back of the temple which was surrounded by three inward-facing
benches, each decorated like the benches that faced the altar,
"Hircine would like a word with you too." She said, a slight sneer spreading across her feline face
Hasir was overjoyed as he heard this, "Finally, my time has come, I will no longer be a whelp." He said proudly as his tail swayed
behind him; he and Inigo walked over to the statue of Hircine and sat down in one of the benches. He yawned audibly and, unable to
keep his eyelids open any longer, drifted off to sleep.
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