C51 First Blood

Howling again, I lead my growing 'pack' down the river. Our goal was blood—silver blood.

— —

'Well, this is interesting. I didn't think I'd run into these guys so early.'

We ran all the way to Valtheim Towers—the two towers connected by an overwater bridge—without bumping into any trouble. Needless to say, the bandits that made it their home didn't want a fee.

Just their lives.

But soon after passing the giant waterfall behind it, we found a few squads—about three dozen—of Dawnguard soldiers. But it seems they ran into a strong master vampire and his underlings because, by the time I saw them, only five were left.

They stood—back-to-back—with weapons drawn; they gave no blind spots, nor openings, to the eight remaining vampires circling them.

"Come on, men! We can take a couple more down with us!" one of them, an orc, and probably their leader, was trying to raise their fighting spirit, as well as ease the mood, "They're just the whores of Molag Bal anyway!"

'Well, if you're going to die, may as well go down going everything you've got... Actually—I like this guy. I think I'll save him.'

They were about to clash once again when I walked out from the woods—alone—making them pause. I was all fours, but it did nothing to hide my 'uniqueness' from them.

"What kind of werewolf is that? It's much bigger than any I've seen before," one of the vampires asked.

The leader was undaunted by the threat I could pose, "Bah! A mindless mutt like any other; it's just bigger."

Surprisingly, the master vampire—who should've been more experienced—didn't know what I was, but the Dawnguard leader did. Or at least seemed to.

He was gripping his sword tighter and looking at me with even more dread than the vampires.

'Oh. Now I'm curious.'

I decided to play a bit and started circling them. I inspected everything about them while staying just out of their range.

I had to step over numerous dead bodies in the process.

The master vampire was quick to anger, "Leave us Hircine's dog! Or you'll end up just like—oh, what am I saying—you're but a beast and can't understand."

'I'm getting "Young Master" vibes.'

He stopped talking and neared me while casting red-colored magic—it was likely a drain spell—then, he tried threatening me, "LEAVE MUTT, OR D—"

But he lost his breath when I looked at him.

"What's the matter," my voice rumbled like quiet thunder, "wolf got your tongue?"

The vampire's magic sputtered out, and he looked like he was facing his greatest fear; he was shivering constantly and uncontrollably.

Yet, never once did he look away.

It was like my eyes held his most precious, most ardent desire. Something which he couldn't be without...

'Heh! He's probably seeing Bal's balls for both.'

"Vampires..."

I slowly walked to him, "Always so quick to fall into their own delusions."

-Thud-

My steps started shaking the ground as I got up on my hind legs, towering over him.

"And—so quick to die..."

Without him ever trying to stop me, I put my arm through his chest. My claws could be seen from his back as I held his spine and lifted him to my level.

This is when he finally snapped from his daze.

"You—"

-Cough-

"I-if you kill me, y-you'll be hunted down by the Volkihar C-clan until the end of days!"

His terrified eyes reflected my teeth, "They're welcome to try."

I gestured to the surroundings, after which numerous eyes could be seen shining from in-between the trees.

This was my pack, now numbering at over thirty wolves and six werewolves, not including me. They're also the reason none of the other vampires tried stopping me; they were too busy watching the woods.

"I'll just do to them what I'm about to do to you," I said while bringing his head closer to my mouth.

"W-wait! Wait! I'll—"

Then—with one bite—I slowly severing his head.

His blood was like sweetened, aged wine, yet there was something—more. Tasting it also made my desire for slaughter grow.

"ROAR!!"

No longer being 'gentle,' I tore his body in half and threw it at the remaining vampires, then I roared, giving my pack permission to attack them.

Due to already being elite warriors, Farkas and the other Companions are stronger than normal werewolves and maintain more sense of self. They could've killed the leader if I let them, so taking care of his underlings isn't an issue.

The two strays are a different story, however.

They had to work with the wolves to kill a vampire without injuring themselves, and even then, several wolves died in the process.

"Grr."

After the vampires were dealt with, one of the two add-ons wanted to kill the Dawnguard soldiers too, but I stopped him with a growl.

His ears went down, and they went to the back of the pack to escape my sight.

I looked at the soldiers for a moment and then turned away, leading my pack back into the woods and in the direction of Gallows Rock.

The five were left more confused than anything, seeing that I didn't kill them.

—

'If I'm not mistaken, drinking some of that vampire master's blood gave me a little boost in strength. It's sort of like in the game; the more you feed, the more perk points you get.'

It's just that it was a small amount, so using it as a method to get stronger will require stronger enemies to feed on.

'Or—I'm just high... probably both.'

— —

Finally arriving at the fort, I see that it's quite simple—just a tower with square walls surrounding it.

It's in partial ruins but patched up with timber. There are many guards as well; they know nighttime is when the deadliest creatures prowl.

'Looks like—fifteen or so.'

Since Skjor never came here to weed them out beforehand, they still have all their people. And with this being the 'real world,' things aren't scaled down either.

'Now I just have to decide if we go in quietly or loud—'

"Bark."

I look behind me at one of the no-good stays that just stepped on a wolf's paw.

Noticing my glare, it shuffled behind a tree.

"Werewolves!"

Hearing one of the guards yell, I look back at the fort, 'The loud way it is then.'

"Owooo!"

I howled while focusing on my Magicka, attempting to buff the pack.

It must've worked because all their eyes started glowing before charging the fort at double the speed.

From atop the walls, archers loosed silver arrows, but even the normal wolves could dodge them with their speed boost.

It seems they haven't been here too long, though, because there's no front gate yet, which made it all the easier for us to get in and start ripping them apart.

'I suppose when your walls aren't all repaired yet, a gate doesn't mean much.'

To be fair, the Silver Hand had all the right stuff to fight us—like silver weaponry and traps—they could've handled a few werewolves without much trouble.

But our numbers were too many and far above what they were ready for.

It didn't take long for the wolves to pull them apart—bite by bite—or simply be ripped apart by a werewolf.

A few were fast enough and fled to the inside of the fort; too bad, for them, that's where we were going from the start.

The door was blocked from the other side, so I clawed it open; it only took a few swipes to rip it apart.

Once inside, I didn't see anyone. Just an empty room with the stairs downward blocked by bars coming out of the floor.

'Where's the lever—on the other side... Why couldn't they be as stupid as they were in the game?'

With bending them open, the only option left, I grabbed hold of the middle bars.

-Sizzle-

But as soon as I did, my flesh started smoking.

'Damn! You don't have the resources to build proper walls, but you can make silver-plated bars and install them into the floor!?'

After ranting, I came to an understanding.

'I'm stronger, but my weaknesses are as well... Makes sense—but—I don't care.'

Reaching for the bars again, I pumped my body with Magicka; it could now handle much more than before I got this beast form.

-Creak-

The bars bent fairly easily after empowerment—but even so—by the time it was opened enough, my bones could be seen through my paw-hands.

"Roar!"

After giving it one more hard pry, I stopped to let them heal and allow the wolves through.

'They're probably all going die, and I don't even care—I'm so—mean... Mwahahaha! Die for me, my little minions!'

Once my internal power trip was over and my paw-hands healed, I stepped through the bars as the other werewolves trailed behind.

Going down the stairs, we entered a room with many columns supporting the ceiling. There was also a fire cooking some stew...

And a Silver Hand member with two wolves she managed to drag down with her.

'Hmm, I can either go the normal way through the fort—or—take the shortcut that's only blocked by a barricaded door.'

As someone that can rip vampires apart and bend steel bars, I took the shortcut and had the other six go the normal way.

'Now Skjor, you have five other werewolves with you, so you 'should' be fine...'

Breaking open the door and bar blocking it—which was only wood—I charged through the relatively short hallway.

Upon seeing the door to the 'boss room,' I sped up while empowering my body and broke through it like tissue paper.

Once through, I saw Krev the Skinner and a dozen of the Silver Hand finishing off a few wolves. Unlike the game, they all had high-quality equipment and not just bandit gear.

He turned around in a hurry to see what happened.

Seeing me, he yelled, "What in Oblivion are you!? No normal werewolf can command this many wolves, nor have your size and—appearance."

He seemed to be talking to himself more than anything and didn't expect a beast to answer back—which I did.

"Me?" I purred in a smooth yet guttural voice before roaring at him, "I'm your death, human!"

After successfully freaking them out, I charged at the nearest of them.

He tried blocking me, but I just swatted him into a wall hard enough for it to crack.

Moving to the second, I clawed their face, ripping through their helmet and head at the same time.

After those two died, they all organized themselves better, not that it helped much.

Dodging a couple arrows loosed at me, I went around a column and tore a third's heart out.

Then—I ate it in front of them.

'Unnerving the enemy is rarely a bad tactic.'

Seeing that, a few froze, and I was able to kill them in quick secession, leaving only six and Krev left.

The issue was that all those remaining had silver spears which were harder to get around.

"Leave beast! Or your life will end here!" Krev yelled, still maintaining some composure, though I could smell the fear coming off of him that was steadily growing.

My only response was a chuckle as I sped to one of them, who lost focus for a split second.

She must not've liked watching me crush number six's brain that I had in my claw after ripping it out.

"Aw, was he your mate?"

She tried stabbing me, but I swept the spear away and grabbed her arm, pulling her closer.

"I'll send you to see him then."

Then I bit off her head and flung it at Krev.

He dodged it, but that was enough to mess up their formation.

Throwing the now headless body at two of them, I got closer and caved their heads in while they tried getting up.

But just after killing them, I had to duck under a spear aiming for my head.

'Tsk. You should've thrown it instead; maybe you would've hit me then.'

While low to the floor, I neared the wielder and clawed off the arm that was holding the spear.

"Argh!"

It was Krev.

The remaining three thought it was a good chance to flee and did just that.

It's just that they didn't take the shortcut and went the normal way, where they would run into the others eventually.

"It seems your men don't hold the same level of conviction as you."

After saying that, I walked on all fours towards Krev. He kept shuffling backward on the floor, trying to get away from me.

"Why-why do this beast? What do you gain from slaughtering us like this?" He was surprisingly coherent—even now—at the last moments of his life.

I got up next to him and plunged my claws into his heart while purring, "I just thought it'd be fun, is all."

With him dead and—I sniffed the air—none of the companions dead... yet. I just sat and waited for the others to get done and make it here.

Though, I did realize something.

'I—don't have any clothes... neither do any of them.'

I looked around the room, but there wasn't anything besides bloodied or torn clothes, 'Damn.'

—

After a few minutes, six werewolves entered the boss room. They were all banged up in some way but the only one critically injured was—Skjor.

'This place really wants you dead, one way or the other, doesn't it?'

It looks like someone got a lucky strike as he had a sword stuck in his abdomen, and I could tell it hit a vital organ.

It was also sizzling a bit.

-Whine-

Aela was helping him walk—somehow—and I could see that she was the one most distraught about his condition.

'Oh, right. They're kind of a 'thing,' aren't they?'

Once in, Skjor sat against a wall—nearly bled out—while the other three huddled around him.

The two add-ons just went and fought over Krev's severed arm.

-Crack-

I walked over to the four as my paw-hands turned into something more hand-like.

I found I could control my form slightly when I was trying to make the healing faster after bending the bars.

Reaching them, I quickly pulled out the sword.

Alea looked ready to pounce, but she restrained herself once she saw me cut my own hand and let the blood fall into Skjor's mouth.

'What will happen, I wonder?'

He wasn't quite dead yet, as he had enough strength to swallow—but only once. After that, his heart stopped, along with his breath.

The others could tell he was gone too.

Aela crouched down and nuzzled him a few times. Getting no response—she looking away—motionless and lost in thought.

'Well... Fuck this! I won't lose so easily.'

Pulling Skjor down on his back, I raised my fist and slammed it down hard on his chest with some Magicka before any of them could react.

-Cough-

He was back.

"ROAR!!"

And in a lot of pain, as his body underwent another shift while healing at the same time.

He slowly became bigger and a bit more man-like.

'Heh, heh, heh. It's alive!'

He wasn't quite as good as me, though, as I only gave him the bloodline without the 'fill-ins' I made using my Dragonborn side as a reference.

Basically, he has Hircine's dark blue 'house' on his soul, but without the golden specks.

Back to life and consciousness, Skjor scurried up and looked around in a hurry. He seemed confused, excited, and a bit scared.

I expected as much, but I still asked, "Have a look at the hunting grounds—perhaps—even Hircine himself?"

Skjor looked at me, still a bit dazed, but eventually—he nodded.

— —

//Note//

I was going to post this chapter yesterday, but while editing it, I got inspiration out of nowhere.

That's how the beginning went from a running montage to slaughtering vampires.

Though, come to think of it.

It wouldn't be Skyrim without a few random encounters, now would it?

— —

Yeah...

I don't have anything else.

I'ma start writing the next chap now.

— —