User blog:Psychomantis108/Story: Myths of Mundus: Dark Pilgrimage - Chapter 18: The Ravagers

Nair’s blurry vision stayed fixed on the approaching Werewolf as it finished taunting him, the Khajiit found himself fixated on the spot as the sharp pain burst through his body, his arms were heavy from the fact that he was too weak to move them, his shirt was stuck to his flesh with the sheer amount of blood that drenched it and his vision was fading in and out as the creature got closer and closer.

The Werewolf brought its hand down, into the Khajiit’s stomach, piercing it with two of his sharp claws as it did so and causing him to cry out in pain and throw his head back as his lower jaw shuddered and he went into shock.

He could smell the wolf’s breath as his face drew closer, it stunk of rotten flesh that seemingly clung to his teeth and was quite warm, the strength of it was enough to blow his mane about as it gushed out of the creature’s nostrils.

It was then that Nair felt the tip of creature’s long claw press against his neck as the creature got ready to drag it through his jugular vein and finish him off. He seemed to be taking his time with it, relishing in every ounce of suffering that he was inflicting on the cat for obvious reasons.

Unaware as to where he should look in this situation, Nair closed his eyes as he began to feel the sharp pin prick in his neck, however, the pain was short lived as he heard the sound of something soar through the air and land straight into the wolf.

A silver arrow flew straight into the wolf’s left shoulder blade, causing it to cry out in pain as it dug in and the silver material began to sizzle, burning the beast’s cursed flesh. It groaned and whimpered as it hobbled away, glancing up in time to receive another arrow, this time between its shoulder blades.

The creature’s own vision was blurring now as pain induced tears welled up in its eyes, he knew that he was in danger and that he would have to flee the scene, prompting him to slowly rise up to his feet as he swayed from side to side, barely holding himself up on shaky legs.

It was then that a third arrow pierced his wrist, causing the creature to fall to its right, completely leaving Nair’s vicinity as he tried to flee, turning with his back against the City’s wall as he stumbled back to the North, fighting the pain as much as possible as he tried to get back to his people.

“Now!” A voice commanded, quickly getting the beast’s attention, prompting him to turn around as it saw a shower of silver arrows fly up into the end and descend upon him. His eye narrowed as he saw the site that sealed his fate, twenty or so silver arrows fell down from the sky and most of them fell into his shoulder, chest, wrist, thigh, calf and one in his lower neck, all of which began to burn away at his flesh, slowly burning it away and draining what little strength the creature had left.

The creature swayed from side to side before eventually falling to its knees, curling its injured hand into a fist and placing it on the ground as support, finding that it quickly gave way and forced him to collapse on his chest, sending the arrows even deeper into his body. He cried out in agony on impact with the ground, hunching over as it felt his whole body fail him, one organ at a time as he lay down on the ground, his weakened eyes fixated on his would be prey as his body convulsed on the ground. “Hareld?”

Her voice echoed inside his head, calling him back to reality or what was reality, so long ago…

“Hareld?”

The Nord grumbled and rolled over, burying his face into his pillow as he tried to block it out, as much as he enjoyed hearing it the rest of the time, there was mystical cave full of luscious tribal girls that was calling to him.

“Hareld!” The voice grew more stern as the shakings became more violent, causing the Nordic Tribal Warrior to roll onto his back and look up, finding himself to be face to face with Angela.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ange… Can’t this wait?” He asked, sleepily, seeing that the sky was still pink, she had no reason to wake him up this early.

<p class="MsoNormal">“The naked tribe girls need me…” He grumbled before he rolled over again, quickly finding his should to be caught by his fellow tribesman’s hand as her fingers wrapped around the ball of his shoulder and took a tight hold on it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hareld, this is serious! I threw up again this morning!” She snapped, rolling him on his back and forcing him to look her in the face.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I think I’m pregnant.”

<p class="MsoNormal">This tore the Nord away from his juvenile fantasies, causing his eyes to shoot open as he sat up and rolled his shoulders so that she’d let go.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You… You sure? I mean, you’re not just… sick?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Angela shook her head, glancing down to her stomach before placing her hand on it and looking up to him as her emerald eyes met his.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I’m certain, it explains so much… It makes sense as well, considering me and Lars…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Hareld raised his hand, not wanting to hear about that, he was still recovering from this morning’s first, major shock.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Does Lars know?”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Chieftain’s Daughter-in-law shook her head, glancing back over her shoulder, making sure that the others were still asleep.

<p class="MsoNormal">“No… You’re the first person I’ve told, I’m not sure how Lars will take it and I had to tell someone.”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Hunter nodded and sighed, slowly pulling himself up as he let his sheets fall back, catching them and stopping them from falling any lower than his waist for… his own reasons.

<p class="MsoNormal">He smiled and took her by the arm, glancing up into her eyes, he missed being included in such things, like he would have been a few years ago, back when he and Angela were inseparable. He was honestly surprised that she came to him first or that she even told him at all, since the two of them hadn’t spoken for weeks and they had barely spoken since Angela and Lars had gotten married as Hareld was swiftly brushed out of the picture.

<p class="MsoNormal">He eventually gave in and pulled the young Nord woman in for an embrace, it was very rare that Angela let anyone hug her but this was a special occasion and Hareld was the second most important person in her life, so she was willing to make such exceptions.

<p class="MsoNormal">Hareld relished the moment somewhat as he held the embrace for a few moments as many as he could get away with before Angela would start getting suspicious, he counted the seconds in his head before pulling away and giving her an enthusiastic smile.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So… When’re you going to tell him?” He asked, letting go of her in case someone walked in, it didn’t look very intimate but people can easily get the wrong idea.

<p class="MsoNormal">Angela quickly glanced away and sighed, not entirely sure herself, she truly didn’t know how he’d react as the man could be such a puzzle sometimes. Ymir’s reaction was predictable, he’d be overjoyed and then over protective, it’d be endearing and even a little pleasant at first but it’d get old and annoying, real fast.

<p class="MsoNormal">“He’s going on a hunt this morning, I’m… thinking of telling him, when he comes back, otherwise he’ll think too much whilst he’s out there.” She informed him, looking back over her shoulder again, to make sure that they were definitely alone.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Look… I know that… This isn’t that big of a deal but I’m afraid of messing it up, I don’t know I just, I’m not used to it I guess. Do you think that you could be there, y’know… to stop me from saying something stupid?” She asked, giving him a meek smile as she lifted her eyes again, which were now begging him for help.

<p class="MsoNormal">Angela was tough as nails, out in the wilderness, she was a good hunter, a fine tracker and wasn’t too bad of a cook… at least compared to Hareld who cooks everything one extreme or another. The only thing that she struggled with was addressing other people, formally or about important issues.

<p class="MsoNormal">She preferred to be casual about things, enjoy them over a drink, during a hunt or other pleasantries, too bad that she wouldn’t be able to do two of her favourite pass times for the next nine months…

<p class="MsoNormal">“No, it’s fine…” Hareld assured her, giving her a smile and a wave of dismissal as he sat up, pausing as he waited for Angela to turn away.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Erm… I need to get up and I’m…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh, right…” Angela uttered, turning a little red from embarrassment as she looked away, waiting for Hareld to get up and start getting dressed, quickly sliding into his cotton clothes, not bothering with armour or anything as he wasn’t going hunting today.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You think I should tell him before he leaves? Or after he comes back?” Angela asked, keeping her attention fixed on the material wall in front of her, so that she wouldn’t see her naked kinsman, though in truth it mattered little as she’d seen him naked a number of times, seeing that they all grew up together, went swimming, hunted, changed and even shared beds over the course of one summer.

<p class="MsoNormal">Hareld was busy tunnelling his way through his shirt, considering his answer as Angela said, Lars might be distracted by the news if he knew heading out but on the other hand, he should know as soon as possible. Still, what’s another hour going to hurt?

<p class="MsoNormal">“I think you should tell him, I mean it won’t matter if you screw it up, what’s important is that he knows.” The Nord said as his head slid out of the neck hole of his shirt, straightening his long hair as he pulled the shirt down, straightening it at the bottom as he rose to his feet, being as quick as he could, knowing fully well that Angela was desperate to get going.

<p class="MsoNormal">His friend looked back over her shoulder and nodded in agreement before turning to the tent’s flap, looking over at the already changing sky, morning was coming and the Hunters would be waking up soon to catch their prey.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well… Here goes nothing…” The Nord sighed, taking her first steps over to the tent’s front flap and stopping just short of it, placing her hand against the rough fabric.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Y’know… Beside the awkwardness of having to tell him, this is the best day of my life…” She sighed, turning back to him and giving him another smile, a smile that Hareld struggled to return. He was happy for her but this just solidified his position as her friend, destroying any chance of them being together after this.

<p class="MsoNormal">For him, this was the worst day of his life, a fitting punishment for his cowardice as a younger man… <p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .75pt; padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">He waited until her back was turned before he sighed and followed her out, getting ready to give Lars the news of his life. That asshole had better be grateful… <p class="MsoNormal">The ‘asshole’ in question had just left his tent, pulling the flap over his head as he did so, emerging in his unique tribal armour, it was steel armour, coloured black and trimmed with crimson red, it had two large bulky shoulder pads, with spikes protruding out of the top of them, adorned with the white fur of a slain wolf.

<p class="MsoNormal">The helmet was a well crafted Nordic Infantry helmet, with Ram-like horns growing out the side of its head. It was quite difficult to get the helmet on, so Lars usually went without it as it held little purpose when facing bears or wolves, it was mostly best at deflecting arrows or intimidating his enemies.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Watchmen wore a similar, less impressive version of the armour; his version was a commander’s version, which had been passed down from generation to generation, since the Three Faction War. This suit of armour, traditionally, had always been saved for the Chief’s son as the Chief got his own armour set.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars was ready to go hunting with his fellow tribesman, who typically went out hunting three at a time. There were seven in total, so they would go out two times a week on average in different groups each day.

<p class="MsoNormal">Yesterday Angela’s group encountered a wild boar’s tracks but couldn’t pursue it as they ran out of time; the groups were recalled after so many hours, no matter how close they were to catching their prey. If a group didn’t return, then that was a sign that something was wrong and another group would be sent out to retrieve them.

<p class="MsoNormal">They were hoping to pick up where they left off, hopefully coming back with some bore meat at least as it had been a while since the tribe had been treated to a good feast and they had been quite reliant on transformation hunts recently, hunts that involved transforming into their werewolf forms and running off into the wilderness to slay whatever they could find to nourish themselves.

<p class="MsoNormal">This usually nourished them for days but was a major risk for the individual tribesmen and the tribe itself. They had already been branded with the name ‘Ravagers’ and were believed to be a clan of feral werewolves, who were constantly being hunted by local law enforcement, bounty hunters and hunters in general, all of which provided a great deal of nourishment for the group members.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lars?” A Hunter called as he approached; he was roughly the same age as Lars, if not a bit younger.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes Egil?” The Chieften’s son asked, unable to hide the fact that he was startled by his sudden appearance.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Are we ready?”

<p class="MsoNormal">The young Nord nodded in response, glancing over to the other hunter, who was waiting by the front entrance to the camp, he was dressed in the Watchman’s armour, the less impressive green version of Lars’ with a slightly rustic finish.

<p class="MsoNormal">   “Alright, let’s get going.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars began to make his way over to the other Watchman as Egil stood on the spot, quickly looking over his shoulder as he saw Angela and Hareld approach them, looking like they had a purpose.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Erm… Lars? I think that Angela wants to talk to you…” He uttered, getting the young Nord’s attention and prompting him to turn around, he was understandably confused as Angela was never up at this time of day, she had no reason to be and she wasn’t exactly an early bird, neither was Hareld, who was strangely following her.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Angela? Wh- Why are you up?” He asked, approaching the Nordic Tribals as they approached, causing his wife to freeze in her tracks as she looked over to Hareld. Hareld gave her a firm nod and a smile as he encouraged her to go on, she gave him a meek smile before turning her attention back to Lars.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I… Was woken up early with morning sickness.” She began, figuring that answering his question was a good place to start and slightly hoping that he’d be able to put two and two together…

<p class="MsoNormal">“You’re sick?” Lars asked, sounding a little concerned as it was rare that Angela got sick; it was rare that any of them did. His Wife quickly shook his head, quickly seeing her error as she tried desperately to appease him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“N-No… It’s… Something else…” She uttered, gesturing down to her stomach as she felt it come alive again, twitching a little due to the awkwardness.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lars… I’m pregnant…”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Nord froze on the spot for a moment, leaving Angela in limbo as he processed this information; however, she was relieved to find that he burst into a joyous sigh and rushed forward to embrace her.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Angela I…” He gasped again as he pulled away, smiling for the first time in months, since their wedding day.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You need to get your arse out there and fetch me a boar, I’m eating for two now and it’s not easy, considering that little one keeps rejecting his daily rations.” Angela smirked, placing her hands on Lars’ hip and shoulder as she reached up to kiss him on the lips, whilst Egil glanced away, happy but embarrassed and Hareld was just plain embarrassed.

<p class="MsoNormal">They held it for a few moments before Angela pulled away, broadly grinning at her husband as she backed away, and gesturing to the other Watchmen, who seemed to be growing annoying at being kept waiting, having no idea what was going on.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Go on…” She encouraged, gently pushing him away with a smirk.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Dad…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars couldn’t keep the smile from his face, it was harder to resist than the urge to kiss her again, an urge that he was barely resisting at the moment but still, he managed it, realising that the hunt must come first for his wife’s sake, for his clan’s sake and now for the sake of his little wolf.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars walked away from his wife, constantly glancing over his shoulder to see if she was still there as he did so, his eyes constantly fixated on her stomach as he tried to imagine what was waiting for him. <p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .75pt; padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">The future of Clan Ardwolf… <p class="MsoNormal">Lars’ group stopped as they reached the first signs of the boar‘s trail, the more seasoned scout, a warrior by the name of Tait.

<p class="MsoNormal">Tait was one of the tribes’ most seasoned trackers, who was skilled in the art long before becoming a werewolf, which heightened his senses, improving his perception to the point that it was inhumanly accurate.

<p class="MsoNormal">Normally a hunter wouldn’t even notice the boar’s presence but being werewolves; the Nords of Clan Ardwolf could sense its presence and follow them three days after the creature had passed through this area. However, this trail, even with their intense senses was growing a little cold and it would take a few minutes to pick it up again.

<p class="MsoNormal">It was obvious that Egil was somewhat eager to bring up what was on both of their minds, though he was still hesitant to do so. Most of the clansmen saw each other as family, so it wasn’t out of bounds for him to ask but he wasn’t sure how Lars was receiving it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I bet that that was a thing to wake up to, huh?” He asked, in spite of the fact that he had gotten started he was still incredibly nervous about addressing the issue, in spite of Lars’ happiness.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah…” Lars replied, baffled by his odd choice of wording, it was obvious that he was nervous so he chose not to dwell on it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I… Can’t remember the last time I woke up to such great news, I can feel it, he or she will be a strong leader, who will lead our tribe to greatness.” He replied, rather proudly at the thought as Tait wandered off, oblivious to the conversation as he entered the bushes on the side of the road, combing the nearby area for sign of the swine’s trail.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars took off, following closely behind as the Tracker lead them deeper into the forest, seemingly hot on its trail.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What makes you think that you won’t lead us to greatness?” Egil asked, getting Lars’ attention as he glanced over his shoulder.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Excuse me?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You said that your son… erm… or daughter would lead us to greatness but you’re going to be the next chief, right?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars nodded, that did sound like he was doubting himself, severely. If he did have such doubts, he wouldn’t accept the position of leader, tradition be damned but he knew that he could and must lead these people.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, we’re in some… Dark times, I plan to change that and when my Child has come of age, they’ll be completely oblivious to the hardships we’ve faced. We’re going to need more people, more women especially, even if that means moving on…

<p class="MsoNormal">I know that my Father doesn’t like that prospect but it’s what we’ll have to do to survive and he won’t be alive when it happens anyway. We’ll grow, get better, have our honour restored and reimburse our numbers and we’ll come back to this land stronger than ever.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars found himself smiling at that prospect, his people had been hit hard by the local authorities, rival clans and natural disasters over the years, though the other clans were wiped out, one way or another, the other two threats have grown even more persistent in recent years, to the point that Ymir is afraid of outside help.

<p class="MsoNormal">This camp once consisted of two families and now, thanks to taking in outsiders, it had grown to what it is. Ymir was too afraid, after what happened last time they took in outsiders but Lars knew that it was the only way from keeping them from extinction.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I…” Egil paused, somewhat wrapped up in Lars’ intent, he seemed so sure and so driven to make things right that he couldn’t help but feel inspired.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I’d love to be a part of that, as much as I love Ymir, I agree with you…

<p class="MsoNormal">We need to change in order to survive.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, we need to get away from the ‘civilized’ people, the ones who call us ‘Ravagers’ and start anew in Skyrim, go back to our roots and retrace our ancestors, only then can we prosper in this ever changing world.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“C’mon, keep up! I’ve barely got a trail as it is!” Tait insisted, calling back from far ahead. He had a short temper and little time for sentiment and took his hunts incredibly seriously, he was always aware of what was going on; he had to be, especially in situations like this. <p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .75pt; padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">“C’mon… We need to keep moving, I don’t want my first day as a Father to end with us bringing back nothing…” <p class="MsoNormal">The group continued to follow the trail for some time before reaching its end, apparently the trail ended at the creature’s corpse, which had been set upon and torn apart by a pack of wolves. This was a crushing blow for Lars’ group as they had no other food source to eat from and considering that Angela was eating for two now, she’d have to go out and find food on her own.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Nord returned, with his men, marching with their tails between their legs, hanging their heads in shame as they re-entered the camp. The two Watchmen looked up hopefully; one of them jumped up to get dibs on the snout but quickly saw that they had nothing and sat back down again, Hareld sat on his usual tree stump, chipping away at that sculpture of his, that he’d been carving for months now.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Got nothing?” He asked, rather scornfully as well, he’d always had a thing against Lars, especially when he failed Angela. Hareld would have been the better provider, had he been given the chance, though he often reminded himself that he had the chance but failed to take it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We got there too late, wolves beat us to it.” Lars stated, glancing back up as he looked around for Angela, finding that he couldn’t find her, he looked immediately back to Hareld.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Where is she?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Hareld paused and closed his hand around the carving, slowly sitting up and placing his knife hand on his knee as he glanced up to his old ‘friend.’

<p class="MsoNormal">“’She’ is with your old man, telling him the good news… They’ve been in his tent, drinking tea for hours now; I had to get out of there to escape it.” He sighed before returning to his carving, knowing full well that Lars wasn’t going to keep the conversation going, now that he knew where Angela was, such was always the way…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Thanks…” He grumbled, walking on over to his Father’s tent as his fellow hunters released their equipment.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars entered the tent, though he stalled for a brief second before doing so finding himself being in the uncomfortable position of having to inform his wife and father at the same time that he’d failed them.

<p class="MsoNormal">He paused for a brief moment and sighed before entering, fearing the worst from both of them, a look of disappointment.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars stepped inside to see Ymir sat on his cushions, with a tea set at the center of his tent, the Old Man seemed to be into a deep conversation with his Daughter-in-law, their laughter filled the room.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Sigfrid if it’s a girl, Sigfried if it’s a boy.” Odin insisted, playfully as he took another sip of his tea.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I prefer Sigrun to Sigfrid.” Angela shrugged, thinking twice about sipping hers as the stuff tasted like Land Dreugh piss, a comparison that she did not make lightly.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Leif.” She then said, the name just hit her.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Leif? That for a girl or a boy?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Boy, I think… But it wouldn’t be a bad girl’s name.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ha, let’s try not to give our girl a lad’s name; there are plenty of good Girl’s names already, no need to…” Ymir cut himself off as he saw Lars enter, causing his smile to grow even more.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ah, perhaps Lars has had some thoughts on this, whilst on his hunt…” He said, cheerfully, slowly rising to his feet.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Perhaps he’ll be willing to share them with us, over dinner.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Angela nodded as she rose to her feet, turning around with a matching smile which quickly faded as she saw Lars’ face.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lars… What’s wrong?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“We didn’t get anything, we found the boar but wolves had gotten to it first and what was left was rotten.” He then stopped and sighed, glancing up to his Father.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We ran out of time, so we had to come home empty handed…” He muttered, his voice grew deeper and more solemn as he found himself to be glummer.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, we’ll have to send another team out then, Angela can’t go a day without eating, not whilst she’s pregnant.” Ymir insisted, thinking practically like he always did, he looked over to Angela as he spoke, thinking only of her and the grandchild at this point.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Father, we can’t send a team out in the dark, it’s…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Necessary, we can send Hareld, Tait and Iver down to the river to catch some fish, a good slaughter fish’ll tide her over.” Ymir insisted, though was cut off as Angela got inbetween them.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Or I could just go out and get something to eat myself, there are all sorts of creatures on the silver road, all of which I can handle easily by myself. Hell, there are bandits on the road to, if push comes to shove, I could always eat one of them.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ymir folded his arms, not liking this one bit, he didn’t like the thought of Angela leaving the camp ever again but she was a warrior and no warrior would sit in their tent whilst their people lost a war, no Nordic warrior at least...

<p class="MsoNormal">“Angela…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“What? I’m only a few weeks, at the most! It’s barely even affecting me; I can go out tonight and get some food, surely!” The Nord protested, finding herself to be regretting telling everyone so soon, maybe she could have gotten a few more weeks of freedom out of it before she did tell everyone.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ymir sighed and hung his head, she was capable as a warrior and in werewolf form she had no equal, she was one of the tribe’s best, pregnant or not and she would most likely be back within the hour, it was foolish to worry over it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Alright…” Ymir whispered, slowly looking back up to her and giving her a hesitant nod of approval.

<p class="MsoNormal">“But you come back to us as soon as you’ve fed, okay?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ange just smirked at him and shrugged, not knowing what else she was going to do.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Of course, the Silver Road’ll lose its appeal after an hour anyway…” She replied, turning back to Lars and kissing him on the cheek as she patted him on the shoulder.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You’re okay with this?” She asked, making sure that he was before she head out, though she would probably have to defy his wishes, not knowing what else to do. Her Husband just nodded, even he, as protective as he felt right now, couldn’t refuse her hunt, nothing had changed with her, she’d gone out on her own to eat before and nothing bad had come of it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Why should now be any different? <p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .75pt; padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">“Great, you two can discuss baby names until I get back.” She concluded, stepping away from them both before running outside, heading straight into the wilderness so that she could transform in peace… <p class="MsoNormal">After finding a secluded place, Angela began to strip in the middle of the forest, throwing all of her clothes to one side to avoid tearing them. In truth, she was somewhat excited for the thrill of the hunt again, hoping that Hircine would bless it and reward her with a great bounty.

<p class="MsoNormal">Hunting was always more rewarding as a werewolf, that ravenous hunger was so hard to satisfy that any catch was a worth one. She called to the beast inside her and brought it forth, feeling its punch and stumbling backwards to its affects, slowly swaying from side to side as she began to transform.

<p class="MsoNormal">She erupted into a purple aura and grew several feet tall before taking on the form of the wolf in full as all traces of her humanity swiftly faded in the flash of an eye and she stood tall as a Queen of Beasts.

<p class="MsoNormal">The transformation was far less painful than the other kinds of Lycanthropy, probably because it was brought on willingly, offered as a gift from Hircine himself. Angela snorted as she lifted her head up and began to sniff the air, sensing that something wasn’t far off…

<p class="MsoNormal">She could smell sweat and blood, definitely human and definitely close by…

<p class="MsoNormal">She slowly began her journey deeper into the forest, taking two steps forward before crouching down and getting on all fours before taking off into the wilderness, her four paws pounding the earth beneath her with every step of the way.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Werewolf began to pick up multiple scents converging on her targets; they smelled familiar, somewhat like her…

<p class="MsoNormal">''Wolves again!? Come to steal my kill? Not this time you greedy bastards! ''She picked up the pace, practically leaping through the forest as she bound her way over to the Silver Road, desperate to reach her prey before her lesser brethren.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Werewolf reached the side of the road and took cover behind some bushes, she was a Khajiit on the road, sat up against a tree, barely defending himself from a pack of wolves. He was clearly a bandit, who had recently failed to rob a passing traveller and had paid the hard way, his injuries were clearly caused by something blunt, none of these injuries could be inflicted by wolves.

<p class="MsoNormal">She continued to watch and saw that the Khajiit was barely holding the canines off, perhaps she could wait for them to finish the deed before rushing in herself and getting a feast. The Cat didn’t have much on him, neither did the wolves for that matter but together they should satisfy her hunger and the hunger of her child.

<p class="MsoNormal">He’d managed to kill one of the wolves, though it was purely by fluke, there were two more left and it definitely looked like his luck was going to run out, afterall, he’d never be able to inflict any damage on her, given the condition he was in, he’d never be able to reach.

<p class="MsoNormal">He managed to deflect another attack, to her surprise, cutting the wolf across its face this time and knocking it, with a yelp, to the floor, however, he was instantly beset upon by a third wolf, that went for his throat.

<p class="MsoNormal">However, to her surprise the wolf was hit in mid air, by a powerful lightning spell as An Orsimer arrived on the scene, shortly followed by a Bosmer with a bo staff. The Orc swung with his axe, completely missing it due to the clumsiness of the swing; the wolf retaliated by biting his left arm, that was seemingly missing a hand.

<p class="MsoNormal">It chewed, fruitlessly on the protective layer around the presumably amputated limb, causing the Orsimer a great deal of amusement.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ha, stupid mutt!” He bellowed, driving his axe into the creature’s skull and killing it instantly before tossing it aside as his Bosmer finished one of the dying wolves off, with a blast of her staff.

<p class="MsoNormal">The display was incredibly impressive and Angela felt cheated out of her meal, Hircine had handed that Khajiit, a lowlife cutthroat, who was going to die anyway and a bunch of savage wolves and it was all taken away from her by these two… whatever they were.

<p class="MsoNormal">She would assume that they were the bandit’s accomplices but they seemed too well equipped and well dressed in comparison, whoever they were, they were stealing food from the mouth of her child. Outraged as she was, Angela couldn’t help but question her chances, even in werewolf form, that Bosmer was a competent mage and that Orc was as big as she was, it would be a tough fight, even if it was achievable.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Orc was maimed and the Bosmer was young and weak, she didn’t underestimate any enemy but that much was true. Angela needed the food and that Orc alone was enough food to last her and the baby throughout the week.

<p class="MsoNormal">She eventually sighed and gave in, realising that she had to do this, not just for her or even the baby but for the Tribe as well. Ymir and Lars would stop at nothing to get them food and she knew that that may involve risking the lives of her fellow clansmen…

<p class="MsoNormal">Reluctantly, she slowly rose to her fee, ready to descend on the group and take them out as quickly and as painlessly as possible. <p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .75pt; padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">Kyne… Please forgive me… <p class="MsoNormal">Several hours had passed, since Ange had set off for her hunt, the group members were concerned enough when she left and now they were terrified that something had gone wrong.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars was unstoppable as soon as the hour mark had passed or what he deemed to be the hour mark, he knew that there had to be something wrong and he had to go out and see what it was, whether his comrades agreed with him or not.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ymir, unsurprisingly, agreed to send him, Tait and Iver down to the Silver Road to investigate, Tait being their best tracker and Iver being one of few hands that hadn’t been out through the remainder of that week, the group seemed solid.

<p class="MsoNormal">Tait practically lead them straight through the wilderness, never stopping as he knew each step, after transforming, Angela wasn’t exactly discrete about her tracks and her scent was so strong that any werewolf would think that they were in the room with her.

<p class="MsoNormal">They knew what trail they needed to follow, leading up to the Silver Road, she did make it, which was more terrifying than it was relieving as the prospect of her being killed or captured was stronger than ever.

<p class="MsoNormal">The group appeared at the site of the skirmish, finding a destroyed bush, where Angela had lay in ambush and three dead werewolves as well as a lot of scuff marks on the ground. It was obvious that Angela had been in a fight involving wolves but it couldn’t just be the wolves, wouldn’t she have stopped to take and/or eat the corpses?

<p class="MsoNormal">“Tait?” Lars asked, though his voices sounded more like a demand as the Tracker scanned the ground, looking for any sign of the Chieftain’s Son’s Wife.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Something… Something went down, I… see two, three more footprints, a big guy and a smaller guy and another guy who was injured. I think that Angela might have gotten caught up with some bandits.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You sure they were bandits?” Lars asked, concerned that it might be Legion or Werewolf hunters or worse at this point as this all seemed so… suspicious.

<p class="MsoNormal">“N-No… But they’re most commonly sighted on these roads and nobody here was wearing metal armour, at least not on their feet.

<p class="MsoNormal">There’s some blood by that tree, so I think that she wounded a guy, if she did hurt them, then it was most likely a bandit. You know her; she’d never go after travellers or risk the camp by going after the legion.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, where’d they go?” Lars snapped, wanting to get to the point, her time could be running out, if it hadn’t already…

<p class="MsoNormal">Tait slowly followed the tracks to the right; it appeared that they doubled back on themselves, though it was unclear as to why. They most likely retreated after coming face to face with a werewolf; at least he hoped that that was the case…

<p class="MsoNormal">“They went north, towards the inn!”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars nodded, turning straight towards the direction of the inn as Tait jumped up and placed his hand on his shoulder, pushing him towards the bushes.

<p class="MsoNormal">“C’mon, stick to the foliage, so that we can get the drop on them when we catch up!” The Tracker insisted, pushing Lars to the sidelines before the three of them sped on, hoping to catch up to Angela before anything happened to her.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars charged on ahead, his chest and stomach were hollow, his heart and head were pounding and his fists were shaking and aching from the fact that he was crushing them, due to the immense pressure and stress brought on by his Wife’s disappearance.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Nord pushed on through a few yards up the road, sprinting the entire time as he did so, until he finally reached the inn. They knelt down in the opposite foliage, staring out from afar as they got ready to continue looking for the trail, however, they immediately noticed that they didn’t need to…

<p class="MsoNormal">Hogtied to an iron pole hung the beastly corpse of a werewolf, hanging outside the front door, like washing or a trophy or a pig on a spit. Its head lay back, with its large jaw hung open; the only part of it moving was its fur that blew in the breeze…

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars felt himself hollow, like a fish that had been gutted, his own mouth mimicked hers as it fell open and his rib cage turned inside out on the spot. His wife, his strong, intelligent, brilliant wife and his child had been cruelly slaughtered, left to rot in her wolf form and hung up like a prize, like game!

<p class="MsoNormal">Never before had Lars seen anything that shredded every positive feeling he could ever grasp, his wife, a woman who woke up this morning to the realisation that she would be a mother and the child that she carried inside. Now both of them were gone, taken from him, ripped from his desperate hands and hung out like mere soulless animals without any respect shown to them or the suffering that their deaths had caused him.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Nord felt the bridge of his nose ache, he felt his eyes start to sting as tears welled up inside them and his knees slowly rose him up to his feet, however, he felt his hand slap on his shoulder, stopping him from acting.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lars!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Get off of me!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lars! I know, believe me, I do but you need to use your head!” Tait growled, prompting Lars to turn to him and punch him straight in the nose, knocking him on his back.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You don’t know anything!” He bawled, tears rolling down his face and smearing his face paint, he quickly turned his attention back to the inn but found that Iver had lunged forward, wrapping his arms around the Nord’s chest and holding him down.

<p class="MsoNormal">Tait slowly rose to his feet, clutching the bridge of his nose, amazed that the punch didn’t bust it open or break it as he did so.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lars, listen to me! I do know one thing, one thing that changes this completely! These people are group of three at least, we can’t take them down on our own but I do know one thing that we can use to our advantage…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lars paused, turning to the Nord as he swung Iver off, his enraged eyes fixed on the Tracker’s.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What!?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Tait glanced up, with an enraged look of determination as he clenched his fist and veered off to his left, turning his attention back to the inn. <p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .75pt; padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">“I know that one of them is a Khajiit…” <p class="MsoNormal">Clan Ardwolf stood around their fire pit, with Ymir and his Son stood at the center.

<p class="MsoNormal">Everyone who didn’t already know, Ymir, Egil and especially Hareld fell silent, most of them stumbling back as if the weight of the blow was physical. Either way, the camp fell silent…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Murdered?” Ymir asked, his voice was nothing like it was before, weakened, broken, just like he and the rest of his tribe was…

<p class="MsoNormal">“But she… She was…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hung up like a trophy by those damn savages!” Lars snapped, though his angered voice was broken up by his grief as he began to look around, it was clear that the sight of Angela’s dead body had traumatised him to the point that he was a shaking wreck.

<p class="MsoNormal">“They murdered her, on the side of the road and hung her body out as a trophy! Like killing her was sport!” He bawled, turning back to his father as he panted, blood shot eyes fixated on the old man; his face was pale, highlighted by the black war paint around his eyes and nose.

<p class="MsoNormal">“She…” He paused to swallow, his anger slowly faded away as grief took hold, resulting in him breaking down into a trembling wreck, resulting in Ymir turning to one of the Watchmen, who took his leave as he approached Lars, placing his hand on his back and leading him towards his tent…

<p class="MsoNormal">The group was left in silence as everyone processed the information given to them, some where a step ahead of others, such as Ymir. The Old Nord’s right hand tightened into a fist, which looked strong enough to break open a boulder as he winced, his own pain slowly ebbing and flowing into a rage of a man betrayed by his Gods.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So… What’re we going to do?” Egil asked, hesitantly, being the first to say what a lot of other Tribals were thinking. This prompted Hareld to step forward, taking center stage for the first time in a long time, enraged by this outcome but even more so by this question.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What do you mean? It’s obvious! We go back to that inn, whilst they’re sleeping, the whole pack and we tear it and everyone inside apart!” He demanded, instantly winning the crowd over, who were thirsty for blood or any form of vengeance.

<p class="MsoNormal">“And what!? Get ourselves cornered? Killed? Are you insane!?” Ymir snapped, bawling in a voice that he had never used against one of his own people before as he marched over to the boy and snatched him by his collar, pulling him forward, so that they were face to face.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Let’s get one thing straight, I’m in charge of this camp, I say how we do this and your way is goddamn suicide! I’m pissed but I’m not ready to throw my life away over this!” He snapped, shoving the young, long haired Nord to the ground as he turned back to his people.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Here’s what we’re going to do!

<p class="MsoNormal">We’re going to grab that Khajiit and we’ll bring him back to this camp and we’re going to kill him! Then, when his people show up to collect him? We’re going to kill them as well!

<p class="MsoNormal">We’re going to gut them and hang them up, like trophies for all of the outsiders to see! If these savages want to play it that way, then we’ll show them that they were being outplayed from the start!

<p class="MsoNormal">They call us Ravagers, beasts in men’s clothing! Let’s show them what we really are! Let’s show them that they were completely and utterly wrong, because we are far from beasts imitating as men, we are Wolf souled warriors!

<p class="MsoNormal">We. Are. Clan. Ardwolf!”

<p class="MsoNormal">Clan Ardwolf erupted in a unanimous angry cheer, as Egil, Tait, Iver and the Watchmen backed him, ready to take vengeance upon these travellers and the savage society that spawned them. Everyone but Hareld was ready for war, for vengeance…

<p class="MsoNormal">Hareld didn’t care, it didn’t matter to him anymore… <p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .75pt; padding:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm">Angela was dead and the worst day of his life had gotten a whole lot worse… <p class="MsoNormal">Angela… Hareld thought as he closed his orange werewolf eyes, letting them leak a few tears as his fingers recoiled in pain.

<p class="MsoNormal">I failed you…

<p class="MsoNormal">His final thoughts lingered on the strong warrior he grew up with, the many hours they spent together, the nights that they shared a bed, the closest he’d ever been to being with her the way that he’d always wanted to.

<p class="MsoNormal">If he had been stronger, if he had told her how he felt, if he wasn’t such a coward…

<p class="MsoNormal">Maybe things would’ve turned out differently…

<p class="MsoNormal">Hareld’s life ended on that note as Bruma’s guard Captain drove a sword through his skull, killing him instantly and ending his suffering, both physical and emotional. He pulled the sword out of the creature’s head as he backed away, slowly turning over to Nair, who lay on the floor with several severe abdominal wounds, which were fountaining blood.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I need a healer over here!” The Nord Captain bawled as he knelt down by Nair’s side, placing one of his hands on his shoulders.

<p class="MsoNormal">“It’s okay Khajiit, the werewolf is dead… A healer is on his way…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“N-No! I-It’s… Too late…” Nair groaned, swallowing heavily as he snatched out at the Captain’s arm, staring up into his eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal">“M-My friends… Are in danger…” He whispered, forcing the Nord to make eye contact with his pleading gaze as he did so.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Werewolves… S-Stalk them to…

<p class="MsoNormal">On… The boarder… In a cave…

<p class="MsoNormal">Arlas… B-Bologra… Don’t… kn-now…” The Khajiit’s final breath was used to form those words as he finally exhaled for the last time and his head rolled over to the left as he expired, just as the healer approached.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I’m here, what-“

<p class="MsoNormal">“It’s too late.” The Guard Captain snapped, quickly turning his back to her, with a determined and somewhat angered look in his eye as he knew exactly what order to give.

<p class="MsoNormal">“But I need you to do something else, go to Lawrence, tell him to assemble a team and meet me outside the city walls within the next ten minutes!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Wh-What should I tell him?” The Healer asked, knowing that Left Tennant Lawrence would need a reason to drag everyone out of bed and send them marching into the wilderness.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Guard Captain paused for a moment before narrowing his eyes, giving the young Imperial a faint smile.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Tell him that I know where the Ravagers are and they’re cornered!”