Seden crouched down and examined the crimson pool of blood covering the balanced, steel throwing dagger. Slowly dipping his finger into the murky blood he brought it to his mouth and dabbed it against his tongue checking for any infections in the blood, once he’d tested it he proceeded to swirl the rest of his finger in the gory puddle until it was covered in the blood, bringing it back up to his mouth he hungrily sucked the blood off of his flesh, savouring the salty liquid on his gums, resisting the urge to suck up the rest of the puddle in one quick move he began to search for information within the blood, his yellow eyes turned cat-like and rolled back in his head. It was mere seconds before Seden started to find information in the blood; the man was a Dunmer like the bard had said, he was around two hundred years old but remained in peak physical condition, he’d trained intensely for the last few year and had gained much of his fitness recently, despite being an archer his blood showed he’d suffered many injuries from close quarters combat, a collapsed lung reduced the oxygen levels in his blood and he’d suffered a good many sword wounds that had required increased production of blood cells to heal; he was a dangerous enemy.
Seden removed his finger from his mouth, making sure there was no blood remaining on the skin, his vision had gone dark whilst performing the ritual but now the world began to reappear as his eyes wearingly readjusted. The blood now shone a bright yellow colour and the world around it was darker than before, allowing him to track the blood trail better, he sniffed the air hungrily and could smell the archer and hear the blood coursing through his veins.
Rising from the ground Seden was now more animal than man; he bared his teeth hungrily and darted towards the door, faster than a human eye could track. The midday sun burned him for the first time in years but Seden took no notice, he was fixated on the small glowing yellow droplets that were splashed across the snow, he followed the trail like a viper tracking its prey and sprinted across the snow, not even registering his surroundings, simply moving from one droplet to the other, sniffing the air as he moved sensing the murderer hobbling through the city. The archer had already left the city and Seden realised he was following a false trail as he moved past the smithy, abandoning the yellow droplets he relied on his nose to guide him to the city gates in a matter of seconds before he bashed the heavy iron gates open and leapt past the two guards stood sentry outside the city. Ahead of him he saw the Dunmer, limping across the bridge, almost at the stables now, Seden began to pursue his prey but the murderer heard him coming and spiralled blindly fired a volley of arrows behind him, they weren’t designed to hit Seden, simply to slow him down and scare him, normally Seden would have approached with more caution to avoid an arrow in the knee but right now he had no fears. Only Hunger.
Several more arrows skidded harmlessly past the vampire as he closed in on his target, the archer must have sensed him closing in, in one desperate attempt to stop the vampire the archer stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face his hunter. It was a risky move, if he missed he would have no chance of escape, the vampire would be on top of him in a matter of seconds, calmly he knocked drew and fired an arrow from his powerful oak longbow, it flicked through the air straight into its target that stood a meter from the bow. Seden was thrown backwards off his feet as the arrow appeared to pierce his skull, he hit the stone floor with a loud crack as his body crashed into the icy floor.
The Dunmer casually turned from the body sprawled on the floor, smiling to himself as he limped away. He saw a rickety wooden carriage slowly riding up towards the small stables with a single hooded passenger on board. The archer lifted his arm through the gap between the thick oak longbow and its strong horse haired string, allowing the bow to hang from his back as it nestled next to his stitched leather quiver. He began to slowly limp towards the carriage, his right arm clasped tightly around the flowing wound in his belly, The Dunmer had seen the way Seden had cut his arrow in half with a knife whilst wounding him at the same time and he marvelled at the expert marksmanship that must have required. As he got closer to the carriage he heard a low, menacing growl from behind him, he didn’t even get a chance to turn around before a heavy body crashed into him, pinning him against the cold ground.
Seden leant over his prey, snarling triumphantly as he savagely prepared to finish him off. He’d expected the shot that the Dunmer had fired and had expertly thrown himself backwards at the last second; dodging the arrow by mere inches whilst giving the illusion it had caught him in the face. Looking at the Dunmer he took a moment to examine him, he was pale for a dark elf, his skin almost white with only the slightest blue tinge to it, his eyes were dark brown instead of the usual red and he had a large scar crossing over one eye, forcing it shut, one of his ears was clipped at the tip, removing its dagger sharp point and he was dressed in a simple brown shirt, with a bandolier draped over one shoulder that had a black cotton shoulder cape spread across the stones.
Using his sharp nails Seden pressed against the murderer’s exposed throat, opening a small void in his neck and allowing a crimson trickle of blood to flow free, it was a simple target for him to feed off and he began to lean forward, ready to feast on the cowering Dunmer beneath him. His teeth were hovering dangerously close to the elf’s throat and he tensed his jaw, ready to clamp it shut, tearing open his throat, Seden was interrupted by a sharp whistle and when he looked up a leather gloved fist smashed into his jaw, sending him crashing backwards.
The blow was of strength Seden had never before experienced and he was unconscious for a couple of seconds, when he opened his eyes again his animal instinct was gone, he no longer had the hunger for blood and the memories of his hunt left a sickening taste in his mouth, looking up however he realised he had bigger problems then his vampiric episode.
Walking towards him was a mountain of muscle, Seden had never seen anybody bigger, he was clad in a thick, sleeveless leather breastplate adorned with various reinforcements and a long brown cape billowed in the wind, his features were shrouded beneath a burlap hood but Seden had the impression he recognised the towering giant above him, in his right hand he was swiping a silver long sword through the air, the blade moved so fast it was as if it was a circular devise, not a long pointed sword. He passed the sword from one hand to the other like it was a toy but anyone who knew about weapons could see this showed a great amount of strength and coordination.
Seden tried to scramble to his feet but the hooded figure lashed out with his boot, cracking Seden below the jaw and flinging him upwards into the stone walls on the side of the bridge. Before gravity could pull Seden’s body back to the ground the hooded man shot out a hand, grabbing onto Seden’s throat and pinning him against the wall. Never before had Seden been overpowered, his vampiric strength was unmatched even by many other vampires, but now he desperately clutched the man’s wrists, hopeless to his unmatchable strength, he knew if the man wanted he could crush his throat like a twig. “I can never catch a break” The hooded figure growled beneath his hood. Seden’s memory began to stir at the sound of his voice, a distant memory of an old friend. Using his remaining strength Seden reached forward towards the man’s face, desperately trying to remove his hood, the man noticed the action and issued more pressure to Seden’s throat, causing him to choke and drop his outstretched arm. “What’s a vampire doing out in daylight, and in a city?” The hooded figure barked the question at the choking pirate. Seden opened his mouth to reply but couldn’t speak, he felt like he was going to pass out at any second, realising he was administrating too much pressure the hooded man released Seden, allowing him to drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes. From directly beneath the hooded man Seden could now see his face, a bald maze of scars, and then Seden knew where he recognised the face from.
“Shawk?” Seden croaked, staring in shock at his old friend. Shawk opened his mouth in shock; he didn’t recognise his old friend and hadn’t heard his own name spoken in an age. “How do you know me? Who sent you?” Shawk demanded, planting his foot on the pirate’s chest and holding the point of his long sword to his throat.
“You don’t recognise me?” Seden chuckled, “I guess back then I didn’t have so much hair and the sea life’s aged me.”
“Back then…” Shawk whispered, recalling a friend who looked much the same but with shorter hair, “Sea life…” Memories began flooding back to Shawk now and he looked down at the man pressed against the cold floor by his heavy boot. “It can’t be, I saw you die!”
“I thought I saw you die too, looks like we’re both wrong.”
Shawk stepped back in shock and surprise, giving Seden room to stand up, as soon as Seden was on his feet Shawk examined him closely, assuring himself it was real then he clutched his friend into a bear hug, crushing the air out of his lungs. “Why’d you never write to say hi?” Seden wheezed from beneath the muscular embrace.
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Roger, the Dawnguard story plays a major role in... more