Silence. The first thing that struck Konrad as he walked into the dark cave was the deafening silence. The residents of Ivarstead reported the screams of a young girl coming from this very cave in the dead of night. A local family also reported their youngest child going missing and they assumed the worst. The head of the village approached the most trustworthy warrior she could find without looking far, this being Konrad. A strong and hardy Nord, 59 years of age, but shows no signs of age taking a toll on his fervor. She asked him to investigate the cave in hopes of finding the family’s lost child and putting an end to whatever foul magic is bother the people’s sleep at night. Being the chivalrous warrior he was, Konrad was happy to oblige.
Now, with magelight in one hand and his loyal mace, Fearbreaker in the other, he treaded lightly into the cave the locals call “Three-Moon Hollow”. The cave showed some signs of inhabitance. There were empty bottles of mead scattered all across the cave floor, torch sconces highlighting the way into something that Konrad would soon find out, but most obvious was the cadaver of a witch slumped against the walls of the cave. He went up to it and began inspecting the late woman. The body was still warm and many other details were visible upon close inspection. The subject was an Imperial, judging from her relatively short stature and brown skin. There were three gashes across the side of her face and a grisly wound on her abdominal regions. All these looked fresh and appeared to be caused by a wolf, but wolves were not known to enter caves and rip apart witches willy-nilly. A mixture of fear and curiosity welling up inside him, Konrad pressed on.
As he walked deeper and deeper into the cave, more signs of a recent clash were visible. The charred up remains of a Flame Atronach, a decapitated body of a warlock and blood in excess quantity, be it splattered on the cave wall or in less common pools on the floor. What monstrosity could have caused this? Konrad thought to himself. He was no stranger to such horrendous scenes of violence, but even this could make Tsun on high wince. It wasn’t until he reached a section of the cave that seemed to meld into a Nordic catacomb that he found an important clue: a dismembered clawed finger. He crouched down and picked the specimen up. Werewolf, he deduced, only a werewolf has a finger like this, which would explain the corpses and blood. Having reached a satisfying conclusion and feeling proud knowing that his detective skills has yet to fade, Konrad continued deeper into the ruins.
The aged warrior has spent so much time investigating Nordic ruins in his lifetime that he was well-versed with every nook and cranny of a typical catacomb. This particular one, however, had a few unfamiliar twists. For starters, the Draugr, the walking dead of Skyrim, were completely absent. There weren’t any corpses resting on the usual places. Perhaps they too were vanquished by the unseen werewolf? Thoughts began to race in his mind as he pressed on, until suddenly, a piercing scream of a girl echoed throughout the ruin. Konrad jumped in surprised and picked up his pace, running at a speed not normally reached by people his age.
Much to his convenience, the catacomb was much more linear than others, making navigation an easy task, moreso when one considers the circumstances. A young girl, captured by witches, her life most likely in danger. There was no time for casual exploration. Eventually, he reached a small stone walkway going through a large room. As he walked along the walkway, he saw the bastards. Three black robed women standing in a circle around a young girl lying in a fetal position. Next to them was a greedy-looking man, counting coins and, most striking, a large black-furred werewolf. It was chained to a pillar and its right index finger was missing, leaving only a stub. Determined to stop this wretched ritual, whatever it is, Konrad dropped down stealthily from the walkway, and took cover behind a conveniently placed sarcophagus. As he peered from the side, he saw that the girl was radiating an eerie red glow and seemed to link with the chained werewolf. Now I get it, he thought, they’re trying to turn her into a werewolf. His left hand clenched into a fist and with a bit of focus, a ball of flame appeared, ready to be flung into a poor sap’s unsuspecting face. But before he could do anything, the tallest witch nodded at the greedy man and he nodded back. He grabbed a nearby axe and with one movement, chopped off the head of the werewolf. Konrad felt a small twinge of pity for the beast. The man then handed the grizzled head to the witch and held it over the poor girl, and spoke a wicked mantra.
“Hircine, hear my plea! Take this offering and bring this girl into Your wicked fold!”
At these words, the circle of witches exploded into a cloud of black smoke. The man jumped back in surprise, and then, screams, this time, three different voices. As the smoke cleared, the circle had been replaced by a ring of corpses with a man-sized, red furred werewolf standing in the middle of it. It turned its head towards the man, and his face paled. With blinding speed, the werewolf charged at the man before he could run away. Soon, nothing was left of him except for a bloodied skeleton. The werewolf arched its head and howled, sending shivers down Konrad’s spine. But then, it arched in visible pain and turned back into the girl from before. She managed to walk a few steps before fainting in front of the skeleton.
Konrad rushed towards the unconscious lass, removing his cloak and putting it over her for modesty. He grabbed a healing potion from his bandolier and poured its contents down her throat. Steadily, she began to come to, coughing and shivering.
“Relax, lass. Everything’s alright,” he whispered softly to try and comfort her. “You’ll be back home with your family soon.”
“Thank….you.” she replied weakly. He then carried her on his strong hands, and the two made their way out of the wretched cave.
“Do you…..remember anything about what they did to you?” Konrad asked.
“Not much….I can only remember a big man with the head of a deer talking to me in my nightmares…. He kept calling me a ‘wolf’…does that mean I’m a werewolf now?”
Looking at the girl’s innocent eyes, it pained him a bit to break the truth to her. “Yes, lass. You are a werewolf now. You should talk to your parents about it as soon as we get back. They’ll know what to do.”
At this, she grinned playfully. “Of course, mister…uhh..” She struggled to find his name.
“I am Konrad, child. I stay in the inn. I’ve seen you many times before, but I don’t quite know your name.”They were nearing the cave’s exit and the ambers ray of the evening sun reached them, even from here. Ivarstead was not much far now.
She giggled, her bloodstained face glistening in the sunlight. “I’m Valka. Valka Half-Moon”.
Comments
Very good read though with a nice balance of ... more