Jorundr Blackmoon's Story

Blood... the essence of life, and the symbol of death... Where there is blood there is life, or an absence of it... The Imperial color is red, a symbol of power, a symbol of blood, a symbol of life and death. They believe that they control both life and death, they control the blood. The greatest son of Skyrim proved them wrong, that son was Ulfric Stormcloak. He will take control of Skyrim, he will remove the blood laden Empire, he will free the citizens, he will not control them, but rather keep them from being controlled... because blood, can only be spilt so many times...

Jorundr was personally picked by Ulfric himself to infiltrate Whiterun and be ready to aid any Stormcloak advance, whether it be peaceful, or warring... He had the good fortune of being on a leave from the Companions, so he just went back to Whiterun and joined them once again, lying in wait for when he would be called once again to fight against the Imperials.

Jorundr was in Jorrvaskr, the first night he had been back, most of the Companions were there, having a very loud and rambunctious party. Jorundr was the featured event, drink was being passed around like the world was ending, and everyone was laughing and fighting and having a great time. Two of the newest members were wrestling on the floor, both female, so most of the men were watching. Kodlak, Vignar, and Skjor were not in attendance though. Jorundr was locked in a drinking contest with one of the new Whelps.

They were eight flagons of mead into the contest, both drunk out of their minds, but the whelp more so. She placed a hand on Jorundr's shoulder to steady herself before saying, very drunkenly, "I... am going to wipe your ass..."

"Don't you mean whip...?" Jorundr responded, grabbing another flagon.

"Shut up!" she yelled, this was very unbecoming of her, but she was very, very drunk.

She was half-way into her next flagon before she toppled over, asleep. The entire place cheered as Jorundr finished his own drink. He toppled into a chair, proud of his victory. Aela sat next to him, they joined the circle at roughly the same time, so they had a sibling type bond, more than the others that is. Aela smirked in the way she did before saying, "So, why'd you come back after all this time?"

Jorundr laughed loudly, very drunk, before saying. "Because I felt it was time to come back, is there a problem with that sheild-sister?"

Aela looked away and said, "No, not at all shield-brother," before standing up and leaving the room.

Jorundr continued to drink and tell stories of the adventures he had until the late hours of the night, before retiring to his bed. His orders were standing orders, nothing definite, nothing planned, he was simply suppose to wait and see...

---

The shadows were something to be admired... fading anything and everything within its grasp... to the point of disappearance... But the one bad thing about shadows, is that there is always light to illuminate them... to erase them... to discover what was previously out of reach... Shadows are weak compared to the light... yet the shadows are more welcoming... a Shadow cannot defeat light, but they can fade things away where light only illuminates...

Alessia was in the forest near Solitude, there were 8 people lined up with bows and legion armor on near her. Alessia slowly walked down the line, looking at every single one of the soldiers. The sun was low, barely illuminating the courtyard, yet still slowly rising. There were targets set up for training the archers, all 15 meters away from the line.

Alessia looked at the archers and said, "So, you're the newest archers then? I get to decide wether or not you're up to the task of being an archer for the Legion... it's a fun job..." Alessia slipped the bow off her shoulder and fired three arrows in quick succession at one of the targets, they all hit within 5 inches of the center, "Now, none of you have eaten today, and if you can't do that by the end of training this morning, you won't eat until tomorrow... If you hit the second ring, nothing happens, if you hit the third ring, you take a step back, if you hit anything outside of the third ring, you take two steps back, and if you miss, then I kick you out of this program and make sure you end up on the front lines whenever you enter battle... any questions?"

"Umm... yes ma'am..." a man said, a Redguard, smaller than average, but still bigger than Alessia, "Shouldn't we take a step forward to maximize our chances of success, rather than taking a step back when we miss?"

Alessia walked up to him, glared into his eyes for a moment, then punched him in the face with all her strength, knocking him down. She spat on him and said, "Any more questions? Good, now start shooting!"

The soldiers began firing, the Redguard stood up and did the same. After a half an hour with most people taking a few steps back, Legate Rikke wandered towards Alessia, who was sitting on a rock, eating a loaf of bread. When she saw the Legate, she stood up and said, "What is it ma'am?"

"Prefect Rian, General Tullius has a mission of the utmost importance for you," She stated, looking a bit displeased, the Legate never liked Alessia, thinking she rose through the ranks to quickly and that the General trusted her a bit too much, "He needs you to ride to Whiterun and do whatever you deem necessary to get Whiterun to accept the Empire's protection."

"Why is he sending me ma'am? Isn't this a job for a diplomat?" Alessia inquired, confused.

"Well, normally it would be, but the Jarl is being a bit too... obstinate... So we need you to go there, under the guise of a normal citizen, and do whatever you can to make him accept Legion rule."

"Whatever I can...?" Alessia grew a small smirk on her face as she thought to the possibilities of what 'whatever' meant...

Legate Rikke sighed before saying, "Yes, General Tullius has made it clear that you can do anything short of killing anyone in the Jarl's court."

Alessia saluted the Legate and said, "I shall proceed with gusto, would you mind directing these idiots back to a new teacher?"

"I suppose so, get your gear and leave within the hour."

Alessia nodded before leaving the forest. She returned to Solitude and went straight to the Imperial Base. There were a few soldiers practicing with wooden swords while being supervised. Heh... I guess those Stormcloaks are getting pretty tough if they are pulling out all the stops like this... Alessia thought to herself. She wandered into the large stone halls of the Imperial base, banners and torches littered the area, and not much else. She got to her room, only a few square meters, that she shared with another Prefect, a Breton girl named Lielle. She opened her large wooden chest and collected her items, a few potions of her own creation, poison mainly, her extra quiver, some salted meat, and her amulet to Sithis, a constant reminder of her old life, and something she always took with her when she needed to do a dangerous mission(believing that he and his wife, The Night Mother, would bless her).

She heard the door open just as she was getting ready to leave. When she turned to look at who it was, she saw her roommate Lielle, she was short, about 5' 4'', pale, with black hair and green eyes. She smiled and said, "You shipping out somewhere?"

"Yeah, the General wants me in Whiterun to act as a liaison for the Empire," Alessia responded, looking in her bag to make sure she had everything.

"Wouldn't a diplomat be better suited for that?" Lielle tilted her head in question of her answer.

"That's what I said!" Alessia responded, "I think the General likes me though, and he thinks I will be good for the task or something..."

Lielle giggled and said, "So that's why the Legate hates you, you're showing off a bit too much... you know... and she thinks she'll lose the General!"

"Ew... that's disgusting!" Alessia responded, still laughing at the thought, "Well, I have to go, see you when I get back!"

Alessia walked past Lielle and patted her on the shoulder as she said, "Hope you do well!"

Alessia left the area quickly, she thought Lielle was a bit too talkative, thinking of Alessia as her one true friend(she said it, not Alessia), she expected them to be sisters or something by this time, they had shared a room for two years, but Alessia really didn't like her that much, but at least she wasn't the traitorous type(which is the only reason she put up with her).

Alessia was at the stables in no time flat. She patted Pelagius on the side, saying "Good boy..." before saddling him and getting on top of him. It would take a day or two to get to Whiterun, she should probably stop in Rorikstead for the night, before riding on to Whiterun.

Jorundr woke up with a splitting headache, Aela was passed out on top of him in the middle of the main hall, for some reason the others chose to wake everyone up but them. When Jorundr woke up and said, "What in the Nine Divines?" the entire room started to laugh rambunctiously. They obviously all found it to be hilarious. He shook Aela and said, "Hey, get up, or people might start getting ideas about us..."

She began to wake up saying, "What the hell are you talking about...?" It was then that she felt Jorundr's chest, she looked up at him, angry and punched him in the face. Farkas came over, the loveable idiot, and lifted Aela off Jorundr, she scowled at him instead of criticizing him like usual. Jorundr was always pleasant to Farkas, no matter what the others thought, which probably added to why he help Aela off of him.

"You want a fight?" Jorundr said, grinning. They hadn't fought in years, and Jorundr was bored with all the drinking and partying, he wanted to fight, he really did. He stood up and looked her dead in the eyes.

"Oh, you wouldn't last a minute!" Aela said, grabbing a sky forge steel short sword from one of the innumerable weapon rakes around the room.

Jorundr was going for his own blade which was propped up against the wall(too big for any of their weapon rakes), when a woman opened the door. She was attractive, looked capable, and nordic. Aela seemed to recognize her, as well as most of the Companions in the room, but Jorundr had never seen her before. He walked over to her and asked, "And who might you be?"

---

Alessia was expecting a pleasant ride to Whiterun, uneventful, not filled with a team of angry bandits wanting a bit more than money from her. It was mid day, she was halfway to Rorikstead, and she was ambushed by four bandits, all large nords. They circled around her horse, chuckling as they inspected her from an array of angles before the leader, a man wearing very fancy steel plate from head to toe spoke, "What's a fine thing like you doing on your own out here?"

Not wanting to stay around for much longer she pulled out her bow and fired an arrow through the eye slit on his helmet. He began to scream, obviously it hadn't gone through to his brain. Two of the four bandits ran to his side while the other charged at Alessia with an iron axe. Alessia drew her blade with her other hand and parried the attack before kicking her horse to get it moving away from the bandits. She sheathed her blade and drew her bow, firing another arrow into the man with the iron axe's throat, it didn't hit it dead on, but rather cut through it, he fell to his knees, blood pouring from the wound. Alessia smirked as the two unwounded bandits began to run away, leaving there boss on the ground, screaming in pain.

Alessia rode towards him and laughed, saying, "The price of loyalty nowadays, eh?"

"May Talos strike you down Imperial scum!" he said, standing up and removing the arrow from his eye, drawing a steel long sword.

"Not only are you a bandit, but you are also a Talos worshipper and an Imperial hater! This must be my lucky day!" Alessia really didn't care about Talos, or any of that, but the Imperials did, so she had to pretend to. She drew her blade and hopped off her horse. The Bandit charged at ehr and swung his sword downward, Alessia dodged the blade and sliced under his armpit, cutting his skin. He yelled before swinging his sword backwards at her, She deflected it, but his strength pushed her away from him, nearly pushing her over. She charged forward, deflected his blade downward right next to her, grabbed an arrow from her quiver with her off hand, then stabbed him in his other eye. He screamed and fell over, dropping his blade.

Alessia laughed, sheathing her blade and saying, "I know, maybe Talos will give you your sight back! Have fun finding your men!" She hopped back on Pelagius and rode off.

The rest of the ride to Whiterun was rather uneventful, until she noticed some people gathered around a Dragon Skeleton. I guess it is real then... Alessia thought. She would have investigated, but she had business to do and she didn't like being this close to Falkreath, knowing that the Dark Brotherhood outpost was there. She rode on past, not attempting to get a good look at any of the people. She put Pelagius into the stables and went in to Whiterun. A fine city, but still, she had no idea where to start her mission...

“And who might you be?”

To be honest, that isn’t exactly how Brynja expected to return to the companions. She expected to be greeted by one of her shield-siblings, and instead, she found this rather large man in front of her. She quirked an eyebrow and studied him. He was obviously a full-blooded Nord given his height and stature. He had a scar on his eye and seemed to be questioning her with his gaze. She straightened up, reaching her full height; which wasn’t much seeing as she was half imperial. She stared the man in his eyes before she replied.

“The real question here is who are you? Aela, is this a new whelp?” she asked, turning her attention to the Nord woman who seemed like she was ready for a fight. She had never seen this man before and she never heard The Companions speak of any other members. He had to have recently joined. But there was a familiar scent on him, one she recognized as many of the Circle members carried. She herself carried the scent, but to the man in front of her; he must have done something that impressed her siblings. She could hear the laughter in Aela’s voice as she approached the two. Her gaze was sharp on Brynja, and she could feel Aela ready to break her jaw in.

“Brynja,” Aela acknowledged as she approached. Brynja scanned the area and caught Farkas and Vilkas’ gaze as well. “It’s been awhile shield-sister,” she continued before stopping to the side. Brynja could almost feel her own heart betray her and fall into the pit of her stomach. The tone Aela used made it seem as if they believed she had died. Brynja frowned and collapsed her shoulders. She turned her attention back towards the male in front of her.

“I am Brynja, daughter of Lokir the Ironfist and shield sister to The Companions. Or I was,” she whispered out the last part as she pushed her way passed the Nord man. She needed a drink. She couldn’t count how many times her mind has wondered to that drink, and she needed it now. Farkas laid a hand on Brynja’s shoulder as she turned to face him. A small placid smile forced its way onto her face as she met his gaze. She had always loved Farkas, as a brother, and often relied on him. He might not have been bright like Vilkas, but he had a good heart. She loved that about all of her shield siblings. They all had their differences, but they accepted it.

The woman acted a bit hostile towards him, inquiring to who he was before giving her own name. Aela, moved to the woman and called her "Brynja," obviously someone whom joined after Jorundr left. After Aela greeted Brynja, she introduced herself and went to the main area of the hall. Jorundr looked at Aela and asked, "When did she join? And when did she get the gift?" Aela, Skijor, and Jorundr were the members of the circle that loved their gift the most, using it for entertainment rather than when necessary like the rest of the circle.

Aela sighed a bit and said in a quiet, "She started trying to join not too long after you left... she joined the circle 2 years ago. She's a lot like you actually, she left a few months after she was given the gift, just like you... What was with the inhospitality anyway? You should have smelled that she was part of the circle."

Jorundr glared at Aela and said, "I've had some problems with others with similar gifts... Let's just say I don't trust anyone with it, unless they are from the circle... I should apologize shouldn't I..."

Aela slapped him in the back of the head and said, "You can do that after we fight."

Jorundr sighed and said, "Okay, give me a second..." Jorundr moved over to his blade, it was three times as thick as a normal blade, and was about 170 cm(5' 7'') long. he first put on his chest plate, shoulder guards and gauntlets. He lifted the blade up and rested in on his right shoulder, gripping the handle with a single hand, his right. He smirked at Aela and said, "We doing this?"

Aela was already moving towards the door. Jorundr began to follow but then looked at the girl, Brynja, and moved over to her. he looked at her for a second before saying, "I'm sorry, I was unaware that you were a shield-sister here... I tend to not trust those with the gift that I don't know..."

He thought he should say something else, but decided against it, moving outside to meet Aela in the courtyard. He heard people come out into the courtyard, but didn't bother to check who. He placed his left hand on the handle, ready to strike. Aela laughed, getting into a battle position, she had grabbed her shield without Jorundr noticing, before saying, "So you still use a sword that's two sizes too big? I hope you can swing it faster than last time, because I am much lighter on my feet..."

They used to fight every other week when they first joined, the day he left they fought and tied with each other. Aela charged forward, shield to her side and blade behind her, ready to strike. Jorundr swung his blade, obviously faster than Aela had expected, and Aela had just enough time to get her shield up to block the attack. The force from the strike, however, was too great for her to handle, she was pushed a good three meters away and landed on the ground. Jorundr jumped upward and brought his sword down towards her, she rolled out of the way with plenty of time. When Jorundr's blade hit the ground, the cobble cracked and broke, sending large rocks and dirt all over the place. Aela had already gotten up and was attempting to thrust her sword at Jorundr. Jorundr acted quickly, using his right gauntlet to parry the strike and send the blade away from him, while using his left to spin his blade around, against the ground, to build up momentum and swing it at Aela. She got her shield up once more and blocked the strike, making her skid for a few feet, but not fall. Jorundr jumped backward and lifted his sword onto his shoulder once more. He gripped it in the same manner as he started. he charged, and so did Aela. rather than block the attack, Aela tried to displace it with her blade, thinking it would move to her side, giving her a chance to strike at his throat. This wasn't the case, when she placed her blade to parry Jorundr's, it shattered. Jorundr's blade moved right through Aela's causing fragments of the blade to fly through the air. After it was broken, Jorundr stopped himself from moving the blade more to cut Aela, it stopped on her right shoulder, right next to her face. He moved the blade back and rested it on his shoulder once more.

Aela was petrified, dropping the broken blade to her side, without a word.

---

Alessia didn't know the layout of Whiterun at all, never having been there before. She did, however, know that she needed to get to Dragonsreach and get the jarl to side with the Legion. Her thoughts were interrupted by a man, he looked like a Nord at first, but he was much too dark skinned, Alessia's best guess was an Imperial, but she wasn't sure. He looked dirty and was wearing a full set of banded iron armor. Normally she would have brushed him off, not really partial to men, but he offered her directions, and she needed them. He seemed annoyingly forward with his statement and query, but Alessia decided not to think about it too much.

"Well, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to know here Dragonsreach is," Alessia stated plainly. She knew it was a bad idea to ask him for directions, but having one man know she was there was much less worse than seeming suspicious looking for the place. She always had to justify her actions, to herself mostly.

Cyrus Coyle

Dragonsreach, the home of the Jarl of Whiterun is where this woman was headed. As soon as she mentioned it, Cole remembered he was trying to talk to the Jarl and that he should have awakened from his slumber by now. Mentally face palming himself for forgetting, he gladly spoke.
“Ah, Dragonsreach… You just reminded me I have an errand there. Follow me and I’ll show you. I have to see if the Jarl wouldn’t mind helping me, for I am to travel to Solitude, so as to join the Imperial army.” He informed as his body shifted the opposite way. Starting conversation with a stranger isn’t what most people would do, but he felt that it would help the traveler ease up to the place.

The true reason for Cole’s meeting with the Jarl was because his father’s shield (which had been made in the Skyforge) was in a chest in Dragonsreach. His father had it in a special storage, which would only be accessed by the Jarl himself. Cole had the power to ask for it at any time, but wanted to make sure at least one of his father’s memorabilia remained intact if he were to perish. Though since he was now joining the Imperials, he figured he ought to take the shield out of retirement.

The other reason is that the Jarl also had in storage enough coin for him to purchase a horse. He’d need it for the journey there, as walking from Whiterun to Solitude would be a long and arduous death march if he didn’t have a steed.

Personally, Cole preferred to walk. However, he needed to get there without wasting too much time, lest the war end before he even joined. He had heard the Imperial Army had a strict and grueling initiation, training regimen and overall it was just a hard army to stick to. This didn’t frighten Cole one bit however. He was a warrior, a soldier, a Redguard. He would be damned if some training scared him away, he’d be damned if anything scared him away.

As they passed the Drunken Huntsman, Cole gave a glance over to the place of his preference for the past few months before looking straight on, the familiar tinge of cold air didn’t reach Cole too much, as his body was just about completely covered by his armor. The only places it could reach were his elbows and neck, the latter of which being bandits. He knew full well of this unprotected vital spot and used it against his foes, baiting them in and striking them down before they could reach it. It was fascinating how an enemy’s greatest weakness could be someone’s downfall if used properly. Someone needed to write a book with all of Coyle’s knowledge on the battlefield. Too bad he wasn’t a author and books weren’t his forte.

They began their ascent up the steps to Dragonsreach and past Jorrvaskyr. He looked to the ancient mead hall, noticing some form of battle occurring just outside of it. He longed to join, but he had to stick to his current task at hand, which was guiding this Imperial woman to Dragonsreach and then talking to the Jarl about his father’s belongings.

Brynja sighed, swirling the cup in her hands as she stared into it. She could hear what they were saying, and it wasn’t because she was a werewolf. Over the years of becoming a hunter, one had to tune everything out and listen for the sounds of hooves beating the ground or simply tip-toeing from one spot to another. She glanced up at Aela and noticed she was carrying her sword and had muttered something to the man who had yet to give his name. The man in question turned to grab a rather large blade, almost as large as her. It seemed as if they were about to partake in a fight. A smile curved on her lips. It’s been awhile since she had last seen a Companion fight.

As she finished off her drink, the male approached her and apologized. She did not catch exactly what he was saying, but it had to do with the ‘gift’ and how he didn’t trust anyone with it. Brynja wanted to scoff at his words but held it back. She, in a way, didn’t blame him. Not too long ago, she was told of a fellow werewolf who had attacked and killed a child and was now serving his sentence in jail. She never met the werewolf in question but what she had heard was enough to know that those with the ‘gift’ were not to be taken lightly.

Brynja stood from her spot and followed the others out into the yard, watching as the sparkle in Aela’s eyes grew. Aela always loved a good fight and that was one of the things she always loved about Aela. A frown marred Brynja’s face as she thought about it. Sure, she had loved Aela a little more than a shield-sister, but it was just something Brynja couldn’t bring herself to do. She knew that the problems she had with the others, mainly Skjor and Vilkas, would eventually cause her to leave. And they did. She just didn’t want to break Aela’s heart. She knew the warrior would want to come with her and instead of being selfish and allowing herself to love and break Aela’s heart, she chose not to commit to her.

She kept her gaze on the two in front of her as they began their battle. Aela seemed to have the upper hand in the beginning, but as they continued, Brynja could see the fatigue wearing on Aela’s features. She wouldn’t last much longer in the battle. And sure enough, the man shattered Aela’s sword and held his own sword just centimetres away from Aela’s face. Brynja wanted to jump the second the sword broke, but she kept herself from doing so. It was their battle and it would have been looked down upon if she had interfered. Not to mention Aela would have been pissed at her.

Needless to say, Jorundr was impressed with himself, he rarely was able to actually break another's sword, but seeing as she didn't even land a single strike on him, he was at full strength the entire time. He put out his hand to Aela, which she met with her own, and a smirk. She said with a hearty voice, "Well, I'm impressed that you were actually able to win, let alone break a sword."

"Well, it doesn't work all the time, but still, it impresses me each time I do it, which isn't often," Jorundr smirked, then he noticed some blood on Aela's face, one of the shards hard cut her cheek, mixing the war paint with blood. He looked into the crowd that was watching and said, "It's over, you can leave now."

Most of them left, going back inside Jorrvaskr for work or pleasure. Jorundr pulled off his gauntlet and wiped away the blood on Aela's cheek. She slapped it away almost immediately and said, "It's fine."

She walked away, obviously annoyed at Jorundr winning their match. She brushed past the girl, Brynja. Jorundr moved towards her and said, "So, you joined not to long after I left then? Did no one mention me?" He thought it odd that no one would have mentioned his existence to this girl, especially Aela.

---

Alessia was following the man, not really wanting to speak with him along their journey to Dragonsreach. She didn't like men that much, and she liked forward people even less, thinking you should watch a person closely before going right ahead and speaking to them, they could try and kill you or something... Trust shouldn't come as easily as attraction... But it wasn't Alessia's place to judge the witless fool.

On their way up to Dragonsreach, another man passed them, and looked at her for a time, she caught his gaze and noticed something... peculiar about him... He was attractive, indeed, but he was also very pale... Nords were not the darkest species by far, but he seemed abnormally pale. Alessia, being in the Dark Brotherhood for a good while, had come into contact with many a vampire, but not as of late so her mind didn't quite place it. If she was around him for long enough, or was curious enough about him to think about it for a time, then she might have figured it out. But that was not the case at that moment.

They arrived at Dragonsreach, Alessia had a good layout of the town in her memory from their walk, but now she needed to do some reconnaissance on the layout of Dragonsreach. She looked at the man who guided her and said, "I thank you for your time, but now I must part from you, I have business to take care of..." She opened the large doors and went in, still unsure of her plan.

Brynja watched the interaction between Aela and Jorundr. She watched as Aela slapped his hand away when he went to wipe the blood from her face. Aela brushed passed Brynja and it sent a chill down her spine. Maybe it was the animal inside of her, or maybe it was just her own feelings; either or, she wanted to speak to Aela. But she knew she couldn’t. She ran a hand through her hair as the man from before approached her and apologized.

“I suppose I did,” she replied as the man spoke. “I don’t even know your name, so yes, no one did mention you,” she added, quirking an eyebrow in the process. She joined The Companions when she was fifteen years old. She became part of the circle when she was twenty-one and left when she was twenty-three. Now a year later, she has returned. Although it wasn’t intentional, she just wanted to let her father know of the recent dragon attacks. He is dead now and she the only survivor to his name.

“I find that a bit odd since you were part of the circle. Did you do something to upset them or are they not mentioning other members anymore?” she asked as she glanced at the tall man.

"Last I checked the only person who was angry with me was Aela, but that's how she always was with me..." Jorundr looked at the door that Aela had ran into, he thought about all the fights he had lost, and all the ones he had won, none were as quick as this one... He looked back at the girl and said, "I'm Jorundr Blackmoon by the way."

It was then that Jorundr smelled something, he began to sniff at the air, it was a smell he remembered all too well, a Wereshark. He had met a large band of them in a beach cave in Highrock, he almost lost an arm to one of them, but he was able to escape. It was the last time he had to run from a fight, and it was something he didn't want to repeat. The smell of wereshark was distinct, though some may think it the smell of all fish, to the nose of a trained werewolf, it could be made out in a field of fish. During the time Jorundr was exploring Skyrim(and some nearby areas as well), he developed aspects of the beast as much as he could without transforming. He growled lightly before saying, "There's a wereshark nearby..."

He took off in the direction of the smell, not waiting for any kind of response from the girl.

The wereshark was a dunmer female, atractive in her own right, and imprisoned... The guards were silver hand, their blades were evidence of that. Jorundr planned to watch them for a chance to save the girl, he didn't trust other were-creatures, but he hated the Silver Hand more...

---

Alessia moved in quietly so as not to disturb anything that might be going on, and something was definitely happening. The man she saw early was there, holding an axe out to the Jarl, everyone in the entire hall was staring intently at the scene. Alessia moved to a servant, an old Nord woman, and asked, "Can you explain what's going on miss?"

She was still, holding her broom, she didn't even turn her head to Alessia as she spoke, "That man is presenting the Jarl with Ulfric Stormcloak's axe..."

Alessia may not have been a Nord, but she still knew enough about the customs to understand the severity of the situation, this meant either Whiterun was with, or against, the Legion. Not even ten minutes after entering the town, her mission was on the line. She looked at the one presenting the axe, it was then that she realized what he was, a vampire. What was a vampire doing working for the Stormcloaks...? She would have to question him once this scene was over, he seemed... interesting... to say the least...

---

It took a few minutes of mental preparation, but the Dark Elf finally thought of a plan. It was a simple one, and was likely to fail, but it was all she had. With the one Silver Hand gone, their numbers were now down to four. With her muscles now almost fully functional again, she pushed herself off of the horse and pulled a silver dagger out of the man's sheath.

Suddenly, Fadali's body became surrounded by a shield of fire, burning the nearby horse and sending it running.

The four Silver Hand were yelling amongst themselves. "What in Oblivion?" "Stop her!" "No, don't shoot her! We want her alive!" "Do something, you idiots!"

With the power of the Ancestor's Wrath protecting her for the moment, she hastily sawed into the bindings on her ankles. Soon she was free, and she ran as quickly towards Whiterun as she could, knowing that the horses would soon catch up to her.

"Help, help!" she screamed. "Guards, somebody, help!"

Sounds of hooves quickly approached her. Although there was no one else in sight, she hoped someone was around to hear her screams.

Jorundr watched the wereshark escape by using magic, it gave her a bit of a head start, but she would have soon been recaptured. She began to yell and plead for help, the guards didn't seem that interested, the woman being a dunmer and all. Jorundr sighed before moving in to aid her. She was running towards the city, the Silver Hand was rapidly approaching her on horseback, her plan wouldn't have worked without intervention from another person, a bit flawed in Jorundr's mind, but it didn't matter, he needed to help her. Jorundr's first move was to remove the sword from his back, resting it on his shoulder, then he moved quickly, but he didn't run or anything, behind the girl and swung his blade with both hands, cutting through the horses' front legs, making the man on top of it fall forwards past Jorundr. He moved back to where the man was, his face in the dirt, a few teeth knocked out and groveling in pain. The man tried to get up, but Jorundr slammed his foot on the back of his neck, forcing him back down. He turned to the rest of the group, all standing still, and simply glared at them.

Jorundr lifted his sword onto his shoulder and turned back to the Silver Hand, they weren't moving, before saying to the wereshark, "Never thought I would see a wereshark beg for help... you okay?"

---

Alessia watched as the Jarl gave the axe back to the vampire, she knew her best bet would be to go and offer Imperial aid, then her mission would be completed, but she didn't trust the vampire... He walked past her with a nod, not changing his pace for a moment. She turned and watched him as he moved out, deciding her next action carefully... rather than doing the logical thing, which would have been to go and speak to the Jarl, she decided to speak to the man and figure out what exactly he was doing and why...

She moved away from her position in the shadows and moved quickly to his side, not speaking for a good time. She looked at him, noticing that he was quite handsome for the first time, before saying in a hushed tone, "So, what's it like working for the Stormcloaks? I may not be a nord, but I still support them." She realized that it wasn't the best thing to start with, but it was better than asking why a vampire would be working for the Stormcloaks.

---

Romari was surprised to see the stranger come to her aid, but was completely amazed when she saw him cut through the horse's front legs. Her shock was then expounded on by what he said to her next.

"Never thought I would see a Wereshark beg for help... You okay?"

How did he know I was a Wereshark? she wondered. Wait. That smell... Then the answer came to her. He was a Werewolf. She'd never met another Lycanthrope other than the one who bit her, but she remembered what one of the Silver Hand had told her recently. Lycanthropes carry the traits of their beast even when in normal form. This man carried the strong stench of a dog. This would explain how he knew what she was, then. Lycanthropes have an acute sense of smell.

Considering her audience, she decided not to reveal what she knew just yet. Best to keep the enemy in the dark as much as possible. And speaking of their enemy, the Silver Hand was now down to three men, assuming the one with his face planted in the ground was truly out of the game. But unless she could get the bindings off of her wrists, Jorundr would have to fight them all on his own.

"I'm okay," she replied. "Thank you."

The remaining three men attacked Blackmoon. One dismounted and charged forward with a silver sword and a shield. Another dual-wielded two silver swords and circled around in a half-circle to strike the Jorundr from the side. The last one remained mounted and loaded his silver bow with an arrow.

Fadali watched from behind. All she could do was hope this man was as talented as he was strong.