Title: Neither Blight Nor Age…
Fandom: Morrowind
Disclaimer: The Elder Scrolls and all characters, locations, ect. remain the property of Bethesda. No copyright infringement is intended.
Authors Note: Been replaying Morrowind with the 'Vampire embrace' mod installed, and it inspired me to write a little scene about my vampire PC.
It does not hurt as much as it once did, the old Dunmer woman realised. Once, it was like daggers at my throat. Now, her touch feels like little more than a gentle caress.
Nibani Maesa did not like to think about what that meant, as she felt the vampire pull away from her, gently licking up the last of the blood that had flown from the wounds in her neck. She tried to ignore the shiver that ran down her spine when the creature was coiled around her naked body, cold grey flesh pressed against her sagging breasts.
There was a time when she would have thought she would have died before she let a vampire touch her. Now she realised how foolish such thoughts had been. She'd fought the creature when it came for her, called upon the daedra and the ancestors of the clan to protect her. All her magic, all her knowledge, had been nothing against the unholy strength of the thing she fought. In the end, she had fallen, and she had felt the vampire grasp her body, force her to look into those blood-red eyes…
The vampire had torn the clothes from her body, dragged her outside her yurt. She'd seen the rest of her clan, naked as she was, lying prostrate on the ground. They had all tried to fight the vampire. They all saw now how useless resistance was. A handful looked at her, a faint glimmer of hope in their eyes, hope that faded as she looked back at them and they saw the same despair in her face.
Sul-Matuul had still resisted, she remembered. The Ashkhan's body was bloody and broken, but still he lifted his head and glared defiantly at the vampire. The vampire had not bent him to her will, she realised, and for a moment she had thought there still was a chance to defeat this curse that had fallen upon her clan. Then he lowered his head, collapsing back to the ground.
"He sought to deny the Neravarine." The vampire woman said, and Nibani recognised the blood-stained amulet around her neck as the Teeth of the Urshilaku, the symbol of the Nervarine cult, and she realised the vampire must have taken it from Sul-Matuul after defeating him. "Exile is the traditional punishment for such a crime, is it not?"
Lowering her head in shame, all Nibani could do was nod.
The Urshilaku Ashkhan still had enough strength to crawl away from the clan's camp by himself. That was the last she ever saw of him. Alone, unarmed and unarmoured in the ashlands, he could not have lasted long…
She did not like to dwell on such thoughts.
Even by day, the camp was silent now. She remained in her yurt whenever possible, even if it meant remaining with the vampire as it slept. It was better than seeing the defeated faces of her people, or than them seeing her like this. She was no longer Wise Woman of the Urshilaku, and they were no longer hunters or herders. Now, they were all simply cattle for this creature.
Sometimes she wondered if there was anything left of the outlander woman who had come to their lands so long ago, who'd asked so shyly about the Nerevarine prophesies. The vampire wore her form, knew her life – but was she in any way still the person she had once been, before she had become a monster?
She tried again not to shiver as the vampire's cold hands touched her.
"Soon, you'll be ready." The vampire whispered, those powerful red eyes staring at her. "Very soon."
The vampire smiled, fangs showing, seeing Nibani's confusion.
"You'll be my first. The first I shall raise up to become like me. You shall be my regent here when I am gone."
Nibani said nothing as she realised what the vampire woman meant, tried to ignore the faint sense of excitement running through her at the idea, tried not to imagine herself suckling at the vampire's tainted blood, gaining her power and strength.
"Where would you go?" Nibani finally asked, her voice weak.
"To the other clans, of course." The vampire said. "Four tribes call her Nerevarine."
A stranger's hand unites the Velothi, Nibani blinked back tears as she remembered the rest of the prophesy. If her clan had been helpless against this vampire's attack, what chance did the other Ashlanders of Vvardenfel have?
Once again she silently cursed whatever force had allowed Lord Nerevar to return in this twisted fashion.