Prologue:
Beast in Eastmarch
Loredas 24 Frostfall 4E 190 4:15PM
"Mendre!" I shouted as I walked through the forests of Eastmarch, near Mixwater Mill, searching for my friend. "Where did you go?!" I heard snickering to my right. I marched over, but he wasn't there. "This isn't funny anymore! You've been hiding for over an hour! It's my turn!"
"All right! All right! Sheesh!" I jumped as Mendre's voice came from behind me. I spun around to face him.
Mendre was a Nord like me, but he was small for his age, which made me think his mother was an Imperial, but Mendre insisted his mother was a Nord and that he hadn't hit his growth spurt yet. He wore a simple red tunic and dark brown trousers with cloth shoes, as he always did, and he had light-colored hair and blue eyes that glinted suspiciously whenever he was up to something.
"I'll count to ten and you go hide, all right?" Mendre said with a sigh.
I placed my hands on my hips and frowned at him. "No peeking."
Mendre smiled crookedly and crossed his arms. "Says the girl who peeks every time." I glared at him but he turned around and started counting. "One…two…" Mendre began.
I didn't bother to yell at him for making silly assumptions, so I bolted for the nearest bush and sat down, trying to be as quiet as I possibly could. I knew I'd have to go home soon. It was nearly dinner time and I had to help my mother with preparing it, and my father wanted to make sure that I got home okay. He worked at the mill some days when an extra pair of hands was needed.
"TEN!" I heard Mendre shout. I froze on the spot, not daring to make a noise. I watched the shadow his body casted as he walked towards me and I held my breath, my lungs yelling for me to breathe. It wasn't until I saw Mendre's shadow run away that I released the breath I'd been holding.
Wait, I thought slowly to myself, Mendre ran away from me... I stood up and turned around, only to become face-to-face with a large Redguard man. He wasn't wearing a tunic, but he was wearing fur armor around his waist and fur boots. His black hair was short, and he had strange gold eyes. How is he not cold? I wondered.
"Hello there," he smiled, revealing white teeth.
I stood up and backed away slowly. Something about this man was telling me he was dangerous and that I should run away like Mendre. "H-Hi," I stammered.
The man continued to smile. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I'm just lost, and I was hoping you could tell me which way Windhelm is."
I took another step back. The Redguard man took a step forward. "I-I can ask my mom if you'd like. She or my dad is better with directions than me."
The Redguard grinned again. I noticed a wolfish quality to it. "Are you sure you don't know which way Windhelm is?"
I nodded and made to turn when I felt the Redguard man grab my arm, and then he spun me around. The gold in his eyes was alive with fire and want, and I was scared. "Mo—!" The Redguard covered my mouth with his hand. I felt something warm on my lips. Blood?
"Open your mouth and drink the blood, understand?" I whimpered and shook my head. "Open your mouth, girl!" I didn't open my mouth, breathing through my nose. "One more chance or I will force you to open your mouth!"
I held firm, and the next thing I felt was searing pain in my scalp as the Redguard man pulled my hair. I couldn't stop my mouth from opening in a scream, my eyes closing as tears welled up at my eyes, and I felt the warm blood from the Redguard's hand leak into my mouth as he forced it in. He held me there until I felt the blood go down my throat. I snapped my eyes open when I felt a white-hot burning in the center of my stomach, as if there was a fire that would consume me from the inside-out.
"Good girl," the Redguard growled, releasing me.
I collapsed onto the ground in a heap. I screamed, but it was muffled as the Redguard had placed his massive hand over my mouth. I tried to scream again, pain laced in my voice. The Redguard began to drag me away with little effort, further away from Mendre and my parents. I felt myself heaving, and the Redguard removed his hand just as I threw up blood. I didn't know if it was mine or his—all I knew was I was in pain. The fire in my stomach started to travel from to my arms, legs, and my head. I screamed—only to be muffled again.
I felt sweat pouring off of my body. I looked at the Redguard man as he placed me in the snow. When had we gotten so far? "W-What's happening t-to me?!" I rasped as the fire began to intensify. It felt as though my very blood was burning!
The Redguard grinned. "You'll learn soon enough, girl."
I choked, withdrawing into myself as I clenched my hands into fists. I laid in the snow, feeling the cold sting of the snowflakes but unable to comprehend them. Heat travelled the length of my spine, and I slammed one of my fists into the snow as I felt more tears come.
"Stop fighting it!" the Redguard snarled. "Embrace it. It's a gift. From me, to you."
Peeling my eyes open painfully, I felt blood begin leaking from my palm. I unclenched my hands and looked at them. They were transforming from hands to… to… claws. I gasped in fear, but only ended up clenching them again as my back arched. I could hear clothes tearing but I couldn't distinguish if it was my clothes or someone else's, since my mind felt as if it was slipping, leaving to go somewhere else.
I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Hot tears spilled over my cheeks, pain and confusion obscuring their true intent. I tried screaming again, but the noise that came out of my mouth wasn't a scream, but a howl. A blood-curdling howl.
"Almost there…" the Redguard's deep voice growled.
I blinked, the tears still falling, but my vision went next. All I saw was a streak of dark crimson, and then I was enveloped in black.