Chapter 2

That was how Bhed gro-Gamghaz found himself up against the wall in a dark cave with a bleeding hole in his leg.

Splitting up hadn't been his idea, and Thrissi hadn't said anything about it; she'd just disappeared somewhere during that last furious altercation. He was still jittery from bloodlust, but it was wearing off, which was a very bad thing. Bhed knew this even in his current mental state. At the moment, his leg didn't hurt. Nothing hurt, though his steel armor was dented in a dozen places.

He growled under his breath. The things that had attacked him last were dead – turned to dust – and apparently so was the one that had gone after Thrissi. At least, there was gray dust scattered over the glowing mushrooms in that corner of the cavern. Something was wrong with that, but with the fire pounding through his head he wasn't sure what. The stink of blood and something else – something metallic and old – only made it harder to think.

Now something else was coming, booted feet ringing on the slimy stone. Bhed adjusted his grip on the hammer, squelching another growl. He remained with his back to the wall, a strategic coup of epic proportions for an Orc with bloodlust still on him. Arkay, he thought glumly. It's wearing off, all right.

His head was starting to hurt when a big Nord with a steel axe burst out of a side passage. The man ran forward, shrieking and waving the weapon over his head. Bhed took a step forward and swung the warhammer into the Nord's belly. It made a sickening squelch, and the man staggered back a step. This was fairly impressive, given that he should have flown back and hit the wall. Bhed didn't waste any time worrying about it, because the Nord hadn't let go of the axe. He took another swing at Bhed, though there was blood running out one side of his mouth.

Bhed sidestepped and hit him in the head this time. There was a loud crack. The Nord dissolved, something like ash sifting down into a neat pile on the stone floor. Bhed caught a glimpse of something shiny from the corner of his eye. He ducked and raised his pauldroned shoulder, just in time to have an arrow ricochet off the steel instead of hitting his unprotected head. Where'd I lose that helmet, anyway?

That was the problem with bloodlust. You were always losing equipment. It didn't help that his leg was starting to throb, too.

There was a shriek that cut off abruptly, followed by the sound of something clattering on the ground. The shriek had sounded female, if not precisely Human. Bhed risked a look. A stubby form was just visible in the opening of the other side passage, outlined in a cloud of luminous dust. A steel bow sent back a faint gleam from the floor.

"Thrissi?" Bhed ground out. It wasn't hard to resist the urge to charge over there and kill her, but talking was still an effort. The leg might have something to do with that. One of the godsdamned whatever-they-were had cut the thigh strap on his left greave, going for the big artery underneath. It had missed, or he would be dead already, but he was still bleeding quite a bit. The trouser he wore for padding under it was soaked.

"This one believes we have killed them all," said a familiar voice. "Though this one has some words to say to you regarding your description of this assignment. Necromancers? Pah." She batted at the cloud of dust as she came forward. Thrissi held her new axe up on one shoulder. The mana glow was gone from the blade, quenched under the stain of dark blood.

"What… were… they?" Bhed managed. He hung the warhammer back in its harness with difficulty. His cuirass was badly dented in the chest, and he was becoming aware that some of his ribs were, if not broken, badly bruised.

"Vampires. What else?" Thrissi's yellow eyes glowed faintly in the dark. They grew smaller as she squinted at the Orc. "Ah, this one sees you are not quite yourself yet. You are wounded also, yes? I smell Orcish blood."

"My leg," Bhed said.

"Hm." The Khajiit leaned around his body, peering at his left thigh. "You have been lucky, it seems. Or quicker than are most Orcs, even under the influence that still grips you. This one has something that will heal that very quickly."

"Brought my own," Bhed said. Talking was getting easier, but his head was hurting worse. He pulled off his left gauntlet and fumbled at his belt purse, sliding down the wall. His fingers were a little shaky, but that was normal. He extracted the bottle of herbal extracts, pulled the cork, and shook it out over his leg.

"This one will see if there is anything here worth keeping," Thrissi said.

"Be careful," Bhed said.

"Indeed." The yellow pinpoints narrowed again in something like amusement, and Thrissi stalked off toward the doorway the Nord had left. She was less graceful than most Khajiit women, with a certain solidity to her step, but she was utterly silent despite her spike-topped boots. Bhed lost sight of her quickly in the dark cave.

His leg stopped hurting a minute or so later. He thought about standing up, but he was tired, and his head still hurt, and lavender extracts didn't do anything for blood lo…

Someone was shaking him by the pauldrons.

"Wake up, you idiot," hissed a ragged alto in his ear. "This one cannot possibly carry you, no! Wake up!"

"Whuh?" said Bhed. The shaking paused. Bhed squinted his eyes open, trying to ignore his ongoing headache. Two yellow eyes glowed from perhaps five inches away, the distance necessitated by the distance between Thrissi's eyes and the end of her muzzle, which was breathing hot air on his face.

"Hmph," said Thrissi. She let go and edged back slightly, squatting on her haunches. "You should invest in a better potion next time. This one was not sure she would be able to revive you."

"They've never let me down before," Bhed said. He located the small skin bag he kept on his belt and took a drink of water. It helped clear some of the nasty taste out of his mouth. He hadn't drunk nearly enough last night to be hung over, so it must just be the aftermath of bloodlust.

"Neither have you killed ten vampires before, unless this one misses her guess," Thrissi said.

"Wh - ? That many?" Bhed leaned on the wall as he staggered upright. His leg seemed to be completely healed. He realized after a moment that his ribs had stopped hurting, too. "What'd you use on me, anyway?"

"An extract of ambrosia," Thrissi said. She straightened, looking at him with her head on one side. "My last. And since Mankar Camoran's Paradise is no more, it will be long before this one sees any more. And yes, given that this one killed six, you must have accounted for at least ten. It is difficult to count them when they are dust, of course, but this one collected enough of that to make a pretty penny from some men in the Imperial City."

"Find anything else?" Bhed said. He could stand upright without leaning on the wall, but he still felt bone-tired.

Thrissi hefted a sack in each hand. One clinked promisingly. "In point of fact, yes. We will divide it when we get back to the inn, hm? This one found the letters you said you wanted in a coffin down below." She handed him a smaller pouch. He put it in his belt purse.

"Yeah," Bhed said. "Modryn's going to blow a gasket when he finds out the client lied, too. Vampires." Bhed shook his head in disgust. "We're gonna have a long walk first, though."

"After you," said Thrissi the Luckless.