Lyara blushed. Aela had obviously noticed the way she looked at Farkas. She was going to have to be a bit more circumspect in future. Fortunately for her, chance of any further awkward conversation with Aela was lost when they were interrupted by Skjor.
"I have a proposal for you sister," he said to Lyara. "Meet me and Aela later tonight at the Underforge."
"The Underforge?" She asked, as this location was unfamiliar to her.
"It is under the Skyforge. Look and you will find it. We have a proposal for you." With a curt nod towards Aela, he then left.
The Skyforge was a forge behind Jorrvaskr, ran by Eorlund Gray-mane.
"What was that all about?" Lyara asked Aela.
"All in good time sister." The huntress said in such a way that Lyara was left with no doubt that the matter was closed.
Lyara was saddened that Farkas didn't stay long at the party. Shortly after Lyara had arrived back from visiting with Kodlak, Farkas had appeared from the living area without his brother. He wore a gloomy expression, so she surmised the brothers had exchanged more words, and this obviously bothered him.
He came over to toast her, and she smiled in gratitude, even though she somehow felt a little responsible for his current mood. Distracted, he sat nearby, but didn't join in the conversation but just stared into his drink. After a short while, he claimed exhaustion, and made his way back to the living area.
At the appointed hour, Lyara broke off her dance with the drunken Torvar, and headed outside the back of Jorrvaskr. Her sharp eyes saw Aela slip through a concealed doorway just before the stairs up to the Skyforge. Lyara waited outside for a few minutes, not sure whether to just walk in or wait, but then Skjor arrived.
"Is this another test? Lyara asked.
"This is no test, New blood. This is a gift," was his enigmatic response. He opened the door for her and they moved into an underground tunnel that opened into a larger cavern.
The cavern was dimly lit, and in its centre was a stone well, and stood next to it was a werewolf. Lyara should have been alarmed, but there was something familiar about the beast's eyes.
"I hope you recognise Aela, even in this form," Skjor said. "She has agreed to be your forebear."
"Why the secrecy?" Lyara asked.
"We do this in secrecy because Kodlak is busy trying to throw away this great gift. How can something that gives this kind of power be a curse?"
Lyara didn't answer, assuming the question to be rhetorical.
"Are you prepared to join your spirit with the beast world?" He asked, this time expecting a response.
Lyara considered this for a second. In her homeland, her tribe had had the wolf as a totem, and her name meant 'wolf-woman' in her native tongue. She had always admired the qualities of the wolf. Fierce, loyal, and strong so joining herself to a wolf spirit seemed the natural thing to do.
"Yes," came her confident reply.
"Very well," Skjor said. He brought out his dagger, and then grasped one of Aela's massive forearms. Holding it over the shallow stone font, he cut into her arm. Her blood rushed to fill the font, and Skjor indicated that Lyara was to drink from it.
Lyara cupped a small amount of the warm liquid in her hands and swallowed. At first, she felt nothing, then a black mist descended over her eyes and her vision blurred. She was aware of suddenly becoming taller, and felt an unbearable heat in her muscles as they stretched and grew in size and strength.
Instinctively, she ran for the door, feeling an unstoppable urge to run from the confines of this cave and head out into the night to bathe in the moon's light.
The moon hung in the sky larger than she had previously seen it. She found she could see in its soft light as well as she could in her human form during daylight.
Her tongue felt thick, and she knew she couldn't talk. With a speed never before known, she ran past the dark quiet houses where the citizens of Whiterun slept, and leapt over a wall avoiding detection from the city guards.
Onwards she ran, faster and faster. The strength in these muscles seemed limitless, and she agreed with Skjor that this was indeed a gift.
After several minutes, the black mist settled in her eyes again, and she slowed. Panting, she dropped to all fours, and she felt her arms contract and shrink. When her vision fully cleared, she noticed two things. One, she was cold and naked, and two, she wasn't alone.
"I was starting to think you would never come back," said Aela, who was approaching her. "Yours was not an easy transformation, but you are still alive. We even have a celebration planned for you."
She threw a backpack at Lyara that contained her armour and some underclothes. While she dressed, Aela explained there was a pack of werewolf hunters, more Silver Hand, nearby at Gallows Rock. Skjor had apparently already gone ahead.
Once she was dressed, the two women headed towards the camp and made their way inside the building. They met with a few pockets of Silver Hand, but it proved no difficulty for the two competent warriors.
Once the two women had broke in to the Silver Hand's lair, they silently crept further and further into its core. Lyara grimaced as they passed several corpses of werewolves that had obviously been part of the Silver Hand's experiments. She found the whole thing quite sickening, and it fortified her decision that wiping this group from the face of Skyrim was a good idea.
Eventually, they got to a larger room where there was several Silver Hand gathered. Lyara picked off several before they even knew what was happening. Once their arrival was discovered, a cry rang out amongst the bandits, and they charged towards the two Companions. Aela yelled to Lyara above the clash of her sword, to kill the group's leader, Krev. At the sound of the name, one of the bandits, a woman, laughed at her saying that they were both going to die. Lyara figured this was Krev, and so with a speed unlike anything the bandit had witnessed before, fired two arrows in quick succession straight into her heart.
Panting from the adrenalin coursing through her veins, Lyara turned at the sound of an anguished cry from her companion. Aela was kneeling over a body, and it wasn't until she got closer that Lyara saw it was Skjor.
Through gritted teeth, Aela asked Lyara to revenge their brother. She said she would take his body back to Jorrvaskr, if Lyara would go kill the Silver Hand leader in Lost Knife cave.
Lyara was saddened at the death of the companion, but she could see that her shield-sister was truly devastated. She briefly placed a consoling hand on her friend's shoulder and agreed, saying that she would leave immediately.
The other cave was about an hour's run away, but she was in an environment she was familiar with, and moved quickly through the forest. On her own, Lyara was able to sneak silently around the cave, and using her skills of stealth, she quickly dispatched the Silver Hand she came upon before they even knew she was there. The final fight against the leader was a tough one, as his close proximity forced her to fight him with steel and fire. He was stronger than her, and his attacks, despite being blocked, were wearing her down. She started to regret her decision to try this on her own, wishing she had Aela's arrows or Farkas's sword to support her.
Her opponent may have been stronger, but she was quicker. Ducking under a blow, she was able to step in under his guard, and stabbed him through the ribs. She stood over the corpse, her lungs hurting from the deep breaths she took. As she turned to leave, she noticed some pain in her thigh, caused by a deep wound she had not even noticed receiving.
She tried to heal the cut, and although she made it better, it did not fully heal. She always found her magic was weaker when she was exhausted, and she figured that was the reason. She was too tired to worry about it now, so she made the journey back to Whiterun on foot.
The sun was up, but the morning air was still cool. Despite the chill in the air, she was sweating, and felt feverish. By now, she had lost a lot of blood from the cut, and was barely inside the main gates when she collapsed, and darkness claimed her.
