The Tests

The next morning the group of nine left Kvatch for Mongrel Tooth Cave, back to where Denko had been given orders from the gods. Prepared in their armors and weapons checked and cared for the varied individuals were practically set for a war with the gear they carried. Nora's massive war-hammer, Jaune and Pyrrha's swords and shields, Weiss' staff, and Denko's halberd were enough to give anyone who might have thought about causing trouble doubts of their chances of survival even if their numbers weren't taken into account. That's not to say the others weren't dangerous at first glance, they just merely hid it slightly better. Ren's daggers, Yang's maces, Blake's swords, and Ruby's short sword all presented very real threats and everyone walked with some form of confidence, the same confidence of warriors who had been involved in several life-threatening fights and lived to tell the tale.

The journey north was boring aside from the occasional traveler and the small Imperial patrol seen in the distance, it was likely that there was a Dominion patrol watching them as well from across the border from a distance. Apparently, any evidence of the party from the night Denko was given his orders was gone but Denko was willing to bet that the nearby inn remembered that night, even willing to bet that the Dibella devoted didn't stay for just that night. Luckily for them the cave was still unoccupied and so they followed the Bosmer to the chamber where he met with the Aedra and Daedra.

"So this is what the divines feel like…" Weiss was in shock as she felt the residual energies from etherial beings as soon as they entered the cavern. All of the more magically attuned members could feel the effects with ease while the others certainly felt something different but not to the same extent as Weiss, Ren, Denko, and Pyrrha.

"Trust me on this, it wasn't a particularly fun experience. Each of their followers were powerful in their own right and were being used as a medium for manifestation. They were able to utilize their powers here with little issue, but I'm pretty sure it was only a small portion of their power." Denko says softly yet was heard by all in the chamber as they were looking around.

"Guess it's a good thing they didn't really want to hurt you." Ruby tries to find the bright side of the situation. The Bosmer couldn't help but chuckle at her comment.

"Think you could have taken them?" Yang asks, the blonde was always eager for a good fight.

"The followers themselves? Maybe one or two at a time I'd give them a good run for their money but I'd actually have to fight them to find out. Still wouldn't like my chances against all of them at once, even if the Aedric and Daedric followers fought eachother." Yang couldn't help the appreciative whistle at the admission. She liked the confidence and humility he displayed.

"Denko, you said you wanted to test something here?" Ren brought back the reason they were here in the first place.

"Oh…right." Denko sighed as he drew out the Blood Bargain Band from a pocket in his armor. "I wanna test this thing. Here we are far enough away from town to avoid interference. That and I'm trusting you all to keep me under control or stop me by any means necessary."

"Any means necessary?" Ruby squeaks as Denko slips the amulet around his neck.

"Yep." He seemingly ignores the cloaked girl. "Now I'm going to try the wolf first. Time to see if Meridia got it right."

The assembled warriors readied themselves as the Bosmer flicked the switch over towards the wolf face. A few moments passed before Denko shuddered violently and took a step backwards as he hunched over while having convoltions. They couldn't help but stare as his arms flew out to the sides as they grew longer, hands growing larger, nails turning into claws as fur erupted from his skin. His clothes seemed to disappear as the fur spread and the transformation finished leaving a werewolf that appeared light brown in the dim light of the torches in the cavern.

The beast stood there on all fours panting, sounding like a dog after a long run. Slowly it raised its head revealing blue eyes that searched its surroundings, a small snarl let them see the sharp fangs. The wolf rose to its hind legs, standing to full height that was taller than either Jaune or Pyrrha, and flexed its arms and claws. Blue eyes traveled over the owners' body, seeing it for the first time and testing it. Eventually a clawed hand reached for its face and felt it before sweeping back over its head to the neck before dropping to its side. Somehow some of the fur between his ears stayed mussed up.

"Denko?" Ruby was the first to speak since they began. The wolf flicked an ear in her direction before turning his head to look at the girl. While she was tense in case she was attacked the creature had yet to make any hostile gestures or even a glare. Slowly the beast nodded before turning away and looking over himself again. The simple action made most of the rest of them relax for the most part, yet still ready as they watched.

Denko eventually seemed to get tired of standing there and dropped back to all fours and started to walk, slowly at first and speeding up as he got used to the new form. Soon he was jumping and rolling around the cavern, letting out barks that resembled laughter including his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted. Some time later the werewolf padded over and flopped to the ground by Yang and Nora's feet who shared a grin before rubbing his belly, leading to the expected result of doing such to any canine complete with leg shaking.

Denko managed to gain the sense to flick the switch on his amulet and transform back to normal, rather thankful that whatever magics were worked into the trinket kept his clothes and armor even if they disappeared during the transformation. He didn't want to think too much about what the girls looming over him would have done if he lost his clothes like every other lycanthrope he knew of.

"That was interesting." Was his comment as he stood and brushed himself off of dust.

"Are you kidding me?! That was amazing! You got all big and furry and doggy and eeehheheheheh!" Ruby was quick to get overly excited to the point that she lost coherence in her speech.

"Yeah! The way you jumped around and stuff, hehe. Maybe we could try to be werewolves Ren!" Nora exclaims as she hangs off the taller man's shoulders.

"No Nora. I doubt we'd be an as much control of ourselves in that form like he was. And I doubt anyone would be able to control you like that either." Ren explains in an almost deadpan way. The Nord took that as a possible yes as she grinned like the madwoman she is.

"So you're going to try the vampire side next?" Weiss asks nervously, as expected when dealing with such matters.

"Gimme some time to recover, that wolf eats up energy like Ruby in a candy shop." Denko sighs at the short girl as he stood there with his hands on his knees. A minute later he pulled some jerky from his pack and eats it ravenously before washing it down with plenty of water.

"So how was it really?" Yang squatted next to the elf as he ate.

Taking a few moments to think it over and a swig to clear his airway before answering. "It was different… Being so much bigger, stronger. I felt that I could smell everything, hear everything, that I could chase down any thing I set my focus on and tear it apart with my own hands. Even though I kept my mind I could feel the instinct to hunt, kill, and devour anything around me. Made me think that it requires a strong mind and will for others to keep their minds while harnessing the power of the beast. And that's a lot of power to control, so much base desire that needs guidance. It must be overwhelming for normal people who become lycanthropes."

"Wow. You figured all that out while you were changed?" The blonde comments with appreciation.

"Sort of. It's hard not to notice the will of the beast trying to take control." Denko fingers the amulet around his neck. "This thing seems to keep the beast inside on a leash from the start but its always there and capable of being easily released. I just hope that if that ever happens I can put the leash back on when it's over." He sighs.

"Guess that's why we're here, to help you put a muzzle on that dog." Yang grins at her fellow blonde. Blake quirked an eyebrow at the pair over the edge of her book. Since he had returned to normal without any lingering side-effects she had a book on hand to finish reading. While her usual blonde teammate and her sister were the ones to initiate most of the humor Yang had increased such habits since they joined up with Denko again. Most likely because he was willing and able to fire jokes, odd comments, puns, and backhanded compliments at his friends, much to the aggravation of Weiss and herself at times.

"Are you gonna try the blood-sucker next?" Nora had zipped over while Blake turned her page and had no problem asking that extremely close to his own face, complete with mimicking fangs with her fingers in her mouth.

The man laughed at her antics as he waved her off. "Gimme a few minutes Nora. Then we'll see what happens." The Nord let out a disappointed groan as she turned and walked over to a nearby torch-lit wall where she began inspecting her quiver of arrows, notably the explosive laden ones.

A few minutes passed with quiet small talk to break the silence before the Bosmer took his place in the center again signaling the next test was to begin. With a few nods of confirmation that they were ready Denko flipped the switch to the bat face and waited. The effects were subtle but noticeable as he found his sight in the dark became clearer, as well as a desire for a drink- he already expected that and was glad that it was easily manageable. He noted that his skin lost some color but nothing outside of normal tones, especially for those who tend to isolate themselves in libraries. The fangs in his mouth were interesting but nothing in comparison to those in his previous transformation. Other than that there was nothing notable which he found odd, obviously so did everyone else as they looked at him in confusion.

"How do you feel?" Ren was the first to ask, that surprised everyone that the normally quiet man was the first to break the silence at all.

The now vampire flexed his hands and arms. "A bit thirsty and I can see a little better in here but beyond that… meh." He shrugged at the last part.

Jaune laughed softly "Guess we were worried about nothing then, huh?"

"Maybe…" Denko was about to dismiss the Breton's fears when he felt something from deep within himself, something he couldn't recognize yet it spread through his body and filling it with strength he didn't have before. "Woah, that's different."

"Wait, what? Is something wrong now?" The Breton seemed on the verge of panicking as he watched his friend continue to test his limbs with renewed curiosity before walking around, much like he had done before but on two legs.

"It's odd, this power came from inside… I feel stronger all around." They watched him wander around the cavern, at one point grabbing a few rocks of various sizes and juggling them. He seemed to shift his perception a little in confusion before that cleared. "Gonna have to get used to that- I can make things seem to move slower to my eyes. Makes sense now how some of the vampires I've killed could avoid attacks they normally shouldn't have."

"Anything else?" Ruby seemed to be excited, but in a way that the main event was already long over.

"Hmmm… This power I feel in me…" He seemed to retreat into himself mentally as he walked back to the middle of the cave again. "It's like it's just under the surface… yet all through my body…" He was muttering to himself as he stood in the ring of his friends, flexing his fingers and occasionally readying a variety of spells.

"Moving through me… slow pulsing, steady…hmmm…" While none of the others understood what he was saying, either due to the general lack of context or unable to accurately understand his words yet they stood ready for anything.

"Blood… in the blood. It's blood magic, harnessed from within… likely empowered by taking from others. Just need to release it… and control it." His mutterings turned to normal speech levels before he lurched over, blood oozed out from all over his skin and covering him completely- armor and all. His features were concealed from all until all that could be seen was a vaguely humanoid form seemingly made of blood. Time seemed to stretch the actual seconds into minutes as the others hefted their weapons in preparation to be used.

The bloody form suddenly expanded as it stood, growing in height. The blood was rapidly reabsorbed while plenty was flung away as the arms swung to the sides, long talons gleaming in the dim light. A second pair of appendages spread from its back revealing themselves to be spindly looking wings that were obviously incapable of providing flight but the claws the wings possessed on their thumbs and forefingers showed that they were to be ignored at your own peril. The creatures' feet lifted off the ground, suspended by the red glow of a form of levitation magic. The gaunt face released a roar that rattled through the cave, its' grey skin stretched taut across its' wiry frame belying its' strength.

The creature floated in place as it huffed, sucking in air as if it was breathing for the first time. The armor was now gone, replaced by a lightly armored skirt and a thin piece of leather stretched across the chest held in place by a few straps the left the arms and wings freedom of movement. It wore nothing else as it hovered, slowly flexing it's claws. The wings twitched prompting the head to turn and look at them with interest, soon followed by experimentation moving them.

Seeing as there seemed to be little threat from the form that Denko took, the rest of the group relaxed with weapons at the ready as they watched in fascination. How often did one even hear of friendly vampires in Tamriel? Rarely outside of novels and occasionally in rumors with little merit to them.

"This is different." The gravely voice emerged from the vampire lords fang filled mouth. Denko looked around at his friends, while he could feel the bloodlust in the back of his mind where the base instincts resided and guided his new forms actions as he willed. As he floated in place he could feel the magic flowing through his body, willing the effect to end he dropped to the stone floor with bare clawed feet where he felt much of the feeling of magic fade. Floating brought the magic back into circulation. Summoning some of the power into his hands a blood red sphere appeared in his right hand, in his left he willed something different and a dark swirling mass of blues and purples grew, indicative of a conjuration spell.

"Very different. That still you in there?" Yang comments from the side, where one mace was returned to her belt yet that hand was curled with a small candle-like flame within ready to be fed fuel. Her affinity with fire made her the best to deal damage to any undead, present company included.

"It's me. Guess Molag Bal knows how to make his creatures well." Another flex of his wings seemed to accent his statement. "Glad I didn't have to go through his usual rituals to get this kind of power." He adds.

"Yes, I've read that some of the most of the most powerful vampires have used extremely potent magical rituals. Many of which require sacrifices to gain the Draedric Lords favor in order to be granted his 'gifts'." Ren says in his usual calm demeanor as if he's reading from a book.

"That's my Renny! He always seems to know everything!" Nora's voice echoed throughout the cavern. "Not that we're together-together…" Now she was embarrassed, something that only seemed to happen when the topic of her and Ren's close relationship came up.

Denko laughed, the sound was creepy with his new voice and form. The sound of Ruby's giggles in the background only made the situation that much more creepy in the dark cave. The vampire closed his eyes and seemed to relax as he dropped to the floor before his body seemed to turn into blood and recede into itself quickly revealing the original Bosmer vampire who then reached to his amulet and moved the switch on top to the center and the vampiric traits receded to his normal mortal form.

Denko looked himself over noting that his armor seemed untouched from the transformations and his body seemed normal again. The only other thing he could think of trying was combining the powers of the amulet with the effects of the Bender Ring. The reset of the group started packing their things up, not that they had much with them beyond their weapons and basics for a day out including medical supplies and potions.

"Well! That was a thing!" Yang's loud comment broke any tension that was within the cavern and was quickly followed by Denko, Nora, and Ruby laughing while Weiss shook her head muttering about immature people. Blake already had a book out and turned a page. Ren closed up the last pack and slung it over his shoulder before joining Weiss by the exit.

Later that night the entire team was back in Kvatch and had a decent meal before splitting up and wandering the city on their own or small groups. Ren and Nora were practically joined at the hip as they visited various shops. Ruby and Yang took a long look at the wares at the local smiths. Weiss managed to find the only establishment for mages. Blake disappeared into a bookshop and not likely to be seen until night. Jaune and Pyrrha found a bakery and spent some time sampling. Denko found himself by the same stone wall as the night before. Opening the hidden compartment he found a single sealed envelope with a handprint in the wax seal with no name on the front.

Taking the letter and hiding it within his clothes for later reading in privacy. On his way back to the inn he found the sisters proving their skills at the forge. From what he could see, the blacksmith was impressed with how quickly they worked yet their works were solid and thorough. Yang's strength and heat tolerance allowed her heat the metal to greater temperatures and hammer out the impurities and fold the metal at a faster pace than anyone else. Meanwhile Ruby was finishing the blades by putting on the guards and hilts followed by the sharpening and polishing. Apparently in the time it would normally take the man to craft a simple dagger they had made five swords. To make him feel even worse, each of their blades were better than what he could produce, though one of them was nearly sold before it left the grindstone.

Further down the street he saw Ren dragging Nora away from a candy shop. The Nord was pouting while a couple kids at the shop laughed. Slipping into his room Denko withdrew the letter and opened it.

Silencer, your request has been received but will require you to report to the Blackwood Sanctuary immediately to explain yourself to the Black Hand. A decision will be made at that time.

Listener Moriviira

"This seems interesting." He mutters to himself. "Guess we could move to Bravil and I continue on my own. Go to the meeting, hope things go my way, meet them back in Bravil and see what needs to be done from there." With that he began to pull out his notes and plans to go over them nd work out more details.

Authors Notes: Sorry about the long wait between chapters, life has been extremely busy and this is the first chapter that I did not already write down before. Not that I'm making this up as I go, not completely, the outline has been kept in my head since before chapter 2. Since my last posting I've had a car crash, bought a new car, massive landscaping project at my grandparents which has plenty to be done to finish, work has been mandating longer hours including weekends... and more... very exhausting. I've been playing plenty of ESO to relax and get more details for plans to further this fic, especially enjoyed exploring Elsweyr and those dragons are tougher than anything in Skyrim. Not to worry, large segments of the next chapter has already pretty well planned out with plenty of other chapters physically written down so they should come faster in coming weeks. I'm sorry for not having a fixed schedule for posting chapters but I do what I can to get this out of my head and out for your enjoyment.

As always please post reviews to help the story maintain being lore friendly and improve my own writing skills.