Moon Bourne

By Jackie Almasy

I feel the air around you

It's kind of closing in

Do you feel it fall or do you feel at all

I can

-Blue October, "The Feel Again (Stay)"

Chapter 4

Thane

How long had it been since Eisa had dropped four simple words on him that had changed his life completely? The circumstances had been less than ideal and his reaction, much to his disgrace, had been less than accepting.

They were both warriors. Hard and stone cold warriors who had slowly built a relationship beyond physical companionship. Vilkas had never really considered love to be an option for him. Sure, sex was great. What man wouldn't want it and with a woman as alluring as Eisa?

It had been no more than two moon cycles since that wondrous night out in the cold wilderness of Skyrim. Even in the darkest reaches of his memory, he could still taste her mouth and tongue dancing with his own. The warmth of her skin, the suppleness of her strong body, and the grip of her calloused hands. She had smelled of sweat, the ocean saltiness, and a hint of nightingale. It had been a strange combo but in the heat of the moment, he couldn't think of a more alluring scent.

Their relationship had been kept quiet for a few more weeks after so they could figure out what it is that they had together. Whether it was simply a sexual satisfaction or something more that Vilkas had not thought about in a very long time. Since being raised by Kodlak as a young pup, Farkas and his brother had only known the quiet affections of a grandfather figure.

There had been no mother in their lives. None that he could remember anyways. The heat of battle was his lullaby songs at night. The clash of swords through endless hours of training was his playtime. Fighting for scraps of meat and bread was his meal time memories. All work and no play. Gentleness and serenity were not words that Vilkas had come to know.

And it had carried over into his adulthood and relations with women. The bar wenches of Skyrim had served as his sexual satisfactions. Quick, rough, and even bloody sometimes was the way he had liked it. But with Eisa, her actions had caught him off guard and despite the wolf in him long gone, he reacted like a wild animal caught in a corner.

There were nights when in the wee hours of the morning, he had heard his bedroom door open. She was a skilled warrior at hiding her footsteps but the smell of her clothes gave her away each and every time. Nightingale and grass. He knew it by heart now. Her scent.

She announced her presence each time to him with running her bare warm hands up along his backside. Each time he tried to hear her take off her armored gloves but to no avail. Soon he would be quickly stirred from sleep and turn over onto his backside. His hands would soon make their way up her sides and up to her face to cradle it. Each time he felt her sit on his lap, the animalistic drive in him grew stronger.

At first, the kisses had started just as raw and passionate as the first night of their union. Eisa had surprised him a few times with split lips, bruised skin, and the tasting of his own blood in the crescendo of their growing passion. His own kisses had been nothing short of barbaric and dominant at times.

But one night six weeks into their rendezvous, something had changed. Word had reached Jorrrvaskr around sunset that Eisa had been spotted outside the small town of Riverwood. What had sent Vilkas's heart into a race was the news that she had managed to fend off not one of the legendary beasts known as Dragons but two.

Details were scarce despite Vilkas doing his best to threaten it out of the drunken Companion. Throwing him to the ground, Vilkas had retired to his quarters for privacy and to try and calm his worried mind. It hadn't come of course but much to his surprise, like clockwork, the door to his room creaked open slowly no more than hour or two before sunrise.

It was then, that Vilkas realized, that Eisa had crossed the threshold of the walls surrounding his heart and had claimed it as her own.

Vilkas sat upright in his bed to the sound of the wood on his doorframe opening. Eisa's bruised and exhausted form walked in slowly. She raised her emerald gaze to his and frowned heavily at seeing him awake. She cursed her tired and aching body for being loud.

"I am sorry to awaken you." Eisa's tender whisper spoke across the silence of the small room. Turning her back to him, the wounded warrior managed to shut the door quieter than she had been opening it. "No doubt word reached Whiterun about Riverwood. Luckily I got there in time before any major damage was done to the mill or…"

Eisa suddenly felt Vilkas's muscular chest against her back. His strong arms had wrapped tightly around her stomach and pulled her form back into his. Despite her prowess as a skilled swordsman, her body was tiny compared to his well toned and built body. He dwarfed her in height and width but at that moment, Eisa realized that she couldn't have wanted anything more but to be in his grasp at that moment.

She had faced utter hell today, had nearly died twice with the appearance of two dragons, and had bruised multiple ribs and bones. However, despite the pain of feeling him grasp her so tightly, it was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

"Vilkas…" Her whisper had been much softer than she had anticipated. Feeling his lips on her clothed shoulder, she turned her head to the side in time to see his hands working swiftly on the leather strings of her armor. She did nothing but merely stand there with a light red hue on her cheeks. She couldn't control the shivers going up and down her spine as he managed to take her armor off.

Pushing the sides of her thin undershirt aside, Vilkas with a tenderness he did not know he possessed, began kissing her sore body with soft kisses. Feeling the tickle of his unshaved face, Eisa let out a soft shuddering groan.

"C-Careful Vilkas…" Eisa whispered softly, trembling not from the uncharacteristic gentleness emitting from him, but the stinging pain shooting through her body.

"How bad are your wounds Eisa?" His voice asked simply. Turning her to lean back against the wooden door, Vilkas as gently as he could lifted the thin material off of her chest. What awaited him beneath caught him completely off guard.

Laced along her stomach were small patches of red burned skin. The fires of the great beasts must have burned through her armor in some areas. Along the supple curves of her breasts, long strands of black and blue skin was apparent. Her breast band did little to nothing to cover the scratches and more bruises that covered her entire body.

Bringing his worried gaze back to Eisa's, his heart nearly stopped at the small whimper emitting from her as he placed a hand along her rib cage.

"Talos help us…" Vilkas muttered in a low tone. Leading her to his small hay bed, he was grateful that Eisa was too tired and exhausted to object to the tending of her wounds. Sitting her down gently, Eisa watched in tired wonder at the rare scene before her. Vilkas was a gruff and powerful warrior. He never showed concern of this magnitude even to his brother. It sent a flutter through her stomach at seeing him this concerned about her.

"Let me dress your wounds." Vilkas looked to her. To his relief, she merely nodded in agreement before groaning in the continued stinging of her wounds. Pulling on his thin leather shirt, Vilkas quickly walked out of his room to the available potions, herbs, and bandages.

A few minutes later, Vilkas walked quietly back in to see Eisa struggling to push her leather pants down. Stopping for a second, Vilkas scolded himself mentally at the sexual thoughts that raced through his mind and body. Now was not the time to be having such thoughts despite with his parts were thinking.

Setting the medical supplies and bowl of cold water on the large dresser, Vilkas sat her down once again.

"You shouldn't be doing that." Vilkas began as he pulled down the material down her slender legs as gently as he could. "You could aggravate your wounds even more little one."

"Could have said the same to you a few times Vilkas." The teasing smile he met as he brought his gaze up caused a smirk of his own. He knew she was right. Didn't mean he had to acknowledge it. Not yet anyways.

"Whatever you say my Harbinger."

She groaned at the title and shifted uncomfortably.

"Wish you wouldn't call me that." Eisa could almost spit out the word. It left such a vile taste in her mouth. "I hate the idea of being in charge."

"Yet you are."

"Don't remind me."

Finally getting the pants off, Vilkas stood and picked up one of the small red bottles. Yanking off the cork with little effort needed with his strength, Vilkas handed the bottle to Eisa.

She was more than happy to accept the bottle as she brought the foul smelling substance to her lips. The taste was atrocious but soon the medicinal lull began making its way through the waves of pain that flowed in and out of her body.

The deafening pain was now a tolerable ache.

The minty smell of Aela's medicinal salve soon filled her nostrils as he began rubbing it as gently onto her bruised chest.

"How did two dragons show up at Riverwood at the same time?"

"By the Nine Divine I wish I knew!" Eisa began, sighing heavily as she laid her head on his single pillow. She could smell his musky scent of practice and sweat all over it. Closing her eyes, she turned her head into the pillow and raised a hand to clutch the side of it before continuing.

"Bloody giant demons must have a spell or something that finds me! I had a shipment of leather strips and ingots that I had promised to Alvor the blacksmith. I was making my monthly trip to the village to drop off the supplies."

Vilkas raised a curious eyebrow. "And you couldn't have hired a courier to do this?"

Remaining silent for a few seconds, Eisa shrugged her shoulders. She regretted it seconds later as the pain soared through her body.

"I could have I guess. It's just…" Looking up towards the ceiling, Eisa spoke with a note of admiration. "When I first arrived in Skyrim, I had gone from being on a chop block, watching a dragon burn down Helgen, and thrown out into the unforgiving wilderness without anywhere to do. Without Alvor and his family, I would have starved probably."

Looking up from his application of the medicine, Vilkas listened intently. She rarely ever talked about her time before the Companions. To know she trusted him enough with this information meant something big for her.

"Alvor also took the time to make me a set of armor before I left the town after recovering. His whole family sacrificed so much time and materials for me. I like returning the favor every now and then."

Vilkas couldn't have stopped the small smile from spreading over his face if he had wanted to. "He sounds like an honorable Nord."

"That he is. Anyways, I got into town and barely made it up the steps of his shop before I heard one of the mill workers scream. The roar of the beast followed only seconds after. The guards were quick to react but they didn't know how to fight the dragon."

Sitting up to Vilkas's counseling, Eisa leaned back against the stone wall against the bed as he wrapped the bandages around her chest.

"The first dragon must have been very young. It only took a few well placed to the face and wings to bring him down. Just after driving my sword through its head, that was when we felt the second dragon swoop down over us."

Biting her lower lip, Eisa's gaze suddenly seemed distant and troubled.

"I didn't realize it until it was too late but the dragon's claws had caught on my pack and before I knew it, I was flying over the town of Riverwood."

Vilkas suddenly looked up in sheer disbelief and shock.

"The dragon was quicker to react than I was and I knew I only had one option. The winds were too strong for me to keep a steady grip on my bow and arrows. From the color of the scales and the fierce cold temperature spreading over my back at the touch of his scales, I knew it was a frost dragon."

"Before I could think, I saw the dragon make a turn and fly over the river that runs alongside the town. We were fast approaching the deep parts of the river where if I dropped, I would most likely drop into as unscathed as I could. I drew my dagger, gathered my strength, and used the Thu'um on the beast. The flames finished him off and I quickly cut the straps of the pack as efficiently as I could."

"And you dropped into those waters?"

"Mara help me, it hurt like Oblivion! The water felt harder than the ground at that speed. I scratched my legs and thighs heavily on the rocks along the bottom but managed to not get too seriously hurt."

Looking into his eyes, Eisa's worried gaze closed as she sighed and placed her hands on her stomach to rest.

"I surfaced in time to see the dragon crash into the side of the mountain. I… I had hoped to the Nine Divine that even at that distance I couldn't take the Dragon's soul. But soon I felt the invasion begin and it was all so much so fast that I ended up throwing up right there along the river side."

Tying the bandages closed, Vilkas sat down next to her on the bed. Placing a hand on her cheek, the Companion brought her gaze to his. Simply pressing his forehead along hers, Vilkas ran the tip of his nose along the bridge of her own.

"I wish I had been there to protect you."

"I must be doing something right because as Lady Luck would have it, a Priest of Akatosh was passing by as the commotion happened. The guards managed to pull me out of the water and the priest began healing me. He…"

Stopping mid sentence, Eisa felt her lips begin trembling as the words of the priest began ringing through her ears.

"Eisa? What is it?"

When he didn't receive an immediate reply, Vilkas lifted her gaze back to his.

"What did he say?"

"Vilkas…I… While he was healing me, he felt..."

Tears began forming in her eyes. She seemed unsure of how to say it or if she even should.

"For Talos sake Eisa, what did the priest say?"

"H-He said…"

Vilkas's remembering of the incident was suddenly interrupted at Lydia's screaming from up above.

"VILKAS!"

The most agonizing scream Vilkas had ever heard Eisa emit soared throughout the house and was surely loud enough for people in Whiterun's streets outside to hear. Bursting into a full run up the stairs, Vilkas could feel his heartbeat drowning out all other sounds at the moment he pushed the double doors to their bedroom door open.

Sheets covered in blood. The Healer covered up to her elbows in Eisa's life blood. Eisa's head propped up against the wooden headboard and screaming her head off. The single word leaving her lips echoed deeper in his fear than ever body.

His name. By the Gods she was screaming his name.

Lydia's screaming stirred him from his shock.

"Vilkas! GET OVER HERE!"

Racing to his wife's side, Vilkas grabbed her hand in between both of his own.

"This isn't happening! Talos, please, don't let this happen to her!"

It was then that Healer's next words struck as much shock and fear into him as Eisa's confession all those months ago did. The echoing of her words reverberated through his very soul at the same time as the Healer's.

"The child is in peril!"

"Vilkas… The priest said that I am with child."

Yeah. I have no excuse for the delay in this update. The next chapter will be the epilogue. Hope you're all enjoying this!

Till next time,

Jackie Almasy

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim is copyrighted by Bethesda Softworks and Bethesda Game Studios. I own nothing.