Chapter 7: The Hunt Begins
Serana
"Your Ladyship!" An argonian female, who must be Wujeeta, shouted as Serana and Alessia entered the house. "You have returned!"
"Hello, Wujeeta. How have you been?" Her wolf smiled, accepting a quick hug from the lizard woman.
Wujeeta smiled a sharp toothed smile. "Oh, quite well. Keeping myself clean of the skooma, as promised."
"That is good to hear, my friend." Alessia clapped Wujeeta on the shoulder gently, then motioned towards Serana who had kept herself a distance from the reunion. "This is my good friend, Serana. Serana, this is Wujeeta. She keeps up Honeyside for me when I'm away."
"Pleased to meet you." Serana tried to smile happily, but just didn't have the heart for it.
"The honor is mine. Any friend of her Ladyship is a friend of mine." The lizard woman bowed low, humbly almost, before turning back to Alessia. "How long are you going to be in town, Milady?"
"The night at least. Day or so at the most. We're waiting on some information from-"
"Oh, that reminds me!" Wujeeta interrupted. "Two messengers arrived. One this afternoon, and one not ten minutes before your arrival."
The lizard woman scurried into another room and quickly returned with two folded pieces of paper. Alessia read them quickly, smiling at both. Serana looked over her wolf's shoulder at the letters. The first was obviously written by a child. Signed at the bottom was the name Aventus Aretino, the boy Alessia had wished news of. Serana wondered what story there was to tell about her wolf and the boy. But later. The second letter, written in much neater handwriting, was far shorter. It was from someone named Sapphire.
"Forgive me, Wujeeta, but it appears that we will only be staying the night." Alessia grinned at Serana. "One of my guild associates has an… interesting relationship with the stable master's hand here in Riften. Young Shadr overheard his master and the carriage driver talking of a strange 'Imperial Scholar' traveling the roads around Dragon Bridge."
"That's fantastic!" All irritation and sadness was gone from Serana's voice. "Shouldn't we leave tonight?"
Her wolf ran her hand through her hair again, one side of the ebony locks sticking straight up from her sweat. "It's a very long trip, Serana. A few weeks at least. Even by carriage. We need time to gather necessary supplies, but we can't do any of that till morning anyway."
"Allow me to take care of that." Wujeeta said, grabbing a shawl from a hook on the wall by the door. "I will go to the inn right now and set Keerava or Talen-Jei to the task. I will even remain there throughout the night and see to it that it is done quickly."
"There is no need to-" Alessia started, but Wujeeta wouldn't have it.
"No, I insist!" The lizard woman opened the door to leave, but stopped suddenly. "Oh, that reminds me. Be cautious should anyone come knocking. That horrid Haelga came calling earlier this afternoon. Said she wished to speak to you about something, but I didn't much like the look of her. Or the smell."
"Smell?" Alessia looked confused.
"Like dead fish." Wujeeta's snout crinkled in disgust. "Her, um… religion got her into more trouble recently. Word is that Maven Black-Briar caught Haelga, um… worshiping with Maven's son, Hemming. Since then Haelga's had a serious run of bad luck. Lost the bunkhouse and now works at the fishery."
"Oh. I see." Her wolf looked as though she was trying to hide a grin. "Thank you for the warning. I'll keep that in mind."
"See that you do, Milady." And with that, the lizard woman shut the door behind her.
What in the- Serana didn't finished the thought before Alessia burst into ruckus laughter.
"What's so funny?" Serana asked.
"The look that must have been on Maven's face when she caught those two. Poor Haelga, you just can't help yourself, can you?" Tears. Tears were running down her wolf's cheeks. When she finally got herself under control, limited though it was, she explained. "Haelga is one of those women who takes her worship of Dibella a little too far."
"Oh. I see." Serana found herself repeating Alessia's earlier statement. "But why would that involve you?"
"I was hired to blackmail the woman a few years back. Her niece Svana grew tired of her aunt's extracurricular activities and gave me the job of trying to shame her into behaving. Apparently, it didn't work." Alessia began disarming herself, placing her weapons into a nearby chest. Serana helped undo the leather armor and placed it in the same chest. "I'm venturing a guess here, but I think Haelga might blame me for her current plight. No doubt Maven used the guild to arrange for Haelga to lose ownership of the bunkhouse. A simple task really."
Serana wasn't going to ask. She really wasn't, but the question just popped out. "How simple?"
"A whisper here. A little lie there. Then Maven probably had one of the guild members alter the bunkhouse books, or planted something incriminating. Pay off a guard or two then… well, poof." Alessia muttered. "Suddenly, Haelga has the Jarl breathing down her neck and has no choice but to either sell, or forfeit the property. Basic stuff."
"And you did this basic stuff?" Serana folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.
Alessia plopped down in the chair by the fire and just smiled. "How else do you think I made Guild Master? Well, other than taking out my predecessor. But that was under extenuating circumstances."
Again, she wasn't going to ask. She really wasn't. "Extenuating circumstances?"
Alessia told the story, and while she did so, the wolf dug out a few simple food stuffs. A loaf of bread, cheese, honey, butter and some Black-Briar Mead. She arranged them on the kitchen table so that the two could help themselves to whatever they liked. Alessia sliced the bread up and smothered it in butter and honey. Serana followed suite but took a good hunk of cheese as well. Simple, but good.
After a while the story ended and Serana was, once again, at ease. Which, she suspected, was the whole point to Alessia's story. Even though the information on their Moth Priest had helped her mood, somehow her wolf always seemed to know when she needed one of her tales. Or, it could also be, that her wolf loved to hear herself talk. That, too.
"I have something to show you." Alessia said out of the blue. Serana's eyebrow raised a little. "Come."
Her wolf got up from the table and walked into the adjoining room. It was a bedroom, or sorts. More like a library, bedroom, and office space all in one with a staircase going down to their right. Serana followed Alessia down the stairs and froze in surprise. The room was filled with alchemical ingredients: butterfly wings, both blue and yellow, ectoplasm, frost mirriam, glow dust, nightshade, snowberries, troll fat, slaughterfish scales, taproot and many, many more. There was even… vampire dust. It made the measly purchases she'd made at Elgrim's Elixirs look like nothing at all. Not nearly the size or selection like her mother's lab, but for someone who didn't seem at all interesting in alchemy…
"Honeyside's previous owner left all this. Lucky for me, I made friends with Elgrim and his wife and they helped me preserve most of it. There's an enchanting lab just through there, as well as another bedroom." Alessia pointed to another room further into the basement. "After our visit to Elgrim's today, I thought you might like to piddle down here for a while. You can use whatever you like. Gods know I'm no good at it. The bedroom is yours, too. There are no windows so tomorrow's morning light won't bother you. Unless of course you'd prefer the bed upstairs. We can cover the windows and I can sleep down-"
"This is perfect." Serana smiled, her hands itching to get to work on a few potions she'd been thinking of. "Thank you."
Her wolf just gave that grin of hers. "I'll be upstairs if you need me."
Alessia marched upstairs as Serana began digging through all the equipment and ingredients neatly organized on the shelves. The footsteps above told her that her wolf was cleaning up their meal. After that, there was silence for a good long while. Curious, and needing to stretch her legs a bit, Serana quietly crept upstairs. If Alessia was asleep, she didn't want to accidentally wake her. Her wolf wasn't asleep. In fact she wasn't even in the house. A door Serana hadn't seen before across from the staircase was cracked open and a soft light shown through. She peeked.
Her wolf was lounged in a wooden chair, bare feet propped up on the balcony railing, reading a book. On the barrel next to her was the source of the light. A small candle next to a small mug of what smelt like ale. Her wolf's face was backlit by the warm glow and the sight took her breath away. Alessia looked up from the book, nose twitching as she tested something on the night air. Serana stepped behind the door just as her wolf glanced in her direction. What a nose that female had.
Creeping back downstairs was a trick. Every creak and moan of the floorboards sounding like an avalanche roaring down the mountainside. She wasn't sure why that sight of Alessia had unhinged her so completely. Hell, the female was breathtakingly gorgeous, but that wasn't anything new. Just the sight of her wolf so divinely serene… simple clothes and bare footed with a book in her hands and a mug of ale within arms reach. Peaceful. Beautiful in every way.
Serana sighed, knowing full well that concentration on her alchemy was going to be somewhat a of a trial.
"Kolos los hi, mal joor?"
She fell. Down. Down. Down. Until there was no where else to fall. Dust and various other bits she didn't want to examine too closely scattered as she struck the ground. Her breath forced from her lungs and she desperately tried to get on her feet again. Then run. Run. And run until her sides burned from the effort. Into the black. Into the night. Anywhere away from the Dark.
"Hi nis ru nol fin Vokun, mal joor. Vokun los mahfaeraak!"
That voice. His voice. The one she couldn't ignore, but didn't want. Deep and loathing and dripping with hate and despair. An animal locked behind a door deep, deep in the depths of her soul, just waiting for the smallest crack. The smallest opening from which to escape and tear her asunder.
"Dreh hi faas Vokun ko hin sil?" She froze, a scared rabbit afraid of running into the jaws of the hunter.
"Zu'u los ni faas!"
It laughed. A mocking, hateful sound that sent shivers of fear down her body.
"Nuz hi los."
"I am not afraid!" She cried out to the darkness.
"Zu'u los daar Vokun, ahrk zu'u bo fah hi, Dovahkiin." A loud snarled from the shadow before her. Suddenly, it moved. "Zu'u fent diivon hi pah!"
She screamed.
Alessia
The nightmare wasn't an uncommon one, though her time spent chained to the floor of that dungeon plagued her sleep far more often than the Darkness did. She had long feared that the evil souls of the dragons she'd drawn into herself would affect her in some way. Change her somehow. She was always afraid that something, the smallest nudge or turn of events, would tip some internal scale and turn her into something… horrible. Hell, the only other Dragonborn she had met had driven himself bat shit crazy. Miraak had played that dangerous game and fell into a tailspin that he couldn't pull himself out of. And he payed the ultimate price for it. Pulled who knows how many innocent people down with him.
Alessia got up from the bed, noting that dawn hadn't arrived yet. And it wouldn't for some time. She paced the house, going from window to window and back again trying to shake the dream from her thoughts. As she passed the stairs going down into the basement, she caught the slightest scent of her female. Her and many other potent alchemical concoctions. She went down the stairs, careful not to wake Serana. She could hear her female's soft snoring from down the hall.
Her female had definitely been busy. Though it wasn't dirty at all, the workspace was littered with vial upon vial of a variety of different colored potions. Curious, she picked up one and gave it a small sniff. Immediately, she replaced the stopper on the vial and tried her best to keep her balance. What in the Hell was that stuff?
Not brave enough, or foolish enough, to examine another potion, Alessia crept down the hall to Serana's room. Her female slept soundly on the small bed. She had changed out of her normal red and black clothing and into a much looser long sleeping gown. She was curled up into a ball with her arm lazily thrown over her face. Her shoulder length black hair a total mess on the pillow. Calm. Peaceful. Safe.
Satisfied that nothing was amiss, Alessia tiptoed her way back upstairs. With still hours till dawn she amused herself with the book she had started the night before; The Black Arrow, Part 1. She smiled as she recalled the moment she had caught Serana's scent so close. Her female's normal scent mixed with that of nightshade and lavender among many other things. She found that she liked the smell on Serana. Maybe a little too much.
Serana
Serana woke to a loud commotion upstairs. There was a thud, a splash, and a slam and a lot, and she meant a lot, of very angry cursing. Running upstairs she almost tripped on the last step. A horrid stench stopped her dead in her tracks as she reached the kitchen. And, immediately forgetting the smell, began laughing hysterically.
Her poor wolf was standing by the front door with a look of absolute disgust and rage on her face. At her feet was a bucket, and scattered around that bucket were numerous fish heads and other fishy awful. Smelly water dripped from her nose, her ears, her chin… And there was a few unidentifiable bits stuck in her hair, too. Serana couldn't help but notice how nicely the wet clothes stuck to her wolf's lean and shapely form.
"Um… Haelga, I'm guessing?" Serana ventured as she got control of her laughter.
"Haelga." Alessia tried to take a deep breath, but shuttered at the smell. "I really hate fish."
And Serana laughed again. Her wolf finally moved, giving Serana an ominous glare that just made her laugh that much harder. She finally blurted, "You smell awful."
"Oh yeah?" Her wolf struck, quick as lightning, catching Serana by the waist and spinning wildly while transferring as much of the stinky fish water onto her as possible. Serana squealed and struggled. Finally, Alessia's grip loosened when she slipped on something, probably fish guts, and the two went down. They laughed as they tried to untangle themselves from each other but only managed to slip and fall again.
Suddenly, her wolf tensed and grew very quiet. Serana at that moment was attempting to find dry, non slick, floorboard to hold herself up with. It was only after Alessia froze that she realized their predicament. She straddled her wolf, pinning Alessia to the floor with her body. Their chests were pressed tightly together, both heaving. Their faces mere inches apart. Despite the fishy stench, Serana could smell her wolf's breath. A sweetness of honey, and the bitterness of coffee. And just… her scent.
Serana kissed her wolf. She shouldn't have. Knew it was a bad idea, but couldn't stop herself. Closing that small distance between them seemed like the most natural, the most right, thing in the world at that moment. Alessia jerked, not away, but in surprise. Serana's heart pounded when the shock wore off, and her wolf returned the kiss. Deepening it. Wrapping an arm around Serana's back and pulling her closer. Then her wolf growled, deep in her chest. Not a threatening sound, but a satisfied one.
There was a loud bang on the front door and all at once Serana found herself tossed to the side. Alessia rolled herself along with her and came up in a protective crouch. A furious snarl tore it's way from her wolf's throat, but before she could pounce, their would be intruder spoke through the door. Evidently, Alessia had locked the thing after Haelga's visit.
"Hello? Your Ladyship? What has-" Wujeeta's voice stopped suddenly, taking on a disgusted tone. "By the gods, what is that stench?"
Alessia swallowed, hard, then took a deep breath. She gagged on the intake of fishy air, but managed to tone down her anger and surprise. Her voice was still a little gruff when she turned to Serana. "Are you alright? Did I hurt you?"
"N-no. You didn't hurt me…" Serana sat up slowly, giving herself a little time to come up with something to say. "Alessia, I-"
"Milady?" Wujeeta called again. "Are you even home?"
Alessia sighed as she stood, then helped Serana to her feet. The two of them were a sight. Wet. Covered in fishy things she really didn't want to look at too closely. And both spooked and shaking. Her wolf let out a frustrated growl before turning to her. "I know we need to talk about what just happened, but I think it will have to wait a little while."
Serana nodded, not really trusting herself to talk. Alessia gave her a smile, albeit an uneasy one, and gently squeezed her hand once before turning to let Wujeeta inside. As her wolf explained the attack to a severely outraged argonian, Serana retreated downstairs. On her way to her bedroom she grabbed a few of the safe, sweet smelling, alchemical herbs she hadn't used the night before. Door safely shut behind her, Serana proceeded to thoroughly panic.
"Holy shit!" She hissed to herself. "What the hell are you thinking, Serana?"
Angrily, she stripped herself down and threw the gown and her underclothes in the corner. Luckily, she'd filled the water basin the night before. She dumped the strongly scented herbs into the water and began scrubbing her body roughly. Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could she have done that to Alessia? Stupid. Cruel. Everything was so messed up. Everything with the Elder Scroll, and her mother, and her father, and her past and everything. And now she was going to drag her friend into her drama even more than she already had? Cruel!
And yet, Alessia hadn't pushed her away. Kissed her back. Deeply in fact. The feel of her tongue… Serana trembled a little at the memory. How far would they have gone had Wujeeta not interrupted them? Her breath caught.
Bracing her arms over the crate she was using as a table. Hanging her head, she looked down into the stilling water in the basin. The red eyes and pale skin of a vampire. A predator. How long it had been since she'd looked into a mirror and seen the green eyes and tanned skin of her human self. Her mortal self. After the life she had lived. After what she had allowed herself to become. After all the things she had done…
"I won't give this up. Not for anyone or anything." The remembered words stung. She'd said them and meant them. She didn't deserve someone as good as Alessia. Didn't dare ask the gods for that great a gift. Didn't have the right.
"Damn it." She hissed and continued scrubbing.
Alessia
Wujeeta was perfectly outraged. The argonian woman hissed loudly and spoke of vengeance in the form of a good thrashing. Although right at that moment Alessia was in the mood to give a good thrashing, but thought it unwise. Wolf was irritated. Beyond frustrated. But mostly towards the argonian for her untimely arrival. Her non sexually driven side found the interruption very fortunate. Which set both Alessia and her wolf into a nasty inner quarrel that kept distracting her from anything Wujeeta was saying.
Finally, finally, she got the lizard woman to calm down and did her best to carry on a normal conversation in regards to their supplies and transportation. Everything was ready accept the means of travel. The carriage driver was willing to take them to Dragon Bridge, but needed time to acquire the covered wagon per Alessia's request.
"He will be ready to leave once the covered wagon is out of storage and the horses are prepared for the journey." Wujeeta assured. "Now. About Haelga."
"Please don't start anything with the woman, Wujeeta. It isn't worth the headache." Alessia tried but the lizard woman didn't budge. So she tried a different tactic. "It would mean far more to me if you would try making peace."
Wujeeta huffed a hissy huff, but seemed to lose steam. "As you wish, Milady. Anything for you."
"Could I trouble you to find me some clothes? Preferably ones that don't stink of fish?"
"Aye, in the dresser by the stairs. Just set out the wet ones and I'll have them washed before you leave." The argonian woman turned to leave the room, hissing when she entered the kitchen. "Ugh, now to clean up this mess!"
Feeling a bit guilty for leaving Wujeeta to deal with the cleanup, Alessia set herself to the task of setting herself to rights. She drew the curtain partition that separated the kitchen and the bedroom. Quickly, and happily, she stripped off the wet clothes and left them by the partition with a small splat. A moment later, Wujeeta's scaly hand reached through and snatched the garments. A disgusted hiss sounding not a second after.
Alessia chuckled as she poured herself a basin of water and searched for the bar of honey soap she kept stocked in the home. Finding it in one of the drawers, she set to work removing the stink from her skin. The water as cold, sending goosebumps down her body. But the soap smelt nice and she tried forcing herself to relax.
No good. Her heart was still pounding and her blood still racing. Wolf kept suggesting, more of a demand, that she go downstairs and pick up where she and Serana had left off. Forgetting the cloth, Alessia picked up the whole basin and dumped it over her head. She yelped at the chill, which effectively took care of her libido. Just for good measure she poured another pitcher of the cold water over her head. The floor was soaked, but she really didn't care all that much. Took care of the smell, too.
Alessia quickly toweled herself dry, threw on clean clothes and set about mopping up the water. The task accomplished what she had hoped it would. Giving herself something to focus on, and giving her some time to think things over.
No lie that she found Serana attractive. Known that from the first moment they met. Wolf certainly agreed with her on that fact and stirred a little in confirmation. And there were moments where the two had caught each other's gazes. For just an instant, and what if? would flash through Alessia's mind. An instant that came and went. It had never been the time or the place to act on it. That morning hadn't been the time or place, but it had happened. That moment had come again and lingered in that kiss. There was a warmth in her belly that spread through her entire body like liquid fire. The coals still red from the heat, but subdued.
Their situation didn't bode in the grand scheme of things. She and Serana were, at the risk of sounding a little dramatic, trying to save the world. A mission that might fail if the two got distracted by each other. Although, if there was one thing Alessia had learned in all her years of adventuring it was this; if one goes about their life living one crisis to the next, one day they will look up and realize that their life has been lived without them. The world would have moved on and left them standing in the dust confused and alone. Something she had experienced and taken steps to avoid. Lucia, Lydia, her pack, Ysolda, and so many others. Alessia made them a part of her life so that she had something to remind her why she fought so hard to live and love.
She didn't love Serana. Or at least she didn't think so. Having never been in love, she found it hard to imagine. Especially since she and Serana hadn't known each other very long. There was lust to be sure. Desire. Friendship. But something far… more that was difficult to describe. A bond of sorts that drew them two together. That feeling she'd experienced before their leaving Fort Dawnguard. That feeling of knowing that she could never part herself from Serana. Even if she wished to. Which she didn't. Just the thought made her ill. Yes. A bond.
What if Serana didn't wish for them to continue their… whatever it was, any further beyond that kiss? She found she didn't much care for that. But, then again, something else to consider. What if she did? What then? An immortal lover who, by her own words, wouldn't change who or what she was for anything or anyone. Not that Alessia would ever ask her to do such a thing, but the problem still remained. Serana was an immortal, whereas Alessia was not. Werewolves aged. Not as quickly as humans, but eventually she would succumb to time. No help for it. Old age could not be escaped or avoided. And, not unlike Serana, Alessia did not wish to change who or what she was.
The floor taken care of, Alessia found herself standing at the top of the stairs looking down into the basement. They had time before the wagon was ready. Wujeeta was busy in the kitchen, the lizard woman's raspy voice singing a soft song as she worked. Best to get the conversation that had to happen out of the way or she feared it to be a long and awkward journey across Skyrim. Her heart pounded in her throat as she descended the stairs. Slowly. She tried the words she wished to say in her mind first. A hopeless gesture seeing as how everything she wished to say got lost on the way from her brain to her mouth.
To her surprise, Serana was not in her bedroom as she'd thought. Instead, her female sat at the alchemy worktable. She was facing the stairs, fiddling halfheartedly with one of the vials. When she noticed Alessia halfway down the stairs, she put away with vial and sat up straight.
"Hi." Serana said.
"Hi." Alessia repeated like a fool. Wolf internally chuffed with annoyance.
"I heard you washing. I thought I might wait down here until you finished." Serana kept her eyes down, and that made Alessia's heart hurt. She looked ashamed. Ashamed and a little sad. "Alessia, I'm so sorry. It was selfish and wrong and I was out of line and I think I've ruined everything and I-I… I'm sorry... I'm…"
And the apologies just kept on and on. Eventually her female cut herself off by shoving her face into her hand and, though there were no tears, sobbed. Slowly, Alessia descended the remaining few steps and knelt before her female. Her friend, if nothing else. She placed a gentle hand on Serana's cheek and spoke very softly. "Nothing is ruined, Serana. Neither one of us did anything wrong. It just happened."
Serana took in air and exhaled a sweet breath. With the hand that wasn't covering her eyes, she removed Alessia's hand from her cheek. Not angrily, but with some conviction. She didn't drop the hand however. Just held it in her lap. The rejection stung a little, but Alessia tried not to let it show. Calmer now, Serana dropped the hand covering her face but still refused to look at Alessia.
"But it was wrong." She said. "And unfair. I can't. I just can't…"
"Nothing need come of it." The words tasted like bile, but Alessia said them. "Nothing need change between us. I promise I'm not angry or upset with you."
"Liar." Serana frowned, finally making eye contact. "You're grinding your teeth."
Alessia was taken aback. "What?"
"You grind your teeth when you're bothered by something."
She was right. Alessia had been told that many times, but it was a habit she had been unable to break. She sighed in irritation and abandoned her knelt position on the floor in favor of a chair just opposite Serana's. Another breath and a frustrated brush of her hands through her still damp hair.
"You do that, too." Serana muttered. "You muss up your hair when you're frustrated."
"Alright, fine. I won't say I'm not… frustrated. " Alessia tried not to growl the words, but her wolf was far too close to the surface not to. Serana flinched a little, so Alessia forced Wolf back down and tried a calmer tone. "I sense… something between us. I think you do to, Serana, but-"
"Alessia, I-" Her female started, but Alessia silenced her with a look.
"But, as I said, nothing need come of it. We will just pretend it never happened." She sighed and Wolf whined a little. A heavy silence filled the space, a suddenly vast and empty space. Alessia stood and started towards the stairs. "I'm going to check on the carriage. Everything should be in order by now."
She didn't look at Serana as she left. Didn't give the female an opportunity to object or comment. Running away had never been her strong suite. So she told herself it wasn't running away. Told herself she was simply changing tactics. A misdirection of sorts. Directing attention away from her wounded pride and, to her surprise, wounded heart.
For those of you who know how to translate from english to dragon, forgive me if I butchered it. For those who do not and who would rather not go look up what was said (or what I was trying to say), this is what was said in the order it was written:
"Where are you, little mortal?"
"You cannot run from the Darkness, little mortal. The Darkness is forever (couldn't find a translation for "everywhere")."
"Do you fear the Darkness in your soul?"
"I am not afraid."
"But you are."
"I am that Darkness, and I am coming for you Dragonborn."
"I shall swallow you whole!"
