Chapter 10: Light of the Moon

(Author's note: hey, guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I haven't been feeling well lately, but I'm better now, so without further ado, here's the latest chapter of my story. Enjoy.)

At last, Inigo and Langley brought Valen to Dawnstar and got him inside the Windpeak Inn. "I need a room. Now!" Inigo said to the innkeeper and as quickly as he could, he took a coin purse out of Valen's pocket – because he didn't have any money of his own since he got out of Riften jail – and placed it on the counter. "Take the one on the left" the innkeeper named Thoring said, and Inigo immediately carried Valen to the room on his left and put him on the bed.

"What's up with the elf?" Thoring asked. "You don't want to know" Langley answered. However, the beating the Imperial took from Astrid left him with some bruises, a black eye and a bloody nose. It was impossible to not notice that he was hurt, too. "And what about you? You look like you just got mugged or something"

"Don't worry about me. I'll be alright in a moment" Langley assured him. He then used a healing spell on himself to recover his injuries, and in just a moment, he was looking better already. "And no, I didn't get mugged" Langley then walked over to Inigo, who was standing over Valen and looking at the wound on his neck and checking for a pulse. "He's alive! Thank the Gods!"

"If anyone should be thanked, it is you" Langley said. "You're the one who saved his life, not the Gods"

"Langley! You're looking better already!"

"Yes, I just used my knowledge of the Restoration school to heal myself. Now we only have to worry about Valen"

"He's out cold. That werewolf bit him pretty deep"

"Yes, but I'm afraid there is little we can do except leave him there for a few days and let his body heal on its own. Don't worry, he's strong. He'll be alright"

"Stronger than you think. Valen told me about his past"

"Did he now? Then why don't you tell me what he told you?"

"It is long and complicated. And you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you"

"Try me"

"Well, okay. But first, let's get a couple of chairs, my friend. This is quite a tale"

Once they'd sat down, Inigo proceeded to tell Langley everything Valen had told him. He told the Imperial how he had lived another life previously, and what he did in that life, before being reincarnated into another male Dunmer born into House Telvanni before being sent to Skyrim and raised in Honorhall Orphanage. Inigo told Langley that Valen, despite being reincarnated, had somehow managed to retain his memories from his old life. He lost his powers, but he still remembered every skill he learned and all the wisdom he gained from living for such a long time. He also explained how Valen, like all the other orphans at Honorhall, was subject to the wrath of the cruel headmistress named Grelod the Kind. And Inigo told Langley what sort of horrible things she did to those kids, but unlike the others, Valen did not fear her and despite the fact that he was just a boy, he was so brave even back then, that he stood up to Grelod time and time again and did everything he could to protect the other children. He even took as much of the abuse and the beatings as he could so that they wouldn't have to.

Inigo even mentioned to Langley how Valen snuck into Grelod's room at night, slit her throat with a bound dagger, put her body in a large sack, changed the sheets because they were covered in blood; thus they were evidence that the cruel headmistress had just been murdered, and smuggled Grelod's body, along with the bloody sheets out of the city and dumped them into Lake Honrich where nobody could ever find them, then snuck back into the Orphanage and went back to bed.

"By the Gods, you were right, Inigo. That was quite a tale!" Langley remarked. "So, what do you think?"

"I don't know if I believe in reincarnation, but if it's true, it's all the more reason to have faith that he will recover. He's been through a lot worse than this. In the meantime, we need to find out who wants him dead and why."

"He was framed for murder by the Thieves Guild and thrown in jail. That was where we met. But then he found a way to escape, and I went with him, thinking I could repay my debt to him by slaying his foes. I didn't know it at the time, but it turns out you were right. He's not the man I tried to kill"

"Hate to say I told you so…but I told you so"

"He tried to tell me, but I was being too stubborn to listen to him. Anyway, he believed that if he stayed in jail, he would have been publicly executed for a crime he didn't commit, so he escaped. And now somebody has paid the Dark Brotherhood to kill him. Someone from Riften, it seems. But we don't know who. Not yet, anyway"

"Those murderers burned my house down and almost killed us! We need to find them and put a stop to this madness once and for all!"

"I agree." Inigo concurred. "But before we do that, we must wait until Valen gets better and guard him with our lives for now"

"I will stay here and look after our friend until he recovers. You, on the other hand, need to find some work. Our bellies won't feed themselves"

"No, they won't." Inigo agreed. "And neither will the rent for Valen's room. There are two mines in this town. I suppose I could get a pickaxe and dig up as much ore as I can, then sell it to the owners for a modest fee. Now would you mind giving me a moment to change out of this armour, my friend?"

"As you wish"

Langley then stood in the doorway with his back turned to Inigo to give him some privacy and keep prying eyes away from him until he put some clothes on. Inigo changed into a brown set of fine clothes and said "Ah, that's better. Now I'd better get going. Our bellies won't feed themselves"

Langley then turned around and saw that Inigo was dressed again, then moved from the doorway "The rent won't pay itself, either."

Inigo then left the tavern to find work in the mines. The two Inigo mentioned before were Quicksilver Mine and Iron-Breaker mine; and their owners were once married, but now they are bitter rivals engaged in a rather fierce competition whose mine is better. Their names are Beitild; she owns Iron-Breaker Mine, and Leigelf; owner of the Quicksilver mine.

But Inigo cared little for their feud. As long as they paid him well enough for all the ore he could dig up, it didn't matter to him. And due to his neutrality, he could, and did spend the next few days working in both mines in order to make some extra gold. While he worked; he kept an eye out for the assassins. Inigo didn't expect them to come back for at least a day or two, but Langley was right. Until Valen managed to recover, he was still in a vulnerable state and would remain that way for at least a few days. That gives the Dark Brotherhood plenty of time to re-think their strategy and strike again before the elf wakes up.

In the meantime, Inigo continued to work for his gold, and to make even more gold, he would sometimes smelt the ore down to make ingots and sell them to the local blacksmith and/or his wife – who is the only Redguard in Dawnstar.

…

Meanwhile, in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, Astrid was arguing with Arnbjorn about her contract. When she met Valen and his friends for the first time, she was wearing her hood and mask, but after making it safely to the Sanctuary, she took them off, like she always did after coming back from completing a contract "What in Sithis' name were you thinking?!" she chided him. "Interfering in my contract and stealing my kill like that?!"

"I saved your life, remember?!" Arnbjorn pointed out as he grabbed the arrow still in his back and pulled it out. The wound immediately closed up due to his healing factor, then he gave a sigh of relief, put the arrow down and added "You saw what that elf can do – what he almost did – to you! If it weren't for me, you would have been burned to a crisp and this is the thanks I get?!"

"He's mine! My contract, my kill! Not yours!" Astrid shot back. "Besides, I can take care of myself. You of all people should know that! We're trained killers, Arnbjorn! This is what we do; put our lives on the line to get rid of undesirables like the elf!"

"I'm aware of that!" Arnbjorn commented in mild frustration, as if it wasn't so painfully obvious to him. "But I'm your husband, and I wouldn't be a very good one if I just stood idly by and let you get yourself killed"

Astrid sighed. "How did you know, anyway? We both know you're not psychic"

"I had a hunch"

"A hunch? You're joking?!"

"I guess my hunches must be pretty good. I had a bad feeling in my gut and I chose to trust it. Turns out I was right to do so. By the way, I wasn't trying to steal your kill. I would never do that. I was just trying to hold him off so you could get away."

"You bit him on the neck! Nearly ripped out his throat! Would have, too, if that blue Khajiit hadn't shot you!"

"Actually, that wasn't my intention"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really. Thanks to me, he's unconscious now, and he'll remain that way for three days. That gives us – you - plenty of time to get him while he's sleeping. But you have to get to Dawnstar before midnight on the third day and kill him, or he will become moon-born like me"

"Wait, you didn't bite him to make him a werewolf, did you?"

"He won't. Not if you kill him before he does"

"And what about his friends? One of them is a Khajiit warrior named Inigo, and the other is a powerful wizard who can summon them whenever he means to"

"I'll take care of the cat. And they may have a wizard, but so do we. Let's take Festus. He can help me deal with Valen's friends while you take care of the elf"

Astrid thought about it for a moment, then agreed by saying "All right, but you and Festus must promise me that neither of you will interfere. Valen is mine and mine alone. You two will be my backup and nothing more"

"Yes, my love"

On that basis, Astrid and Arnbjorn went to speak with Festus, who was practicing some rather grotesque experiments in the room with the big stained glass window representing the patron god of the Dark Brotherhood named Sithis, by torturing a man who was unfortunate enough to be kidnapped, held against his will and experimented on in the name of science – or rather, magic - by his captors.

Being a mage and a loyal servant of the Dread Lord Sithis, Festus naturally had a very strong fascination with the human body and how frail it was, so he went out looking for a "volunteer" to experiment on and test how much pain he could take and found an adventurer; a big male Nord with a strong physique but his mental faculties were not so strong, fully clad in iron armour, wandering through the wilderness. Festus used a Paralysis spell to knock him out and drag him back to the Sanctuary. It wasn't easy since his prey was big and heavy, but he managed it in the end.

Festus put him in shackles and chucked a bucket of water on him to give him a rude awakening, and then shortly afterwards, started casting basic spells on him like Flames and Frostbite to torture him slowly. Not just for science, but for fun, too. The Nord yelled and screamed in pain and Festus laughed like the callous and crazy old man that he was. Festus then continued to torture the poor sod for…hours? Days? Weeks? Whatever the case, it was a long time indeed.

Then Arnbjorn and Astrid opened the door and unintentionally disrupted the experiment. Festus saw the former out of the corner of his eye and said "How dare you interrupt my experiment! I'm in the middle of important…"

Before he could finish, he turned to see Astrid was with him and quickly apologised by saying "Oh sorry, Astrid! I didn't see you there. What is it?"

"No need to apologise, Festus. We can see you are very busy. In fact, we are the ones who are sorry"

Arnbjorn gave her a funny look but if Astrid noticed, she elected to ignore it and continue by saying "But we would not have interrupted you if it wasn't important"

"Then what would you have me do, my mistress?"

"You see, I have a contract. His name is Valen Telvanni. A Dark Elf. And I – we need your help taking care of him"

"We?" Festus repeated. "He's yours, isn't he? Mistress Astrid, don't take this the wrong way, but surely, you didn't interrupt my work just to get me to help you kill an elf? Besides, when was the last time you asked for help?"

"That's a good question, my dear. And you're right; I don't normally require assistance in these matters. But Valen is much more dangerous than you think"

"He's a powerful mage, like you" Arnbjorn added. "And a great fighter on top of that. Plus, we've gotta hand it to him; he's incredibly brave and he's tougher than he looks. We know because we've battled with him once already. But I bit him on the neck and tasted his flesh. Which means he'll be unconscious for a few days, making him an easy target. For the time being, at least."

"Then you shouldn't have any trouble killing him without me, so long as you can do it before he turns"

"But that's the thing; he'll be guarded by two of his friends. A Khajiit warrior with blue fur named Inigo, and an old Imperial mage whose name we do not yet know. But what we do know is he's a powerful conjurer, and an expert in Destruction magic. I need you to fend him off while Arnbjorn takes care of Inigo and I do the same with Valen" Astrid explained.

"I see. Very well. I'll do what I can"

"Good. But before we go, let me make myself clear; Valen is mine, okay? Mine and mine only! You and my husband will take care of his friends while I claim him for the Void. That's it. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, mistress. You're the boss"

"Then let's go. Now before it's too late!"

And at these words, the three assassins left the Sanctuary. Festus climbed onto the back of Shadowmere's saddle while Astrid, who was wearing her hood and mask again, climbed onto the front and took the reins. Arnbjorn, on the other hand, didn't need a horse. His beast blood gave him the ability to run faster than any steed, including Shadowmere, and travel great distances on foot without getting tired. So he sprinted across the land towards Dawnstar and Astrid spurred her horse on in the same direction.

…

Meanwhile, back in Dawnstar, Inigo was in Quicksilver mine, digging when he received another mind vibration. "Agh!" he groaned as his head throbbed in pain and dropped his pickaxe. In his vision, he saw three assassins heading towards him; two on horseback and one running on foot. The vision faded almost as quickly as it came, and he didn't get a good look at them, but he saw them nonetheless and that was enough.

So he ran towards the Windpeak Inn and found Langley inside Valen's room, sitting on a chair next to the elf. "They're coming, aren't they?"

"They are. And it appears they've brought a friend with them. Won't be long before our friend wakes up. We must hold them off until he does."

Langley then turned to the innkeeper and walked over to him. "Thoring" he said. "You need to leave. Now! Take your daughter and your maid with you and go speak to the Jarl"

"You want me to speak to the Jarl? What for?"

"Dark Brotherhood Assassins are coming for my friend - one of whom is a werewolf. As you know, my friend is currently unable to defend himself and needs all the help he can get. The Jarl needs to know about this and you must wait inside his hall with your girls until the matter has been dealt with and it is safe to return. Do you understand?"

"Not really, but I heard "assassins" and "werewolf" which is enough"

"Good. Go, now!"

"Karita! Abelone! Wake up! Now!" Thoring yelled and the two aforementioned women immediately woke up. "What is it, father?" Karita asked. "No time to explain. You both need to come with me right now! And don't ask questions, just trust me and do as I say!"

"Yes, father" Karita obliged. "Lead the way" said Abelone, the inn's maid. They both followed Thoring out of the inn and to the Jarl's Longhouse while Langley and Inigo prepared themselves for what was likely going to be one heck of a fight.

…

Jarl Skald was not the most popular man in Skyrim. A crazy old codger and a fool who thinks Ulfric is invincible and breathes fire from his mouth. And instead of looking out for his own people; he would rather send his men off to fight the Empire. Skald the Elder does not fight to protect his people, but to seek glory for himself and to honour the Ninth Divine named Talos.

All that said, Thoring – or should I say "Karita" - was persuasive enough to convince him to send whatever men he still had to guard the inn's front door. Being a bard, Karita had a talent for speech, which she used to her advantage. At first, she kept her mouth shut and listened to what her father had to say, but once she had heard enough to figure out what was going on, she convinced the elderly Jarl that the Empire is many leagues away from Dawnstar and the Dark Brotherhood is a much more immediate threat. Skald also allowed Thoring, his daughter and his maid to stay in his hall until the matter has been resolved and it was safe for them to return…albeit begrudgingly. He might have needed some convincing, and Thoring was no wordsmith, but lucky for him, he had a bard for a daughter.

So, Skald sent at least half a dozen men to watch the tavern and deny entry to anyone who wished to enter unless they had a very good reason to. But when the assassins finally came, they did not request permission, nor did they even speak a word to the guards. Instead, they set their beastly companion Arnbjorn onto them.

Astrid and Festus hid themselves well and watched from a safe distance while Arnbjorn, after he had transformed, ripped the guards to shreds and in just a few minutes, he turned the inn into a slaughterhouse.

Meanwhile, in the tavern, Inigo and Langley heard the thundering sound of a blood-curdling roar, alerting them (and possibly the whole town that the Dark Brotherhood had come at last. That and the sight and sound of a guard's mangled corpse flying through the door, destroying it in the process and smashing into a wall.

Then Arnbjorn appeared in the doorway in his bestial form. His teeth, claws and fur caked in the blood of the Jarl's men he just mauled to death and nothing but murder in his eyes. Neither Inigo nor Langley hesitated to cast spell after spell and shoot arrow after arrow at him, but Arnbjorn leapt high above them and attempted to pounce on them both.

"Attempted" is the operative word, for they both managed to get out of the way just in the nick of time. Inigo immediately switched from his bow to his sword and shield. In a somewhat futile attempt to cut the tension in the room, and divert the beast's attention away from Langley, he whistled at Arnbjorn like he was nothing more than a puppy and said "Here, boy! Kitty wants to play with the big doggy"

Agitated by Inigo's humiliating comment, Arnbjorn looked at him furiously and growled at him, then swiped at him with his huge, bloody claws. Inigo managed to block and dodge his attacks and did his best to hold his ground, but it wasn't easy. The beast was immensely strong and just as fast, too.

At that point, Astrid and Festus had already entered the building and the latter engaged in a duel of wizards with Langley while the former managed to sneak into Valen's room. Just as the two wizards started casting fireballs and such at each other, Langley called out to his Khajiit friend "Bad idea, Inigo! Now you've gone and riled him up!"

Meanwhile, Astrid crept up to Valen while he was still asleep and brandished her dagger. This was it. The moment of truth. Her prey lied right in front of her, sleeping like a baby and just waiting to be killed. He looked so vulnerable, but Astrid, being the heartless cold-blooded killer that she was, couldn't care less. All she could think about was watching the elf die by her hand; his throat slit and his blood pouring from it like a waterfall. That and the large sum of gold she would get after she completed her contract.

If Valen was just a random elf, killing him wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying. But after the incident at Langley's cabin, the Dunmer had proven himself to be one of the hardest contracts Astrid had ever received in her life. She felt a wave of relief wash over her as she had come this close to taking his life and sending Valen to the Void.

A wicked smile formed on her lips though no one could see it as it was covered by her mask. Her eyes fixed on him like a hungry wolf watching its prey and she said "At last, I've got you right where I want you! And now, you're mine!"

She then cackled and brought her blade down on him, but just before the blade could penetrate his grey flesh, his hand grabbed her wrist out of nowhere and stopped it. His eyes shot open and he said "I'm nobody's!"

Astrid's Blade of Woe was just inches away from his throat. She gasped in complete shock as Valen had finally woken up all of a sudden and managed to catch her blade-arm before her dagger could even touch him. She tried to close the gap, as small as it was, between her knife and Valen's throat. But Valen's strength was far too great. He gripped her wrist firmly, and she began to feel him crushing it in her hand.

Valen stood up out of bed while still holding her wrist. "Ow!" Astrid cried out in pain. She struggled and tried to free herself but the elf kept a tight grip on her. As soon as the elf stood up, he continued to hold his would-be assassin's arm tighter than an iron manacle and looked her in the eye for a moment, then said "If anyone dies here tonight, it will be you!" and at these words, he punched her right in the gut with enough force to wind her and send her crashing through the wall behind her on the other side of the room. He may have also broken a few ribs in the process. That's how strong he was now!

Astrid fell into the snowy ground outside the inn. She sat up and clutched her injured mid-section - which felt as though a huge, heavily muscled man had hit her there with a big Warhammer – and watched Valen as he began to transform into a huge black werewolf similar to that of her husband. Valen let out a massive roar and turned to his left to see Inigo battling with Arnbjorn, then ran on all fours at them and attacked the latter from behind, sending him flying across the inn.

Between the two seasoned wizards casting powerful Destruction spells at each other and two giant wolves scratching and clawing at each other, the inn had become nothing short of a battlefield.

While both behemoths were immensely strong, Arnbjorn was stronger. Much stronger, for he had spent many years developing his powers; whereas Valen had literally only just turned. Therefore, the battle mostly favoured Arnbjorn over Valen. The former pounced on the latter, grabbed his legs and smashed him down onto the ground several times before tossing him across the room like a ragdoll.

And while they were fighting, Astrid drank a healing potion, snuck back into the tavern and tried to ambush Inigo from behind, but his heightened Khajiit senses alerted him of her presence and he turned around to face her and Astrid immediately tried to pounce on Inigo, but he bashed her with his shield and sent her flying over the counter.

He then rolled over the counter just as she got back up. Inigo swung his sword at Astrid, but she saw it coming and blocked it with her dagger and hit him with a hard kick to the gut, knocking him back a bit.

The fight favoured Astrid to some degree because her armour was lighter than Inigo's, which gave her more freedom of movement and allowed her to dodge, block and parry his attacks with relative ease. Not only that, but daggers are the superior weapons in such close quarters because they are smaller and quicker than longswords.

That being said, Inigo was no slouch himself. He had more than enough skills and experience in battle to fend off a mere cutthroat. Plus his armour was so thick, Astrid would have had to cut him a thousand times, if not more, in order to kill him.

More guards then entered the building with their weapons drawn and joined the chaos. They did everything they could in their power to stop this madness in the name of the Jarl, but their efforts were in vain. Their swords and arrows failed to kill even one of the combatants and they got caught up in the fight between the two werewolves which resulted in them being slaughtered just like their fellow guards outside who got torn to pieces by Arnbjorn earlier.

While Festus may have failed to kill Langley, he was able to hit the old Imperial with a paralysis spell and buy himself and his fellow assassins time to escape. "Astrid, we need to leave! Now!" he called out. Since she was still fighting Inigo, she called back "I'm a little busy at the moment!"

Festus casted a fireball at Inigo, but he sensed it was coming and managed to duck and take cover under the counter in the nick of time. Astrid got out the way and ran towards Festus. "What are you doing? You almost…"

Inigo switched to his bow, nocked and arrow and stood up, pointing it at…neither of them, for they had already disappeared. "Damn!" he cursed.

Before she could finish, Festus grabbed her and teleported both himself and his mistress outside Dawnstar where Astrid had left Shadowmere. She didn't tie him to any post because she didn't have time for that, but he was such a loyal beast, she didn't even need to for he had not gone anywhere.

"Killed me…" she finished, though she sounded more surprised than angry due to being teleported. "Come on!" Festus prompted her. "No!" she objected. "I can't leave until I've killed Valen!"

"Look at him, Astrid! He's a werewolf now. Just like Arnbjorn. Which means you cannot kill the elf for he is too powerful. Face it, mistress; you failed to complete your contract. We must leave this place before the guards catch us"

Astrid thought about it for a short moment, but not too long because time is short, then sighed "Fine! I'll get Arnbjorn and then we'll leave"

"Let me worry about that lumbering lapdog. You need to get on Shadowmere and ride back to the Sanctuary, now!"

Under normal circumstances, Astrid would have been the one giving Festus orders. But needless to say, these were not normal circumstances at all. So Astrid did as she was told this once. She mounted Shadowmere and said "Be careful, Festus!"

"Worry about yourself, Astrid. Not me, or Arnbjorn. Now, go!"

At these words, she spurred Shadowmere on and he galloped down the road as fast as he could. The fight between Arnbjorn and Valen was no longer taking place inside the inn. When the guards entered the building, Arnbjorn slaughtered them and Valen used this to his advantage by attacking Arnbjorn from behind again and sending him flying out through the doorway. He then pounced on Arnbjorn, causing both him and the elf to fall and crash into the roof of the town blacksmith's forge. Now they were fighting near the coastline.

Or at least they were…until Valen's form had worn off and now he was lying on his back in the snow, exhausted and a lot more vulnerable than he was five minutes earlier. The fight took a lot out of him. He hasn't eaten anything in three days, so naturally, he was not at his full strength. That and he was fighting another one of the beast blood who was much stronger than him regardless of whether or not the elf was fighting on an empty stomach. Arnbjorn, who was still in his bestial form, was about to finish him off when he heard a familiar voice call out "Leave him!"

Arnbjorn turned to his right to see Festus standing there. "He's not your kill, remember?! Besides, enough blood has been shed tonight, anyway! Come on!"

Arnbjorn froze for a moment, then huffed because he knew Festus was right, and he asked in a beastly, guttural voice "Where's Astrid?"

"She's on her way back to the Sanctuary. We must retreat and regroup with her there. Now!"

He looked at Valen again, then back at Festus and growled in frustration. "Fine!"

Festus then teleported again. And that was the last time he was seen in Dawnstar. At least for the time being. Arnbjorn, on the other hand, could not teleport. Certainly not in his wolf form. So he ran as fast as he could – which, needless to say, was extremely fast – away from town and all the way back to the Sanctuary.