*Starting to hate you guys. Seriously? Not a single response? Wow. So I don't even know if you guys are actually reading this cos you like it or not. Thanks a lot you basterds.

Chapter 12

In the dead silent room of the college, Bosmer's eyes shot open.

He had been incapacitated for days now, and he struggled to even move a single finger.

'What happened?' He thought. He lay motionless, and began to retrace his steps-He remembered a timid high elf hiring him for an expedition into a cave, something about retrieving an artifact from a coven of vampires. His mind seemed to crack as he remembered the pain inflicted on him, both physically and mentally. He opened his mouth, and it quivered. If he still had his vocal chords, he would have produced a scream of humiliation and pain, but nothing came out.

With freshly sewn scars vomiting blood as he forced himself up, he staggered to the doorway to get out of his room. Each muscle in his body twitched, and each sinew began tearing at the body. He was pushing his body using sheer will. He looked around to see all the other beds empty, except for one. This bed had a body with a sheet drawn over its head.

'So someone did die.' Bosmer thought.

He bit his lips as he began staggering towards it, and with trembling hands, he pulled up the sheet to meet the face of a Nord with golden hair.

Bosmer sighed heavily, and began analyzing the body to see what had caused his death. To his surprise, the body's scars were completely mended, like his. He was confused now.

'We sustained almost the same injures… It hurts like hell but how is he dead?'

His thoughts were interrupted by an ear shattering scream heard throughout the halls of the college. He turned, and followed the sound.

There, he saw the Orc Shakh tied to a stone table with chains and weights, roaring out in pain so inhumanely that it made Bosmer hurt to watch. Nirn stood next to him, her expression neutral, calm as a sea as she held an alembic with her right hand, that was emptying its red contents through a rubber piper and into Shakh's mouth. The alembic was almost empty now, but Shakh's thrashing did not cease. The shackles that bound him began to crack, as nails began to be forcefully unscrewed, squeaking and shrieking at the pull.

Bosmer held his breath, unable to believe what he was seeing. Questions raced into his head, but what puzzled him most was that the magician's expression remained cold. Her eyes were no longer the worried child that came to hire them.

Shakh now remained limp, and he was no longer breathing. Blood and the odd liquid oozed out of his mouth, and dripped to the stone table. It was then Nirn's neutrality broke, as she covered her face and began weeping softly.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She repeated under her breath.

Bosmer didn't need to see the rest. He leaped from behind the wall, and his fingers reached for Nirn's throat, Nirn, unable to comprehend Bosmer's survival, locked his gaze on him with her wide, wet eyes as she frantically tried to block his hand, to no avail.

Bosmer's fingers tightened. He was weak, but he was far superior physically. With one snap he could-

"I'm… Not… Please…" Nirn gasped for air.

Bosmer ignored her, and let his fingers to the talking.

Nirn's vision was blurred now, and her mouth opened and closed, hoping to force down at least some air into her lungs. She began slapping Bosmer's face, struggling for breath.

Suddenly they heard a massive roar from the table. Bosmer, trained not to be distracted when taking a life, was not fazed, but he felt the danger behind him. Whatever it was, he had to act quickly.

For Nirn however, her eyes that were reflecting her desperation of life and fear changed more into astonishment as she saw Shakh rise from the stone table, but he was larger than before, now a hulking giant. Nirn desperately pointed towards Shakh, trying to signal Bosmer. Bosmer's hand twitched, and after a strong squeeze, he let go of her. Nirn fell unto the stone floor, and her lungs felt the air inside them again.

Bosmer turned to see Shakh, and was surprised he was still alive. What surprised him more was that he had changed. He was at least a head's worth bigger than he was before, and his shoulders were bulging with unnatural muscles, with veins that twitched disgustingly. His skin was red, like that of an Orc who has unleashed its bloodrage, but now being his natural color. He could no longer be called a proud Orc, but he was more close to a monster.

Shakh turned to face Bosmer, with piercing eyes like that of a vampire's: Glowing with an eerie orange.

"That hurt like shit." Shakh blurted out.

Bosmer snapped out of his astonished gaze, surprised that he was still himself. He grabbed a nearby quill and parchment from the nearby table and wrote rapidly.

"What happened?" Bosmer wrote.

Shakh glanced at the paper, and replied. "We were all severely injured by that weird mage in the cave. I'm sure you remember that."

Bosmer nodded.

'The one who calls himself Vivec.' He thought.

"Well it turns out our employer over there-" He pointed at Nirn, who was still collapsed on the ground, eyes teary and struggling to maintain breath control.

"Is working for the Psijic Order. Her superiors needed to stop the mage's plans, and to do that we needed to take the artifact… But we lost." Shakh gritted his teeth, which were much larger than before. His fangs were now more like a wild animal's.

"So she gave each of us a choice." Shakh continued. "Either go home and watch Tamriel be ruined by this mage, or continue working for her and hunt that son of a bitch down."

Bosmer wrote quickly again.

"Why were you tied to the stone bed? Why is Mjollnir dead?"

Shakh snorted and raised an eyebrow. "Mjollnir's dead?" He asked Nirn.

Nirn massaged her throat gently, and she replied in a groggy, weak voice. "The experiments did not bode well for him… He died."

Her eyes darted to Bosmer, now filled with anger.

"I was improving you all. If you were faced with him again, you would all be too weak to fight him!" She shouted defiantly.

"Hurts like shit though." Shakh coughed.

"You chose to be like this?" Bosmer asked on paper.

Shakh nodded. "I believe it was necessary… I'm an Orc anyway. Glory over death, right?"

Bosmer shook his head in dismay, and turned his gaze towards Nirn. She was slowly getting up now, and the raging fire in her eyes had died out. She was a very understanding character.

'Anyone would have acted like me in that situation… It's not my fault.' Bosmer reassured himself.

He then frowned, and wrote rapidly again. He was frustrated that his writing speed could not be any faster, and cursed to himself when the ink was smudged under his hand.

"What happened to Faren?" He asked.

This time, Nirn answered his question.

"Faren was the first to finish his experimentation. He's now outside, testing his abilities in the snow." She replied.

Nirn covered her mouth as she coughed, her eyes reflecting the pain in her throat. To her surprise, there was blood on her hand.

'That Bosmer sure has a strong grip…' She thought to herself.

Nirn walked closer towards Bosmer and took his hand. Bosmer responded with a confused look.

"What will it be?" She asked, her expression showing the neutrality of before.

"Will you run? Or will you fight?" She asked again.

Bosmer glanced at the bloody table, now being cleaned by Shakh.

He slowly turned and looked at Nirn.

To be continued

*Like, PM, Follow, Recommend... Oh what's the bloody point, none of you will do it anyway ;)