Together

There were thirty four of them other than Brenovere. After the thirteenth one I was glad for the gag because if it had been removed I know I would have begged for them to end the pain by any means necessary. Around the twenty-fifth everything became a giant haze and I passed out before I ever saw the last of my captors get his fill.

I awoke, my arms unbound and my head propped up on a something. I blinked several times but couldn't see anything and I struggled against my aching body to move but was held down.

"Lay still shield-sister," said a gentle voice.

"Farkas?" I asked, surprised and then afraid that they had caught him too.

"No."

"Vilkas. Are you ok?" I said, blinking and trying to get oriented to the world which was slowly coming into focus.

The man laughed darkly. "I'm not the one they tortured."

I blinked, now able to see a vague outline of his face above mine. "I don't think they considered it torture. Just...food."

"Life drain," Vilkas said grimly. "I figured as much when you...when they brought you back."

I could finally see Vilkas's face and realized my head on been in his lap. I began to sit up. Taking as deep a breath as I could manage, I propped myself up against the bars of the cell we apparently shared. His hands had been untied as had mine. Along his arms were deep red marks in his skin where the silver had caused it to break open and bleed. I examined his calf where the bandage had been completely bloodied. I gently reached for the arm closest to me.

"What are you doing?" Vilkas asked, sounding mildly alarmed, though he didn't pull away.

"Relax, I'm not going to amputate," I said.

I turned his arm with my one hand and cast a healing spell with the other. It wasn't strong but enough to cause the indented red lashes to smooth and level out, becoming little pink lines. I reached for his other arm when he abruptly pulled away.

"Stop, you should use that healing on yourself," he said.

"I have no wounds my magic can heal," I said, honestly. "Please, while I have the energy."

I wasn't sure what our treatment would be for the next week. Whether they'd feed us, how much, or whether they'd continued to use me as a meal ticket.

Vilkas shifted uncomfortably for a moment before reluctantly handing me his other arm.

After I healed that I worked on his leg, which was considerably worse than the chain marks. Still, I was fairly sure I had eradicated any infection and sealed the wound. I could only preform the minimum muscle repair but I hoped that at least some of the pain had been lifted. When I finished I leaned back heavily against the bars.

"So...any plans on how to get out of here, fearless leader?" I asked.

Vilkas snorted, "If you're expecting me to turn into a giant wolf and slaughter our way out you'd be sorely mistaken. I'd just end up killing you. And I've been to these caves before, a long time ago, getting out from here is no short sprint."

"I don't think I mentioned anything about wolfy transformations," I said, surprised he'd bring it up in jest.

"Well you did mistake me for my brother," Vilkas said.

"I was blind and mostly unconscious. Besides, when was the last time you were nice to me?"

Vilkas responded by becoming gloomy-looking as he began brooding. I sighed, I could never tell what would set him off.

Just then Cairne appeared at the cage, giving me his flawed smile.

"I think it's time for dinner. Are you coming?" Cairne asked, jingling the keys in his fingers much too far out of reach for Vilkas and I to snatch.

Vilkas stood and went to the cage door. "Stay away."

"I'm not here for you dog. And by all means, feel free to stay put," Cairne said. He began to walk away but I stood and pushed past Vilkas.

"No wait! I'm ready," I said.

"What?" Vilkas asked, outraged.

I refused to look at Vilkas.

Cairne turned and smiled. "That's what I thought. Couldn't get enough of good old Cairne, could you?"

Vilkas grabbed my arm and made me look at him. "What are you doing?"

"I - "

"She wants to be one of us, don't you?"

"I -"

"Everlee," Vilkas barked. "What's going on?"

Vilkas grabbed my arm, forcing me to turn and face him. I was caught, not knowing what to say under Vilkas's tense gaze. I knew that his life was in my hands, and that refusing to go with Cairne, as horrible as being fed from was going to be, would like spell Vilkas's death if he saw no way to escape. However, I knew that I wasn't allowed to tell him why and that he wouldn't let me go if I indicated that it wasn't something I wanted.

"It's nothing, I just - he's right, not about being one of them but it wasn't so bad last night and -" I began, fearing my nerves would give me away.

"They almost killed you. You enjoy that?"

"Just back up pup, away from the bars. I've got an archer trained on you both so if you try anything funny you'll both be dead before you can so much as shed at me," Cairne said, now close to the cage.

Vilkas shook his head and backed away slowly. Written across his face was a disgust and betrayal which made my stomach twist.

Days went by in tortured silence. Twice a day I would leave and Vilkas had gone from glaring at me each time to avoiding looking at me. The pain was impossible to get used to and my old wounds ached constantly now, never properly healed. It reminded me that I should continue to check Vilkas's leg but I knew he'd rip me to shreds before letting me anywhere near him.

I spent more and more of my time sleeping, curled up on the dirty cave floor. Vilkas did his best to ignore me which wasn't hard to do unless you believed what my cousin said about me snoring.

Everything changed though when I awoke from sleep several days into our stay. I was too tired and in too much pain to move or even force my eyes open. From the sound of Vilkas's heavy breathing he too had fallen asleep on the opposite side of our cage. Not far off I could hear the quiet words of Cairne and one of the men I had come to know as Darth.

"He stinks. I can't believe Benovere keeps him. We were supposed to gut any beasts we encountered," Darth complained.

"Don't worry about him. He won't be a problem much longer," Cairne replied.

"Why's that?"

"We kept him to keep that one tame but we've got her pretty well broken in. Tomorrow when Benovere takes her to feed, we'll do away with the mutt."

"About time."

I lay there my heart pounding in my chest. I kept as quiet as I could so that they did not know I had overheard them. When they had finally departed for some time, Cairne taking up his regular post, I made a small deal of waking up. I forced myself into the sitting position and looked at Vilkas.

I had been a fool to think they would just keep him forever. Benovere had not mentioned anything about ransoming him off to the Companions or the Silver Hand, not that he would share those plans with me, but he had kept me up to date on his Master's encroaching presence every day.

Vilkas had either not been able to come up with an escape plan or had been spending too much time brooding and Everlee-hating to think on it. He had said, however, that he'd been to these caves before. Perhaps if we could get free we'd stand a chance...he'd stand a chance at getting out. My strength was weakening and his time was limited. It was now or never.

It wasn't long before Cairne came for me. This time, however, he wasn't going to steal my life, he was going to exchange me for it. As of late I had frequently passed out at the end of snack time for our two vampire hosts, and so Cairne was tasked with picking me up and taking me back to the cage. This time, however, I was determined to stay conscious. It was a difficult task but I thought of Vilkas and his impending slaughter later when Benovere was to come and it got me through. I did, however, fake passing out quite well.

Cairne picked me up. Keeping my eyes shut and attempting to tap into my senses as much as the raw pain would allow, I tried to get a feel for the environment around me. It took two halls before I was sure we were alone. I let one of my swinging arms quickly reach up, grab his keys, and press them tightly in my palm so they didn't make a noise. On the next swing I stuck them in the back of my trousers. A few minutes later I found myself hitting the floor hard and the sound of the cage door slamming shut.

A few moments passed and I sat up wearily. I looked over to Vilkas who was pointedly ignoring me and felt my stomach twist up. I was afraid of talking to him, but it had to be done, and I didn't have any time to be a coward about it. He was standing, facing away from me. I slowly got to my feet and made my way over to him.

"They're going to kill you today," I said, very quietly.

Cairne had moved to his usual spot, reading at the far corner of the room, and I could only hope that he couldn't eavesdrop or that he wasn't bothering. Dead silence got boring and familiar after awhile and I hoped that he'd be so used to it he wouldn't be paying attention.

"I have the key. You said you've been here before. Could you get out?"

Vilkas didn't turn to me, whether to avoid looking at me or because he didn't want to alert our guard I wasn't sure.

"If it's that or die, perhaps. Are you staying here?"

"I would slow you down."

"Is that the only reason?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Do you want to stay here?"

"It doesn't matter, Vilkas, they're going to kill you. Can't you just take the key and leave?" I asked, getting irritated. The longer we stood there discussing it, the more likely Cairne would be tipped off.

Vilkas turned to me abruptly. "It matters," he said. He looked like he wanted to say more but stopped himself.

"No," I choked. The idea of being stuck here and used as vampire food for one more day, the thought of then being killed or turned into one of those monsters was enough to make me feel like I was drowning. But there was no way I could keep up with him as weak as I'd grown over the last few days between my old unhealed wounds and the frequent life-draining. "I want out. But there's no time. I'm too weak and I'd slow you down, get you killed."

"We're getting out of this," Vilkas said. "Together."

"Vilkas -"

"There's no time to argue."

Vilkas took the key from my hand, quickly opened the lock and opened the door, which promptly squeaked and gave away our exit. Cairne's eyes opened wide but it before turning to flee, almost too fast for my eyes to follow. Vilkas's glare turned to our other guard, a wood elf, who attempted to draw his bow but it was too late as Vilkas, surprisingly agile for being in a cage for so long, barreled into him. I caught up and grabbed the man's sword from his sheath as Vilkas briefly wrestled him before snapping the man's neck. When he arose I handed him the sword, turning the dead elf over to get his bow and quiver and a dagger he had strapped to his thigh.

Putting the bow under my left arm and the dagger in my pocket, I swayed and Vilkas grabbed my hand, pulling me along after him. It quickly became obvious to me that we were not heading toward the direction I had come to associate with the beginning of the cave. We were traveling deeper into less-used areas. Cobwebs were everywhere and there were fewer and fewer torches on the wall. Finally it got to the point where I had to use magic to light a path. The energy that took made me even dizzier and Vilkas frequently had to stop to steady me. The bright side was that we hadn't encountered any vampires on this route.

"Where are we going?" I panted.

"There's another exit to these caves, or there used to be."

"That sounds promising."

"I don't think either of us are in a condition to fight off a horde of vampires."

"What are you talking about?" I joked out of breath. "I could take on an army. I'm in the peak of my physical condition. I have no idea how you'd keep up with me."

Vilkas said nothing at my joke attempt and I wearily followed after him on our humorless journey through the dark.

"We're getting close," Vilkas informed me.

"Where do you think you're going, girl? Our master is almost here," Benovere's voice taunted. At first I thought it was in my head but then Vilkas responded.

"Sorry to disappoint," Vilkas said.

"Hey that's my line," I said.

At that moment the vampire in question appeared in front of us. The dunmer, for once, did not appear to be composed, his eyebrows pinched together in a look of pure rage. Vilkas threw his arm out and forced me behind him. Normally I would have been irritated at the gesture, but I knew it was because of my weaken state and his promise to see us both out. Still, fear filled me as I knew that our captor cared nothing for my Companion's life.

"You think I'd have a problem going through you to get to her, wolf?" he asked.

Vilkas snarled and charged the vampire, I took the dagger and approached cautiously. Vilkas attacked expertly with his sword as I made jabs in between his thrusts. At first it appeared as if we were going to tip the scales quickly and kill our foe but then a blast of magical energy threw us back.

That same energy, however, was too unbridled. The floor and ceiling shook as rocks flew loose. It was hard to see but it looked like Benovere was getting buried in rubble before it became impossible to see through the debris. That same rubble that seemed to have squashed him, however, had trapped us in a small space in the tunnel, unable to move forward or back, though in an unbelievable turn of luck (good or bad depending on how you look at it) we had survived.

"Well, at least we're alive," I said helpfully.

Vilkas said grimly, "For now."