Last Time on the Legend of Varion…

Varion fulfilled Kodlak's request to hunt down the Glenmoril witches, but at a great price. Returning to Whiterun, Varion found Jorrvaskr had been attacked and his mentor had been killed. Bursting with anger, and perhaps something even worse, Varion swore to destroy the silver hand completely and Vilkas vowed to accompany him.

Now, back to the story…

Varion was glad he'd made the call to leave after a nights rest despite Vilkas' complaints, seeing as this gave them some time to think up a plan. Before the sun had even risen, he, Vilkas and Aela were looking over all their info on the silver hand, trying to determine where their headquarters were. "It's an old fort called Driftshade Refuge" Aela told them, pointing to it on the map. "It's in the southern corner of the pale, the path there is mountainous and treacherous" she warned. Varion grimaced.

"That's a long way. I think it'd be best if we used horses for this" he suggested. Ever since he arrived in Skyrim he'd been walking to all his destinations, but he didn't feel like walking across a mountain pass towards a fight with the entire remaining silver hand faction. Vilkas nodded.

"They keep some horses reserved for the companions. I'll just get two of them" he said, then turned to leave. Varion followed him out. He was already fully armoured, they'd been ready to depart since they woke up.

"So, we off then?" Varion asked somewhat rhetorically.

"Of course. Once we get to Driftshade, we'll drown the fort in their blood" Vilkas growled angrily. Varion caught up and began walking beside him.

"And we're not taking the others?" Varion questioned again. At this, Vilkas turned around, a glare on his face.

"Of course not! Farkas is beside himself with grief, Aela is no better!" he snapped, his anger clearly building up. "The whelps would get themselves killed! No, me and you are the only ones who can do this, and we will do this! Unless you're thinking of backing out?" he finished, challenging Varion. Varion returned Vilkas' glare.

"You son of a bitch! You're hardly in a better state than Farkas or Aela, you're just angry instead of sad! Calling us the only ones left in proper condition is just stupid!" Varion thought angrily in response, remembering his descent into whatever that rage was from the day before. However, he chose to ignore saying that fairly logical explanation and instead just defend his insulted honour. "Let me be clear Vilkas! I want nothing more than to kill every single bastard in that fortress! You heard me yesterday!" he growled, referencing those events. "I'm just smart enough to want to not get killed in the process!" he continued angrily. He and Vilkas had always been frosty since he walked into Jorrvaskr, and though their relationship had improved, this was definitely a step backwards. Vilkas stared at him angrily, then his shoulders dropped.

"I know" he said softly. Varion forced himself to calm down, the man in front of him was his shield brother after all. When Vilkas looked up, the fire still burned in his eyes. "I apologise for my outburst. But this, this means more to me than anything has in a long time!" he explained. Varion nodded.

"Then let's finish this" he said, holding out his hand to Vilkas. They shook hands firmly, ending their little dramas, at least for the moment, and began to leave the hall at a running pace, eager to destroy their enemies and put their minds at ease.

X-X-X-X-X

They set off just after Varion stopped by Breezehome. He left his disgusting witch head collection in his chest, Lydia gave him a farewell hug and he bolted out the door, running down to the stables. Within minutes, Vilkas and he were on their way to The Pale hold, Varion having purchased a horse from Skulvar the stable manager and they rode at full speed.. He and Vilkas didn't talk much besides occasionally discussing if they were going the right way, seeing as they were saving their physical and mental energy for the fight. Varion was a little shaky on his horse, not having ridden one for some time, but he got back into the swing of it quickly. They'd chosen to travel through the mountain passes as opposed to going through Morthal and Dawnstar as it would save time, but it was a tough road. Varion had chosen to take a fur coat with him to help protect from the cold and shelter his face and he pulled it tighter as the wind picked up. Inevitably, a snowstorm was rolling in, battering Varion and Vilkas, though as Nords they carried on. "It's like Skyrim itself is against us!" Vilkas complained as they trudged forwards, their horses going at a far slower pace.

"The companions aren't gonna be beaten by a light breeze!" Varion replied sarcastically. Vilkas snorted in amusement and ducked his head as his horse kept walking. After a few hours, taking periodic breaks to rest their mounts, Varion caught sight of the fort.

"There they are" Vilkas grumbled, flexing his free hand while the other held his horse's reins. Varion rolled his shoulders.

"About time. I'm tired of riding, time to fight!" he replied, dismounting. They chose to leave their horses tied up about a hundred metres from the fort, out of sight of the archers. They crept closer, the snowstorm covering their movements. Varion's hands twitched. He felt uncomfortable being so close to the enemy without his weapon drawn, but the fiery glow of his greatsword would be a dead giveaway to his position. They had obviously been expecting some form of attack, through the storm Varion made out about 4 guards posted, all with bows. He and Vilkas snuck closer and closer until they were against the wall.

"If we show our faces, we'll be shot down, but there's no way in except the front gate" Vilkas groaned. Varion thought for a moment. His idea was rather crazy and he had no idea if it would work, but at the moment it wasn't as if they had any other option.

"Find the weakest part of the fort wall" he commanded, examining the wall as he did so. Vilkas looked confused, but he did as he was asked, and soon they were standing next to a spot that they decided was decidedly the weakest. Varion took a few steps back as Vilkas regarded him curiously.

"So, what exactly is your plan? You don't mean to try shoulder bash the wall down?" Vilkas asked, half joking, half worried for his companions sanity. Varion chuckled.

"You're half right" he answered before taking a deep breath. "FUS RO DAH!" he shouted and the wall burst apart, the large rocks flying into the fort and catching the attention of the guards. Grinning, Varion looked back at his comrade. "For Kodlak Vilkas?" he asked. Overcoming his surprise, Vilkas' face morphed into one of concentration.

"For Kodlak Varion" he said, nodding his head. With that, Varion charged in followed by Vilkas, but the Silver hand were too disoriented by the blast to effectively counter. Varion charged up the fort stairs and met his first opponent. A lightly armoured breton warrior, armed with a dagger and wrapped in a fur cloak. Varion almost laughed, it was truly pathetic. He swung his blade in one powerful horizontal swing and cleaved the poor fool right in half. He heard the cries of battle and inferred Vilkas was handling the others, so he turned his attention to the remaining archer. He raised his blade and charged over, taking a breath and he did.

"FEIM!" The weightless feeling came over him again and he sprinting towards the argonian Silver hand. He chuckled as the arrows flew through him and he lept forward, bringing his sword down as he fell. He became solid the second he attacked and it was just as well he did because the momentum the blade carried combined with the power of his swing cut this enemy in half too, but vertically this time. Varion stepped back from the torrent of blood that was gushing out of his foe and breathed deeply. "I have to stay in control" he muttered. "For Kodlak" he added under his breath. He jumped off the fort wall and landed back on the fort ground, seeing Vilkas make short and brutal work of his enemies as well. The warriors wolf armour was covered in blood and he was breathing more heavily than he should have been.

"We're just getting started. Further in the fort, there'll be more. They all have to die!" Vilkas growled, making his way towards the fort doors. Varion followed along as Vilkas kicked the door in, showcasing the beast blood that granted him strength. It was an empty room and Varion rolled his eyes.

"Of course they couldn't make it easy for us and come fight" Varion muttered, twirling his sword. He threw his cloak aside and walked down through the fort, smelling for enemies. Vilkas did the same, remaining close behind the dragonborn. They didn't bother with being quiet, they weren't going to sneak around this place. Varion intended to kill every one of these warriors face to face, in combat. He owed Kodlak that much, some semblance of honour. It wasn't long before they found some more Silver Hand. That was when the bloodbath began. Varion wielded the Blade of Whiterun like a dremora knight, carving up his enemies with no mercy. He chopped off their limbs, rammed the sword through their hearts, cut them in half using the heat from his blade to melt their bones, it was brutal and swift. His enemies didn't ask for mercy, they knew they would receive one. He and Vilkas had never fought side by side, but in these moments, they moved in sync. They didn't get in each other's way, they watched each others back, all their hostility forgotten in these moments. Varion parried a downwards slash from his enemies orcish greatsword before kicking them in the stomach. As they doubled over, Varion swung his blade down and cleaved their skull clean in half before kicking the now-dead body to the side. His aggression was so great that the Silver Hand warriors, if you could call them that, were hardly able to go on the offence, the majority just feebly trying to block his attacks. As Vilkas was using a greatsword as well, this made clearing out the lightly armoured inhabitants of the fort quite easy. The blood was disgusting and Varion had to spit more times than he could count. His orcish armour was soaked, dripping red, and his face was covered in the stuff, almost making particularly gory warpaint. Bursting into a new room, Varion grabbed a mercenary out of bed and threw him to the floor while Vilkas moved further into the room and engaged the rest.

"What in Oblivion!" his new enemy exclaimed in shock.

"I'm not killing you in your sleep. Come fight me!" Varion growled. The mercenaries eyes widened in fear, recognising who, and what, Varion was. Nonetheless, he grabbed a silver sword off the wall and charged. Varion reached out and smacked the blade to the side, connecting the side of the blade with his gauntlet. He then brought his hand back and smashed it into the silver hands face. While he was stunned, Varion ran his sword right through his chest and he watched the life fade from his enemies eyes. Vilkas walked back to the side of Varion, even more blood-covered. He couldn't see the markings of the wolf armour, it was that bad.

"You offer these cowards more mercy than deserved. They don't deserve Sovngarde" Vilkas said harshly, kicking the dead nords body. Varion rolled his eyes.

"I don't care where they go. I just want them dead" he stated simply, moving to follow Vilkas as his shield-brother descended further into the fort. "Damn, the empire knew how to build back in the day" he thought to himself, rather annoyed at just how big the fort was. It extended underground into caverns, inevitably filled with Silver Hand. Or at least, they were. Within minutes of Varion and Vilkas entering the room, they were reduced to body parts and blood stains on the rocks and walls. Varion could've used his thu'um, but he refrained. He wanted to destroy these villains as Varion the companion, the man Kodlak saw potential in, not the dragonborn who had severe anger issues at the moment. His dragon nature barely stirred within him at all, despite his anger, and Varion was thankful. He needed to know that he could fight without it, and he really didn't need it to get him into a state like he had been when he got back to Jorrvaskr. He was still angry, but his anger fueled his blade and skill as opposed to controlling his actions for him. Every time Varion felt his anger rise up and threaten to overwhelm him, he simply reminded himself that he was here for Kodlak's sake, and that seemed to restore his clear thinking. It was a good thing too, despite the fact that they were caught off guard and most of them fell easily, the ones that were actually equipped with armour and prepared for battle put up a commendable fight. They fell, but Varion had a few cuts on him to show for their battle and Vilkas' left arm had been slashed. They'd stopped to heal it, but the stubborn Nord had insisted they push on ignoring his wound, and Varion hadn't been in the mood to stop him, leaving it at about half healed. More and more bodies fell and by the end, Varion and Vilkas were practically painted red. Finishing off another target, Varion shoved them off of his blade with his foot, seeing as he'd impaled them only a few seconds ago. Glancing over at Vilkas, he saw the warrior split a man right down the centre, similar to the way Varion had done earlier. Of course this didn't help their new colour scheme, but dividing someone in half was practically an instant death. After this, they came to a sturdy looking door in a stone arch.

"I think this is it" Vilkas said, his hands twitching as he looked on. Varion glanced at him and noticed the weary look on his face.

"Something the matter?" he asked.

"It's just, all we've done here. So much death…" Vilkas muttered, gesturing to the blood that adorned both him and Varion. "Would Kodlak have wanted this?" he asked, his voice lacking the fire it contained for the last day. This caused Varion to think.

"I don't know if this is the outcome the old man would've wanted" he started, choosing his words carefully. "But this is the path we chose. We're avenging Kodlak, it'll set the minds of the living at ease. The minds of the dead, I have no idea" he added, hoping that Vilkas wouldn't get all mopey and back out of their final fight.

"I only hope the gods forgive us for what has happened. Sovngarde is no place for monsters" Vilkas lamented. Varion absentmindedly clenched his fist.

"I'm not living this life worried about the next. If the gods value honour, they should forgive you. A life of honour, to me, makes up for one or two slip ups" he finished, ending the conversation there. Truth be told, Varion had no idea how the whole 'forgiveness of the divines' thing worked. Did you just worship them and they'd ignore your sins? He shook his head, clearing his mind.

"For Kodlak Varion?"

"For Kodlak" And with that, the door was kicked in and the fight began again.

X-X-X-X-X

Evidently the strongest warriors had been saved for that final room. The door was barely open before the silver hand were crashing down upon them. Varion had barely managed to get his sword up in time to block the attempt on his head and now he was locked in a sword clash with an orc. Despite Varions immense strength, the silver hand was holding his ground. He glared, then breathed deeply. "FUS!" It was only one word, but it stunned the orc. That provided all the time Varion needed. He swung his sword around and cut deep into the orcs side. Tearing the blade out and swinging again, he was cut in half. Varion quickly moved onto his next opponent. He saw Vilkas out of the corner of his eye decapitate someone before flinging the head at his next foe as a distraction, but that brief moment of looking away caused him trouble. His opponent, a middle aged redguard woman, slammed her sword hilt into his face hard, causing Varion to stumble back. Shaking his head to clear his vision, he felt her shield bash him and he lost balance, stumbling back further before falling to one knee, losing grip on his sword. He growled. He was not going to fall here, not when Kodlak still wasn't avenged, or cured, or anything like that. He rose up quickly, slamming into the woman. Varion had many skills. Swordplay, smithing, half decent tracking skills, keen senses and now the thu'um, but sometimes the best solution is the simplest one. He shouldercharged her at full force, knocking her off her feet and back a few metres. He grabbed his sword and walked over to her. He half expected a plea for mercy, but only found a defiant warrior staring at him.

"My soul will go to Sovngarde beast!" she spat. "Can you say the same?" she taunted. Varion rolled his eyes.

"I'll live" he replied simply before stabbing her directly through the face, watching her head start to burn thanks to the enchantment. He tore it out before glancing over and seeing the final Silver Hand warrior left that Vilkas wasn't fighting/hadn't killed. He was a heavily armoured warrior, his orcish armour looking like Varions, only blood-stained instead of just covered in blood. He had a nasty looking silver greatsword on his back and a nasty sneer on his face. The most notable thing about him though was his fur cloak. It was dark brown, the colour of werewolf fur. He was a nord, and by the looks of him, the leader of the silver hand.

"So, the dogs come snarling like rabid beasts" he taunted casually, almost too casually. Varion rolled his eyes.

"I've heard better taunts from the dead" he replied simply. The man said nothing more, instead drawing his silver greatsword and swinging downwards hard. Varion sidestepped the slash before jumping backwards out of range. He ran forward and brought his blade down, but the leader easily blocked it. Varion growled.

"What's wrong wolf? Have the companions been monsters for so long that they've forgotten how to fight a true warrior!" the leader shouted. Varion only rolled his eyes. He swore to keep his emotions in check, but this was the man who ordered Kodlak's death. All the slaughtered werewolves he'd seen, the abducted children like Jortolf, all of it traced back to this man. He had no problem using his full power on a monster like this.

"You want to see a monster?" Varion snarled. "Look in the mirror!" he shouted, before using a different kind of shout. "YOL!" The leader tried to dive to the eyes, but his legs were caught in the blaze, causing him to fall to the ground. Varion ran over and kicked him in the face before hauling him up to his knees. "FUS!" he shouted, stunning the leader further. Drawing his sword back, he envisioned Kodlak and everything his former harbinger meant to him. With a battle roar, he stabbed his blade right through the leaders chest and left it there, watching his enemy grimace in pain. To his credit, the man didn't break down, instead he just stared defiantly at Varion.

"You're a disgrace to the companions" he muttered bitterly. Varion raised an eyebrow. The leader coughed in pain before continuing. "You're all animals. What's the honour in worshipping a daedra? Ysgramor would weep, seeing what you've become" he spat before going silent from the burning wound in his chest. Varion stared emotionlessly at him, surprisingly devoid of anger. He thought for a moment, then replied.

"You butcher people off base assumptions. You torture the creatures you hunt instead of showing mercy with a quick death. You've killed children" Varion started, listing the objective crimes of the man before him, but then he glared. He noticed Vilkas walk next to him, drenched in fresh blood with his sword ready to kill the leader, but Varions gesture caused him to pause. "You attacked the city I call home. You caused the companions to lose their leader. You made Aela cry, and you took from me one of the greatest men I've ever known!" he growled, his voice raising in volume as he did. He grabbed the silver hand leader by the throat and held him close to his face. "So answer me. Who is the real monster here?" The enemy gave no response, so Varion grabbed the handle of his greatsword and tore it out before swinging it around, cutting off the head of the man before him and ending the life of the silver hands leader, avenging his fallen mentor. Varion simply held his sword by the handle, letting the blade rest on the ground as he breathed heavily.

"It's done" Vilkas said emotionlessly. Varion nodded. "May the old man find peace in Sovngarde" he continued, his tone one of mourning.

"May we find peace in this life Varion finished grimly, grabbing a couple of clean-ish rags off one of the tables in the room. He tossed one to Vilkas, then set about cleaning the blood off his face. He felt disgusting, but pushed that aside. Once he was almost acceptably clean, he grabbed another rag and began cleaning his blade. The Blade of Whiterun was a sign of his thaneship, the sign he was a hero. He didn't want it stained from this massacre. He saw a display case holding the fragments of Wuuthrad and he smashed the glass with one punch, placing the shards in a bag he brought with him. He spotted a large chest in the corner of the room, but he ignored it. He wasn't here for treasure.

"There's no reason for us to be here any longer. Let's go home" Vilkas said solemnly.

"Yeah, yeah that would be best" Varion agreed, breathing deeply as he unbolted the other door in the room and walked outside. The snowstorm had died down and he was thankful for that, it would make the ride back far easier. He was tired, but he didn't feel like spending the night in a fort stained with death and vengeance. "I'll be fine. My wolf blood will keep me awake" he reassured himself as he and Vilkas mounted up. His companion also looked like he was ready to fall asleep, but he said nothing. With conflicted feelings in their hearts, Varion and Vilkas began the long ride back to Whiterun, leaving the bloodstained fort long behind them.

A/N:And the second to last companions questline quest is complete! Sorry that this may not have been the bloodbath I built it up to be, but what can I say? Varion isn't a monster… yet. Dun dun dun

Anyways, not much to say about this chapter, nothing that hasn't already been explained within the story itself. Next chapter will likely be the first chapter in a while with no real combat, seeing as Kodlak's funeral is a somber event. I'd estimate about 2-3 more chapters to go in the companions questline, and indeed in this arc, and then we can move on to greater things! Or at least different things...

Thanks for reading, leave a favourite, a follow and (my favourite things) a review, and I will see you all in the next chapter!