The snow Serana had wanted didn't come. Just rain. Serana hadn't minded the drizzle at first. But as soon as it got dark, it poured down quite suddenly. It pelted down on them. When the wind changed direction, Serana felt it hit her face, occasionally getting in her eyes.

Akiseta expressed irritation as well, hissing as the rain pelted her scales. The downpour made the light from her lantern a bit obsolete.

"I thought you liked rain." Serana teased.

Akiseta narrowed her eyes. "Not when it's so cold."

"It's not cold enough for snow down here yet." Serana pointed out.

The rain had gotten into her boots, making the walk very uncomfortable. And she didn't like the way her clothes were plastered to her skin.

Akiseta let out a grumbled complaint, and lifted her head upward. "LOK VAH KOOR!"

The rain quickly slowed to a stop as the words left the Argonian's mouth, and the clouds dispersed, leaving the night sky clear.

Serana pulled her soaked hood down, looking up at the now visible stars. "So, you can call storms, and chase them away."

"Yes. It's not something I like to do a lot. Manipulating the weather, manipulating nature itself. It doesn't really feel right. But the rain was hampering our progress. And it was freezing."

Serana couldn't help but feel amused that Skyrim's savior didn't like the cold. The irony was amusing on many levels.

"If it were freezing, it would have been snow."

"I'd prefer snow. A steady fall, anyway."

"For someone who complains about the cold, you sure don't seem to mind living in a place that's pretty cold."

"I did tell you that I wanted to get as far away from everything as I could when I left Black Marsh, and Skyrim is as remote as it gets from there. Snow is pretty. I just don't like when it gets cold enough to freeze my scales solid."

Serana let out a quiet chuckle.

"And there are a lot of things I like about this place. It's nice here, for the most part. I've made a life for myself. I have my friends, I have Lucia, and I have you. And I think I'm pretty lucky for that."

Serana smiled. "I think having you makes me the lucky one."

Akisete grinned. "We're both lucky. Anyway, there's probably a cave we can rest in, so we can dry off."

"I sure hope so." Serana said, pulling at her shirt so it didn't stick to her skin. "I.."

Akiseta's hand came to her mouth, silencing her coming words. The Argonian murmured a soft shushing sound before lowering her hand. She looked around, eyes wide and alert, sniffing the air.

Serana did the same, her nose filling with the scent of fallen rain and wet plants and mud. There was something else too, very dog-like.

"Wolves?" She asked. She'd seen a small pack of them earlier when they first came to Falkreath Hold, chasing a few deer.

Akiseta sniffed again, drawing in a deep breath. "...no." She turned a small gear on her lantern, increasing the light it let out, and drew her sword. A low growl drew their attention to the bushes.

Two pair of golden eyes stared through the brush, glowing dimly in the dark. The lantern's light didn't reach the brush, but Serana could see the beasts clearly as they crawled out of the brush.

Two werewolves, one with deep brown fur, and one russet-colored. The brown one was smaller, and watched them intently. The russet one growled a second time, displaying its fangs. A few were missing, and some small scarring around the mouth made Serana wonder if they were lost in a fight.

Akiseta took a step forward, letting out a growl of her own. The brown-furred beast lowered its ears, but the russet met her challenge with another growl, snapping its teeth together.

A snarl came from somewhere behind them, and Serana whipped her head around. It was another werewolf, larger than the other two. It's fur was white as the snow, wettened by the prior rain. Deep scars ran along its chest, and across its face. It gazed at them from atop a rock with one red eye. A hole was in place of where another eye had once been, scars dragging across the socket. Something must have ripped it out.

Serana drew her blade, readying magic in her other hand. She'd never fought a werewolf before, but there had been others in her father's court who had. She'd heard of a few who didn't survive the encounters.

Akiseta looked back and forth between the three werewolves, snarling and growling, amber edging her eyes. The brown and russet ones paced back and forth in a semi-circle, watching closely. The white one matched Akiseta's threats, digging its claws into the rock. It threw its head back in a howl, and all hell broke loose.

The sword dropped from Akiseta's hand, and she rammed into Serana, shoving her away before getting tackled by the russet one.

Serana scrambled to her feet, grasping the hilt of her blade as something slammed into her side, knocking her back down. She rolled onto her side, Holding her blade sideways as the brown werewolf snapped at her. She shoved the longways blade into its mouth, blood instantly coating the steel at the beasts teeth bit it.

The werewolf growled, pulling its head back in an attempt to pull the sword from Serana's grasp.

Serana gripped one end of the blade tightly, ignoring the pain as it cut into her hand. She channeled her lightning magic across the blade, and the werewolf let go with a yelp. She swung out, cutting across its shoulder, making it yelp again and step back. She rolled away and scrambled to her feet again.

She jumped back as the russet one came flying into the brown one, and they rolled across the ground. She cast a glance behind her. Akiseta was in her werewolf form, locked in a fight with the white werewolf. Gashes ran across her chest, and there were bite marks on her leg. The white werewolf pinned her down, attempting to bite her, but she angled her head around, shoving one of her horns into its mouth.

Serana was desperate to help her, but snapped her head back around as the russet werewolf lunged at her, and she barely managed to move out of the way. She screamed as she felt claws rip into her shoulder. She focus her magic striking the brown beast with a large spike of ice. It hollered in pain, and stumbled away from her.

She dropped her sword, and looked at the blood running down her shoulder and back. She closed her eyes, feeling the blood magic inside herself. She took her vampiric Lady form, letting out a bestial snarl that startled the two werewolves.

The russet one jumped at her again. Using the 'wings' on her back, she lifted herself high enough to avoid its claws, and kicked at it, the claws on her feet scraping across its face. It let out a whimper, putting a paw over its face.

The brown one came at her, biting onto one of her legs. She drove her claws into its neck. A lot of blood ran down her fingers. As she pulled her claws from the beast's neck, she felt a weight on her back, and teeth sink into one of her wings. She let out a pained shriek as she felt the wing pulled back in and awkward direction, feeling a sharp pain as she heard a cracking sound.

Serana swung herself around, wincing as the felt claws rake along her back. She slashed her claws across the russet werewolf's chest. It backed up, and lowered to the ground, preparing to lunge. Serana readied herself.

As the russet beast jumped, a black-furred blur rammed into it, taking it down. It was another werewolf, about the same size as the russet one. Serana wasn't sure what to do. A loud yelp of pain caught her attention.

Akiseta and the white werewolf had torn into each other quite a bit. Gashes and teeth marks covered the other beast, its white fur stained crimson. There was a tear in its side that was so deep the lower part of its ribcage was visible.

Akiseta was crouched down, legs trembling. Blood dripped from a fresh bite wound. One front leg desperately tried to hold her weight, the other held up near her chest, blood coating the entire arm. Some bone was visible near the elbow and forearm.

Serana focus most of her magicka into her blood magic, and struck the white-furred beast with a strong draining spell as it lunged at Akiseta, and caused the beast to fall on its side. Feeling rejuvenated, and freed from most of the pain she'd received from the other two, Serana lunged at the werewolf, pouncing on it as it tried to get up.

The werewolf tried to shake her off. She snapped her head downward, driving her fangs into something more fleshy than fur covered. The slight taste of bestial blood dripped into her mouth.

The beast howled in pain and rage, and swung a paw over its shoulder, clipping her face with its claws. She backed off the werewolf, pulling her head back sharply. She heard flesh tearing, and the werewolf howled in agony.

Serana spat out what she'd torn off the beast. It was a large part of one of its ears.

The werewolf turned to her, letting out a guttural snarl. Before it could do anything else, it was pounced on by Akiseta. The Dragonborn threw her entire weight onto it, pinning it down, and slamming her good paw down on its neck. She sank her teeth into its head, biting down with a crunching sound.

Akiseta let go, blood dripping down her teeth. She stumbled to the side, falling to the ground. Serana rushed to her side. There were deep gashed along Akiseta's sides and back. One of her legs looked as though it had been gnawed of by a bunch of rats. Her right front leg lay outstretched limply. It looked like the other werewolf had tried to tear it off.

"Oh, Aki..." Serana couldn't bear seeing her like this.

Akiseta managed a shaky grin. Serana was about to help her to her feet, when she saw the black werewolf that attacked the russet one. She put a wing over Akiseta protectively, and bared her fangs at the other werewolf, letting out a hiss. The other werewolf stopped in its tracks.

"Wait.." Akiseta gasped out weakly. She looked at the other werewolf, sniffing. "Sinding?"


"Akiseta. It's nice to see you again, though I wish the circumstances were better." Sinding said, walking over.

"Same to you, my friend." Akiseta said, doing her best to sit up, Her body felt like it had been ripped to shreds. The pain burned something awful. She leaned on Serana's shoulder for support. She felt one of the vampire's wings rest over her. "What brings you all the way out here?"

"Hunting. I caught the scents of this ferals, as well as yours, and the... uh... the vampire's. I thought she may have been a danger to you, until I realized your scents were... mixed. It looked like you needed some help."

"We appreciate it. Thank you." Serana said.

"Don't mention it. May I ask why you two are out here?"

"We're on a mission." Akiseta told him.

"Off to save the world again?"

"Yes, actually." Akiseta said, attempting a chuckle, which quickly became a cough.

"I see. Well, you can't be a hero in this condition. You can rest in my den tonight."

"Thank you, Sinding."

Akiseta attempted to stand, and her legs quickly buckled, pain coursing through her like fire. Sinding came over, and got down on all fours. He slid underneath her, and Serana helped adjust her so she was draped over his back. Serana gathered up the backpack, armour pieces, and lantern, which was now extinguished, and they began walking.

Serana remain in her changed form, limping some as she walked. She would sometimes switch to hovering, using her wings to glide forward. One flapped out awkwardly. Dark blood ran down her back. She looked over at Akiseta.

In that form, her eyes we completely black, like Harkon's and Valerica's. Harkon's had been like coal, cold and hard. Valerica's had been warmer. But Serana's were like the night sky. Akiseta swore she could see stars in them.

"Are you going to be alright?" Serana asked, her voice filled with concern.

"I'll heal." Akiseta sighed.

"She will." Sinding reassured. "Werewolves have a fantastic healing rate. Still, if you got some healing potions, I suggest you have her drank a couple It'll speed up the process, and should prevent scarring."

When they got to Sinding's den, he and Serana helped lay Akiseta down. Her wounds had healed a little, but were still bad. Serana has changed back to her normal self, clothes torn, blood on her pale skin. She dug a few healing potions out of the backpack, and helped Akiseta drank them.

"Thank you, iluukai." Akiseta said softly, licking drips from her muzzle, feeling her body tingling as it healed.

"You're welcome, dear." Serana said. She drank from one of her blood vials.

"Is blood like a healing potion for vampires? I know that draining magic heals them."

"It does help out natural healing abilities along." Serana said. She got a small cloth wet, and began wiping the blood from Akiseta's fur. Akiseta let out a quiet sigh.

After cleaning away the blood, Serana changed into a different shirt. She leaned against a smooth part of the wall, letting out a deep sigh. Akiseta limped over to her and laid down beside her, resting her head in the vampire's lap. She could probably change back now, but her body ached, and she was so tired.

Serana offered her a tired smile, and began stroking her head. Akiseta enjoyed the feeling of Serana's fingers running through her fur. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she let them shut.