Author's note:

First of all, I send a huge thank you to xXElspethXx for taking the time to create an account and immediately favoriting this story. I am truly amazed by your support :) Also, I'm happy to know that my writing is improving and that the previous chapter provided you with a nice surprise.

As usual, I also thank all the other people who are reading/following/favoriting this story. You really are the best!

This chapter has a warning for language, minor sexual references and graphic description of injuries. Nonetheless, I hope you'll enjoy it.

8th of First Seed, 4E 202

As she looked at the man who was lying on the grass right in front of her eyes, Agda felt the urge to burst into an hysterical laughter. Not only was Steinarius a werewolf – at that moment, he was also unconscious, injured and completely covered in blood. On top of that, he was also stark naked. Agda had often thought – or, better, dreamed - of seeing Steinarius naked, but none of her late-night phantasies had ever involved unconsciousness, mutants or random trips in the wilds.

In an attempt to force her brain to work with her rather than against her, the girl slowly crouched beside Steinarius. The Imperial was lying on his stomach and had a lot of blood all over his arms, his neck and his back. It was difficult to understand where the red substance was coming from and it was even more difficult to understand how the man was doing.

Furrowing her brow, Agda reached for Steinarius' neck and tentatively looked for his pulse line. The girl knew lots of legends about werewolves and honestly didn't know what to expect once the Imperial regained consciousness. Yet, despite the many horror tales she'd heard, Agda was keen on doing whatever she could to take care of Steinarius.

When she finally found his pulse line, Agda tried to examine the man's conditions. Her fingers were now slick with his blood, but the girl couldn't care less – at that moment, the only thing that mattered was the way the Imperial's heart was steadily beating under her fingertips.

Reassured by the fact that Steinarius' vital signs seemed strong enough for him to survive, Agda cast a spell to clean his body from the blood. When she discovered that the Dragonborn had three nasty gashes in his left arms, the girl used the sleeve of her dress to create a makeshift bandage, which she later applied to the wounds. At that point, Agda took off her cloak and neatly wrapped it around Steinarius's body. The air was very chilly and the young innkeeper clearly didn't want her rescuer to come down with an illness to match his injuries.

That thought brought Agda on the verge of tears. Steinarius really was her rescuer: had it not been for him, she would have surely been killed – or, worse, she would have been turned into a vampire.

Moved by that thought, Agda tenderly stroked the man's hair. Werewolves were said to kill whoever discovered their secret, but the young Nord was set to remain with his friend and do whatever she could to heal him.

"Hold on, Stein", she softly whispered in his ear. "I'll get you back to Riverwood, I promise you I will".

In the attempt to make the Imperial more comfortable, Agda reached for the remains of the vampire. She got hold of his robes and used them to cover Steinarius' legs, then she summoned a Flame Atronach. As the creature kept guard over the Imperial, Agda walked towards the woman the vampire had fed upon. She was a Breton in her twenties and, by the time the vampire had seen Agda, she had already been killed.

With a shiver, the young innkeeper examined the woman's features and quickly ran through her belongings. She soon realized that the cloak around the Breton' shoulders and the miraculously ushattered healing potion in her pocket were going to be of great use to Steinarius.

While trying to ignore the uneasiness she was feeling in her bones, Agda closed the glassy eyes of the woman and returned to her friend. The girl felt really uncomfortable about stealing the Breton's belongings, but she knew that the unlucky huntress was no longer going to need them.

As she walked back to Steinarius, Agda hastily planned her next moves. She wanted to carry Steinarius towards the shores of Lake Ilinalta, which was very famous for the high number of hunters that roamed its shores. Once there, the girl would try and find someone willing to help her. At that point, Agda would ask her rescuer to lead Steinarius back to Riverwood, whereas she would go back in the forest and look for the ingredients she needed to save Erik's life. Agda hadn't forgotten the reason why she'd left Riverwood and was willing to go miles to prevent the redhaired warrior from succumbing to his fever.

Nonetheless, as the girl reached the point where Steinarius was laying, she soon realized that she couldn't put her messy plans to good use. During her absence, Steinarius' breathing had namely become much shallower, whereas his heartbeat had become weaker. Moreover, the bandages on his arm had got drenched in blood, while his body was now burning with fever.

Agda was shocked by the sudden aggravation of Steinarius' conditions. As she tried to ice his forehead with a spell, she used her free hand to examine his left arm. The gashes left by the vampire's dagger were still bleeding and had become completely black. When she noticed it, Agda realized that Steinarius had probably been poisoned.

In an attempt to find out more about the venom used by the vampire, Agda reached once again for the ashen remains of the undead. She rummaged through them until she found the dagger wielded by the creature, then she immediately went back to Steinarius.

In a weak attempt to find out more about the venom used by the vampire, Agda slowly ran her hand over the blade of his dagger. Although she was careful not to break the skin, the girl soon felt a stinging in the palm of her hand. At that point, she frowned. The smell coming from the weapon revealed that the vampire had drenched it in nightshade essence, a potentially lethal substance. The stinging, however, came from a mixture of silver powder and vampire fangs, a very rare couple of ingredients.

While she was carefully studying the substance that had been smeared along the blade, Agda heard a weak noise that resembled the crackling of a tree branch under someone's foot. Alerted by that fact, the girl readied a destruction spell and prepared to cast it.

When a human form finally emerged from the bushes around her, however, Agda immediatey realized that there was no need to fight.

The newcomer was an old Nord with a long white beard and a bow in his hands. He looked very worried, but his brow relaxed as soon as he caught a glimpse of the terrified girl who was standing right in front of his eyes.

To him, Agda probably looked like an innocent damsel in distress.

"What's going on here?", the hunter asked with a suspicious tone.

"I was taking a walk with my friend", Agda said while trying to make up a decent explanation. "Unfortunately, he got hurt".

As soon as he noticed the unconscious Imperial at his feet, the hunter frowned. He slowly approached Steinarius, then he removed the clothes covering his back. When he realized that he was naked, the Nord snorted.

"I really can't understand you younglings", the hunter more or less barked. "Always looking for thrills, even when you're fucking. When did a good old rut in a comfortable bed become boring?"

When the Nord freely spoke his mind, Agda blushed. As a very explicit image of herself and Steinarius ran through her mind – an image that didn't involve any clothing, any forest and any blood, but actually included a nice bed and some inappropriate activities -, she realized she had to do everything she could to get the hunter to help her.

"We were taking a walk when a vampire showed up", Agda lied while intentionally avoiding any detailled explanation as to why she and Steinarius were out in the wilds in the middle of the night. "I'm afraid that my friend might have been poisoned".

"You mean your boyfriend, girl", the hunter said. "Unless you're one to sleep with every breathing creature that walks by".

Agda fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"The point is, this man is injured", she insisted with a slightly annoyed tone. "He's been poisoned and I can't stop the bleeding in his arm. He needs help. We need help.".

The hunter looked at Agda for what felt like centuries. At last, he sighed.

"I've set camp not far from here, on the shores of Lake Ilinalta. I'll bring you there and fetch a healer. By the way, girl, next time you venture in the woods, make sure to carry some weapons and wear an armor. I don't know how you managed to deal with a vampire, but remember that you won't always be so lucky".

As the man talked to her, Agda felt the sharp claws of shame and regret cut through her mind. Nonetheless, the girl had no time to feel guilty: to her, the only things that mattered were saving Steinarius from the poison and finding a way to help Erik with his disease.

Half an hour later, Agda was carefully looking through the alchemy ingredients displayed in Anise's cabin. She'd brought Steinarius to the hunter's camp by using a telekinesis spell, then she'd asked the Nord whether he could tell her how to reach Anise's place. Luckily enough, the hunter had immediately pointed her in the right direction.

As she set to work at the alchemy lab in Anise's cellar, Agda sighed. During the quick journey to the hunter's camp, Steinarius' conditions had got even worse than before. Agda had forced him to gulp a healing potion, but the effects had been irrelevant. If she wanted Steinarius to feel better, she absolutely had to create an antidote against the vampire's venom.

As she mixed a few rare ingredients, Agda sincerely hoped that her alchemy skills were as good as she believed them to be.

Although the cloudy sky wouldn't show it, Agda realized that it was almost dawn. A soft rain soon began to fall on Lake Ilinalta, so that the girl had to find shelter under a little wooden structure at the corner of the hunter's camp. As she did, she rubbed her tired eyes and let out a sigh.

The hunter who had helped her had left for Riverwood more than a hour earlier, leaving the girl alone with Steinarius. The owner of the camp came across like a very surly man, but he was actually very kind-hearted: he'd allowed the Imperial to rest in his tent, he had covered him up with his best furs, then he'd taken it upon himself to deliver the curing potions Agda had brewed for Erik.

The girl had a lot of trust in the hunter who had saved her; as a consequence, she was sure that he would make it to Riverwood on time to help Erik with his disease. After delivering the potions, the man would come back to the camp and help her carry Steinarius to the closest village.

As she thought about the Dragonborn, Agda sighed. She'd already given him two doses of the antidote she'd brewed, and that alone had managed to steady his conditions. Nonetheless, the girl feared that the worst was yet to come, as the ingredients of the vampire's poison seemed particularly apt to take werewolves' lives. Agda sincerely hoped Steinarius was strong enough to survive it.

With a sigh, the girl thought about all the secrets the man had been hiding from her. He had told her that he was the Dragonborn and that his father was a former Legate of the Legion, sure, but he had never mentioned being a werewolf. Moreover, he still hadn't told her anything about his time with the Companions.

With another tired sigh, Agda realized that Steinarius Crepusculus was a true walking mystery.