Part 2

"Why, Luceria? Why did you leave us?"

"We missed you, Luceria. You left us alone."

"You betrayed us. You betrayed your own family."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

My eyes shot open as I sat bolt upright, breathing hard. It was still dark. As my heartbeat calmed, I realized I'd been talking in my sleep again. Damn it, I thought, when will I get that under control?

That same nightmare had haunted me for years. The voices of my mother, father, and older brother scolded me until I woke up screaming. The nightmare always ended with me frantically apologizing and pleading for forgiveness. In truth, they had sent me off with their blessing, telling me to go and live life to the fullest. A short time after my departure, I got a letter. The letter was sent with a small amount of gold; my inheritance. Each member of my family had died. The cause is still unknown to me, for I never returned to Valenwood. Instead, I continued to travel across Tamriel. I don't know why I felt responsible for their deaths, but at least I know the source of my nightmares.

The faint sound of someone's nearby breathing snapped me back to the present. Whoever it was probably thought they were being silent, as any normal person would not have heard them. I'm glad I did.

I heard steel swipe the air above my head as I sprung away from my little tent. I got a brief chance to see the face of my attacker; he was a tall, brown-haired Nordic man with a shadow of a beard. His face might have been handsome if not for the dark war paint covering it, but his eyes...his ice-blue eyes were beautiful. Something about him reminded me of a wolf.

He was settled into a fighting stance, clutching a steel greatsword, silently challenging me. I'd fought off bandits and wild animals before, but never a heavily armored, muscular warrior. My best chance was to run and find a tree to climb, and so I ran. I was faster than he was, but I could still hear the clanging of his armor behind me. But...wait a minute...were there two of them? No, there were three; one lighter than the others. I wasn't sure, but I didn't dare look back. I was soon able to lose them behind me and run up into a tall tree. I waited there to make sure they were gone, my bow readied, just in case.

I was a bit surprised when they drew nearer to me. They had not lost my trail. I nocked an arrow, but a thought crossed my mind. Why are they chasing me? I wondered, I've never been caught for thieving. I returned my arrow to its quiver. I soon learned I was right, there were three of them. Two were men, a deep, rumbling voice and a heavy Nordic accent. The third was a woman with no accent, but a certain determination in her voice.

"Where did she go?" I heard in the heavy accent.

"I don't know, Vilkas," said the other male voice, "but I can still smell her nearby."

What? I thought, Did he say he could smell me? Surely he's being sarcastic.

"So can I, Farkas," said the woman, "Surely she's around here somewhere."

"Did you see how fast she was?" said the man who must have been Farkas.

"Of course we did," said the other man, whom I assume was Vilkas, "Aela and I were right there."

"She's a master thief," said the woman, Aela, "Keep searching."

"Wait a minute," said Vilkas, "Is she up in that tree?"

That was my moment. I dropped out of the tree, dagger in hand, onto Vilkas' back, taking him off guard and forcing him to the ground. I held my dagger tightly against his throat. "One move and this one will bleed," I said, hoping I sounded brave. I never liked to kill. A low rumbling sound escaped Vilkas' throat. Was he growling at me?

Farkas started to step forward, but Aela stopped him by placing her hand on his chest. I studied their faces. Vilkas must have been the one who attacked me first. He and Farkas looked strikingly similar, the only differences being that Farkas had longer hair and a larger build. They must have been brothers, if not twins. Aela was tall and slender with long red hair. Three streaks of war paint covered her face, resembling claw marks. The paint made her eyes stand out. She, too, had beautiful ice-blue eyes.

"Well met, thief," Aela said coolly.

"Why are you trying to kill me?" I asked, doing my best to hide my fear.

"We were hired," Aela replied, "The Dark Brotherhood apparently failed."

Ah, yes. I remembered killing a masked assassin about two weeks earlier. They must've been from the Dark Brotherhood. "I'm sorry to disappoint you," I hissed.

"Let. My. Brother. Go." growled Farkas. The look on his face was one of pure hatred. I felt my heartbeat quicken.

"Farkas, keep it under control," said Aela. She spoke with slight urgency. I wondered what "it" was.

"She won't hurt my twin!" Farkas said, his tone rising, "I won't let her!" His scowl worsened until his lips curled back into a snarl. I heard him produce a low, guttural rumbling sound. It quickly grew louder. He sounded exactly like an angry wolf...only twice as terrifying. It was all I could do to keep from shaking.

"Farkas...!" Aela looked a bit afraid now.

I quickly learned why.

Farkas' eyes rolled back in his head. He slouched forward, the veins in his neck popping out as his muscles tensed violently. His steel armor came unclasped and fell to the ground. He was getting larger. Dark fur sprouted from everywhere on his body as his face elongated...into a muzzle. He roared-whether in anger or pain, I don't know-revealing sharp, white fangs. His fingers were suddenly long, sharp claws.

By now, I had released Vilkas and darted back up into the tree, where I watched, terrified. What stood before me was no longer a man, but a bipedal wolf, at least two meters tall. Vilkas and Aela had backed away, out of the beast's line of sight, leaving me as its focus.

There was no time to wonder what was happening, no time to think of a way out. The creature sprang up into the tree, it's razor-sharp claws narrowly missing me as I dropped to the ground and bolted.

I ran for all I was worth. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't care. No matter how may rocks I vaulted over, how many trees I slipped between, it continued to pursue me. I heard its feral growling behind me, and was filled with a terror like I'd never felt before. My lungs burned and my legs ached. I knew I couldn't continue for much longer. I had to think of something.

I spotted a nearby cave, and darted into it without a second thought. It had probably been a bandit's hideout in the past, as there were several untouched tripwires on the ground, which I easily avoided. Luckily, the wolf did not. The tripwires triggered a range of traps, from releasing maces swinging from chains to dropping rocks from the ceiling. It slowed the wolf down a bit, and I was able to slip behind a boulder. I reached for my mace, which I always kept hanging from my belt...only to find it was not there.

I was breathing too heavily to curse. I needed to find another weapon. The wolf-thing was getting closer, but it sounded like it was limping. I felt like I didn't have any strength left. Perhaps it would be easier to let the beast have me...

It rounded the corner, it's terrifying eyes locking with mine. In a sudden rush of panic, I lifted an apple-sized stone from beside me and flung it at the beast. It met its jaw with a thud, and the beast fell.

It appeared to be unconscious, but I picked up another stone it case it wasn't. It didn't move after several minutes, and I began to think it was dead. That thought didn't last long, for the beast's appearance began to shift. Its dark fur fell off in some places and receded in others, while its muzzle shrank back into a nose and mouth and its claws once again became hands. In a matter of a few seconds, the savage beast was gone, leaving that brute, Farkas, in its place. He was naked, and I covered him with what appeared to be a piece of a torn bedroll. It was then that I was able to see his face well. His war paint was gone, giving him a much less intimidating appearance. He was rather handsome with a clean face. I noticed he was breathing deeply, and was curiously glad I hadn't killed him. Seeing his devotion toward his brother, even if it nearly resulted in my death, made me want him to live. I knew how it felt to lose a brother.

Now that I had a chance to calm down, the first thought that crossed my mind was "what in Oblivion was that!" It probably should have terrified me more, but it wasn't the strangest thing I'd seen in Skyrim. Besides, I was far too exhausted to think about it too much. My eyes fell closed before I could lean against the wall.