Sorry this chapter is a little short but I hope you still enjoy reading it.
Thank you crazililwabbit: it's so good to have a loyal reader. This chapter should finally explain a few things, though there are a few more riddles that need to be solved ;)
I updated Chapter 4, corrected a few typos and so on. It might be worth re-reading.
Soooo, have fun with Chapter 5!
Pain. Everything was pain. His body felt as if it had dropped into the skyforge. His skin was on fire, his heart stung as if a thousand needles were stuck in it, his head pounded as if someone was constantly treating it with a warhammer. Everything was pain. Breathing was agony.
Breathing? Why was he breathing? Vilkas tried to think clearly for a second, but the ache was too much.
He was supposed to be dead. That was all he knew, there was not supposed to be any pain.
His mind was playing tricks on him. One moment he was sure flames were burning his skin, the next moment he thought he was about to freeze to death. Was he lying in a bed? Or on rocks? Was he even able to breathe? The pain suggested water was filling his lungs instead of fresh air.
Vilkas was delirious, neither conscious nor asleep. The poison in his system tried to win the upper hand and bring the warrior to his knees.
Farkas had returned to Whiterun through the underforge, deep in thought. The encounter with Arnbjorn disturbed him. In his mind everything had been clear enough before. The brotherhood was after Mahri. But now he was not so sure anymore.
He'd have to find his brother and tell him what he had learned.
As soon as he left the underforge, the smell of blood hit him. While he was sprinting up the skyforge to find the source of the smell, he recognized it. This was not anyone's blood, it was his brother's!
He ran as fast as he could, but before he reached the skyforge or was even just able to see what had happened, Mahri was jumping into his arms.
„Farkas, thank goodness you are here!"
He was surprised to find her up here and wondered for a second why he had not been able to smell her before.
„Mahri, what is going on?"
He realized the girl's qiuck hearbeat. She was clearly excited or maybe afraid. It was hard to tell.
„It was Vilkas. He... he tried to... he tried..." Her voice faded to be replaced with sobs. She held on to Farkas as if he was the only thing that kept her alive. „Where is he? Where is my brother?"
His mouth was dry. What had happened between them was secondary now, first he needed to find his twin. With some effort he tore the girl away from him and went further up the skyforge.
All he found there was a puddle of blood.
„Where is he?"
Mahri had followed a few steps behind Farkas. Her sobs stopped immerdiately when she realized Vilkas was gone. „I don't know! He was here a second ago."
A small trace of blood let to the rim of the skyforge and seemed to disappear there. Mahri was angry and upset. In his state, Vilkas should have gone nowhere but died right where he was lying!
Farkas was distressed. His brother was obviously injured and nowhere to be found. He could sniff him out, but here the smell of his blood was overwhelming, so he'd have to change into his beastform to be able to track Vilkas, and obviously he could not do that. Not in bright daylight, and especially not in front of Mahri.
He once again turned around to look at her. She was pale and tears were about to dry on her cheeks. A few drops of blood stained the front of her dress, but she was not injured.
„Please tell me what happened."
The girl sat down on the ground and started to sob again. Farkas was not in the mood for crying women, he had to find his brother, and soon! Yet his heart stung as he saw her distress, so he sat down beside her and brushed the tears off her face. Also he had a feeling that he would not like what he was about to hear.
„Your brother... he asked me to come up to the skyforge with him. Said he wanted to tell me something. Then he tried to... he tried to kiss me. He grabbed me really hard and I could not get away."
Farkas gasped. That could not possibly be true! Vilkas knew exactly how he felt about the girl. Never would he betray his brother like this. Still, part of him believed her. After all Vilkas had sent him away just the previous night and brought Mahri up to the skyforge. If the assassin had not interrupted them, something like this might have happened before.
„And then?" he asked „What happened?"
The young woman sobbed once more before she continued. „I tried to push him away, tried to tell him it was not him that I want. But he would have none of it. He got forceful..."
Farkas let out a deep growl and he could see the girl flinch. He was getting angry, and angering Farkas was not easy.
„Continue." His voice left no room for contradiction.
„All of a sudden he... he changed. It felt as if he got stronger, I thought he was going to break my arms as he held me. For a second I thought there was fur growing on his skin."
The Companion tried not to show how shocked he was by this revelation. „I am sure you just imagined that." His voice sounded incredulous even to him. Yet somehow it confirmed what he had already presumed. His brother had lost control.
„I could not fight him off, but then all of a sudden he let go. Someone was standing behind him, and Vilkas fell down on his knees. Someone had stabbed him!"
Farkas jumped up to his feet. Stabbed his brother? In bright daylight? Right behind Jorrvaskr?
„I am so glad you are here, Farkas! I am sure if you had not come, that assassin would have got me as well!"
She fell into his arms and cried her eyes out.
„It cannot be." was all he said. „Nobody could just backstab my brother... not with a normal blade..." That was when Mahri let go. She took a step back and looked up at the man towering above her. „So it is true?"
Farkas ran a hand through his hair. „What is true?"
„The assassin screamed something... something about werewolves."
The older man was silent. He tried to calm the beating of his heart. Panic would not help him.
„We should get inside and tell the others. We must find Vilkas."
With these words he turned around to leave the skyforge, but Mahri grabbed his hand, unwilling to let him go.
„I need to know, Farkas! Your brother almost raped me. Please, what is it you are hiding?" More tears streamed down her face as Farkas turned around to look at her. A wave of affection for this fragile creature hit him and he pulled her into an embrace. „I am sorry for all you have to go through, Mahri. I will tell you everything, but not now. Please, be patient with me" The girl nodded. „Alright, but don't let me wait too long."
„Nay, I promise. But now I need to find my brother."
They both knew there was little chance of that happening. Farkas knew that no assassin would let anyone alive, and Mahri knew her poison had probably finished Vilkas off already.
Together they descended down to Jorrvaskr to inform the Circle about the attack.
Farkas never saw Mahris victorious smile as she took one last glance in the direction of the skyforge.
Vilkas was dreaming. He and his brother were out hunting together, running over fields and meadows. They chased a stag into the woods, only the moon and stars as witnesses of their strenght and speed. They felt the freedom, the passion, the lust of the hunt. His heart was quickly pumping blood through his veins, the scents of nature filled his nostrils as the musky scent of the stag ahead led their way.
Suddenly something hit Vilkas' shoulder and he sank to the ground. The pain only came seconds later. Agony.
He screamed for help, called for his brother to come to his aid, but Farkas was gone. He was all alone now with the poison spreading through his body.
He turned back into his normal form and realized he was covered in blood. His blood. Darkness surrounded him as he fell into a bottomless pit. He had never felt so alone in his life. Farkas had always been there for him. Always, except for now.
His dream faded and Vilkas slept peacefully for the first time in many years.
The tomb was lit by only a few candles. Sure, not the best circumstances to perform such a complicated ritual, but it was all she had.
The poison that flooded the wolf's system was strong and his wounds were deep. Also hauling him off the mountain had not helped his state, yet he was still breathing. That was something she could work with.
Poisons were her field of expertise, so cleansing his system of the treacherous substance was the least of her concerns. The wounds were an entirely different matter.
Though he had only been cut with a dagger, the first stab was almost enough to gut him. Normaly she would inflict wounds rather than try to patch them up. Yet she did as well as she could, now everything else was up to the Companion.
However, she would not let him die without a fight.
The man ad no idea how lucky he was. Had his brother not arrived at this very moment, the woman was not sure if she could have saved his sorry ass. The little redhead knew what she was doing, she had to give her that. But she gave herself a promise, and she intended to keep it. The Companion would not die. Not now. Not like this.