Fear's Scent

Vilkas lifted his head, his ears catching the resounding cry. His heart just about stopped. He knew instantly that it was Sahana. Enya had raced by them with a woman and a child on her back rather than their Harbinger. Sahana was trapped with that beast, he was sure of it.

"We need to hurry," he said. Eleni and Farkas glanced back at him, caught the look on his expressive face. Farkas nodded in agreement.

The trio quickened the pace, but they couldn't move fast enough in Vilkas' opinion. That hadn't been an ordinary cry, and especially not one that he'd ever heard Sahana make. She was such a fool! Always running off on her own, always making others worry...

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of such thoughts. She was in danger right now - enough danger to make her wolf howl for assistance. He had to focus on that.

Sahana tried to tug her foot free, pushed at the heavy debris. The elder dragon opened its mouth, flames leaping. She could feel the heat on her face even as she shouted, "Fus Ro Dah!"

The Thu'um had the dragon staggering back. With what little time she had, she started pushing away more rubble. The dragon shook its head, letting loose another roar. It looked at her with its shocking green eye before opening its mouth again, coming at her with unmatched speed.

Sahana was able to stand as soon as three ice spikes flew up and dug into the dragon's neck. It let out a strange cry, turning its head to find Eleni with its unnerving stare.

Sahana swore under her breath. "Farkas, cover her!"

"Already there!" he called back, placing himself in front of Eleni. He lifted his blade high, swung it down fast and slashed the dragon's nose. It pulled back, lifting its foot. Farkas turned, caught Eleni by the hand and dashed away before the dragon could smash them. It snorted, following after them.

Sahana growled, feeling the familiar tightness that she'd come to associate with the transformation. Her teeth felt too large for her mouth and her skin itched as fur ran right beneath it. Her wolf howled and fought for freedom, setting fire to her insides.

Eleni turned her head and screamed. She hurled another ice spike and it pierced the dragon's chin. The dragon snarled angrily. Using the moisture in the air, Eleni formed yet another ice spike and sent it flying up towards the snapping jaws.

"Farkas!" she cried. He dared to glance back, realized how close the monster truly was, and dove to the side - taking Eleni with him. They narrowly avoided being chomped on.

A dog snarled, drawing Eleni's attention. She turned her head and she was staring into the face of a large wolf - no, she thought. This was something completely different. Her eyes widened in horror. With preternatural strength and speed, she and Farkas were lifted up and moved right as flames started to blanket the ground where they had landed before.

Eleni's whole body trembled. Her eyes moved over the gleaming fangs and dagger-like claws. She opened her mouth to scream, but Farkas covered it. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He only shook his head.

The wolf grumbled, its eyes narrowing on the girl. The stench of sweat and fear assaulted her nose and she bared her teeth. She leaned close, amber eyes glittering. Eleni pressed close to Farkas, holding fast to his hand. She stared at the beast in front of her, too terrified to move. It was the look that the wolf gave her that had her frowning in puzzlement.

She stuttered, saying, "Sahana...?" The wolf whined, bowing her head. Eleni looked at Farkas, clearly wanting an explanation.

"Fight now, talk later," he said.

Sahana turned when she heard Vilkas let out a ferocious roar as he ran at the dragon. He lifted his blade high, jumped, and let it sink between the dragon's ribs. As he fell, tearing through its hard hide in order to get to the tender flesh beneath, the dragon let loose another stream of fire in his direction. He ran under the creature in order to avoid it.

The dragon stomped around, moved as though taking part in a strange dance as it tried to find Vilkas. Its attention fell on Sahana as she ran forward. She jumped, landing on the dragon's muzzle and climbing higher still. She found its bright green eye with her claws. It shook its head furiously, trying to throw her off.

Eleni began forming more ice spikes when the dragon started flapping its powerful wings. She hurled them through the air, ripping through one wing so it would be unable to fly. Sahana sank her claws into the dragon's neck, sliding down until she found the soft underbelly, which she immediately started tearing into. She could hear Farkas and Vilkas as they tried to cripple the dragon. Crimson stained the once golden-copper scales and she could tell that the elder dragon was growing weak.

"Move, Sahana!" Vilkas ordered, real fear in his voice.

The dragon fell forward, its front legs no longer able to keep it up. Sahana yelped when she just barely jumped out from under the massive weight. Panting, she walked on both her hands and feet as she approached Vilkas.

Farkas stared down at the dragon, watched as it tried to lift itself back up. His blade rose and he brought it down fast, sinking it into the dragon's neck and twisting. He sighed heavily, looked down at Eleni, into her pretty sapphire eyes, and smiled. He reached up, caressing the side of her face. She leaned into his touch, placing one hand over his.

Sahana had already taken on her natural form and was pulling on her cloak - it had been the only thing she'd been able to save before the transformation had taken her. When she finally turned around, Vilkas was there. "I know, I know," she started. "I should have paid more-"

He wrapped her up in his arms, hugging her to him. He nearly squeezed the life out of her! Even so, she couldn't think of one place that she would have preferred being in than there, in his arms.

"You have shit for brains," he mumbled next to her ear.

"I know," she said with a smile. She allowed herself to run her fingers through his hair. She gave a sigh of contentment. She'd known for a while that she would love the feel of his hair. She bunched it in her small fist.

After nudging his head with her own, Sahana forced herself to pull away from him. Eleni and Farkas approached then. "Well," she started, "let's head home!"

Back at Jorrvaskr, Sahana had the Circle members and Eleni gather in her chambers. She leaned against the table, arms crossed. "You did amazingly back there, Eleni," Sahana praised.

"I still want to know what happened," Eleni said. "Are you...?"

"A werewolf? Yes. All of us Circle members are."

Eleni looked up at Farkas. He frowned, but nodded. "Will I...become one?" she asked, turning back to Sahana.

She could already tell that Vilkas was glaring at her, all at once becoming immensely difficult. That look told her that she'd best answer the question correctly. She hummed softly before saying, "No, I don't think so." This time, Aela gave her a look. Sahana looked at the woman out of the corner of her eye, managing to order silence just by doing so.

If Eleni were to become a werewolf, her life would change drastically. The wolf would demand freedom, as it could not be locked up forever without causing its counterpart to become edgy and violent. She would always be in danger since the people of Skyrim did not take kindly to werewolves. Simply put, it wasn't something that Sahana would wish on someone so gentle.

She watched as Vilkas and Farkas visibly relaxed. "Thing is," Sahana said with a sigh, "this is all kept a secret. Not a soul outside of this room should ever know what we are."

Eleni caught the meaning quickly. "I'll keep your secret!" she swore.

Farkas rested a giant hand on her head, ruffling her hair. Sahana offered her a small smile. "Well, if that's the case, I suppose I'll let you all run off and find something to do." She shrugged.

She watched as they left the room. Only Vilkas remained behind. She tilted her head to one side, her expression curious. And that's when he smiled at her. She couldn't help the look of shock that came to her face. It was the most perfect smile she'd ever seen.

"Thanks for that," he told her.

Sahana hummed a response. "The beastblood is not something I would want Eleni to have to endure. In fact, I think the Circle has enough werewolves." She shrugged.

"Meaning, there will be no other conversions?"

"That's right." Sahana gave a curt nod.

And for the second time that day, she was graced with Vilkas' smile. It was so rare; she wished that she could capture it somehow and look at it forever. Her heart fluttered, and she felt a little sick to her stomach. Was that sweat on her hands? Did he really make her this nervous?

Vilkas had only to take a whiff of the air to know how she was feeling. "Sahana," he said, his expression kept carefully blank.

"Yes?" She bit into her bottom lip mercilessly, afraid – really afraid – of what he was going to say.

"There's something I have to ask of you, but I want to speak to Farkas first." It would be life-altering, he thought. He could only hope that how he felt for her wouldn't change afterwards.

She took a deep breath, nodding. "Fine. Come to me when you're ready. I will help in whatever way I can."

He knew that. He'd always known that. She served with unswerving loyalty, worked hard to please others. Like a dog. Even so, she wasn't one to be looked down on. After all, people were left in awe whenever she passed by. Vilkas found himself proud of her.

"I will," he told her.

Sahana watched as Vilkas turned and left. She sighed heavily, tilting her head back to look at the ceiling. She was tired. Maybe a nap was in order...

Chapter end! Thanks for reading!