Mutants Misplaced
Chapter 21
Illness
It had been a few days since the mutants had been attacked by the mysterious robed assailants, and due to Sephie's injuries, their pace had slowed considerably so she wouldn't overexert herself. While she had recovered enough strength to be able to walk on her own, she still looked rather pale and was prone to headaches and fatigue as well as cold sweats. However, considering that she had lost a lot of blood to a spell during the attack, neither of those symptoms were surprising, but Donnie still urged Sephie to take it easy, something that especially Tyroth agreed with, but the lizard was confident that she could keep up.
"Is it just me, or is the sun extra hot today?" Sephie asked.
"It is hotter than the last few days, that's for sure. Maybe we should find a place to rest." said Leo.
"Anyone got a suggestion?" said Mona.
"I'll have a look, bird's eye view." said Tyroth just before he took to the skies with a strong jump and mighty wing beats. Circling around for a few minutes, he then returned to his friends.
"There's a valley to the left, maybe half an hour away. It got a stream and what seems to be the remains of an old building not far from the stream." he said after landing. "Seems like a good enough place for a break if you ask me."
"Then that's where we're heading, but we'd better make sure that there ain't another cult or something hiding there. Fighting magic is frustrating." said Raph.
A little more than half an hour later, they reached the old building. When it was new, it would probably have had a straw roof on the second floor, but that was long gone, just like the doors and almost everything inside. Many of the walls on the second floor had collapsed as well, but the floor itself was mostly intact and provided shelter for the ground floor. After searching the area thoroughly, the mutants were able to relax a bit since there were no signs of people or beasts.
Sitting down in the shade of the old house, Sephie breathed heavily, she easily got tired and had had a hard time recovering ever since the attack, but she always felt much better after a night's sleep. She hoped that she'd be able to recover all her strength soon, she didn't like feeling like a burden to her friends, slowing them down and not being able to help if they would get into a fight. Looking up, she saw Tyroth approach her with a full waterskin.
"I brought you some water, it's directly from the stream so it's cool and refreshing." he said and handed her the waterskin, which she gladly accepted.
"Thank you, honey. I really need that, I'm parched. It feels like no matter how much I drink, I just can't quench this thirst."
"Well, you did loose a lot of blood, your body needs to replenish it and water is necessary for that."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. If you don't mind, I think I'll take a little nap, see if that helps."
"Go ahead, darling. I'll be nearby if you need me." Tyroth said, kissing Sephie on her forehead. A bit farther away, Mona looked on with worry.
"Do you think she'll be okay? She is still rather weak." she said.
"This kind of damage takes time to heal, even for someone with good healing rate." said Donnie. "But I'll admit that I'm a little worried that her symptoms hasn't eased yet. I hope that she hasn't caught an illness or infection."
"We'll just have to wait and see how she feels later. She has been through a lot." said Raph.
"Hey, am I seeing things, or is there someone walking this way over there?" said Mikey, pointing further down the stream. And there was, as the person got closer, the mutants could distinguish more details.
It was a human woman, she had dark red eyes, long raven black hair and pale skin, dressed in a dark leather tunic with long sleeves and a belt, dark gray cloth trousers and dark leather boots. In addition he wore a cloak of black cloth with the hood up and a bag very much like the one Donnie usually carries around.
As she got closer to the old ruin, she looked at the seven mutants with a curious look, then she smiled and walked over to them. Leo and the others were ready for a fight, keeping there hands near their weapons.
"Hey there!" she said in a kind and happy voice, waving at them. "Taking a break I see, don't blame you, the sun is a bit cruel to day. Do you mind if I take a break here as well?"
"As long as you don't cause any trouble, I have no objections." said Leo, relaxing a bit but still being wary of the woman.
"Thank you, that's very kind of you. I'm called Devina, might I know your names?"
"I am Leonardo, and these are my family and friends." The rest of the mutants took turns introducing themselves. Devina listened closely and let her gaze travel from one mutant to the other several times, then her face almost lit up.
"Now I know who you are. You're the Saurians. You've been the latest gossip all over the western parts of Skyrim these last few days, and most likely other parts as well." she said in a happy tone. "I never thought that I'd come across you in my travels. Never even heard of your kind before, so the rumors about you being from another world could actually be true."
"Oh, they're true alright." said Mikey with a little pride. Raph didn't even bother hitting his brother on the head, instead he simply shook his head.
"Just can't beat any sense into him..." he mumbled quietly.
"This is just incredible. Aside from summoned creatures, I've never met people from another world." Devina said, not even noticing Raph's little comment. She opened her bag and pulled out a rough-looking book, a quill and an inkwell and sat down, writing something in her book.
"What are you doing?" Mona asked, curious to why the woman was writing.
"I'm taking notes, I'm an author you see, whenever I come across something interesting or odd, I take notes. Never know when they might come in handy. One day, I hope that I can create a masterpiece that rivals the Gourmet's cooking."
"A writer, huh? That's impressive. Have you made any-" Sephie started, but then she suddenly fainted.
"Sephie? Sephie, are you alright?!" Tyroth asked worried and tried to gently shake her to get a response. "This ain't good, she must have gotten sick. She need help!"
"Let me have a look." said Devina, quickly putting away her stuff. She took a closer look at Sephie for a few moments, checking pulse and eyes.
"I'm afraid that it might be worse than you think." she with a serious voice. "We have to get her out of the sunlight. Someone take her into the old house."
Tyroth didn't waste any time carrying his lover into the ruin. He could feel that she was very warm, warmer than she should have been. Mona helped by placing a few blankets on the floor to make it more comfortable for her.
"What's wrong with her?" Leo asked, but Devina answered by asking a question of her own.
"Have you encountered any strange people the last few days?"
"You mean like those creeps that pulled blood right out of Sephie's arm? And hung out by an old altar of sorts?" said Mikey.
"Dandre's pack. Always causing trouble for travelers."
"What do you mean?" said Tyroth. "If you know what's wrong with Sephie, help her!"
"There's nothing I can do, I'm afraid. The people you fought were... vampires."
"Vampires!?" everyone exclaimed.
"Are you kidding us?!" said Raph, not believing a word Devina said.
"I am serious. Only vampires have the power to drain blood like that, and I'm afraid that your friend here has been infected by them. She is turning right as we speak."
"What?! NO! That can't be!" Tyroth exclaimed. "There has to be something we can do!"
"If you had known about this earlier, then it wouldn't have been any problem with the right medicine, but she's too far gone now. Within the hour, she'll be a vampire, just like those that attacked you."
"Please... help me..." Sephie said with a scared voice, having regained consciousness not long ago, hearing what Devina said. Tears fell from her eyes, Tyroth took her hand and held it comforting. "I don't want to become a monster."
"Hush, girl, it will be over soon, and you won't become a monster. Not as long as you are you, trust me."
"How can you be so sure about that? And how come you know so much about vampires?" asked Leo. Devina rubbed her neck a little, it was clear that Leo had found a sensitive subject.
"Well, you see, I am a vampire as well."
"Wait, what?!"
"I am a vampire. Please hear me out before you do anything rash. Being a vampire doesn't mean that you're a monster, I'm still me and she will still be herself, but there will be several changes to her body, just like mine."
"You mean like turning to dust in sunlight?" said Mikey, worried about what could happen to Sephie.
"That seems highly unlikely, since Devina was in the sun just a few minutes ago, the clothes shouldn't protect her enough, unless she has some other kind of protection." said Donnie.
"That's a very old myth, but we vampires don't like being in the sun, it doesn't kill us but it does weaken us. As long as we're exposed, we can't recover or heal naturally, we need shade of some sort. The clothes doesn't really help, but they keep us from getting too hot, we're rather vulnerable to fire and heat."
"That would explain why the other vampires fled when Tyroth breathed fire at them." said Mona.
"Other than that, the skin of vampires grow pale and their eyes turn red." Devina continued. "Then there's the fangs that grow long and pointy."
"Will I crave blood?" Sephie asked, worried that she might hurt those close to her.
"Yes, you will want blood, but it is up to you to control that craving. It's not easy, but it is possible, I've done it. However, that brings another problem. The longer you go without drinking blood, the stronger the magical powers that comes with being a vampire grows, and we get more disfigured, longer fangs, stronger glow in the eyes and more. But all that regresses when you drink blood again."
"So, avoiding to drink blood will let your powers grow and make it easier for others to identify you as a vampire, but drinking blood causes your powers to shrink and makes you more human again. That doesn't make much sense, if vampires naturally crave blood, why does it reduce their power?" said Donnie.
"I've spent a lot of time thinking about that, and while I'm not sure, I do have an idea that makes some sense. We vampires are trapped between life and death, but aren't really undead, not like draugrs or similar. Blood is associated with life, and since we are in between life and death, our own blood looses the life it contains over time, making us stronger as we come closer to death, but a part of us wants to live again and gives us this craving for blood, for life. Drinking someone's blood grants us new life-force, bringing us closer to the living again and thus weakens our power. The craving could be a way for our bodies to try and heal themselves from the unique condition we're in."
"That does sound like a plausible theory." said Donnie, rubbing his chin as he processed the information.
"If what you say is true, then you must have drunk blood recently, 'cause you look very human." said Raph, eying Devina with suspicion.
"It has actually been quite a while since I had any blood, but my situation is a unique one. You see, I'm not an ordinary vampire, I'm a vampire and a werewolf."
"Okay, that's it, I'm as lost as I can be." said Mikey. "So you're a what? Vamwolf? Werepire?"
"There is no name for my kind, as far as I know, I'm the only one. I can tell you more at a later time, because I want to help."
"But how? You said it was too late to do anything." said Mona.
"Too late to stop her from becoming a vampire, yes. But there is a way to restore her to human, well, Saurian form again. I know a wizard who lives in the town of Morthal, he has studied necromancy and the undead thoroughly and knows of a ritual that can heal a vampire of their curse."
"Morthal, that's along the other path to Winterhold that we considered." said Leo. "Are you certain that he can help Sephie?" Devina nodded in response.
"Then we take that road instead, I won't let her suffer any longer than necessary." said Tyroth.
"I recommend that we leave after sunset, once she has completely turned, the darkness will do her good and help her recovered." said Devina.
Never saw a single comment among the reviews that mentioned anything about this possibility, I wonder how many that actually saw this coming.
With Sephie turning into a vampire, the team will have to face new problems, but can they really cure her? And what of this Devina, a vampire/werewolf hybrid(?), is she trust worthy? Stay tuned to find out, sometime around or after Christmas.
Note: Devina is an homage to fellow Fanfic writer and good friend Bloodrayne666. Hope you liked it so far, if not, then I'm sure I'll hear about it.
...I'm keeping my fingers crossed.