Movarth's Lair

The cave, Aila soon discovered, could be found by its stench alone. She may not recognize a vampire by scent, but she did know the smell death and decay, and the cave reeked of it.

The cave was dark, and though she could manage, she also knew the Movarth wouldn't have any trouble seeing at all, and that made him very dangerous. What am I doing? Aila asked herself. I should be in bed with Kathryn right now, but instead I'm in this dark, filth-ridden cave. She sighed. Let's just get this over with.

She needed a better way to find Movarth before he could detect her. If her fight with Laelette and Alva's diary was anything to go by, Aila, for whatever reason, had a scent nearly irresistible to vampires. That would make it all the more difficult to sneak up on him. The best way to deal with him would be to simply find him, stick him with an arrow and leave. The longer she fought with him, the more likely she was to get hurt, or worse.

Aila stood still for several minutes, trying to come up with a good plan. The best thing to do seemed to be to wait until morning when he would be asleep, but by then Kathryn would find out what she had done, and she would not be happy. Even if she let her fight, there was no way she would let her do it alone, but Aila couldn't constantly be worrying about Kathryn, so that option was discarded.

Unfortunately, she couldn't come up with anything other than 'be very, very careful' but that simply wasn't enough. She needed to be more than just stealthy with the vampire. She needed to be done with him before he even knew she was there. But that meant she needed to know where he was, first.

Nothing adequate coming to mind, Aila sighed irritably and decided to just follow her instincts. Which, of course, meant doing something unexpected.

Her eyes fluttered closed and she inhaled deeply. Seconds later, she breathed the word, "Laas."

When her eyes opened, she looked around the see several glowing lights in various places. Most were red, but a couple were light blue. They were oddly humanoid shaped, and it took Aila a moment to figure out what they were. When she finally did, however, her frustration grew tenfold.

"Fuck," she muttered, far too irritated to care about civilities. She had been mistaken. There was not just one vampire. If she was right, judging from the coloured lights, there was not only three vampires, but two humans as well.

Well, at least she knew where everyone was.

Aila headed deeper into the cave. The first light she came upon was was secluded from the others, and blue, meaning it was human. Aila came across a lantern near the edge of a small pit. The light was in the pit. Aila heard someone muttering, "Alright, let's see what goodies you have on you…"

Aila grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow, cautiously heading closer to the pit. She peered inside, and what she saw horrified and disgusted her.

A man was leaning over on of several corpses, his hand all over the body, like he was looking for something. Some had obviously been there for a while, but some looked only recently deceased. They were all pale as the snow, like all the blood had been drained from their bodies.

When Aila saw the scene, she didn't hesitate. She pulled back and loosed the arrow straight into the man's neck, killing him instantly. She watched as his light flickered out.

Unable to stand the sight any longer, Aila turned away and went further into the cave, now more determined to end these vampires' miserable lives than ever.

The next three lights were grouped together. Two red and one blue; two vampires and one human. Two of the three soon came into view as the cave opened up into a large cavern. In the middle was a long table with a throne-like chair at the end of it. A vampire was sitting in the throne, holding what looked like a wine glass to his lips. The human was standing diligently behind him, clad in full-body armour save the helmet, and a shield on his arm and a sword at his side. The other vampire was nearby, but out of sight behind a makeshift door separating part of the cave.

Aila hesitated a moment, deciding whether to take out the armoured human or the vampire first. That turned out to be a mistake though, as the vampire pulled the glass away from his lips with a bemused expression on his face.

"What is that… delightful scent?"

Aila silently cursed herself and quickly loosed an arrow at the vampire, but it was too late. The vampire was already standing and the arrow embedded itself into the chair with a thunk. The vampire looked at the arrow, his confused expression quickly turning to rage.

He turned to the human. "Find the one responsible for this!" He bellowed.

The human's only response was to draw his sword and head in Aila's direction.

Aila quickly and quietly moved from her current hiding spot to find a new one. She noticed that the light behind the door on the other side of the cavern was getting closer, so Aila headed towards it, sticking to the darkest shadows. She needed to take care of it before it could join in. One vampire was difficult enough to deal with, she couldn't fight two at a time.

Just as she reached to door, it swung open, and the vampire behind it started shouting.

"Master Mo-"

But Aila kicked her back into the room and followed her in, closing the door behind her.

She heard someone shout from the other side of the door. "Over there!"

This needs to be quick, Aila thought.

She slung her bow across her back and drew her sword, facing the snarling vampire, whose clawed hand was currently mid-swing. Aila caught her wrist and gripped it tightly so the vampire wouldn't move (which was difficult, considering her strength) and took the opportunity to thrust her sword into her neck. She pushed the vampire back and pulled her sword free, not bothering to watch her die, and turned back to see the door behind her being opened by a blue light.

Not having time to sheath it, Aila quickly stabbed her sword into the ground, leaving it upright in the dirt and grabbed her bow again, nocking an arrow just as the human stepped in. She fired it into his head and he slumped forward, dead. She was grateful he wasn't wearing a helmet.

All that was left now was the vampire in the other room, as well as the one deeper in the cave, then she would be done. She chose to forgo stealth for now, her cover was pretty much blown anyway, so she slung her bow across her back, pulled her sword up out of the ground and drew her dagger.

As she walked out of the door to the red light, she heard a slow clapping. Aila looked at the vampire in confusion.

"Impressive," he said. "Who would've thought one as small as you could manage to kill both one of my thralls and a full-fledged vampire so easily. I take it you also killed the greedy fool near the entrance?"

Aila didn't answer him. Instead, she took note that he wasn't wearing any armour, just some black robes and a sword strapped to his side. She wondered if he knew how to use it. She doubted she could take him without shouting, but she was afraid that if she did, the other vampire would come and running. She didn't know if she could fight two vampires at the same time.

The vampire (who Aila was beginning to believe was Movarth, if his haughty attitude was anything to go by) chuckled darkly. "I thought so. Well, no matter. I can always make more. Besides, your scent is positively…" he breathed in, as if to prove his point. "Captivating. I daresay in all my long years I've never come across a scent so alluring."

What else? She could use a good fire, but the only flames were the little candles scattered across the table, they wouldn't be of any use to her. Movarth's words barely reached her as she tried to think up a way to kill him quickly, but she did catch the last few words.

"... not every day a feast walks willingly into my home after all, so I can make an exception." He raised his hand then, and it began to glow blood red.

Aila's body suddenly erupted in pain. She doubled over and resisted the urge to scream. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and her insides writhed, like she had swallowed acid. Now Aila understood why he wasn't wearing armour. Mages rarely ever wore armour. She had no idea what spell this was, though.

Aila straightened her body and, doing her very best to ignore the pain, rushed at the vampire. She slashed at his hand and he pulled away, but it had the effect of ending the spell. The pain faded away, but there was a soreness that lingered.

Movarth drew his sword and pointed it at her. "I would lay down your sword if I were you, little bird. It would be such a shame to mar such beautiful skin."

Aila let out a humourless laugh. "And how," she asked. "Do you plan on taking my blood without marring my skin?

Movarth gave her a sick grin. "Ah, and I was beginning to think you were mute. But don't you worry your pretty little head over it. I have my ways."

"I'll make sure you won't get the chance to use them," Aila said.

She swung at him with her sword and when he parried the attack, she followed up with her dagger and he dodged out of the way.

"Too slow, little bird," Movarth taunted. "I know there's more to you than that. It takes more than a quiet hand and surprise on your side to get as far as you have."

The way he spoke sickened her, but she didn't bother with a retort. He was right though, he was too fast. She didn't think she could beat him without Shouting. Oh, well. If it comes to that, there was nothing she could do about it.

Movarth slashed at her and Aila just barely had time to block it. "That reminds me," Movarth continued. He sure seemed to like the sound of his own voice. "How did you come across this place? I can't imagine you just stumbled in."

Aila had to admit, for a vampire trying to kill her, he was rather polite. "You should tell Alva to be more careful with what she puts in that diary of hers. They're not a private as she seems to think." She thrust her dagger forward, but Movarth avoided the blade and twisted his sword around and cut Aila in the forearm. Aila grunted and jumped back. She looked at the now bleeding wound. It hurt, obviously, but it wasn't too bad. But, there went any chance of keeping this from Kathryn.

She turned back to Movarth, who was shaking his head with a frown on his face. "Oh, Alva," he tsked. "Such as disappointment. She had so much potential, but in the end she was nothing more that a romantic fool. Still, she has her uses. Quite adept under the covers."

Aila's face scrunched at the comment, and she didn't bother dignifying it with a response. Instead, she took a deep breath.

"SU!"

The thunderous force of her Shout reverberated off the cavern walls, making it seem even louder than usual. Movarth growled in surprise and his free hand went up to his ear to try and vainly block out the sound. Aila took the opportunity to rush forward and slice his throat, or at least try to. He moved at the last second and she got him in the shoulder.

It seemed to anger him, however, as he hissed at her and shoved his hand forward. It began to glow once more with that blood red aura and pain once again coursed through her body. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Aila noticed that as she began to felt weaker, the wound that she had just inflicted on Movarth began to heal. Inwardly, that pissed her off, but she didn't have time to think about it for as soon as he started the spell she thrust her dagger forward and stabbed him through the hand. The spell ended abruptly as Movarth yanked his hand back, snarling ferociously. Aila took a moment to look around, and she saw that the red light deeper in the cave was moving closer. Great. She had to finish this quickly.

Aila's moment of thought cost her, though. Movarth, evidently not used to being hurt, punched her in the stomach with such inhuman strength that Aila was literally sent flying across the the room and crashed into the cavern wall before falling to the ground. She groaned as she struggled to get up. She expected that kind of strength from a dragon, not a vampire. Maybe the strength came with age. All Aila was aware of was that it hurt. She needed to be more careful.

But it seemed luck was not on her side tonight, for as she looked up, she saw something on the wall. Something that began to shine brightly and fill her vision. "No! Not now!" Aila shouted, knowing it wouldn't make any difference. She couldn't even stand, just wallow blind and helpless.

She felt a presence over her and knew it was Movarth. Panicked, she forced herself to her feet, stumbling a bit, and faced what she knew was there but couldn't see. She held her sword out in front of him in a vain hope of deterring him.

"What's wrong, little bird?" Aila heard. "Did I hit you too hard? My apologies, I let my temper get away from me."

"Quiet!" Aila growled,, still struggling to see his dim figure behind the word. But as she began to recognize the word and what it meant, she couldn't help but grin. She never thought he had a sense of humour.

Then she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and she cried out.

"What are you grinning at?" Movarth demanded angrily.

Aila just smiled again despite the intense pain she was in. "Nothing. Just glad I finally have a way to kill you easily."

The pain in her shoulder grew suddenly, but she managed to keep herself from crying out again.

"Are you mocking me? I've already won."

"You haven't won anything. As soon as I get my vision back I'm going to kill you and that bitch heading this way."

She could barely make out Movarth's form turning away from her and toward some other part of the cave. "Alva? How did you know she was…"

Aila hadn't actually known the other vampire was Alva, she just assumed whoever it was, was a bitch. Guess she was right.

Another voice reached her ears then. "My love, what's going on…" A pause. "You!"

"You know her?" Movarth asked, sounding confused.

"N-no, I just-"

Their following argument allowed Aila's vision to clear up enough to see their silhouettes. Good enough, she thought. She interrupted them by kicking Movarth away from her, and pulled herself free of the sword in her shoulder. Without hesitating, she inhaled deeply and faced the closest silhouette.

"YOL!"

The cavern flashed brightly for a moment, followed by a pain-filled scream. She could only just see Movarth, on the floor, enveloped in flames. Alva went up to him, screaming his name and trying to put the fire out. Aila took a few moments for her vision to clear up further while they were distracted. When she could see enough to make out individual body parts, she walked up to the flailing vampire. Alva saw her approach and tried to stop her.

She jumped at her, claws extended. "Damn you!" She shouted.

Aila side-stepped and pushed her away. She stumbled, and Aila returned her attention to Movarth. She reached him and placed her foot over his chest to still him. Then she raised her sword and plunged it into his heart.

"No!" Alva screamed behind her, but it was too late. Movarth's flailing stopped, and he was dead.

Aila pulled her sword free and took a step back as a sudden wave of exhaustion came over her. She gripped her bleeding shoulder, idly wondering if it was as bad as it felt. Her limbs felt like lead, her arm was stinging, her stomach was aching, and her head was pounding.

She suddenly remembered Alva and whirled around, but Alva was on her knees, too distraught to even move. Aila breathed, looking at her wounded shoulder. It was bleeding a lot. The blood was soaking through her armour. That wasn't good. She needed to have it examined.

She looked again at Alva, contemplating. She seemed like she was sobbing, but no tears were coming out. Can vampires even cry?

Eventually Aila spoke up. "I'm almost tempted to let you go."

Her voice startled Alva out of her despair, and she looked at her with a glint of hope in her red eyes, but it was gone again when Aila grabbed her bow.

"But then I remember that you're the one responsible for Helgi's death and…" her grip on her bow tightened unconsciously. "And I just can't forgive that." She nocked an arrow and aimed for Alva. "So just… don't move and it won't hurt."

Aila saw the look of fear flash across her face, but for whatever reason she stayed still and just shut her eyes tightly. That almost made Aila feel worse. It would have been easier it she fought back. She pulled back on the arrow slowly, ignoring the pain it caused her shoulder, and aimed carefully. She released the arrow with a thwack and Alva fell backwards with and arrow in her head.

Aila sighed deeply and put her bow back. She took one last look around the cave to see if she missed anything … anyone. Seeing nothing, she wasted no more time in this gods forsaken cave and made her way out, doing her best to ignore both the corpses, and the fact that she made them.

But as she neared the cave's entrance, one more light suddenly appeared in front of her. This one wasn't blue or red, it was purple. Its sudden appearance startled Aila, and it took her a moment to look past the light to see who it was.

"Helgi!" Aila shouted, running to the ghost girl and kneeling down in front of her.

Helgi did something unexpected then. She jumped forward and wrapped her little arms around Aila. "Thank you, Aila," she whispered.

Aila was surprised, but she gladly hugged her back. "F-for what?" Aila asked, though she had an idea.

"For making mommy happy. But she's calling me now. I have to go. I'm so tired. Say goodbye to Kathryn for me," Helgi said as she began to fade away again.

"I-I will," Aila choked out. She hugged Helgi tighter, as if it would make her stay. "Goodbye, Helgi."

"Goodbye, Aila," was the last thing she said before she was gone forever.

Aila was still a while longer as she struggled to get her emotions under control. She wasn't sure when she got so attached to Helgi, but she had, and it was hard to let go.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she stood at last and exited the cave.

The trek back to Morthal wasn't long, but with her shoulder and arm bleeding out, Aila jogged back, even if the effort made her want to pass out. As she neared the city, several lights began to pop up, and Aila realized her Shout was still active. Huh… How do I turn this thing off? She figured it would fade away, like the others, but if that was the case it would've done so by now.

It was interesting, though, seeing all the little lights shuffle about their business. However, most were still, probably because they were sleeping.

Aila approached the Longhouse, glad to see shapes still moving inside. She swung open the doors and walked in. She felt several pairs of eyes on her dirty and bloodied figure as she walked up to the Jarl. The first one to break the silence was, unfortunately, Garn. Gorm. Whatever.

He burst out laughing. "What, don't tell me the bloodsucker was too much for a little elf like you! He bloodies you up a bit and you come running back-" Then he noticed Aila's hard glare and shut up quick. Unfortunately, he had already managed to piss Aila off.

"If you say one more word, I'll cut out your tongue," she threatened.

He only gulped and nodded.

Aila sighed irritably and turned to the Jarl, who had finally decided to speak up.

"You've returned battered and bloody, but with good news, I hope?"

"Yes," Aila said. "Movarth is dead. As is Alva, and two other vampires hiding out with them. Oh, and their thralls."

Garn turned so pale at her words, she might have thought he was a vampire himself if not for his blue light. It was actually rather amusing to see a big and burly Nord like him glow like a fairy. She felt her lips twitch at that, but she forced herself not to smile, knowing they would take it the wrong way.

The Jarl's eyes widened at the information. "There were more of them?"

"Yes. They weren't any trouble, though. Movarth was the one that gave me these." She gestured to her wounds.

"What do you mean?"

Aila raised an eyebrow, wondering what it was about her explanation that was confusing. She pointed to her arm. "This," she said. "Was for being too slow." She lifted the armour around her torso a bit to show the blackening bruise on her stomach. "This was for getting distracted." She lowered her armour back into place and pointed to her shoulder. "And this…" She paused. "Well, this one wasn't really my fault."

The Jarl shook her head. "No, I meant… I just find it hard to believe you managed to singlehandedly eliminate a coven of vampire with minimal trouble. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you're not dead."

Aila just shrugged, and nearly winced at the pain it caused her shoulder. "I don't really care what you think," Aila told the Jarl honestly. "Go and check, if you don't believe me. Either way, they're dead. Now if you'll excuse me, unless you'd like me to continue bleeding all over your floor, I need to go fetch some bandages."

"Yes, of course. My apologies. I'll have someone bring some right away. But first, you've done Morthal an invaluable service. Ask of me your reward, and I shall grant it."

"Reward?" Honestly, Aila hadn't even considered that she would be rewarded. She just wanted to avenge Helgi.

"Yes, a reward. Anything you desire, I shall give you."

"Anything?"

"Within reason, of course."

Aila considered for a moment. What did she want? Money? She made enough of that with the Guild. She didn't need a new weapon, hers worked fine. She could think of anything practical she wanted, but when she looked down at herself and saw her body covered in dirt and blood, she knew exactly what to ask for.

"I want a bath."

The Jarl gave her an odd look. "Excuse me?"

"I said I want a bath."

"No, I heard, it's just… You don't want anything-"

"Look, you asked me what I wanted, and I'm telling you I want a bath. If you can't give me that, I'll be on my way."

The Jarl looked at her incredulously. "As you wish, then." She turned to a nearby servant girl. "Take her to my private chambers. She can bathe there."

The girl nodded, "Yes, Milady," and went up to Aila. "If you'll follow me, please."

And about an hour later, Aila was soaking luxuriously in a tub of steaming water. The servant girl, whose name Aila learned was Rae, had already tended to her wounds. She poured healing potion on the bandages and wrapped them around her wounds. It was rather awkward for Aila, since she had to take off her armour so Rae could get to her shoulder, but she patched her up quickly and left her to bathe in peace.

Aila sighed and leaned back in the tub, savouring the heat. Normally she needed Kathryn to bathe with this sort of warmth. Of course this bath would've been infinitely better with Kathryn. Then again, if Kathryn was here, Aila might die of heat stroke.

Aila's eyes wandered and she let herself get distracted by all the lights in the city. She still hadn't figured out how to turn it off, but she kind of liked it. She only ever saw a few people at a time in a city, but now she could see everyone at once, and it made her think of just how full of life the world was. Everyone had their own place in the world, their own story.

Aila was pulled out of her musings when she noticed a light that stood out from the rest. It wasn't blue like the others, but not red either, or even purple. It was gold. Aila sat up straighter to get a better look. It was on its side, so whoever it was, was probably sleeping. Or trying to at least, they seemed to be shifting around and fidgeting a lot, sort of like Kathryn did on the few occasions she slept.

Wait… is that Kathryn? If humans were blue, vampires were red, and ghosts were purple, would werewolves be gold?

Eager to know, Aila hurried up and finished her bath. When she was done, she dressed herself and left the Longhouse, thanking the Jarl on the way out. She headed in the direction of the golden light, which turned out to be the inn. She stepped inside and saw that the light was inside her and Kathryn's room. It was her.

Aila approached and slowly pulled the door open. Kathryn was sleeping restlessly in the bed. Aila shut the door and went to sit down on the edge of the bed next to her. She admired her glowing figure as she tossed and turned, mumbling something she couldn't understand. She smiled when she heard her name. Deciding to join her, Aila stripped out of all her armour and underclothes and laid down next to Kathryn, who almost immediately turned and wrapped an arm around her, mumbling some more.

"Don't trust the unicorn," is what is sounded like.

Aila smiled in amusement. "And why not, love?" She whispered back.

More mumbling, and all Aila caught was, "Stole my cheese."

Aila giggled, letting herself sink into Kathryn's arms. "How despicable."

"Hmmmm…"

Aila closed her eyes and felt sleep begin to creep up on her. She yawned tiredly, glad to finally be back with Kathryn and trying not to think about the scolding she would get in the morning.