Mori watched Bjorn fill the newly placed storage in their cellar. When he finished with one pile of things and went for another, she brought the last remaining stock from outside.
"What does a thane do?" she asked as she finished putting the things down.
"Well, that partially depends on the jarl," Bjorn stretched and groaned. "Thane is a sworn man or woman, holding lands. There are some things you need to do for the jarl. Like pay taxes." He thought for a while. "You could say I'm a chief of a village and I need to obey the jarl, but can run my village as I want."
"But you have no village."
"Yet," he flashed a blinding smile. "I do intend to start one."
"So why were you doing those things outside? Did the jarl send you on tasks?"
"You mean the bandit killing?"
"And hunting. Helping farmers and foresters."
"The bandits were a task, yes. I did the others to, first - help people so they get to know me and like me more, second - to make some money."
Mori thought for a little. "Greta the goatherd wanted to come here," she said in the end.
"The fine lady you talk with?" Bjorn wiped his hands. "I'll come with you next time. We can have a chat about it."
They walked out of the house. For now, Lakeview was just the house and a walled yard. There was enough space for another small house in the walled area, but probably not for a herd of goats.
"I've been thinking," he started after a moment of observing their surroundings, "you can talk to animals, yes?"
"Not talk. But you can simplify it like that."
"Well, could you for example tell goats to graze around freely but come back for the night?"
"I could. But the stall for them would need to be nice and safe. Otherwise I'd have to call them every evening."
"Could you also keep wolves away from them?"
"I could," she frowned, "but I won't."
"Natural balance, huh? Understandable. How about horses? Do you know anything about horses?"
"Not really," she looked up at him. "But I believe you intend for me to learn, no?"
"Sure I do," he grinned. "My pa used to keep horses. I plan to do the same, but with a little magical help from you, my dear witch."
XXX
"We sold off the last of our supply some time ago," Falco was sitting at a table in their room, papers strewn about. "Wouldn't hurt to go raid some places for more coin, since we need to build another house and some pastures. And stalls."
"Don't we have enough money?"
"For that? Yes. For running the household for more than a few months after? No. Especially since you made the deal with the horsemen from down south."
"We could clear Halldir's Cairn," Bjorn swiped some papers to reveal a map. "Right there. Remember? The jarl was concerned about it. There was also another case of restless dead, up on the mountain," he pointed out the places on the map.
Falco scratched his head. "Yes, but…we don't have our old group anymore."
"You have me," Mori's soft voice popped up from the side. The men jumped. They thought they were alone in the room.
Both the witches were present, sitting on the floor, staring at them with their strangely colored eyes, large in their thin faces.
"Mara's tits, when did you get in here?" Falco said a little bit too loudly, straining clear in his voice.
"We went with you," Mori tilted her head. She reminded Falco of an owl. "Didn't you see us? You talked about the future of this place. We wanted to hear."
"You can't just barge in."
"You didn't object to us coming," Mori frowned a little. "We are a pack now. We need to know. We take care of our own. And you take care of us."
"Little spirit," Bjorn sat down next to the girls, "of course we are a team. But the rules here are a little different from what you are used to. Falco here wants to tell you that you need to catch our attention if we don't notice you. And that privacy is needed for each party."
"But we did everything together with Orgoch," Yvaine piped in. "Isn't it how you make things work the best?"
"Yes, in theory," Bjorn nodded, "but it works little differently among stone house people." He tapped the floor, thinking. "Remember? We don't ask about the wyrd things. You don't barge into our private room without letting us know."
The witches shared a look. They turned back to Bjorn and nodded slightly.
"But you need to let us know things," Mori objected. "How else are we to help?"
"Tiber is sad," Yvaine pulled the doll from somewhere in her many-layered dress. "He wanted to be of use too."
Falco's facial expression softened. He joined the three on the floor. "You are very much of use, both-no, all three of you. Didn't you make the cellar for all of us? Didn't Tiber tell you about the shiny rocks? And didn't you house and feed us while we were building the house?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's just…you're so young. You shouldn't need to be bothered with these things. We should be taking care of you."
The witches turned to stare at him.
"I kill hagravens," Mori said in the end.
Bjorn's brows went up.
"I'm not saying you're not good enough," Falco waved his hands, flustered. "I'm saying you shouldn't have to do those things. You have us to take care of you, like you said."
Yvaine looked at Mori. The older witch looked back. They communicated through the smallest of facial expressions. The men couldn't really read them, because they were small, fast and somewhat different from what they were used to.
In the end, Yvaine hugged her doll. "Yes. But we take care of each other."
"If you die, they will chase us out," Mori bared her teeth. Have they always been so sharp? Falco felt shivers run down his spine. She hid the teeth behind her lips again, and her face turned more worried, shy even. "We don't want to be alone," she said softly, "and you are nice."
Falco and Bjorn exchanged looks.
"I, for one," the Nord stretched, "am very interested in those hag slaying skills, little spirit."
"But you and Tiber must stay, to watch over our home," Falco added hurriedly, looking at Yvaine. "Let's ask this goatherd friend of yours to stay with you, to keep you company
Yvaine grinned. "I'm a house guardian!"
"No blood runes and intestine ritual circles," Mori tapped the ground before Yvaine's grossed legs.
"You're no fun," Yvaine pouted. "Can I at least mount a goat head on top of the wall?"
"One. And take it down once we get back."
XXX
"You're going to take care of Halldir's Cairn?" jarl Dengeir looked at Bjorn with scepticism.
"That's the plan."
"Just you?"
"Got a party."
The jarl's hand tapping on the throne stopped moving. "Alright. I'll sell your plot to the next person after you die, then."
"And if I come back?"
"You can have the reward offered and more."
"I'll keep you to that, my jarl. Expect my return," Bjorn bowed.
XXX
"How does she even know these?" Falco whispered to Bjorn. They were following Mori through the woods, trekking up hidden animal trails.
"You do not ask about wyrd things," Bjorn lowered his voice as well. "Look up."
As he did, Falco spotted a raven flying above. They heard crowing before, but he paid it no heed, as corvids were aplenty around these woods.
"Is she talking with them?"
Bjorn gave him a look. "Do not ask about the wyrd."
XXX
When they camped among snowy trees, after she had prepared the fire, Mori would go beyond the edge of light and sing quietly. The tune was haunting. She circled the camp a few times, making it even more eerie.
Hungry wolves never strayed to their camp.
Falco had been prepared to fend off at least a few attempts, but they never came. Only howls could be heard at a distance.
Every night she would sing, in the unknown language of the Reach with its bewitching lilt.
She would come to curl into a ball on her side of the fire after the song ended. When Falco went to look in the morning, he would find at least one small bundle of feathers, sticks or herbs, put together into a shape he didn't understand.
XXX
They arrived quite a number of days earlier than Bjorn had thought. The cairn was tucked in the wilderness, an unsuspecting forgotten place.
But even he, when they arrived, could feel something off.
Mori was putting jewellery on. Bracelets and amulets, some of them hanging from her belt. All of them were made of wood, leather and animal parts, like fangs, claws, feathers or antlers.
He and Falco exchanged a look.
Mori noticed. She tilted her head, but offered no explanations.
Bjorn shook his head, rolled his shoulders and huffed. "Time to go in."
The moment they went further in, Mori started fidgeting.
"What's wrong, little witch?"
"Loud, so loud, there's something too loud," she winced and covered her head.
Falco took his heavy fur lined hat off. "Here, put this on, it will muffle noises a bit. Tie it under your chin, so it covers your ears."
She hesitantly accepted, looking at him with wide eyes. He smiled encouragingly, then put a helmet on.
She did as advised. Not long after they discovered the source of mystery noise only she could hear - an eerie pillar of flaming blue light, coming from a small stone cairn.
Now the men could hear the noise - tingly, never ending fluctuating whishing. Unpleasant.
Mori was pulling the hat lower, covering her ears.
"Dead bodies strewn about, weird lights, cartloads of mushrooms…is this wyrd matter, little witch?"
"No!" she cried. "Unnatural!"
"There's a book and a key over there," Falco had surveyed the area already. "Let's go beyond the door and read it."
Once they closed the heavy metal door behind them, Falco handed the journal to Bjorn. He turned to Mori. "Any better?"
"A little bit," she nodded. She was trying to look unfazed, but Falco could see the strain.
"If it becomes unbearable, let me know," he squeezed her shoulder gently, "I think I have cotton pads with me."
"I don't like this," Bjorn grumbled. He had sifted through the journal. "Looks like there is some sort of mind altering magic if you stay here for too long. Drives you to kill yourself on the cairn."
"Let's go, then. The less time here the better."
XXX
First they found ghosts.
As the men fought, switching to a different set of weapons for ghosts, they heard the fluttering of wings. Out of nowhere, spirit-like birds descended, distracting the ghost.
That made the dispatching of it easy.
As they continued through the dungeon, Mori either used the ethereal birds to distract their enemies, or joined the fight with just as ethereal claws covering her hands.
Bjorn and Falco hardly got any injuries.
The redhead laughed as they stopped for a little rest while Mori carefully harvested the ectoplasm left after the ghosts.
"I'm starting to really like those wyrd things!"
XXX
At the end, many ghosts and draugr slain, traps avoided, chests opened and their packs filled with various loot, they found a large chamber.
The moment they stepped in, a gate fell down, locking them in.
"On your guard," Bjorn raised his large shield. The same column of light from earlier was reaching up here, casting an eerie blue hue on the dim chamber. It was coming through a closed grate in the floor.
On that grate an ethereal figure stood.
Usually ghosts retained mostly human-like form, but this one…this one looked like a draugr.
It stepped down from the light.
Falco backed away, drawing his bow.
The revenant lurched forward, swinging an axe, just as ethereal as itself, at Bjorn.
Falco's arrows flew.
They crossed the ghostly body, left on the other side and clanged on the floor. The revenant didn't even falter.
Bjorn blocked with his shield. The ethereal axe went through the upper layer, leaving a deep gash.
Bjorn dropped his weapon and reached for a saex on his belt. Its silvered blade shimmered in the blue light.
The revenant stuck its face over Bjorn's shield, jaws open.
Bjorn stabbed.
The blade stuck. The creature screeched, backing away violently. As it did, its hands pulled Bjorn's shield, making him stagger.
Falco sprinted into the opening, slashing with a gladius. This weapon too had a silvery bright blade. He spun around the monster, assaulting it with numerous quick slashes, giving Bjorn time to find balance.
The revenant growled unknown words. It opened its empty maw in a silent screech and fires sprung from its body, swirling around in a blazing tornado.
Falco was quick to retreat. Bjorn, not so much.
But before any of them could react to the fiery death nearing him, a giant spectral shell of a crab appeared in front of him. The flames hit it, splashed and blazed around.
Not a single lick of fire got to Bjorn. Only immense heat.
Both flames and shell faded into nothing.
The revenant made a hollow sound.
"Dún do bhéal!" Mori screeched on the top of her lungs. She ran through the room, bared teeth prolonging into fangs.
She leapt, her arms covered in ethereal claws.
The revenant swatted her away with ease. She hit the wall and rolled on the floor.
"Mori!" Falco moved to run to her. The revenant blocked his way. Falco slid to the side, desperately trying to avoid a hit and land his own.
He managed to land a scrape. In turn, the revenant cut the back of his studded armor open.
The hit sent Falco stumbling to the ground. The undead thing was much stronger than the dried out ethereal husk of a body betrayed.
He rolled to his back, facing the thing.
Before it could attempt to cut him open, Bjorn charged, splitting its head with the saex.
As the revenant slowly dissolved, Bjorn knelt to Falco.
"No, don't-" Falco grabbed him and pulled.
A hit from an ethereal axe landed on the ground. It would have bit into Bjorn's neck.
"What the?" Bjorn turned to face the new revenant as the first still shimmered faintly, dispersing on the floor.
The revenant gave out a hollow gurgle. It raised its dried hand. A bolt of lightning crackled.
There was no time. Bjorn moved in front of Falco, raising his shield.
Runes on the shield lit up as the bolt hit. It didn't break the spell, but lessened it somewhat.
It still threw Bjorn up in the air, slamming him against the wall.
Thunder rolled in.
Falco swung the gladius. It bit into the revenant's leg.
The undead looked down. It growled. It kicked Falco hard to the head, then stomped on his wrist, breaking it.
He cried out in pain.
The revenant chuckled. A hefty kick to the ribs made a few of them crack.
Bjorn charged in. The revenant stepped aside, forcing him to jump over injured Falco. Then it reached down, pulled Falco up by the throat and slung him at Bjorn, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
It lifted its hand again, lightning crackling.
Bjorn tried to cover Falco's body with his.
The revenant laughed.
And then a massive leopard tackled it to the ground.
As they rolled, the leopard remained on top, slashing with shimmering claws looking like a starlit sky.
They left deep gashes.
The revenant screeched, releasing a wave of flames. The leopard leapt away, springing into the air like a housecat. It landed, immediately breaking into a full sprint. The revenant screeched once more. Reaching out a withered hand, it started shooting lightning bolts.
The cat's reflexes were incredible. Avoiding the bolts by amazing feats of feline acrobacy, it sped around the grate, aiming for the revenant again.
Two jets of flames shot out of the revenant's hand.
The leopard leapt.
It twisted in the air, sliding through the slight opening between the roaring flames. It landed on the revenant, knocking it down once more. A low growl and a snap of jaws. In a last ditch effort, the revenant clawed at the cat, leaving bloody gashes on its ribs.
The light in its eyes dimmed.
The leopard leapt again, narrowly avoiding an icicle blade that came flying from the side. There was a throne in the back of the chamber, and a third revenant had just risen from the seat.
It raised its sword, jagged and frosty. A barrage of icicles arose from behind it.
The leopard ran to the side. First of the icicles shot forward. One of them shattered on the ground close to Bjorn, showering him in ice shards.
The revenant kept turning after the leopard, speeding up. The barrage turned with its master, going away from the men lying on the ground.
The cat attempted another neck snap.
The revenant managed to dodge, and as the leopard's body flew by, it slashed with the sword and summoned a frosty gale with the empty hand.
The leopard used its momentum to jump up on a pillar. From there, it bounced back, attacking from a different angle.
The revenant turned, releasing a stream of freezing air at the leopard. The cat got hit. Crystals of ice encased its fur.
But it was not enough to stop the momentum behind all that weight. The leopard landed, its claws and fangs bare and aglow.
A loud snap could be heard as the revenant buckled under the cat's weight.
The room grew quiet.
The leopard's muscles stayed tense, ears twitching. The tip of its tail moved from side to side. The whining pillar of blue light dispersed, leaving silence behind.
Finally, the leopard relaxed, turning towards the men.
Bjorn looked into the onyx eyes. It's pretty clear that's her, his thoughts danced wildly, but how does it work? Is she like werewolves? Does she know what she's doing?
Leopard-Mori walked over to them. As she neared, Bjorn grabbed his saex and angled it along the shield.
She stopped.
Did her eyes turn…pained?
Her tail swished from side to side. She took a few more steps, lowering her head. She gave a deep, low growl.
Bjorn tensed.
"Let her," Falco groaned.
"But-"
"Let her!"
Bjorn grumbled, but obeyed. He moved out of the way, staying close.
Mori walked up to Falco. By the size of her, if she wished, she could just crush the man's rib cage in.
She inspected him, sniffing and mrowing as she did. Her tail swished again, then again.
She raised her paw, claws retracted. She bit it.
Bjorn flinched at the pain that must have caused.
Bright red blood dripped down the leg, trickling on the paw. Mori put the paw on Falco's chest ever so gently, leaving a bloody print right in the middle. Then she did the same with his wrist. Next, she touched his face. And then the ground above his head.
The left the paw there and plopped down on the ground next to Falco, putting her head on his shoulder. She started purring, making a deep, rumbling and slightly disturbing noise.
The bloody paw prints slowly lit up. The blood turned a deep hue of blue, like that of the night sky, and small dots of starlight soon appeared on it. The tone of the purring changed, then slowly trickled into a melody.
A melody, Bjorn realised, that was familiar. He heard it when she first healed him, during their encounter in the forest. She didn't really sing it out loud like now, but he heard it as it had resonated through his body, knitting it back together.
He watched Falco wince, then relax as the light slowly dissipated into nothing, not leaving even the bloody paw print behind.
Mori grumbled, got up and swished her tail once more.
Falco looked at his wrist in awe. He moved it. He took a deep breath. Went without a hitch.
He let out a relieved laugh, then hugged Mori's head. "Thank you!"
She looked startled for a moment, but then a surprising amount of vulnerability showed on her feline face. She mrowed again, bumping him gently. Then she slipped out of his hug and limped towards a pile of clothes forgotten on the floor.
Falco pushed himself up.
Both he and Bjorn watched as the massive body of a cat, almost in the blink of an eye, shifted back to that of a teenage girl.
Naked and covered in bloody gashes.
She crouched by her things and started rummaging through the pile. In the end, she pulled out an ointment both of the men had come to know well.
"Can't you heal yourself too?" Falco asked.
She looked over her shoulder. "No," her voice sounded a little bit sad, "not me. You can't use your own blood for healing runes on yourself. I am not great with the usual healing. Orgoch was the one good at that. And I don't have the things needed to perform herbal based rune-healing on myself."
Falco walked over, since she seemed unbothered with being exposed. "Let me help you," he sat down and reached his hand for the ointment. "Your sides are full of cuts."
Again, she hesitated for a split moment. Then she released her grip on the dose of ointment.
He applied it, then took bandages out. "Why didn't you bring the materials?"
She shrugged. "Didn't think I'd need them."
"Why didn't you do the cat thing earlier?" Bjorn huffed.
She turned her gaze to him, holding it silently for uncomfortably long. "Because I didn't want you to know."
"Why?" Falco asked.
"He's going to ask me to do things I don't want to do. Like asking me if I can turn into a horse to carry you two back. I cannot," she narrowed her eyes at Bjorn, slightly baring her teeth.
"You won't have to do anything you don't want to," Falco reassured her, patting her shoulder gently. He shot a warning look to Bjorn.
XXX
"Why wouldn't you-"
"She has been through enough," Falco cut in. "And lower your voice. She's finally sleeping."
Bjorn huffed again, adding some wood to the fire. They had made camp further away from the tomb, after picking all the mushrooms Mori wanted from the antechamber.
"And why are you so invested now, hm? I remember you not liking the witches."
"People are allowed to learn and change their opinions, you know," Falco raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you use to think I was a filthy street rat?"
"True," Bjorn gave up.
"They're our people now. And they're just girls. We need to take care of them."
Bjorn grinned. "Is that your mother hen aspect speaking?"
"What if it is," Falco waved his hand, slightly annoyed. "Did you look? She had scars all over her forearms. She's been doing this a lot. And her belly! Did you see? There were cuts so large the two of us couldn't compete, dear Mara!"
"She did say she was used to killing hagravens. They go for the stomach first. To make you watch as your guts spill out."
"That's no life for a young girl, witch or no," Falco frowned. "That's no life for anyone."
"You can't save every child in bad circumstances, Falco."
"No," he shook his curly head, "but I can help this one. And Yvaine too."
XXX
The looks of Mori's magics are quite a lot inspired by ESO warden spells, but with my own take to it. The plant spells look nice and ethereal, didn't think it would be too great to use the beast spells as actual summons, so I made them into a spell effect only. And to limit it a little, she has to have a sort of a charm to use specific archetypes.