Cry of the Wolf [Awaiting Author]

[Thane]

Cry of the Wolf
by Andreas Yokadona

Editors note: Andreas is a Redguard mercenary who once served in the Imperial Legion. After being discharged he followed his brother, Tacitus, on hunts across Hammerfell. Their hunts brought them fame as warriors in Hammerfell and for many generations it was said that they had no equals, not even Dremora or Vampires possessed a threat to them. This tale by Andreas shows that, they did indeed, have an enemy who could defeat them.

"Run swiftly brother, the hounds are fleet of foot."

I glanced over at my brother and slowly nodded, not taking my eyes off his chiseled, resolute face. He stood there proud and bold, ready to face the fiercest demons these woods had to offer. A fortnight ago we had heard tales of man-sized hounds slaughtering Nords near a small, quaint town in eastern Skyrim. We prepared for the greatest hunt any man could wish for, we readied ourselves for the wolf hunt.
My time in the Legion as a scout allowed me to hone my skills as a tracker, so as we entered the village's vicinity, I managed to pick up several tracks. Tacitus had always been impressed with my talent at finding and understanding the meaning behind various animal prints. As I studied the earth, which was soft from the rain that had poured on Skyrim this summer, I received excellent opportunities to test my abilities.
I gestured at the tracks and spoke, "Tacitus, look here. This creature is very large, I'd say near twice my height."
Tacitus replied in his gravelly voice, "Tell me brother, how do you know this? I see prints; I do not see the creature before me."
I stood next to the nearest paw print and stepped, my stride was just over half the length of the creature's stride. Tacitus looks at me, his eyes twinkling. "See," I said, "It's all a matter of understanding the basics of tracking." His eyes were still twinkling and he grinned.
"What if it jumped?"
It was my turn to laugh. I took a short run and jumped. My footsteps left obvious marks on the ground the deepest being the one left when I leapt. "You push down so much when you jump with such force that footprints become deeper." Waving my hand at the creature's prints I spoke again, "Those footprints remain at a relatively equal depth, I see no evidence that we are dealing with a minute creature that jumped."
Tacitus's reply was laconic, "A beast that large, by the gods!"
"We're all by the gods, Tacitus."
"Andreas, you worship the Divines. They smile on you. None smile on me. I fear."
I shook my head and stared at my brother in confusion, what does he mean?

A few days later,

Our hunts had been unsuccessful up to this day. I am of the belief the creature has been preying on other towns in this area. Two nights ago Tacitus caught a glimpse of a large fur-covered beast in the woods outside Snowmane's Inn. We went to investigate after dawn and found tufts of dirty gray fur in the area. The villagers we have spoken with have provided no information and will no allow us to look at the corpses of those mauled by our prey. Memo: If the creature we hunt is a man-wolf it is possible those that were 'killed' were only wounded. If that is the case I fear we will be facing as many as a dozen of these man-wolfs in a few nights. Only Snowmane has delivered any information or theories on who the beast is (if it is a man-wolf) or where its lair is. He told us of a cave near not far from here, to the west and claims that it has been a haven for all types of foul beings. I believe him because he showed me a book documenting a vampire hunt that took place before Uriel the VII was crowned Emperor. Tacitus and I plan to raid the cave at noon, since noon is the time Daedra and undead are weakest.

Later that day,

We entered the cave slowly, Tacitus in the lead with his ebony scimitar drawn and gleaming in the flickering light of the torch I carried. After we entered I ripped the door at the entrance off its hinges and it shattered on the ground. Tacitus pulled out various alchemic ingredients from a small brown sack and poured them on the threshold to keep demonic forces out of the cave.
After the wolfsbane was laid out, Tacitus handed a silver spear to me. "This will go well with those darts you purchased in Cyrodil," he said. I ran my fingers over those silver darts strapped onto my belt and smiled the grim smile of one courting death. With the formalities over we continued our journey into the cave.
We proceeded for several minutes before finding any rooms or caverns connected to the tunnel we entered. In the dark, I heard Tacitus fiddle with a lock and the click as he successfully picked it and dropped it on the ground. The door creaked open and a dull, reddish light filled the tunnel. I coughed and covered my face, my hacking worsened, my senses dimmed, the cold dark embraced me.

I awoke with a skull-splitting headache and rose onto my knees and vomited. Something to my right moved, so I stood and brandished my blade. “Who goes there?â€Â￾ I cried. For an answer a yellow light flooded the room and I saw Tacitus holding a torch digging through a coffin. I spoke to him, “What are you doing?â€Â￾
“Looking at these corpses. Come and see.â€Â￾
I walked over, glanced at the corpse, and vomited again. “By the divines, what happened?â€Â￾
Tacitus’ reply was brief, “Wolves.â€Â￾
“Where?â€Â￾
He leaned towards me and beckoned me closer. The whispered words he spoke were filled with desperation and agony, “The beasts… they are… here.â€Â￾
I leapt back and gripped my sword firmly. Tacitus just stared at me, his face pale and gaunt. Frustrated with his indifference I screamed at him, “What are you doing?! We must move-now!â€Â￾ I tossed a cuirass and greaves to him and he pulled them on, fastidiously securing the straps and buckles on his armor. With a torch in one hand and my silver blade gleaming in the other I stepped out of the cavern and into the tunnel that we had entered long ago.
The caves were dark, night was upon us. A pale moon hung in the sky. To my horror a crimson one glowed behind it. I shivered as howls filled the night. Turning around I saw Tacitus walking out of the cave and turn to his right. He stood frozen, like a man who has seen death’s dark face smile upon him. Suddenly a beast leapt from the surrounding woods and roared like a fiend from hell. It rushed at Tacitus, drooling and slashing monstrous jagged claws. Tacitus, wielding a spear, stabbed the creature in its face and I heard it let out a wounded cry. By now I was upon the beast and a slash of my sword slit the belly of the creature open. The thing fell, dead, to the ground.
“Tacitus, are you injured?â€Â￾
He screamed in terror at me, “Injured? Are you crazy? What are we doing here?â€Â￾ Weeping, he fell to his knees. His voice was pale and weak, “Do you not see? These fiends can kill us, that much is obvious. But if we cut by the claws of these fiends, we become like them; soulless monsters that must feast on mortal flesh every night.â€Â￾
I was stunned, my brother had always been the strong one, the brave one, and now, now he is weeping at my feet like a Khajit caught stealing. It would be laughable if the situation was not so dire. As a poet once said, “He who laughs at danger is on who does not know danger.â€Â￾ I knew the danger before us, these beasts; they hunt in packs of as many two dozen. This hunt was foolish, idiotic, but worst of all, it was suicidal.

I walked over to Tacitus and pulled him up off the ground. He stood and shook his head while running his fingers through his hair. When he spoke his voice was calmer, “Brother, I’m sorry, we will make it.â€Â￾ He put a heavy hand on my shoulder and smiled, “Yes, these creatures are no match for the two of us.â€Â￾

“Good, let’s head back to the town.â€Â￾

For nearly an hour we walked, our feet pounding on the frozen ground of Skyrim. The air gradually chilled and to my amazement snow began to fall. The flakes reflected the crimson color of the blood moon and in minutes the woods were filled with a surreal and macabre ruby red light. It was several moments before I realized the snow had stopped and that we were now leaving tracks.
Tacitus’ eyes widened as he glanced to our rear and saw several large silhouettes following our path. His hand gripped his bow and with lightning speed he had an arrow on the string. A quick flit sound filled the air followed by a howl as a creature collapsed. The beast’s companions rushed us with the speed of demons, but our arrows thinned their ranks. As I reached back to my quiver for another bolt I heard Tacitus shout, “Andreas, my quiver is empty! Run!â€Â￾

We Redguards are swift runners and blessed with great endurance. It was once said that only Khajiit could match our race’s speed. We, being superior athletes, were more than capable of leading the hounds on a desperate chase. Our feet pounded on the slippery snow covered earth as the howls of our stalkers followed behind. Within a few minutes a stitch developed in my side, but the town was now visible. The hounds were gaining on us, but not by much. As we neared the outskirts my heart leapt into my throat. Standing near the town center were man-wolfs, one of which must have been the pack leader, the alpha male. It was a fiend that stood over twice my height and its blood red eyes shone like hell fire in the night.

At my side Tacitus began to swear. I was dimly aware that he stopped running and for a moment I thought he was leaving me for the wolves. With fear clouding my vision I collapsed. I looked back and saw Tacitus in sword-to-claw combat with the wolves that had been chasing us. He fought like a madman, his sword flashing back and forth with a brutal skill that slowly dismembered his foes. Recently severed limbs bled on the ground around him. One by one each beast fell, defeated and dead.

Seeing him fight fortified my courage and I rose to face the alpha wolf. With a massive silver claymore in my hands I roared and charged at my adversary, swinging the blade with a strength I had never felt before. The blow that I hammered onto the beast’s skull would have split a human skull in two; against the beast it did nothing. The creature growled at me and slashed at my face, but I leapt back and attempted to impale my blade through the soft flesh of its abdomen. My attack did naught but scratch it. A brutal backhand from the fiend shattered my nose and sent my broken body to the ground.

As I lay in a pool of my own blood the creature stepped over me, forever snarling and growling. Snapping its jaws it readied for the killing blow. I gripped a small silver dagger and readied to greet death and take this monster with me.

As it leaned towards me I heard Tacitus yell and sensed a spell of phenomenal power soar over my face and tear into the beast’s flesh. Rising, I stared at the brute now writhing and howling as it burned to a crisp. The two other man-wolves that had accompanied the alpha wolf sprinted into the woods, but fell as arrows stuck into their backs. I stood and saw Tacitus standing, still aiming his bow in their direction. His face and torso were shredded and oozing droplets of blood. As he saw me rise, he smiled, “Well, we have won.â€Â￾
“Tacitus, you’re dying.â€Â￾
He dropped his bow and tenderly lifted his hands to the wounds on his face and chest.
“Yes, I suppose I am.â€Â￾ He laughed and sat down.
“My god, Tacitus!â€Â￾
“It’s better this way,â€Â￾ he said, “if I lived I would become like them.â€Â￾ He pointed at the corpses that littered the streets. He looked down and let out a sigh. His eyes dimmed.
“Goodbye, Andreas.â€Â￾
I fell to the ground, my head in my hands, and wept uncontrollably.
The sun slowly rose and filled the morning with a bright and cheerful light.

“Yes, they are fleet of foot. Will they catch us?â€Â￾

“Does it matter? Death always knocks.â€Â￾

“It does not matter. Nothing can stop us.â€Â￾

[Xui'al]

This needs some fixing in terms of lore. Since Thane is gone does anyone want to do this book?