[IC] Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

[EliteCommander]

With all six pack members working together, it was not long before they managed to pull away enough rock to form a hole in the wall large enough for them to get through, albeit one at time. Meesei crawled through first and immedaitely saw two spear wielding hunters directly in front of her. One tried to thrust his weapon towards her, but with surprising agility, Meesei leaped not at him, but to the right. She pushed off of the wall mid-air, redirecting herself towards him. She swatted his spear aside and pounced on top of him, ripping him to shreds with her claws.

The other hunter, a Breton woman, immediately tried to help her friend, but by this time, Lorag had made his way through the gap as well and jumped straight at her. She held her spear between them to try and keep him back, but after being tackled to the ground, Lorag bit the spear in half, then continued on to tear into her throat. They waited up for a moment for the others to get through, but then took off at full speed down the corridor. The caves were rather wide from that point on, with several more spacious chambers scattered throughout. After turning a corner, they began travelling alongside an underground stream, which had likely helped to form the cave system.

It was not long before they ran into a chamber that was not empty, and evidently, they had ran into it much sooner than the hunters had expected. Six of them were standing in a line similar to the shield wall they had faced before, but this time four had spears, and two only had longswords. The seventh individual, a scrawnly, young-looking Dunmer male was in front and appeared to be in the middle of setting up some type of trap. He did not complete his trap, however, as he glanced up and saw the pack of werewolves charging towards him before he could. He dropped everything he had and scrambled for the shield wall, but was far too slow to make it in time. Meesei, who was at the head of the pack, rushed up behind him and slammed him at full force into a stalagmite, shattering the rock formation, and half of his skeleton, all in one blow.

Meesei did not so much as slow down after killing the Dunmer and continued on towards the shield wall. The hunters prepared to gore her on their spears, but of course, she did not give them the opportunity. Just before she entered the range of their weapons, she ran partially up the side of a stone column that connected the ceiling and floor, then pushed off of it to leap straight over the heads of the hunters and landed safely behind them. The hunters were confused and split on which direction to face now that they were surrounded. The two on the far right tried to turn and face her, but were almost immediately pounced uponby Lorag, who had been just behind Meesei.

While Lorag was tearing into one of the hunters, Meesei crushed the head of the other he had tackled under her foot. The hunter directly beside them managed to slice Meecei while she was focused on finishing off the other, but she had managed to recoil far enough back beforehand that it only produced a minor wound across her chest. Meesei's attacker was focusing on trying to keep her back, but it would not likely matter. With four other werewolves attacking from the other side and the hunters surrounded, this engagement was going to be more of a slaughter than an actual fight. Even though they were in their home base, the hunters were out of their element. Without a well-laid trap in which to snare their prey, they were subject to the full strength and capabilities of Meesei's pack.

[Muttonhawk]

Their approach after breaching the walls was something more akin to a shock and awe approach than their previous tactic. All of them were in their beast forms and nothing was going to stop them catching up to the Orc hunter.

With the guards posted onto the rock wall being short work, they came across another formation. This time they didn't have high-ground archers stopping them, and Meesei had taken full advantage by compromising their line and causing their formation to break. It was a move that presented great risk to herself, as evidenced by the scratch she took across her front, but these hunters were not as disciplined as they needed to be to survive.

Fendros, Ahnasha, Janius and Sabine each picked their own target. With little chance of helping each other, the bouts ended with either the hunters' bodies being eviscerated by claws or ripped in some form by the pack's teeth. Courtesy of being injured, Janius' opponent managed to fend him off for a moment, but the hunter made the mistake of being too aggressive. Janius still held enough control over his mind to grab the man's spear and pull him up into the range of his other claw, resulting in the man's death. Sabine had decided to take a similar route to Meesei, but managed to reach a higher point and jump a little further in order to reach her target. The beleaguered swordswoman she landed on hardly had a chance as she had been attempting to defend herself from Ahnasha and Fendros with her remaining companions. The moment of distraction gave Ahnasha and Fendros the opportunity they needed to follow through and leap onto the remaining hunters.

With the fight over, Fendros couldn't help but think that maybe they were getting ahead of the hunters. There were a lot of them, evidently, but whatever they were trying to set up here, it either didn't trigger or didn't work. Without realising it, Fendros was falling for his own sense of security now. There was no time to reflect, however. They had to keep moving.

[EliteCommander]

At Meesei's lead, the group pressed on deeper into the caves. So far, no one had been seriously wounded, and they were moving like lighting towards their prey. The caves were expansive, but they were not limitless, as they had finally reached the final chamber, where the Orc was waiting. Meesei took in as much of her environment as possible as they ran in. Much like the last chamber, it was large, with columns of stone reaching from the floor to the ceiling. This chamber had quite a few more pieces of furniture, as well as crates of supplies on the right. On the left, the stream which ran through the cave led into a pool of water. There did not seem to be any obvious exits, though that did not mean there were no hidden ones.

The Orc was on the opposite side of the chamber, but there were only four other hunters, two on either side of him. They seemed to be waiting for them, which made Meesei immediately fear a trap. There was no turning back now, however; they had to strike. The pack charged towards the Orc, putting enough space between them to limit any collateral damage from enemy attacks. Unfortunately, it did not matter in what formation they traveled, as the Orc's ambush was something they never could have expected. Giving a simple nod, the Orc commanded two of his allies, both Dunmer mages, to enact his plan. They unleashed waves of telekinesis not at the werewolves charging them, but on a collection of barrels on either side of them. The barrels broke, shattering the flasks contained within them. A strange violet gas started to fill the entire chamber. To the Orc and his allies, it did nothing, but to the lycans, its effects were immediate. They each stopped in their tracks as pain overwhelmed them. Their bodies shifted and shrunk, their bones broke and reformed. Somehow, this gas was forcing them out of their lycan forms. It was something that was not meant to be possible. Over the course of thousands of years, no one had figured out a way to force transformations one way or another, apart from simply angering a lycan until they lost control. This did nothing to their emotions, however, it simply forced them back into their normal forms, regardless of anything they did to try and resist.

Meesei brought herself back up to her feet after being forced back into her Argonian form. She could hear the Orc laughing, taunting them in a display of his arrogant pride. He grinned as he looked over the group before him. "Did you honestly expect it to be that easy? Did you not think I would have plan if you got this far? Such arrogance."

"You should have killed us when you had the chance, Orc. We are not done yet." Meesei responded, intentionally trying to draw out the dialogue to allow her pack to recover and prepare themselves. Even in their current state, they were not defenseless. Meesei and Ahnasha were just as deadly now as they always were, and Meesei had taught each of the others how to summon at least one bound weapon.

"Ha! You think I'm afraid of a naked Argonian and her unarmed friends? No, you're going to pay for the disruption you've caused here. You killed most of my men, not that it really matters. Lord Vile will send me plenty more once I give him your souls. Don't worry though, I won't kill you immediately. No, I'm going to have fun with you. Immobilize them." The Orc ordered. The mages beside him charged, then released two glowing green orbs of alteration magic: paralysis spells. Meesei was quick with her response, however, and brought up a ward large enough to intercept both. A magical green mist filled the air in front of her ward, but none of her allies were affected. The Orc practically growled in anger. "Forget it, just kill them!" He shouted.

The Dunmer mages switched from alteration to destruction, releasing two powerful streams of fire towards Meesei's allies. She expanded her barrier to an impressive size to defend her pack, but it was not an easy spell to maintain alone. Meesei fell to her knees, holding her arms out and focusing entirely on her ward.

Ahnasha returned to her senses in the middle of the Orc's last little speech. He was indeed arrogant to think he could capture them all, but killing them was still definitely possible. Meesei was protecting them all from the destruction spells, but they would need to act quickly if they were going to prevent her barrier from falling. Luckily, Ahnasha was more than ready to assist. Conjuring a bound bow, she quickly nocked, then loosed an arrow at the mage on the left, demonstrating that the ward was in fact a one-way ward. The well-aimed arrow pierced straight through his heart, leaving little to guess as to what his fate would be.

Meanwhile, Lorag did his best to conjure up a weapon, as Meesei had taught him, but he was angry. He could hardly concentrate on anything other than how much he wanted that other Orc dead. After a few tries, he gave up and picked up a sizable rock from the ground beside him. He approached the edge of the ward and tossed it with all of his might at the mage on the right. He was going for the head, but ended up hitting her in the chest. Still, it was enough to knock the wind out of her and stop her from casting her spell.

Meesei lowered her ward once the spellfire ceased, prompting her pack to attack. Ahnasha had killed one mage, but there was still the other one, two warriors, an the Orc himself. If they were going to have any hope of winning this, they would need to take out his allies, then focus on the Orc. Meesei was magically exhausted, but she would still need to find some way to hold the Orc at bay while her pack took out his allies.

"For your honor, Lord Hircine." Meesei muttered as she stood to her feet, staring down the Orc before her.

[Muttonhawk]

The gas was a shock to Fendros' entire system. He stumbled to the ground as he felt the beast thrashing and rearing in his mind, before it fled like a dog from a whip. It was a few moments before he recovered and processed what had just happened. He was smaller. He looked down to his hands and found that he was in his Dunmer form again. Naked and unarmed, he suddenly felt very vulnerable against the Orc and his final cohort.

Meesei held back their magical assault and Ahnasha was still able to use her bound bow. That's right! Bound weapons! Fendros tried to calm himself for a moment to try and summon a bound dagger. It was difficult with all of the commotion.

Janius was in a similar position, but had recovered quicker than Fendros. He had looked around for anything he could use as a weapon. Spotting nothing viable, he decided to start using his own magics some more. He wouldn't bother with a bound weapon just yet. His fighting style was not nearly as effective without a shield as he would be just burning his opponents. With the mage out of action for the moment, Janius swept his arms in the air in front of him, releasing small fiery projectiles at one of the warriors. With his shield, the warrior was able to block each of the spells, but obscured his vision as Janius closed in with a deliberately paced walk. He would need to be covered, but as soon as he got close enough, he intended to cast flames over the hunter's entire body.

After several frustrating moments, Fendros finally managed to keep his bound dagger in Mundus in a state that he could use. The dagger was larger than most, so he could somewhat use it in a fight, but the warriors had better reach with their weapons and defending himself would be a significant challenge. He paced up to the second warrior, set to exploit his freedom of movement however he could. There was no obvious opening, no immediate way that Fendros could see how to get close without being hit himself. A a small combination of attacks from the warrior what Fendros barely managed to defend against before he broke off only brought the sense of urgency closer. At least the warrior was occupied, rather than interrupting Meesei, who appeared to be challenging the Orc directly.

Runt was nowhere to be seen, having slunk away in the initial mist. She knew that facing these opponents directly would not do any good. She was dangerous when unseen though.

[EliteCommander]

Lorag ran straight at the mage as Janius was going for the warrior beside her. Unfortunately, she had recovered from his strike before he reached her, so she was able to have a spell waiting for him. A stream of fire engulfed Lorag's upper body for a brief moment before he was upon her. Fueled by rage, he landed a punch square in the middle of her face, pressing the strength advantage he had over her. This of course interrupted her spell and landed her on her back, but she wasn't out of the fight yet, which was something Lorag needed to rectify. Picking up the very same rock he threw before, Lorag jumped on top of the Dunmer and smashed her repeatedly in the head with it until she stopped moving. Her skull was crushed and she was very clearly dead, but the effects of her attack were still lingering. Even a brief exposure to the flames had burned Lorag severely. Luckily, he wasn't actually on fire, but he sure felt like it. The burns covered most of his upper chest and right shoulder, and were excruciatingly painful.

Ahnasha dispelled her bow and replaced it with dual daggers before slipping behind a column of stone, then cloaking herself in invisibility. The closest enemy to her was the warrior Fendros was fighting, so he was now her target. Fendros was dodging his attacks as best as he could, but the warrior was more well-armed and had the advantage. His focus, however, would end up being his downfall. After Ahnasha moved behind him, it was a simple enough matter to plunge both of her daggers into his back, then kick him forward so Fendros could finish him off.

Meesei let the Orc attack first, which he was very willing to do. He thrust his spear forward with surprising speed, to the point that Meesei was barely able to sidestep in time. She grabbed on to the weapon's haft, but it seemed as if the Orc predicted that move, as, much to her surprise, he simply let go of the spear to move into his next attack. Dashing forward, he bashed Meesei in the upper body with his shield. In addition to the dizzyingly strong blunt force, the small spiked on the shield stabbed into her flesh at multiple points, from her upper chest to the side of her face. They were not silver tipped, but the wounds were still harmful. After she was thrown off balance, the Orc punched her in the stomach, causing her to lean forward on reflex. He then smashed her once again with the shield, this time in the back, knocking her to the ground and stabbing her in multiple places with the spikes. Once on the ground, he kicked her in the ribs at full force, which forced her to curl into a ball.

A confident grin came over the Orc's face as he reached for his sword, but somehow, Meesei found the strength to lash out once more. She rolled onto her back and unleashed a storm of lighting onto her foe. The bolts shot across his body, particularly to his sword due to its conductive nature. He was forced to drop the weapon and was recoiled back long enough for Meesei to shakily bring herself to her feet. The Orc still had his shield, along with plenty of knives and two shortswords, not to mention brute strength and immense skill, but the one thing he lacked was magical ability. Even when it seemed like she had nothing left, Meesei found the energy to press on. She hit him with another lightning bolt, then a fireball that impacted his shoulder. When he tried to rush her, she let loose a wave of frost that slowed him to nothing, along with freezing some of the water in his very skin, causing intense bleeding. Meesei's spells were weak, however, and the Orc did not fall. Rather, he just grew more angry. Meesei tried to force one more spell, but she had gone far past her limit, she had no more magicka to use. She was both mentally and physically exhausted, and her disorientation provided the Orc ample opportunity to strike. He picked up his spear as he moved past it, then thrust it towards her, seemingly unhindered by his injuries. Meesei attempted to move, but her reaction speed was dulled enough that it was unsuccessful. The Orc's spear pierced straight through her abdomen and out her back, impaling her on its haft. Lorag managed to tackle the Orc to the ground not moments later and caused him to lose his grip on the weapon, but the damage was already done. Meesei slumped over the ground, her heart pounding and her breathing becoming erratic. She was still able to breathe, and she could move all of her limbs, so her spine was intact, but it was impossible for the spear to not have pierced vital organs.

Meesei coughed up blood as she watched the struggle between Lorag and the Orc. She grasped the haft of the spear weakly in her hands. The pain going through her body was immense, but it was not over yet. While she still drew breath, it was not over. She had given her pack enough time to finish off the Orc's allies, and she herself did not intend to just roll over and die.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius' opponent was without help from his allies, but he was stubborn. When Janius got close enough to engulf the spearman in fire, he thrust his spear a number of times to keep him away. Janius had to back off, but the man fell shouted and fell forward. Behind him, Runt retracted the nail she had found from the behind the man's leg and pinned him for long enough to sink it into his torso. When she got up, Janius sent one last fireball spell upon him to keep him down.

With Ahnasha's help, Fendros was able to sidestep and swiftly pass his dagger across the wounded hunter's neck as he stumbled towards him from Ahnasha's kick. Looking around, Fendros saw the Orc struggling with a seemingly smoking Lorag, both of them enraged epitomes of strength and ferocity. Nearby, Fendros' stomach dropped as he saw Meesei on the ground with the Orc's spear running right through her. His eyes grew wide as his nightmares flashed back to him. He was frozen in place for a moment, there were no more of the Orc's followers to fight, all were dead or dying on the ground.

"Meesei, no!" Janius' reaction was for more pronounced. He looked to the Orc hunter with a fear and rage not normally seen outside of his beast form. He picked up the spear of his previous opponent and ran towards the Orc where Lorag and he were fighting and tried to thrust it into the Orc's side.

Sabine didn't betray much in her eyes, she was worried as well. In an instant, she was my Meesei's side, assessing the wound. They had left her potions further back down the tunnel when they transformed, what were they to do? The silver wound would not close easily even if she pulled out the spear, and in such a spot on her body... Sabine's pleading face shot up to Fendros and Ahnasha. "Potions!" Sabine shouted.

The shout snapped Fendros back into reality. He didn't need to be told what else to do. He sprinted back through the tunnels the way they came. It was a distance back, but he had to save Meesei. He ran as fast as he could, he didn't realise until then how unreal her death would seem. He couldn't let that happen.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei's surroundings seemed somewhat...faded. She had a hard time concentrating on anything, but she had to try. She focused on the haft of the spear jutting from her abdomen. Wrapping her hands around it, she focused what shrivel of magicka she had left into her hand, specifically into a spell of destruction. It was a pitiful display of magic fit for a child, but it was enough. The disintegration spell caused the wood to become brittle, enough that she was able to snap it with only a small amount of force. Now, only a short portion of the spear remained impaled through her, which she had no intention to remove. It was somewhat of a mercy that the silver spearhead had pierced all the way through her, as it was no longer harming her, and the haft itself was plugging the wound and preventing a lot of extra bleeding.

Even without their equipment, one would not assume that the Orc would be able to stand against three lycans at the same time, but there was a reason he was Clavicus Vile's champion. He threw Lorag off of him and scrambled quickly to his feet, drawing one of his shortswords. The Orc blocked Janius' spear with his shield, then twisted his arm around and grabbed a hold of the haft. At the same time, he predicted what Lorag would do next and swung his shortsword backwards, slicing him across his arm as he approached. The Orc yanked on the spear to pull Janius closter, then struck him with a bash from his shield and shoulder to throw him off balance and cause him to lose his grip on his weapon. He took another swing at Lorag , who ducked under the silver blade, but that provided the Orc with the opportunity to bring up his knee into Lorag's face.

In a display of near omniscience, the Orc recognized a faint glimmer in the air nearby and jumped back in time to evade a slash from Ahnasha's daggers. She appeared in front of him and tried to go for another slash, but he was able to sweep her legs and send her to the ground before she could. Janius had recovered by this point and responded with a destruction spell, this time an ice spike. With his lightning fast reflexes, the Orc was able to block it with his shield again, but this time, it shattered the battered shield into two pieces. Undeterred, the Orc grabbed a dagger from his bandolier between two fingers on his other hand while still holding his sword, then tossed it at Janius in a single, rapid motion. The dagger stuck into Janius' side; not a lethal hit, but the silver blade required his immediate attention. Almost on cue, Lorag managed to land a solid blow on the Orc's jaw, with his sheer strength stumbling him backwards. Lorag tried to grab for one of his knives while he was off-balance, but even while staggered, the Orc was able to attack. He delivered a kick to Lorag's shin that bent his leg back at an unnatural angle and broke his kneecap.

Ahnasha had brought herself back up to her feet, but just as before, the Orc saw her coming. He had an almost unnatural level of spacial awareness that allowed him to react quickly to his opponents' actions. This time, Ahnasha was actually able to slice into his arm with one of her daggers. The Orc lost his shortsword as a result, but that certainly did not mean he wasn't still deadly. The Orc delivered a kick to her chest, which pushed her back against the wall of the cave. While she was off balance, he grabbed both of her hands, then, using his superior strength, forced the two bound daggers from her hands. Once she was unarmed, he headbutted her, then grabbed her by the throat with both hands and pressed her against the wall. Ahnasha instinctively brought both of her hands to her neck to try and pull the Orc's hands apart as he was suffocating her, but she could not match his strength. She struggled and kicked at him, but she was getting nowhere. It seemed as if she was going to be strangled to death when she saw the strange, red-tinted glint of metal start to protrude from his chest, stopping just shy of her own fur.

The Orc released his grip on Ahnasha's throat, allowing her to take in a much-needed breath. The Orc had not expected Meesei to still be alive, let alone conscious. He had not thought to look at her during the fight, so he did not see when she slowly brought herself to her feet. He did not see when she nearly collapsed trying to pick up his silver longsword, only to press on through sheer force of will. He did not see her stumble towards him with his blade dragging across the floor behind her. He did not see when she impaled the blade through his spine, and due to his newly-acquire paralysis, he did not feel it either. The Orc collapsed to the ground, with Meesei dropping down to her hands and knees beside him. She rolled him onto his back to look into his eyes, then grabbed his hand and held it up in front of him. The last thing the Orc saw was Meesei slipping a ring, which bore an intricate carving of a wolf, off of his finger, then putting it onto her own.

Meesei collapsed beside the Orc. Despite their own injuries, the others gathered around her. She was still alive, but was barely hanging on by a thread. Even with the haft of the spear plugging her wound, she had lost a lot of blood. Without magical or alchemical assistance, her death was guaranteed, and even with it, survival would not be certain. Miraculously, through all the suffering and pain, Meesei was retaining consciousness. She started to speak up with a voice that was obviously weak, but despite her condition, despite how seemingly improbable her survival was, it carried the same firm confidence with which she always spoke. "Those...Dunmer mages should have...magicka potions. Bring them to me. Ahnasha...tear some cloth from these hunters' clothes to make...bandages. We will need them."

[Muttonhawk]

After a short time, Fendros emerged back into the chamber holding Sabine's bag in his hand. By its extra bulk it seemed that he had collected some of the healing potions they had left behind. He was patched in dirt from where he had crawled back through the hole in the cave in, some grazes that he suffered along the way were beginning to be healed over with regeneration. He ran up to where Meesei lay and slid to a stop on his knees, short of breath, and presented the bag to Sabine.

The scene was peaceful in comparison to how Fendros left it. The corpse of the Orc hunter was only a few feet away, everyone had gathered around Meesei. Lorag was burned and had spots of blood about him, but was healing. Janius clutched a small number of magicka potions in one hand and clutched a bleeding wound in his side with the other. Ahnasha appeared to be okay on the surface, apart from a few scratches, and was carefully pouring one of the magicka potions into Meesei's mouth. Meesei breathing was becoming laboured and she was barely conscious. Fendros hoped dearly that he wasn't too late.

Sabine passed the bandage cloth she was tearing over to Lorag and snatched her bag from Fendros' hands, opening it rummaging through, glass vials clinking. She produced a bottle that looked like a health potion, but was a deeper red colour. Gently leading Ahnasha's hand away, Sabine removed the stopper from the bottle and began to try to get Meesei to drink its contents.

"What is that?" Fendros whispered.

Sabine did not look up from her task, "regeneration." After some of the potion had been swallowed, Sabine pushed some of the strips of cloth that they had made into bandages towards Fendros and Ahnasha with a free hand. "Soak in healing potions, clean the wound. Don't use all of the potions."

Fendros curled his lips and did as he was told. Hopefully Meesei was still conscious enough to make use of the magicka potion that Ahnasha had administered. If I were better at magic, I might be able to help more, Fendros cursed himself in his mind. Anxiety was high, not one of them was going to let Meesei die after all they had just fought through. Not if they could help it.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei drank everything the others gave her, not particularly paying attention to their contents. The magicka potions reinvigorated her magical energy, while the health and regeneration potions at the very least picked up where her adrenaline was leaving off in terms of painkilling. Her lycan regeneration was ineffective against silver wounds, but the potion Sabine had given her was another matter. It would help her chances, if nothing else. As the others were preparing bandages, she poured as much restoration energy into herself as she could muster. Her focus was first on stopping the bleeding, but she could not truly do that until they had dealt with the spear wound.

"Okay, Sabine, I want you to get ready to pull the rest of the spear out of me. Just pull it quickly out of my back so the spearhead doesn't get in the way, and be careful not to touch it yourself." She said with an almost uneasy level of calm. Once Fendros had finished soaking one of the bandages in a healing potion, Sabine obeyed the command and slid the spear out of her Alpha's body. Meesei could not help but to cry out briefly in pain, despite the numbing sensation brought on by the potions. Blood quickly began to pour from the wound, which prompted Ahnasha to take the soaked bandages and wrap them quickly and tightly around Meesei's abdomen. There were other wounds across her body, but they were barely scratches by comparison, and most of them had already stopped bleeding.

At this point, physical exhaustion had caught up to Meesei. She had been pouring as much healing energy over herself as she could muster, but her wounds were not something that could be mended in only a few minutes or hours. With full alchemical aid, it would take days for her to recover from her grievous internal injuries, if she could even recover at all. Her chances were better than they had been five minutes ago, but there were still no guarantees. For now, getting some rest was likely her best option. Lorag was experienced enough with injuries to know this as well, so while the others had been bandaging her, he had limped over to the other side of the room and drug back a bedroll for her.

"There's no way she's going anywhere. We'll be staying here tonight. Get her on that bedroll, let her rest. She's healed herself as much as she can, and we've given her the potions. Resting would be the best thing for her now." Lorag said before going off on his own to deal with his own injuries. Ahnasha and Fendros slowly and carefully moved Meesei to the bedroll beside her, and it was not long before she drifted to sleep from exhaustion. While Janius and Lorag went to deal with their own wounds, and Sabine went to take stock of the available potions and ingredients, Ahnasha sat with her back up against one of the cave walls staring at Meesei's unconscious form. Her legs were drawn in close to her and her arms were wrapped around her legs. Looking closely, one could see the faint hint of tears forming in her eyes. Her entire body felt sore from the fight, but nothing the Orc did to her could compare to her emotional suffering. She was afraid; afraid for the safety of her friend and mentor, of her Alpha. She wished she could just know what was going to happen one way or the other. It was the uncertainty that was killing her.

[Muttonhawk]

Having done as much as he could, Fendros turned and walked to the water near the side of the cave to cleanse his hands of blood and wipe his face. As he wiped his hands clean, his adrenaline wore off completely and he felt a wave of fatigue wash over him. Somehow he thought the end of the fight would have more fanfare and celebration. But now things were simply more tense than ever. He wanted to wipe his face clean and find everyone recovered and smiling. He stayed squatting at the water for several moments, trying to steady his thoughts, with little success. He got up and turned to see Ahnasha sitting quietly, but she was clearly distressed as well. Fendros thought at least he might be able to comfort her. He sat down next to her shoulder to shoulder, his knees up in the same position. Reaching, he took her by the hand and looked at Meesei as well.

He was quiet for a few moments, thinking of something to say. "Meesei is stong. I think she'll live." Fendros said, smiling sympathetically to Ahansha. He could not convince himself that what he said would be the certain outcome, but it was hurting him further to see Ahnasha in such a state.

Janius was also distraught, but kept himself in control by controlling what he did still have power over. Once he treated and bandaged his wound, he set to work on a number of tasks. First, he went back and carried the rest of the pack's equipment to the main chamber, allowing everyone to repair their clothing and dress if they so wished. After that, he set about picking the equipment off the corpses strewn through the cavern, being careful not to touch anything made from silver without a piece of cloth between the item and his hands. Once that was done, forming a sizable pile of loot for them to scrutinize later, he set about piling up most of the corpses out of the way, and butchering some of them to prepare something to eat. Building a fire served to lift everyone's spirits a little, if at all.

Once Sabine had dressed and sorted through her belongings and the potions they found, she proceeded to inspect the broken flasks that had contained the transforming gas, being careful not to step on any shards of broken glass. Of all of the broken flasks, all of the contents had completely evaporated, leaving no trace of their content. She began to sort through the crates and barrels that contained the flasks, searching for any surviving samples. She had to pilfer some leather gloves from one of the corpses to do so without cutting herself. The way she searched was single-minded, concernedly so. The resolution of her search was as if she was also trying to find not only remaining flasks, but any information about them as well.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha put her arm around Fendros and held onto him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder as she continued to keep her eyes on Meesei. "I know she is strong, but...I'm afraid. Meesei has been more like family to me than my own flesh and blood had ever been. I know it is Hircine who I follow and revere, but...I feel like Meesei is the one who really gave me this life. She was the one who gave me the gift of beast blood, she trained me and remained patient with me through all of my many failures. She had been my mentor, and so much more. I know she is pretty young herself, but she had been more like a mother to me than my own ever tried to be. Meesei cares about us all dearly, and she would give up anything and everything for us. I just...I just hope she doesn't have to."

Ahnasha wished there was more she could do, but she was no healer. All she could do was wait. She closed her eyes as tears started to form in them, but the fear within her was obvious. For now, she simply tried to find some comfort in Fendros' embrace. She felt fatigued, as the fight had been exhausting on everyone, so perhaps getting some sleep would be the best option for her at the moment.

[Muttonhawk]

Even though Fendros had a fluctuating impression of Meesei in the month he had known her, it took listening to Ahnasha to realise just how much their alpha had done for them. Fendros felt an empathy then, for he knew that Meesei's actions had always been for the pack. She took care of them all more than he had known. Trying to keep his own tears back now, Fendros put his arm around Ahnasha in turn and rubbed the side of her far shoulder to comfort her. He gave her a kiss on the top of her head while she wept and he watched on. There was nothing much more to say to make the situation any easier. All they could do was wait.

The search for surviving flasks from Sabine stretched on. It was a little distracting for the rest of the pack to hear so much glass making noise, but none of them interrupted her. It was better than the wordless silence they had all taken on. After what seemed like an age of rummaging and searching, Sabine triumphantly produced a single intact flask, filled with a swirling purple liquid that had a thicker looking gas inhabiting the void between the liquid and the stopper. Like the others, it had no label, much to Sabine's disappointment, but it was something she could work with. Carefully, she carried the flask in both hands and placed it down with her other belongings, before going back to find any more clues.

Lorag, having splinted his leg and bandaged himself, noticed the flask Sabine had found. He limped towards it and picked it up, looking at it front and back. His move prompted Sabine to stop and turn to stare at him, as if to wonder what interest he had, or more importantly whether he would be a problem in her investigation.

"Hey Runt, what do you plan to do with this?" Lorag asked. Sabine didn't answer, but remained still and staring. Lorag followed up, "It's an affront to us, nearly killed us all, we should get rid of it."

Sabine stepped up and took the flask from Lorag's hands and put it back where she had left it. "I've seen it before," Sabine said, before turning and walking back to the crates.

Lorag furrowed his brow, he wasn't in the mood for tricks, much less from probably the least mischievous member of the pack. "If you're hiding something, Runt, you'd better tell us. This stuff is dangerous."

Sabine stopped in her tracks again with her back to Lorag, considering. "I can make something to block its effect," she lied. In fact, she knew very little about the substance itself, but she wanted to get Lorag off her back so she could continue.

"What, you mean like a cure?"

"It's not a cure!" Sabine spun and yelled the words at Lorag with a distressed look and clenched fists. Lorag blinked with surprise and confusion, "I meant a cure to the turning us back effect..." He said slowly.

Realising her slip, Sabine's eyes shifted for a moment, then she nodded quickly and turned to resume her search.

Satisfied that Runt at least knew what she was doing, Lorag let it go and went to grab some of the meat that Janius was butchering. Eating some before Janius was finished with the task, naturally.

[EliteCommander]

After a while, it seemed as if most of the group was growing weary. Lorag and Janius found bedrolls for and pulled them close to the fire, while Ahnasha found a fur blanket and laid it down at a safe distance from the fire. She laid down on the blanket and watched the flames dance back and forth for a few moments. Her fur was still covered in blood, and she could have really used a bath, but she was too tired to deal with that at the moment. For now, she simply wanted to rest. Rolling over onto her back, she looked over to Fendros. She said nothing, but instead simply looked at him with a pained expression, wanting the comfort of his embrace again.

Though Meesei was asleep, her mind was not entirely at rest. Through her beast spirit, an the Ring of Hircine, the Lord of the Hunt had access to her mind.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros and Ahnasha appeared to be the last ones awake at the end of the night. Even Sabine had decided to take a break from her search, having only found a couple of journals among the loot pile that she was too tired to read that night. Fendros had not found himself a bedroll yet, he was too engaged watching the fire and thinking. Or maybe it wasn't so much thinking as trying not to think too hard, losing himself in the fire. It was an alternative to getting worked up about the possibilities of tomorrow.

Feeling a gaze upon him, Fendros looked over at Ahnasha. She was having trouble sleeping as well by the looks. Returning her stare, Fendros felt drawn to her again. The bliss he felt while just being near her was something he wanted to embrace again. He got up and walked to her blanket and settled down next to her, looking into her eyes without any words. With one hand, he stroked her cheek and began to kiss her.

---

Little Sabine, these bars cannot be bent open.

Little Sabine, we will lift this curse.

Little Sabine, you are our sister, not a wolf.

Little Sabine, drink this remedy.

Little Sabine, the wolf is not you.

Little Sabine, inhale this evaporate.

Little Sabine, this curse will not hold you.

Little Sabine, hold still while we apply this salve.

Little Sabine, we will beat your hound until it submits.

Sabine's eyes shot open. She had tears streaming across the side of her face as she lay on her side. She cursed her memories and tried to calm down to sleep again. She wouldn't be caught by them again. Not while she was with the pack.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha readily returned the kiss, glad to have Fendros to comfort her. She laid by his side, wrapping her arms tightly around him and enjoying his warmth for a while as she slowly drifted to sleep. Meanwhile, Meesei found comfort in a different presence.

Meesei was in the middle of a swamp, much like the marshes of her own homeland. Her body still appeared as it did before, with the bandages over her abdomen and smaller cuts across her body, but she felt perfectly fine, as if nothing was wrong at all. And, of course, she had the Ring of Hircine on her finger. She was up to her knees in the waters of the swamp as she moved, drawn towards a presence just beyond the brush. She pushed through some vines hanging from a tree into a clearing, which consisted of another pond with a small island in the middle. On the island stood Hircine's glorious form. He appeared as a man nearly twice Meesei's size with a deer skull as his head and a great spear in his hands. Meesei kneeled before him and bowed her head.

"My Lord, I am humbled by your presence. I and my pack slew the blasphemous Orc who allied himself with your enemies, as you commanded." Meesei said.

"Rise, my hunter, for you have performed well. You have killed the one who slew countless of my hounds. You have recovered my Ring and brought glory to the hunt. You have more than earned the chance to become my champion." Hircine said, his powerful voice enrapturing Meesei's mind.

"I would like nothing more than to have such an honor. What must I do, my Lord?" She asked anxiously.

"To claim your rightful place as my Champion, there is only one more thing you must do to prove yourself a true hunter. When you awaken speak to your second and confer to him the title of Alpha, for you will be joining me at my side, in my realm. From there, I will place you wherever I require you to serve my will." Hircine explained.

Meesei's response was not immediate, nor one of excitement, but rather shock. To become the Champion of Hircine had been her dream since she first gained the gift of beast blood, but to abandon her pack...it was unthinkable. She stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity, with conflicting thoughts racing through her mind. Eventually, she collected herself enough to form to form a hesitant response. "My...my Lord. I am beyond honored to be given this opportunity, but my pack...I could not have done this without them. I have hunted with them for years, I have trained them with all of my skills, and learned everything they had to teach me. I have lived with them, and lived for them. I love them with all that I am...and I cannot abandon them. If leaving them is the price to be your Champion, then it is a price I cannot pay. I am sure there is another who can take my place at your side.

Hircine did not have a face with which to smile or scowl. His only visual reaction to Meesei's answer was to grip his spear in both hands and lightly tap it on the ground. Once he spoke, however, his tone showed he was pleased. "You are a credit to your pack, mortal. A hound always stays with her pack, until the end, if necessary. Your heart beats with fury and dedication worthy of my greatest hunters...my Champion. Your pack is a reflection of your successes. Each will have a role to play through the coming years, a destiny to fulfill. It is your responsibility to see that they succeed. The Orc's death has sent ripples through our enemy's ranks, but now is not the time to exploit them. Go, strengthen your pack with my blessing, my Champion." Hircine ordered.

Meesei watched as Hircine disappeared, and the world around her unmade itself. For a few moments, she found herself in complete darkness before her eyes finally opened and brought her back into reality.

Meesei awoke in the cave, then slowly and painfully brought herself to sit up. She still felt like death. Nothing about Hircine's blessing healed any of the intense trauma her body had been through. That would take spells, potions, and time, but Meesei was now confident she would recover. Hircine's words had put her at ease regarding her own survival, as he had not even mentioned the possibility of her dying from her wounds. She had no idea what time of day it was, as there was no sunlight in the cave. Lanterns hanging on the walls still illuminated the caves, though they would need to be sure to refill their oil, as there was almost no chance she would be well enough to move for a while.

As the others began to stir around her, Meesei could not help but to smile. Although she was the Champion of Hircine, their importance could not be denied. They had their own destinies to fill in the coming war. To Meesei, her role as Champion and as Alpha was not to serve as some hero in the fight against Vile, but to serve her pack in their journey. They were everything to her, and she did not intend to disappoint them.

[Muttonhawk]

As the hours flowed into the morning, Sabine was on the last watch. She had slept worse than usual with the memories of the past unearthed by yesterday's events plaguing her mind. By the time Meesei sat herself up, Sabine was by the fire reading one of the journals they had found the previous day. She had managed to find a large fur pelt of some description to serve as a substitute for her own fur cloak and wore it over her shoulders. Looking up to the movement from Meesei's bedroll, Sabine put the journal down, then got up to gently push Meesei back until she was lying down again. With a number of wads of clothing and pelts that Sabine had obviously gathered while looking for a suitable warm cloak, she bundled up a soft wedge of material for Meesei to sit up at a slight angle with. She helped Meesei to sit up slightly again so that she could slide the wedge under her alpha's back. Now at least Meesei could look at everyone without hurting her neck or risking any unnecessary strain to her wound. All her actions were wordless as always, but Sabine's anxious treatment was about as much of a good morning greeting as anyone was likely to hear.

The next to wake was Janius, disturbed by the noise. He sat up with a wince at his own wound before rubbing his eyes. When he saw Meesei awake, his look immediately brightened. "Alpha, you're awake!" His mouth curled into a relieved smile, "Thank goodness. We've all been worried for your life."

Fendros continued to sleep for the moment. With Ahnasha close, he slept more peacefully than he had for a done for while. It was also influenced by how exhausted he was after the hunt and the fight, as well as the lack of sunlight in the cave to herald the morning, as was what normally woke him.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei gladly allowed Sabine to help make her more comfortable, as comfort was certainly something she was lacking in at the moment. She silently pointed over to Sabine's bag of potions to request a healing potion. The ones she had drank the night before had worn off by now, so pain was becoming an issue for her. She lifted up the bandage slightly to get a look at her wound, then pressed her hand against it and charged restoration energy through the area. To any healer examining her, her condition would seem just as critical as it was before. The spear had caused significant damage to multiple vital organs, to the point that some were almost nonfunctional. Magic could repair it, but it was not a certainty. Meesei, however, held no fear. Hircine's words had been more than enough of a guarantee for her that she was more afraid for the well-being of the others than herself. None of them had life-threatening injuries, but Lorag had a broken kneecap, and she hoped it didn't have any lasting effects.

A few of the others were beginning to stir as well. Lorag was asleep, but with his leg, he wouldn't be going anywhere anyway. Ahnasha's ears twitched at the sounds around her once Janius started talking, prompting her to wake as well. She was quite comfortable where she was with Fendros, so she elected to stay there for a bit longer, though she did lift up her head to get a good look at Meesei.

"Yeah, I'm up. I don't know how much of an improvement that is, though. My dreams were a lot less...painful." Meesei responded to Janius, groaning as she shifted slightly on her bedroll. She held her hand up in front of her for a moment, looking over the beautiful, intricately designed Ring on her finger. "Actually, rest was not entirely uneventful. Hircine graced me with his presence in the night. His words erased any fear I had about my own survival, as he named me his Champion."

[Muttonhawk]

"Champion? Meesei, that means..." Janius began to chuckle, impressed as he was happy to see her alive, "That is extraordinary news. Just to think, chosen by Hircine himself."

As Sabine complied in finding another healing potion for Meesei, Fendros began to awake to the voices in the cavern. He took a deep breath through his nose and looked to Ahnasha near him, and then to what she was looking at. Meesei was awake, and she had the strength to talk. Fendros smiled and sighed in relief as if he had known all along that she would be alive. He slowly shifted himself up to lean on one elbow. "Meesei, how are you feeling?" Fendros asked with a gravely tired, but still upbeat voice, having not heard the previous words completely.

As Sabine rifled through her collection of potions, she pulled out a few healing potions, as well as a magicka potion and another regeneration potion. The second and only remaining regeneration potion she had was smaller and less effective, but the regeneration potions were only meant to be used in emergencies anyway. She made a mental note to try and find ingredients to brew another of them to help treat Meesei.

[EliteCommander]

As Meesei numbed her own pain, she gave the others a smile. "It is indeed an honor, though he seemed pleased with the rest of you as well. Clavicus Vile, the Prince who this Orc served, is a powerful being, and Hircine said you all have a destiny in the coming war against him. That will come later, however. For now, I think it is appropriate to celebrate our victory here, and it is indeed our victory. There is no way I could have accomplished this alone; you all risked everything for this, and you all deserve the praise."

Ahnasha couldn't help but to smile. To be praised by her Alpha always gave her a warm feeling, but this was a bit different. According to Meesei, her lord Hircine himself had given his praise to them. Looking at Meesei, she still held some fear about her condition, but Hircine had erased most of her worries. After hall, why would he give Meesei the title of his Champion if he thought she was going to die from her wounds? Although she was content to remain exactly where she was, her stomach showed that it had other plans when it gave an audible rumble. Reluctantly, she stood up and stretched her muscles, though she did not end up going far from him. Between the hunters' supplies, and the hunters themselves, there was plenty to eat in the chamber they were in. She sat down by the fire, still on the blanket with Fendros, and grabbed some of the meat Janius had cut up the night before. As always, she left it uncooked and went straight to eating, not really even caring about what type of meat it was. Glancing down, she saw that much of the fur on her torso was still caked in dried blood, but luckily, the pool of water on the other side of the room would be helpful in solving that issue.

[Muttonhawk]

"Clavicus Vile," Fendros repeated to himself. He cast his mind back to the book of Daedric princes that his father kept. Clavicus vile was a mischievous and silver tongued Daedra. One who conned and misled. Apart from that, the only thing that Fendros could glean from the book was the diagram depicting a small horned man by a dog. It had seemed to be the least threatening of all the Daedric princes, but that was likely part of his act. It was a Daedra after all, there would have to be power involved. To think that this was erupting into a war was cause for concern, but with what Meesei said about them all playing a role, he couldn't help but think that there would be very few things able to stop them after they had been through hunting this Orc. Fendros was still lukewarm towards Hircine, but he felt there would be no harm in trusting in the judgement he seemed to have.

With Ahnasha reaching for the meats Janius had prepared the night before, everyone seemed to be reminded that they were hungry as well. Breakfast ensued as each pack member collected a portion for themselves in turn. Fendros and Janius lightly roasted theirs as usual, Fendros keeping himself from drooling at what Ahnasha was eating as they sat next to each other while he waited for his breakfast to cook. Sabine offered Meesei a portion to eat as well, sparing her the trouble of getting up.

It didn't take long before the smell finally caused Lorag to stir. Funnily enough, his injury had not taken away his humour as he beheld Meesei. "Aww, we couldn't quite get rid of ya, huh?" He said with a grin and well-meaning sarcasm.

"So, Meesei," Fendros started as his curiosity rose, "Tell us more about this audience you had with Hircine. Did he say anything else?"