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

[EliteCommander]

The trek from the cave to the keep was quiet. The sky grew darker as the sun set, so by the time they arrived, it was well past nightfall. Meesei found herself concerned about Sabine. She had been worried about her in the back of her mind ever since they stared planning this attack. Her emotional state was often hard to determine, but Meesei was sure it would be difficult for her to return to a place where she suffered such tortures. She just hoped that her mind was strong enough to overcome the pain of it all.

Meesei took the lead and slowed the pack as they neared the keep. When they reached the hill just beyond its walls, she laid down on the ground and crawled forward so that she was just barely peering over the hill, while the others were still concealed behind her. Just like last time, there were sentinels patrolling in the forests ahead. She couldn't see anyone on the walls, but she was certain that they would be manned soon after the attack started. The skeletons would be easy enough to deal with, but it was the ranged opponents on the walls she was most concerned with. Likely, it would be the witches with destruction spells, which meant they would need to be evasive, and she would need to concentrate on wards.

Meesei looked back at the others. "Alright, this is it. Ariel, Ahnasha, make your way to the grate. We will give you a minute, then get started. Ariel knows the way." She said, looking at Ahnasha. "Everyone, drink the suppression potions. Ariel, I would drink one of your night eye potions." She recommended as she pulled out and drank the gas resist potion.

[Muttonhawk]

As instructed, they all downed the resisting potions. Fendros was glad that he made quick work of it; it tasted like clay and lingered in the mouth. Its effect was subtle, but he could feel it. A sort of inflamed feeling in the very centre of his skull. It wasn't bothersome, but it was slightly uncomfortable.

Instead of a resisting potion, Ariel took another night-eye potion as she had done when they were scouting. "Right, follow me." Before she started moving, Ariel reiterated the movements of their plan, "Once we're past the grate, we'll head to the second tower on the right, set it to be destroyed, then the one after that. If we haven't found her already, we'll try and deal with Lilia before escaping through the grate the same way and waiting at the meeting point." Ariel gestured to the potions that Ahnasha carried, "Don't hesitate to hide yourself, and if you can help it, avoid the witches altogether. Some of them are capable of life detection spells that will see through invisibility." With that, Ariel started over the rise, inspecting for any patrols before casting a muffle spell on herself and moving.

"Ahna," Fendros brought his hand up and caught Ahnasha by the arm at the last moment. He looked at her for a moment, before smiling and letting her go. "Good luck," he said.

The approach to the grate went similarly to the scouting run, except this time when they reached the wall, they had to press up against it and become silent for several moments. Something holding a torch was up on the wall. Whether it was a witch or a sentinel, they couldn't know. Eventually it walked away. Its presence was concerning for Ariel. Had they increased the number of sentinels on patrol? They might have, if they found out that they had been infiltrated. If that was the case, the witches might be on the lookout for interlopers.

They hugged the wall until they reached the culvert. The grate was still crudely welded in place from when Meesei last repaired it. Good, it would only have been a matter of time before the coven noticed something wrong with it. That meant that this route was probably still clear. Ariel turned to Ahansha, charging a red disintegration spell in her hands. "Keep an eye out," she whispered, turning and setting to work on the metal. Without Meesei halving the work for her, it would take a little while longer to displace the grate, so she kept her eyes looking through the grate for any wanderers while Ahansha watched in the other direction.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha was completely silent and still as she watched for any movement in the forest. Between being Khajiit and a lycan, she could see almost as well at night as she could in the daytime, and her ears were acutely sensitive to any sounds, such as footsteps, that happened to be nearby. Ariel was most of the way through the grate when Ahnasha's ears twitched. She heard something approaching off to the left, so without a word, she put a hand on Ariel's back to get her attention, then guided her down to lay on the ground behind some nearby foliage. Again, Ahnasha was completely still, to the point that it was difficult to tell if she was even still breathing. A group of skeletal sentinels passed within view, but continued on their course without noticing that anything was awry. Once the threat had passed, Ariel finished removing the grate, then entered with Ahnasha following just behind. Just as Meesei had done the first time through, Ahnasha had the idea to put the grate back in its original position, but since she did not know strong enough destruction spells to accomplish the task, she looked to Ariel and pointed to the grate in the hopes that she would be able to do something to keep it in place.

Meesei waited a few minutes to give Ahnasha and Ariel time to get inside before she decided it was time to strike. She looked back at the others behind her and nodded as she stood up. As they were walking towards the outer wall, Meesei saw a group of three sentinels patrolling through the forest, which spotted them at the same time. The skeletons drew their weapons, but did not advance to attack. It seemed that the keep's first line of defense was simply to scare away intruders with undead instead of immediately attacking, perhaps to limit tensions with the locals. Meesei, in order to make their intentions completely unambiguous, launched a fireball into the group which nearly took the arm off of one of the beings when it detonated. All three undead charged at them immediately, but as soon as they drew close enough, Meesei held up her amulet and activated the enchantment, The wave of energy washed over the sentinels, ripping their souls from their bodies just as it had to the one Meesei tested it on. With the keep in view, Meesei launched another explosive fireball against the keep wall to ensure their presence was known, then made sure to pick a place with plenty of trees for cover to await the arrival of the keep's defensive force.

"Be ready, and alert me if you see any mages or archers." Meesei ordered.

[Muttonhawk]

Spotting Ahnasha's intentions, Ariel looked ahead for a moment, then went back and hefted the grate back into position. Last time, Meesei was able to somewhat weld the grate. They didn't have time to do the job as thoroughly, and they needed to make sure it wouldn't take them too long to escape through the same way. In light of this, Ariel attempted the same trick as Meesei did, charging destruction magic to heat the grate until it was white hot and started to flow just a little bit. She made two joins only, so it wouldn't take too long to detach them if needed. They left the grate in its original position with two glowing red spots that Ariel hoped would not be noticed before they cooled completely.

Now they were inside the grounds, there were a couple of groups of sentinels running over to the gate with long and clumsy strides. At the gate, there were the shapes of a couple of witches in a quite alert state supervising the skeletons. The gate was opened and the sentinels proceeded out before the gate closed again and the witches disappeared inside one of the towers next to the gate. Either the pack had stepped on a rune or they had engaged a patrol. A small explosive popping sound from somewhere over the wall confirmed that they had raised the alarm.

Because it was dark and there didn't appear to be anyone in the courtyard nearby after a life and death detecting spell, Ariel quickly made her way to the tower with the first objective. A life detect spell revealed that there were some witches behind the tower walls already. Turning to Ahnasha, Ariel pointed to a dark corner where the tower and the main wall met. Once they had made their way there and hid behind a small bush, Ariel shared her thoughts. "There are some witches in the laboratory still. We'll need to wait until they come out to defend." She whispered.

Outside of the fortress, the response to the pack's incursion came fast and loud. All around them, a howling wind started to pick up, getting louder and louder. With it came whispers of unintelligible words. As they proceeded, the wind started to deliver shrieks off terror from every direction. Streaks of light swirled around them, then formed into the shape of great disfigured undead giants between them and the fort. The giants leaned forward and roared like otherworldly beasts, causing the wind to have a dank smell of sewerage and death. It was just as Ariel had said, fantastic and terrifying illusions to scare intruders off. Janius and Fendros' hearts raced and they stood at the ready, but they knew they were harmless and incorporeal. Sabine seemed calm all things considered, this wasn't what was worrying her.

While the illusions stayed menacing, eleven skeletal silhouettes started to appear through them. These were real. All were armed with a shield and a either a sword, axe or mace. Their pace was slow, bordering on shuffling. The pack stood their ground. Once it was abundantly clear that the intruders weren't going to run, the sentinels raised their weapons and broke into a charge. The leading three went straight for Meesei, who was ahead of the group, while the others wrapped around. Two went each remaining pack member. The space they had very quickly shrank as they were surrounded, but they only had to land a single hit on each of them.

Confident, Janius leaped forward and struck one of the skeletons, aiming for the head. The sentinel raised its shield to block, but upon contact, its entire structure came apart and it collapsed under the weight of its own block. Fendros acted similarly, swinging at one of his opponents' flanks and causing it to fall apart sideways. Sabine stayed nearby Lorag, ready to strike. She just needed Lorag to distract them enough so she could get around them and deal with them. The sentinels didn't seem smart enough to adapt to the threat of the pack's weapons. This was going to be quick.

[EliteCommander]

Even if Ariel had not warned them about the illusions, Meesei would not have been phased. The magic involved was easy enough to detect for one sufficiently trained in the magical arts, though that likely wouldn't apply to the average intruder. Meesei simply grabbed onto her necklace and waited as the line of undead soldiers charged them. Once they were close enough, she activated the enchantment, directing the wave of energy at the three running at her. Two of them were close enough together that the blast enveloped both of them, and it was a simple matter of activating it again to deal with the third. All three were but piles of bones before her, and her pack was having similar success.

Lorag was practically excited for the bonewalkers to reach him so he could test out his magic hammer. When it looked like they were getting close enough, he swung it in a wide arc in front of him. The first skeleton did block, but the enchantment in the weapon still discharged to kill it instantly. The hammer pushed its way through the first sentinel an into another beside it in the same swing, and with the same results. A third came up behind the first two and got in a swing at him, but Lorag was able to use the haft of his hammer to deflect the blow. Normally, he wouldn't have the momentum in his current position to do any real damage, but when he pushed the head of his hammer forward and impacted the skeleton's torso, the enchantment killed it all the same. "Ha, too easy! It's like they're not even trying." Lorag shouted confidently.

Inside, the sounds of combat were quickly alerting the witches that something was amiss. From their hiding spot, Ahnasha could hear muffled voices inside the tower. She had a hard time making out exactly what they were saying, but clearly, they were used to the illusions scaring away intruders if the skeletons did not. As the sounds of fighting continued on outside, Ahnasha heard even more voices in the tower, then footsteps. It appeared that Ariel was correct in her prediction that the witches would eventually leave.Just as before, they were completely motionless in the shadows, watching as each witch left the tower one by one. After it seemed that all of the witches had left, Ahnasha looked to Ariel for confirmation from her life detection spell, then proceeded to lead the way inside.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros had to jump back from the ground he gained in order to avoid an overhead strike from the next skeleton's axe. It followed him back, taking a backhanded swing at Fendros' right. This one Fendros blocked with his shield before bringing his mace up and around for a strike at the skeleton's right shoulder. The blow connected and the bones detached from one another, spinning as they fell into a heap.

While Lorag remained the big and threatening target, Sabine found an opportunity to duck and make herself scarce. Whether Lorag knew or not didn't matter, but there was an out of place clattering of bones just outside of his field of vision to the right. A mace lightly hit his leg on its way from falling from the skeleton's grasp. Sabine stood over the pile of bones have just saved Lorag's shoulder from being dislocated by an oncoming blow.

The final skeleton had the gall to try and dodge Janius' swings, but didn't quite have the agility to avoid Janius stepping forward so far that he was virtually leaping while swinging his mace upward. The mace made contact on the underside of the skeleton's ribcage, which caused a spectacular sight as some bones were hit up into the air while the rest fell to the ground.

As quickly as they appeared, the sentinels were dispatched. After a moment, the illusions disappeared, howling wind and all, to reveal some lights from the crumbling battlements of the fortress walls. Robed figures could be seen against the blue of the night sky with spells in their hands. Occasionally they had the gaunt sentinels beside them, armed with bows and quivers of arrows over their shoulders. The shapes of several more sentinels could be seen between the walls and the pack, but they had been ordered to keep their distance by the looks. The witches were now going to bring their own power to bear. Bolts of white and red flew through across the air towards the pack, the white ones expanding into large spheres of swirling cold air, and the red ones exploding on impact with the ground, lighting up the entire area. The pack had to scramble for cover, which in most cases were trunks of mushroom trees, but Sabine had to settle for a large rock to duck behind. It seemed as if the low light was making their shots less accurate at first, but with the witches likely having access to night eye effects, it wouldn't be hard for the pack to be spotted. Between the spell impacts, Janius popped out of cover to throw fireballs of his own to try and suppress the witches in some capacity. Needless to say, the pack needed to move.

After a short while, Ahnasha and Ariel entered the storeroom tower. There were still magelights hovering just below the ceiling of the first floor. They lit the crates and barrels that Ariel had seen the last time in a bright blue light. Some of the crates were open, however, and some gaps where the gas flasks were packed in suggested that some had been taken. A good thing that the pack could currently resist its effects. Double checking with detect life and detect dead spells that the room and the space upstairs was clear, Ariel began to take some of the fire salt flasks from her bag and handed a couple to Ahnasha. "Take these and put them next to walls, far apart. I'll take this side of the room." Ariel whispered.

[EliteCommander]

As expected, the line of sentinels fell to them easily enough, attracting a real threat from within the keep's walls They were able to use trees for cover, but that would only take them so far. Meesei dashed from tree to tree to bring herself closer to the walls, using her wards to protect herself in between cover. Her goal was both to draw their attention away from her pack, and to get close enough to use her necklace on the skeleton archers. There were a few skeletons closer to the walls attempting to stop her advance, but she used her necklace to deal with them quickly.

Meesei raised her ward as she began her final dash to close in on the wall. She was met with a wave of frost, but her ward held strong. At the same time, she retaliated with an explosive fireball which detonated on the wall just a few feet away from one of the witches. Her ward easily blocked the effects of the fireball as well, but fortunately, the explosive radius of the fireball was larger than they were expecting, and another nearby witch ended up with her robe igniting. She was not actually harmed, but she was distracted while she attempted to put out the blaze. Once behind the new tree, she grabbed a hold of her necklace and leaned out from behind cover to deal with the archers on the wall, using her wards to defend herself when needed.

Through this advance, Meesei had drawn much of the spellfire to herself, but she would not be able to maintain her wards forever. Even as the archers fell one by one, the mages presented a threat that was not so easily eliminated. Even if they wanted to kill them, their position was too strong of the pack to gain any real advantage. They would need to transform and scale the walls soon enough, but Meesei intended for them to hold outside for as long as they could to give Ahnasha and Ariel as much time as possible.

Inside, Ahnasha silently nodded as she took the fire salt mixtures and headed to the opposite side of the room. She placed them in spots that were not immediately visible to someone just passing through the room, though ideally, no one would enter the tower until the flasks had detonated. Since they were spreading them out across the base of the tower, the entire structure would come crumbling down once they detonated. Most, if not all of the gas stored there would be destroyed. With the final tower, there would be no issue with using fire runes and the unstable nature of the production facilities themselves to collapse it. They had just enough fire salt flasks that they could spare one to serve as the catalyst for that detonation. She placed each flask without yet lighting the fuse, instead waiting to make sure both of them were ready before igniting them. The fuses were long, but they would need to move quickly in order to get to the next tower before they detonated. It was entirely possible that the flasks would detonate before they could make it to their final target, but as long as they were most of the way there, then the delayed detonation would have served its purpose.

[Muttonhawk]

Apart from Janius occasionally throwing spells at the witches, most of which either missed or were blocked by wards, the pack stayed pinned once they were in cover. With Meesei attracting attention though, they were able to weave their way closer to the walls by running between cover. So far, Sabine still seemed collected enough despite the light and noise causing everyone's adrenaline to pump.

The skeletons weren't causing too many problems for the pack, but at one point Fendros was confronted by a couple of them while he was trying to run for the next tree. He made quick work of them with two well aimed swings of his mace, but it was a distraction for just long enough for an ice spell to pass over his side. He yelped with the stinging pain of the cold and stumbled. Seeing him struggle, Janius ran out of his cover and caught Fendros, helping him to get behind something before more witches could take advantage. Once they were behind cover, Janius inspected Fendros for injury. everything from the top of his left shoulder to the end of his arm, down to his left hip was covered in a steaming frost. Fendros' left arm felt completely numb. Janius set Fendros to lean against the tree trunk they were behind and tapped him on the side of the face, "Come on Fendros, you still up?"

Fendros was breathing quickly and gritting his teeth with his eyes scrunched closed. "It hurts!" he shouted through his teeth.

Janius grinned, "Good, a little frostbite never killed anyone!"

"What!?" Fendros opened his eyes and looked at Janius disbelievingly at his flawed logic.

"Shut up and take a potion, your regeneration will do the rest." Janius reassured him, before peeking around the cover, "I think we'll be climbing the walls soon."

Not wanting to debate about the fatality rate of cold weather, Fendros took a vial of healing potion with his good arm and downed it, waiting for his sense of feeling to come back to his left side.

---

"Ready?" Ariel asked Ahnasha after setting the fire salt flasks in place. "We'll have about thirty to forty seconds before they explode once we light them, we'll head out the way we came in with invisibility and head to the next tower on the right, past the door and into cover. On three..." Ariel charged a tiny fire spell between her thumb and her forefinger and held it ready to place on the tip of the first fuse. Before she was ready Ariel had found a torch to light should Ahnasha not be able to use the correct magic. "One... two... three!" Ariel held the spell forward until the fuse began to slowly burn, the flame creeping up the cord. Without wasting a moment, she rushed over to the other fuse and did the same, before charging an invisibility spell and running for the door.

She opened the door and kept it open for Ahnasha, hoping that the light emanating from it would not attract the attention of the witches on one of the far walls. Their next objective was the production laboratory, but right now they just needed to cover distance. Without any more encounters, Ariel ran past the door that lead into the laboratory tower and slid to a halt against the tower wall where the tower was between her and the storeroom. She covered her ears and waited.

Tense moments passed, Ariel glanced in the direction of the storeroom tower, hoping that the fuses had not gone out. In the middle of her worry, she was interrupted and jumped almost out of her skin. The first explosion carried a concussive sound that was accompanied by the breaking of glass and masonry. It was followed by another, then two more. The explosions lit up the entire fortress and the rumble of falling rocks followed it away. When Ariel peeked around to see the tower properly, it was a dusty cloud that settled into a wreck of rolling rocks, wood and glass.

Anything within several kilometres would have heard the explosion, the witches were no exception. Ariel could see their horror from this distance. The witch that appeared to be leading the defense shouted some orders and pointed to the now ruined storeroom tower. Four other witches ran to the nearest tower to climb down and investigate that direction. Ariel and Ahnasha had to deal with the other tower and find Lilia before they were found.

Dismissing her invisibility and scanning to detect any life in the laboratory tower found that there was a solitary figure scrambling around for something. That had to be Lilia. First, though, Ariel had to find Ahnasha. She scanned around for her with a detect life spell, hopefully she had followed her instructions.

[EliteCommander]

With the deafening explosion and collapse of the storage tower, Meesei took it as enough of a signal that they should scale the wall and get to their defensive position. "Now! Get up the walls!" Ducking behind cover, she quickly removed her necklace and the vial around her neck and placed them on the ground. Before beginning her transformation, she quickly peeked out from behind the tree and launched two bright magelight spells at the wall to temporarily blind them. She then drank her magicka potion, then started the transformation. She ripped out of her clothing as her body grew and morphed, until she was in her wolf form. Meesei reached down and slid the necklace and vial around her arm, then took off in a sprint towards the ruined tower.

The rest of the pack followed suit behind Meesei, each in their wolf forms. They moved at a speed that the witches could not keep up with, even after recovering from the blinding effects of the magelight. Meesei leaped up almost half way up the wall in a single bound and used loose stones to climb up the ruined tower onto the wall for the rest of the way. Lorag was right beside her, and the others just behind them. Two witches had been running to intercept them, but had obviously underestimated how fast they would be able to climb it .The moment they saw the werewolves pulling themselves up onto the wall, they began charging their spells. One of them hit Lorag with a bolt of lightning, but at his size, he practically shrugged it off with only a few involuntary muscle spasms, burned fur and flesh not withstanding. Dashing the short distance between them, he backhanded the Breton clean off of the wall. At the same time, Meesei ducked under the ice spike the other witch, a Dunmer female this time, launched. She tackled the Dunmer to the ground, then slashed her twice with her claws, once across the stomach, and another across her chest. Eight gashes now covered her torso, causing her to bleed rather quickly. Under normal circumstances, she would simply finish her off, but upon Ariel's request, she was giving her a chance to live. It was entirely possible that she could die, same with the one Lorag threw off of the wall. However, if she focused herself on healing her own wounds, she had a good chance of surviving.

The pack's destination was the tower on the far side of the wall, but blocking their way were a group of skeletons, and a few witches behind them. In werewolf form, Meesei's pack had little defense against hostile spells, so she needed to take on that role. While the others moved ahead to hold off the skeletons, Meesei once again took on her Argonian form. As soon as the transformation was complete, she once again put the necklace and vial around her neck, then moved forward to catch up with the others. She could easily use the necklace to eliminate the skeletons, then advance with a ward up to protect her pack. Once they were close enough, they would hopefully be able to wound and disable the witches fairly easily.

---

Ahnasha ran from the tower just behind Ariel, completely invisible under the effects of her illusion magic. With all the chaos from the fighting outside, it was actually fairly easy to get away from the structure without being noticed. Still, because they had to leave in a rush, she still became separated from Ariel. As she raised her nose to the air to search for her scent, the tower behind her detonated and collapsed. It was fantastically loud, and sewed an abundance of discord among the witches of the coven. Were she not in a rush, she would have loved to stop and watch the tower collapse. After a few moments, Ahnasha located Ariel in the shadows. She dispelled her invisibility as she neared, then silently nodded to her as they moved on to the production tower. Just as they hoped, the delay in the blast had given them enough time to get close to the production tower, which was fortunate, as the witches were scrambling everywhere to figure out what was going on. As the pair were leaned up against the wall outside the tower, Ahnasha tapped Ariel on the shoulder and spoke in an almost inaudible voice.

"The witch we're looking for, she's in the tower, isn't she? You have a poison of paralysis, right? Give me your dagger, and let me deliver it. Beyond that, she knows you, right? If you think you can distract her safely, that would make my job easier." She recommended.

[Muttonhawk]

As soon as the pack was up on the battlements, the tides turned drastically in their favour. Without the reach, strength, or agility to deal with them on the narrow wall, each skeleton they faced were knocked aside like twigs. The wall wasn't wide enough for more than Lorag and Janius to stand side by side and fight in their forms, but it was more than enough to deal with their opposition.

Sabine and Fendros stayed between Meesei, and Lorag and Janius. Fendros was still regenerating the damage to his arm, but in this form it was working at a far greater pace. Sabine, on the other hand, kept glancing about and held her head low with her ears flat. Upon seeing the witches wounded and burbling blood as they desperately tried to heal themselves, her movements became sluggish and she had to be pulled forward by the arm by Fendros.

As they approached the tower with the hagraven nest, two of witches appeared on its roof and tossed a couple of large glass flasks down at the pack. The first broke on Lorag's back and the second shattered on the ground next to Fendros. As they shattered, the pack was momentarily enveloped by the purple transforming gas. At first, their beast spirits started to thrash and protest in their mind again, but instead of receding, the beast spirits stayed. Seeing Lorag and Janius' unaffected wolf forms walk out of the gas without batting an eyelid was a demoralising moment for the witches on the roof, who swiftly retreated.

---

Ahnasha's approach was detected by Ariel. She checked one last time at the shape inside the tower. "Probably. She's probably in the tower. Here," Ariel took out her dagger from her sleeve and a paralysis poison from her bag, then handed them to Ahnasha. "There's no one else in there as far as I could tell. I'll try and distract her." With that, Ariel opened the door and walked in, a ward charged in one hand and a lightning spell in the other. As she rounded the corner and crept into the laboratory, a Dunmer witch was frantically rummaging through the piles of scrolls on the tables of the room. She hadn't detected Ariel yet, but something was wrong. This wasn't Lilia.

"Dagmar?" Ariel said, surprised.

Dagmar's shoulders hunched in shock and she snapped around from her search, turning to face Ariel. "Ariel!? What are you doing here? Of all the times- can't you see we're under attack? You were cast out! Go!" Dagmar waved her hand to shoo Ariel away, "Go, before the elders find you!"

Ariel kept her spells charged and stood her ground. "Where's Lilia?"

If it wasn't impatient already, Dagmar's face contorted into a mix of impatience and grief. "Lilia's..." Dagmar let out a quick breath and looked away for a moment, "Lilia was taken, her soul... Clavicus Vile has her. A hostage for this stupid war!"

"Dagmar, we don't have much time. Are you the only one who knows how to make the gas?" Ariel said quickly.

Dagmar looked up at Ariel, "The suppression gas? Yes, that's what I was tasked to do to get Lilia back. I had to go off Lilia's old notes here, but I'm the only one who knows how. Why do you ask?"

Trying not to elude to the situation any further, Ariel nodded affirmatively. Hopefully Ahnasha would know to strike despite the different target.

[EliteCommander]

"Because that gas cannot be allowed to be made." Ahnasha said as she slid the poisoned dagger into the woman's back. She knew where to aim that would not be lethal, or cause permanent damage, but would allow the poison to proliferate throughout her body. Ahnasha had come in the room just behind Ariel, under the cloak of her own invisibility. She had made her way silently around the edge of the room to bring herself into position, which was easy enough with Ariel distracting her. Ahnasha pulled the dagger from her body and lowered her to the ground, which was already immobile under the effects of the poison. "Do not fear. By Ariel's request, I will not kill you. None of you will die, if we can help it."

---

With their current formation, the pack was near unstoppable. Between Lorag and Janius leading the charge, and, Meesei's necklace, the skeletons were essentially a non-issue. Meesei projected a ward in front of the pack, blocking the spellfire as they approached. Any witches in their way either ran, or were caught in Janius and Lorag's claws. The wounds on the witches they left behind seemed terrible, but as long as the coven had skilled healers, they would be survivable.

After the gas failed to transform them back tot heir normal forms, the pack was able to make it into the hagravens' nest unimpeded. Since they entered from the walls, they were on the middle level of the tower. Meesei intended for them to stay on the middle level, but the hagravens were directly above them, and once they realized what was going one, they would certainly not stay there. They were a threat that needed to be dealt with if they were going to hold in the tower.

Meesei walked halfway up the staircase leading to the top level, then looked back down to the rest of the pack. "Hold this room; I'll deal with the hagravens." She ordered as she grabbed the vial around her neck and uncorked it. She immediately inhaled the fumes which escaped, creating a faint glow of energy inches above her scales. The effect was potent, but short lived, so she would need to be quick.

The hagravens obviously knew what was going on, as they were ready for Meesei the moment she stepped up the staircase into view. There were two of them, one of which immediately opened with a surprisingly powerful storm of lightning. Unfortunately for them, when the bolts of lightning interacted with the barrier hovering over Meesei's body, the bolts arced back throughout the room, including into the hagravens. They stopped short of damaging themselves, but were obviously not giving up on fighting the Argonian intruder. Meesei responded with a duel casted stream of frost, which met with one of the hagravens' wards. The magical prowess of these beings became obvious, as the hagraven was able to match the strength of Meesei's spell with its ward. It was unclear who would emerge victorious in the struggle, but the other hagraven did not give Meesei time to find out. Using telekinesis, the bird-creature picked up a metal brazier behind Meesei and launched it into her back, slamming her to the ground.

The hagraven dropped her ward and approached Meesei. She could not use her spells, but her sharpened claws were still deadly. Meesei rolled onto her back only to see the hagraven's claws heading straight for her throat. She managed to grab the hagraven's arm just before her claws found their mark, then tried to use her lycan strength to force them away. Unfortunately, the hagraven's knowledge of restoration allowed her to enhance her own strength to match, and even surpass that of Meesei. As her claws inched closer to Meesei's throat, she grew more desperate, and was forced to take a lethal option. She suddenly pulled the hagraven's arm down and to the side with a burst of strength, causing the hagraven to fall on top of her. She then held onto the abomination tightly and activated a flame cloak around herself, burning the hagraven alive. After only a few moments, she dissipated the flame cloak and released her grip on the hagraven, which rolled away and tried desperately to put out the flames.

Meesei practically jumped to her feet to deal with the other hagraven, which was screaming in a high-pitched, shrill voice at her. She could feel that the effects of the vapors were diminishing, but they were still there, and still visible. Meesei ran at the creature, hopping back at the last second to avoid a slash from her claws. Reacting quickly, she grabbed a hold of both of the hagraven's arms and used her own restoration spell. Most spells in restoration, or at least most well-known ones, were beneficial to the body, but some could be used offensively. Meesei drained the stamina from the hagraven's body and transferred it to her own, exhausting the hagraven while invigorating herself. She maintained the spell until the hagraven was too exhausted to remain conscious, then continued for a few more seconds after that just to be safe, being careful not to drain enough that it could be fatal.

Meesei let out a sigh of relief; the most dangerous part of their attack was over, even if it meant she had a sore back and a bloody nose from the impact. Looking at the charred remains of the other hagraven, she considered it unfortunate that she was unable to spare her life, but she had saved at least one of them. Heading back downstairs, she joined the others in defending the room. Hopefully, the witches would be too focused on besieging their tower to defend the one Ariel and Ahnasha were infiltrating.

[Muttonhawk]

As Dagmar was lowered to the ground, Ariel quickly removed her shoulderbag and handed it to Ahnasha. "The rest of the fire salts are in the middle, set them up and I'll deal with this," Ariel said, dropping to her knees next to the paralyzed Dark Elf.

Dagmar had a pained look on her face, and it looked like she could hardly breathe. To prolong the paralysis while she worked, Ariel put her finger to the back of Dagmar's neck and delivered a steady, green magical paralysis effect onto her spine. Then, Ariel placed her other hand onto Dagmar's forehead and closed her eyes. A subtle but sure purple illusion magic stretched out from Ariel's fingers and entered Dagmar's head like ghostly hooked talons. Ariel's eyelids flitted open and closed as she peered through Dagmar's mind's eye for knowledge of the suppression gas. Wherever she found traces of the gas and how to make it, Ariel cut the ties that kept the memory together and carefully wove falsehoods in their place. The process took a long and tense half-minute. Thankfully, Dagmar was in no position to defend herself.

Once Ariel was done, the magical claws receded and she hooked her hands under Dagmar's frozen armpits to begin to carry her outside, motioning for Ahnasha to help. "I'm sorry Dagmar. I don't know what Lilia did, but this gas has caused too much suffering already." Ariel said, sounding regretful, but still confident through her breathlessness while she carried Dagmar out, "You must let its existence go like I had intended, before the coven gets completely destroyed in this war. Lilia knew the risks, don't let her folly cost the lives of all of our sisters." Once Dagmar was outside, Ariel took her key to the laboratory, then after Ahnasha was back inside the tower, she looked down at her again. "The paralysis will only last a few more moments. Get away from this tower before it falls."

Ariel shut the door behind her as she stepped back into the tower, then put the key into the lock and twisted it until a telltale click was heard. She turned around to Ahnasha, and retrieved her shoulder bag and dagger again, before pulling out a magicka potion. "We'll have to escape on the wall from the door upstairs." She uncorked the potion and swallowed a mouthful before stopping for a moment to continue talking, "I'll set up some fire runes, you make sure that the way is clear." Ariel wasted no time in quaffing the rest of her potion and began to place fire runes in certain areas to make sure that the all of the equipment and the notes would be burned and destroyed.

Once ready, Ariel climbed the stairs two at a time to reach Ahnasha. All they needed to do now was light the fuses again.

---

As they all rushed into the the hagravens' nest tower and slammed the door shut behind them. The sense of vulnerability from all of the projectiles slamming against Meesei's ward was suddenly quietened. They had no time for calm yet. They didn't need to worry about the door to the wall they came from as it only lead to a dead end at the ruined tower, but the door on the ground floor and to the other wall needed to be held. Janius and Fendros took the wall door, holding it against enemy spells while it would last. Lorag and Sabine ventured downstairs and found that the door was not only closed, but it was locked. There was another smell on the ground floor, however. Through the dark, there was straw, water, and the unmistakable smell of fresh fear on fresh meat. Sabine turned around and growled, but half of her mind was triggered to a panicked state for no reason she could fathom. She was starting to shiver while she postured at the silent presence. Why couldn't she move?

Knowing that they were noticed, the two witches that had thrown the gas flasks appeared in the light of their own charging spells on the ground floor. The two witches; a young Breton and a middle-aged Nord, stood wide eyed and filled with fear, but were in a stance to cast spells onto the two lycans at a moment's notice. They were hesitating though, mostly because they weren't sure what was wrong with Sabine to make her stand in place. The light from the witches spells revealed a squirming movement from behind them, and it was then that Sabine realised why she found the smell of fear so familiar. There were at least five girls hiding behind barrels in the far reaches of the room. They couldn't have been older than Sabine had been when she was infected with lycanthropy. Their little eyes gleamed as they peeked over the barrels. A quiet sobbing could be heard from one of them. The trauma came rushing back in earnest then, Sabine began to hyperventilate and growl louder, snapping and barking at the air in front of her. Her tail slid between her legs and her shoulders hunched inward. Suddenly mistaking Lorag for the creature that had wounded her as a child, she backed into a corner and slid down the wall until she was completely curled up, covering herself with one clawed hand.

Upstairs, forces kept slamming against the door, causing it to begin to crack. Janius and Fendros held the door shut, but the witches were throwing brute telekinetic force at the door to batter it open. After a few moments, the battering paused. Then there was a whooshing sound and a bright orange light from every gap the door had. Fendros and Janius instantly detected a strong heat warming the door until its metal features became too hot to touch. The battering resumed as well, but the door was close to crumbling now, and was failing faster with the fire.

A similar battering began on the downstairs door, though Sabine couldn't cope enough to do anything but stay still and fearful.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha moved upstairs and began work on setting up the fire salt flask as Ariel was placing the runes. Just as Ariel had indicated before with her detect life spell, the tower seemed completely empty, apart from the Dunmer they had just carried outside. She made sure to place the somewhere that it would do the most damage. Some of the production equipment was upstairs as well, so the flask would cause a chain reaction with those as well. Additionally, it would put a hole in the floor that would cause the detonation of the runes on the ground floor. Since they did not need as much time to escape, Ahnasha cut the fuse in half; as she did not want anything to interrupt the detonation once they were escaping.

Once Ariel was upstairs, she motioned over to the door from her position kneeled down next to the flask. "Open the door, I'll light this one. I cut the fuse in half, so we'll need to make sure to move quickly. I'll light this, then I'll get us out of here quickly." Ahnasha said, creating a small flame on the tip of her finger. She hovered it over the fuse, then looked up to Ariel. "Okay, go get out onto the wall!" She shouted. Once the fuse ignited, she jumped up and ran for the door, beginning her transformation as she sprinted. By the time Ariel turned around to see if Ahnasha was following, she was in her werewolf form and only a few feet away. She snatched up Ariel, holding her close to her body with one arm, then leaped off of the wall out of the keep. In her wolf form, she could easily handle the drop, so as soon as she hit the ground, she was able to keep running away from the walls with no delay. After about fifteen seconds, she heard an explosion behind her, followed by a chain reaction of detonations, and the deafening collapse of the tower. Technically, she could have put down Ariel at that point, but even while running on only two legs, she could cover more ground more quickly while carrying her than if they were walking together. Her destination was the meeting place they had designated on the way to the keep, which was about ten minutes away at a good pace.

---

Meesei saw that the witches were near to breaking through the door, but when she heard the unmistakable sound of a tower collapsing outside, the witches outside paused for a moment. The shock and surprise of yet another detonation delayed them from breaking through hopefully long enough for them to escape unhindered, and without having to kill any of the witches. She had an idea of how to escape without needing to use the doors, but first, she needed to get Lorag and Sabine from downstairs.

Meesei headed downthe spiral staircase to the scene that was unfolding below. The first thing she saw was Lorag standing mere feet from two witches, both of which were hesitating. Sabine was curled up in a corner cowering in fear, and was likely the source of the witches' confusion. On the far side of the room, she could just make out the form of one or more children hiding behind some barrels, who were almost certainly the reason for Sabine's current condition. Meesei walked down the staircase carrying a commanding posture. It was fortunate that Lorag had not yet attacked, as it was possible in this situation that they might avoid bloodshed.

"Hold." Meesei commanded, keeping a firm eye locked on the witches. In such a close range environment, Lorag would almost certainly be able to kill them before they could do too much harm with their spells, but all the same, she kept a ward visible around herself. "Taking your lives is not our purpose here. Stay your hand, and you will be safe. They will be safe." She said, motioning to the children behind the barrels. "Attack, or follow us, and you will not be safe." Meesei walked over and kneeled down in front of Sabine, while Lorag maintained his position and continued to look intimidating. Meesei placed a hand on the right side of Sabine's wolfen face and looked into her eyes with a soft, caring expression. "Sabine, it is time for us to go. They will not harm you, and we shall not harm them. We just need to leave now, okay?"

[Muttonhawk]

With a slight look of surprise at Ahnasha taking the risk of cutting the fuse, Ariel didn't need to be told twice to run. Damn getting spotted at this point, she had neither the time nor the magicka to make herself invisible again. A sickly snapping sound from behind her caused Ariel to look over her shoulder just in time for a sharp gasp. Ahnasha, in her werewolf form, scooped up Ariel by the waist and carried her along at a dizzying running pace, causing Ariel to let out a surprised shriek as her feet desperately tried to keep up. It became steadier when she was propped up against Ahnasha's shoulder with a better grip, but she certainly did not expect to be carried away from this plan. Another shout of thrill and fear escaped Ariel as Ahnasha stepped over and jumped from the fortress walls and onto the ground below. The landing knocked the wind out of Ariel's lungs, but she was more than happy just to be alive.

After regaining her breath, Ariel shouted over the air rushing by them as they moved. Her voice was a mix between terrified and annoyed. It was so quick with her terror and bumpy with Ahnasha's gait that it was hard to make out the words, "Ah-na-sha! I-woul-dhave-lik-ed-to-kno-wyou-hads-ome-thi-nglike-this-plan-ned-be-fore-ha-!"

The end of Ariel's sentence was completely drowned out by the series of thunderous booms, bangs, and crackles as the tower was demolished. Following the flasks going, there was also a bright light that allowed Ariel to see the entire landscape for but a moment as if it was day, almost blinding her with her night-eye potion still in effect. Though she was facing away from what she assumed was a plume of chemical fire, she could still feel its intense heat from this distance. The light faded just as quickly and Ariel could only feel the air whizzing by and Ahnasha's pawsteps running across the ground while her eyes readjusted.

---

Sabine's breathing was shallow and her heart was racing. She stared at Lorag as he kept the witches in place. She wished it was a bad dream, it felt like a bad dream. She wanted to scream, but she was frozen in place. Now she was going to get mauled again. There was no rhyme or reason, she was just going to be singled out from all the other children. She had completely forgotten that she was in her wolf form now. Indeed, her beast spirit seemed so empathetic to her panic attack that it was cowering with her. She was a little girl again. Defenseless and vulnerable.

A streak of hope came down the stairs in the form of a familiar face. Sabine's eyes shot to Meesei and between her presence and her authoritative hold command, almost immediately Sabine began to be informed of reality again. Meesei talked with the witches, who seemed skeptical. They kept their spells up, but they seemed to slowly relax a little as Lorag and Meesei stayed back.

Then Meesei came up to Sabine where she was up against the wall. With her touch on her cheek, Sabine felt as if she could start to move again. With a shaky hand, Sabine slowly and gently put her fingers around Meesei's arm. Sabine could see that her own arm was its fur-covered beast-form, and as she slowly stood up on quivering knees, she stood slightly taller than Meesei. Though she still had her ears flat, Sabine was lead upstairs. As she glanced to the witches one last time, they stared back at her. The Nord witch had an expression of recognition on her face, though she didn't act upon it. Just before the Nord was out of sight, she mouthed to herself 'Sabine?' as if trying to confirm that it was who she thought it was.

Once they were upstairs, Sabine couldn't quite know what to think. She was still shaken and her heart was still pounding. Her beast spirit seemed to calm itself faster, which helped her energy. She would just follow directions for now, that would be easiest.

Just as well. While they were trying to shake Sabine out of her flashback, Fendros and Janius had held the door to the last, but now an entire chunk had been snapped inward, letting in a gout of magical fire. The explosion had bought a little time, but one more telekinetic smash and the door was going to snap in half.

[EliteCommander]

"If I did, you wouldn't have agreed to it." Ahnasha said as she continued to run with Ariel in her arms. It didn't seem as if they were being followed, but all the same, she kept running until they were out of sight of the keep. Even then, she continued at a brisk jog, which for her normal form would have been a full run. She repositioned Ariel in her arms to be more comfortable, then continued on towards the meeting point.

---

Meesei kept her eyes on the two witches as they were ascending the staircase. Other than the fact that they were close quarters with multiple werewolves, the presence of the children had likely swayed their decision not to attack. In their minds, to start a fight would have guaranteed the children's deaths.True to her word, Meesei and the others headed upstairs without so much as a threat from them, apart from a low growl from Lorag.

When Meesei laid her eyes on the door, she could tell it was mere moments from being breached. She needed just a bit more time to open the way for their escape, so she would need to do something to delay the witches even further. "Stand back from the door." She said as she started charging magicka through her body. For this spell, it was obvious she was in deep concentration. An exceptional quantity of magicka welled up around her, to the point that alteration energy was visibly swirling around her. Just as the door seemed like it was about to break, Meesei unleashed all of the energy at once into a telekinetic blast that snapped the weakened door off of its hinges and sent it flying out of the room along with a veritable wall of force. Anything or anyone on the other side would be thrown just as easily. Hopefully, the attack would not be fatal to anyone, but it would certainly give them just enough time to escape.

Luckily, Meesei had enough magicka remaining to enact her escape plan. On the far side of the room, she quickly placed down two fire runes side by side on the wall, then stood back with the others. "Stand clear!" She ordered as she held out her hand and let a small charge of lightning magic arc from her hand to one of the runes, activating it. They exploded one after enough. The heat was enough to be felt even from where they were standing, but the fireball itself did not extend to them. The hole it created was not especially large, but it was big enough that Lorag could still squeeze through it, so it would do. "Go, jump down and let's get out of here."

As the others were jumping out of the hole down to the ground below, Meesei started her transformation. She was no longer concerned with her amulet, so she did not waste time removing it before taking on her lycan form. By the time she was finished, the others had made their way outside, so she was clear to leave. Like Lorag, she had to squeeze through the relatively narrow opening, and in the process felt the heat of a fireball exploding behind her. It singed her fur, but otherwise did not harm her before she made it through the hole and down to the ground below. Once she was out, the entire pack took off into the forest, with fire spells being launched at them from behind until they were no longer in view. After they were out of sight of the keep, they changed direction to head towards the designated meeting place. If all had gone according to plan, Ahnasha an Ariel would already be there, or at least would arrive shortly afterwards.

---

The meeting place was a uniquely large mushroom tree between the keep and the hunter's cave, at which Ahnasha and Ariel had arrived a few minutes before the rest of the pack. Ahnasha had finally got around to setting down Ariel, though she remained in her beast form just in case they had to run away again for whatever reason.

The rest of the pack arrived shortly afterwards, with no serious wounds visible among them. Ahnasha was relieved to see them all safe, particularly Fendros, as she was sure he was for her. This made the second time they had stepped into mortal danger in a single week, though thankfully, this task ended with considerably less bodily harm, on both sides. Even so, Ahnasha was not completely pleased. Although it was only a brief conversation, the Dunmer they encountered revealed that the coven may not have been quite as complicit in this war as they believed. It was bittersweet news, as it meant that the coven was not directly an enemy, but also that they had caused considerable damage to the people and property of a group that was just as much of a victim in the war as they were. It was necessary, but it still left a sour taste in her mouth.

"Well...at least that is done." Ahnasha commented, her voice carrying no joy or enthusiasm for what was actually a resounding success of a mission. Their plan had worked flawlessly, but at this point, Ahnasha viewed it as more of an unpleasant chore that needed to be accomplished than anything else. The others approached and took a moment to rest under the tree, still in their beast forms. If anyone had any doubts as to Ariel's loyalty beforehand, they were erased now, especially considering that she trusted them enough to be surrounded by six werewolves in their beast forms all at the same time.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros and Janius weren't so enthused about Meesei destroying the door, as it let in destruction of all elements to anything that was in direct line of sight to the door. Fortunately, the pack was obscured to the witches outside and her plan of withdrawal was enacted quickly. Fendros was the first to dive through the hole in the wall, then Sabine made her way through, trying to just concentrate on running instead of anything else. Lorag tried to get through, but went at it from the wrong angle and was wedged in for a moment before Janius frantically shouldered him through and escaped himself. After Janius hit the ground and ran, he looked back to see Meesei's wolf form barge its way out, dodging a number of spells that were thrown out of the hole after her. Now they just had to make it to the meeting place.

By the time they had made it to the meeting spot, they found Ahnasha standing alert and Ariel sitting on a rock with her elbow in one hand and the bridge of her nose in the other. She had her head down and her eyes open, thinking. Sabine was the first to arrive, she came running in so fast that her sudden appearance made Ariel jump. She was quickly followed by the rest of the pack. Though some were smoking from being hit with fire, they appeared unharmed. Sabine was the only one that Ariel recognised. The rest were much larger than her. If anything, the first time seeing the entire pack in their wolf forms was imposing. Ariel rationalised the fear that she felt in their presence, reminding herself that they probably weren't out of control. At least, that was if she was to believe what Meesei had explained about werewolves on the way to and from their scouting mission.

As soon as Fendros laid her eyes on Ahnasha, he went up to her, placed his hand on her shoulder, and touched his nose to hers. There was an awkward instant as he remembered that he couldn't really kiss her in this form, so he followed up by embracing her, relieved to see her safe. It wasn't until now that the adrenaline was fading and his arm began to feel sore from the ice spell that had hit it. At least it didn't appear to be permanent damage. As he pulled away from the embrace, Fendros observed Ahnasha's less-than-triumphant expression. "Are you okay?" Fendros asked.

Despite finding it fascinating to find out that werewolves could talk in their beast forms, Ariel was more concerned about Sabine. From the moment that she had stopped in the meeting spot, she fell onto all fours and had her head down and her eyes closed. She was breathing slowly and didn't seem to respond to them. Concerned as to her state, Ariel got up from her seat and knelt down near Sabine, trying to look her in the eye but finding her completely withdrawn. Upon inspecting her this closely, Ariel saw that any part of her body that wasn't directly anchored to the ground was shivering.

"Sabine..." Ariel said, trying to get her attention. There was no response from her, but Ariel didn't feel brave enough to touch her. Ariel looked up to Lorag, whom she mistook for Meesei due to the difference in size in their wolf forms and asked, "Is she okay? What happened?"

[EliteCommander]

Lorag stared at Ariel with his head cocked to the side and a confused expression for a few moments before Meesei approached.Taking a glance back in the direction they came, she reasoned that it was no longer necessary to remain in their beast forms. They had only started heading towards the meeting place after breaking the line of sight with the keep, and even if someone tracked them, they had been running significantly faster than any human or elf was capable of. Most likely, they weren't even being tracked. With how much damage they had caused the witches were probably more concerned with dealing with their own wounded and assessing their situation.

Meesei shifted back into her normal form, and Lorag followed her lead. Ahnasha returned Fendros' embrace, then followed suit as well. When she was back in Khajiit form, she reached up and put her arms around Fendros' neck and kissed his snout before answering his question. "As well as I can be, I suppose. I'm not hurt, and I'm so glad to see that you're alright as well. I swear, if you ever die, I'm going to kill you." She said with a slight laugh before turning her attention to Sabine, who was still in her wolf form.

Kneeling down beside Sabine, Meesei gently placed a hand on her shoulder and glanced to Ariel. "It wasn't easy for her to return to the place that had been the source of so much of her pain. It did not help that we ran into a group of young children, much like she had been only a few years ago. I think it brought up unpleasant memories. If I could have helped it, I would have allowed her to stay behind, but we needed everyone on this one. This is not a war we chose, it has been thrust upon us by Clavicus Vile. I wish she never had to return to return to that place, but the coven had chosen to make themselves our enemy."

"I...wouldn't quite say that." Ahnasha interrupted, clasping her hands together in a somewhat nervous manner.

Meesei looked to Ahnasha with a mix of interest and confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well...if what one of the witches said is to be believed, they are only doing this because Vile has the soul of one of their members hostage. They needed to produce the gas to keep her safe." Ahnasha explained.

Meesei lowered her head and let out a sigh. "This war is a terrible thing. Clavicus Vile creates victims wherever his influence spreads, on both sides of the war, it seems. I know not what his final goals are, but they need to be stopped before he can cause more pain."

Leaning in closer to Sabine, Meesei placed her hand on her chin and gently lifted up her snout so that she could look her in the eye. Meesei's expression was one of sadness, of empathy for Sabine's situation, but it also carried with it certainty. "Sabine, you are safe now. Nothing that ever happened to you in that place will happen to you again, not while I draw breath." Meesei wrapped her arms around Sabine's neck and hugged her, holding her tightly in her embrace with no intention of letting go until Sabine could feel she was safe.

[Muttonhawk]

At everyone else changing back, as well as Meesei's warm hug, Sabine began to change back into a Breton in Meesei's arms. While the changes were grotesque as always, it was a quick process. After changing, Sabine put her own arms around Meesei and held on tightly. In her mind, there was still a panic present, one that made her think that she was going to be torn into by a lycan again. However, now that they were out of sight of the coven and away from the smell of fear that the children held, Sabine began to regain her wits. It was still a horrific experience to relive. Tears started to streak down her face as she held onto Meesei. She didn't have to worry about things with Meesei around.

Fendros decided to look down and lick Ahnasha on the ear in response to her demand. He let out a quick amused breath from his nose and began to shift back to Dunmer form. Looking over to the situation with Sabine as well, her state drew pity Fendros, but he couldn't really imagine what she was going through. After all, there was a lot more trauma in that coven in Sabine's mind than Fendros had likely ever experienced. Similar thoughts came from Janius as he shifted back.

After several moments, Sabine's breathing became more regulated and her shivering subsided. Slowly, she pulled away from Meesei and stood up silently. Sabine looked over to Ariel, who stood up with her. "The gas." Sabine said simply.

"Destroyed," Ariel said, nodding and holding the fingers of one hand in the other, "Laboratory, notes, everything."

"Lilia?" Sabine continued.

Ariel looked over to Ahnasha with a sullen face, before returning her eyes to her sister. "She's the hostage Vile has. Another witch, Dagmar, do you remember her? She had rediscovered the gas recipe. She lives, I think, but I took the knowledge from her mind and left the notes to burn in the tower." Ariel glanced to Meesei occasionally as she talked, explaining it to everyone as well as Sabine, "If Dagmar is to be believed, and I think she is, she was the only one who had unlocked the secrets to making the gas. Sharing those secrets would have been extremely difficult, if impossible. The recipe is very complicated."

There was a chill up Ariel's spine as she went back to Dagmar's face when she had explained the situation her. "Ahnasha is correct. The coven was being coerced into this task." Ariel took in a long, but shallow breath through her mouth and she glanced to the side, as if she was holding back tears herself. "I think I grossly misjudged the coven. In hindsight this was the more likely situation." She brought up a hand to wipe her eyes with her thumb and her forefinger and she kept the hand covering her mouth and nose. There was another shallow breath, "Oh, I hope they'll be okay." Ariel blinked a couple of times and her eyes started to go red. She stayed mostly composed, though.

All of a sudden, Sabine stepped up and hugged Ariel around the chest, causing her to lift her arms slightly in surprise. Sabine had her eyes closed and her ear pressed against Ariel's chest when Ariel looked down at her head. Ariel returned the hug, putting her arms around Sabine in return. "Thank you, sister," Sabine mumbled, understanding her sacrifice.

Ariel's response was to half-cough and half-exhale, bursting into tears with her mouth open. She brought her hand up and held Sabine's head, breathing in with a struggling sound and exhaling as quickly. Her face went completely red and she brought her head down to lean against the top of Sabine's head. Her back jolted in small movements while she sobbed. It wasn't just the understanding and comfort that Sabine tried to provide, she had referred to her as her sister in a very sincere manner. In a way it was proper forgiveness. While Sabine and Ariel embraced, Janius put his hand on Ariel's shoulder. "Thank you, Ariel," he said with a look of condolence, before removing his hand and stepping back. Feeling that it was appropriate to do so, Fendros nodded and spoke as well, "Thank you, Ariel."

[EliteCommander]

Pretty much everyone showed some sort of thanks to Ariel. Even Lorag gave her a respectful nod in acknowledgement. After Sabine got up to embrace her sister, Meesei approached Ariel and lightly placed a hand on her back, looking down at her with an approving smile. "Indeed, you have done more for us, and indeed all of our kind, than most without the gift of beast blood would ever consider. You informed us of, and helped destroy a threat to our very lives. For that, you have our thanks. If you wish for aid to get to Thorn, we will give it to you. I admit, I would normally never consider allowing one not of the beast blood to stay with us for any extended time, but you have earned it."

Meesei looked off over the horizon in the direction of the hunters' cave for a moment before looking back down at Ariel. "For now, though, we should probably head back to camp and get some rest. We should try to leave Vvardenfell as soon as we can, but before we do, I have an idea on how to get you as much gold as possible to help restart your life." She said, offering her hand to help her up.

[Muttonhawk]

Ariel smiled back at Meesei and the rest of the pack, still crying. "The aid would be very helpful, thank you." Ariel said, her and her sister pulling away, "However, I need to get back to Vos immediately to start packing my more valuable materials. I can meet you at the hunters' cave later, I remember the way." Ariel sniffed and wiped her eyes again as everyone began to move out. "Before we separate, what of this plan for gold you mentioned?" Ariel asked cautiously. She hoped it wouldn't involve more of anything unlawful. While they walked, Sabine stayed close to Ariel and held her hand.