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

[Muttonhawk]

In an unthinking reaction, Janius raised his shield to block the incoming arrows. He braced for the pain that would come from them impacting his body, as he wasn't quite fast enough to stop them, but Meesei put herself between him and the projectiles before he could register how she did it. She was hit by one, but not too badly by her reaction.

Now with his situational awareness in a better state, Janius caught movement to one side. A spearman going for Meesei. Janius didn't even think about what could happen if the spear found its mark, he simply threw himself forward and struck the side of the shaft his shield, redirecting the thrust to one side and nullifying the spearman's initiative. Janius didn't have time to get past the spear's reach, so he settled for throwing a firebolt at the mercenary's chest. The impact caused the mercenary to flinch in a belated attempt to dodge, then shout in pain as the spell burned through his armour. He began to withdraw, too wounded to continue for the moment.

With his shield now poised for any more surprises, Janius started to step back towards the cultists' formation with Meesei. "Thanks," he said quickly between breaths and feeling like he should add some clever line. With how hectic the battle was, though, being witty was decidedly more difficult.

Sabine gave a quick blank glance to Mirisk after his response. She didn't think her outburst would be interpreted as a request. No matter, she spun another stone over her head and tried for another shot. She missed again, this time even more widely than before. However, after swiftly loading another stone, arrows fell upon the commander from the other direction. It must have been Fendros and Ahansha's work. Their shots found the commander's leg, thankfully, and Sabine was quick to capitalise on the commander's new limp. She very nearly found the commander's head with the next hurl. The stone landed on his upper back and was at just the right angle to daze the commander. Soon, he stumbled and was felled by arrows and spells alike. Sabine showed her teeth and exhaled sharply in triumph.

As soon as the commander fell, Fendros truly felt that the battle would only stay in their favour. This was why it was such a terrifying surprise to suddenly be paralysed and captured by a small group of newcomers. They were lead by an Argonian whom Fendros believed to be the noble in charge of hunting the cult. Apart from showing a face mixed with worry and anger, the worry showing more clearly when he looked at Ahnasha, Fendros didn't communicate in any way. He had no choice but to give in and be bound by the wrists, but he knew that the less he talked right now, the safer everyone would be.

[EliteCommander]

With the spearman threatening Meesei dead, Kaleeth committed to a shield charge against the nearest shield-bearer to them. It was a Nord larger than herself, so naturally he was braced and ready to push back with his own shield, but he did not anticipate the sheer force with which she hit him. Kaleeth barreled over him and started smashing in his chest and head with her mace hard enough to bend steel. She was a surprising foe to face, but just as in training, she had a hard time reacting quickly enough to defend herself once she had committed to an attack. Fortunately, in this case, Lorag had been charging along with her and set his sights on the mercenary closest to her. He was the last shield-bearer on their flank, and Lorag struck him with a furious swing. Instead of completely dodging his spear, Lorag angled himself so that it deflected off of his chestpiece. Then, once the mercenary was sufficiently off-balance, he tackled him to the ground and finished him off by collapsing his skull.

It only took a few moments for Meesei to regain her bearings. They had broken the mercenaries' shield line, but that still left a decent number behind them. Many of them were confused without the direction of their commander, but they were outnumbered, and it would not be long before they tried to rush. Meesei, however, could introduce a bit more chaos into their ranks. Lightning pulsed around around her as she charged her spell, which she released in the form of a seemingly massive lightning storm in a cone in front of her. It looked exceptionally intimidating, but given the wide area it covered, it wasn't as strong as a normal lightning bolt. There was no way for it to be lethal to a person, but it would be painful and could stun most of the hostiles in front of her. Anyone in a full suit of metal armor would be unaffected, as the electricity would flow through the suit instead of the wearer, but most of them were not wearing complete suits of armor. Many simply had plates covering important areas, while some of their armor was not metal at all.

"Quickly, charge while they are stunned. Janius, Kaleeth, take the lead." Meesei ordered, as they were the ones with shields. "Stick close together."

Ahnasha and Fendros were led away from the village with blades pressed against their backs, and if they were not capable of killing them, then the crossbowmen would certainly finish the job. Ahnasha looked desperately for a way out but she could see none at the moment. Perhaps once they reached the wagon, they would have a chance. After all, they still didn't know that they were lycans.

Just outside the town, there were three wagons with even more guards, who were quick to usher the pair into the one in the middle. Almost as soon as they were forced into their seats, their rope bindings were replaced with chains and wrist irons. Those wouldn't prove an issue for their werewolf forms, but they still needed an opportunity to turn safely. The apparent leader of the group rushed his employees to leave, then joined them in the middle carriage with a selection of his guards. They left with haste, but the Argonian leader still seemed concerned about his new prisoners. He looked to the Breton mage who originally paralyzed them and gave him a nod. "I'd prefer it if these two weren't conscious. Can you deal with that?"

"Of course, sir." The Breton responded, reaching across the carriage and pressing his hand to Ahnasha's forehead. She considered resisting, but she quickly lost that option once he cast his spell. Over the course of about a minute, he drained her stamina to the point that she could no longer keep herself awake. As strong as she wanted to appear, she gave Fendros one last fearful expression before falling into a deep sleep, upon which the mage moved on to him.

[Muttonhawk]

Now the tide had truly turned. The mercenaries' lines were not reforming and now all that remained was to kill as many as they could until they were routed. Janius stepped up beside Kaleeth and accompanied her in charging towards some of the mercenaries that were keeping their distance. A lightly armoured Argonian with a shortsword in each hand was Janius' first victim. The mercenary perceived their charge just enough to try and swing to ward Janius off, but Janius was a step ahead and parried before cutting his arm and then his throat. The next had recovered from Meesei's spell more quickly; an orc with heavier armour and an axe in one hand. Janius swung at him, but he managed to step back and act in a way that Janius didn't expect. The orc stepped up, grabbed the edge of Janius' shield, and spread magical frost swiftly along its surface until in encompassed Janius' arm completely in a numbing pain. Janius tried to struggle and swing at the orc's head, but the orc simply hooked their axes together and snarled into his face as the frost drained him.

"It worked! They're failing!" Sabine observed from their position alongside the battle. Just as well, too. Sabine was stooping for stones to sling amongst the rubble of the building at this point. There was plenty of material, but her shots weren't as consistent. Still, between herself and Mirisk, the mercenaries' numbers were being sufficiently thinned by their fire.

Fendros quickly alternated his fearful look between Ahnasha and the Breton as Ahnasha slowly slipped out of consciousness. At this point, Fendros was overtaken by anger. Before the Breton could touch him, Fendros raised a foot to his stomach and pressed him against the edge of the carriage. "If you so much as harmed her, I swear upon the reclamations, I will...I will tear you ap-..." Fendros trailed off. Even though the mage was now winded and the other guards in the carriage had levelled their crossbows at Fendros, the mage seemed to have no trouble casting his spell through Fendros' leg. Fendros gritted his teeth and tried to stay awake, but soon slumped to one side as the last of his energy left him. He took one last look at the now sideways Argonian and Breton before the carriage went dark.

[EliteCommander]

Lorag ran just behind Janius and Kaleeth, so when they clashed with the enemy, he was right behind them to follow through. He rushed around Janius and delivered a heavy blow to the Orc's knee, which bent it backwards with a satisfying crunch. It was enough to give Janius the edge, so he quickly turned his attention to the next foe: an Argonian rogue trying desperately to scramble to his feet, who he promptly kicked back to the ground.

On Janius' other side, Kaleeth once again knocked an opponent to the ground, but was struck by another before she could follow through. The blade slashed across her shoulder and down her arm, but the wamasu scale armor proved its worth quite well. While a stabbing attack would have been more effective, the slash did not pierce through. She did receive a cut on the side of her elbow, as the joint was not armored, but it was not too deep. It was, however, painful due to the silver, so she instinctively raised her shield to protect herself and went entirely on the defensive.

Meesei had to stop for just a moment instead of charging with the others, as her magical exertions so far had been draining. Her lightning form finally dissipated as she reached into her satchel and produced once of Sabine's magicka potions, which she drank as quickly as possible. The archers in the back of the mercenaries' force were no longer a real issue, since they could not fire without risking hitting their own people. As such, Meesei rushed forward towards Kaleeth, who seemed in need of the most help.

The spellfire and stones being fired from the building Sabine and the others had captured were now directed closer to the mercenaries' front lines, which gave Vinaremo's group plenty of opportunity to strike. While the shield-bearers had to protect themselves from spells from multiple angles, Vinaremo and Orskan exchanged a glance and came to a silent agreement on how to proceed. Both of them charged alteration spells in their hands, then released powerful telekinetic blasts simultaneously. Instead of aiming straight forward, they were directed closer to the ground to sweep their frontline off of their feet, upon which Vinaremo gave the order to strike. He and Orskan both immolated the mercenaries with fire, while the other two cultists gave a barrage of ice and lightning. For the shield-bearers, the only way they would be getting back up would be as a reanimated corpse.

[Muttonhawk]

Backup was quick in the form of Lorag helping Janius with the orc mage in front of him. Janius didn't see clearly what had happened due to his shield obscuring it, but the orc suddenly collapsed to one side with a painful yell. Janius didn't see until he had regained control of his shield and smashed the orc's face in that his knee had been broken back.

Upon hearing Kaleeth's cry, Janius looked to help her, but didn't see that she was in too much trouble yet. She was facing two opponent's, though. Janius moved to support her while he had the time and threw a feint at the one she had knocked down, keeping him back as he scrambled up. Janius tried to follow up with a chop down at the mercenary's shoulder, but was denied as the mercenary jumped back.

Another one closed in to engage Janius, this time an Imperial with a sword and shield of his own. The Imperial's opening attack was meant to take Janius off guard, but he was noticed by Janius, who blocked the first strike and pushed him back as they clashed shields. Janius tried to keep the other foes in the corner of his vision while he fought. There were so many of them that Janius wondered how he would find an opening in any without exposing himself to another. At least Janius' flanks weren't too exposed with Kaleeth and Lorag on either side of him.

[EliteCommander]

Even without the lieutenant leading them, the mercenaries still had numbers, for the moment, at least. Given that they were surrounded on all sides, the mercenaries had been losing people at a steady rate, not to mention that Vinaremo's group seemed to be pushing effectively as well. If they could keep up their pace for a bit longer, their enemy's morale might drop enough that, without leadership, they could be routed. Unfortunately, Kaleeth, Janius, and Lorag were on the defensive, so they needed another opening like what Meesei had provided a moment ago. Unfortunately, it was a draining spell, and she would not be able to follow through with anything powerful if she tried it again. She did, however, have one option, something that actually made her glad she was fighting in the influence of Neesa's unholy magic.

The fog covering area was infused with Hal-Neesa's magic, but it was still, at its core, just fog. It was made of water like any cloud or mist, and that was something she could manipulate. Stopping just behind the other three, Meesei held out her arms and charged her magicka into the air around them, collecting and concentrating the fog to wherever she willed it. Around the mercenaries threatening the others, it grew exceptionally thick, to the point where the water was condensing on their armor. She made sure to leave a safe buffer between the mercenaries and her own allies, then suddenly shot out a bolt of lightning into the air and through the fog. With the concentrated water in the air to help conduct it, the electricity was amplified enough to arc through a line of enemies in front of the others, with much less exertion on her part. Like before, it would not be lethal, but it still provided a good opportunity to attack, as well as hopefully dropping their opponents' morale.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius saw the opportunity as Meesei presented it. It was creative, but no less effective. With braver strides, Janius advanced, sidestepped, and chopped at a target in the fog. The swordsman that Janius had fended off earlier was all of a sudden too beleaguered to effectively parry and took the full force of Janius' strike on his shield. Given the chaos that was ensuing, the swordsman desperately tried to defend himself, but had his shield shoved to one side by Janius' before he felt Janius' axe bite into his leg. Quickly following up, Janius cut the back of the swordsman's neck and pushed him to the ground with a kick. There was no time to give him a quicker death before he moved onto the next mercenaries; another moderately armoured spearman, Bosmer this time, and a heavy Redguard hefting a claymore up as his faculties started to return.

The spearman grinned at Janius menacingly as a fiery spell glowed in his off-hand. Janius realised this just quickly enough to cast a ward out in front of him, but the spearman's magic was stronger than he expected and a single explosive fireball shattered the ward instantly. Janius stumbled backwards and tried to regain his balance. The Bosmer might have expected to kill him with that spell, so he might just have used up all his magicka attempting it. Might have.

[EliteCommander]

The shield-bearers on Vinaremo's flank were not dead for long, as Orskan was quick to resurrect them while the mercenaries behind them were forced to take cover from a hail of destruction spells. As the thralls raised themselves off of the ground, Vinaremo clutched his katana and nodded to Orskan. "Ready?"

"Ready." Orskan answered, prompting Vinaremo to charge forward with Orskan following behind. The thralls were clashing with the mercenaries, so Vinaremo cast a flame cloak on himself at the last moment, then ran around them into the fray. It was easy enough for him to sink the bound Daedric blade, but for the second, Orskan provided his aid in the form of telekinesis. When a mercenary swung her blade in Vinaremo's direction, Orskan tugged on the blade just enough to make her miss, and he was even able to use it to amplify the strength of Vinaremo's retaliatory strike. As the vampiric Altmer pressed forward, Orskan practically pulled their opponents into Vinaremo's sword in an almost graceful combination of magic and martial prowess. It appeared as though the pair worked together quite well as a team. For the remaining two cultists, they placed all of their focus into reanimating and controlling the corpses Vinaremo and Orskan were providing. .

For the moment, Meesei decided her greatest role would be in support. She remained behind the others and continued to concentrate the fog around the mercenaries. It was now thick to the point that only the few who were directly in front of her friends would even be able to make out their forms. Instead of wide area spells, she shifted her efforts on concentrated lightning bolts into any who appeared to be threatening the others. The Bosmer Janius was fighting was met with a bolt which Meesei directed clean over Janius and into him from above. It may or may not have been lethal, but it was certainly incapacitating. Any others who seemed like an immediate threat she targeted, and since they could hardly even see her beyond the fog, they had no chance to respond. If they had shields that were insulated or wards to block spells, it did not matter, as they had no warning of her attacks. It was as if they were fighting inside of a stormcloud.

[Muttonhawk]

Relying on the assumption that the Bosmer had exhausted his magicka may not have been the best decision from Janius, as his next lunge was about to be met by another bolt of fire. Janius' saving grace was Meesei's lightning, which managed to disrupt the Bosmer's spell long enough for Janius to follow through. The Bosmer was swift enough to block Janius' chop with the haft of his spear, however, giving his Redguard associate enough space to cut down towards Janius' arm. Janius had to twist one arm over the other to shield himself from the swing, then step back receive the next blow. The Redguard had stepped up to follow Janius and swung sideways at his right. Janius turned to block and suffered the coordination of his opponents as the Bosmer thrust his spear into a gap in Janius' armour, piercing his upper-arm. A burning pain shocked its way through Janius' body as the silver bit through his flesh, causing him shout in pain, but it wasn't a lethal strike. Without heed to the state of his wound, Janius rode on his adrenaline and brought his shield arm around to trap the Bosmer's spear, before pulling the Bosmer towards him and chopping at his neck. The Bosmer hardly had time to register his plight under Janius' strength as his blood escaped him faster than he could hit the ground.

Sabine hurled one last stone before the resolve of the cultist's side of the battle broke completely. The combination of a seemingly unstoppable flaming vampiric fighter in front of them, alongside their former shieldmates now fighting against them with wide eyes and dead faces was too much. Those that saw an opportunity to escape ran in the opposite direction as fast as they could. Seeing one side of the battle lost triggered the other side to run as well, and soon none were left fighting that Sabine could see. It appeared as if they had won. With no one else to throw stones at, Sabine turned to check on Nuulanth.

The Redguard, as if already enraged by the fight before seeing his friend die, shouted ferociously as he brought his claymore up in a large arc. Janius was able to jump back to evade, but still held the spear that was stuck in his shield arm. Janius was beyond heeding the need to save magicka for wards, so he charged another firebolt and tossed it wildly at the Redguard's face. The impact made him yell in surprise and pain and stopped him in his tracks. He was blinded enough for Janius to run up and bump him to the ground with a shoulder. Standing over the Redguard, Janius chopped down into his helmet, ending his life in an instant.

Janius looked up, expecting to be faced with another opponent, but he saw no one through the thick fog. He only heard footsteps running away. Kaleeth and Lorag were still nearby, and Meesei was probably watching over them as well, but it would seem that the fight was over. Janius stepped back out of the fog, breathing shallowly through his mouth and with a pounding heart. There were plenty of bodies strewn about, but the only living mercenaries he could see were silhouettes in the fog by now, if they weren't getting shot in the back as they ran.

It didn't look like anyone in the pack was killed. Just a few injuries, including Janius' own arm. Janius looked down at his shield arm and found that the spear was no longer lodged in it, it had fallen out on its own and it was the wound that left an impression. Janius dropped the spear in realisation, not that his arm had much energy left. He could feel his arm starting to soak in the blood that would have given it energy. Curiously, Janius reached around and touched the puncture in his arm, upon which he winced sharpy and suddenly the pain returned. He didn't appear to have suffered any further injuries, so once he put away his axe and tried to hold the wound closed, he looked around to his packmates. "Is everyone alright?" Janius groaned. With all the blood spilled around them, Janius could feel his beast spirit pushing on his subconscious. Hopefully Kaleeth was managing okay.

[EliteCommander]

Once the fight had ended, Mirisk rushed to check on Nuulanth. He knelt down beside her, once again capturing her attention away from Sabine. Her breathing was slow and calm, but she was at least still alive. She looked tired, like she was about to fall over from exhaustion. Strangely, she had not lost all that much blood, at least not enough to cause such an effect. He placed a hand on her cheek and moved her head to look up at him. "Come on, stay with me Nuul, how are you feeling?"

"Well...thinking about it. I...think I have been poisoned. It hurts like it; I'm exhausted like it. If I weren't Argonian, I would be dead...that might still happen." She responded in a calm tone, though that might have been influenced by her condition instead of her mental state.

With a resolute expression, Mirisk put his arm around her and helped her to her feet. "Then we are going to get you back right away. No arguments. Come on."

Outside, Vinaremo and the other cultists cut down as many as they could while they were trying to run, but then returned to the site of the battle once there were no more in sight. He showed some signs of fatigue, but he was unharmed. One of the other cultists was trying to find the body of their ally who had died at the beginning of the battle, but neither Vinaremo nor Orskan seemed to care. Instead, they were walking among the bodies of the mercenaries for any survivors, though their reasons were not likely humane.

Meesei rubbed her hand over the wound in her stomach, which was still bleeding down her scales. The silver stopped it from regenerating quickly on its own, and her own healing magic would be less effective on it. It also did not help that she was fatigued from the fight. Regardless, it was not a major wound, and she would be fine. She approached one of the mercenaries' corpses and ripped some cloth from one of their uniforms to wrap around her stomach, then performed what healing she could to close the wound as she rejoined the others.

"I will live. I would just like to check on Sabine and Ahnasha's groups. Though, they were helping in the fight, so they must have succeeded." Meesei said in response to Janius.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine quickly took the initiative to help Mirisk to carry Nuulanth and help her down the ladder. Sabine wasn't expecting the mercenaries to poison their arrows, but given their task, they would probably use as many tools as they could against the cult. There was also the possibility that she had tasted Sabine's blood in the rush Sabine went through to heal her, but Sabine didn't know whether the early symptoms of lycanthropy included fatigue. They still had time to bring her to Meesei and the others, so Sabine left the issue for now. She simply put herself under one of Nuulanth's arms and silently helped her to the courtyard. Sabine's wrist still throbbed with pain, but the blade was not silver. The wound would be gone by the next morning.

"Right, same here." Janius said, undoing his shield and slinging it over his good arm, before taking out the healing potion Sabine had given him and attempting to treat the puncture on his arm. "It looks like someone accompanying Sabine took a nasty hit. Look," Janius nodded towards the edge of the courtyard, where Sabine and Mirisk were hurrying Nuulanth towards them. Janius turned towards the tower Ahnasha and Fendros occupied and tried to look in the windows. "I don't see anyone up in the tower, I'll bet Ahnasha and Fendros are making their way down right now."

[EliteCommander]

Mirisk seemed considerably more frantic than even Nuulanth as they stammered towards the group. He shouted to Vinaremo to grab his attention before explaining the situation. "I believe Nuul has been poisoned. I don't know if it is a poison that can kill Argonians; usually they act more quickly than this, but still, we need to get her back to a healer as quickly as we can."

"Hmph, that's disappointing." Vinaremo commented. "I had hoped to see if there were any bodies among the casualties that still held onto life. No matter, I have enough souls for the moment." He turned and walked over to Meesei, his overall attitude not quite as negative as it has been in the past, but still not positive by any stretch of the imagination. "I had hoped we would be able to kill that wretched noble's son, but he seemed to be too much of a coward to show up. No matter, that part wasn't your fault. The battle was a success, and you performed adequately. One of mine needs a healer, so we should return at once."

Meesei remained as civil as Vinaremo and returned a nod. "Very well, I will go collect the remainder of my pack from their vantage point. I will be back shortly." She said before jogging off to find Ahnasha and Fendros.

Kaleeth was staying away from the others, near the edge of the courtyard as far away from the bodies as she could reasonably go. She felt wrong in every sense. She had felt it since they started fighting, but her fear had clouded her mind and senses. Now, however, she could smell all of the fresh blood in the air. It was...tempting. She hated the thought, and she hated herself, but even so, she found herself salivating. Burying her face in her hands, she tried thinking of whatever she could to distract herself from these desires.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine was a little bemused to hear how unconcerned Vinaremo seemed to be, but she wasn't so surprised as to protest. It seemed that all the cultists she had heard, except for Nuulanth and Mirisk who seemed to care about each other, only saw things as they were a means to an end rather than in terms of any morals. She didn't like that. Sabine thought to offer at least some support in speaking to Mirisk, "If I find the right plants on our way back, they might be used as a simple cure, but I would need to know the poison to really help. Have they used this poison before?"

Given that both Lorag and Sabine appeared to be unharmed, Janius turned his attention to Kaleeth. She had wandered off in no particular direction, and at first Janius played it off as nothing. Though, seeing her now, she seemed as if she was struggling. It might have been the sheer amount of death that she had just witnessed, or killing others intentionally for the first time, but Janius' suspicions were aligned in another direction.

Once Janius had tied a bandage and sling around his arm, he approached Kaleeth with a serious face. "How strong is it right now? Do you need to sate it?" Janius asked intently. If Kaleeth needed to transform, having the fresh bodies around would be better for everyone's safety, however uneasy she might feel about eating people again.

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth did not look up at Janius when he approached and instead just started shaking her head. "No! I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to. I can't stand the thought; I don't want to feed it. I can't be that monster again. I just...I just need to get out of here, away from all of this." She pleaded. Kaleeth looked up for only a moment before wrapping her arms around him and pressing her head to his chest. Perhaps if she could overwhelm herself with his scent, she could forget about the bodies? "Please, don't make me do it again."

Meesei found it worrying that she did not see Ahnasha or Fendros on the way up to their building; even more so when she saw the footprints outside. After rushing upstairs and finding the building empty, she sprinted back outside and followed the footprints out of the town. There were many sets of footprints, enough for seven to ten people, and once she reached the point where they had boarded their wagons, she saw even more. Walking over to the beginning of one of the wagon trails, she knelt down next to a print that appeared to be made by someone who was barefoot. She examined it more closely and saw that there were impressions of claws in the mud at the end of the toes. "Oh no." Meesei said audibly in realization of what had happened.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius slowly brought his good arm up around Kaleeth and creased his brow worriedly. "Kaleeth, I know this is difficult, and I won't force you to do anything, but if you need to turn, this is probably the best time to do so. The fresh meat on hand means it will only last a few minutes. We don't know how much longer we'll be cooped up in the cult's lair, even after this task. If you were to transform inside there, it would be worse for everyone, especially you." Janius placed his hand on the side of her head and tried to separate enough to look at her face. "I need you to be completely honest, will you be able to make it back if you don't turn?"

[EliteCommander]

Despite her fatigue from the battle, Meesei ran after the wagons' tracks. They looked fresh, so it was possible that she might catch up to the source. With how many footprints she saw, it was unlikely that she would be able to rescue them alone, but she at least would be able to track them to wherever they were taking them. Unfortunately, it wasn't far out of town where she saw the tracks cross a shallow river, then...nothing. It was as if they entered the river, then never crossed to the other side. Likely, they had some way of covering their track as they went along, perhaps a mage or something of that nature. It would have been hopeless, but Meesei still caught a trace of their scent in the air. It was obvious that they tried to mask it, but these mercenaries had not been expecting to fight lycans. Whatever they used to hide their scents was not strong enough to fool a lycan's nose. There was still hope, but it would take longer to track them down, and Meesei needed to return to the others for help. Once again, she started sprinting back towards the town, as she had already been gone longer than the others would have expected.

Kaleeth's answer was hardly decisive. She simply did not know how she would cope if they were required to stay in the cult's lair for an extended time, but she was vehemently against feeding on the corpses to satisfy her beast. The focus of their conversation shifted away from Kaleeth not because she seemed to improve, but because the group started to notice how long Meesei had been gone. In particular, Vinaremo seemed to be growing more annoyed. He didn't know who was in charge in Meesei's stead, so he just questioned them all in his frustrated tone. "What is taking your leader so long? Did she get lost walking up a hill? We will leave without her if this takes too much longer."

[Muttonhawk]

It was for two reason now that Sabine was getting anxious. Each moment that Meesei wasn't present was a moment longer that Nuulanth had to hold on, but at the same time she kept trying to think that Meesei was going to come back at any minute. What had happened?

Kaleeth's predicament had been distracting enough that by the time Janius noticed how long Meesei was taking, he couldn't think of why. It had to have been something bad, he knew that much.

When Vinaremo confronted them about it, both Janius and Sabine didn't know exactly what to say. They both looked to Lorag. Their first instinct was to go after her to find her, but that decision was really in the hands of Meesei's second in command, as it were.

[EliteCommander]

Lorag looked like he was about ready to start shouting at Vinaremo, but that did not prove necessary, as Meesei came running back down the hill shortly afterwards. She was fatigued from the sprint, but managed to get out the reason for her rush before having to stop and catch her breath. "Ahnasha and Fendros...they have been captured."

Lorag growled, drawing his hammer from his back. "Captured, what? Then what are we waiting for, let's go get 'em. Where are they?"

"I do not know for certain." Meesei answered. "I found footprints near their building that led out of town. I followed them to what appeared to be the tracks of three wagons. Unfortunately, their trail ends where it crosses a stream; I believe they have a way to cover their tracks. There is one thing, though; their scent is still in the air. It seems like they tried to cover it, but they did not anticipate lycans. I will not lie, depending on how far away it is, it could take all night, but I believe we can track them."

Vinaremo discarded his anger once Meesei explained that her friends had been captured. He did not care about their lives, of course, but in this event, he saw an opportunity to put an end to their enemy entirely. "Captured, you say? This is good. We have not been able to locate their hideout thusfar, but those wagons will lead us straight to them. We shall return to the xanmeer and inform our Masters of this development. The force in their lair will likely be even larger than the one we fought here, so we will need a few extra bodies, perhaps some more thralls."

Lorag placed his hammer back into its resting position, but he did not seem pleased with Vinaremo's suggestion. "Not a chance, we can't just wait around while they do Hircine knows what to them. We need to find them, now!"

Meesei lightly shook her head. "No, he's right, Lorag. I saw qutie a few sets of footprints, and there are undoubtedly more in their hideout. If we want to stand a chance of rescuing them, we will need more than just us. I will return to the xanmeer with them. The rest of you should follow the trail and see if you can locate their hideout. As I said, it may take time to track the scent to their destination, but it's the only chance we have. If you find it, we can all meet here to stage the attack." She said before shifting her gaze to Vinaremo. "Is that an acceptable plan?" She asked, though her tone did not make it seem like a request.

"It will suffice, just make sure you find them. Our masters will not appreciate us bringing a large force out here for nothing." Vinaremo warned. "Now come, let's hurry."

Meesei started to follow Vinaremo, but turned back for a brief moment as she walked away. "Don't worry, we will save them. I will not rest until we do."

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine and Janius were beginning to fear the worst. When Meesei returned, the news was better, but still dire. Ahnasha and Fendros had been taken straight from under their noses.

Making sure that Nuulanth was properly supported, Sabine slid out from under her arm, turned, and nodded to her. "Don't die," she murmured one last time before joining Lorag.

There was little hesitation from Janius to get moving. He was still concerned about Kaleeth, but priorities had shifted. Janius looked to Kaleeth as he moved. "It might help to keep your thoughts with Ahnasha and Fendros while we need to help them. I don't know whether it helps control or whether it's pack instinct, but staying determined like this helps me with the temptations sometimes. It will be worth a try. And Kaleeth..." Janius put a hand on Kaleeth's shoulder and stopped for a moment, "You're doing well." He gave a smile and resumed to catch up with Lorag.

[EliteCommander]

When Ahnasha finally awoke and her eyes slowly opened, she was unsure how much time had passed, but the situation she found herself in was none too encouraging. She was hanging just a few inches off of the ground with chains binding both her hands and feet. Fendros was bound similarly not far in front of her so that they were directly facing one another. Both of them had been stripped down and placed into this dank stone dungeon, but she had a feeling that they would not be left alone forever. Looking around, the only other thing in the room besides themselves was a wooden table with bloody torture instruments resting on top of it.

Ahnasha's first thought was to find some escape, but looking closer at her chains was disheartening. Not only were they heavy and secured strongly into the ceiling and floor, but there was a secondary set of larger bindings hanging around her arms and legs. If she were to transform, she would likely break out of the bindings around her wrist and ankles, but the secondary set were large enough to keep her bound, even as a werewolf. Evidently, their captors had determined that they were lycans. Magic was her next thought, but again, they had already accounted for that possibility. As much as she tried, it seemed as if she could not access even the smallest amount of magicka, likely because her chains were enchanted to suppress it.

"Fendros, are you awake? This isn't good, I think they figured out what we are." She said, her tone hinting at the fear swelling up inside of her. Outside the iron door, she could hear footsteps and muffled voices; she just hoped that they weren't interested in an interrogation just yet.