Gallus pressed his hand over Hiritus' throat to make sure he couldn't scream, but it didn't appear as though he had the opportunity. Hot blood seeped between Gallus' fingers as the life left Hiritus' eyes. He wasn't paying attention when Meesei arrived, as evidenced by his head shooting up from his execution quickly when they were a short distance away.
By the time Meesei spoke, Gallus was wiping the blood from his dagger and hands. He looked incredibly tired, even with the dim light shading his face. "Right." He began without making eye contact with Meesei, "I coaxed out about as much as I thought he knew. Their cells keep information withheld where it isn't needed, so he didn't know as much as I would have liked, but there were some useful points."
Standing up straight and lifting his head to look at Meesei, he sheathed his dagger and continued. "The infiltrators were based out of a safehouse to the north of Orcrest, a farmhouse on the outskirts. Their original plan was much the same as we suspected; gather up all of the military might, march out forcefully for long enough to exhaust them, ambush them, and then move on to the stronghold to wipe out the rest. Dar-tzesa was..." Gallus paused to sigh quietly, "...Not a devotee of Vile, she was just a desperate woman they made a deal with to pose as you."
Gallus did not dwell on it for too long. He moved on to wider matters. "The stronghold at Corinthe is positioned in such a way as to be hidden from the Dominion, so we at least shouldn't have to worry about antagonising them by attacking it. It is well stocked and garrisoned, from what I interpreted, but it was apparently never meant to be a secret from us for too long. It has been fortified specifically to repel lycans. The general himself is named Do'rhajul. He is indeed a Cathey-raht werewolf...however, they apparently have access to lycanthropy cures. I don't know the nature of them, but Hiritus here saw one take place with his own eyes, if he is to be believed." Gallus looked at the blood pooling through the stones, "He seemed very insistent that I pursue a cure myself."
Gallus looked up again, putting a fist to his hip, "More concerning are the other things he mentioned. Vile has apparently been assigning kidnappings of specific people from all over Tamriel. He didn't know what they were for, or anything else about it, really, except that his targets were a shipping clerk and a pair of alchemists. At first I thought of Sabine's sister, but does she even live in Elsweyr? She's an alchemist, right?"
Regardless of Meesei's answer, Gallus continued, "There is also talk of a 'culling'. Vile's end game is to harvest all the lycan souls on Tamriel. Eradicating them all. He was not privy to the details of the grand plan they are to enact, though the rumours he had heard made it sound robust and real." Gallus glanced off to one side, "Vile's numbers are growing, too. As a consequence of all the new turnings these past few years, there are more folks looking for revenge or a cure. They play right into his hands. That means that there are plenty of possible infiltrators in other clans." Gallus tilted his head and lifted his voice slightly, "Fortunately, Hiritus was not aware of any more infiltrators in the Orcrest clan beyond his companions."
If Meesei had any questions, Gallus would hear them first, but he would not head back just yet. There were other matters to address.
Fendros closed his eyes and shook his head lightly. "No, there's no need for revisiting it. And I won't make you recount what happened either," Fendros said. His eyes opened and strayed to the top of Rhazii's head. He ran his fingers over the edges of Rhazii's scars. However faded they were by now, they were still a visible reminder.
"I just wanted to let you know that it has been years since then," Fendros said in a low, but not particularly sad voice. He swallowed before continuing. "It...may seem like torture to have such memories but I feel as though it is important to say that we learned to cope. We...needed assistance at times, from our friends and from people who knew how to help. It was tempting to allow our emotions to push away from each other because of the pain, but we didn't. We resisted that. To do that would have made it too hard to survive."
Fendros took a slow breath and leaned up from his chair, holding onto Rhazii so he wouldn't fall forward. Fendros locked Jo'rashaad's eyes with a serious expression. "Just remember to be patient with you and your packmates, especially Ciinriel and S'ajira. The memories do not go away, and they can change you, but you all still love one another. Remember that. You will need one another more than ever, now and in the future."
