EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The Talos worshiper thing may seem non-sequitur, but...well, it makes sense.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I am curious if you'll guess anything I have in mind. I won't give it away, but I am curious.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha joined Fendros in searching the bodies, looking first for their commanders. Silver and other metals were valuable, but the most helpful salvage they could find was usually information. Letters, maps, orders, and anything else that they could use to learn more about the enemy was always a priority. Granted, the enemy was generally intelligent about protecting sensitive information, but they were sometimes lucky enough to encounter commanders who were too overconfident to bother with such measures. Ahnasha, unlike Fendros, still did not wear armor, despite the availability of light chitin plates. She preferred to wear the least amount of bulk as possible, so she had never moved away from wearing furs. However, her magical abilities offered her some quite effective means of keeping herself protected.

"Mine too." Ahnasha answered. "Not many left now. Hircine willing, we'll get the last of them on this mission. Wasn't expecting to get anything at all, but I'm glad I brought them. This turned out to be more interesting than a simple delivery."

Kaleeth removed her helmet and hooked it onto her belt on her side. She could tolerate wearing it, but she could never really find it comfortable. It was unavoidable for her fins to be pressed against her head, which was a persistent irritant whenever she needed to wear it. As she approached Ahnasha and Fendros to help with the bodies, she continued with the banter she had overheard moments before. "Oh, there's no need for you two to compete. I'm sure you're both doing just fine...from a distance, away from all the swords and pointy spears." She chuckled.

Inside the cave, after allowing a few moments for their injured ally to dispense with her surprise and awe at meeting the Champion, Meesei and Sabine began their work on treating her injury. They had bandaged her up and treated her to he best of their ability, but a simple healing potion was not enough for her wounds. Working under a hovering magelight spell, Meesei first focused on removing any silver dust or shards that might remain in her arm. Fortunately, it was a task that she and Sabine has plenty of experience with.

Meesei was focused, but she did not need to focus to such an extent that she could not question the werebears' leader about what they had learned. "Your runner said that you had learned 'surprising' information about our enemy's operations in the area. I would appreciate you elaborating on that, while we are here." She requested.

"Yeah, just give me a moment..." The Orc started before rummaging through one of his bags to produce a small stack of parchments. "So he said...yeah. The short answer is that the enemy is doing things that make no kind of sense. I didn't believe it at first, but we saw the evidence with our own eyes. It's like some of Vile's agents have become aspiring Justicars, because now, all of the sudden, they're going after Talos worshippers as well as lycans. Got whole teams dedicated to it, and have been sending coin and information to Thalmor Justicars."

Meesei's eyes widened. "That is...alarming. Has Vile forged some kind of alliance with the Aldmeri Dominion? They may be fulfilling their part of whatever bargain they have made."

"That's the thing, we haven't seen anything pointing to them actually working with the Thalmor in any other way. In fact, some Justicars happened upon one of the enemy's outposts a few weeks back and got into a skirmish once they spotted a shrine to the Daedra. It was a bloodbath between the both of them, saved us some work. But, they still both keep going after Talos worshippers." He explained.

Meesei was silent for a few moments in thought, but even she could not find any pattern or reason in the information she had been given. "Well, you are certainly correct that it does not make sense."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The ambush went much as Meesei had expected. She found it rarer in recent years to be caught off-guard by their enemy. In general, her pack were the ones on the attack against Vile's forces; when they controlled the time and place of engagements, when they were fighting on their terms, her pack could seem unstoppable. Their magic alone was usually enough to demoralize those that they could catch unaware. By the time the werebears had joined in the fray, there was little left for them to actually do other than to cut down the fleeing, disorganized remnants of their enemy.

As was also becoming more common, they had a few prisoners in the aftermath of the battle. Ahnasha allowed her thralls to disintegrate before rejoining the others. She looked over their prisoners with only mild annoyance, since it meant they would be having to deal with them all the way back to the outpost. She had already filled the black soul gems she had on her person, so they did not have any other uses to her.

After ensuring their captives were properly tied, gagged, and blindfolded, Meesei approached who she assumed to be the leader of the sleuth. They had no markings of rank, of course, but she was generally able to pick out an alpha by the way they acted or otherwise carried themselves. Meesei was not wearing as thick of a coat as she would in Skyrim, but for the part of High Rock that they were in right now, she was well-covered in furs to deal with the cool air. The leader of the werebears, meanwhile was an Orc wearing steel armor, though not a full plate suit. He was a naturally large and imposing man, but even he looked down at Meesei with a look of shock and a slight hint of fear. The chaos of the sudden ambush had left him little time to examine and judge the situation, but now there was little question in his mind of who he was standing before.

"You're...by Hircine, you're the Champion!" He exclaimed. The three of his allies with him were equally as surprised and nervous. One of the transformed werebears, through a combination of shock and a bit of social awkwardness, actually went as far as to try to bow, which produced a chuckle from Lorag.

The Orc continued. "Never thought this would be how he answered my prayers. You...you all were like a force of nature. I thought for a moment that Hircine himself had come down to Tamriel to smite those bastards. You saved us; no other way about it. We were practically writing our own eulogies before you showed up."

As much as Meesei appreciated respect and praise, she had heard all of it before; all of her pack had. And more importantly, they were not in a position to know if the enemy would be receiving any reinforcements. So, Meesei was quick to get to business. "We are glad to help, but for safety, we need to get everyone back to the outpost. Do you have any wounded among you?"

"Right, uh..." The Orc began, tilting his head down. "Aye, one of our number's hurt pretty bad. Not life threatening exactly, but she's got a nasty silver wound all up her arm. Might lose the arm if she can't get help."

"I see." Meesei answered with a brief, understanding nod. "Then I will help her. The remote chance of another enemy attack is not sufficient to allow her to lose a limb. Take me to her. Everyone else, search the bodies for anything useful. Our enemy was kind enough to leave us a carriage, so we should be able to recover quite a lot of supplies and other valuables. Fill the cart as much as possible; the prisoners can walk when we wake them. Sabine, I would appreciate your help with healing."

Meesei gave another look to the Orc. "And I would also be very interested to hear about this information you have uncovered on our enemy."

While Ahnasha was not particularly looking forward to loading up a carriage with bunch of silver, she still took the time to step up alongside Fendros with a sly look. "Hmm, I believe I counted two less kills for you this time around compared to our last ambush. Sure you're not starting to get slow, husband?" She teased.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The enemy force outside the cave had certainly been ready to fight. They were anticipating a counter-attack from the cave, but they had also been planning for the possibility of reinforcements. However, they could not have prepared for the quick, impactful ambush that Meesei's pack were bringing down upon them. They numbered seven against over twenty, but the enemy must have felt like they were being attacked by an army.

As disorganized as the enemy had become, those closest to Kaleeth, Lorag, and Janius at least had a definite enemy right in front of them to focus on. They initially created a coherent formation, but Sabine's magic was quick to sew chaos among them. Immediately after Sabine had pierced through one of their opponents with an icy spear, Lorag swung his hammer sideways into the shield of the man just to the fallen foe's left. His shield was sturdier, but all the same, the force of Lorag's blow was enough to cause him to trip over his fallen ally. He landed straight in front of Kaleeth, who proceeded to bring her mace down onto the back of his head. He was wearing a helmet, but the cracking sound that followed the blow suggested that it did little good. A Khajiit woman with a silver-tipped spear just ahead of Kaleeth tried to jab the spearhead through a gap in Kaleeth's armor, but as those gaps were small, she only had to move by a small amount to ensure that the spear deflected uselessly off of the metal plate. And of course, Lorag was quick to punish the Khajiit's overextended thrust by breaking her arm at the elbow with another swing from his hammer.

Naturally, the pack's ambush did not go unnoticed by their allies within the cave. There had not been any way to communicate with them beforehand, but it did not take much effort for them to realize that it was time to counter-attack. They had been just as prepared to fight as Vile's forces, so two of them came charging out of the cave, with another two in werebear form just behind them. It was at that point when Meesei decided it was time to strike. Sabine's mist had spread far into the center of the enemy's formation. It cut their visibility and made it that much more difficult for the soldiers to find their commanders and re-position themselves to be more useful, but its greatest purpose was yet to come. Amidst the mist and the chaos, Meesei had used her invisibility to make her way to the very center of the enemy's formation. She was surrounded on all sides as she suddenly became visible, but with the thick, humid mist surrounding her, she had the advantage. Letting out a sudden burst of magical energy, she used the mist as a conductor to electrify the air around her, stopping just short of her own allies. The majority of their remaining foes were caught inside the electric mist, and their screams were louder than the lightning itself. From the outside, it was brilliantly bright, which even further obscured what was happening within. It lasted for only a few seconds, and with the wide area of the spell, it was not necessarily lethal to everyone it hit. However, everyone she had hit were at least temporarily, but effectively incapacitated. Between Ahnasha and her thralls from the west, the rest of her pack from the east, and the werebears from the cave, it would be a slaughter when they all closed in.

Nearby to Meesei, a Dunmer mage had used a constant wave of telekinetic energy to push the electric mist away from herself. When the lightning stopped, it struck fear in the core of her being to see Meesei standing before her. Just as the Champion's pack had become legendary among the clans, so too had rumors of them spread through the ranks of the enemy, according to Sara's spies. The enemy had attempted to downplay such rumors, though Saras' agents had also spread them fervently. Regardless, the Dunmer woman, whether out of desperation or simple good training, charged a fireball instead of freezing in fear. Meesei, in turn, did not have trouble stopping her before she could release it. Raising up her hand, it glowed green with a strange magic. Small pseudo-portals from Apocrypha opened up around the Dunmer, from which three black tentacles reached up and wrapped around the woman, pulling her to the ground. The Dunmer was too startled to effectively act in time, and with her arms and legs being held to the ground, there was little she could do to resist as Meesei electrocuted her.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Oh, forgot to ask, is skipping alright? I can change it otherwise.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha was not terribly concerned if anyone from the group nearby happened to be looking as she and Fendros kissed. It was not as if they were making themselves the center of attention. "I might get you drunk, but not for that reason." She chuckled. Although, Fendros' next question did give her some pause. She tilted her head with an uncertain look in her eyes.

"Um...how about we put a hold on that discussion for another century or so? At least until I have more than a century to spend with you." She finally answered.

---

The next three years was a time of development for the Champion’s pack, and the war effort in general. Meesei and her pack continued to be the spearhead against the enemy’s efforts, at least in the north. They were frequently undertaking missions across Skyrim and its neighboring provinces. They had their failures, but it was word of their successes that spread with greater strength through the clans. Their reputation grew into something that was larger than life, partially because of the tangible impact of some of their missions onto the war, and partially because of a concentrated effort by Saras’ agents to spread the narrative of her pack being heroes. He felt it was best for morale for the people of the clans to believe that they had powerful allies. For those who did not often interact with the Champion’s pack, even many of those in the Silent City began to believe the mythos surrounding them. A fact that was aided by them frequently being away from the city on their missions. Fortunately for Ahnasha, Fendros, Janius, and Kaleeth, that did not mean they were always away from their children. Obviously, they could not join in missions, but depending on the nature of what they were doing, it was reasonable to allow them to stay in camp with Leaps’ protection, or at one of their outposts in the area.

After so much time dedicated to her magic, Ahnasha almost felt lost without the need to practice and learn more, now that she had attained the knowledge she had been seeking. So, she simply continued to research other aspects of necromancy and conjuration. She was quickly becoming a master of her craft, so there was no sense in not further developing those skills. It provided a good distraction from the frustration of gathering souls for her ritual. As she expected, gathering what she needed was a slow process. Thanks to their missions, it was not too difficult to find people to kill, and even one mammoth during one opportunity they had to hunt, but acquiring black soul gems was a challenge. She was set back months when the circumstances of a mission forced her to transform and lose her satchel, and the gems contained within. After that, limited the number she could carry at once so as to limit the potential for loss, but that also slowed her progress. However, despite the delays, she was growing tantalizingly close to having enough souls to carry out her ritual.

Aside from the missions and her contributions to decision making in the clan, Meesei dedicated quite a lot of effort to her magical research. With Sabine, they continued practicing together, but Meesei stopped considering it training. In fact, Meesei was glad to inform Sabine that she was no longer her apprentice, but a peer. There was certainly a great deal that Sabine could learn from Meesei, but Meesei was insistent that she could learn from Sabine as well by working together in their research. It had been almost ten years since Sabine had first started her training. Ten years worth of training under a powerful mage and experience fighting a war that demanded perfection from those participating in it.

Much of Meesei’s research centered around Mora’s Black Book. In Apocrypha, she was free to pursue any kind of knowledge, from any place or time in Nirn’s history, or even beyond Nirn in some cases. She was quite eager to share with Sabine stories of the libraries of information she uncovered from the ancient Ayleids and Dwemer, or the magic of the Chimer or Psijics. Her greatest challenge, according to Meesei, was simply to decide down what paths she should dedicate her limited time. Should she pursue the shadow magic of the Second Era nightblades, the Thu’um of the Dragons, the mysterious secrets of the Ayleids, or to shape reality itself with the Elder Ways of the Psijics? Such were discussions she had at length with Sabine. Ultimately, Meesei decided to allow Sabine the unique privilege to make use of the Black Book as well, describing her as the only other person in Tamriel she trusted to make responsible use of it. Whether she accepted the offer or not was entirely up to Sabine, and Meesei would not attempt to influence her one way or another. Although, Meesei herself was becoming more comfortable with the book. She did not increase the number of times per week she restricted herself to using it, but she did allow herself to stay in Apocrypha for longer at a time.

As was often the case, Meesei’s pack was undertaking a mission, but what was unusual was how mundane it seemed. They were carrying out a simple delivery, from the Blackreach clan to another clan in High Rock, near the city of Evermore, but what they were carrying was obviously important. It was the personal project that Meesei had been working on for some time, and that she had been notably silent about to most of the others in the clan. She had spoken to Saras about it, but he was certainly good at keeping secrets. They had taken a covered wagon through the Reach into High Rock and had stopped for rest and supplies and one of their outposts at the southern tail of the Wrothgarian Mountains when that outpost received word from a runner that one of their packs, or rather, a sleuth of werebears, were outnumbered and trapped by a group of the enemy. Meesei was initially reluctant to diverge from their current task, but since the runner claimed that their allies had uncovered some potentially important information about the enemy’s operations in the area, she agreed to have her pack help rescue them.

The werebears had used the mountainous terrain to their advantage to keep themselves alive. They had situated themselves inside a cave with an entrance near the top of a steep hill, allowing them to repel every effort the enemy outside made to attack. However, the enemy had their soul-tearing gas, and their supply of the antidote was limited. All that Vile’s followers needed to do was to wait until their gas was effective once more. There was no other way out of the cave, so the werebears’ defensive position would become their tomb without assistance. Outside the cave, there were twenty or so warriors, archers, and mages that had fortified themselves with rough wooden barricades made from nearby trees facing the cave entrance. They wore no uniform, but the distinct glint of silver could be observed among some of their weapons. They were in a small valley between two steep cliffsides, so there were only two viable directions from which to enter and exit the area, though there were some trees and shrubbery that one could use to conceal themselves.

From the east, the bored looking Breton warrior leaning against the side of a carriage heard the footsteps before he saw the threat, thanks to the spell of invisibility that Meesei had cast upon Kaleeth and Lorag. Neither of them were particularly quiet, but the invisibility was enough to allow Kaleeth to strike the first blow. Her mace struck down upon the Breton’s head hard enough to essentially cause his head to explode, before he could even draw his silver sword. The six nearby soldiers reacted more than quickly enough to draw their weapons, but their numbers were not quite the advantage they were expecting. Long gone was the Kaleeth who was clumsy and uncertain, relying on sheer strength to have any success in a melee. Now, she was a collected and disciplined warrior. The bronzed color of her full plate armor stood out against the relatively lightly armored warriors standing against her. For Lorag, he had taken advantage of the resources afforded to the Champion’s pack to forge himself armor and weapons made from orichalcum in a recognizably Orcish style. They were both skilled and well-armed enough to hold a front line, even when outnumbered, as long as they had protection from ranged threats.

Though she was still an archer much of the time, this particular situation called for a different strategy from Ahnasha. Prior to Kaleeth and Lorag’s approach, she had used her own invisibility to sneak around to the far side of the enemy fortification. When Kaleeth and Lorag successfully gathered all of the enemy’s attention, Ahnasha picked out one of the warriors out of everyone else’s current line of sight and drove a dagger through the back of his neck while bringing her hand up to his mouth to muffle his screams. Before he could even fall to the ground, she reanimated his freshly-killed corpse into one of her thralls. Then, she moved on to the next target to do the exact same thing, as she could maintain multiple simultaneous reanimated thralls. The moment someone noticed her, she would command them to attack.

Meesei had not yet revealed herself, but rather was waiting for the perfect time to strike.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'm currently writing the timeskip, so I can post it whenever you feel the scene should end.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha returned both a kiss and a smile to Fendros. "Thank you. I'm of course glad for your help, but I'm also glad that I won't have to worry about you. And I'll make sure you don't have to worry about me."

Predictably, the look Ahnasha gave Fendros after his following question was quite a curious one. Nevertheless, she could give him an actual answer. "Hmm, yes and no. My fertility will be really, significantly reduced, but it's not a bad thing. Obviously, Khajiit and other short lived races are much, much more fertile than Elves. We have all our children in decades, instead of centuries. When I extend my life, I slow down everything about my, uh, development. So, I suppose I'll be about as fertile as an Elf."

Ahnasha poked her finger into Fendros' chest and grinned. "Now, are you sure you don't have any intentions with that question?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I can do the next skip tomorrow, if you think the conversation has run its course. I just felt it was a pertinent one to have to give a sense of progress for Ahnasha, rather than have a whole bunch of progress summarized later. It's about time for me to go to bed now.