EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha had trouble voicing her thoughts immediately. She let out a long, slow breath as she grasped Fendros' hand tightly with one hand, and lethargically finished undressing with the other. "I don't know, I've just been...thinking a lot. I have to say, we're so lucky. So, so lucky. So fortunate with everything we have, and everything we've done. I don't think there's another path my life could have taken that would have made me happier. But, I've just been having these thoughts about...what if our luck starts to run out? Don't get me wrong, we are skilled, powerful. We are the best among our kind and it shows in what we've done. But, we've always made it through. In everything we've done, even if we don't succeed, we've always made it. Alive and...mostly well. But what if we don't? What if our luck runs out and we lose someone? I've spent most of my life with you, and the others. I just can't imagine living without any of them, or you. Or...especially you."

Ahnasha's briefly became choked up, and there was a hint of a shine in her eyes from the candlelight. "By Hircine, I can't even think about living without you. Back when I was younger, I didn't care about the risk, but we have so much to live for now. So much more. I am just hoping with every part of my being that we can just find Cyrus, in Daggerfall, buy the axe, and just teleport back home. No fighting dragons, and no fighting the General. I don't even care how much coin it would cost us." She explained, her words contrasting sharply with her usual nature.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Indeed." Meesei responded. "I also would prefer not to walk into battle against a dragon with only unproven theories. Legends tell of how powerful the dragons' voices are, but legends are not always completely accurate. We may be able to successfully resist its magic, but I will make sure to look for someone who can confirm that."

With the knowledge they had available to them, there was little more the pack could do to prepare at the moment. They had their plan for the moment, but all of it would have to wait until they reached Daggerfall. Which, fortunately, would not be too long. Daggerfall was just on the other side of the Iliac bay, and if the wind favored them, they would not even have to spend another night on a ship. For at least some of the pack, that would be a welcome development, given their crowded living arrangements.

After it was clear that they had nothing else they could do, Lorag gave a quick nod towards one of the doors. "Guess we should try to get some sleep. Might be hard in this place, but at least we don't have to worry about the General sneakin' up on us in the night. If they are still following us, that'll at least wait until we get to the city."

Meesei nodded. "I suppose you are correct. That is some peace-of-mind, at least. You can join myself and Lorag, Sabine. Although, none of these rooms truly have much space for us. If we did not have much more important matters to concern ourselves with, I would be speaking to the captain. I do not appreciate being deceived."

The pack split off into their own rooms, with Meesei, Lorag, and Sabine taking the one on the left side of the room. They had to file in one-by-one, and still only scarcely had room to stand once they were inside. There was one bed, and it would be small for a single person. "You can take the bed, Alpha." Lorag offered immediately, as one might expect from him, though just as predictably, Meesei turned her attention to Sabine.

"Actually, would you like the bed, Sabine? I can find some space on the floor, I believe." Meesei offered.

Lorag gave a shrug. "Say, can you sleep as a bird too?"

Meanwhile, Ahnasha and Fendros were, of course, sharing their room together. The cramped quarters was not as uncomfortable between them. She was about halfway through getting ready to lie down when she stopped, sitting on the edge of the bed, staring off ahead of herself at nothing in particular with a worried look in her expression.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I never ended up fighting one myself. I saw a few flying in the distance during my time in Skyrim, but never up close." Lorag remarked to Fendros. "Still, I was around at the time. Honestly, I don't know how many people fought the dragons and lived; or at least lived and learned anything useful. Imperials and Stormcloaks both were completely unprepared for something like that. General Tullius gave us orders for what to do if we were ever attacked by one on a patrol, but I never had to follow them."

Ahnasha tilted her head somewhat towards Lorag. "The Legion actually gave you orders for what to do against a dragon? What were they?"

"Retreat." Lorag answered abruptly. "Of course, that didn't satisfy Do'rhajul. He came up with his own plan for his men. If we were ever forced to fight a dragon, we'd probably have to scatter out of formation. If we had mages, or something else that could hold up against a dragon's fire, we could stay in formation and attack in volleys of arrows, but otherwise, a formation would be useless. It would just group us all together to be burned at once. Best to keep everyone scattered and hit it from every angle we could. Do'rhajul had us drill how to follow orders out of formation. After that, or orders were to target the wings with everything we had. Going for the head, or something else we think of as vulnerable, would probably just be worthless as long as the thing could still fly. But, if we tore up those wings, we'd force it to ground. Then, he figured, we'd actually get the advantage. If we were desperate, it would let us swarm all over it from all sides, but that would definitely get people killed before someone could land the killing blow. Instead, we'd use the environment as cover and just keep pelting it at a distance from all sides, and duck back into cover whenever it looks at us. Just keep hitting it at range until it bleeds out. Sounded like a plan, but we never tested it. I got forced out of the Legion, of course, and I think the Dragonborn ended up killin' Alduin not all that long after. Dragon attacks fell off after that. Some eventually ended up leaving Skyrim, like the one Cyrus is after."

Kaleeth gave a sigh, frustrated in equal parts at the situation, and the man they were trying to find. It was as if he was trying to make their lives as difficult as possible by placing himself in absurd danger. "If only we could just figure out a way to tell the Dragonborn that there's a dragon and let him kill it. From the stories I heard, he could do it almost easily, using their shouts against them. Isn't he the only one that can use shouts that isn't a dragon?"

Meesei shook her head. "Not quite. The Thu'um is a skill that can be learned and trained, like any other. Regardless, I do not think the Dragonborn travels the world hunting dragons. Not now, at least. He lives the life of a hero in Skyrim, and while I am sure he would be willing to try to save the world again, I doubt he would trust us, given what we are. And it is too risky to bring unnecessary attention to what we are trying to do here. Vile, obviously, cannot be allowed to learn of our ultimate goal. There are no shortage of civil war veterans and other old warriors in our clans that might have more experience with dragons, so I will see if I can have Saras discretely see if he can find anyone to help."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"And how tough they are." Lorag added. "Even just goin' by those bones we've got back home, it's gonna take some big hits to do any real damage to it. Those bones are tougher than Dwemer steel, and there's no telling about the scales. If we actually do end up having to take one down, we're going to either have to hit it really hard, or really precise."

Ahnasha had her back leaned up against the wall in one of the few spots in the hallway not filled with their belongings. "Magic might help get past some of those physical defenses, but like Meesei explained before, dragons are not defenseless to magic. I have to wonder how Cyrus and those bounty hunters intend to try to kill it? Maybe they are just ignorant of how strong a dragon really is, or maybe he thinks that axe is strong enough by itself to hurt the dragon?"

"Either seems likely." Meesei reasoned. "Being a Daedric relic, I cannot discount the possibility that the axe would be useful against the dragon, but regardless, we have access to resources they do not. Many more resources. We have allies with the knowledge to build heavy siege equipment, and some of our agents have their own merchant ships. Unlike bounty hunters, we have the ability to bring a small military force down to bear on this dragon. And we should use every advantage that we have. Knowing that the dragon has been harassing Imperial businesses, I might even be able to convince Marod to speak to his superiors about lending actual Imperial forces to the cause. They could easily justify it as an official Imperial response to deal with a threat to Imperial business interests. Although, I would not want to rely on that; we should plan on having to deal with this with our own resources. Ideally, we can avoid the fight altogether."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Regardless of how serious Janius was, Meesei did still answer him. "It would not be impossible to speak with a dragon, but unfortunately, based on the bounty on its head, it is attacking people indiscriminately on-sight. And without knowing its motivations, there is no way of knowing how...optimistic the idea of talking with it would be."

"Still can't help but to wonder what it would take to bribe a dragon." Ahnasha said, chuckling lightly.

---

Following Lorag's suggestion, the pack set to work quickly on moving themselves out of the city. As much as Meesei was hesitant to split up, they did not have time to be too cautious. Ahnasha went to the docks to find and negotiate the price of hiring a ship to take them to Daggerfall, while Meesei found a place to open a portal in order to bring Leaps back to Blackreach. It was difficult and expensive to find a ship that would transport him, and they could always bring him back just as quickly should they need him later.

With enough coin, Ahnasha was able to convince a captain to accelerate his schedule and leave sooner, as opposed to the next day, but they still had to wait until later that evening. For the rest of the day, the pack did what they could to make themselves scarce in the city. They spent most of their time indoors at a tavern that they picked in as random of a fashion as possible, then when it was finally time to leave, they made their way to the docks as quickly and inconspicuously as they could. Unfortunately, they had no way to know if they had done so unnoticed. It would be foolish for them to think that Do'rhajul or his team would willingly let the pack out of their sight, so they just had to hope that they had been successful in evading them.

The rush that the pack had been in to secure transportation made itself evident when it came time for the pack to settle in for the night. Ahnasha had been told that they would actually be given three separate rooms to themselves for the journey, which was not untrue, but what the captain had failed to mention was the fact that each of the three rooms was meant for only one person, and that individual would still be cramped in the small space. Since they were on a moving vessel, a return portal would be impossible if Meesei tried to teleport any of them away, so they would be stuck on board for the night. For now, it was more comfortable for them all to stand out in the narrow hallway outside their rooms with the half of their belongings that would not fit inside.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha gave a light shrug. "I have a feeling the General and his team would follow us, even if they knew, but a dragon could work against us just as easily as it could work for us. Dragons are smart, and we don't really have a way of making it focus on them. It might end up accidentally helping us, but that would really just be a gamble."

Kaleeth tapped a claw against a wooden railing as she thought. "Are you sure? There might be something we can do if we think hard enough. Maybe...lure the General to the dragon and then make ourselves invisible with potions?"

Though she considered the suggestion for a moment, Meesei shook her head. "No, Ahnasha is right; dragons are intelligent. They, in fact, have access to ancient and powerful magic in the form of their shouts. I have only...academic knowledge of that form of magic, but I do not doubt that it would be able to reveal us."

"Yeah, I'll fight a dragon, and I'll fight Do'rhajul, but even I'm not stupid enough to try to fight both at once." Lorag commented before standing up to his feet. "Look, we can debate this all day, but if we really want to try to find that moron Cyrus and talk him out of gettin' himself killed, then lets just go to the docks and take the first ship to Daggerfall. Just get out of here before the General has time to figure out what we're doing."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I do wish to avoid any potential confrontation with Do'rhajul, which teleporting would limit...but I certainly want to avoid the possibility of having to fight a dragon. I will not lie, that would be the ultimate test of a hunter, but now is not the time for such things. It would be far easier to obtain the axe before Cyrus sets sail for the dragon's island." Meesei reasoned. They seemed to be in a fairly private spot at the moment in the stables, though that privacy also came with some worry for Meesei. It was not inconceivable that Do'rhajul or his followers could carry out some form of sneak attack where they were.

"Taking a ship to Daggerfall would improve our chances of finding Cyrus alive. If he and the other bounty hunters actually begin their hunt of the dragon, we will have to approach the situation assuming that we will have to kill the dragon ourselves. From the Orc's description, I doubt we would be able to sneak onto the island and steal from it unnoticed, and it is attacking everyone it sees."

Kaleeth looked worriedly towards the entrance of the stables. "If only it would attack the General."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The Orc gave a light shrug. "I suppose I can tell you what I know." She answered.

Daraza did not have too much more information to give, so they did not speak for too much longer. She told them that the closest settlement to the island which was still inhabited was Daggerfall itself, which was where Cyrus and the other bounty hunters had gone to plan their hunt. From what Daraza knew, they were at least intending to scout out their target and learn more about the dragon before sailing for the island. She seemed to think that, if they were quick, they could reach Cyrus and speak to him before he committed to the hunt. Otherwise, the island on which the dragon was residing was not settled, so the Orc did not have its name.

Daraza did not stay around long after sharing her information, insisting that she needed to rest. But, the pack had what they needed, so they now only had to decide how to act upon it. "So, I guess we're going to Daggerfall." Ahnasha commented. "Are you going to teleport us there, Meesei?"

Meesei hummed in thought for a moment. "Honestly, it may be faster simply to sail there from here. I do not have a safe place to teleport to in the city, and the nearest clan would still be something of a walk."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It appeared much different from what I expected. I can easily understand why ancient people thought the world was ending. It is rather sudden, and without those glasses, you wouldn't be able to tell the moon is close to the sun. It gradually darkens for a while as the sun gets more obscured. Animals start getting confused, crickets chirping and the like. The day becomes darker, like dusk, but the colors are all wrong. It's almost like looking at a video of daytime through an underexposed camera. It was quite hot beforehand, but as the partial eclipse continued, it became comfortably cool. Then, it gets very quickly dark enough for stars to be visible. The street lights automatically came on as soon as totality started. The eclipse itself looked quite unlike anything I have ever seen in person. The corona was much larger and fuller than I was expecting, and it was not uniform. The moon is dark enough to look like a black hole, with a halo of light around it that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. It is hard to get a sense of what it is really like from a video.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Saw the eclipse, currently making my way home.