EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha kept her arms crossed, and her eyes firmly on Rhazii. "You know very well that Ri'vashi runs drills and training with our soldiers nearly every day. You've been a part of them before. If you really want to humble yourself, son, then you should go and spar with her today. In fact, I will give you the deal that if, at any point, you are able to defeat Ri'vashi in a fair sparring match where she is not holding back, then you can come with us." She answered to Rhazii, quite confident that it was a deal she would not have to fulfill. And, if Rhazii somehow could reliably defeat one of the most skilled and well-respected warriors among all of the lycan clans, then she could not honestly deny that he would be ready. A far more likely outcome would be that he simply ends up having some valuable training while they are away.

Eventually, Meesei had to get her pack moving if they wanted to get to Cyrus before he set sail, so she opened up the portal to the location in High Rock they had selected the previous night. As per usual, the pack went through as quickly as they could to avoid overtaxing Meesei and Sabine to keep it open, and it was in that rush that the trouble hit all at once. Those in Blackreach would have been able to see it start through the portal before the pack was entirely through.

They were stepping out into a forest, thick with trees that blocked many lines of sight onto the pack, but it was through one clear sightline that the first shot found its mark. It was a well-aimed arrow, weaved between the trees, that struck Ahnasha directly in the chest. It was a shot that could not have been more precise, as it hit directly over her heart. Were it not for the enchantment shielding her body, slowing the arrow, and limiting its penetration to only an inch or so, it would have been easily fatal. What transpired seemed like it took an eternity, but took place over only a few seconds.

Those who fired upon the pack afterwards were not quite as precise nor quick to fire, but they fired in a volley. Kaleeth, on reaction, rushed in front of Ahnasha to protect her once she saw that she was hit. One of the incoming arrows struck the side of Kaleeth's head, but of course, it could not penetrate the tough Dwemer steel. Although, the sound of the impact reverberating through her helmet stunned her and made her ears ring painfully.

With all of the magicka she could muster, Meesei blasted a wave of telekinetic energy towards the incoming volley, intent of disrupting the paths of the arrows and forcing them away from her pack. They had plenty of trees for cover, but they had to collect themselves and identify their enemy as quickly as they could.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

"Do not worry, I can create a sufficient distration for all of you. Just be ready to attack quickly, and decisively." Ssarak telepathically responded to Keri, as well as the rest of his allies.

In the moments it took for his allies to get themselves into position, Ssarak made sure he was ready to fulfill his own role. He agreed with Keri that he was not looking to kill anyone at this point. Although, crippling injuries were not out of the question. He took his blade and turned it around, then activated the rune to shape it into the form of a hammer, distributing its mass appropriately. It would be much easier to deliver non-lethal blows with a blunt weapon. Lastly, Ssarak created a small illusion on himself to make the parts of his scales that were visible appear white, as if he was of the Lux mageblood.

Finally, after giving his allies enough time to be ready, Ssarak put one hand on the hatch and sent another telepathic message to his friends. "Okay, be ready. Three, two, one, go!"

Giving up any semblance of subtlety, Ssarak practically ripped the hatch off of its hinges as he forced it open and dropped inside, using his unfurled wings to slow his descent. He did not know exactly what he was dropping into, so he had to make several judgments quickly to improve his own safety. His first priority in the seconds he had to observe while he was descending was to pick a reasonable location to land. Given the tight spaces without much room to maneuver, the best option he saw was to land with his back to a tall stack of crates so that he could not be easily surrounded.

Once on the ground, Ssarak quickly took in as much of his surroundings as he could. It was dark, but he did have keen eyesight, and he could see that there was movement heading towards him. With his shield in hand, he took up a defensive posture behind it and prepared to protect himself, while also trying to quickly identify every threat he could. Ssarak had made himself as obvious of a target as he could in order to allow his allies the opportunity to surprise the thieves.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth shrugged briefly. “I know, but the blacksmiths always say that the helmet would either have to have holes in it, or just be way too large. You know, there’s a reason Argonians don’t tend to use metal plate armor. A few reasons, really, especially in the marsh. You would just sink in it. I know this is good armor, though. Especially with the enchantments on it; they make it real easy to move in.” She admitted.

Kaleeth, and all of the pack, had been given complete freedom with enchanting their equipment to their specifications as the clans’ resources had grown. By this point, each of them had the best equipment the clans could provide. Kaleeth, like a few of the others, had focused her enchantments on reducing some of her own weaknesses. She was already strong enough, so she had enchantments on her boots and greaves to enhance her agility and endurance. She also had effects on other armor pieces that gave her some resistances to magical attacks, against which she did not have any other inherent defenses. Lorag too had some magical resistance on his plate armor, but it was strictly resistant to elemental attacks, as he had focused many of his enchantments on improving his physical abilities. His gauntlets had finally allowed him to close the gap between himself and Kaleeth, so he now at least was equally as strong as her, at least out of their lycan forms. His armor also improved his stamina, speed, and agility to overcome the limitations his aging body had been placing upon him. Meesei and Ahnasha did not wear armor, and were not particularly attached to a set of clothing, so they had placed their enchantments upon items like necklaces and other trinkets. For their own peace-of-mind, both of them had dedicated similar bone charm necklaces to shielding enchantments. They provided an alteration enchantment that acted like armor. It was invisible unless triggered, and would provide resistance to any physical attack that struck them, reducing impact or penetration. Aside from that, their priorities were different. Meesei already had an exceptionally large pool of magicka, so she had enchantments to help quicken her natural magic recovery, as well as effects to help her more easily convert incoming magical attacks into magicka for her own use. Ahnasha, meanwhile, selected enchantments to simply give her more magicka to work with, as well as one that enhanced her already-impressive perceptions, which could make her even more accurate at longer ranges.

Ahnasha let out a long breath, distracting her gaze by watching Julan and Leaps nearby as she responded to Rhazii. “Son…even before thinking about how ready you really are, you don’t really have the…experience that we do to know how dangerous Do’rhajul really is. If it were any other situation, I might consider it, but not this one. Not right now. Their General is probably the most dangerous person in Vile’s entire army, and I’m sorry to say, but you’re not ready for him, Rhazii. Nor is most anyone else in the clan. He is a Cathay-raht, even bigger and stronger than you, and with many more years of experience. He uses a powerful Daedric artifact in combat, and he defeated Meesei in a fight when you were just a cub. I…know I can’t keep you locked up in the clan forever. I know that, if this is really what you want, that I can’t keep you from becoming a warrior like me and your father. But, you have to trust that we know what we are talking about with this, Rhazii. Remember, all of us in the pack, except you and your brother, have been fighting longer than you have been alive, and it has taken that long for us to become as good as we are. If you want to be like us, you have to start out like we did and work your way up to more dangerous foes.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei grinned. “Well, none of us have been gifted the Voice by Kynareth, but we have been chosen by Hircine, so I suppose that will have to do. Let us just be sure to stay alert. We do not want to become too distracted.”
As they had started closer to the evening, there was not too much walking left in their day. As night had fallen, the pack had moved off of the road to a spot in the forest, not to make camp, but to find a landmark that Meesei could use in order to easily commit the location to memory, which she found in the form of a significantly large tree next to an oddly-shaped rock. With some help from Sabine, they opened a portal back to Blackreach, bringing everything they had with them.

---

The ability to rest safely and securely in their own beds was no doubt a boon to the pack’s overall health. They did not need to worry about going on watch, and would not have the worry in the pack of their mind that Do’rhajul would kill them in their sleep. They simply had the freedom to sleep as well as a lycanthrope could.

The next morning began early, but as the pack was well-rested, there was not much to complain about. They were all able to have a full breakfast with the choice to pick from anything in the kitchens, as per usual. Afterwards, they gathered up in a courtyard in the Silent City to teleport back to High Rock. Although they had not yet seen evidence that the General had tracked them out of Sentinel, they were still preparing as if they were going directly into battle. The children had actually woken up early to see them off for the day, and were currently with their parents next to Leaps. Julan was telekinetically lifting up a stick that had fallen off of a small tree in the center garden, which Leaps was following around and at which he was occasionally swatting.

Meanwhile, Kaleeth fastened the last of the straps on her armor, then grabbed her helmet in her hands. “I wonder how many years more will Leaps still play like that? He doesn’t really act like a regular wamasu, though I guess he wasn’t raised like one. I also wonder how long I can keep this helmet on today. I hate wearing it for too long; it pushes down on my fins and gets a bit irritating.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei gave a confirming nod towards Sabine. "Indeed. If I am not mistaken, there is not such a thing as dragon eggs. The dragons were created at the beginning of time by Akatosh, so all of the dragons created then are all of the dragons that will ever be. From the stories, Alduin used his power to raise some of the dragons from long ago back from the dead. Since Alduin's defeat, some of the dragons resigned themselves to peaceful lives, while some, like this one, are still menaces to the countryside. I suppose that, eventually, all that will remain are the peaceful ones, since the aggressive ones will eventually draw enough hunters to them to kill them."

Lorag chuckled. "Might take a long time. They're probably about the most frightening things to fight in Tamriel. Even after I was turned, I lived in Skyrim a while. You should've heard the stories about the Dragonborn. They said he earned the loyalty of an actual dragon or two when he killed Alduin. He could shout at the sky or something, then a minute or two later, a dragon would show up and help him out. How could you ever lose a fight with somethin' like that at your side? And even more crazy, the fact that the dragon was the one afraid of him in that partnership."

"It is amazing, the power of the Voice." Meesei mused. "The Dragonborn is the most powerful master of the Thu'um alive, even more so than the dragons themselves. He did kill the first born of Akatosh, which was something of a divine being itself. Even lesser practitioners of the Thu'um are something to be feared. I found knowledge of the Thu'um in Apocrypha, when I was searching that realm. It was within my power to study it, and I do somewhat regret not doing so. Compared to other forms of magic, it takes more time and dedication to learn, and at the time I was searching for quicker solutions."

Kaleeth, at the moment, was the one on Leaps' saddle. Given the danger they were potentially in, she, along with the rest of the pack, were fully equipped for combat. She was wearing her Dwemer plate armor, helmet included, so her voice was slightly muffled behind the metal. "I wonder if any of those peaceful dragons would want to keep Tamriel safe? Wouldn't that be great; having dragons to help fight Vile? It's too bad they're so feared and hated by most people. I guess they're kind of like lycans in that way, really. I think if a dragon wanted to live in safety with us back home, I would be fine with it."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Then I shall collect him once we are out of the city." Meesei remarked. "If we truly are in danger, then we need to give ourselves the best possible chance to overcome that danger. We have enough supplies to travel for the rest of the day at least, so I suppose we should get moving as quickly as we can."

The pack had to make their way out of sight of Daggerfall before Meesei opened a portal back to Blackreach to retrieve Leaps, though it took about half an hour longer to get him ready for travel. He had his own custom made, insulated bags and saddle that the pack used to allow him to carry themselves and their supplies. They had to strike a balance between being tough and resistant to lightning, while not hindering him too much in the event of a fight. The pack, for the most part, took turns on his saddle to give their own feet a rest. He was a drastically different sort of mount from a common horse and had his own personality quirks that made him much more difficult to ride, but each member of the pack was experienced enough with him to be able to do so.

The entirety of the path to the village was just along the coast, so the pack would have a view of the ocean on their left for most of the trek. Generally, the coastline was rocky and steep, so the sound of waves crashing up against the rocks was a constant. They were in a temperate forest, and at this time of year, the air was comfortable, particularly with the cool breezes coming off of the ocean to their west. Just about the only detail that could be considered even minorly unpleasant about he area was the fact that the road did require them to deal with some fairly steep hills. It was a drastic improvement from the hot, dry desert, but the pack had to be cautious about becoming complacent in their comfort. Do'rhajul was still potentially a threat, and they were now in a place where they could be attacked. How alert and prepared they remained could be the difference between life and death.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Indeed, though I am unsure if we should stay here at all." Meesei pointed out. "It is safer in the city, but we now know where Cyrus has gone, and if we are fast enough, we might be able to find him before he departs to hunt the dragon. There are still some hours left in the day, so we could make some ground."

Ahnasha gave a brief nod. "You might be right, and I suppose we would be free to return back to the clan when it is time to rest for the night. It might be best for us to just leave the city now. And perhaps bring Leaps along with us? If we are attacked, he could be helpful."

"Or he could get hurt." Kaleeth said with some concern. "I'd hate for him to get hurt; I wouldn't know what to tell Julan."

"I know it would be awful, but if Leaps being hurt or killed meant that we all ended up being safe, that would still be worth it. We have trained him to be a war mount, and he is part of our family, but...he is still just a wamasu." Ahnasha responded. It was perhaps a callous statement, but it was not illogical.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The ship, as planned, did not take but a day to sail across the bay to Daggerfall, at which point they had to begin their search for information anew, this time without one of Saras' agents as a guide. It would have perhaps been worrying in most cases, but fortunately in this situation, Cyrus was not one to keep a low profile. In fact, he and his bounty hunting team had boasted about their plans at the nearest tavern to the docks, as evidenced by the fact that the barman recognized immediately who Meesei was asking about when she questioned him.

It took only a brief effort of asking the regulars of the tavern about their quarry before they were able to gather a picture of what Cyrus had been doing since leaving Sentinel. The bounty hunters had spent most of their time on the docks over a few days, asking anyone and everyone about who would be willing to sail them out to the dragon's island. However, considering how infamous the dragon had grown among anyone who sailed in the region, they had a tougher time than they had expected finding anyone who would be willing accept the job at any price they could afford. One of the ship captains seemed to think that they had eventually settled on making a short trek north to a small, coastal village a day or two away from Daggerfall. It was a known pirate town, but they would have likely been able to find a captain willing to take on the risk in exchange for a cut of the bounty. For the pack, it seemed like another instance of coming so close, just slightly too late. However, Cyrus and his bounty hunters had apparently only left the previous day, so they still had a chance to catch them.

The pack was walking along through the streets of Daggerfall without a particular destination. For the most part, they were simply looking for a place they could speak in relative peace. Like Sentinel, the city around them was bustling with life, though it had an entirely different atmosphere from the Redguard city. Daggerfall was High Rock's largest city, and a center of Breton culture in Tamriel. It had an certain military order to it that was reminiscent of Imperial cities, but the architecture itself was unmistakably Breton.

"I'd hoped we would have been able to find him in the city." Ahnasha commented. "We're relatively safe here, but if we have to leave the city...I hope Do'rhajul was not able to track us."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I...think you answered that question already. We do what is best for our family. We let it go, because that's the safest thing we can do. If Do'rhajul decides to stop fighting for Vile, or, divines, if he decides to actually try to resist Vile, then letting him do that would be the safest for all of us. The General is a werewolf, after all. If he deserves to be punished, then Hircine will do so in the next life. We don't have to." Ahnasha said, surprisingly decisively considering her previous doubt. "If we ever do encounter him again, I think giving those notes to the Nord would be the best plan. He seemed to have some doubts. Thank you, I...just needed some reassuring, I think."

There was now a subtle smile on Ahnasha's face as she turned herself completely to face Fendros. It was a smile that gradually turned more mischievous before she put both hands onto his shoulders, then rolled herself onto his lap. The kiss that followed was far more passionate than before. In fact, the thoughts of their mortality was driving her to be much more energetic than usual in showing her affection.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha had her head rested on Fendros' shoulder, with one arm around his back and the other reaching up to gently stroke his beard. She had always appreciated that he had grown it, up on her suggestion. The more she thought about it, the more little details about their lives she realized she appreciated him for. In fact, they were both a part of very nearly every aspect of one another's lives, in some capacity. It was sometimes easy to take for granted how much they had come to rely upon each other.

"Neither of us could give up. Never, not as long as Rhazii has a life to live. Saving the world is great by itself, sure, but I am saving it for him. If you were not to make it, I would be happy to follow you into the Hunting Grounds, but for him...he deserves the best life we can make for him." Ahnasha answered.

Shifting her body to the side, Ahnasha gave him a lengthy kiss. "I am really hoping we can persuade the General to back down. As much as I hate him, for as many innocents as he has killed, I would really rather just avoid fighting him. For our own safety."