Dark Brotherhood: Ancient Blood

Chapter 036: Oathbreaker- part 2

     Eleven years later, rumors continued to circulate about what had happened to my father. I'm still not even sure. They found his body in pieces all over the school hut. He wasn't even recognizable apart from a tattoo they managed to identify. That day was all a blur. Many people claimed to see a mysterious creature exiting the hut and disappearing into the woods. Others allegedly saw a mass of claws and teeth similar to the beasts of the Wild Hunt. All I knew was that I broke the Green Pact... I had somehow managed to shapeshift. 

     I woke up naked in a clearing a few miles from home. My body ached and my heart raced upon seeing the massive amount of blood on my skin. My hands were like those of a hagraven; my fingers were long and tapered into jagged talons. Twisted branch-like antlers protruded from my head. With considerable effort, I managed to shift back to normal, but to this day, my skin still tingles when my heart rate increases. It was as if I had opened a spiritual door into my ancestral past and it remains ajar, reminding me of who I am... and who my people were. 

     I hadn't shifted since.

     After the 'inexplicable death' of my father, I felt deep guilt for my struggling mother. Only weeks after, she gave birth to my little sister and was barely able to get out of bed. Her depression was so severe, the elders stepped in to assist. I did everything I could to help take care of her and baby Nell. I learned how to cook and studied hunting and tracking in order to provide... I essentially stepped into my father's role to take care of my family. I had to grow up fast all while harboring the knowledge of what really happened.

     Mom often lamented about how my little sister would never know her father. As guilty as I should have felt, I knew she was better off. We all were. But there was no way I could ever explain that to anyone. Mom knew of the abuse but said nothing... not that she could have done anything about it, but the fact that she ignored it convinced me that she was a victim herself in many ways. She lived in a delusion, remembering my father through rose-colored lenses. 

     When Nell was about the age I was when our father died, I began to notice her growing interest in solving his murder. I think she could tell that it bothered me since I refused to humor her curiosity with conversation. She was a smart girl, and if she was anything like I was at that age, it was only a matter of time before she began to put the pieces together. I knew I had to distance myself from my family but I couldn't just leave my ill mother and young sister on their own. 

     I began teaching Nell how to cook and everything I knew about hunting and tracking to prepare her for caring for our mother without me. She took to it all with a startling level of focus and maturity. Nell had never been a child who enjoyed doing childish things. She was always quite serious about every task put before her so this gave me a sense of relief knowing that she'd be okay on her own.