Skyrim, The Bloodlust Within

The Past

As I drank the blood from the glass, a feeling raged up within me, I had felt this feeling before, almost every night from the day my family was attacked. It was as if I had just been dropped from a great height, and the feeling and rush of air was inside me, making my body tingle from head to toe. My eyes were wide open and almost... Insane, fixed on the crimson liquid that was flowing from the glass container and down my throat. It was barely warm, but my body and mind knew that it was better to have some than none at all. As I finished the last of the blood I let the flask fall onto the white sheet, now speckled with blood. A trickle of blood ran down my chin and dripped onto the floor below me. I looked upwards at Namasur, and a slow smile spread over my face.

"So, when do I get to feed from people?" I said with a quiet laugh, licking the blood from my lips as my eyes turned a dark but vibrant red.

Namasur looked at me with a smile and replied instantly.

"Well, I am glad Harkon chose you, because believe me, you are going to be a fierce and powerful Vampire when the time comes, J'zargo, you are everything we need... And soon, very soon, you shall..."

Lifting myself up from the bed, the pain and hunger now distant, I walked to the corner of the room, where a fresh and clean bucket of water sat. Reaching my hands inside and collecting some water, I lifted it up and washed my face, letting the wave of cold water run over my head and neck, washing away the blood from my fur, which had been stained red. Shaking my head like a dog shakes it coat, I am dry once again.

"You are changing, slowly" Namasur said to me. "Soon you shall look and be one of us, and then there is no turning back"

I manage a dry laugh. "No going back you say?" I reply. "Why would I ever want to go back?" I said, laughing softly as I walked over to the bed and used a damp piece of cloth to wipe away the blood from the sheets and wooden floor, leaving a faint stain, but it was hardly visible. I then walked over to a small wall mirror and studied my features. My eyes had become a deeper blood red, my claws had gotten sharper and they felt stronger, so did my teeth. My fur was becoming even more snow white, making my black markings stand out even more from the rest of my body.

Smiling at the mirror I raised my hand and dragged my claws across the glass, emitting an ear-piercing screech. Namasur held his hands to his ears, wincing in pain. I had learned to ignore the sound, as my hearing was already more accurate than a humans, maybe even more so than a Vampire. After dragging my claws across the entire mirror, I stood back and looked at my claws, they looked as white and sharp as they always did, not a chip in them. The mirror however, was worse off. I had left 3 deep scratches in the glass, revealing the wooden frame underneath. The glass had curved inwards, creating a winding pattern, like flames.

"Well, I wouldn't like to be up against you in a fight" Namsur laughed, "Especially if that's the damage you did to glass, I would hate to imagine what would happen if they were to tear through flesh and bone".

"Yes" I said, still staring at my claws, "You would be surprised of the damage they can do, like a dagger being pulled across the tender flesh of a mortal's neck..."

Namasur looks at me, still with more questions, however, he wanted to answer one of mine.

"J'zargo, earlier you asked me how I knew so much about you, correct?"

Sparking my interest, I turned and looked at Namasur in the eyes. "Yes I did, why?"

"Well" He continued. "I could tell you now, if you wish?" He said, turning and walking over to his bed, sitting down and placing his weapons on the side table. I walk over to my side and I too sit down, supporting myself by hunching forward, resting my arms on my legs. Sighing he looks up at me and begins his story.

"You remember your parents don't you? The ones that came here to Skyrim when you were just a young cub?"

I nod, flashes of that memory whizzing through my mind and past my eyes, like the blur of a landscape as if riding past it on a horse. He continued.

"When you and your parents settled down in that little shack named 'Hunter's Rest' in the region of Falkreath Hold, that was where your story began, where your first memories of Skyrim was filled will blood, guts, gore, and loss of your family, your only family"

He looked into my eyes, they were glazed over, but filled with interest, and also sadness. Licking his lips he carried on.

"After a few years you and your parents were attacked by a group of Vampires, I was there to witness what happened, as I was with Harkon at the time. We had been searching for a group of rouge Vampires that had caused havoc upon a small village, killing most of the humans there, after we had caught up with them they had fled into the forest, only to be attracted to the sweet and sickly smell of fresh blood, a deer that your parents had brought back after hunting, do you remember this J'zargo?"

I studied his face, knowing that he was telling the truth.

"Yes, I remember. I was alone to practice with my Bows and Arrows on the target just outside the house, my parents had gone out hunting. Soon after a fresh kill was on the wooden table, reading to be cut up, cooked and eaten. But then... It was just too fast"

"Yes, that is when you saw them heading towards you, didn't you?" Namasur continues. "They killed your family and were about to feed and kill you too, if Harkon and myself didn't arrive on time, you would have died from blood loss. Harkon took you and gave you his blood, locking away the powers in your blood until you were old enough for them to surface"

I look at him with my eyes now wide and thankful.

"So, it wasn't Harkon that attacked me? And it wasn't your kind that killed my family? It was just a group of Vampires that couldn't control themselves?" 

Namasur nods, a sad look spreading over his face.

"I am so sorry that I lied to you about Harkon killing your family, I just didn't want you to think that you wouldn't be able to get your revenge if you wouldn't have been able to meet them"

I look at Namausr with warm eyes.

"I understand, I am not angry or sad about this, I am just grateful that you have finally told me what really happened"

He nods again, this time with the same smile as mine.

"I am glad that you have taken this well, usually you react with blades to the neck, don't you?" Namasur finally says with a sly smile before turning over and lying on his bed, closing his eyes. Only when I finally get to close mine do I realize that it was Namasur who was the creature that was watching me in Riverwood that night. With one last smile and deep breath of air do I fall asleep, the darkness of my dreams taking me away from this world once more.