Wanderer

Chapter Six

My leg throbbes with each stride of the horse, and my eyelids grew heavier as the sun began to set. Ulfric behind me remained silent, most likely processing what is happening to him. I looked up to the sky and saw a few stars poking through the changing sky, so I brought the horse down to a trot and eventually a stop.

" Why are we stopping?" Ulfric asked, shifting on the horse behind me.

" We can leave again in the morning, I have a cloak you can wear to avoid the sunlight, but there's no point in traipsing around in the night with no way to see. Plus, you're going to change soon and I'd rather be on solid ground for that." I said, tying the horse on a nearby log. I hobbled over to a few sticks and smaller logs for a fire as Ulfric laid out two sleeping mats.

" Here, let me." He said, taking the wood from me and gathering more. I sat down on one of the mats and watched as he arranged the logs for a fire. When he picked up a flint and rock to start the fire, he struggled to actually ignite the wood. I summoned a small amount of magic and started the fire for him. He looked up at me as I smirked at him.

" What? I'm not completely useless." I said, unbuckling my sword from my his. He chuckled as he laid back, resting his head on his arms as he looked up to the night sky.

" So what now?" He asked, his eyes leaving the changing sky to look at me.

" Now we wait for you to change. You'll need to feed right away as to not speed up the effects of Vampirism." I said, tracing a pattern into the dirt with a nearby stick.

" Why do you know so much about this?" He questioned, rolling to lay on his side, propping up head up on his hand.

" I used to study many things, Vampirism among them." I stated, not meeting his eyes.

" No, you know things only someone who has experienced this knows. Tell me. " he demanded, sitting up. " Please, it would put my mind at ease." He them pleaded, looking at me intently.

With a sigh, I pushed my hair away from my face. " Have you ever heard of Redwater Cavern? " I asked. He nodded in response.

" Yes, someone slaughtered everyone inside. It was the talk for quite some time in the palace." He said.

" Yeah, that was me. I stumbled upon that place after a job. Figured I'd check it out." I said, picking at the grass. " They gave me skooma, and let's just say I had a bad experience. Well, the skooma den was a cover for a Vampire Den. Vampires ran the den and preyed on the inebriated customers. I fought my way through, and contracted Sanguinare Vampiris. I hadn't realized I had until I turned. A few days passed, my condition grew worse. Heard of a guy in Dawnstar who could help, found him, got rid of of it. End of story." I finished, finally meeting his eyes.

" I'm sorry you had to go through that alone. " he said, looking at me with something in his eye I've never seen before.

" Don't be, it made me stronger." I stated, looking away from him. Suddenly, he hissed in pain, clutching his head as he fell back. I rushed over to stop him from clawing himself. He thrashed against me as he turned, his eyes changing and his teeth growing. He let out an animalistic howl that broke my heart slightly. It was evident he was in pain. Finally, he calmed, and fell into a sleep he wouldn't wake for until tomorrow night. I pulled the fur blanket up, over his body as he slept, then sat on a log and looked out into the night, watching for any danger.

~~~~~~~Ulfric P.O.V.~~~~~~~

My head pounded as I woke up, the sky above me was dark. I sat up, looking around. I could see clearly into the night, and I felt stronger. I smelled something sweet as I turned and faced Wanderer, who sat on a stump next to me, inspecting my movements.