Skyrim: Dark Firewood

Half-Moon Mill - Part 3

"Please, don't--!"

Faendall could feel his fingers slip, yet they wouldn't let go of the drawn bowstring. This absolute beast couldn't be Kerev, it couldn't. He couldn't have been too late. Faendall saw the murderous intent behind the monster's eyes. It opened its jaw wide and lunged for him.

"NO!"

Faendall cried out, letting the arrow go. It hit the werewolf, but it didn't seem to bother it. The beast was instead bowled over by yet another werewolf.

Faendall was overcome by pure flight instinct. The silhouettes of no less than three lycanthropes framed the night sky, and all Faendall could focus on was getting away from them.

The sounds of mashing teeth and horrid yelps cascading around the woods served only to fuel his escape. He stumbled and fell to his knees, catching sight of flickers of fire spells being tossed somewhere off in the distance. Faendall looked around, finding a rather large tree. It had fallen over, roots jagged and forming a rather good form of cover.

Faendall crouched and hid within the roots, chest heaving. He could feel his head grow light as dots started to fill his vision. He had pushed himself too hard. There was crack and a scream as Faendall fell back, hitting his head on the tree. 

Whoever screamed was close, yelping and shouting out nothing but noise. A loud howl followed the fearful man, cut off by a screech of pain from the beast. Faendall peered out from the roots of his hiding spot, arms trembling from exhaustion that was slowly beginning to fade away.

A werewolf stumbled backwards into view, bleeding and slashing viciously at the sky. It hit nothing, barking and mashing its jaws together with a nasty sloppy mushing sound. Then it howled out for the last time, body errupting into flames. It crashed into the dirt, revealing a shirtless Dunmer, holding a dagger of inferno.

Kerev was as still as a stone, the only signs of him being alive being the tears and blood that dribbled down his face. Faendall couldn't catch his eyes, letting out a pained cough. He felt himself trembling as if he were stuck in a frozen lake.

Time wasn't real anymore, it seemed to both fly by at the speed of a dragon's fire and crawl to the sluggish pace of the ice caps shifting beneath the waves of Tamriel's oceans. But by the end of a few heartbeats, whether it was a few moments or many years, Faendall had Kerev in his arms. 

His body acted on it's own, crackling electricity frying his nerves as burning cold relief washed over him. He could feel the Dunmer's bare chest expand and constrict as it pressed against his own. Kerev merely leaned into the crushing vice grip of his companion. Faendall didn't realize he was crying until he felt Kerev's fevered hands wipe away his tears.

The fog in Faendall's brain finally began to clear. He managed to stop running a hand through Kerev's hair, pulling away enough to look the Dunmer in the eyes. Kerev was much much worse for wear than Faendall left him, cheeks sliced red and dripping crimson, eyes cloudy and dull, and much too pale skin. Kerev opened his mouth to speak, his voice croaked and crackly.

"Faendall-"

"I'm here," Faendall cut him off, tearing an arm away to grab the potion he hastily stashed. "Don't speak."

With shaking hands and a tender touch, Faendall managed to uncork the bottle and place it on Kerev's lips. The Dunmer hesitated for a moment, but gave into his exhaustion and easily allowed Faendall to feed him the potion.

Once the potion was completely down, Kerev felt his bones clack and burn. He sucked in a long gasp of air, relaxing into Faendall as his Bone Break Fever faded away. The Bosmer was effectively pressed against a tree stump, unable to do anything but hold Kerev closer. 

He did it. He wasn't too late. He managed to save him. He succeeded. 

Neither realized they were slipping away into sleep. Fading into a dreamless inky void in each other's arms.

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Sorry for the short and the late. Life happens, y'know?