A changeling's visit to Skyrim

“Ah, another glorious day at the house of fun.” Fenora said jokingly as the two stepped forward into the hall where another two Companions had joined in the fight, Luna staring in shock at the brutal beatdown being taken so casually.

“Hail Companions!” Fenora greeted them.

“Dragonborn!” everyone greeted back with enthusiasm. “Dragonborn-in-da-house!” one called as he fell from the rafters.

A large man in metal armor engraved with stylized wolf insignias stepped forward to greet them. “So Dragonborn, you finally decide to join up with us and be a Companion?”

“Sorry, not today I’m afraid. But I could use some help if you’re willing. This is Luna; she’s a Princess from Equestria, that world Stross is from. Luna, this is Farkas one of the Companion’s inner circle.” Fenora introduced them.

“Not this again- I’m Vilkas. Farkas is my brother, over there.” Vilkas corrected and pointed to his twin brother, whom you could only tell apart by their different armor and possibly their different haircuts. “Regardless, it’s a pleasure to meet your new friend, not often we get royalty in Jorrvaskr. What brings you here?”

“I am here to help you slay the dragons!” Luna proudly proclaimed.

Everything went dead silent in the mead hall. The fighting ceased with the combatants in headlocks, and a few members stopped eating and drinking mid-bite.

And then what started as a fit of giggles lead to everyone bursting out in hearty laughter, and Fenora took the opportunity to facepalm.

“SILENCE!” Luna barked “We demand to know what be-ith so humorous!”

Vilkas being the first to recover, answered her “Don’t worry, we mean no offence. But you can hardly blame them, I mean look at you!” he held up one of her arms by the wrist and poked her bicep “You’ve gotta be crazy to think you can hack through dragon scales with these skinny sticks you call arms. Do you even lift?”

Luna smirked and her horn was coated in a light blue glow. Vilkas, who was caught off guard by what he assumed to be a headpiece, found himself floating upside-down several feet off the floor, wrapped in the same blue light.

“How’s this for lifting?” Luna said as she lightly spun him around, earning surprised looks from those present as they watched the display; even the most powerful mages in Tamriel couldn’t levitate something as large as a person.

“Oh, I get it now.” Farkas said with an amused laugh as he walked over “She’s a magic user, they’re all pretty wimpy when it comes to muscle.”

“Excuse me?!” Luna yelled as she grabbed Farkas and floated him up to the ceiling as well, along with a few bowls of fruit and meat, and began spinning them around in various patterns “Thou art foolish indeed to mock us, and even more if thou believe-ist this to be weak? We do not require physical strength to move the moon across the sky!”

“Luna, they're just morons, cut it out.” Fenora scolded her “And you know, you should probably take it easy with the levitating regardless. You can’t possibly keep that up much longer.”

Luna gawked at Fenora. “What? Even you doubt me? I- Magic! Alicorn! Moves the bucking moon!” she gestured to and around herself in an attempt to get her point across. Meanwhile Farkas and Vilkas were slammed into walls following her motions, everyone else ducking for cover as they flew overhead. “I am more than capable of a feat as meager as this.” Luna’s proudly proclaimed, her hands on her hips.

Luna was silent for several more seconds as she maintained her pose. But then her magical glow flickered and dispersed, dropping the brothers and the rest of the objects to the floor in a clatter, and she soon fell onto her face in much the same manner. “Ow.”

Fenora sighed “I tried to warn you, but it looks like you finally ran out of magika anyway.” she told Luna and pulled her shakily to her feet.

“What you speak of is impossible.” Luna said stubbornly, falling over again in the process “Magic is innate for all Equestrians! One does not simply ‘run out of magic’. T’would be like saying you ‘run out of the ability to see because you looked at things too much’ or ‘game developers ran out of ways to copy-paste multiplayer shooters because they put out too many’. It simply doesn’t happen!”

“Not magic, Ma-gi-ka. It’s what mages use to cast spells here; the more you use, the longer it takes for you to recover.” Fenora clarified “And by the looks of things, you’re pretty drained out, kinda like Stross was when he first arrived. Just lay there for a while, ‘kay?”

Luna slumped down dejectedly as Fenora looked around for the nearest able Companion.

“As we were saying, Luna’s going to be helping us with the dragons. Obviously she’s powerful with magic, but I’d like to see what else she’s capable of, and against someone that’s not me.” she explained to Skjor “So are there any jobs open that you need doing, or maybe anything evil that needs the stuffing beaten out of it?”

“Actually we do.” Skjor told them in his scratchy voice “A rabble of bandits has been skulking around the cemetery known as Hamvir’s rest. Recently they’ve captured a bunch of livestock, and sent a ransom note for three million septims! And if it stops you from wrecking our hall for us, you’re welcome to teach them a lesson.”

“Perfect! Come on Princess.” Fenora dragged her outside once more “You can juggle people later, we got bandits to wreck.”

“Little help here!” Farkas yelled after them. “I think my leg is broken again.”

“Mine’s broken more!” Vilkas challenged.

“Oh yeah? I got a fractured ribcage too! What do you got?”

“Displaced shoulder-blade and a concussion! Beat that!”

Luna and Fenora walked down through the marketplace, leaving Jorrvaskr behind them as they went to Breezehome to gear up.

Fenora had to hold her up as they walked. Teleporting between worlds apparently took a massive toll on the traveler that wasn’t quickly recovered from, and considering her subsequent skirmish with Fenora and Stross, and surviving in the belly of a fighting dragon for roughly half an hour, her current state was to be expected. And after her display of levitation in Jorrvaskr,  Luna had exhausted her magika even more severely, and with it, her body.

Seeing as how they weren’t going anywhere fast, Fenora decided to ask what had been on her mind for a good long while. “So Luna, why did you bother to come all this way just for Stross? You didn’t really think he was massing an army all by himself did you?”

Luna looked over, surprised by the question, but she answered nonetheless. “We dist not know what he was up to, nor if he were acting alone. We dared not take even the smallest chance of another attack. After the invasion of Canterlot we neither heard of nor saw anything of their queen. Our guards would find single strays every once in a great while, and pairs or groups even rarer.”

Luna let out a tired sigh, though not from her magic exhaustion. “Our sister has always been such a kind and forgiving soul; she would never be so aggressive as to hunt for them. But I feared they were planning something, waiting for us to get careless again and let our guard down.” Luna looked at the ground as she continued “We were completely absent during their first attempt, and because of this we nearly lost everything to them. I would never let such a thing happen again.”

“And what about Stross?” Fenora asked as the two made their way down the cobblestone street and into the marketplace “He never took part in that invasion. And from what he told me, he’s always tried to find a better alternative to the kinds of tactics his kind are known for. Do you think he was evil as the changelings that attacked your people?”

“We do not know anymore.” Luna told her honestly “If it helped you, even going as far to almost sacrifice itself to save you, and now even dying to fight what threatened your lands, it could not have been all evil.” Luna looked up in hopes of a second opinion “What did you believe when the two of you first met?”

“Well, considering we were about to be executed for being in the same square mile as a band of Stormcloak rebels, I wasn’t in the mood to judge. He was just in the same boat as the rest of us… riding into town on the back of a cart… about to get our heads chopped off while everyone watched.” Fenora told the story of when they met.

Luna looked more than a little shocked to hear of Skyrim’s policy on rebellions. “Are you serious?! They execute you for something as minor as that?! In Equestria we would never impose a death sentence, even for-”

“Rebellions involving the White-gold concordat are pretty serious after the Great War.” Fenora explained “It happened only a couple decades ago, recently enough for people to remember. A lot of lives were lost… and that treaty was the only thing that stopped the Aldmeri Dominion and the Empire from wiping each other out.”

“But back to Stross,” Fenora steered the conversation “Really, I didn’t care why he was here or why he decided to stay and help like he did. All I knew was that he was a wonderful person; he was funny even when we didn’t need it, always helpful, kind, generous, and forgiving to a fault.”

“Are you sure he was a changeling?” Luna asked “That sounds far too nice to be one of those horrible creatures.”

“He told me he was ashamed of what he was, and what his kind did to survive. It was because of that, he always tried to be a good person. ‘more like ponies’ he told me.”

Luna smiled a bit.

“Although…” Fenora took a darker tone “When he got angry, or when someone was in danger, especially if it was me… I’ve never seen someone pull a 180 like that. It was like everything good and innocent just vanished from him and he became a merciless killer in an instant. He killed like nine bandits by sucking them dry and burning them to death.”

Fenora realized the kind of message she was sending once she saw the worried grimace Luna had, and quickly defended Stross’s actions. “But I know that wasn’t the real Stross, he’s not a bad person! He only did that stuff to protect innocent people he cared about, and punish the evil people that were hurting them.”

“Art thou quite sure? That sounds exactly like what a changeling would do. Nay, worse than what they are known for doing.” Luna said, quite unconvinced “What if you really have been blinded. What if his joyful nature were merely an act to cover his true self? Are we certain ‘tis not a good thing it has been slain?”

“I know beyond a doubt he was good.” Fenora told Luna with certainty “I was there when it all happened. When the last bandit tried to flee rather than attack like the others, Stross caught him. The bandit was barely more than and boy, and he begged for his life. Stross could have killed him easily, but instead he let him go.”

“That hardly says anything about-“

“And then Stross sat there crying, even when I came to him.” Fenora quickly cut in “If things had ended worse, if I died or wasn’t there to bring him out of his sadness, I don’t know what would have happened to him. He may very well have been lost that day.”

Luna’s argument died in her mouth, and the two were silent until they reached the end of the plains district.

Fenora kicked open the door to Breezehome and walked in.

“Greetings mistress! Greeting sexy house guest!” Laalette welcomed them.

“Hello pervy vampire lady.” Fenora greeted back, earning a smile and a blush from the recipient.

Once Luna was (more or less) comfortably seated, Fenora showed her where everything was, Laelette emphasizing her movements like a model on The Price is Right.

“Okay, so all the armors and enchanted jewelry in kept in these chests… go ahead and use whatever suits you.” she opened the chest and Laelette put on a helmet to demonstrate. “Potions are kept in the alchemy lab, the ones that heal and restore magika are the clear-ish red and blue ones on top. I wouldn’t drink any of the others, most of them might kill you.”

Laelette put Mister Yuck sticker on several of the bottles.

Fenora walked back to the kitchen area. “And we stuff whatever food we don’t immediately eat into these cabinets here.” She tapped at the latched wooden door, cautiously moving back as it trembled. “Anyway, make yourself at home, gather some supplies, and make sure to chug a few magika potions. We’ll head out in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you, Dragonborn.” Luna said as she stood up “This is all very kind of you.”

“You want to help me fight dragons, now that’s being kind.” Fenora complimented “Anyway, I’ll be right back, I uhh… need to check on something.”

“Very well, we shall await your return.” Luna smiled.

“Okay,” Fenora said as she walked out the door “just ask Laelette if you need anything. She’ll be more than happy to help.”

…

Luna froze and watched with dread as the door closed, leaving her trapped in the house with the vampire lady. Luna imagined in horror all the things that beast likely wished to do to her, all those unspeakably vile things.

Suddenly she noticed it: the breathing, the slow heavy breathing right on her neck.

“That’s right.” came the cheerful whisper right next to her ear “Aaaaannnyything at all.”

Laelette slowly stroked Luna’s flowing hair and nuzzled her neck as her captive stood there in a cold sweat. “Anything.”

Chills went up Luna’s spine and her stomach tightened when she felt fingers sliding down her shoulder… then across her waist… onto her belly… and upwards towards her-

“NAY! AWAY FROM ME, VILE CREATURE!” Luna shoved Laelette and her encroaching grip off of her “If thou will truly do anything for us, then keep thineself at a respectable distance at all times!”

Laelette gave a look of shock at first, and was so silent that Luna wasn’t sure she’d actually heard. But then she simply shrugged and wandered off humming a tune.

“I do believe I have made a grave error in staying here.” Luna sighed.

Meanwhile outside, a certain Bosmer was looking in every possible nook and cranny for her changeling friend.

“Stross? Hey Stross, where are you?” Fenora called in as she rounded the corner of the winds district for the fifth time.

The elf had looked nearly everywhere for him. She checked under the roofing of buildings, hiding in bushes, inside barrels, she even lifted up a few floorboards but didn’t find him. Knowing of his shape-shifting prowess, she cornered a few of the townspeople, asking if they were Stross in disguise until the guards told her to stop slapping people with fish.

Hoping to gain a vantage point, she climbed up to the Skyforge, where Eorlund was busy sharpening swords.

“Where are you?” she asked, more to herself than anyone else as she looked across Whiterun.

“Looking for your friend?” Eorlund begrudgingly turned away from his work to address her “He’s in there. Tell him the Skyforge is not a hot-tub.”

“Eorlund you ratted me out! We had a deal, man!” came a voice from behind.

Fenora whipped around to see Stross fearfully peeking out from his hiding place among the molten embers. “Stross?! What in actual Oblivion-”

“Shusss-ssshh!” Stross quickly silenced her and ducked back down into the fiery kiln, spitting out a few sparks as he spoke “She’ll find me if you’re too loud.”

“What are you doing?!” Fenora tried kept her voice as quiet as possible, a difficult feat considering what she was seeing.

“Hiding.”

“I can see that, but why in the gods names would you hide in there? How aren’t you burning alive?!” she knelt as close as she could without getting burned herself.

Stross would have normally explained that because the Skyforge is built atop a magical leyline and therefore taps into the lifestream of Nirn itself, he can absorb energy from its infinitely renewing pools of ancient and primal power. And with all that lifeforce coursing through him he enters into a supercharged state where his changeling healing factor heals his burns faster than the fires can make them…

But since he was still terrified out of his mind by the thought of Luna impaling him on her horn and disintegrating him from the inside out, all that came out of his mouth was “Skyforge heals me. Skyforge is my friend. Skyforge keeps me safe. Safe from crazy murder Princess. Why you not do the same Fen? I loves you!”

“Stross, you’re overreacting.” Fenora told him plainly “You told me the two alicorn sisters are noble and caring rulers. If that’s true, then Luna can’t be as bad as you’re making it out to be. And she wants to help me slay dragons and save the world, just like you do. You even heard her say it was because you died fighting for that cause that she stayed to help in the first place. We should all work together.”

“Nope nope nope!” Stross allowed himself to sink a bit lower “Tried to kill me. Hates changelings. I’m a changeling. Hates me, wants to kill kill kill. Finds out I’m alive… same old story.”

“Stross, I know you’re afraid, and you have every right to be. But she’s already agreed to follow my lead, and if anything’s going to give us a chance of stopping Alduin, I think a demi-god will give us an at least a small advantage. Will you trust her not to hurt you and come out of there?”

“Nuh uh!”

“Please? You know I won’t let her hurt you if things go bad.”

“No!”

“Stross-”

“I don’t wanna die!”

“You won’t die! I already told her about what you’re like. She doesn’t know if you’re good, but she won’t kill you on sight. That’s way better than before.” Fenora tried to reason with Stross “If you don’t want her to think you’re evil, you should show her you’re not. Show her the sweet innocent person you’ve shown me. Show her the changeling I would trust with my life.”

Stross was silent in thought for a while… and then he blew a flaming raspberry at her.

“Stross this is ridiculous! I need you!”

Stross was silent.

“Are you even listening anymore?” Fenora was seriously getting tired of his antics.

“My sources say no.” he answered plainly after a while.

“So what, are you just going to stay there forever?”

“Signs point to yes.”

“And I’m just supposed to go on ahead without you then?” Fenora asked, having a hard time believing he’d hide forever out of fear of Luna.

“As I see it, yes.”

“We wish to engage in conversation with the magical talking forge as well!” came a new voice.

The last unsubmerged inch of Stross’s face vanished in an instant, and Fenora looked over to see Princess Luna standing there, still oblivious to Stross’s continued existence.

“She’s an okay person! Give her a chance!”

The forge was silent.

"You'll need to stop this sooner or later."

The forge responded by being a forge.

“You know what? Fine! Be that way.” Fenora yelled defiantly at the coals, much to Luna’s confusion “I’m going to prove that we can trust her, just you watch! Come on Luna, we’ve got bandits to rout.”

“We shall be there in a moment.” Luna turned back to the Skyforge and thought of a question to ask “Magic forge, what is the meaning of life?”

“Forty-two.”

“A wise answer. We would also have accepted cake, love, or a hilarious Monty Python movie as an answer. Okay, next question. Magic forge, pray tell what is my sister Celestia doing at this moment?”

“Reading Thyme magazine while sitting on her plot, eating cake.” The forge responded, to which Luna giggled at the image.

“Final question,” Luna took a serious tone “what did Fenora, the one that was here before, talk to thee about?”

The forge paused awkwardly “Umm… Answer unclear, try again later?”

“Buck, this always happens. I shall have to find my answers elsewhere.”

Outside the gates of Whiterun, two figures walked along; one moved at a quickened and determined pace, the other desperately trying to keep up.

“Art thou truly sure thou were not talking about us with the forge?” Luna asked.

“Yes.” came a flat and tired response from Fenora.

“Art thou reeeeeaaally sure?” Luna said after a moment “Because it seemed as though you were quite-

“Luna!” Fenora spun on her heel to face her annoying new acquaintance “For the seventeenth time, yes I’m sure I wasn’t talking about you with the forge! Now will you please-“

“STOP!” a voice interrupted them, and a man in padded iron armor with polished leggings ran up to them “Wait! Wait for me!”

The two watched as he reached them, doubled over panting for breath.

“Can I help you?” Fenora asked before she recognized him “Wait a minute… Erik?”

“Ah yes, you recognize me!” he said happily “I’m glad I was able to catch you before you left, Skjor says you’re leaving to deal with some bandits. Can I come with you? I’ve been dying to see some real action.”

“So, you actually went through with your plans to become an adventurer.” Fenora observed, not sure whether to be proud of his courage, or to be pissed that he didn’t take her advice and live a safer life.

“Indeed. I’m the newest member of the Companions! I fetch the mead!” he cheerfully proclaimed “And I can help you too! I would be honored to go on a mission with the legendary Dragonborn! I can even carry your supplies for you.” Erik pointed to a stack of crates and boxes sitting in the middle of the road.

“Uhh, those aren’t ours.” Fenora told him as she looked over at the boxes.

“Really?” Erik asked “They’ve been following you at a respectable distance for a while now.”

A light instantly went on in Fenora’s head, and she massaged her eyes when she realized who was hiding in those boxes. “Just… just leave them alone and let’s go.”

Meanwhile, the boxes were having a conversation of their own as they watched the party from a distance.

“And there they go. What are you doing Fenora? This is crazy!” Stross thought as he watched them trudge off down the path “Luna might love her little ponies as much as her sister, maybe more, but changelings are universally hated in Equestria; no amount of kindness or earning her trust will change that. But I won’t leave you behind! Friends forgive each other for doing stupid stuff, and Fenora, you and I are great friends… working on pushing it further than that, but being friends is a good start.”

Stross made a mental note to try some romantic things when the two of them had time.

“What was I talking about? Oh yeah.”

“Fen, you’ll see that we can’t trust that Princess and that I’m right to be afraid. And when you do, I’ll be there to come up with a new plan to send Luna packing and save both our skins. But right now I just need something to show how hostile she is… I need something… something… hmm…”

“Hey!” came a shout that made Stross drop his disguise and nearly jump out of his shell “No plotting, scheming or planning within thirty feet of the city entrance! Move along.”

“Right, sorry guardsman.” Stross reassumed a disguise and follow after the three.

Fenora and Luna walked down the dirt road towards Hamvir’s rest, the slowly setting sun on their backs, both wishing they had something to relieve headaches, because they sure as Shor had one.

“And then Vilkas told him ‘but it would only take one from my sword to cut you in half’. You should have seen the look Athis had on his face! He was like ‘Oh, okay. But my way’s good too’. And then they told me to get them more mead.” Erik excitedly told them about his experiences with the Companions, to which they were getting quite tired of hearing.

“How much further is it?” Luna whined as Erik started up another story of how he brought a shield to Eorlund to be repaired. “I don’t think I can take much more of this.”

“It shouldn’t be too much further.” Fenora told her and got a brilliant idea “Hey Erik!” she called “How’d you like to scout ahead for us?”

Erik clapped his hands together. “You’ve got it! The other Companions tell me to do that all the time!” he then ran ahead.

“I can’t possibly imagine why.” Fenora deadpanned.

As they continued to walk, Fenora noticed Luna was uncomfortably struggling with her clothes, tugging at the shoulders and sides of her shirt. “Something wrong?” she asked.

“It’s. These. Clothes.” Luna said in between jerking around “We do not understand how your species wears them all the time, they are simply unbearable. And we cannot. Seem to. Get our… wings… free!”

Fenora walked over and grabbed hold of the squirming woman. “Here, hold still.” She said as she turned her around and pulled out a small knife.

A pair of rips and subsequent fwoops later and Luna’s midnight wings extended comfortably through the new holes in her shirt, a relief for which she was immensely grateful for. “Ah, thank you. You have no idea how much better that feels.” She said as she stretched them “You know, I’m beginning to see why the changeling was so fond of you.”

“He’s a really nice guy.” Fenora told her as she re-sheathed her knife “I think he just wanted someone to love him for who he was. And that someone happened to be me.”

“Indeed. Yet it still boggles the mind to think of a changeling as such.” Luna said as they walked onward “They’ve never shown such compassion before, nor such an innocent desire as to love and be loved.”

“None of them, or just the ones you’ve found?” Fenora questioned “Stross told me there were others like him, other good changelings. It’s just there are a lot more bad ones, and those ones are the ones that get noticed.”

Luna slowed her pace as she thought about that. Never before had she entertained the notion that the changelings they’d encountered were not all that defined the species. Maybe there was more to them, aspects that were hidden from her view. It was certainly something to bring up upon her return.

After several minutes of walking, and diverging from the beaten path, they found Erik who beckoned them to come over. They came and crouched down on a ledge, just within scouting distance of the bandit encampment the Companions had told them about, yet hidden from view by a number of trees and low-hanging branches.

“Is that the camp in which the bandits reside?” Luna asked as they gazed out.

“If it is, then they took way more than just a few livestock.” Erik said in a dread filled tone.

A fair distance below them was the graveyard known as Hamvir’s rest. It was a bit small, and a lot of nightshade grew there. But the humble cemetery had clearly underwent a list of changes in recent days, including a crude gate and archer towers at the entrance, an altar and a set of flowing banners showing praise and devotion to some Daedric Prince.

But most notable among the new décor were large steel cages that lined the ridgeline above the cemetery, each packed with living occupants ranging from pigs and sheep to merchants and farmers, one of which was being dragged out by two people in black robes.

“Well what are we waiting for?!” Erik got up and made to charge down the cliff-side and burst heroically into the camp and save the day.

Fenora stopped him before he got more than a few feet. “What we’re waiting for is an opportunity to attack. As much as I want to help, we’ll need a plan so we don’t get slaughtered by those cultists.” Fenora pointed out the twelve to fifteen other robed figures armed with daggers and magic, along with the two archers manning the towers.

“Well that didn’t stop her!” Erik complained.

Fenora snapped her head to where he was pointing and saw Luna swooping down on the camp with Royal-Canterlot yells of “HALT, BLASPHAMOUS WORSHIPERS OF EVIL BEINGS!”

“Or we could just charge in like idiots and hope for the best.” Fenora said sarcastically, immediately regretting it when Erik took off to join Luna in the fight. “Wait, I didn’t mean that littera- Oh fuck it.”

She let out an annoyed sigh before drawing her sword and charging off with them.

“Okay guys, are we absolutely sure those snooty skeever-holes up in Whiterun ain’t gonna pay up?” the head cultist asked the loyal followers gathered before him.

One member raised his hand.

“Yes, you.” the leader acknowledged him.

“Does it count if they pay us in mayonnaise?”

“No it doesn’t count if they pay us in mayonnaise.” The leader said flatly.

The cultist lowered his hand, only to hopefully raise it once more.

“No, horseradish doesn’t count either.” The leader pre-emptively dismissed him, and the hand was lowered again.

The lead cultist sighed, he and his rag-tag order had spent the last three weeks capturing all these people and animals, caging them up and listening to them whine about being hungry, and now they weren’t getting their ransom. Three weeks!

“Well alright then… looks like we get to sacrifice them!” he announced, all the other members cheering in response. “FOR OUR LORD DAGON!” he yelled.

“For Dagon!” the others echoed as they brought forth the first to be killed, a scrawny farmhand that looked absolutely ragged from their neglect.

They brought him to the altar and chained him into a standing position which he slumped from once they released him from their grasp. Fearfully the boy looked around at the robed figures slowly chanting in an alien tongue as their leader stepped forward with a large axe.

In a final act of defiance, he glared up at his doom and spat at it, resentfully declaring “Just get it over with you filthy jelly-pigs, I’ll haunt your every waking second, you hear me?!”

The lead cultist paused, axe in prime swinging position in the air above his head, he just stared at the prisoner limply hanging before him before slowly letting the axe down.

The prisoner was astonished. Was he being spared? Could these maniacally twisted people really be showing him merc- *SMACK*

The prisoner’s eye twitched a few times, his face frozen in a grimace while the cultist leader stared down under his hood and every other person winced in empathy. And then the winds of Oblivion came loose from the prisoner’s mouth.

“AAAAAHHH! Son of a cow! You kicked me in the BALLS! Who by the gods even does- *SMACK*

“GAAH HAAHA! You did it again! You did it a- *SMACK*

“AAAOOOWW HOO HOO! Why do you keep doing that?! Just kill me already!” he wailed in agony.

The leader grinned through yellowed teeth. “Behold! The sacrificial rites passed down to the chosen of Mehrunes Dagon! None shall escape it!” he addressed all the other prisoners “And no one will save you now.”

But you know… you really shouldn’t jinx it like that.

“HALT, BLASPHAMOUS WORSHIPERS OF EVIL BEINGS!” came a thunderous call from above.

Every cultist in the graveyard spun around and turned their gaze skyward to see what addressed them so fearsomely. Hovering above them with a steady beat of wings was a woman illuminated in the torchlight and setting sun, her dark blue silhouette and long starry hair accented with streaks of orange and gold.

“THOU SHALT CEASE THIS IMMEDIATELY OR BE DESTROYED!” she threatened “WHAT SAY THEE?!”

All below Luna were silent for a moment in awe.

“Sacrifice the bird lady!” one of them yelled, and all the others yelled their approval.

Suddenly the air was filled with arrows and spells and cabbages. Luna huffed as she dodged them, muttering “So be it.” and she blasted a line through the ground with her magic as she dived towards them, staggering a couple and incapacitating one unlucky enough to catch the beam head on.

Reinforcements quickly arrived as Erik leapt from the steep cliff and goomba stomped a cultist beneath his shiny leg armor. The cultist to his right was caught off guard by his sudden entrance and turned to confront him with lighting crackling in his hands.

But before the spell could be cast, it quickly fizzled in his hands a large sword pierced through his upper torso. He fell to the ground as the sword’s owner landed a foot away and grasped its handle once more, pulling it from his carcass.

“Well,” said Fenora as she stared at the four other cultists aiming spells at her and Erik “this won’t be easy. You see, this is why we come up with a plan of-“

“Attack!” Erik screamed as he drew his mace and shield and charged forth into the fray once more.

Fenora felt a vein pulse in her forehead. “Gods DAMMIT, if we live through this I’ll kill you all!” she yelled as she cut down the nearest robed assailant and used his body as a meat shield for the lighting and flames inbound.

In the sudden chaos taking place in Hamvir’s Rest, no one noticed a lone deer waltz through the open gates.  In the confusion, no one noticed it walk over and buck the prison guard unconscious. And with the noise of the fighting, no one even cared as it pulled out a pair of lockpicks and began opening the locks with to the cages, freeing the prisoners.

“Well this is a right mess.” Stross thought to himself as he wielded his hooves with a familiar dexterity “’She’s an okay person, I’ll prove it, we should all work together’ bleh bleh bleh… well look how that’s going so far. Even I didn’t get us this much trouble- Ah hah! Got it!”

Stross let the cage door wing open and spoke to the very confused people inside. “Quick, now’s your chance, run for it!” he said in a loud whisper and gestured to the exit.

The occupants, a man and a woman, stared at him with eyes wide open and jaws slacked.

“A talking deer! Gran-mum was right!” the man blurbed before they both passed out.

“Or just, you know… scream and faint.” Stross said sarcastically before pulling them onto his back and slowly carrying them out. “It’s gonna be a long night.” He sighed as he eyed the several other cages full of hostages.

“Zun Haal Viik!” Fenora thu’umed at a cultist charging at her with a dagger, easily disarming him before bashing him across the face with the broadside of her sword. “How many we got left? Let’s see two… four, five… nine; are you kidding? Erik!”

“Don’t blame me friend!” Erik defended as he held off solid spikes of ice being hurled at him.

Fenora turned to the other fighting member of their party who was ducking and weaving through the air “Luna, what are you even doing to them, anyway!?”

“We art trying to get them to surrender, yet they keep getting back up to attack us.” Luna explained as she dodged another arrow and blasted the perpetrator until he fell to his knees.

“No more! I yield!” the archer cried for mercy.

“Thou hast already claimed that nine times now!” Luna exclaimed.

Fenora facepalmed with her free hand. “Just kill them already! They’re clearly evil!” she delivered a kick to one advancing on her from the right and cleanly severed his head while he was off balance.

“Nay! Horrid though they are, there must be a way to make them see reason!” Luna refused, but suddenly found herself tangled up in something and unable to fly.

“That’ll hold ya!” the cultist leader said maliciously as he tightened the net and dragged her to the ground “Now hold still while I carve you up for din-dins.” He smiled and pulled out a wickedly curved knife.

“I think not!” Luna teleported out from the intertwined rope and grabbed the leader by the scruff of his robe “We shan’t be your meal, you vile fiend!”

The leader made a slimy grin and placed his hands, now alight with a purple field onto Luna’s shoulders. She immediately began to feel weak. Realizing what he was doing she threw him away and backstepped, using her wings to get some extra distance.

The leader cultist’s grin grew wider as he marveled at how much magical energy he was able to snatch in such a short time. His gaze turned back to Luna and he sprinted forward with his hands outstretched, yearning for more.

“Power.” he rasped.

“Get back, creature.” Luna warned as she charged up her horn.

“Unlimited power!” the leader screamed as lightning shot forth from both his hands.

Luna countered his magic with her own and a clash of spells erupted before them. Both seemed equally matched, though Luna was holding back significantly, unwilling to do more harm than needed. The cultist knew not this common courtesy, and let loose with all he had.

The clash would have ended in a stalemate until the cultist ran out of magika, if an arrow hadn’t struck Luna in the back. It was a minor injury, especially for an alicorn, but it broke her focus just long enough for her to be overwhelmed by her opponent’s spell. She grunted in discomfort and fell to her knees as the lightning coursed through her. In seconds the cult leader had her in his draining hands, and she had not the strength to shove him away again as he leeched her reserves of magic that had only recently recovered.

Luna could hear him cackling hysterically as she began to feel faint. She knew she would have to do something, and welled up as much energy as she could for one final blast, but the pounding in her head denied her the focus she needed to actually cast anything. All she could do was pull at the cultist’s hands in frustration.

But then an ally of her own intervened and a glowing mass stuck itself to the cultist’s face before exploding in a blinding flash of light. The cult leader shrieked in pain and clutched his face, releasing Luna and tumbling to the ground; seconds later he spontaneously combusted.

“No!” he screamed as he was consumed by the flames “No! No! NO!” he yelled over and over “Gah. The Daahk side!”

Luna stared in both shock and relief, both of which were interrupted by something lightly tapping her leg. Looking to the ground she saw a large blue bottle sitting there, another quickly rolled up next to it. Not willing to question this good fortune in her exhausted state, she quickly took them and drank them down, breathing normally again once she had.

...

“Luna! You alright?” Fenora ran up to her having finally slain those in her path “I think that was the last of them.”

“Yes, I am alright.” Luna said as Fenora helped her up “Thank you for that. Had it not been for you I may have been defeated by a lowly demon worshiper.”

“Daedra.” Fenora corrected “And what do you mean? I was fighting off his followers this whole time.”

“Then who-“

“Oi!”  came a shout from outside “ S’with all dat racket in there?! Yew blokes ain’t started ‘thout us, did ya!?”

Just then a large number of robed cultists, at least ten, stormed through the front gates into the already crowded cemetery, a large armored Orc with a massive axe at the front. “Ooh, well well well. Wot we got ‘ere? A boonch of would be heroes come to save tha day.” He jeered.

“Boss, no one can understand you when you talk like that.”

“Yew wot mate?! Shadup fore I punts you in yer gabber!” the orc yelled “With Leader Palm Patent dead, ah’m in charge naow. An ah says we kills them!” he jabbed a finger at Fenora and the gang.

“You got it boss!” one of the cultists said.

“What did yew just call me?!”

“S-sorry! I meant Mister Boss.” the robed man stammered.

“Bettah. Nah then.” The orc turned to our heroes “Yew lousy whores be in for a world o’ hurt for whatcha done! Get ‘em boys!” he ordered, and all but one of his followers charged at them. “Oi! Ah gave yew an order! Why ain’t ya runnin’ at ‘em like the rest?” he questioned the one that remained.

“Uhh, yeah. See about that… It just doesn’t seem like that great of an idea, ya know?” The lone cultist pointed to the rest of their dark order, who had either been beaten senseless at this point, or were lying in pools of their own blood.

“I’ll show you a great idea!” Mister Boss yelled as he grabbed up the cultist and threw him at our heroes and began bearing down on them “Ya want somethin’ done roight, do it yerself!”

The orc by the name of Mister Boss then swung his massive axe with tremendous speed, leaving our heroes barely enough time to get out of the way. He growled as he hefted his axe out of the crater it formed on impact with the ground.

“Fall, you beast!” Luna yelled as she blasted him with her magic.

Mister Boss chuckled “Hah, oh ho! That one tickled a bit!” he then roared as he charged at her, struggling through the powerful streams the moon Princess fired at him.

Mister Boss grabbed her waist in his massive fist and constricted her until she screamed in pain and he heard bones crack. He then slammed her against a nearby wall and snarled in her face “No one zaps me and gets away with it!” before shoulder ramming her into the wall again and flung her away.

“Luna! I’ve got you. Don’t worry, I’ll take it from here.” Fenora caught her and turned to face the orc. “What’chu know about giant weapons, hater?” Fenora ran up and swung her greatsword at him.

Both combatants were skilled in the use of oversized weapons, but even under her sword’s weight, Fenora was faster, and she quickly had Mister Boss on the defensive. As he struggled to keep up with her blows, he had to use the handle of his axe as a barrier between him and the elf until he finally got the opportunity to shove her back.

“Hah! Yer pretty good with a blade fer such a teeny wench!” he mocked.

“The fuck did you just call me?!” Fenora scowled “Fus Ro DAH!” she blasted him with her thu’um, not blowing him over, due to his impressive size, but staggering him nonetheless.

In the split second his guard was down, Fenora drove her sword through his armor into his gut. This created a lever which she then used to do an acrobatic flip and a build up momentum as she smashed her foot into his face with an audible crack. She allowed herself to fall on the ground afterwards, believing to have broken his neck with the angle his head was turned.

Unfortunately, this proved to be wrong when Mister Boss slowly turned his head back in her direction with a dislocated jaw and an enraged glare.

“Oh shi- Ahh!“ Fenora tried to scramble to her feet, but wasn’t fast enough.

Mister Boss grabbed her leg and swung her through the air towards the ground again, then into a wall, then the ground, then the side of an iron cage, then the ground, each impact punctuated by a number of sickening cracks and a word out of Fenora like “Fuck” or “you” or “hulking piece of shi-” or most of the time, just a variation of “Ow”.

Once he was finally done thrashing her like a ragdoll, the orc dragged her over and slammed her down onto Luna, who was just beginning to recover.

“Hey Luna, fancy meeting you here.” Fenora groaned, and Luna did the same.

“Well ‘en.” Mister Boss towered over them and realigned his broken jaw and pulled Fenroa’s sword from his stomach “S’been fun. But now’s time to end this.”

He then raised his axe with a snarl, intent on cleaving through them both at the same time. But he was halted when a spear of molten steel skewered him through the back.

“NO YOU FLIPPING DON’T!” a distorted voice echoed through the graveyard as six more spears of red-hot liquid metal pierced through the orc’s flesh in rapid succession, bringing him to his knees howling in pain.

Out of the darkness of the cages overlooking the graveyard descended Stross, his black form ablaze and his blue eyes full of righteous fury.

He grabbed the screaming orc in his talons, silencing him by squeezing his throat. Stross leaned in, smoke wafting from his nose and mouth before speaking in a cold and angry tone “No one hurts my friends. No one hurts the ones I love! Compared to their lives… fear… is nothing.”

Stross held up his hand and tightened his fingers as magic coursed through them, flame erupting in his hand, but contained instead of wild. More and more fire pooled in his hand until it became solid.

“Never again.” Stross muttered as the solid fire became a blade.

With a single sideways swing, Stross's burn blade cleanly severed the top of orc’s skull, helmet, hood and everything.

The fire went cold in Stross’s hands and the metal fell to the ground with a clang. The lingering flames engulfing Stross extinguished and he turned his attention to his wounded friends. Fenora had her eyes closed, but was still breathing. Luna on the other hand had her eyes open in absolute terror, which only grew as he started walking over.

She desperately tried to get out from under Fenora so she could defend herself, but with her crushed pelvis and ribs, she didn’t get far.

“It’s okay, I’m here to help you.” He reassured her as he knelt down beside them. Stross pulled out a pair of healing potions and put a silly straw one of the bottles, handing it to Luna.

She hesitantly took it and watched silently as the changeling poured the other into Fenora’s mouth. An orange healing glow surrounded the two as Stross spoke.

“I’m sorry.” he whispered “Please don’t hate me.”

Fenora groaned and let out a chuckle. “Stross… I should be begging you to not hate me.” and with that she closed her eyes and leaned into him. “I’m sorry.”

Stross smiled and held her as he sustained his healing aura, but soon the changeling felt something else rub up against him. He looked over and saw Luna sitting next to him, struggling to keep upright.

“I am sorry as well.” She said sincerely, through the pain “I had no right to accuse and assault you as I did, please forgive me.”

She wrapped her unbroken arm around Stross’s neck and leaned on him for support, something Stross no longer had any fears of. And so the three of them just sat there for a while, recovering from their injuries as friends and comrades as the sky darkened and the stars began to shine.

…

Meanwhile, trapped under a pile of dead cultists, Erik knew he had one heck of a story to tell back at Jorrvaskr.