A changeling's visit to Skyrim

Now that the slaughter was finally over, the lingering flames on Stross extinguished, and he slowly shuffled back to the others. But for him, this was not a victory; it was not a moment of triumph where he valiantly saved innocent lives from a band of criminals.

For Stross, it was a moment of hunger and desperation fueled by anger and fear. It was a moment where he lost control, and killed nine people in the most horrible way he could manage as a result. Their life-force was now his; it was the most he’d ever taken in at one time. If he was careful and didn’t use magic, Stross wouldn’t need to feed again for weeks, or even months. Any changeling would have been ecstatic to be in his position, but Stross was utterly disgusted at himself for how he obtained it.

The looks he received from those he saved gave him no thoughts to the contrary.

For the past few minutes, Camilla, Faendal, and Sven sat in the corner as far from the fight as possible. Their eyes were wide with terror as he approached them, a distant look on his face.

None of them dared to make a sound, but they each recoiled as he reached out to them with his claws. But Stross paid their fearful gestures no mind, and pushed forward as he sliced them free of their bindings. Faendal and Sven both fainted at this point, leaving Camilla the only one still conscious. To her immense relief, Stross simply turned and walked away.

During all this, Fenora had simply stood where she was, watching Stross rip apart the bandits single-handedly, and then freeing their captives. Right now she continued to watch as Stross limply walked over to the nearest wall and just stood there with his forehead pressed against it.

Deciding to first see if Camilla and her would-be rescuers were okay, she quietly made her way over.

“Are you all okay?” Fenora asked. She waited for a response, but the only person that could answer just stared back at her.

“Hello? Camilla, are you alri-

“What was that thing?” Camilla interrupted in little more than a whisper. “It was- And then- They were all-” she tried to form the right words.

“Don’t worry, that’s Stross; he’s a friend, and he saved us.” Fenora assured her. “Will you be okay to make it back to Riverwood?”

“Riverwood… the claw… they took it.” Camilla mumbled out.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it. Just get back to town; your brother’s worried about you.” Fenora helped her up.

After Fenora had loaded Faendal and Sven into a wheelbarrow she found, likely stolen from a nearby farm, Camilla was sent on her way back to Riverwood.

“Well, it’s not a long trip, we cleared out the bandits on the way up, and it’s downhill the whole way. She’ll be fine.” Fenora took in a deep breath only to sigh as she turned around “Now for the hard part.”

Slowly and quietly, she walked over to Stross, who still had his head on the wall. The wounds on his body, which were once very serious, had now faded away to mere scratches on his carapace. Any burns that might have existed had also been healed, yet the shafts of arrows still stuck out of his body where they’d pierced through, he hadn’t bothered to remove them and so his body healed around them.

He now stood leaning against the wall in silence, his breathing slow but jumpy.

“Stross?” Fenora began as she placed a hand on his shoulder “Are you alright?”

After a short moment, the answer came in a shallow whisper. “I’m a monster.”

“What?” Fenora said in confusion “no you’re not, you saved us; you’re a hero.”

“Fenora,” he turned to face her, tears running down his face as they had since he’d finished off the last of the bandits “heroes don’t lose their heads and kill people.”

Fenora was slightly taken aback by this. “They do if they have no other choice.” she countered “You know what they would have done to us if you hadn’t come when you did. They deserved what they got.”

“Who are you to say that?” Stross shouted, now fully facing her “Do you know what it’s like to be syphoned; to have every last drop of life and feeling ripped away from you? I don’t care if they were bad people; no one deserves to die like that!

“That’s why everypony hates changelings, because that’s all they know us for. That’s why I hate Chrysalis and her hive, because they feed exclusively through syphoning instead of earning the life that they take. And what’s worse, they actually enjoy it!

“I’ve spent my entire life trying to be better than that. Don’t you understand?” he sobbed “I never wanted to hurt anyone. But I completely lost it… I-

“You saved us all.” Fenora interrupted, pulling Stross into a hug “You saved me, even when you lost control you didn’t even try to hurt me. Don’t you see?” she wiped the tears off Stross’s face “Even at your worst, you’re still better than those other changelings you hate so much. Deep down, you’re not a monster.”

“And if I hadn’t gotten a hold of myself, if I had attacked you?”

“It wouldn’t have been your fault.” she soothed “I’d have cut you down in an instant, but it wouldn’t have been your fault.”

Somehow, Stross couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Come on,” Fenora said as they pulled away from each other “let’s get that dragonstone.”