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Chimerical

By Mantrid Brizon

Episode 23: The Golden Hands

Two weeks pass after Ra'kanishu has burned the letter containing the details of his past. Every day is similar to the one before it. He works, eats, bathes and sleeps with his wife, Tsanavi the Suthay. The Imperial and Khajiit couple are truly happy, always enjoying the company of the other. One day, while they walk along the outskirts of town, they climb atop the boulder where they often spent time together when they were younger. Sitting beside each other, Tsanavi coils her tail around Nish's back, hooking it on his waist. He drapes an arm over her and holds her close as she rests her head on his shoulder.

"Tsanavi always loved watching the sunset with you." She says softly.

"This one is just happy you are with him. He could watch a forest fire and be glad, so long as you are by his side." Nish replies.

"You're as sweet as moon sugar." She giggles.

Turning to each other, they share a passionate kiss before a shrill scream startles them. Jumping to their feet, the scream is followed by another and Nish instinctively reaches for his sword. He is immediately perturbed when he realizes that he is not wearing his gear belt; he hasn't since before he moved in with Tsanavi.

"We have to get home where this one can retrieve his weapons." Nish says sternly.

Tsanavi nods her head and follows her husband as they dash toward their home. Looking to their left they can see a large group of raiders attacking villagers in the fields and some make their way into the village proper. They are primarily Khajiit, though some Bosmer and men of various races are mixed in. All of them bear simple leather or cloth armor, with a golden right hand painted on the chest. Nish stops in his tracks as he sees another Imperial turning and speaking to a Suthay-Raht female who leads the others.

Squinting his eyes, he can hardly believe what he sees; Daro'veera leads the raiders who are assaulting their village. His heart sinks as he realizes that this entire event is most likely his fault. He helpes her escape slavery in Vvardenfell in the first place, and now she is here, slaying and capturing the villagers in the place he grew up. Tsanavi tugs at his arm, trying to snap him out of it.

"Ra! Our house is right there! Ra!" She yells.

As he turns back to her, his eyes grow wide. A Bosmer with a dagger charges them. Though the wood elf man is only marginally taller than his Suthay bride, he can see that he is an experienced killer. Rushing past his wife, Nish brings up a palm, shooting a fireball at the thug. He screams as his cloth armor ignites. Swinging wildly, he tries to slash and stab at Nish as he is engulfed in flames. Focused on the battle, he is suddenly startled by Tsanavi's scream. Turning, he briefly sees another Khajiit raider dragging her off before he is stabbed in the shoulder by the burning Bosmer.

"You little bastard!" Nish roars.

Pulling the blade from the Imperial's body, the Bosmer tries again but Nish has no time for games with his wife's life at stake. He grabs the Bosmer by the throat and slams him to the ground as flames singe the sleeve of his tunic. With a powerful surge of energy created by his rage, he freezes the wood elf's throat solid. Pressing down hard, he shatters the neck of the raider, exposing broken flesh and a crystalized spine. He brushes off his arm and races to follow the raider carrying his wife as he leaves the little Bosmer to die in agony, not even taking the time to collect any of his weapons from his home that sits two-hundred meters to his right.

Racing through the fields he can see Hiska-dar and Jo'dehki fighting off the raiders. Though untrained in combat, Hiska-dar is as strong as any Nord or Orc, if not stronger. Using a large scythe, he sweeps the blade and cleaves the legs from a Redguard raider, slicing them off below the knees. Jo'dehki skillfully fights two raiders at once with a single dagger and the claws of his free hand. Though he can't be certain, it appears that Jo'dehki is toying with his attackers. Spotting Nish as he runs by, Jo'dehki quickly executes his assailants in an attempt to follow his best friend, however more raiders block his path and Nish disappears into the wilderness alone.

The sweat beads on his forehead as Nish darts around large rocks and hops over small holes in the earth, following the distant figures of several of Daro'veera's men. Though they are some distance away, he can see that Tsanavi is not the only villager that the gang has captured. Perhaps Daro'veera has become a major player in the slave trade? He briefly chuckles as he realizes the irony. As his adrenaline decreases he feels the pain of the wound in his shoulder. Using his restoration magic, he heals the deep wound, though it takes much of his strength.

The slavers turn a corner as they enter a gully that hides the entrance of a cave network. Nish and Hiska-dar had somewhat explored the cave as children, and it was once home to a pride of Senche that terrorized the S'ren-ja villagers, the same pride that Nish wiped out after being cursed with Lycanthropy. He stops for a moment as he collects himself, trying to come up with a viable plan. There is no other way out of the cave and he cannot slip by the guards unnoticed through the small mouth of the network. With no other choice, he decides to fight them head-on.

The Imperial doubts that he can survive on his own, but he knows how raiders think; any women held hostage, his wife included, may easily fall victim to their carnal urges. He would rather die than allow the villagers to suffer such a fate, especially Tsanavi. Having caught his breath and regained some strength, he prepares himself for the worst and dashes toward the gully. Turning the corner, he is amazed to see that there are no guards at the small entrance. He steps inside, looking carefully around as he makes his way through the main tunnel. The lair has been used for some time, with wall sconces bearing torches which line the primary tunnels.

Entering a grand hall, he sees several cages to his far right with over a dozen S'ren-ja villagers locked inside. From their size he believes they were constructed inside the cave. He quickly scans the cages for familiar faces. In the leftmost cage stands Tsanavi, who is imprisoned alone, and in the rightmost cage stands Kazkhar and one of his goons. A few villagers he is unfamiliar with inhabit the cages in between, though he does recognize them. Stepping further inside, the villagers clearly see Nish, as do nearly twenty armed slavers. They seem amazed as the unarmed and casually dressed Imperial steps into their lair.

On a crude wooden throne sits Daro'veera, who clasps her hands together before her snout in a decidedly villainous fashion. Standing at her right is an Imperial man; he must be her new lover and right hand. Immediately recognizing him, she begins to laugh maniacally.

"Well, well...Look who we have here!"Daro'veera exclaims after collecting herself.

"Hello!" Nish cheerfully waves.

"And here I thought I would never see you again!" She continues.

"Do you have some kind of death wish?" The Imperial second asks.

"This is as good a day to die as any." Nish smirks.

"That's what I love about you! So positive, even when reality is staring you in the face." She remarks.

"Ra'kanishu is upbeat." He says.

"I prefer to call it naïve." Daro'veera snickers.

Waving a hand, some of her men slowly surround the Imperial, forming a crescent shape before him as they draw their weapons.

"Had I known that was your village, I would have attacked it sooner." Daro'veera says sinisterly.

"Still pining for me?" Nish teases.

"Maybe. Are you going to forgive me again for trying to kill you? Perhaps ask me to change my ways and be a good girl?" She retorts.

"You think you know me so well, don't you?"

"I know everything I need to know about you, Nish. You're an idealistic fool, running around and spreading your weakness. You're a disease!" She roars.

Glancing over to the cages, his eyes lock on Tsanavi's. He realizes there is only one way to save her and the others from certain death. Turning back, he glares at Daro'veera. The look startles her; she had never seen such anger in him before.

"You have no idea..." Nish growls sinisterly.

Coiling his fingers, he tilts his head back as a snout quickly forms, his eyes buldging and emitting a terrible red glow. His clothes tear as his body morphs in mere seconds, growing larger as coarse black and gray hair sprouts. His boots split as his feet double in size, matching his now rake-like fingers and two-inch long claws. His pants tear and fall away as a large tail emerges from his tailbone. The villagers scream in terror, as do several of Daro'veera's men. Tsanavi's heart breaks as she watches her husband reveal his werewolf form; this is a life changing incident, and even if they survive, nothing will ever be the same.

The raiders with nerve charge Nish, but he leaps over them and pounces upon the Imperial who stands dumbfounded beside Daro'veera's throne roughly ten meters away. Slamming the man down to the ground, he screams in terror, as does Daro'veera. She rolls over the arm of her throne in a desperate attempt to escape. Gripping the man's face with both hands, Nish yanks and tears the man's head from his shoulders. Arterial spray shoots from the neck as Nish throws the man's head at Daro'veera, smashing her in the face with it and splitting her nose.

"By the Divines!" She cries out, gripping her face.

Nish rises to his feet and roars, the loud sound echoing throughout the cave system. Though she tries to scramble away, Nish charges and slams into her back, pushing her down to the ground. Her men come to her aid as the werewolf steps on her, digging the claws of his digitigrade foot through her leather and cloth armor and into the flesh of her back. Three raiders, a Bosmer, Dunmer and Khajiit surround the beast as their leader flails on the ground beneath his foot. Nish stomps on Daro'veera's back, a loud crack echoing as he breaks it, taunting his foes with their wounded leader.

They slash with swords as they nervously try to move in on the beast. Amused by their fear, Nish pounces in between the Dunmer and Bosmer, grabbing each elf by the throat and driving them into the ground. As they land, he first crushes their larynx with his weight before then crushing their spines with his grip. He turns and leaps upon the Khajiit, knocking the iron short sword from his hand as the pair roll on the hard earth. As the Khajiit screams, Nish bites his throat and tears out a large chunk. Having now found their strength, the remaining dozen warriors move in against the werewolf.

Tsanavi watches as her husband swipes a massive hand at two Khajiiti raiders, slashing their throats open. As they fall to the ground, meter long jets of arterial spray shoot out with every beat of their hearts. Nish lunges at a Nord, crushing his chest with his weight before snapping his neck like a chicken. He slams his palm against a Bosmer's head with such force that his neck breaks and the flesh tears, the head dangling by a thread of flesh as the body falls limp. Raider after raider, Nish makes short work of the thugs while taking only minor injuries.

After several minutes of pitched battle, only Ra'kanishu stands amongst the raiders. Turning back, he glares at Daro'veera whom he has left paralyzed from the waist down. She tries to crawl away, begging and pleading as she cries. His feet thud loudly as he steps toward her with a menacing glare. Lifting her by the armpits, she grips his powerful forearms.

"Please, Nish! I'm sorry! I don't know why I do these things, but I can change! Please believe me!"

Pressing her against a wall, he holds her in the air with one hand. Bringing up a single index finger, Nish waves it side to side as if to shame her before resting the claw over her heart. With a quick push, he stabs the claw and part of his finger through her chest, rupturing her heart and executing her. Her body becomes limp and he drops her corpse to the ground. Hearing the clank of keys, Nish rolls her body over to reveal a large ring attached to her belt. Hooking it with a massive finger, he pulls the keyring before approaching the cages.

Still in his werewolf form, Nish takes a key and tries to open Tsanavi's cage. Trying another key, he opens the lock and pulls at the door. The villagers seem to expect him to kill and devour her, but to their shock he merely stands there. Rushing into his oversized arms Tsanavi begins to cry, as much from the trauma of the event as the realization that their peaceful lives in the village is all but over. Nish wraps his arms around her in kind, gently stroking her back with his bloody claws. Kazkhar watches in amazement as a werewolf shows true affection for the dainty woman.

As she leans back to gaze up at him, Nish lovingly strokes her cheek with the backs of his fingers while using only the clean portions to touch her fur. Turning to the others, werewolf Nish hands Tsanavi the keyring. She quickly unlocks the closest cage, moving down the line. With each door that opens the inhabitants flee in terror, quickly darting from the cavern and back to S'ren-ja. Freeing Kazkhar last, the Ohmes-Raht man stares apprehensively at the werewolf who glares back at him with narrowed eyes. As Kazkhar steps out, Nish grabs a shoulder and holds up a finger, imitating the actions he took with Daro'veera.

Kazkhar and his goon stare in horror as Nish rests the claw over Kazkhar's chest. Suddenly, Nish pulls his hand back and waves, his breath shaking as if he were laughing.

"You shouldn't tease him." Tsanavi giggles.

Nish turns to her and shrugs his shoulders, as if to say that he could not help himself. Thoroughly disturbed, Kazkhar and his minion rush past the pair and race through the cavern, passing Jo'dehki and Hiska-dar as they enter to help. They look in awe at the bodies lying strewn over the ground.

"Wow! Ra made short work of them!" Hiska-dar exclaims.

"And Daro'veera is no longer!" Jo'dehki adds gleefully.

Turning to see Tsanavi standing beside a transformed Nish, their expressions quickly change from elated to morose. Hiska-dar rests his hand over his eyes while Jo'dehki hangs his head and sighs.

"You couldn't have done this as an Imperial?" Jo'dehki asks.

Nish shakes his head. Tsanavi rests a hand on her husband's chest to gain his attention.

"You're still a werewolf, my love."

Looking down at her, Nish takes the cue and his body quickly morphs back into his true form. Jo'dehki pulls a pair of linen breeches from a slain Dunmer who appears similar in size, passing them to Nish so that he may cover himself. Unable to find an unsoiled tunic, the group eventually leaves the cavern as a topless Nish gently holds Tsanavi's hand. No one speaks as they head for the village, all apprehensive as to what will occur when they return. Though he saved them from the raiders, the villagers won't like the fact that they have been living with a werewolf; his fate is uncertain.

"Ra." Tsanavi suddenly speaks, breaking the silence.

"Yes?"

"What do you think will happen when we return home?"

"This one doesn't know, but so long as you are by his side he will be happy."

His answer warms her heart and she squeezes his hand tightly. He turns his head and flashes a warm smile. The reality of their situation settles in and the fear swells within her; a tear runs down her cheek.

"You're as sweet as moon sugar." She murmurs.