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JASH
Now that there was nothing to fight, I was reminded how uncomfortable this hybrid form was. I had lived my life as a Saxhleel while gaining a werewolf form by the blessing of Hircine. The latter had always felt like a natural extension of myself. It deepened my connection to my wild nature while also showing my utter devotion to my Daedric Prince.
But this hybrid form was what could best be explained as my own Daedric Prince form. I had never wanted to be powerful, I had just wanted to be a poor bard traveling from inn to inn. This form reminded me how far from my original plan I had strayed.
This peaceful moment also allowed me to realize that the sun must have set sometime during the fight. Of course! How else would the Taken and Scratch, creatures that thrived in darkness and shadows, be able to fight?
I looked down at the arms that held my love. Strong werewolf arms that had a hint of vampire-like power coursing through them. My tongue felt my vampire fangs and I shivered. The only way most would have fangs like mine would be devoting themselves to the Daedric Prince Molag Bal. Their souls would go to Cold Harbor, his realm of Oblivion, once they died. How could that ever be considered a good outcome?
It didn’t matter that I knew my soul was now firmly set in my own realm, the similarity to actual vampires was still hard to deal with. Which was the reason after nine years, I had hardly taken on this form.
“Jash, I’m fine.” Alex groaned. “Fine enough.”
I gently let my love down and watched as he stood on his own. He tried to act like everything was okay, but he nearly fell over a few times. Once he showed me he could stand still for long enough, I let myself not watch him as closely.
“What happened?” Alex asked.
“You’re going to need to be more specific.” I said as I tried to avoid giving an answer.
“You were supposed to stay with Alan Wake. That’s the only **** reason I decided to leave him. So what happened?”
How to explain what had happened? There were things that had happened that couldn’t be easily explained or forgiven. In the moment I had found it best to slaughter cult members but…that wasn’t something Alex did. They were insane but if there was any other way besides killing them, that should have been tried much harder than I had.
The only reason to bring up that slaughter would be to distract Alex from his questioning.
I wanted to reveal to Alex that I had known about what had eventually revealed himself as Scratch since seeing the bard on the shore. I didn’t know if keeping that a secret would protect Alex anymore but I wouldn’t risk his life over a maybe.
“Alan and I were attacked.” I finally said. “But not only by the Cult of the Tree. Taken appeared too. I made a call.”
“Alan has no way to protect himself.” Alex pointed out.
“The Dark Presence has a need for the bard.”
“So the Taken just, what, avoided him?”
“He got a gun from a fallen cult member. And the Taken saw me as the bigger threat.”
Alex looked at me and tried to see the lies in my eyes. He knew that Alan was safe as it wasn’t ours to abandon such a one after making a promise to a loved one. But he knew that the events at the lodge had gone down differently.
Yet underneath his mistrust was genuine love. He must know that I loved him more than anything and that if there was any danger to his person, I would tell him. Hircine prove him right.
I turned my head as my wolf ears moved to better pick up on the sounds. The world was clearer to me than even my werewolf form had made it. It took a moment for me to realize how close these new sounds were.
Alex clumsily took his gun out so that he would be able to fight. From the scents coming off of his body I could tell that his injuries were mostly due to the fighting he had been through and not Scratch.
“The sounds are from dryskins.” I said as the sounds started to make more sense to me. “Their movements aren’t as unstructured as the Cult of the Tree. Their movements also don’t have the same terror as the Taken.”
“The FBC.” Alex said with a sigh as he holstered his gun. “Federal Bureau of Control. I went to them when I was investigating Alan Wake.”
“Are you sure they’re interested enough in Bright Falls?”
“When Saga and I first looked at the ritual site, we passed by a tower run by the FBC. They gave some ******** reason why they were here. I’ve noticed over the years that they are always connected to strange occurrences and aren’t prone to giving away anything they know. I highly doubt what they gave me on Alan Wake was even one percent of what they know about Cauldron Lake.”
I heard more sounds and quickly recognized the natural wildlife. Part of me just wanted to leave all these questions behind and hunt. Just be free and unconcerned with anything. But I loved Alex far too much to run away.
“Alan Wake’s reappearance is just the thing the FBC would be interested in.” Alex said. “It wouldn’t even surprise me if they’ve been studying this area since his disappearance.”
“So they’ll be taking this case away from you.” I guessed and my love gave a curt nod in reply. “We so love to keep claims on things even when it harms the greater whole. So the FBC will take any remaining cult members and Alan to another location. They will also try to get Saga far away from Bright Falls.”
“She won’t go far. She can be as stubborn as they come.”
“Where would the FBC take the cult members and Alan?”
“The police station. It’s close by.”
“And a status symbol to the people of this world.”
Track Saga or go to the police station? Saga was stubborn and so would eventually end up at the police station. She also must have figured out more of what was going on here. That meant she could be the one who had the information about whether or not telling Alex the truth would be safe.
Yet Alex looked beaten and might not be up to such a journey. Though if I asked him directly he wouldn’t tell me the truth. He was standing as if nothing were wrong and tried to hide needing to sit down. He didn’t want to worry me and I understood the need for such a façade.
I looked up at the strange stars in an even stranger sky. Memories of Scouts-Many-Marshes suddenly came crashing into my mind. When I had to give lectures at the College of Winterhold he would stay in the local inn. One night he had come out in the freezing cold to join me and some of the students in the art of astrology.
My eyes now drifted from the stars to Alex. There was no certainty that we would ever lay underneath the sky together. It wasn’t ours to know the outcome of this night before the sun rose again.
“It is ours to survive.” I said quietly. “But it isn’t ours to know if we’ll succeed. These could very well be our last remaining hours.”
I allowed my mind to course with much baser instincts than should be allowed right now. But I wouldn’t deny myself the pleasure of flesh when this could very well be my last time to do so. Alex leaned his head up as I gently kissed him.
“We’ll meet them at the police station, my love.” I said as I nuzzled his neck.
Alex’s small stature compared to my own Saxhleel form was a stark contrast. In my hybrid form it was as if I was standing next to the egg I had hatched from. That didn’t matter to either of us, though. I didn’t want to miss a second merely from transforming back to my usual form.
So many secrets! So many unsaid things. :D
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