In less than five minutes, there wasn't a single elf left standing or in most cases, alive. He had annihilated them, slaughtering the entire guard detachment with a sickening ease and some in the most brutal ways she could have ever imagined. The first died when his own dagger was ripped from a sheath and cut his throat clean away. The second fell backwards half a second later with the same knife spearing an eye. The mounted Justiciar slid out of his saddle trying to stem the bleeding from his thigh after Kaius stabbed deep into his hip and groin. Before they had even realised they were under attack, half a dozen of them were dead or dying and it wouldn’t end until none were left standing.

  He took them apart. Figuratively, literally, and messily. Elves were naturally quicker and more agile than humans and Nords but to Kaius they were little more than lumbering orcs with no grace at all. He cut throats, gashed open bellies, stabbed eyes and hacked into groins. Arms were broken, knees shattered, blades turned aside and armour completely ignored. Almost as though he was made of liquid he flowed through the massed ranks of the Thalmor, sliding his blade through their guards in a display of skill that was impossible to believe if she hadn't witnessed it. Even as they began panicking and calling upon their magical reserves he countered and slaughtered them. Bolts of flame and crackling arcs of lightning splashed harmlessly against wards that were almost contemptuously called into being. Each had been perfectly timed and not even the few years Sofia had spent in the College of Winterhold, had she seen such skill with spells.

  Before she had fully realised what had happened, let alone move towards the group to assist him, it was all over. The Thalmor were dead or very close to it, their bodies scattered about in various degrees of intactness and their blood covered the better part of two acres of road. Only the rows of huddling, terrified prisoners screaming through their thick, blinding hoods were left amongst a lake of spilt gore.

  Through all the shock of watching a one man massacre unfold, Sofia was left standing as though she had stepped into a paralysis rune. When the Justiciars had moved to arrest Kaius and against her better judgement, she had drawn her sword and moved forward to assist. Witnessing him in action though locked her in place, her sword hanging limply in her hand as every elf messily died. A field of gore and broken bodies was all that remained in the sickening minutes of the one-sided battle but the truly shocking sight was saved for last.

  Initially it appeared as though Kaius and the last Justiciar; a Thalmor officer in a rich black and gold, highcollared robe were embracing as though they were lovers, but such an illusion was short lived and fragile. The taller mer had been feebly thrashing, trying to push Kaius away until Kaius tore his mouth away, from a ruined, bloodied throat.

  Eyes as black as the deep winter nights, fangs pale and gleaming like the glaciers of the north and the blood… the blood stained everything. Clothing… Armour… Flesh… Kaius’s flesh especially was stained with the gore of the fallen elves and had changed. Mutated and transformed. His eyes and teeth were twisted, misshapen and corrupted, and his flesh tightening around bony protuberances in a skull more daedra than man. The smile he wore as he finished draining the last of the Thalmor dry of blood could be explained as purely vampiric, but fanged or not there was no mistaking the fact that he relished what he had done even as the man resurfaced from under the mask of the monster.

  In the day since the… slaughter… Sofia had repeatedly convinced herself that it was shock that made her follow him. Shock that made her stand there, seeing the way his face twisted and returned to the calm, rugged and grim man she had known for the past weeks before he went from prisoner to prisoner, breaking chains with his sword or unlocking shackles with stolen keys. Shock that left her shaking, picking her way through the ruins of the elven enforcers as Kaius told the utterly bewildered men, women and children directions to the nearest Stormcloak territories, and bidding them good luck. In all the chaos and confusion, with their heads covered in leather hoods, none of the prisoners had been able to witness Kaius killing over thirty of their captors, or what he truly was. As a result and between the disorientation, the shock and adrenaline not a single one thought to question Kaius’s explanation that the ‘rest of the ambushers’ had already left before they vanished into the woods.

  Neither Kaius or Sofia said much after that. Both of them preferred to travel in silence and she couldn't help but sense that he was somehow feeling guilty or embarrassed at what had occurred. It certainly didn’t help that by the time they had arrived in Whiterun, the great keep of Dragonsreach was closed to the public which meant that delivering the hunk of stone they had pried from the wall in the barrow to Farengar would have to wait until morning.

  So, despite her growing fears, trepidation and unease, she found herself once more within the cosy walls of the Bannered Mare, staring into the swirling depths of her flagon. It was better to look at her drink than the figure seated on the opposite side of the table, or the awkwardness that filled the space between them.

  "Hopefully Farengar pays us as much as what he promised." Kaius muttered, his fingers tracing over the three thousand year old claw-mark like lettering and map of the province, engraved on the age-polished obsidian. "As fascinating as this is, it’s useless to us, and I doubt we could find a buyer willing to take it off our hands for even a fraction of what he offered."

  For all the fighting and horror that they had endured over the past days, from giant spiders to undead, the several kilograms of polished obsidian appeared to be nothing special. Little more than a worthless oddity. Only the Jarl’s wizard Farengar, with his apparent obsession over the long-extinct dragons and their worshippers had offered a considerable amount of septims for its acquisition. More septims in fact than what they had collectively earned for the entire month they had worked together.

  The ‘Dragonstone’ was indeed fascinating, but a sickening kind of fascination was more prevalent for the ‘man’ who currently studied it. His voice, before the situation with the elves had been strangely soothing, but now it left fear coursing through her flesh instead. There was nothing unnatural about him, no sign of the monster that he truly was and if she was honest she was having difficulty pairing the man sharing the table, to the creature that had slaughtered the elves.

  The sensation of eyes on her flesh made her unintentionally twitch and she couldn't help but glance up at him. The eyes that had, less than a day before been whirlpools of darkness and horror, were now their customary soft and brown, showing no hints of the darkness that dwelled within. Especially how he looked apologetic at her reaction, sighing heavily and sliding the heavy stone block back into his travelling pack under their table.

  "Look, you have nothing to fear from me." He said simply, scratching at the stubble under his jaw absently. "Despite what you might think, I'm not going to hurt you."

  "I find that a little hard to swallow."

  "It's true though.” Kaius barely even batted an eye to Sofia’s words, the tone and sarcasm rolling off him like the rain. “I'm not going to hurt you in the slightest, but understand if you don't want to travel with me anymore."

  "So I can simply get up and walk away, and you won't stop me?"

  There was a brief nod after he took another mouthful of his drink. From the smell it was some kind of potent brandy. "Yeah. Although I would feel bad if I was the only one of us who ends up taking all of the payment for this thing." The solid thump was audible even over the background noise of the tavern as he tapped his fist against his pack.

  Silence fell between the two of them and Kaius seemed to make a point of not staring at her, instead roaming his eyes over the dozens of patrons in the tavern. It was something that she was somewhat thankful for, as meeting his gaze was uncomfortable to say the least.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  A question was burning within her, a question that despite her discomfort couldn’t be contained and taking her first mouthful from the flagon of the evening, she stared at him with unbridled curiosity.

  "Just… how long have you been doing all this?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "This." She gestured to him, herself and the pack containing the Dragonstone. "Adventuring."

  "Long enough." There was a hint of sorrow in his voice as he leaned over, dipping his finger into his drink and using the moisture to draw on the table.

  Before he wiped it away with the palm of his hand, Sofia saw the number two-hundred written on the table's surface and couldn't help but shudder. It explained so much but there were dozens of unanswered questions left in her mind.

  "Why?"

  "Why do I roam the lands adventuring?" A hint of a true smile broke through the melancholy that was infecting him for the moment. "Because there are a lot of things in this world that require a hero, and there are far too few heroes around to undertake them."

  "And are you one of these heroes?"

  As quick as it had appeared, the smile faded and the sense of sorrow returned. For a moment he sat there in silence, looking down at the beads of moisture on the polished wood surface.

  "I used to be..."

  Sofia chewed on a lip in thought. When he spoke there was nothing of the vampire that she had seen on the road. Only the man remained. It wasn't helping her mental state that the sheer amount of emotions churning inside her, ranged from pants-shitting terror to the mirrored sense of sadness that seemed to permeate from him.

  "What are you now?"

  "Someone who still hopes to do something good in this world." Kaius snorted, glancing around the room before taking another mouthful. "Or at the very least… doing something useful."

  "I am serious though.” Burning with their unusual intensity, his eyes returned to her and he stared for a moment. “If you wish to leave, you can leave. I won't stop you or harm a hair on your head. I know that my word is probably not worth much after what happened and what you know now, but I will split our earnings evenly and you can be on your way."

  "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

  "Would you have believed me?" His laugh drew the attention of several of the nearby patrons as he nearly choked on a mouthful of his brandy.

  "Well... No..."

  "That's why I didn't say anything. And that's also a pretty good reason for not telling anyone either. No one will believe you, and those that do aren't going to be interested in your health."

  "Like the Thalmor?"

  Anger, pure, and a reflection of the rage that had left three dozen of the elves splattered across the road, rose to the surface and she couldn't help but flinch away from it. "They are a good example. I'm very close to the top of their shit-list."

  "After what you did and how you reacted to them, I'm not surprised."

  "Look, this is neither the time nor the place for any ‘serious’ discussions. Too many ears around. Let's just say that anything to do with the Aldmeri Dominion and myself is not beneficial for anyone who wants to remain in Mundus. I have my reasons for wanting every single one of those vith'rellen dead and if I had the power to do so? Let's say there wouldn't be many left breathing. Some other time I’ll explain a bit more, but that’ll depend on whether you still want to continue working and travelling with me."

  Despite all of her feelings she knew that she had already come to a decision. Looking before leaping was never her style, and it had been exactly what had gotten her into this mess in the first place. What was concerning her more than anything, was that she knew that despite all of her fear and terror and unease there was a large portion of her that trusted Kaius.

  "I think I'll stay."

  "Really?" For the first time since meeting him, Kaius seemed positively surprised, a smile cracking through his goatee that was finally shared by his eyes.

  "Yes."

  "Heh. I actually didn't expect that."

  "Look, when we first met, I was honest at least with how it isn't any fun on my own.” Somehow, such a simple admission after her decision seemed to bleed the tension out of her like a throat wound, and she flicked her ponytail over her shoulder. “You have been keeping me company, and it's nice to have someone who is willing to look out for me for once. Even if they are more dangerous than a pack of starved sabrecats."

  "I'll take that as a compliment."

  "It sorta is. I’ve never encountered anyone like you before." Her finger returned to circling around the lip of her flagon. "Before I met you I was wandering around Skyrim killing bandits who thought I was an easy target to claim their bounties, meeting the locals, making new enemies, and generally making a nuisance of myself. You know… All the fun stuff. All of that was after I spent a few years studying at the College of Winterhold. If I use the term ‘studying’ very loosely of course."

  "I have been able to tell you have some magical ability." He added, listening to her every word.

  "Going to the College wasn't my first choice." She continued, pointedly staring at the table and her flagon. "Wasn’t even a second or third choice either. I had no place to go and it was either that or live in a cave. So I learnt a few spells just to keep them happy. I must admit though that learning to blow stuff up was pretty fun. Unfortunately my genius was wasted on them, and I was kicked out for making a spell that destroys people’s clothes. Never would’ve thought the mages were such prudes."

  "So it turns out I ended up living mostly in caves anyway." The sense of sadness and the involuntary shiver of the memories returned and she tried to hide the fact from Kaius who was sitting quietly listening to her. Only the tiny movements of his arm bringing his flagon to his lips broke the illusion of him being anything more than a statue made of flesh rather than stone.

  "You seem like a funny person."

  “You mean like weird?” Despite herself, she felt anger rise at his words. "There are already enough people who make fun of me because I don’t try to conform to their ridiculous ideas."

  "I didn't mean it as a bad thing." Kaius looked legitimately apologetic, giving her an honest smile. "It makes you different."

  "You might think so." She replied bitterly. "Everyone in Skyrim is like an exact replica of each other. Always bragging about themselves, saying how beautiful or tough they are. I would never do that."

  An eyebrow raised and he seemed to chuckle under his breath, making her roll her eyes.

  "Yeah, okay. I know what you're thinking but in my case it is actually true. Other people really do kid themselves."

  There was still a tenseness between them, which unusually for her didn’t involve him looking upon her lustfully or her to find a bed for them to share. All of her attempts to tease or manipulate him over the previous weeks had so far been about as effective as if she had attempted to do so to a Dwemer animunculi. The worst part of it all though? He truly did seem to care and even seemed to understand who she was. That all by itself was equal parts infuriating and scary.

  "Look, for as long as you want someone to watch your back and share the spoils I can hang around. Like I said, you don't need to fear me or worry about ‘sticking your neck out’ while I'm around. I'm not like that."

  The hidden meaning was all too obvious to her and she couldn't help but rub at the portion of neck not covered by her leather armour. If she was going to hang around with him she was going to need to invest in a gorget or something. For the peace of mind at the very least.

  Seeing her unease, he tilted his head back and drained the last of his drink, wiping his mouth and gesturing to her mostly untouched flagon.

  "Would you want a fresh one, or are you content on trying to solve the mysteries of Nirn in that one's depths?"

  "I'm fine with this one." Her mouth was dry and felt like she had been drinking dust washed down with molten lead. It was so unnerving the difference between Kaius the man, and Kaius the monster.

  "I'm going to get myself a refill." He said simply, sliding his feet to the floor and rising from his chair. "I’ll be back in a moment."