FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Zaahni hacked the vines out of the way. She and the Altmer had been moving through the jungle, chasing after this target for days now. She already killed four of his group, and Narmis had killed five- mostly with her help, of course. Gwillon the bosmer killed three, but then a brute of an orc hunter charged the little man- even with two of Narmis's ice spikes sticking in his chest and three of Gwillon's arrows, he swung the greataxe down and cleaved him nearly in two. It was only when Zaahni's hatchet split his head from behind that the orc stopped moving. After he went down, the other orcs panicked and fled into the woods. Their target was not among the dead- Zaahni and Narmis had to keep moving forward.

The three were members of a unit known as a Dominion Hunt Unit. The Hunt Units were established to take out the Dominion's enemies deep in the woods. Normally, Justiciars were called upon for the task, but in the deep woods, they were more vulnerable. Targets could use the trees to hide behind and get in close, removing the advantage of magic. Worse, when they did that there was no time to prepare- the second it took to raise magical armor was a second too long, resulting in many justiciars' deaths. The Hunt units were built to, under a Justiciar's guidance, bring back or execute any enemies who fled into the most uncivilized areas.

Narmis was the group's Justiciar. It was his job to use the elements of fire, ice, and electricity against groups or especially powerful foes. He was also responsible for keeping the group's health, as he was the only one with training in restoration magic. If any magical traps were found, it was his job to remove them.

Gwillon was the group's scout. He was responsible for taking care of poisons and finding food along the way. He was never supposed to see real combat, but if he did, he was supposed to be able to use his illusion magic to make his foes run. Unfortunately for him, he already used his magic up by the time the orc rushed their position. Narmis yelled at him to run, but he didn't listen.

Zaahni was the group's ranger. It was her job to stealthily lead the assault on enemy strongpoints, and should she be discovered, draw the enemy into Gwillon and Narmis's line of fire. Unlike both of them, she could hold her own in a fight- her elven made waraxe had cut through many a seasoned warrior.

Between the Justiciar, Scout and Ranger, very little could stand in their way. But with Gwillon dead, Zaahni and Narmis would have to cope. They kept moving until the sun went down, and then they made a fireless camp. Narmis called Zaahni over. She dashed over to him.

"With Gwillon dead, we're going to have a much harder time assaulting any defensive positions," he said. "You're our only archer, and we can no longer cause panic in their ranks by hitting them with illusion spells."

"This one does not know that it will be so hard," Zaahni said. "Gwillon was talented, but he was not very good at combat. Khajiit took his poison stock when he died- she believes she can hit with her bow as well as he could."

"Even so, it may not be enough," Narmis said. "Take this book, and start using that elven education you've received. Learn the words within, and you may learn to do magic."

Zaahni's eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped.

"This one... will learn magic?" she asked.

Narmis sighed and rolled his eyes. "Possibly. It depends on if you're able- not everybody is." He reached in his pack and handed it to her. "Think nothing of it."

The khajiit grabbed the book and stared at it. First, the Aldmeri Dominion saved the twin moons when they disappeared. When a group of khajiit bandits attacked her village, it was the Justiciars who drove them off. Finally, the high elves mandated that the khajiit children learn to read and speak aldmeri. Many of the older khajiit didn't like this, but many of the older khajiit couldn't read, either- the high elves were helping the khajiit rise in a world that showed them nothing but contempt. When they finally asked for khajiit volunteers for their Justiciar groups, she was the first in line. And now, Narmis, who had hand selected her to fight in his hunt unit, was teaching her magic.

"Zaahni," Narmis said. "Zaahni, snap out of it. You have to read the inside of the book to learn magic, not the cover."

Zaahni nodded. "Yes, yes! Zaahni will get straight to it!" She stood back at attention. "Does Captain Narmis need anything else?"

"No, that's all. Read that book on our breaks; try to learn what you can. If we're lucky, you'll be able to cast a distraction spell by the time we find their hideout." He yawned. "I'm going to bed... Watch is going to be interesting..."

"Zaahni must read to learn, and Captain must rest to use magic. Zaahni will take a four hour watch so Captain only watches three."

"Hm. Good point," he said. "I do need sleep more than you. Don't let anything sneak up on us."

He turned around and lied down on his sleeping roll. Zaahni picked up her book and began reading. Five hours later, she put the book down, nudged Narmis's shoulder, then went to sleep.

When it was time to go, Narmis nudged Zaahni in the side with his foot. "Hey," he said, "get up. We've got an Orsimer to slay."

Zaahni rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, then began picking up camp. Narmis stayed on guard while she sorted everything, making sure none of the raiders snuck up on them. When it was all done, she picked up her waraxe and took the lead.

"Stupid Orcs," Narmis said. "You'd think they'd turn their leader in by now. Instead, we have to wade through waves of their filthy corpses to execute an upstart raider who doesn't have the good sense to stay off of Aldmeri land."

"Zaahni heard that the land was the orc's, not the Aldmeri's, no?" she asked. "But then, Zaahni hears many things."

"It WAS their land," he said, "But their strongholds' chiefs held a meeting and agreed to join the Dominion peacefully. So no, it is no longer their land."

"Maybe after we kill this orc, the other orcs can be raised like the khajiit have?" Zaahni asked.

"Hrmph. Maybe. The orcs are not so... adaptive, as the khajiit are," Narmis said, thinking. "They are often stuck in a rigid mind. Although, that does make them good soldiers... And if the nords continue to remain such a problem, we'll definitely need frontline grunts. It's possible we can 'raise' them."

"And the lizards?"

"Pah!" Narmis said. "We can raise them to boots or belts, maybe. Purses. Damn swampers."

Zaahni chuckled. It pleased her to no end that Narmis disliked the lizard folk. While she didn't especially hate them, dealing with them was never pleasant- they were always aloof and tried to come off as uncaring. She was about to ask something else when something caught her eye.

Far off in the woods, between several tree limbs and bushes, she could see a small patch of something shiny. She raised her fist, and Narmis stopped. He readied an armor spell in his left hand, and his right hand began freezing the moisture in the air.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Scale armor. Looks like Imperial make. Can't see who's wearing it. Moving in," she said. When he didn't tell her not to, she began creeping up on the target.

When she was closer, she could see that it was an orc scout relieving himself on some bushes. His back was turned to her, and she could see his other four compatriots off around a small fire. She knocked an arrow, then thought about which one to hit first. She couldn't tell which one was the chief, and since orc chiefs were usually the strongest ones, that meant she needed to use the element of surprise to kill him; otherwise, she'd end up like Gwillon.

She set her bow down and thought about it. She didn't want to go back and tell Narmis she couldn't do the job- no way would she be able to impress him like that. But she did have an idea- the book she read last night showed a very basic motion and utterance that was supposed to show... something. It wasn't particularly clear what it would do, only that it would help her find things.

She held her breath, moved her hand into the right position, and tried to force the mana through- and it worked. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from crying out in surprise as a blue stream of something appeared in the air, rushing like a river toward one of the orcs. He looked older than the others, but definitely not weaker. She looked at the orcs' faces- none of them seemed to notice their leader bathed in this magic. She grinned. She poisoned her arrow, then nocked it back into the bow. She raised, aimed, and loosed it. The poisonous shank flew forth and plunged into the chieftain's chest. He gasped and looked down.

The other orcs rushed to his side, asking if he was alright. Then Gwillon's poison kicked in. The chieftain raised his hammer and smashed the orc on his right, and then ran the orc on the left through with his hammer's handle. The other two orcs tackled him, taking him to the ground.

Zaahni took out the scout rushing back to help them, and then killed all three laying on the ground. After making sure nobody else was near, she snuck forward and grabbed the chieftain's warhammer.

It was enormous, green, and oozing some sort of enchantment energy. Just touching it made her tired. Something about it was very offputting, but she still intended to bring it back to Narmis.

"What in blazes is that thing?" Narmis asked Zaahni when he saw the hammer.

"Zaahni found it on the Chief's body. Khajiit does not know why, but she thinks it is important."

Narmis squinted at it. "Strange... I've never seen anything quite like it. I will have a proper enchanter look at it when we get back," he said. "Are all the orcs dead?"

"Yes, Captain. Khajiit used magic to kill them!" She exclaimed.

"You... you wot?" he asked, slipping into his native accent. "What spell did you use to kill them?"

"Khajiit does not know what it is called; it appeared as a river of blue air, leading straight to the chief's heart. Khajiit then put a bloodlust poison on the arrow and put it in him. He attacked his men, and Khajiit killed the scout, and then the two guards and the chieftain."

"You killed the chieftain?!" he said. "He killed an entire platoon of imperial soldiers single handedly! Is that his hammer?" She smiled, now weary from holding the enchanted thing.

"By the gods, I think that's a daedric artifact! We must bring it back! I don't want to be anywhere near it, though," he said.

"Zaahni can bring it back," she said. "It is heavy, but only when Zaahni holds it with her hands- the magic doesn't work when you hold it through cloth."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Narmis said. "You will have to later, but for now, I know just the thing for the job." He went down to the clearing, and cast a spell on one of the orcs. His body got up, glowing with necromantic energy.

"Retreive that hammer and follow me," he told the orc's corpse.

Zaahni's face went white. She had no idea Narmis could resurrect the dead. Not that she thought it was evil, but it was certainly disturbing to have the man she killed following them. After his corpse fell apart, she wrapped up the hammer and put it in her pack. But when they reached the junction they came in at, they didn't move to go back to Elsewyre. They began moving North.

"Captain," Zaahni asked, "Why are we going North? Home is the other way," she said.

"Now that we've killed the man threatening the alliance, we must report to our brethren near the border," he explained. "They will be able to tell our command more quickly, and that will allow us to assimilate the orcs more quickly."

"Aren't we too close to Skyrim?" she asked. "What if their armies attack us while we're there?"

He shrugged. "I really doubt they will. The nords are a very simple people- they want to be able to worship their nongod in the frozen wastes of the world, and they want everybody else to leave them to it. I say we let them."

Zaahni bit her lip. She knew it was a dangerous topic to broach, but she had to ask. "Why is it that the Dominion believes Talos did not rejoin the Aedra? Diseases are cured on his altars, and there is word that the M'Alkosh is a warrior of his name."

"M'Alkosh?" He said. "Starts with an M... child... Alkosh... akatosh... child akatosh... Oh, the dragonborn!" he said, slapping his forehead. "The Dragonborn was put here to eat the souls of the dragons who fell out of alignment with the Aedras' wishes. What he believes he is here fore is irrelevant. And diseases are cured on his shrine, because he did join the Aedra- but that doesn't make him one of them. I mean, you're a khajiit- hell, you're even a member of an Almeri Dominion Hunt Unit- but you're not an Altmer, are you?"

"No," she said. "I suppose not.. that is a good way to see it, I think. I am glad to hear you are reasonable about it, and not angry like some other... people."

"Ha!" he said, "you said 'I!' You're losing your dialect, Zaahni."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "It is the elven influence. If tomorrow Khajiit wakes up without fur, she will blame you."

They continued their trip in silence, Zaahni continuing to read her magic book. When they finally arrived, they were exhausted.

"I'm going to report to the officers," he said. "Hand me that hammer and you can go get some food and rest."

Zaahni nodded. After a twenty mile hike with a daedric warhammer sucking the energy out of her, food and rest was a dream come true.

"Just make sure you get a good meal," he said. "In three days, we begin hunting for some Forsworn named Firetalon."

She nodded. She handed the hammer to Narmis, told him that she'd see him later, and went to the food tent.

The woodelves inside looked at her, and she was instantly reminded of Gwillon's death. Her heart sank and her relief was gone. She had completely forgotten about her ally until now.

One of the waiters approached her. "Ah, Khajiit, you're wearing Dominion uniform. Are you...?"

She nodded, then said, "Gwillon didn't make it. He died protecting us from a monster of an orc."

The wood elves looked at each other, confused. "Sorry, but... who?"

"Gwillon," she said, "The wood elf who was in our hunt unit. You did not know of him?"

The wood elf shrugged. "No. I'm just a cook. He sounds like the kind of guy I'd have liked to know, though. How about we send him off proper," he said, pouring her a mug of mead.

"To Gwillon," she said, raising the mug, "The sneakiest noncat I've ever met. May you find peace stalking your prey in Khenarthi's forests." Then she turned the mug upside down and drained the cup.

Several hours later, a rather drunk Zaahni left the food tent. She ambled out of the doorway, not entirely where it was she was supposed to go, and decided that finding Narmis was a great idea. She finally saw him, poking his head out the front of a tent flap. He wasn't far, but she didn't feel like yelling out to him. He was probably with the other officers anyway, and she knew they didn't want a drunk khajiit yelling over their important war discussions. Instead, she waited until he went back in, and then slunk over to the side of the tent and laid down, ear to the tent. She could hear the clink of glasses and bottles. She didn't expect them to be drinking, but then again, being an officer was stressful. They needed the break just as much as anyone else. She sighed and listened to them talking.

"So, how has that hunt unit been working out, Narmis?" one of the other elves asked.

"Rather well, actually!" Narmis said. "In the course of a month, we've taken out a dark brotherhood enclave, a hammerfell spy ring, and a werewolf pack that was terrorizing a local village. If you told me a year ago I'd be killing an enire pack of werewolves, I'd have laughed the tips off your ears. We even had a run in with a dragon."

Zaahni smiled as she thought about each of those times. In every case, Gwillon set the stage, but it was really her and Narmis who was doing the fighting. He would pin them down with fire and ice, and she'd close the distance and kill with her axe. Just her and Narmis.

"I heard you recently lost one, though," another elf said. "What was his name? Gwillon?"

"Yes, we did." Narmis said, sighing. "I know he was only a wood elf, but he served admirably. Had more discipline than some justiciars I know. Taught me what I needed to learn about the limitations of magic, too- more than one mage fell to his poisons and arrows, I'll tell you that."

"Heh. Too bad it wasn't the khajiit, then, eh?" another elf asked.

Zaahni sat up and suppressed a growl. She was going to... do... something to that elf when she was sober. She didn't know what. But she knew she better not do it while she was drunk.

"Ugh! Tell me about it!" Narmis said.

Zaahni quit growling. What did Narmis say?

"I mean, she's a lethal weapon, don't get me wrong! Lying to the Khajiit and saying we brought the moons back was one of the smartest moves in history- that cat killed Yargul and his five guards single handedly today, then dragged his daedric hammer almost all the way back here without so much as a whimper! Taught herself how to do magic literally overnight- last night to be specific- and even took the longer watch for me when Gwillon died. If this is the typical khajiit, we will never have to dirty our own hands again."

"but.." Zaahni whispered to herself, "Why did you say..."

"But that's just it!" he said. "She's constantly doing things for my approval! She isn't just dedicated to the Dominion, she's infatuated with me. She is constantly trying to get my attention. I will bet you gold, she wants to bed me!"

"Oh gods, that's horrible!" Another elf said. "A khajiit? That's just- ew!"

Zaahni frowned. Why was that bad? He didn't care about that, did he? That was wrong-

"Disgusting, right?" Narmis asked.

Zaahni's heart sank.

"It's like when a dog humps your leg! Matter of fact, that's just what she is- she's a loyal, horny dog who loves her master in all the wrong ways. She's a great guard dog, but ech. I'd have rather the backwoodself stayed alive. At least he wasn't trying to get in bed with me."

"That is surprising, given what I've heard about wood elves," an elf quipped.

"Well you can't blame her," another elf said. "After all, you are a high elf- we're the closest thing to the divine in this world. Even orcs find us attractive."

"Eugh... now there's a choice," another one said. "Which race would you least like to bed? Orcs, Khajiit, or Argonians?"

"Pft!" one of them said. "You don't bed orc women; they bed you!" they kept on with their banter, but Zaahni couldn't hear it. She was following a blue stream of air to somewhere deep in the woods. She didn't really know where it was going, or what she was looking for, but the magical blue path showed her where to go last time. Maybe it'd lead to a cliff. Or a hungry bear. Or maybe another dragon. She followed the path until she couldn't walk anymore, and then she fell on the ground on a pile of leaves.

She was asleep before she hit it.