Story has no pictures but I hope you enjoy it.
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Even the ill odor smell of piss and excrement didn't stop her - after three full days without proper food and drink - it was finally time for supper. She walked around in circle and looked for her meal. She could only chose one so it'd better be a good one.
It isn't that the food in the Blue Palace was bad, it wasn't. She could eat that food forever but it meant nothing. It was wasted on her - it couldn't satiate her hunger; it couldn't quench her thirst - the chef of the Blue Palace might as well throw his food down to a bottomless pit than give it to her again.
She couldn't stand it any longer - it was time to extinguish the braziers on the stage. She pretended she enjoyed the food of the Palace for long enough.
It was as if she was punished for her patience - the insolent girl Falk convinced Ellisif to throw in jail was released this morning. She was young, full of life and spirit, a meal she could eat with her eyes open, she could've been a meal that didn't struggle for a change and didn't tremble while she sank her teeth into her.
Her meals never passed out but she wished they did. It would make things a lot easier for her. Hurting them and maiming them always took her appetite away.
She wanted them to be like the food served at the Palace - beautifully served, appetizing, have a scent that her nose could remember, and of course - she wanted them to be filling.
Instead she had to eat in Castle Dour Dungeon where most of the food was old and crunchy as the fresh food would get its fingers chopped off and his head decapitated at the city entrance.
If Falk was ever right about something it would be about this matter - those executions are bad for moral. Both hers and the inhabitants.
Before leaving the Palace she pondered If she should check the tavern and If see the rumors about prostitutes in the city were true. Those rumors almost sounded too good to be true - for a mere hundred septims she could get the meal of her life. However, she knew full well that finding prisoners bodies in the dungeon isn't the same as a girl body in a dark ally. Even If she was a prostitute.
However, she did not fear that. She had trust in her abilities. She would find a way sooner or later, just like she had found one with Captain Aldis and Ahtar. Just like them - the leader of the entire organization needs his feathers ruffled and keep his eyes open for a few nights.
The entire ordeal was strange, however. First was the disappearance of nobles in the Reach; than prostitutes appearing in the city; and even Falk appearing with a few bruises in Court.
Such an operation requires even bigger balls than those of Ulfric Stormcloak. They were still in the capital of Skyrim. The homebase of the Imperial Legion; home to a still hundreds of powerful nobles and yet...
That alone made Sybille Stentor wonder If she wasn't the only supernatural force in the city. Unlike Falk, she will not underestimate that new "force" in the city and she wouldn't shame herself like he did by appearing in Court with swollen bruises.
Her eyes finally settled on one cell. She got a bundle of keys out of her pocket and spun them around her index finger in full circles. They clanked each other a few times but made no noise while she was examining her food.
It was a young man and by the size of his biceps he didn't look like the lazy type. Maybe a mercenary or a deserter. Her hunger versus the strength of man. The thought made her chuckle, it wasn't the first time she played that game. There used to be a time she would never dare pick a fight with such a man.
It mattered little. She opened her palm and caught the key bundle. She picked a key at random and inserted it into the keyhole and turn it around. The door opened with ease, and complete silence.
She stood above the bed and shifted the young man left and right until he woke up.
"You're a beautiful dream..." The man said with his eyes half open.
"I have a few questions. Answer them well and I'll make sure your sentence is shortened."
The young man yawned and rubbed his eyes in disbelief, "I'm so glad that you can talk..." He got up and stood face to face with her.
Sybille reached closer to him and placed her arm in his so his right elbow touched her left breast, "I'm the best dream you ever had. Let's go, I'll take you to safety."
When Sybille got him out of the cell she felt his entire body shivered and trembled. She feared her spell was broken but it couldn't be, she perfected that tome while she was still a student.
"My name is Adrian... You know I'm innocent, don't you? I'm innocent!" He shouted and freed himself from her grip. Sybille thought quickly and placed her leg as an obstacle in his way - he tripped and fell flat on his face. The blood from his nose made things difficult for her - she couldn't fuck up now. Just a bit more and they'll be there. She touched his nape and got him up on his feet. She casted a stronger spell although she didn't believe she needed it - now wasn't the time to take chances.
"Adrian, what's wrong with you? Don't you want to come with me? I'm just trying to help you." She couldn't stand to look on his face, on the blood from his nose. She placed her arm in his again but this time held him closer to her body.
"I do..." He replied calmly but hesitantly,
"That was a very odd thing to do, Adrian. Why did you try to run back to your cell?" She said while they were walking past the torture rooms.
Sybille quickly realized it was a silly question to ask. She glimpsed towards him and noticed his eyes opened wide, and his face turned pale. He pressed her arm closer to his. Despite his size he acted like he was a terrified child.
"Can't you see her...?" His lip trembled, "She's right there... In the corner..."
Sybille looked curiously but there was no one there. It was just another dark corner. She applied some force and dragged Adrian with her to the corner he mentioned, "You see?" She said.
Adrian nodded his head positively, "You're a very good dream..."
They continued on their way through a well lit corridor, "We're almost there."
"You're a very good dream... The best I've had this month..."
Sybille tried to ignore the man words but they ringed in her head again and again...
"I want you to stay... Those others dreams I have, this dead woman is in them... She's haunting my dreams... Ever since I saw her face..." Adrian heaved.
"Shut up." Sybille voice turned stern.
She stood in front of a wall torch and pulled it towards her. The flame was extinguished as the wall in front of them opened and revealed a dark room.
Sybille noticed Adrian hesitation to get inside. She played too many games for one night... She grabbed him by his nape and threw him inside with force. As she stepped inside the room the wall behind her closed and she could finally sigh in relief.
"I'll hear no more of your nonsense, pathetic mortal."
Adrian got back on his feet, he couldn't see her but she could see him. His face was even paler than hers.
"You must not speak ill about her... If she ever hears you..."
Sybille revealed her fangs and burst into loud laughter as she approached her meal, "What will she do, mortal? What could that horse faced bitch do to me?"
"NO! YOU MUST NOT MENTION HER FACE! I MUST FORGET THAT DEAD FACE!"
"I MUST! I MUST! I MUST!" He cried from the top of his lungs.
There was now a strange look in his eyes, a look that wasn't there before. Sybille took a step backwards as the crazed look in his eyes terrified even her - how could it be her spell wasn't working again? It wasn't even five minutes.
While Sybille was busy wondering the man turned his back to her and hit his face against the wall. He screamed in pain and wailed like wounded hound but repeatedly continued to hit his head against the wall.
The act itself was unfathomable and before she realized she was caught off guard and her meal is going to kill itself it was already too late. Adrian had smashed his head against the wall like it was a watermelon.
It was good they were alone. Sybille couldn't stand the shame If another vampire ever saw her sucking what she could out of Adrian lifeless body. She was hundred of years old and by now her pride was bigger than most of Skyrim mountains - she had to stop herself before it crumbled to a hill.
More important than the mess on the floor her hunger was unsated and her pride was wounded. It was already late, and as much as she could use a real main course she had to go back to the Palace before the sun rises and decides she doesn't like her skin.
On her way out of the dungeon she collected her thoughts and gained her tough composure. Adrian wasn't even afraid of her, even If he could see her for what she really was... Last Sybille heard about a man going crazy and driven to suicide like this it involved a daedra lord and a group of necromancers. Sybille thought that If a daedra really watched her he must be bored to death by now.
At the entrance to the dungeon stood two suspicious guards in full helmets. Sybille remembered Falk had the Jarl issue an edict that forbids the guards to wear helmets that hide their entire face. But that wasn't the only reason - their swords were not of Imperial make and looked as black as tar. It looked like ebony. This night is too strange for so many shady events. Something smelled fishy and she was going to find out what.
Sybille approached and demanded , "Remove your helmets!"
"I answer only to Captain Aldis. witch."
"Imbeciles! Do you have any idea who I am!? Remove your helmets!"
In truth her position as Court Wizard was no more important than the position of a Thane housrcarl but she learned authority was never something you get, it's something you take.
"You are naught, witch."
"I'll make you pay for your insolence, guardsmen."
Sybille tried to make her way through them but one held her back with his hand on her chest, "You shouldn't leave. It's much safer here."
She was about to lose it. She was hungry, mentally wounded and now she was furious. She slapped his hand away and focused her thoughts... Those two were asking for it.
The moment they saw a sparkle coming out of her hands one hurried and opened the door for her, "If you wanted to leave you only had to ask."
"I don't need to ask you anything, you fools. I will make sure you pay for this."
"We'll be waiting." One of them chuckled.
Hurriedly she went outside and asked the closest guard where she can find Capitan Aldis.
"Milady, I think he's patrolling the on the walls. Trying to catch some whelps off guard."
She made her way up to the walls and confirmed with the other guards Aldis was indeed patrolling the area. It was getting late -- too late but she felt she had to vent her anger on someone. If she won't be able to make the insolent guards pay she will make Aldis himself pay.
She was just above the cliff the city was built on, below it was the sea of ghosts and hundreds of sea caves -- she walked almost in a full circle and Aldis was nowhere to be found.
When she was ready to retire back to the Palace and leave everything for the next night a strange full hooded woman got out of the forfeited towers in front of her and stepped towards her. The hood she wore was of a peculiar make... Sybille saw before the dark brotherhood robes, thieves guild armor, infamous necromancers robes but none ignored light. Even the moonlight didn't expose the face behind the hood.
"Have you seen Capitan Aldis? I'm told he was patrolling here." Sybille asked politely but got no answer.
The silence didn't frighten her. She heard about dark brotherhood assassins scaring their targets in the very same way.
"Didn't you hear me? I'm looking for Capitan Aldis." Sybille stepped closer towards the woman and startled back once she noticed her hands were stretched forward.
It was almost as If it was instantaneous. One moment she was standing in place, and the other her hands straightened forward with both her fists closed.
Sybille was sure she didn't blink. She had to find a way to protect herself in case things went sour. If the woman in front of her was an assassin she must have some sort of weapon. Maybe it was hidden in one of her fists. Either way, Sybille didn't want to take chances. She didn't held back.
If this woman is planning to attack there was a nasty surprise waiting for her weapons when they try to penetrate her skin.
A moment passed and nothing happened. Sybille had already planned everything but the woman in front of her was as still as stone.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm in a hurry..." Sybille tried to make her way forward but the woman in front of her now took one step backward.
"Are you looking for a fight?"
In truth Sybille did not want to get into quarrel with the woman in front of her. She wasn't afraid of the consequences; that someone will find them; she wasn't afraid of death. The posture she stood in was irregular and had plenty of openings any average fighter could see and exploit with ease so how was it she exuded such eerie confidence?
From afar she looked human. She had five fingers in each hand, breathed like a human, and had envious breasts. The only mystery was her face...
"I must forget..." Adrian's voice ringed in her head.
Could it be she was the one who drove him crazy? Another moment passed with nothing but silence. Sybille realized she isn't going to leave the walls without a fight.
"You're making a mistake you won't live to regret, girl. It's time say your prayers."
Her enemy finally made a move. Sybille expected weapons but instead her enemy moved in the same posture towards her, and with increased pace.
There wasn't a lot of distance between them and Sybille was ready to make her move. She would soon freeze the hopeless fool in front of her and shatter her to a million pieces.
When only a few steps separated them, Sybille was sure she could not miss and sent her hand forward - she was so full with hubris she never saw the red vial her enemy threw towards her face.
The vial glass shattered in an instant. A red liquid was now covering her face and tinted her eyes. She could taste it, and smell it... After so many years, the nectar taste was unmistakable - it was her favorite taste in the world.
Her enemy knew who she was, what she was. Sybille concluded her enemy came so close so she could mock her; that before she laid her hands on her body she will attack her pride; her mind.
The blood on her face strengthened her senses, it strengthened her lust for blood but with her mind so busy she couldn't think of a proper counter attack.
She squealed in pain just before she managed to get to the dagger on her back. With one kick her enemy popped her kneecap out of place - the pain was unbearable, and the sound almost made her puke. Like the sound of twigs cracking under one's boots. She only hoped no one heard her screams... If anyone ever saw her... It would be worst than death.
Sybille tried to think quick. She could still win the fight, she told herself. No mortal can beat her.
She tried to hug her enemy's legs and feed on her thighs but her opponent proved merciless. She was grabbed by the hair and was dragged in circles on her wounded knee and to the wall edge. She felt truly helpless, like a puppet on someone's strings.
Her enemy did as she wished and pulled her hair up in an attempt to get her on the feet. Sybille longed to stay on the floor but she readied herself. She was ready to feed on her enemy's neck like it was the end of the world. It didn't even matter what it was. Not anymore.
She stood face to face with the dark face, revealed her teeth and got ready to pounce when her own dagger pierced her shoulder. Blood started to cover her shirt and If not for her enemy's hand wrenching her hair she would fall to the floor and lick it all. Her spell still worked, but it was weakening with each passing moment. As was her body but If something was getting stronger it was her lust and anger.
She could only think about drinking when her opponent lifted her head up and beat it against the wall edge with terrifying force. She began to feel hazy, and groggy after the first clash. She didn't even have time to resist before she felt the second one. Sybille felt her head was like a boiling stew - so much pressure it felt like it was going to explode at any moment. She wished her enemy would stop but her enemy battered her again against the wall more times than she cared to count - she felt numb but she shouldn't have. Not with so much blood around.
It was madding that she was powerless to resist. She was starting to lose conscious as her enemy battered her head against the wall one last time but even more maddening was the fact she still didn't her voice. Her senses were sharp and yet she couldn't hear her enemy groan or grunt. She couldn't even hear her breaths. Her enemy movements were unpredictable, and unfathomably fast. She couldn't possibly be human.
Sybille was exhausted... She couldn't realize... Why would someone want to kill her? Did she ever do wrong to that person?
"Why do this...?" Her words were wasted. It was only her wounded pride and her thoughts in the terrifying silence.
Just barely conscious Sybille felt her body being pushed over the wall. She knew the fall couldn't kill her but she resisted with all her remaining power - it was only enough to hear the cries of terrorized guards coming in her direction.
"Captain Aldis everyone! Help! Captain Aldis is being attacked!"
Sybille didn't realize what the guards were screaming about until the the rocks below stopped her short fall and fractured her ribs.
Captain Aldis body was right there with hers. His sword covered in blood, and his neck pierced by what looks like fangs.
She couldn't stop herself. She couldn't control herself anymore. She exposed her fangs... His body was so close yet it was out of her reach... She longed for a taste. She longed to gain her lost strength that she developed for years and lost in a matter of seconds.
As guards started appearing on the wall Sybille confidence disappeared. Everyone are going to know her secret... Her long kept secret...
Her worst nightmare came to life... She exactly what was going to happen to her. Once word reaches Court they will make a spectacle out of her execution just like they did Roggvir... They would not let her off easy and everyone would try to take the credit for arresting a potential threat to Elisif...
For a brief moment she wished she had the strength Adrian did. She wanted the strength to crush her head against the rocks, to avoid the shame. To forget the force that destroyed her.
She loathed that feeling. Every part of it. It was probably what Adrian felt - it was probably what hopelessness felt like.
"I'm more..." She mumbled to herself before passing out.
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