Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Chapter 108: Hunter and Prey

Hunting the Demon Lord Hircine...

All the hair on Hayou's body stood up, making the whole cat look bigger. He stretched out his paw tremblingly, wanting to touch the ghost in front of him, but the ghost dodged lightly by shaking its head.

"You...I...didn't we kill you?"

"Ah! Yes, and you killed them very quickly and efficiently."

Hircine turned his gaze away from Hayou, nodded to Eric and Angie, and glanced at Lydia and me.

"I am the Lord of the Hunt. Those who are lucky enough to see me striding through the jungle call me Hircine, and you can continue to use this name. To make a long story short, I have observed you for a long time, and you are all very good hunters, very good, especially you, my child. So I decided to give you a chance to become my warriors in this plane."

Helsing specifically took care of Eric. This demon lord was also known as the father of beastmen. It seemed that there was nothing wrong with him saying that Eric was his child. I just don't know if Angie would guess anything from these words.

"So, what do you want us to do?"

Eric had recovered from his initial shock and spoke directly on our behalf. The other party introduced himself and seemed to have no ill intentions. Besides, as a werewolf, he was somewhat close to the hunting demon. Despite this, he still took two steps forward calmly and blocked Angie behind him.

"It is simple, but it is a matter of my honor, and I advise you to take it seriously. Someone has stolen my ring and has fled to a safe haven, but he is just like climbing a tree to avoid a hunting bear, only to be snared. I want you to find the thief, skin him, and offer him to me as a sacrifice."

Hircine stared at the sky, and we all looked up as he did. It was already completely dark, and the twin moons rose into the sky, casting a pure white light. However, Secunda, the smaller moon, changed at this moment! A streak of red spread across the moon, and the red color became darker and darker, like blood slowly seeping out of a wound, until the entire moon was soaked in it.

Everyone stared in amazement at the changing phases of the moon until Hircine's voice was heard again.

"Blood Moon Hunting. You have to hurry up, my child. There are other hunters vying for my favor. A little competition makes it more fun, right? So don't dawdle. It would be bad if the hare escaped. Good luck to you."

The ghost of the white deer turned into a wisp of green smoke and suddenly disappeared, leaving the five people looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Let us go back, my Lord."

Lydia didn't want to get too involved in this matter. After all, Hircine was not a good person. Besides, just to catch this white deer, I almost lost my life. The Blood Moon Hunt was not a joke just by the name.

"We have to do this."

"grown ups!"

The other four people present did not participate in the original coup, so they naturally did not know about the feud between us and Schooner. I had to introduce them to the damage this werewolf had caused to Falkreath as we walked. Hearing that the opponent this time was so powerful, Lai Mei became nervous, but she also understood that I would never let this old acquaintance go this time.

The four hooves and head of the white deer were tied to the spear, and Hayou and Eric carried it. Time was running out, so we didn't plan to return to the Blood Throne, but to go to Falkreath first to borrow some equipment and weapons from the garrison. When Danger heard that we were going to hunt the Skuna, he offered to send soldiers to help, but we declined. After all, it was Hircine's Blood Moon Hunt, and it was inappropriate to send out the army in a big way. Besides, ordinary soldiers couldn't help when facing werewolves, and they would easily lose their composure.

Hayou, Eric and Lydia all put on heavy armor, while Angie and I put on light leather armor. My two moves were not good enough in front of Schooner, so I had to hide in the back row honestly. Not causing trouble for others was my greatest contribution. Hayou and Lydia borrowed shields, and Angie and I prepared arrows and some healing potions. After a rest, we hurriedly set off towards the Bretsin Mountains.

According to Hircine's information, Skuna escaped into the bloated man's cave, which is the small valley that Helgi and I passed by when we fled. It was there that I found Pola's sworn sword. This information is the same as the plot in the game, so the hunting operation should have begun. If we hurry over and cooperate with other hunters, we may have a better chance of winning. On the way, I introduced Skuna's basic situation to everyone. In fact, there is nothing to say. After all, no one has really fought with this guy. After he transformed, he directly forced a group of people including Rigel back with a wolf howl. Admittedly, I know he is very strong, but I don't know the details of his fighting style.

"What's the difference between you saying this and not saying it?"

Eric was quite dissatisfied with my intelligence capabilities, and even Lydia, who always defended me, did not refute him this time.

We tried to shorten our rest time as much as possible. With a red moon overhead, no one could sleep soundly. We simply walked a little further and finished the matter as soon as possible. It was already dusk when we arrived at the bloated man's cave. We rested for an hour in the woods near the entrance to recover our energy and make final preparations for the upcoming bloody battle.

"Sir, please be careful after you go in and don't put yourself in danger again."

While distributing healing medicines, Lai Mei whispered to me. These medicines are effective in stopping bleeding and are also very effective for external injuries, but the quantity is very limited. We searched the entire warehouse and only got ten bottles.

"I know. You and Hayou should also be careful. If you can't win, just run away. Don't fight to the death."

According to the tactics we agreed on, Hayou and Lydia were to enter the battlefield as the front row of meat shields. That tiger man was very slippery, so I wasn't too worried. Instead, I was afraid that Lydia would fight to the death because of the so-called chivalry. Lydia nodded in agreement, and everyone closed their eyes and rested silently. I familiarized myself with the two commonly used magics, summoning fire element and ice thorns, several times, and spent the rest of the time meditating.

Following Eric's call, Lai Mei and Ha You held their shields to their chests and entered the cave first. Eric followed them closely, and Angie and I were the last. Today's red moon was particularly dazzling, and even the larger moon - Massar - was stained with a layer of red. The valley was unusually quiet. There were more than a dozen tents on the small earth slope where Helgi and I had rested. Four people were lying in a pool of blood that had not yet dried. It was obvious that a great battle had just happened here.

"Jakir! Why is it you? What happened to Matassa?"

There were two tiger men among the four people, and they were obviously old acquaintances of Hayou. The one called Jakir was wearing a well-made leather armor, but the leather armor had been scratched with several terrible large holes, and blood was oozing out from it. Hayou took out his two bottles of potion and poured them into Jakir's mouth without hesitation. The tiger man coughed up blood again and barely opened his eyes.

"Master Hayou? Matasa... he is dead... hurry... hurry... save the master... and the young lady... the prey... is too strong..."

"Lahlan and Aigis came to Skyrim? How did you…?"

"Ouch——"

Hayou wanted to ask something, but was interrupted by a loud and long wolf howl. Jakir became anxious and pointed to the depths of the canyon, urging him to save people first. Hayou said no more, picked up his weapon and shield and walked in front. I took out a bottle of potion and left it to Jakir, then turned around and followed the others.

"Ouch——"

Another wolf howl sounded in the valley, this sound came from farther away, as if responding to the previous howl. Everyone looked heavy-hearted. It was already difficult to deal with a werewolf, so what about helpers? Hayou kept walking, reminding everyone to be careful.

"Matasa and Jakir are the guards of my uncle's family. Both of them are better at fighting than me. Our opponents are not simple."

Matasa also died with an orc warrior and a wizard, so this Skuna killed three people and seriously injured another one when he was one against four. So it seems that there are only five of us, and the advantage is not great. Hayou's combat power has been tested by Lydia. Although it is weaker than Eric and Leimei, it is not much different. Angie is a very good hunter. Her combat power has been proven in the battle with Weigehar. As for me, although my individual combat power is average, my fire element is still quite capable. It's just that in a melee, the performance of long-range firepower will definitely be discounted.

As we went deeper, we could already hear the sound of weapons clashing in the valley. The Talos statue we saw earlier had been violently destroyed, leaving only rubble. Even the cenotaph I had erected for Bolla had been flattened and could no longer be found. Passing through the ruins of the statue, the sound of fighting became clearer. Two trees as thick as bowls were broken and lay across the road. The ground and tree trunks were covered with blood that had not yet dried. It looked like someone had cut an artery and splashed it there.

"At this!"

Lydia followed the blood trail and searched the bushes on the roadside. She grabbed a cat's tail and dragged out the body of a female tiger man. The female cat was lying face down, holding a short bow in her left hand, and the bow arm was broken. Judging from the twisted state of her upper body, she must have suffered multiple fractures and died miserably.

“Aigis!”

Hayou rushed forward, knocked away Laidia's hand that was pulling her tail, and gently restored her cousin's body to a normal position. His hands were shaking all the time. Laidia wanted to help, but was pushed aside. The cat's body made a crackling sound, which made people's scalps numb. Hayou turned her over and stared at the face of the corpse in a daze.

“This isn’t Aigis…”

Lydia snorted heavily.

"You seem quite disappointed? But it doesn't matter, we can just stay here and the werewolf will definitely not leave anyone alive."

As if to confirm Lai Mei's words, a scream was heard in the valley at the right time. Ha You was frightened and turned around to grab the sword and shield that he had just thrown on the ground and rushed towards the place where the sound came from.

This canyon is very long, with a stream at the bottom. There are traces of fighting and blood everywhere along the way, as well as several corpses. In addition to the two archers, we also found a warrior wearing heavy armor. The armor on this person seems to be of good quality, at least not worse than the ones worn by Eric and his men, but a large piece of the chest has collapsed. This unlucky guy must have had his internal organs damaged by this shock and lost his life. His two-handed sword was thrown beside him.

Since it wasn't a werewolf corpse, we didn't look closely and continued to move forward with Hayou. I felt that we were close to our goal. Now we could hear not only the hunters' shouts and the werewolves' howls, but also the sound of weapons breaking through the air. We turned the last corner and saw a horrifying scene.

The crimson moonlight was like oil paint, painting the entire valley bloody. A sturdy werewolf was riding on a warrior, his strong arms flying back and forth, slapping the warrior's face left and right, with each blow bringing up blood and flesh. After more than a dozen palm strikes, the warrior's head had turned into a blood ball, and his facial features were flattened. The werewolf laughed grimly, opened his huge mouth, and two rows of sharp teeth were covered with sticky blood and flesh.

Click.

boned...

The head rolled to the side, and blood gushed out. The werewolf was sprayed with blood. He clamped the headless body, drank the blood like malt wine, and threw it aside. The guy stood up, licked the blood stains on his mouth and nose with his scarlet tongue, and looked at the remaining four hunters. Three of the four were injured and had lost their ability to resist. They lay helplessly on the ground and were slaughtered. The only one standing was a female cat. She was holding a short bow in her hand, but she couldn't stop shaking and had no strength to fight.

The hunter became the hunted.

Schooner was in no hurry to finish off the female cat. The flesh of the prey was delicious, but what was even more tempting was the fear and despair of the dying. Every time the werewolf killed a hunter, the female cat became more terrified. When she was completely devoured by fear and frightened to death, that was when her meat was most delicious. No need to rush, she could still stand, although her two thin legs were shaking. Schooner rolled his eyes. He knew how to break the little cat's defense.

There was a male cat lying over there. If he hadn't blocked it, he would have ripped open the female cat's stomach. The relationship between the two little guys must be special. The werewolf took a big step and walked towards the dying male cat.

"No!"

"Ahhh!"

The catwoman's scream was drowned out by Hayou's roar. Skuna turned around and looked at the tiger man rushing towards him. He calmly twisted his neck, making a series of crackling sounds.

"Ouch——"

Oh no! I was so eager to rush forward that I forgot about the werewolf's howl. Last time, even Rigel was embarrassed by this move. He barely withstood it but was completely unable to fight again. Hayou suddenly remembered what I said before and quickly stopped and waited for the battle.

but……

The familiar feeling of fear that seemed to surge like a dark tide did not appear.

How is this possible? When we faced Sinding's howl, only Schooner was calm. Now that it's Schooner's turn to roar, shouldn't it be more effective? I peed my pants last time, but this time I didn't even feel dizzy. Could it be that I meditate day and night, my strength has greatly increased, and now I'm not afraid of such trivial tricks?

That's not right. The little cat girl opposite can only lean on the tree now, unable to stand steadily, but she doesn't run around or jump around, right? That can only mean that this Skuna is at the end of his strength, right?

"Ouch-ouch-"

Wolf howls rang out from all directions, responding to the werewolf's call, and dots of green light flickered in the woods...