Madrar
The Shadow in the Dark.
A one shot and important piece of Salthar's background!
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The road outside of Falkreath
Salthar strode along the rode, his hood pulled up, to obscure his pale and vampiric features. The Altmer vampire had just left the city of Whiterun, and was returning to the dreary city of Falkreath, where he and his wife, Virani Aladare, had lived for the past eight years. They managed to hide their nature from the villagers, and had interacted with most of them, even the normally reserved Nords.
The one snag was a high ranking Nord officer, who found Salthar's wife, Virani ,sexually attractive. Of course, she'd turned him down, which had made him more than a little hostile to the couple. So had his thugs that he called men, who had given the pair the cold shoulder, and often resorted to open threats. The officers' name was Farkas Grimaxe. He was more of a bandit than a soldier, but Salthar attempted to avoid a confrontation.
Salthar heard drunken laughs and jeering from ahead, a bend in the road. He couldn't see the sun, but he knew it was still day time, and it was a little early for the soldiers to be drunk. A sense of urgency gripped him, and he lengthened his stride. When he turned the bend, he stopped dead, and nearly dropped to his knees. A group of soldiers stood around a prone figure, which, by her paleness, was clearly a vampire. And Salthar knew who. He wasted no time with questions, he simply struck.
The first Nord had his back to the Altmer vampire, and didn't see the ebony blade until it erupted from the center of his chest. Gargling blood, he dropped to his knees, the bottle of mead he'd had in his hand hitting the cobblestones of the road and shattering. After that, it was over quickly. The soldiers reactions were dulled by drink and surprise, and one by one, Salthar cut them down. Once the last man fell, his throat sliced nearly to the spine, Salthar dropped his blade, crashing to his knees beside the only love of his life.
She had been violated in the worst possible way. Blood obscured most of her nakedness, but Salthar had no false hope that she hadn't been raped. The soldiers had known how to ensure that she couldn't regenerate fast enough to save herself. The wounds on her chest and stomach would ensure that she would suffer before she finally died. However, she was still hanging on. "Salthar...I'm sorry you have to..see me like this" she hissed, her throat slashed so she could barely speak.
Salthar sobbed brokenly, disproving the theory that vampires could feel nothing. He knew that healing spells would do no good.Not at this point. "I'm sorry..I'm so sorry I didn't come back sooner" he gasped, his tears trickling down his cheeks like small rivers. Weakly, Virani stroked his arm "I would..rather...spend one lifetime...with you, rather than an eternity...without you" she gasped weakly. Then her eyes closed as she had a second death. One that she would not be returning from.
Salthar stayed at her side for a long while, until darkness fell. Then he rose to his feet, his eyes blazing with an unearthly hatred. He knew where Farkas was, and what he would be doing...one of the men he'd slain had a note. It read: Kori, take care of that elf whore, and come and see me at my house when it's done. My men are ready to take out the other elf when he comes to the gates. Make sure you place the womans' body where the damn elf will see her. ,
Farkas Grimaxe.
The guards at the gate were clearly expecting him. "Ready to die, you elven piece of-" Salthar's lightning bolt struck him in the middle of his chest. He was thrown back several metres, to slam into the village wall. He struck the wood and stone, and slid to the ground, his chest a charred mess. The other guard managed to draw his sword. That was it. The mans' head hit the ground a second before his body.
Salthar didn't waste any time. More soldiers rushed towards him, but they were prepared for a elf. Not a vampire. Three men fell in the space of a minute. Six others fell within two more minutes. Seconds later ,the guards outside Farkas' house were eviscerated corspes. A quick blast of lightning, and the door to the Nord officers' house was blown off of its' hinges.
Farkas stood across from him, axe in hand. "I hope you found your little woman" he sneered. His greasy beard was gnarled and twisted. His head was shaved, but open sores and cuts were visible. Salthar wasted no words, closing the distance between the two in the blink of an eye. The first flurry of Salthars' black sword was no more than a distraction. The second attack, was the killing blow. The blade slid up, into the mans' ribs, piercing a lung, and passing out through his back. " This is for Virani...the woman you had murdered" he whispered into the dying mans' ear.
Stepping back, he withdrew his blade, letting the man fall to the ground. Already, blood was trickling out of his mouth, and his breathing was laboured. As Salthar left the house, he realized there would always be Nords like Farkas and his goons. "I will kill them all" he determined, his lips parting in a cold, blood thirsty smile.
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A/N And know you know why Salthar can't stand Nords, for those of you that were wondering...
