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"I learned a new spell, it might come in handy down here." Teldryn said. Meren didn't respond, he was focused on the barrel next to them. As the Dunmer charged the spell, he could see five auras below them. "Detect life is a handy thing, wouldn't you say?" Meren dropped the lid of the barrel, and began moving out of Teldryn's line of sight. "Meren?"
"Yes?" Meren turned, and Teldryn's eyes were on him underneath the mask.
"Why don't you show up with the detect life spell?" Meren gulped, shifting his feet.
"Um." Teldryn drew his sword quickly, raising it towards the Altmer.
"Boss, what are you?"
"A skooma addict, but other than that--"
"Don't play stupid, what are you?" Teldryn shouted.
"A vampire." Meren squeaked, moving deeper into the cave, away from his hireling.
"I've been following a vampire."
"Yeah."
"So is that why we only travel at night?"
"Yeah."
"What's in those potions you have on you? The dark red vials?"
"Blood." Meren glanced back at the other man. "Look, Teldryn, I'm not--" He moved towards the Dunmer, who brandished his sword.
"Stay back!" Teldryn warned.
"If I could cure it I would, believe me."
"Yeah, sure."
"What do you call your bandits?" Meren was looking towards the darkness of the cave nervously.
"Reavers, they--don't change the subject, we're discussing you being a soulless creature of the night, not reavers!" Teldryn snapped. Meren slowly put his hands on his head and knelt down. "What are you--oh." There were ten reavers, all with their weapons out.
"That's why." Meren muttered.
--
The two were put in a cage, and Teldryn was trying to stay as far away from Meren as was physically possible.
"Do you want gold? We have gold." Meren said.
"I'm more interested in what a high elf is doing on Solstheim." Their leader, a broad man, knelt down in front of the bars.
"I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing here." Meren replied.
"Fascinating, outlander." The reaver stood up, and crossed to the other side of the cage. "Now, you I recognise. Don't you have a Nord to run to, little man?"
"None of your business, you bastard." Teldryn told him coldly.
"Grab the Dunmer." The man ordered, and Teldryn was hauled out of the cage at sword point. Meren lunged forward as the Dunmer was forced to his knees and the sword was angled towards his neck. With a loud screech, Meren tore into the neck of the man at the open cage door, leapt off him and began slashing wildly at the others. Teldryn watched as the Altmer chased the Reaver leader into a tunnel, and there was a loud explosion of fire. The cave grew silent.
"Shit." He muttered, and grabbed the sword, heading for the now-silent tunnel.
A trail of burnt bodies led the way to Meren Litdur, who was curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth.
"You're alive." Meren shrugged. "This is good."
"You going to stab me?"
"Why?"
"I'm a vampire."
"Well, you just saved my life, so that'd be a pretty shitty way of repaying you." Teldryn sat down next to Meren.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Being a vampire."
"I know. Look, I'm still scared of you, okay? But you're less likely to suggest taking on an entire fort of bandits after three days tracking them."
"When did that happen?"
"My last patron. Big Nord, face paint, furs, the whole getup. We followed a bandit on foot after we'd just spent a week delving through various barrows. I left him as he tried to take on an entire fort of them."
"That sounds like a Nord." Teldryn stood up, laughing, and pulled Meren to his feet.
"You said you were addicted to skooma?"
"Yes."
"How many of those vials are skooma?"
"About half."
"Great." Teldryn sighed.
"It lessens the bloodlust."
"Come on, boss. I want to get out of here." Teldryn snorted, leading the two out of the caves.