ENEMIES WITHIN, EPILOGUE
 | ||
| - P-please, Helseth... . I-I won't do it! - I am not asking, I am ordering you as your Alpha to KILL ME when the time is right! |
I don't know what time it is, but judging by the cold, black night sky outside, it's past midnight. Arvamea is fast asleep, and doesn’t seem to mind that I’m sitting near her with a lit candle over the desk. But I know this: what happened to me a few moments ago will decide the fate of the Bloodmoon Tribe. So let's get back to the beginning.
I couldn't sleep this night. Even with Arvamea's... techniques that usually put me fast asleep, there was something odd in the air. I started walking around the Lodge quietly, trying to discover the source of my distraction. Most of the house was empty – I know Methoven was sleeping in the guest room and Garjon's snoring in the room downstairs meant I could walk easily without awakening anyone. After few minutes the strange feeling started to intensify, so I started to get nervous. Finally, I decided to open the hidden safe with two of the Tribe's most important artefacts: the Totem of the Blood Wolf and the Stalhrim Skull. Just as I picked up the Skull I felt a bitter and familiar cold. In a snap I was on an icy plateau far away from the Wolf Lounge. Somehow this place reminded me of the doomed expedition to Solsheim I was participating in about a decade ago. But then a shadowy figure the size of a mountain with burning red eyes and massive antlers sticking out its head emerged and I knew who summoned me to this dreaded place.
"You disappoint me, child" he snarled in his commanding voice "You and your so called Bloodmoon Tribe." he showed me the image of my brothers and sisters (which I won't mention here in case someone will discover this note too early) where they were plotting, complaining and not getting along with the Tribe. And last of them is shown, where he pledges his allegiance not to Hircine, but to a group of hunters known as the Sacred Grove and vows to destroy the Tribe. These images shocked me and explained to me some of the recent failures in search of the Firstborn totems. "See, mortal? Your pack does not deserve my blessing. It has deemed unworthy of my grace and it will fall sooner than you will expect"
"My liege..." I cried to him "It won't fail! Where you have seen conspiracy and downfall, I see loyalty and trust. The Tribe is worthy, but you must giv-“
"SILENCE!" he shouted and the ground trembled "HOW DARE YOU ARGUE WITH ME, MONGREL?! If you believe in your Tribe, this... this fellowship of doomed individuals, then you are a bigger fool than they are. You are the only thing that keeps them in check. Without you, they will dissolve faster than you managed to bring them together."
"Then remove me from this world and if they manage to uphold the oaths to the Tribe, grant them your blessing"
The shadowy figure of Hircine stood in silence, considering the words of mine. He finally spoke "Alright mortal, I will give your "tribe" a chance. In order to gain my blessing, your pack-siblings must root out the traitors in their ranks and destroy the leader of this... Sacred Grove. If they succeed I will see to it that they will be granted my blessing, but they must achieve this without you. Sacrifice yourself and I will see that you will be rewarded for that."
I stood there for a second, hearing the words of the Huntsman. "They will not fail you my lord" I slowly replied "Neither will I."
And with the blink of an eye I was back in the Wolf Lounge. When I'm done writing this I must form a plan for the Tribe's survival. I have one, but things will get... ugly… if it comes in motion.
*This part appears to be added later*
I have told Arvamea my plan. She begged me not to do it, blind to the explanation I told her. It... it was the first time I saw her crying. Of all the people, I was the only one whom she could not kill. But in order to ensure Tribe's survival she had to play her part. If we wanted to infiltrate the Grove and reveal all the traitors inside our...family, she had to prove her loyalty to them and what better thing to offer them was my death? It took me some time to convince her, but in the end, she did not refuse my command to assassinate me when the time comes. And it's drawing near – as soon as I dispatch the last of the most loyal to me – Garjon, Ayleen, Methoven and Roumi – to the Rift chasing these "Stednarr's Shadows" I will set the chains of events to secure the future of Bloodmoon Tribe. I have no regrets, I lived most life although I was praying to the wrong gods and the only thing I will miss is the Tribe's hour of glory. Goodbye brothers and sisters, please forgive Arvamea for what she will do to make sure you are secured. I will see you in the Hunting Grounds after the Great Hunt. May your kills be quick and many!
Helseth
* This part is added on the side of the page, clearly long after the original text was written *
I live... my mission is not done. I was sent to the Hunting Grounds and had to wait until the Tribe succeeded or failed. In the end my reward was to be brought back to Nirn and lead my brothers and sisters...
