deadly nightshade

11

{Irri's POV}

Nightshade had to be dumb, arguing with a fool. You have to be a bit stupid to argue with a fool I suppose. I stood by Astrid, and we watched as the cat left the Sanctuary. She must've been really heated.

"Irri, follow her and make sure she doesn't get into any trouble." Astrid said, walking back to her room. Why she couldn't just do it herself, I don't know. She acts like she's the best thing since Sithis himself, but in reality she's like a shitty knockoff you'd buy in the sewers under Riften.

Even still, I just nodded and followed after the cat. She was going pretty quick, a lot quicker than I had ever seen before. She didn't even go after targets this fast. I almost lost her a few times, but managed to keep up just barely.

She ran pretty far from the Sanctuary before stopping, panting a bit. I stood behind a nearby tree, watching her closely. Her body seemed to contort a bit, and she crouched down in a transformation I had only seen a handful of times, but was still familiar enough that I knew what was happening.

A loud howl pierced the air, and she began to attack anything around her. Anything that moved, animals, monsters, heck, I even saw an unlucky traveller get ripped to shreds. At this point, I decided it'd be a good idea to retreat. Even though I would be able to defeat her easily, killing another member of the Brotherhood would make Astrid real mad.

As I turned to leave, the aggressive growling and barking got closer to me. I turned and before I could react, a massive claw collided with my body and I was thrown against a nearby tree. It hurt a bit, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I saw the beast coming towards me for another attack, but I was quick.

I moved fast and prepared a simple Unrelenting Force shout. With no trouble, I shouted the wolf backwards. She crashed into a tree, and one of the branches pierced through her arm. I cringed, knowing that once she returned to her mortal form that would definitely leave a mark. In werewolf form, it took her no trouble at all to regain herself.

She let out a mad howl, and ice wolves began to run to her aid, and formed a protective circle around her. She ran at me again, but I was still recovering from the last shout, so I pulled out my Dawnbreaker and slashed away at her weak companions. She had managed to get a few more scratched on me, but it was hardly anything I couldn't handle.

Now it was just us again, and I was ready to shout. Another run at me, and I shouted again, this time she fell back off of a nearby cliff. I guess I hadn't noticed, and I ran to the edge. She tumbled down, and landed at the bottom with a distant thump. The bulky creature didn't move an inch, and the snow surrounding her turned bright red.

My heart raced at an unhealthy pace. I didn't mean to kill her, but she was uncontrollable. Once again I'd have to explain to Astrid that another member died because of me. It had to be Nightshade of all people. God, what the hell is wrong with me..

~~~~

Entering the Sanctuary, I made my way to Astrid's room. She was looking over her map, marking down locations of targets.

"You're back. Where's the cat?" she asked. I took a short breath, gathering my confidence and meeting her eyes.

"She's dead. I did it." I responded flatly, Astrid raised an eyebrow at me.

"Another one? Seriously?" she asked, her voice colder than ice. I shuddered, frowning.

"Not on purpose." I responded, attempting to match her emotionless voice. "She's a werewolf, like your husband. She transformed and attacked me first."

Astrid was taken slightly aback by this information. "How did she manage to hide that from us for so long?" she asked, more to herself than to me. It seemed my explanation had eased her, as it wasn't entirely my fault.

"It's a shame, but I suppose this isn't your fault." She concluded. "We will tell the others she fell, we mustn't allude to the fact that you had anything to do with this." I agreed, as if the others knew I was responsible for another members death, who knows how they'd treat me. It took me years to regain the respect of my peers after the last time..