Stray Wolf (Anna)

 Prompt: Stray wolf 

Strange events are not uncommon in the dense forests of Falkreath Hold. There must be something in the water that draws unusual occurrences to the heavily wooded region. From the werewolf attack within the town of Falkreath itself to necromancer down the hill by Lakeview Manor, and stranger things too.

One day while wandering along the road east passing from Whiterun Hold, though a portion of Falkreath, and into The Rift, Farkas and I come upon a peculiar sight. Aside from a few wolves just outside the village of Riverwood the walk had been uneventful, the sun shining and for once not too cold. Taking the road along the lake is generally the safer and quietest route to go, but further up ahead we notice movement. Getting closer while still keeping a safe distance we are able to get a better look, it seems to be a portal of some sort, a swirling circle of blue and purple light. A few moments later something stranger happens, someone comes tumbling through it. They look unfamiliar, not like anyone we’ve met from Ali’s party before, and as far as I know they’ve been occupied with their own problems, no time to mess around with adventuring to different dimensional planes, however exciting it might be. The stranger gets up from the ground, having quite literally fallen through the portal and asks something seemingly to who or what is on the other end from whence he came that neither Farkas nor I can quite make out. In response to whatever was said a book also comes flying out of the portal, hitting the stranger in the chest and falling to the ground before the portal closes, seemingly much to the annoyance of the now stranded person.

Farkas and I stay out of sight and study the person, trying to figure out where they could have come from before deciding if we should approach. It seems to be a man, not too old but not overly young appearing either, with a rather patchy beard and partly balding head. The clothing, or really armor, suggests he’s some sort of warrior wearing a black jacket clad with pauldrons, matching pants and brown boots. The most interesting, and telling, part of the equipment however are the two swords strapped to his back. “Didn’t Issy once see someone with swords like that come through a portal in Hammerfell?” I whisper to Farkas from our hiding spot. “I think she thought that was a hallucination.” He whispers back as we continue to observe the strange man. “I don’t think she was hallucinating, and I don’t think we are either.” I reply as the stranger having dusted himself off looks around and seems to have noticed us. If he has, the man must have incredible eyesight. Beating down the rising fear I lightly hit Farkas in the arm to get his attention “I think he saw us.” I point out as the armor clad figure begins to walk in our direction. Let’s hope he’s friendly…with no other real choice the two of us step out from where we’d hidden ourselves to observe as the man continues walking slowly toward us.

As he gets closer and closer I notice more odd features about the man, he wears a necklace with a wolf's head, and his eyes are a striking amber color, and I thought the circle with their silver eyes color had noticeably unusual eyes. After seemingly ages of anxious waiting the man finally stops in front of the two of us as we stand in the middle of the road. “Who’re you?” He asks rather crudely. “Could ask the same thing.” I respond, which doesn’t seem to amuse him. “Do you know where you are?” I follow up, trying to get as much information as possible without prodding too much. “Somewhere by a lake in a forest that definitely isn’t anywhere near Vizema.” That’s not much information but enough to confirm he is without a doubt not from Tamriel, I’ve never heard of anywhere called Vizema or seen it on any maps. “In that case, you’re in Skyrim, particularly the hold of Falkreath. My name is Anna Lenox and that’s Farkas.” At the introduction Farkas gives a quick silent wave. “We saw you fall through that portal with the book before it closed.” At that the man sighs, and answers finally that his name is Lambert, and he’s a sort of monster hunter which is why he wears the wolf medallion and has the swords on his back. A silver one for monsters and the undead, and a steel one for humans. Whatever world he comes from sounds gruesome, even for a heavily armed stray wolf.

After coaxing out more information from him we discover that Lambert really is a stray wolf, at least for now, as aside from a bit of rather rudimentary magic he knows no spells. As a result he can’t open the portal to get back home, at least by himself. “That’s why Ciri threw the book at me. Told me to figure things out on my own, then closed the portal.” It seems he somehow managed to anger his niece of sorts, and her magical capabilities put her in a unique position as teleportation, dimensional travel, and portals seem to be her real talent. Lucien might be able to learn a thing or two from her, it doesn’t seem all that far from what he is capable of in his spectral form. Lambert eventually allows me to look at the book which is full of spells, calculations, and bits of information about a variety of magical objects. “This shouldn’t be too hard.” Following the instructions of the book I’m eventually able to open a functioning, though much smaller, portal. Lambert had given me a particular set of calculated coordinates, which Ciri had previously given him, and having used those on the other side of the portal a large stone keep is visible. “That look familiar?” I ask, struggling but somehow managing to keep the portal open. “Unfortunately yes.” Lambert replies deadpan before taking the book from my hand, now allowing me to use both to cast the spell. As a result I’m able to make the portal a little bigger, making it easier for him to step through. “Nice meeting you!” I tell the monster hunter who gives a salute to say goodbye as he walks through the swirling portal, back into his own world. With him safely though I stop casting the spell, closing the portal abruptly and the landscape returns to its typical peacefulness. With that done I wander over to a nearby patch of grass by the water and unceremoniously collapse onto my back. “Magic is tiring.” I tell Farkas who had decided to sit down next to me. “We’re not that far from Riverwood if you’ve had enough for the day.” While I appreciate the concern, I despise the lady who helps run the inn, even if the inn and the village of Riverwood itself are both rather quaint. “Nah, just give me a few minutes and then I’ll be good to go.” I respond, tucking my arms behind my head and staring up at the sky. While we take a break the two of us try and see what shapes we can find in the clouds. Having rested enough I have the energy to continue on, and perhaps even a bit excess. We still have the afternoon to spare, the sun is shining, and there isn’t another stray wolf in sight. Besides, who knows when we’ll be by the water again. “Hey Farkas” I ask looking over at him where he sits content and picks at the grass. “Hmm?” I look at the water quickly and back at him. “Do you want to go swimming?”