The Fox and the Calamity

4E 201 | Mid Hearthfire | Day 10 in Skyrim

Wind tore through the outpost.

The masked pair continued bickering as if Tsukihana were not standing among the bodies with a weapon drawn.

"You killed all of them," the woman said.

"They were noisy."

"You always remove the interesting parts."

"You let yourself be locked in a cage."

"Research requires commitment."

At last the fox mask turned fully toward Tsukihana. "Well. I suppose we should begin."

The weighted iron ball struck Tsukihana before she saw the chain.

She flew through a stack of crates, recovered in a roll, and rose with her sword ready. The woman was gone.

A scrape sounded above.

No—below.

Right.

Left.

Behind.

Tsukihana turned and caught the sickle on her blade. Sparks burst between them.

"Correct," the woman said.

The chain wrapped Tsukihana's waist. A twist sent her through a wooden fence hard enough to break two posts.

Cold spread across the ground.

The woman landed before her, sickle in one hand, chain moving around her like a living serpent.

"Mei Kaminaru," she said with a slight bow. "The Calamity of Frost. Surrender to the freezing void."

Tsukihana attacked instead.

Mei's style had no stable rhythm. The sickle threatened close range; the weighted ball punished distance; the chain altered direction mid-flight. Frost gathered wherever it touched. Tsukihana blocked until her arms numbed and evaded until her lungs burned.

The wooden-masked man watched from the log, elbows resting on his knees.

Mei struck Tsukihana's thigh, opened her shoulder, and wrapped the chain around her wrist. Tsukihana escaped by stepping toward the sickle rather than away. The chain slackened for one breath.

Enough.

Her katana cut across Mei's side.

Blood marked the frost.

The Calamity looked down, then laughed with genuine delight. Cold sealed the wound in a shell of ice.

"Now I am interested."

The temperature fell again.