#mercius

pls share what their relationship is like w him

ok look mercius joins the companions only ?? a couple years after he comes home from the war. they’re both still kids (i dont know if they are suppopsed to be twins or just brothers so?? idk how old Exactly) and he joins but stays on the fringes for a while. he knew circle members years before the ones featured n the game storyline. eorlund gray-mane’s mane wasn’t even gray when mercius joined the companions that’s how long ago it was

“There’s nowhere to run!” she snaps back, looking at the hordes of creatures surrounding them. “We’re trapped!”

“Just promise!” he says, and coughs heavily. He’s staggered, leaning against the wall, barely keeping those things at arm’s length with his sword. 

“If I get a chance,” she says, “nothing in the world -” She blocks a blow from one’s knife-sword, knocking it back a little - “would keep me here!”

“Thank you,” he says, and then cries out as an arrow pierces him. “Augh - Aesa, I’m sorry - you have - to see...”

And then he makes a terrible, guttural sound somewhere in his throat or in his chest, and she hears his sword clatter to the ground, and turns her head in time to see him lurch forward.

Something is happening to him; something is happening to his face - his eyes shifting, his teeth bared, his jaw distorting horribly - and she thinks he’s grown bigger somehow.

He launches himself at the nearest of the beasts, and in that second she knows.

By the time his hands reach its chest, his nails have turned to claws, and he tears the thing open with a snarl before turning on the next. In the empty space, another one is taking aim, and Aesa lunges at it to shove her sword through its belly. As it falls she kicks its writhing figure away and sprints for the tunnel.

“What?” she demands, folding her arms. “Why? It’s already late, I want to sleep.”

“As do I,” he snaps, sharp enough that she jumps. “But it’s better if we move on.”

“What --” she begins, but his hand on her shoulder stops her.

“That woman,” he says in a very low voice, “is on her way here. With her friends. Saw them on the road while I was hunting. Don’t know if they saw me. Don’t expect they’d realize it was me, which might give us some advantage if she thinks you’re here, but we’d better hurry.”

She swallows and clenches her teeth, nodding. “Lead the way,” she says as she climbs to her feet.

He puts his arm around her shoulders to lead her outside and pulls her around the back of the inn. “This way,” he says, “into the woods. We’ll double around to throw off anyone who saw us, make our trail harder to trace. Careful, though, mind your feet, we’d best not leave clear tracks.”

She falls into step behind him, careful of the damp underbrush, one hand on his arm to keep close. Neither of them speaks for a while as he forges a path into the trees, winding around before turning back.

“Sorry to take your rest from you,” he murmurs after some time.