U.O.T.W. Chapter 42 The Cause

• Posted by Sotek June 22, 2015 - Filed in TSC: CB Story - #Sotek  #U.O.T.W.  - 924 views

  

  A few hours later as Aela made her way to the Inn, a mage from the college came running up to her. Her eyes narrowed as she felt her temper rise in annoyance at the mages constant ramblings.

  “Oh thank... Thank the nines I... Found you. The students..... They complained that Sotek was... was doing the trial by himself”.

   

  A second later her dagger flashed in front of the mages face paralysing him with fear.

  “Shut the hell up. One word, I dare you..... Now you caught your breath, start again... Slowly”.

   

  The mages eyes fixed on her dagger as it made its way back to Aela’s belt. A tapping of Aela’s foot disrupted the mages stare bringing him back to the start of the conversation.

  “The two students, J’Zargo and Nirya... The other students heard them talk about a frost troll cave. We’ve just found out that frost trolls were attacking travellers. We now believe the two students have gone to the cave. That’s why the trolls are active. Don’t you see? They have been disturbed. You got to find them”.

   

  Aela rolled her eyes as she glanced at the edge of town from which she had only just re entered.

  “Oh great! So that’s why we’ve killed four fur balls along the road. How many are left?” 

   

  “We don’t know for sure but they have a good food source nearby; horker’s from the sea.”

   

  Aela huffed as she abruptly turned her back on the mage and headed towards the Inn.

  “let me get Sotek and we’ll search straight away. Meet us at the edge of town”.

   

  “What! Just the two of you? Surely we need more men?” He was scared, which is understandable as trolls are fast, strong and they regenerated health.

   

  Aela stopped dead in her tracks and growled at him.

  “We? We? There is no we, just me and Sotek. You show us the cave then wait outside”. She then made her way to the inn.

   

  As soon as she entered the Inn, Haran moved briskly towards her.

  “Oh thanks the nines your back. It’s Sotek, he’s had a bad dream. Ermm  oh hell, the rooms turned upside-down. He lost control, he’s ok but very shaken”.

   

  Aela’s mouth fell open as she repeated what she had just heard.

  “Bad dream? Oh no, not that again! I thought that had finished”. She then went running upstairs. She threw open the door to the room to be greeted by what seemed to be the remnants of a battlefield. A chair lay in pieces from when the broken able smashed into it thereby throwing debris across the room. The old wardrobe although it was still standing was now leaning to the corner of the room. Aela swore that if she moved it, then it would collapse on the spot. Even the bed was broken. Four supports were hanging down from snapping in half. Before she could say anything, Sotek launched himself off the bed and held her tightly while tears formed in his eyes.

   

  “You had that dream again?” She had seen the state he got himself into over the nightmare whereby she died, they all have. But something told her this was different. This was something else far darker. She could sense it, even smell it hanging in the very air. She rested her palm against Sotek’s forehead to confirm what she already knew as she could easily smell the sweat on his scales let alone see the droplets form in front of her very own eyes.

   

  “We have to go, we have to go back. I need to speak with Harbinger, Kodlak. We need to go now”. His voice was shaken, fearful even. If she didn’t know him better she would say he was afraid.

   

  “But we can’t. The students, they stirred up the frost trolls. We’ve been asked to find them. That stupid bloody feline J’Zargo and his cretin Nirya”.

   

  Sotek looked at her for a second, took a deep breath to help settle his nerves, then grabbed his armour and started putting it on. In a few minutes he was ready, but still clearly affected by the nightmare.

   

  Aela had her doubts about his mental state.

  “Are you up for this? I can go alone. It’s a milk run. What’s a few trolls?”

   

  Sotek instantly shook his head and barely controlled his anger as he half yelled at her.

  “You’re never going to be alone. That isn’t going to happen”.

   

  “What isn’t?” She froze in surprise at his sudden outburst. But he just turned his back to her and tightened up the armor straps. Aela’s foot started tapping as she drummed her fingers against her arm while she waited for an answer.

   

  “Please not now, when I’m ready ok?” He literally begged her to drop the subject. “Let’s get the students, ok?”

   

  “Ok”. She then smiled at him, and gave him a light hug. He hugged her back, but tighter than usual. She knew whatever the nightmare was it shook him to his very core.

   

  Outside the Mage was wrapped up in his cloak shivering flapping his arms against his sides as he tried to keep warm. He escorted them along the road for nearly three miles before leading them along an old trail up the mountainside. Five minutes later there they were, outside a cave surrounded by bones. Footprints of  various beasts betrayed them as they entered and and exited the cave as they foraged for food. There amongst them were two sets of footprints belonging to the students.

   

  Aela cursed quietly to herself. She was concerned not only for herself but now she had Sotek to worry about. The last thing she needed was two stupid students acting like they were master mages.

   

  “Right you stay here, we will get them out. If there is anything left to get out. You ready?” As Aela spoke she pulled out a torch from her backpack and lit it using two small pieces of flint from a small pouch tied to her belt.  The torch started smouldering until she gently blew on it like a lover would against their partners cheek. The smouldering started glowing then the torch erupted in flames sending shadows scuttling away in all directions. Sotek just nodded, then him and Aela entered into the darkness.

   

  Once inside Aela started tracking the students while Sotek followed silently behind. The icy tunnel led them  to a cavern. The walls were thick with ice, frozen over by years of icy deposits. In the centre coming towards them two frost trolls charged forwards while their cries hollered out from the darkness. Instantly a fireball shot past Aela and hammered into the closest trolls chest and exploded on impact. Aela’s eyes squinted from the sudden glare as  another fireball shot along the passageway and blasted into the beast before it could recover from the first agonising scorching heat from Sotek’s spell. It cried out in pain as it toppled sideways and fell to the ground dead while it’s fur burned filling the tunnel with a black foul smelling smoke.

   

  Aela’s eyes quickly regained their focus and she started firing her bow at the second humanoid animal who paused momentarily from the flames which smothered the corpse by its feet.  Two arrows tore into its chest causing it to stagger backwards. As Aela notched another arrow,  a fireball once again flew past her forcing her head to turn away from the heat to protect her eyes. The fireball blasted the troll backwards a few feet off the ground. It landed heavily and slumped in a heap against the icy wall, dead.

   

  Aela turned and jestingly snapped at Sotek as she faced him.

  “That’s not fair!!! That was my kill”. To follow through with her playful antics to try to lighten his mood,  she gave him a light punch on the arm fully expecting him to pretend it hurt. To her surprise he didn’t, instead he just gave a slight smile. As his pointed razor sharp teeth showed through the narrow slit between his lips, Aela shuddered. She silently wished she could read him, but despite how close they were, she couldn’t tell a god damn thing.

   

  He immediately realised she was worried, so he snapped himself out of it. Instead of allowing the fear from his nightmare to join them, he took a deep breath and buried his dark feelings.

  “Sorry, but you were taking so long over it. I thought you needed a hand”. Then he started laughing. It was obviously a false laugh, as every chuckle was forced out. Aela knew it was a phony laugh, just as much as Sotek did. Despite that fact, she joined in regardless. Her laughing was completely bogus as well, at least initially. Giving no consideration of their circumstances, in a few seconds they were laughing for real.

   

  The tracks from the students were rubbed out by the trolls which Aela had already cleared from the road. That’s when Sotek remembered his Aura shout.

  “Las”. The shout came out as a whisper softly echoing along the tunnel.  

   

  Aela remembered it from when Sotek trained himself that night he found them watching.

  “Just what does that shout do? It’s so bloody quiet. We heard that before, at the Skyforge”.

   

  Sotek chuckled as he remembered Aela yelling at him because he caught her and her two ‘Brothers’ spying on him.

  “It allows me to see auras of the living and the undead. That time I could see you three watching me from up on the forge. Now however I can see the frost trolls, they’re down that passageway, along those two tunnels… Up here, we must hurry!!! It’s the students, a troll's found them”. He started to run along the tunnel which he pointed out rapidly followed by Aela and her bow which was already being drawn.

   

  The two students franticly threw fireballs wildly at the approaching beast, but their spells were nothing nearly as potent as Soteks own destruction spells. Breaking into a sprint, Sotek ran towards the creature shouting at the same time.

  “Fus Ro".

   

  The troll was thrown off its feet and crashed into an ice wall as the Elf Nirya fell to the ground. Blood poured from her side where her shield had failed her. While the animal was momentarily stunned, both Aela and Sotek turned towards it and attacked before it could recover. Sotek fired a double cast fireball straight into the troll as arrows slammed into its chest. While Aela took over the assault, Sotek turned his attention to Nirya. A golden light smothered the Elf as Sotek began casting his healing spell on her.

   

  Ever since his first trial where he hurt Aela and to his own personal hell of shame and regret because he failed to heal her, he made restoration a priority above all other magic schools. Now that practice paid off.  Near instantly the flesh started to heal causing  the bleeding to lessen. Quickly over a few seconds the wound closed. The Elf was shaken but alive. Sotek knelt alongside her as he gave her some encouragement.

  “Stay here and rest for a moment. We’ll get you out”.

   

  Aela was less empathetic to their plight, a lot less. Truth be told she was nearly as hostile as the troll was.

  “What the hell were you both thinking, coming here you bloody idiots!” Aela snapped at them both regardless to the Elf’s mental state.  The way she saw it, they weren’t her problem, not her trainees and for that they were lucky. The Khajiit backed away walking backwards into the ice wall then just stood there equally half terrified from their ordeal half terrified of her.

   

  Sotek couldn’t help but chuckle as he listened to her rant.

  “Aela, they have been through enough. Let’s get them out, you can skin the Khajiit tomorrow”.

   

  Aela drew out her dagger she used for that exact purpose, skinning, then walked up to the Khajiit. She pointed to the tunnel leading the way out with the knife held tightly in her hand.

  “Move”. The Khajjit ran blindly forwards closely followed by the Elf.

   

  Sotek laughed at her as he skinned the troll.

  “You have anger issues, you know that?”

   

  Aela scoffed at him as she poked him in the chest.

  “I have anger issues, I’ve seen the room at the Inn remember”. She laughed as she replied to his taunt. They made their way outside keeping somewhat behind the Khajiit who kept looking over his shoulder nervously. Once they exited the cave, the students were angrily led away by the mage but not before he thanked Both Sotek and Aela for their prompt rescue.

   

  As Sotek turned to leave, Aela looked back at the cave and froze.

  “How many are left?”

   

  “Only three” Sotek replied, then he stopped noticing Aela wasn’t following. She was just standing there with a ghostly stare fixed on the cave. “You want to finish them off?”

   

  “Ermm yea, but I…”. She then looked around the entrance to the cave, up at the sky, even the trees nearby while she summed up the courage to ask something of him. “Would you mind if I went in alone? It’s been ages since I… Went solo”.

   

  Sotek was instantly divided into two minds, One side didn’t want her to be alone, his nightmare saw to that. The other was he could see she needed it. She needed to hunt by herself, her way, her rules. He then remembered what Kodlak said. ‘She isn’t one to be caged’.

  “Ok you go get them but I’m staying here. How long do you want?”

   

  “You can’t stay here, its freezing. I’ll be fine, I’ll meet you back at the Inn. It will only take an hour”. She leant over and kissed him which was rapidly followed by a quick hug then she headed back towards the entrance.  A second later she paused as if a thought entered her head. “Promise you won’t follow, I don’t want to accidentally shoot you. Promise me”.

   

  Sotek nodded as he noticed her apparently concerned expression.

  “I promise, I won’t follow”. He then watched her go inside. Once she disappeared from view he gathered up some wood from the trees nearby then made a fire. As the wood burst into flames from his spell, he settled near the mountainside using a slight overhang for cover while he wrapped himself up in a few of the troll skins from the ones they killed earlier. There he sat and patiently watched and waited for Aela to come back out.