The sound of raised voices woke her from her sleep. Despite all she had endured at his hands, her hearing was still as sharp as ever. There was an argument ensuing somewhere in the dank dungeon and she was able to catch bits of it through the moaning and cries of pain of the other prisoners there. Some of the words she heard were 'Ambassador' and 'Important work here' but Ancano's voice semed to be the one who was angry. She would recognise that voice anywhere.
Eventually she heard the sound of a door slamming somewhere and the sound of feet coming in haste down the corridor. She pretended to be asleep until she heard the sound of the cell door being opened and rough hands grabbing her.
'Set her up over there. Then leave us!'' said Ancano, still sounding angry. She had found it pointless to struggle in her bonds and kept herself as docile as possible, to reserve her energy for when the pain would come.
Her collar ring was hooked onto the wall and she was forced to stand upright. Then the sounds of footsteps retreating, apart from one pair. She heard them walking round her as if he was examining her.
'Yes you're healing nicely! Good good. But this time, it's time for something different!'
In her time here (she didn't know how long it had been as it was difficult to tell day from night when wearing a blindfold constantly) she'd been cut all over her body and had her head shaved every few days, so she had come to expect this treatment. But his tone made her stomach churn. What was she going to have to endure now?
He felt her touching her face and her ears and she flinched then he said 'Hmm..what lovely ears you have. I wonder if...perhaps...'
Despite her stoicism she gave out a little whimper through the gag. Ancano caught it and gave a little laugh 'Oh you don't have to agree with me. I think I know what to do next!'
She heard him moving up closer to her and she flinched back as much as she could. But no pain came this time. Instead he reached round and unlocked the blindfold and removed it. For the first time in so long she was able to see her surroundings.
Not that there was much to see as it was a dark place lit by torches in the corridors. There was a cot in the next cell, possibly the one she slept in. A table with knives and other pointed implements. A lit brazier close by the door. But she took the opportunity to glance down at her body and was shocked at the myriad of scars that she could see through the tattered rags she wore. She had lost a bit of weight too. She gave out a whimper and started crying.
'Now now, no need for that. You are special and I will treat you as such. I'll keep you alive for as long as you're useful to me, so just think of yourself as a special case.'
She decided to try and stop crying in case he got angry. She sniffed away the tears and got herself ready for whatever came next.
The brazier burning in the cell gave off a bit of heat so she wasn't as cold as she usually was. But the thing that worried her the most was the fact that Ancano seemed to have a look of desperation in his eyes and had grabbed an iron brand from the brazier! He said to her 'Let's see how well you heal against burns!' She flinched back as far as she could but it wasn't enough and she felt the brand against the skin of her face and pain in her right eye. She had endured pain before from all the cutting but this was something much worse. Despite her determination not to cry out and endure it, she couldn't hold back and writhed in her bonds and screamed as loudly as she could into the gag as her right eye went blind and her face felt it was on fire...
Danifae sat up and clawed at her face. She felt a long scratch down her cheek and her false eye had fallen out. Her face still felt cold to the touch where the frost spell had hit her. She looked round and saw Ralof still slumped against the wall and a figure moving against the far wall where Gina was. As quietly as she could, she got up and raised her mace. 'Get away from her! Now!' she cried and ran at the figure. The figure got up and turned round, raising a big two-handed axe and her mace locked against the shaft. The figure easily pushed her backwards onto the floor and growled 'Easy lass! It's me, Galmar!'
'Galmar! What are you doing here?' she cried. 'I thought you were going back to Windhelm with the wounded?'
'We met a patrol who were heading back. I gave them over to them and headed back as fast as I could with some extra healing potions and bandages, just in case. I got back just in time to see you fall after hitting that draugr and I made extra sure it was dead'
Danifae remembered the battle and she asked 'What about Ralof! And Gina! Gina!' she cried and tried to get up and go over to her fallen comrades. But Galmar insisted she rest. 'Ralof is bashed up but he's alive. But Gina is dead, lass. I'm sorry'
'Oh no, not Gina! She got stabbed by that thing but held on to it with all her strength. I was able to knock the crown off its head thanks to her!' She held her head in her hands and started sobbing.
'Easy lass. She was always a brave one, not scared to go toe to toe in a melee. She'll be toasting your success in the mead halls of Sovngarde right now' he smiled and held up the crown. Close up it seemed to glow with an inner light.
Danifae looked up at it, wiping away the tears. 'Gina seemed to sense the deathlord got increased power from it and told me to knock it off its head while she held it. I did so and its power dissipated. Even so, it was all I could do to try and wound it as much as possible'
'Aye, and I saw the last bit of your battle. With that thing defeated I got the other scouts who were at the entrance to carefully search the rest of this place.'
He put the crown in his backpack and helped Danifae to her feet. She was feeling a bit better and looked at Gina's fallen form. The wound in her chest was large and bloody but she had a smile locked on her face. Galmar closed her eyes and Danifae kissed her hand and said a prayer to Kynareth and Arkay. Then she walked over to where Ralof was slumped against the wall. He was breathing steadily but his eyes opened as soon as Danifae touched his face.
'Hey, Danifae. it seems I'm banged up again' he smiled then groaned in pain.
'Take it easy. Where does it hurt?'
'Everywhere. Where's Gina?'
Danifae looked down and said 'I'm sorry Ralof, Gina died during the battle. But if it wasn't for her, that deathlord would have killed us all'
Ralof gave a cry of pain and grief. 'It's all my fault, all my damn fault! If I hadn't rushed in like that we could have surrounded that thing and killed it before it woke up!'
'Here, drink this. We'll worry about blame later' she said, putting a healing potion to his lips. He drank it slowly and he seemed to relax as the potion took hold. He noticed that Danifae's face was white and had been scratched and was missing her false eye. 'Looks like you had quite a battle!'
'Don't worry about me. I'll be fine in a few hours. You get yourself back to full strength' and gave him the rest of the potion.
It was then that there was the sound of voices from the other side of the cavern. Two of the scouts had returned. Galmar went over to them. 'Did you find anything else?'
The younger of the two, a wide shouldered youth with blond hair said 'The place seems clear of enemies but there's a strange wall in a cavern at the far end. It has writing on it that we can't read'
Danifae turned round and stood up when she heard this. 'A strange wall? Show me!'
The scout turned to Galmar 'Sir?'
Galmar looked at Danifae 'You know something about this?'
'I can learn shouts from them. I absorbed the soul from that Frost Dragon in the camp so I should be able to learn whatever shout's on the wall'
'Well come on then lad. Show us!' He said to the other scout 'Guard Ralof and Gina until we get back' then the three of them went to find the wall. Within a few minutes Danifae could hear a chanting noise in her head. She said 'Yes it's close' and they soon came to a wide cavern. The wall was across the room and had a large dragon head embossed on it and writing in the dragon tongue. One of the words was glowing.
'Stand back please. I don't know what the word is until I absorb it' she said and then she walked slowly across the room. The chanting got louder and when she was a few feet from the wall an aura emanated from the glowing word and surrounded her. She felt a shiver go down her spine, as she had felt before when the absorbed one of these words. Then the shout formed in her mind. She shouted 'YOL!' and a burst of flame erupted from her mouth. It lasted for a few seconds before dying away. She turned round and Galmar and the scout were gaping at her.
'What's wrong. Have you never seen someone breathe fire before?' she smiled.
Galmar gave a gruff cough and, with a big grin, slapped the scout on the back. The scout nearly fell over but they both started laughing. They walked back to the cavern where Ralof was. Galmar indicated that it was time to go back to Windhelm to report their success. Ralof felt a bit better by now and Danifae tried using some restoration magic on him, even though it drained her reserves. She also tried searching for her missing false eye and she found it had been crushed in the battle. With a sigh, she resigned herself to having a new one made. Maybe Alvor the blacksmith could make one to match it, or she could go back to Galathil and have her make some spares. But for now, she wrapped her socket in a bandage and the party prepared to set out. Galmar and the two scouts helped carry Gina's body and Danifae helped Ralof to walk out of the cavern. He was still feeling guilty about Gina's death and Danifae tried to console him as best she could.
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