Story of a Breton Farm Girl from Cyrodiil, Ch.02, part 15

• Posted by Eviltrain July 15, 2012 - 801 views

  Lydia peered over the edge and observed a shadow stroll out of the first tower some three stories below. The light from a nearby brazier gently caressed its edges until a robed and hooded figure stood in its glow. The figure reached out to light a taper and drew flames into a pipe produced from some hidden fold. Standing next to the man was a guardian, dressed in ancient Nordic armor and welding a great rusted sword. It's shrunken eyes did not waiver as it peered into the darkness above, seeking signs of life, seeking death for its masters.

  A sinkhole, deep within Wolfskull Cave had lead the housecarl, her charge and the Dunmer into an immense cavern. They had exited onto a small ledge and was amazed to find a series of subterranean towers, huddled together and surrounded by stairs and courtyards. In the distance, at the top of the tallest tower, a swirling mass of energy coalesced into an ephemeral figure of light. It bathed the upper reaches in stark shadows and under it stood necromancers, chanting fowl magics.

  "We summon Potema!"

  "Long have you slept the dreamless sleep of death, Potema. No longer. Hear us Wolf Queen! We Summon You!"

  "We summon Potema!"

  Lydia refocused on the hooded figure below. Whether the draugr had found its own undeath or had been given it by these fiends, the fact remained that ancient Nordsmen were being desecrated by unscrupulous mages. She carefully unholstered her bow when the Dunmer reached out to stay her hand. The warrior looked to her Thane's companion, and saw a ball of magics held in her fist. The dark elf leaned over the edge and deftly flung her spell at the hooded figure.

  Looking down, Lydia observed the necromancer standing up and focusing magics into his own fists. He released a series of Firebolts into the back of the undead ancient who stood momentarily confused by his master's will. A second later, it finally chose to act and gave chase to his newfound enemy who disappeared into the base of the tower.

  Lydia whispered to the dark elf. "Dunmer, what did you do?"

  Her Thane's companion flashed a smile in the darkness. "It's an Adept level Illusion spell, the name of which is Frenzy. Causes the weak minded to see enemies before them. Delicious, no?"

  The Nord clenched her jaw to hold her tongue. To use such a spell was an abomination. It robbed the battlefield of its glory and tainted the victory with cowardess. Lydia looked back down to see the draugr walk out of the tower and back to his original position. The warrior exhaled and accepted that at least these necromancers had no honor to lose... but the draugr was another matter. Pulling back on her bowstring, Lydia released her fury and pierced the undead Nordsman through the chest. She watched it crumble to the ground and prayed to Talos that the cursed ancient might find its way back to Sovngarde once again. The three got up and proceeded down the next passageway and further into the deep.

  *     *     *     *

  Faralda stood off to the side while Drevis carefully re-examined the central chamber of the ancient barrow. Five days of travel to each of the locations along the pilgrim's path had shown that their student had only reached the first waypoint and so, they had returned to the Windward Ruins once again.

  The Master Destructionist held her fingers to her lips as she thought about the likely repercussions if this were to turn into yet another 'incident.' Thinking back to all the discussions that had occurred after the third death, the Altmer could only shake her head at the senselessness of it all.

  At the time, the College had attempted to determine if the first death of Ilas-Tei was somehow related to the death of Rundi and his brother Borvir more than a month afterwards. They could not, but the close proximity in time and the oddities surrounding each event had given fire to various rumors swirling inside the College walls. The Arch-mage was forced to act. With nothing else to go on, he chose to re-evaluate policies concerning research and safety and in doing so, 'pushed out' one of the scholars, whose work he felt threatened the safety of the other members. The aftermath of that debacle caused both mages and apprentices to rail against a decision that some saw as arbitrary. Over a half-dozen apprentices left their studies to follow after the scholar and perhaps more distressingly, Master Falion, who had been a staunch ally to the Arch-mage, unexpectedly resigned his post as Master Conjuror.

  Privately, the Arch-mage confessed to a select few that he feared the College was being attacked by some unseen force. There was the presence of Ancano, an 'advisor' from the Aldmeri Dominion who had been witness to the events. Several members of the Synod had visited during that time. There was also the usual riif-raff of Nords who wished they did not exist. But nothing seemed to fit and nothing decisive could be done.

  Having examined the room, Master Drevis returned to the center and decided to invoke a spell. The Master Illusionist suddenly smiled and walked over to the stone lecturn and grabbed a tome out of thin air. "It seems Yisra had attempted to hide Percius' gift."

  Faralda offered a faint sigh of relief. At least the Master tome was back in their possession. "So our student makes it to the first waypoint and for some unknown reason, decides to the use the Eye' spell to hide the 'Mastery of the Elements'. Now we're left with a deeper and less encouraging mystery."

  Drevis turned the book over at which point a piece of paper fell out. "What have we here..."

  Reading its contents, he handed the paper to Faralda. "Our student left a short note. What do you think?"

  The Destruction Master looked up a moment later. "I think... there might be some truth to the idea that someone is deliberately targeting our apprentices."

  *     *     *     *

  The Nord warrior watched her Thane expend the last of her magics to heal the Dunmer's arm. Standing at the base of the main tower, the housecarl turned around and carefully peeked around the next corner before relaxing her stance. Stretching upwards before her were a number of stairs and courtyards but no visible signs of movement. There would be time to rest and deal with their wounds.

  Most of the lower reaches had been populated with draugr, though nothing as powerful as the one they had faced in Saarthal. Nonetheless, the number of undead had made it a challenge for the three to find ways of fighting them in small groups. While Brelyna's Frenzy spell was useful against the living, it turned out to have no affect on the dead. This meant that most of the fights had been direct engagements, which frankly, was much to the Nord's liking. It was familiar and comforting and it would bring honor to their deaths. Unfortunately, it also increased the risk to the two mages, neither of whom could be expected to go toe to toe with the undead warriors for more than a few seconds. The housecarl did her best to adapt.

  The warrior looked over to her Thane who was quietly discussing the merits of the Illusion School with the Dunmer. From what could be observed, her Thane lacked in the number of spells and her magics did not last as long as the Adepts. She had learned the Firebolt spell upon entering the College but her aim was still questionable. As for her judgement in battle, the Nord realized that there was an almost desparate quality to her eagerness which caused her to overextend at times. Clearly, her Thane felt her own weakness and was trying her best to compensate.

  "Do you think the necromancers at the top of the tower know we're here?"

  Lydia looked up at her charge as she dressed the gash in her own leg. "This is unlikely my Thane. It's... possible but, I did not see anyone run away to warn their brethren. Our presence was never expected, and given the chanting and the noise coming from the top of the tower, there's a good chance we still have a great advantage."

  Brelyna winced again as the Breton re-applied her healing magics on the Dunmer's burns. "Well, we've managed to control our battles and as far as there summoning is concerned, as long as they don't complete the ritual, we should be able to handle the necromancers."

  Lydia listened to the two mages discuss tactics and wondered if things would go as well as her Thane and the Dunmer hoped.

  *     *     *     *

  Drevis stood off to the side as he watched Faralda cautiously examine the remains. On their way back to the College, they had chosen to detour through Dawnstar, hoping someone may have noticed a Redguard mage passing through. No one could remember if such a thing had occurred. Disheartened and disappointed, the College mages had left behind the village and decided to travel back home along the coast. Halfway there, they were startled to find a figure kneeling on the ground, burnt to a crisp and scoured by the northern winds until only a dry, sinewy corpse remained. Among the charred flakes still clinging on for dear life, were bits of clothing suggesting mages robes and then there was the necklace.

  "You're sure it's her?"

  Faralda looked up after a moment. "I'm... fairly certain. It's hard to tell but it looks like it was wearing master enchanted robes and... the necklace is Redguard make."

  Drevis invoked the Eye of the Beholder spell again to see if there was anything hidden in this place. "...nothing."

  The Altmer sighed deeply before standing back up. "...she would have returned as a Master Mage of Destruction. To be immolated..."

  "I agree. This is hard to fathom."

  The corpse seemed to be smiling. The Altmer reached down to brush a part of the face when the lips crumbled under her fingertips, exposing two especially long incisors. The master mage stared at her discovery for a moment. "Drevis, you... should come see this."

  The Dunmer walked over to the corpse and immediately backed away the second he noticed. "That might explain why she was immolated..."

  Drevis looked to his colleague. "This corpse, it's not that old I think. The note that Yisra had written suggests that she had only just left the College when she noticed she was being followed. As for this body, maybe a week... Colette would be able to gauge this better."

  Faralda stared sullenly at the kneeling figure. "It's like she was waiting to be burned alive."

  *     *     *     *

  Lydia and her Thane watched as the Dunmer crept closer to the final landing at the top of the tower. The way was open and the three could clearly hear the voices of four necromancers chanting in rythmn. A fifth voice suddenly rang out from within the vortex of energy.

  "Yes! Yes! Return me to this realm!"

  "As our voices summon you, the blood of the innocent binds you Wolf Queen!"

  "Summoned with words. Bound by blood."

  "What! What are you doing?! You fools! You cannot bind me to your wills!"

  "Summoned with words. Bound by blood."

  The warrior could see her Thane forcibly trying to contain her discomfort but her body seemed to wither under the weight of the sorcery on display.

  The Dunmer tried to catch sight of one of the necromancers to throw one of her Frenzy spells.

  "Something is wrong. There is an intruder."

  Talos!

  The first necromancer came into view at the top of the stairs. Brelyna launched a Firebolt into his chest propelling him over the parapet. Seconds later came the loud clap of things being summoned. Nephili responded by conjuring her familiar just as the first skeleton warrior came into view. The Nord charged past the two mages, sword in hand and shield raised. The young apprentices quickly followed.

  *     *     *     *