U.O.T.W. Chapter 232 Going Down

  • Author’s note: The chapter has not been edited except for mistakes and errors therefore the content may change at a later date although the plot will remain the same. The content you read now is as I written it in 2014-2015. I hope this fact doesn’t lessen your enjoyment.
    As always, should you see an error or something you feel is off then by all means let me know.
    Sotek Loyal Hound of Hircine

     

    As Farkas and Ebony entered the mine, the pair of them were nearly overwhelmed with the stench of the dead; it was unmistakable. Fortunately for them though the mine was well lit. Torches were scattered nearly everywhere, every ten feet or so along the tunnels there was a torch set into the rock. Ebony studied Farkas as he walked in front, she couldn’t help feel that she had let him down somewhat so she decided to try to make up for her last hours ‘poor show’.
    “Can I lead?”

    Farkas stopped and smiled to himself. He gazed behind himself as he tried to suss out her capabilities.
    “You sure you’re up to it?”

    She looked beyond Farkas into the tunnel that laid out before them.
    “Not entirely, but then you will be there as well so”.

    Farkas gave her a reassuring smile then he stepped to the side and allowed her to pass. She drew her sword and shield then paused momentarily before she took point and carried off down the tunnel. Soon enough the tunnel came to a junction. Towards the left they could hear the feint murmurs of a draugr shuffling about. Ebony moved towards the origins of the noise, slowly working her way forwards. Following the tunnel, they found themselves in a large circular cavern. The cavern was a dead end however though it did have an erected circular wooden platform slowly trailing up to an overhead walkway. On the structure was a draugr slowly walking up it. Ebony could see from the shadows of the lit lanterns there was a second draugr around the corner. She signalled to Farkas to take out that one as she sheaved her sword and pulled out her bow.

    Ebony took aim and just as the draugr turned around she fired. The arrow punched through the old Nord armor and ripped its way into the old dry rotten flesh. The draugr never cried out, instead it just turned awkwardly towards her just as she fired off a second arrow. The other draugr came around the corner moaning loudly as it called out to the intruders.
    “UUrrrggge”.

    Farkas stepped forwards bringing his one handed sword down into it as he did so. It instantly fell to the ground just to receive an arrow from Ebony who was now standing in the middle of the room. Farkas thrust his sword into it for good measure causing its chest to collapse as it finally laid to rest.

    Farkas examined the draugr while Ebony walked cautiously up the ramp. Every few steps caused the old timber to creak ominously. As she reached the top there was a table set to the side of the platform. She picked up a few ores that were left there.
    “Not much up here, just some ores”.

    “Well there’s a few gold here. Bring the ores down, we’ll take ‘em with us”. Then they both headed back to the junction then carried on heading into the depths of the mine. The tunnel twisted and turned as it cut its way through various mineral deposits, then as they turned a corner, the floor was covered with a wooden platform that stood just under a foot from the ground. Just ahead they could see a large sinkhole where the tunnel collapsed. The hole itself was at least eight feet wide. Below them they could see three bodies of dead miners who got caught when the sinkhole opened up.

    Ebony leaned over the hole. Her eyes widened as she peered into the depths.
    “Looks like some miners got killed. The falls dangerous, it must be about twelve, maybe fifteen feet down. We’d better go careful, and there’s draugr moving about. After you”.

    Farkas threw her a look as he groaned.
    “What? Why am I first? Ladies before gentlemen”.

    “Ermm, you spent the evening with a whore! You’re no gentleman”.

    “Yea? And you got rat arsed, then you threw up in the street so you’re no lady”.

    Ebony screwed her eyes up at him.
    “You bastard. Would you really make me go down there first? Sotek wouldn’t let Aela go first, he would go”.

    Farkas looked down the hole. He too could see a few draugr shuffling around but he also saw the wounds on the bodies of the miners.
    “I ain’t Sotek, and you’re not Aela”.

    “No, but I’ll bloody tell her you made me go down there first”.

    Farkas laughed quietly.
    “Yea like she would care”.

    Ebony cursed, she knew he was right. Aela wouldn’t give a damn, she’d just call them both whiners. She peered once more into the hole then just before she really considered having to go first she had a quick thought.
    “Fine, I’ll tell Sotek, he would care”.

    “Yea he would, but so what?”

    “I’ll get him to put Aela on your case, then you’ll be sorry”.

    He looked at her carefully then gave out a sigh.
    “Damn it, ok, ok you win, I’ll go first”. He stood near the hole then jumped down. He landed heavily but broke into a roll then near instantly he was back on his feet and swinging at a draugr all the while Ebony fired off her bow from above. Once the two draugr were dealt with, Farkas stood under the hole and called up to her. “Ok you jump and I’ll catch you”.

    Ebony looked down at him and gulped.
    “Ermm can I have that in writing please?”

    “No, you bloody can’t. You jump and I’ll catch”.

    She threw down her sword and bow but unfortunately the sword bounced nearly hitting Farkas.
    “Hey go careful, damn it. Come on, jump”.

    She shook her head, as she stared down the hole at him.
    “No”.

    “What!! Why not?”

    “You’ll drop me cause my sword hit you”.

    “No, I won’t and it never hit me. Come on, jump”.

    She took a deep breath then jumped down. To his word Farkas caught her perfectly in his arms. The moment he grabbed her, she in turn gripped hold of him tightly.
    “See? Caught you”.

    Ebony just stayed there gazing at his eyes as he weighed her.
    “Your quite light really aren’t you”.

    “Yep, not much but skin and bones”. As she spoke her hand somehow found itself on his chest. She sat there in his arms looking as him. “Unlike you, you’re all muscle”.

    Farkas flexed his arms as he held onto her.
    “Yep, I’m even stronger than Vilkas”.

    Ebony cast a slight smile, then she looked towards the ground.
    “I bet you are. Ermm, are you going to put me down now?”

    He couldn’t help but feel embarrassed as he gently placed her on her feet.
    “Oh sorry, yea”.

    Ebony gave him a smile as she held his arm gently.
    “Come on you, let’s get them”.

    Ebony grabbed a torch from the wall then started looking around at their surroundings. In one corner near an opened sarcophagus was an old urn. She broke the seal and peered inside.
    “Here hold out you hand”.

    Farkas looked somewhat alarmed.
    “What is it? Not a spider I hope”.

    She smiled wickedly as she watched him nervously approach.
    “You’re scared of spiders? Aww come on, no way”. She beckoned him over to her as she slowly tipped the urn towards him. As he held his hand out she gave a quiet laugh as she saw his hand shake but sliding out from the urn was a diamond. Ebony gave out a laugh as Farkas flinched from the self-induced fear as it came to a stop on his hand.

    The tomb they found themselves in came to an abrupt stop. In front of them was a small circular alcove. Separating the section in two was a massive grill and just in front of it was a switch. To either side of the grill they could make out two much smaller alcoves.
    “This is easy, I got it” Ebony stated confidently as she grabbed the lever.

    “No wai….” Farkas cried out, but he was a second too late. Small poison darts shot out from above striking Ebony multiple times across the chest and stomach. She fell to the side almost instantly as the poisons set to work intoxicating her system. Farkas ran over to her. He grabbed her torso the pulled her out of the way of more darts. Franticly undoing the straps with one hand, he rummaged through his pack with the other hand.

    “Fark…, Farkas, I messed up, I’m sorry”. As Ebony tried to talk her mouth started foaming as the virulent poison started flooding her system. Her eyes opened wide as fear took over.

    “Shh, don’t talk drink this come on drink it”. He held her head up and literally forced the potion down her throat as he managed to pull her chest armor off. Most of the darts failed to penetrate her armor but a few slipped past. Farkas pulled out the three darts sticking in her chest and stomach, all the while holding the potion to her mouth.

    She tried to keep her eyes open but over several seconds they shut tight. Farkas gave her a big shake forcing her to open them again. For a few minutes, the pair of them carried on the bizarre routine of Farkas shaking her to keep her from passing out. Gradually the potion worked its way through her system, countering the poison as it flowed through her body.

    Within a minute or so she rolled over to her side then she promptly threw up violently. She gripped hold of Farkas’s arm as she did so. Ebony sat up, then leaned into Farkas sluggishly as he held her for a minute or so.
    “You ok?” As he spoke to her he gave her the physical support necessary to remain sitting upright.

    “Yea, sorry about that, I was too eager”. As she whispered to him she held her eyes shut as she rested against his chest.

    “No, it’s my fault. I should have stopped you earlier”.

    Ebony laughed quietly.
    “Yep that’s fair. When we get back, I’ll tell Sotek that you let me set off a trap. Aela will kick your ass when he tells her to. Good luck with that one”. As she spoke she poked him gently in the chest, smiling as she did so.

    Farkas feinted a fearful look.
    “Oh no, not Aela! No, anything but that”.

    After a few seconds she started getting back to her feet.
    “So, you’re ok if I tell him then?”

    Farkas waved his pointed finger at her face.
    “Don’t you bloody dare”.

    After the pair of them got up, Farkas checked the two Alcoves out.
    “There’s two levers here; you stand back”. As Ebony stood well out of the way Farkas pulled the two levers, one after the other. Once he pulled the second one, the grill started lifting then they proceeded past it into the chamber opposite.

    The chamber itself was quite unremarkable except for the fact it had a wooden flooring. As they opened a door to a third chamber they heard three draugr groan out loud then start to move towards them both.

    Farkas ran to the nearest one as he swung his sword at it while Ebony shot at the one opposite. Within a few shots she had downed the draugr. She drew her sword then charged the remaining one while Farkas quickly finished off hacking at the first one. Ebony swung her sword around as she ran towards it, the sword impacted perfectly in the neck decapitating the remaining draugr instantly.

    The floor of the room was covered in the same wooden flooring as the previous room with one exception. In the middle of the room was a large rectangular hole going several feet down and the pit was filled with water. As Farkas considered diving into the depths he gave a loud groan.
    “Damn it, where’s that bloody lizard when you need him? Look, there’s a chest down there”. As he spoke he pointed to a chest he could make out in the depths of the water.

    “Shall I dive down?” The Whelp asked as she leaned over the water.

    “No, I will, you’ve had enough excitement. I don’t want to add drowning to your skill set thank you”. He took off his sword and passed it to Ebony then he dived into the water filled pit without another word. For several seconds, she watched him try to pick the lock to the chest then she saw him come up to the surface. “It’s being a bastard”.

    Ebony put his sword down then dived into the water herself before Farkas could stop her. After what seemed like an eternity she swam back to the surface, panting heavily as she was gasping for breath. “I … I … I got… got it, it’s unlocked”.

    Farkas swam down to the chest and opened it. Inside he found a bag of gold and a few gems which he pocketed before swimming to the surface.
    “These should fetch us a fair price I reckon”. As he spoke he handed her the gems which she stored in her pack.

    The pair of them made their way to a door on the far side. The door opened easily to reveal a wooden spiral staircase. As Farkas climbed it, the staircase creaked ominously.
    “Can I wait until you get to the top?” Ebony chuckled.

    “No, I want something soft to land on if it collapses”.

    Ebony’s eyes went wide as she gave him a slight shove.
    “That’s nasty”.

    Farkas laughed as he continued up. At the top was an archway, as Farkas went through it he heard a moaning from inside. He peered around the corner then gave a slight sigh. Turning to ebony he whispered quietly.
    “It’s a Deathlord. Their tougher than the normal ones so you stay here and just shoot at it”. Then he sneaked into the room.

    As he crept into the room he nearly managed to sneak right up behind it but at the last moment he kicked an old bottle on the floor. It spun wildly as it rolled across the floor to simply smash when it hit the wall. Farkas shot forwards and bought his sword crashing down onto the Deathlord. As he did so Ebony fired off three arrows as fast as she could and each one slammed into the Draugr wounding it. There was a loud gurgle as it lifted its sword above its head and bought it down at Farkas. He sidestepped it then swung his sword into its side.

    Unfortunately for him, it simply blocked the blow by stepping backwards then bringing its own sword back up, countering Farkas’s strike. Two more arrows tore into its side as Ebony fired then she charged with her sword. It cut into the undead’s back from the shoulder, forcing it to stagger forwards. Farkas thrust his sword into the undead’s chest punching it off its feet as his sword penetrated its armor and ripped into its chest slaying it in one almighty blow.

    Farkas picked up its glass sword as Ebony stood over it.
    “I see what you mean, he was a toughie”.

    “Yep you gotta be careful of these guys. You get two and you got problems”.
    She started examining their surroundings as Farkas opened small chest. He sounded a bit disappointed. “Not much in here, just a few gold septims”.

    “Yea well there’s a ramp here and it goes up”. She called out happily.

    “Why so happy?”.

    “Because it goes up? We jumped down a sinkhole remember”. As she explained she shook her head slightly.

    Farkas nodded at her.
    “Yea I remember. Let’s see where it goes”. As they followed it up, it became steeper as it started circling. Soon though they saw some light ahead. Once they reached the top they found themselves looking down at the sinkhole.

    “Oh, thank the nines”. Ebony cried. “We’re out”. The pair of them jumped down to the ground then followed the path to the exit. Perth watched nervously until he saw them both exit the mine.

    “Your alive? Sorry, I mean you did it? You did do it, didn’t you?” He asked as he shuffled around.

    Ebony gave a slight laugh.
    “Yes, we cleared it out. It’s safe now”.

    “Thank the nines! Oh, and you of course. Here, this was the payment to the guards for clearing it out. Thank you so much”. Then he signalled out to the miners. “Come on you lot, we’ve mines to ermm mine. Move it there”.

    Farkas grunted then gave Ebony a playful shove.
    “Come on its still morning. We’ll be in Whiterun this evening then you can tell them all about it”.

    Ebony gave him a smile then they headed along the path to Rorikstead. Once they got there Farkas gave a laugh.
    “Hey, you want an ale? One for the road, you drunkard”.

    Ebony winced.
    “No thanks! Do you want a maid quick before we head off, you whore?”

    “Hey that’s harsh”. Farkas grumbled.

    “Maybe, but true”. She said smiling. “Let’s get going”. She grabbed his arm playfully then started dragging him along the road.

    They both set a fast pace as they headed back to Whiterun. Farkas was quietly impressed with the stamina the Whelp had. He expected her to have to slow down several times but he started to build a respectable liking of her fortitude. By the late afternoon Whiterun was in sight and once they entered the city gate, the pair of them sold the gear they collected. Farkas split it into three ways.
    “Why three ways? I don’t mind, I’m just curious”. Ebony asked as she watched Farkas split the gold.

    “Well to be honest we always simply split the gold but Sotek always gives the Harbinger some for supplies you know? He’s right, so you can give the Harbinger the third bag”.

    Once they entered Jorrvaskr, Vilkas called straight over to them.
    “Farkas, Aela wants to take us and Sotek to the inn. She has something to explain to the three of us”.

    “Fair enough. Who’s buying?”

    “She is”.

    As one both Farkas and Vilkas grinned at each other. They called out in a single voice.
    “Booze time!”

    Ebony walked up to the Harbinger who was sitting next to Sotek.
    “Ermm this is for you. It’s for, to be honest I got no idea what it’s for but it’s yours”. She stated somewhat confused.

    Sotek gave a laugh.
    “It’s for supplies”.

    The Harbinger gave a smile.
    “Thank you. Aela has asked for a quiet word”

    Ebony looked terrified.
    “Ermm about what?”

    “Oh, don’t worry, she has a favour to ask I think”.

    She nervously sought out Aela who was downstairs with all the Whelps and Tilma.
    “Ahh Ebony, come here. Tomorrow morning, I need you all to get the Harbinger and wait by the steps outside Jorrvaskr, I’ll explain then. Be there at first light”. Then Aela gave out a loud demonic laugh which they all found unsettling. “Oh, and a warning! Don’t tell the others”. Then she walked up the stairs to the hall.

    Once there she called out to Farkas.
    “You up for an evening at the Inn with us? My treat”.

    “What’s the occasion?” He couldn’t help but feel nervous and suspicious all at the same time.

    Aela gave a false smile.
    “Well, I’ve been a bit of a bitch so it’s my way to make things right. You up for it?”

    He instantly broke into a grin.
    “Sure, why not”. Then Aela, Sotek Farkas and Vilkas headed off to the Bannered Mare.

     

     

Comments

2 Comments   |   Ben W and 7 others like this.
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  June 29, 2018
    Man, I want UOTW potions, they work so fast. :D Hehehe, Farkas and Ebony.  
  • Ebonslayer
    Ebonslayer   ·  August 18, 2017
    “Oh, thank the [Nine]”. Ebony cried. “We’re out”.

    “Thank the [Nine]! Oh, and you of course. Here, this was the payment to the guards for clearing it out.


    “Come on [it's] still morning. We’ll be in Whiterun this evening t...  more