Aela led the way as they entered the crypt to find themselves once again in a long dark passageway. Sotek, who was just behind her, could just make out an alter at the far end. Aela however was straining her eyes in the darkness as she watched for something else. She drew her bow as she turned towards Sotek, who was now standing alongside her.
“There’s a dragon cultist!”
Sotek’s eyes narrowed as he looked along the corridor towards the altar. “Where?” Aela simply lifted her hand up as she pointed to the ghostly apparition. After trying to see where Aela was pointing, Sotek gave up and cast his mage light spell.
The bright orb flew along the corridor to end up slamming into the face of the cultist. It shouted out it’s terrible ghostly cry in response to Sotek’s ‘attack’.
“Death calls to you, intruders”.
Aela immediately started firing her bow at the target as she chuckled loudly.
“There! But try hurting it, you idiot”.
Sotek rolled his eyes at her as he raised his bow and prepared to fire. Three times in as many seconds, the dragon cultist burst into flames as Aela scored multiple hits with her bow. By that time Sotek had actually started shooting at it as well but as usual his accuracy let him down. All Farkas and Vilkas could do was watch as the narrow corridor allowed them to do little else.
All the while Aela scorned Sotek for his marksmanship as she continued to fire methodically between words.
“Oh, for… fucking... take... your... bloody time”. The next second the ghost collapsed on the floor. Aela stepped forwards as she aimed her next shot then after pausing her breath for a few seconds, she fired. The arrow flew as true as her other shots did and slammed into the chest of the cultist, sending it sprawling across the passageway floor to come to a rest against the altar base.
Aela broke into a big grin as she looked behind herself to Sotek.
“Forget it, you loser”.
Before he could reply, he lurched forwards as Farkas slapped him on the back.
“You’re really impressing her… Not!”
Vilkas just added to his embarrassment as he walked past him.
“You’re not gonna keep her if you keep shooting like that ya know”.
Aela growled quietly then pushed past the pair of them. She grabbed Sotek by the collar with both hands as she gave him a loving, lingering kiss. When she broke away from him, she looked at him right in the eyes.
“Just take your time. Speed isn’t everything. Take your time… Aiming helps”. She then ginned as she turned back around and proceeded along the passageway.
He nodded as he half smiled in return.
“I’ll try to remember”. As he followed Aela, who was heading towards the altar, he paused as he looked along a short passageway which opened to the left. He noticed the same slits in the stonework which was an obvious sign of an axe trap, very similar to the one they saw before. What really sparked his interest however was a large cage that surrounded what looked like a hole in the ground.
Aela walked back to him to see what he was actually looking at.
“It’s a well. It’s locked up but there’s a release to our right. We’ll come across it soon enough then we’ll all take a swim”. She headed back to the altar where there was a second passageway. This one headed off to the right. As she walked down the new corridor, she called out to Sotek. “There’s a gem on the altar and check the remains of that spook”.
Vilkas checked the glowing dust pile while he sent Sotek to the altar.
“There’s a pair of gauntlets here, see what the soul gem is”.
Sotek examined the gem as he placed it in his pack. He turned to Aela who was suspiciously watching him.
“It’s just a poor one”.
She stood there scrutinizing him as she screwed her face up.
“It looked like a black one to me when you picked it up”.
Sotek softly smiled as he pulled his pack off his shoulder. He started opening it up as he replied to her.
“No, they’re the same shape but this is much smaller. Here, have a look”.
“Naa, I trust ya. This way”. She watched him for a few seconds more then turned around and led them along the corridor and entered a circular room. There was an alter positioned on the left-hand side. It sat between two old wooden doors. As the group dispersed around the room to search it, a Deathlord, who was slumped against the wall, launched its savage attack at the closest Companion.
Aela jumped with surprise as she suddenly found herself being the target of the draugr. She lifted her bow to block the lethal black sword which came hammering down at her side.
“What the! You bastard!” Having no time to fire, or even an opportunity to, Aela quickly found her only option was to fall back from her assailant and block its attacks. Within seconds, Soteks familiar materialised and launched itself at the Deathlord, biting and clawing as it fought to protect the Huntress.
She stepped back and caught her breath as both Vilkas and Farkas pushed her and Sotek out of the way as they joined the familiar against the undead foe. Seconds after they joined in the fight, the familiar howled out then dispersed from the wounds it had received. However, it did its purpose as Aela was now in the clear. She didn’t shoot at the target due to the close proximity of her brothers. Sotek however had other ways to aid in their fight. He cast his healing spells to which Farkas and Vilkas were both well in range of. The instant one of them were wounded, Soteks spell healed them, enabling them to fight on with little regard for blocking against the Deathlord. There was little it could do as it succumbed to the assault. Under a pummel of blows the draugr collapsed and joined the realms of the dead.
Aela leaned back against the cavern wall as she caught her breath, all she could muster was a feeble smile as Farkas and Vilkas looked over towards her. Sotek’s eyes darted to and fro between Vilkas and Aela as if he was expecting one of them to say something. Aela, who had by now recovered, snapped at him harshly.
“What the hell’s wrong with you? You got something in your eye?” She then pushed past the others as she made her way to the other side of the room.
Farkas headed over to her then tugged her arm while Sotek and Vilkas just stood there watching her. Farkas spoke softly to her, as he tried to get his point across without angering her any further.
“Why be so harsh with him? He helped you there, you know that?”
Aela looked over to Sotek then half smiled at him. Her face quickly changed to a scornful glare, which made Sotek feel somewhat nervous. It was only when Aela spoke to him across the room that Sotek realised she was actually glaring at herself.
“I screwed up, I got too cocky. Thanks for your help, all of you”.
Sotek breathed a sigh of relief as he returned her initial smile.
“I thought I was in trouble for a second”.
Aela chuckled, but Sotek had to strain his ears to hear her. She pointed to the doors either side of the altar as she sat on a large stone block.
“Sotek, Farkas, check the doors and see what you can find”.
Sotek made his way to the furthest door, leaving the nearest one for Farkas to check. Farkas turned the handle and pulled on the door but it was fixed solid.
“It must be barred from the other side. There’s no keyhole”. By the door was a large old rickety bookshelf. Several books laid on their sides, but the moment Farkas touched one, it disintegrated into dust. On his right however was a small vase. The moment he picked it up, he heard the jingling of coins. “Hey Vilkas, booze money”.
Vilkas unconsciously took a few steps towards Farkas as he tipped out the vase into his hand.
“Oh, maybe not. Eight gold”.
Both Aela and Sotek chuckled as they watched Vilkas’s face screw up. Sotek turned the handle to his door to find it locked as well. As he knelt down to pick it, Aela called out to the others.
“I bet Sotek will have better luck. That doors locked so there must be a reason for it”.
Silence filled the room as Sotek skilfully picked the lock. There was a single click then Sotek turned the handle once more. Suddenly and without any warning the door flew open as dozens of old musty smelling linen wraps tumbled off the collapsed shelving, smothering Sotek. He fell backwards and tripped on some rubble as he quickly became engulfed in the avalanche. Both Farkas and Vilkas burst out laughing, while Aela stared at him with a straight face.
Sotek threw some wraps off himself to see Aela who was now sitting on the floor, trying desperately to fend off a smirk. Sotek kicked out at the door, but then three wraps which had managed to stay in the cupboard fell and hit him squarely on the head. Aela instantly roared out laughing as she lost all restraint. She ended up on her knees as her eyes watered profusely, while her laughter fed itself. Sotek’s mind was a blank so all he could do was get up to his feet as he waited for all the laughing to stop.
After a few minutes, Aela picked herself up off the floor and made her way towards her mate. He pretended to be angry with her, which she was fully aware of. She acted as if she was bashful. She held her hands behind her back while she gently swayed to and fro as she approached him.
“I’m sorry for laughing at you”.
Soteks reply was to softly bash her over the head with a linen wrap. This caused Aela and the others to start laughing again. Aela’s eyes opened wide as she grinned at him.
“That’s just nasty, I said I was sorry”.
Sotek stuck his tongue out at her as he pointed at the door at the far end of the room.
“You got that one, hiss”.
Aela started laughing again as she made her way to the exit.
“Hiss at me, you bloody reptile”. She opened the wooden door to reveal a long, wide corridor. It sloped downwards until eventually it stopped at another doorway, but on each side were alcoves filled with stone coffins and sarcophaguses. Webs draped from the ceiling like sheets of grey dirty silk, which Aela found she had to break through to proceed. However, at one point she simply ducked underneath one ‘curtain’ of webbing which was a foot or so higher than the other ones which she had cut down. Sotek followed suit and tucked his head underneath it as well while Farkas decided to play the joker.
He walked up to one particular tomb as he called out to the others.
“I wonder if anyone’s in”. He tapped on the casing as he called out to the occupants inside. “Hellloooo, is anybody home?”
Soteks reaction was a blank stare which he gave Aela as she had turned to face him when she heard Farkas start messing about. Vilkas started laughing as he joined in.
“There’s a body alright, but he has no soul. I bet he’s boring at parties”.
Aela shook her head slightly as she mumbled quietly at the pair of them.
“Morons. They’ve no respect for the dead”.
Sotek discretely whispered back to her.
“But you do”.
Aela immediately gave him a slight shove. She felt just as equally upset as she did angry that Sotek was tarring her with the same brush as the others.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? I damn well do. Well I try to anyway”.
Sotek smiled gently as he tried to sate her anger.
“I meant, don’t concern yourself about them. You respect the dead here, so the dead will have to be content with that”.
Aela backed down almost as fast as the time it took for her anger to rise up. She sheepishly smiled at him and glanced down at his chest just so she could avoid his eyes. She felt his hand gently hold her chin as he lifted her head up, forcing her to look at him. He rested his forehead against hers, as he loosely held her with both hands by the waist.
“Just how much further iss there to go?”
She started smirking at him as she imitated his speech.
“There’ss sstill a way to go, but we’ll get there, you’ll ssee. Hiss”.
Sotek rolled his eyes at her as he slapped her on the backside.
“One day you’ll respect me, never mind the dead”.
She leaned into him as she whispered in his ear.
“Don’t hold your breath, lizard”.
Farkas now picked up the pace a bit but failed to see the web which both Aela and Sotek had ducked under earlier. He walked straight into it, screaming out as it wrapped itself around his face.
“Urrg, what the hell. Damn you Aela. You’re supposed to clear the path. Oh hell, it’s sticking to me, Vilkas help, damn you”.
Vilkas backed off a few feet as he watched his brother get in a bigger mess with every passing second.
“Ermm, no. But I’ll give you moral support. Go on Farkas, you can do it. Tear the bugger!”
Aela burst out laughing as she watched Farkas cover himself more and more in the web. He tried to pull it off himself, but he only succeeded to pull even more down from the ceiling. Sotek, who was nearly as amused as Aela was, called out to Vilkas.
“Help him before he pulls the bloody roof down”.
Without any warning there was a deafening crack. A tomb, further down the corridor, heaved as something inside pushed against the stone lid. Within a second, the lid collapsed in several pieces as a draugr stepped outside of the confinements within. The draugr turned towards Aela and Sotek then after crying out loudly, it started to charge towards them. The passageway lit up as Soteks conjured bow formed in his hand and in moments he had started to fire at the undead target.
Aela quickly followed his lead, but unlike before, she fired slower than usual.
“Sotek, fire with me. Load, aim... Fire! Load, aim... Fire”. She spoke clearly and methodically as she took Sotek under her wing once more. He did as she commanded, following her instructions to the letter as he shot arrow after arrow in time with her commands.
As she spoke, she watched the target but at the same time she was paying attention to where Sotek was hitting. This time she smiled to herself as she saw he was actually hitting the draugr more often than not in the chest.
“That’s it, keep going. Load, aim... Fire!”
With both of them shooting at it, the draugr could do little, especially when every hit from Aela’s bow caused it to burst into flames as well as receive massive ice damage which caused it to slow down. The next shot from Aela struck it in the head, flinging it backwards to finally rest in a pile of rotting limbs and bones. Aela slapped the Argonian on the shoulder as she gave him a broad smile.
“That’s it. All you got to do is take your time. Just like I said earlier. Stop trying to prove yourself all the bloody time”.
Sotek just eyed the floor all the while that Aela was speaking to him. He nodded then tried to casually walk past her, but even he knew his movements were awkward. Farkas, who had now cleared himself of the cobwebs, walked up to Aela and gave her a slight nudge.
“What’s with him?”
“I dunno, but I’m gonna find out”. She looked up at Farkas then started laughing again as she reached up and pulled a handful of webs off the top of his head. “You missed some”.
As Sotek walked further down the sloping passageway, a cultist materialized behind him. Aela screamed out at him, trying to warn him of the cultist.
“Sotek!” Her arms froze as everything seemed to suddenly slowdown.
Sotek half turned to see the cultists blade strike down at him, but thankfully his reflexes kicked in. He sidestepped at the same time as he shouted at the attacker.
“Fus Ro”. The cultist was spectacularly thrown backwards into the wall. But before he even fell to the ground, Sotek fired off a fireball at him. Sotek walked steadily towards it and with every step a fireball leapt from his hands until his mana failed him. He drew his axe as the cultist recovered enough to put up a fight. It raised its sword but with the damage done already from Soteks shout, and destruction magic, it was in no condition to fight for long. Sotek blocked a few clumsy attacks then savagely spun around as his arm stretched out. The Dragonbone axe struck the cultist perfectly as it smashed its way through the cultist’s skull, cleaving a massive gash in the side of its helmet. A few seconds later Sotek was standing there looking down at a glowing pile of spectral ash.
He knelt down then examined the remains. Finding nothing of interest, he turned towards the others but then saw a chest piece laying in a small alcove. He smiled to himself when he saw that it was a piece he was after. With a cheerful glee, he called out to the others.
“Here we go, that’s another one”.
Aela came over to him slowly as she watched his emotions. She quickly gave up then switched her attention to his tail instead. She frowned slightly as she noticed his tail was snaking out behind him. She remembered what Sasha had told her about when it snakes out, a clear sign of when he was lying, or feeling self conscious. As he hadn’t said much, she knew which of the two emotions it was.
“Hey, are you ok?”
His head twitched slightly as he suddenly became aware of her proximity, which only amplified his nervousness.
“What? Who?”
She held him in her arms as she gave him a slight hug, all the while though she kept an eye on his tail.
“You, that’s who”.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds as he fought with his emotions. Pushing them to the back of his mind, he forced himself to relax but only when he returned Aela’s hug did he find himself able to do so.
“Yes, It’s just... It’s hard with you three, ermm. It’s not something I can explain. I’m ok. Let’s get moving, both Farkas and Vilkas will be moaning soon about wanting food and a rest”.
Aela smirked as she looked back at the pair of them.
“They’re always moaning about food and rest. Look, we’ve been doing this for years. I know you haven’t. You are doing great; I certainly wasn’t when I had your limited experience… That sounded better in my head… Sorry”. To apologize, she leaned in close and inadvertently pressed her breasts against him as she leaned in close to kiss him. As Aela hugged Sotek tightly, she happened to glance down at his tail once more. It had straightened itself out, which told Aela he was feeling better with himself, but then she noticed the tip start to curve. She smiled to herself then discreetly rubbed her hip against his groin as she turned away from him. She quickly looked back at his tail once more to see the tip curved right around.
Feeling somewhat pleased with herself, she led the group further along the passage.
“This way”. Aela pushed open the door at the far end and peered along the new passageway. She feigned tripping up but before she actually fell, Aela grabbed hold of Sotek as she tumbled.
“Ouch, my blasted ankle”. As she tried to get up, she pretended to have sprained it by hobbling about slightly. “Sotek, can you try to heal it for me? Farkas, take point. You know the way”.
Sotek knelt down and held her ankle but he couldn’t help but wonder about the grin she was desperately trying to hide. As Farkas walked in front, he stepped through the doorway to see a massive web blocking his path.
“Oh, for the love of the bloody Nine. Aela!”
Suddenly he screamed as Aela jumped up to her feet and shoved him face first into the web. He desperately threw his hands forwards, but could do little as he fell into it, and ripped through it as it miserably tried to hold his weight. Aela roared out laughing at him as his arms and legs flailed about, but then he screamed out once more as a Deathlord walked into view and stared at him laying there on the ground.
“Oh crap, oh crap!”
Suddenly Farkas felt a wave of heat then something trample over him at speed. He looked up to see Sotek’s Flaming Familiar run past him towards the draugr. Fortunately for him though, as it ran over him the flames from it had burnt away the webbing, allowing him free movement once again. Two hands grabbed him as Vilkas and Sotek pulled him up to his feet and dragged him backwards. Aela slammed the door with a loud ‘bang’, trapping the Flaming Familiar and the Deathlord on the other side of the door. Both the Huntress and Sotek pushed against it then moments later the door heaved from the explosion of Soteks familiar. Aela nodded to Vilkas and Sotek who drew their weapons then she pulled the door open again.
Both the Companions charged into the draugr with their weapons at the ready. It instantly lifted its own sword in response but Sotek had positioned himself behind it. Vilkas engaged it directly, forcing it to ignore Sotek’s attacks altogether. Sotek concentrated on a few blows against the draugr’s back, but then he stopped attacking. He took a step back then calmed himself down while Vilkas looked over at him oddly. Sotek weighed his axe in his hand for a few more seconds then lifted it up to his shoulder. After gripping the handle with both hands, he swung it at the draugr’s neck and struck it as hard as he could.
Vilkas was a second away from shouting for help as he was now forced on the defensive. The draugr Deathlord started using faster attacks against him, when suddenly, the draugr’s head flew clean off from Soteks strike.
The draugr dropped his weapon as he stood there, like a headless stature for a few seconds before crumbling to the ground. Vilkas stepped backwards a few paces as he rested against the passage wall.
“Thanks, I wondered for a second as to what you were doing”.
As Sotek wiped off his axe head with a piece of linen from his pocket, he glanced over towards Vilkas, who was still catching his breath.
“Yes, sorry about that. I just needed to focus a bit. You ok?”
Vilkas chuckled as he saw Farkas still covered in some webs.
“Yea, I’m better than Farkas at any rate”.
Farkas however was far from happy.
“You bloody bitch, you know I hate webs”.
Aela laughed even louder.
“Oh sorry. I thought it was those things that made them, you know? Spiders!”
Farkas quickly turned around in a sense of panic as his eyes searched for the spiders, but then he realised he had been duped as Aela laughed even louder than before.
“You bloody...” Smiling, Aela tugged Sotek’s arm once more then led the way along the passage pulling Sotek behind her.
Aela stopped rather quickly as she held her fist high above her shoulder. Everyone froze, except for Sotek. He sniffed at the dry musty air then discreetly nodded as he recognised the smell coming from a side room which was down a narrow corridor. As before there were tell tales of an axe trap but this time however, it hadn’t been triggered. He carefully scrutinized the floor until he saw what he was looking for.
Just about halfway through the trap was a pressure plate. Both he and Aela stuck their heads around the corner as they had a quick look along the passage so they could study the room beyond. Aela tugged at his arm, pulling him back while she whispered to the group.
“There’s a draugr in that room, probably a Deathlord”.
Sotek smiled broadly as he secured his bow over his shoulder.
“This one’s mine”.
Farkas immediately found himself stifling a laugh as he covered his mouth with his hand. Vilkas however grinned wildly at him.
“I beg your pardon”.
Aela pulled Sotek to one side, then she poked him in the chest as she whispered to him.
“What the hell are you on about?”
He quickly kissed her on the tip of her nose, distracting her for a few seconds then whispered to her.
“Trust me, this is going to be easy”. Then over the course of a few seconds, Sotek outlined his plan with Aela.
As she peeked along the corridor, she saw the trap plate which Sotek had mentioned. She glanced up at the draugr’s shadow which trailed across the floor then smiled to herself.
“Go on then, kill him”.
Sotek grinned at her then stood as plain as day at the end of the passageway. He called out loudly, gaining the draugr’s attention.
“Excuse me, Mr dead guy. I’m lost. Is this the way out?”
Both Farkas and Vilkas drew their weapons as the draugr responded but to their surprise Sotek just leaned his back against the wall as he stood there waiting for the draugr to reach him. It groaned out its deathly cry then started heading towards him. Just as Sotek had planned, it trod on the footplate which set off the axe trap. Four axes swung down at it, but because of its slow lumbering speed, it got caught in the back perfectly. It was thrown forwards from the blow straight into a second axe, but instead of moving out of the way, it simply turned on the spot to see what struck the first blow. Again, an axe struck it, slamming it into the wall, then a third and a fourth hit the bewildered Deathlord. It fell to its knees, then slowly lifted itself up. It half stepped forwards just as an axe swung down and struck it right in the side of its head, sending it crashing to the floor, lifeless once more.
As Sotek smugly continued to lean against the wall, he crossed his feet and beamed at the others.
“I killed it”.
Aela grinned wildly as she sneered at him.
“Don’t get too cocky, you bloody reptile”. The next second she kicked his feet out from under him and send him crashing to the floor in a mangled heap. She feinted surprise as she held her hand to her lips. “Oops”.
Sotek found himself smothered in dust as he sat there on the floor looking up at Aela who was grinning wildly at him.
“You bitch, just you bloody wait”.
She stood there shaking her head at him for a few seconds. With a swing of her hips, she blew him a kiss and walked along the passageway towards the small room. Aela skilfully avoided the axes then she pulled on a lever which reset the trap.
“Watch out for the floor plate”.
They all entered the room which had a small altar on one side, but little else of interest. Vilkas examined the potion on the altar, screwing his face up at the same time.
“Yuck, I wonder how long that’s been there”.
Farkas, who was in the other side of the room, called over to him, as curiosity got the better of him.
“What been where?”
“This potion!” Without thinking, he picked it up to show everyone, but the moment he touched it, there was a loud resonating ‘click’.
Vilkas instantly turned towards Aela, who groaned loudly at him.
“You stupid fucking prick!”
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