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Chapter 12: The
Necromancer's Staff
I
groaned, unsteadily getting to my feet. Schimmel was laying on the ground
nearby, still unconscious from the fall. My body ached, falling down a hole and
then tumbling down a rocky slope was not an enjoyable experience. I'm sure
Schimmel would feel the same once he came around, he had landed on his head, but
I doubted a small head wound would do much to his personality. I limped over to
another sudden drop, we appeared to be on a cliff. A glowing red light came from
below us, along with a blistering heat. We were above a massive lake of magma,
stones burnt into walkways arched a few feet above it. They led to two small
platforms, one to the right, another to the left. A faint glitter came from each
one, but I couldn't tell what they were.
"Ohhh...
my head..." Schimmel moaned, finally waking up.
I didn't
bother to look back, "Still alive? Good, because I think this mission is about
over."
"What are
you talking about, and why did you pull me backwards like that?" Schimmel asked,
casting a healing spell on himself.
“Simple,
because that wasn’t the real staff, it was a trap.”
“What
made you think that?”
“The
riddle before the passageway, and the fact that things are never that easy.”
“You
could have just said something to me, you didn’t have to grab me like that.”
“The trap
could have gone off and killed you before I could say anything. Besides, I’ve
already almost killed you twice today, I’d rather not get it right the third
time.”
“Twice…?
Once with the arrow, but what was the other time?” Schimmel asked.
I slapped
my hand over my mouth, speaking before I think always causes trouble. I decided
to change the subject. "That should be the staff down there. Let's get it and
get out of here." I said, walking slowly down a path off the cliff and leading
to the left platform. "I'll take this way again."
Schimmel
shook his head, standing up and stumbling over to the pathway down on the right.
“I expect you to tell me what you meant later.”
“Sure,
sure.” I mumbled, hoping he would forget about it.
I healed
myself before carefully walking along the narrow stone bridge leading to the
platform. If I wanted to, I could have seen Schimmel and whatever it was I was
attempting to get clearly. However, my eyes were focused on my feet, taking one
wrong step would mean a very painful death. It began to widen as I approached
the object I saw shimmering from atop the cliff. I bent down and picked it up,
it was a silver staff, but it seemed to be broken in half. Schimmel shouted to
me from the other platform, holding up something that looked very similar to
what I had found.
I noticed
another narrow rock formation connecting the platforms we were on, and Schimmel
had already begun to cross it. I quickly followed suit, walking along toward him
hoping we could figure out if this was the real staff or not. We met at the
middle where the path was a little wider, and each held up the part of the staff
we had found. After inspecting them a bit closer we realized they fit together.
There was a snap as the two halves locked together, and the staff began to glow
until the light it emitted was blinding. When it faded, Schimmel and I were no
longer in the cavern, we had been teleported back to the entrance of the tomb.
"That...
was interesting..." I said, releasing the staff and sitting on the floor.
"I'm glad
we're out of the cave, that heat was starting to get to me." Schimmel said,
wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Maybe
you should wear something other than black when you come to places like this." I
chuckled, closing my eyes and trying to relax.
Schimmel
didn't answer, he seemed to be looking around for something. "It feels like
we're forgetting something... maybe it's just me."
"Forgetting something?" I muttered, looking around as well. I couldn't think of
anything for a few moments, then it hit me. "Oh crap!" I leapt to my feet. "Trelana!"
We both
searched the area, but the way deeper into the tomb was still sealed, so she
couldn't have gone in after us.
"Maybe
she went back to the Mages' Guild?" Schimmel wondered.
"No...
she said she was going to wait here..." I said, getting worried. "Her word is
more reliable than anyone's. Something must have happened. Come on!" I ran up
the staircase, Schimmel yelled something behind me as he tripped over one of the
steps trying to keep up.
I flung
open the door and charged out, but quickly skidded to a halt at what I saw.
Three soldiers in bonemold armor were standing just ahead, their swords drawn
and aiming at me. A fourth was standing behind them, holding a dagger to
Trelana's throat. A cruel laugh came from behind me, I turned around and saw a
well dressed Altmer standing on the hill the tomb was built into.
"Welcome
back from your trip. I trust you have found the staff I have been seeking?" he
said with a grin.
"You've
been...?" I thought back to my previous missions and remembered something I had
heard during one of them. "You're the one... the wannabe necromancer Harnaten."
"Wannabe... why you... do you want her to die?!" Harnaten shouted, raising his
hand.
I looked
back at Trelana, the soldier had tightened his grip on her and could slit her
throat in one swift movement. "Crap. You hurt her and you'll regret it..."
"Where is
the staff?!" Harnaten shouted.
I glanced
back at the tomb, Schimmel still hadn't come out. Either he saw what was outside
and decided to wait for a good chance to attack or he had knocked himself out on
the stairs. "It's in there."
One of
the soldiers ran past me into the tomb. A moment later there was a scream and
the clatter of armor. Schimmel stepped out of the tomb, the staff in one hand
and a bloody katana in the other.
"Well
that evens things out." I said with a laugh. "Now we can take these idiots
easily, right Trelana?"
Trelana
smirked, hitting the soldier that was holding her with a paralyzing spell. She
grabbed the dagger against her neck and easily pulled it from the soldier's
hand. "Taking a girl hostage is as low as you can get, jerk!" Trelana shouted,
turning and stabbing him through one of the holes in his helmet.
The other
two turned to attack Trelana. I hurled a shockball at the one on the left, while
Schimmel dashed up and impaled his katana into the other. I pulled the bow from
my robe and quickly shot an arrow at Harnaten, as Schimmel finished off the
soldier my spell had hit. Harnaten moved backwards as the arrow whizzed past his
head.
"You guys
really need to recruit people that can put up a fight. Peons like this are just
boring. You're no better are you?" I taunted.
"You'll
all pay for this. Especially you!" Harnaten yelled, pointing at Schimmel. He
then held up a scroll and vanished in a flash of light.
Schimmel
scratched his head, obviously confused. "Me? What did I do?"
I
shrugged, and walked over to Trelana. "You okay?"
"Yeah.
Thanks." she mumbled.
"Good. We
should get back to the guild now. I've had enough excitement for one day."
We walked
back to Ald-Ruhn, and parted with Trelana outside of the Mages' Guild after
giving her back the Night Eye rings. Schimmel and I continued to the silt
strider and headed back to Suran. After a long trip Suran finally came into
view, but something seemed different. I stared at the guild headquarters and
realized what was strange. I tapped Schimmel on the shoulder, who was sitting
down and still trying to figure out what Harnaten had against him. He got up and
looked to where I was pointing.
"What
the..." Schimmel muttered.
"Hell is
that?" I mumbled, finishing his sentence.
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