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The city of Caldera came into view after about three days. I
asked around town about a cave called Kironsni, according to a Bosmer it was
straight west of town, and the door was built into the north side of a mountain.
I began west, along the mountains. After a while I found an old wooden door on
the mountainside, "Death awaits all who enter." was scrawled on it,
the warning appeared to be written in blood. I looked back at the Pack Guar and
hoped they wouldn't wander off.
The door let out a creak as I entered. A lit torch by the door
and endless darkness was all I could see, it reminded me of Vivec during the
storm, but I had a faint idea of where I was going then. I took the torch from
the wall and slowly ventured into the dark unknown. The path went straight a few
meters, and then ended.
"A dead end?" I thought, looking left and right to
see if it was just a corner. "I know I didn't pass a door or hall, I slid
my hand against one wall and kept an eye on the other on my way down here. There
must be a switch or something." I examined the wall, feeling around for a
switch or lever. Time passed and the torch dimmed, "Nothing, it must be
further back, or this isn't even the right cave." I sighed and leaned
against the wall.
There was a click and the wall to my left slid to the side,
revealing a path deeper into the cave. There was a light at the end of the new
tunnel. I threw the torch down the path leading to the exit, so if anyone looked
down the tunnel they wouldn't see me. I readied my bow and began toward the
light, there were voices coming from the room at the end of the path. I stood in
the shadows a few feet from the doorway and listened to the voices coming from
the room.
"Why did we have to get assigned to this boring
job?"
"Because we failed our last mission, remember?"
"True, but it was much too difficult for us in the first
place. He should have expected us to fail."
"Why does he want that thing so badly anyway?"
"You didn't know? It belonged to his great
grandfather."
"It must be a rusted hunk of junk by now if it's that
old."
"You don't have a memory do you?"
"I remember what I'm supposed to do, not why."
"It's enchanted, and his great grandfather was known to
be one of the greatest necromancers on Vvardenfell."
"And he wants to be one as well?"
"Exactly, he thinks the staff will make him even more
powerful."
I only heard two voices, until a third, oddly familiar voice
shouted "Would you two keep quiet, I’m trying to get some sleep here! Who
gives a damn about Harnaten and his obsession with necromancy anyway."
"Sorry boss."
"Yeah, sorry, but do you really have to keep yelling at
us for every little thing? So some Breton took you down with a lucky shot, don't
take out your rage on us."
"Dammit! I said never mention that again!"
"Boss, what are you doing? H-hey.. calm down!" there
was a loud crash followed by the clunk of metal against stone
"Boss, you... you broke a crate... on his head."
"He was lucky it was empty. I'm going back to sleep,
don't bother me unless we're under attack."
"Yes sir."
A door slammed shut and silence filled the cave.
I crept forward, there was a ledge with stairs leading into
the pit-like room to the right. The room was lined with crates and barrels.
Someone in full chitin armor was laying on the floor surrounded by broken chunks
of wood, there was an Imperial wearing a green robe standing over him.
"You need to learn how to think before opening your
mouth." I heard him mutter before he turned and walked into a back room. I
crept down the stairs and saw two doors, listening outside the door next to the
stairs I heard a faint snoring, the Imperial went through the other and the
person in chitin armor was still unconscious on the ground.
"That's all three of them?" I thought "This
equipment must not matter much if they left people like this to guard it."
I searched the crates as quietly as I could, armor, arrows,
weapons, there was a bag full of scrolls, an open barrel with nearly a dozen
claymores poking out of it, "I've never seen this much equipment, how many
of these stockpiles could they have?"
"Ugh, what happened?" I jumped, the person in chitin
armor was waking up! I grabbed my bow and an arrow, taking aim at his head.
He looked up at me, "Who're... an intruder!"
He rolled out of the way as I took the shot, quickly climbing
to his feet. It was easy to see that he was off balance because of that blow to
his head earlier, I shot another arrow, hoping he wouldn't get lucky twice. He
didn't, in an attempt to dodge he stumbled and the arrow pierced the front of
his helmet.
"AHH! My eye!" he fell onto his knees and pulled the
arrow out of his eye as the robed Imperial came charging out of the back room.
"Aroth what happened?!" he looked at his wounded
ally and then me, "You're... Sir! Get out here! It's the enemy!" I
grabbed another arrow from my quiver, the Imperial held up his right hand and
shouted "Maeol censekrab slenc nerudo!"
A black orb shot from his palm, it was far too fast for me to
avoid, I was struck directly in the chest. The blow didn't feel that strong, but
after that spell hit, my strength seemed to vanish. "What...
the....." was all I could mutter before falling to the ground and blacking
out.
When I awoke my arms were tied behind my back, my legs were
tied to a stake that was jammed in the ground and Magebane had been taken. I had
been put in a small room, a couple candles and a door were all I saw. "Not
again, what is it with all the tiny dark rooms on the accursed island!? This one
doesn't even have a bed! Of course it doesn't have a bloodthirsty psychopath
either, that's a plus." I sighed and began trying to free myself from the
rope.
As I struggled I heard something hit the ground, looking back
I saw my dagger laying on the floor.
"They didn't search me? Idiots." I grabbed the
dagger where the blade and hilt met, carefully trying to cut the rope around my
wrists. After a couple minutes I managed to sever the rope, freeing my arms. The
door at the other end of the room creaked open, the person wearing chitin walked
in carrying an arrow in his right hand. "You're awake, good." As he
walked over to me I noticed he was no longer wearing the helmet, and had a piece
of cloth wrapped around his head that covered his left eye.
"You took my eye with this arrow, so now I’ll take
yours with it!" he paused, waiting for me to respond. I looked at the
ground for a moment and started laughing. "What the hell are you laughing
about!?" he reached down, grabbing my throat firmly with his left hand
"Tell me! What's so damn funny!?"
I looked up, "I feel a bit sorry for you, you're having
horrible luck today. You got hit with a crate, lost an eye..." I took the
dagger in my right hand and thrust it into his neck. "And then you got
stabbed in the throat, poor guy."
I cut the rope binding my legs and walked over to the door, it
was slightly ajar. Opening it a bit more I saw a door across from the one I was
at and table in the middle of the next room with three chairs around it. There
was a basket of bread on the table, and shelves along the wall held many other
types of food. I walked slowly into this room, looking around for my bow. I
didn't find it, just a bunch of food and liquor. I grabbed a bottle of Flin that
was sitting on a shelf and took a drink, "One down." I thought,
glancing at the next door "Two more somewhere beyond there."
I pocketed the bottle and took a deep breath, grasping my
dagger. Listening at the next door I heard someone humming, I opened the door as
quietly as I could, given the condition of the ones in this cave. Peeking around
the corner I saw the robed Imperial pacing in the large room full of equipment.
I scanned the room for Magebane, it wasn't very far away, just a few feet from
the door, leaning on a crate.
I closed the door, walked back to the dimly lit room and
searched around the guards corpse for the arrow he had been holding. It was not
far from his body, I put my dagger away and picked it up. Returning to the door,
I took another peek at the Imperial, he was still pacing and humming. I waited
until his back was turned and dashed over to my bow. I grabbed it and set the
arrow in a flash, turning to the Imperial who, for some reason, probably his
humming, hadn't heard my footsteps and still had his back to me. I didn't bother
with fighting fair, it was clear by that spell he used earlier he was a
necromancer, and as far as I was concerned people that defile the dead deserve
no mercy. He let out a yell and fell to his knees as the arrow lodged itself
into his back.
The Imperial looked back at me, "How..." he began
say, before I interrupted him
"Shut up. There are three groups of people I
hate..." I said, setting down my bow and sifting through the weapons in a
nearby crate. "The ASP, Necromancers and slave owners..." I pulled a
well made bonemold axe out of the crate. "And you sir, are two of the
three." I walked over to the wounded Imperial and held the axe over my
head. "Hold still and maybe it won't hurt much!" I said as I swung the
axe down, cleaving his head off.
After sliding the headless corpse against the wall, I heard
something clapping together. That familiar voice from earlier echoed throughout
the room,
"Heh, well done. I'm glad you have some genuine skill and
not just luck." I turned toward the exit, that seemed to be where the voice
was coming from. "Or maybe..." a figure stepped out of the shadows,
polished bonemold armor shining in the torchlight, "My allies were just
weaklings." A Dunmer looked down at me, his spiked red hair, his bonemold
armor, that icy stare, it couldn't be him.
"That's..." I stuttered "That's not possible, I
killed you!"
He just laughed. "You can't kill me so easily! You got
lucky back in Sadrith Mora! When that spell hit me I was knocked out for a
while, but most of my soldiers fled before I awoke and my mission was proclaimed
a failure. It got me demoted, to this hell hole, with those fools... it makes my
blood boil, that a weakling like you was the cause of my biggest failure!"
"You done jabbering Rodran? Because I’m not in the mood
to listen to your whining! If you're angry just kill me if you can!" I
shouted, throwing the axe at him and running to get my bow.
I snatched my bow and looked back at Rodran, he had drawn his
sword and was already at the foot of the staircase. I reached for an arrow,
forgetting I didn't even have my quiver. Rodran rushed me, swinging his sword in
rage, I managed to deflect his sword with my bow, but my dagger was out of
reach. I conjured a shockball in my right hand and threw it at Rodran, it
stopped him long enough for me to get my dagger. I continued to use my bow as a
makeshift shield, attempting to find an opening for a quick stab, something on
the ground behind him caught my eye, it was the Imperials head. I let my guard
down for a moment and felt Rodrans sword hit my arm. It cut through my robe and
pierced my armor, it didn't go very deep, but it was enough to make me drop
Magebane. I ducked under his next swing and ran behind him, cutting his left
palm on the way. I ran over to the Imperials head, grabbed it and threw it at
Rodran. He was able to block it, but he didn't see me charging until I was
almost next to him. I crashed into his chest shoulder first, knocking him onto
his back. He dropped his sword and I thought I broke my arm, that armor was
harder than it looked. I began an incantation for the best shock spell I knew,
it was about as powerful as the one I used on him last time. He went for his
sword as I finished the spell, sending a blast of electricity at him. He was
weakened, but still conscious, I went over and stepped on his right hand with
all my might, breaking a couple of his fingers. He screamed, scrambling to his
feet and running toward the exit.
"Damn you!" He shouted as he ran away. "I'll be
back, you won't survive our next encounter!" he vanished into the darkness.
"I thought I was a coward, oh well, it saves me some
energy." I mumbled, staring at the exit.
After tending to my wounds I looked over at the sword Rodran
left behind.
"A Katana made of Bonemold? That's rare." I set it
with the other equipment and went out to get the pack guar, setting torches
along the path outside. They hadn't gone far, one was sleeping near the door and
the other two were wandering around nearby. I lured them into the cave, loaded
up the weapons, armor and whatever else was in there and began my long trek back
to Suran.
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