In the haziness of her mind, she developed a taste in a sharp bitter liquid. Not knowing what it could possibly be, she spit it out of her mouth and was slowly rocked back to her senses.
Finally coming back to her feet, she saw that she was in a damp cavern that leaked of an archaic glow; as if something ancient and powerful lurked behind its hidden passageways, waiting for the most foolish of adventurers to discover it. But what was she to contradict that statement? She was in the cave, was she not? And quite clearly, she had to push on into its eerie glow or her pride itself might be murdered.
What in the name of Oblivion..?!
Cursing her luck, she scrambled out from under the brittle bones of a dead Spriggan while her other hand diligently sought out for her trusty steel blade. Calloused fingers met cold sharp decors protruding from a staff, and with a sigh of relief, was reminded to once again thank the daedric lord, Sanguine, for such a useful gift.
Although, she knew that such a warrior as herself should never rely on another's skills...Aljiah summoned the familiar Dremora again, and pushed onwards to the deepest part of the cave. Try as she might bluff at her friends for their offers of assistance, she knew that despite her tough words – she truly did desire their company. Yet, glancing back at the inhuman being next to her, she also knew that none of them were as indestructible as him; being battle-handy and capable as the Dremora was, it made up for the still silence that her friends could have filled during the long and exhausting quests she prompted on herself.
"By Talos..." the Nord woman's free hand brushed against the empty sheathe of her sword as she warily entered the forest-like scenery; the other, curling tightly into a ball. Such a sight she had not yet discovered before lay around her blossoming with trees and flowers. In the near distance, she could spot the mists of a waterfall and knew, that this was indeed an enchanted place.
Wandering into the middle of the small forest, she found herself falling into the soft grass and exhaling in peace. Sure, a dead hunter's body reeked of blood at the far corner, but the flowers were enough to mask the stench.
"I smell weakness..."
The usual haunting observation lulled Aljiah back to reality as she watched her summoned Dremora swing his sword in time to cleanly slice through another Spriggan's wrist. The useless hand plopped to a nearby space by her head, as she rolled to the side to join the fight.
Fumbling for her sword, Aljiah's panic rose as she found it nowhere in sight.
"No, not like this..."
Gasping for air, the Nordic woman quickly flashed out her hands and literally let her magicka loose in a burning torrent. The Spriggan let out an insect-like cry as it scurried away from her reach. Aljiah, unaccustomed to using destructive magic, blanched out for a mere second before hurrying over to her Dremora and recognized the deterring glare it was shooting at the ground.
Taking back the staff into her hands, she watched as a black mass of matter swallowed it back into its realm and returned it back to hers in a new spot all ready and new – another perk that came with traveling with him rather than her friends.
"Arkay, no! It can heal?!" Aljiah noticed, ducking behind a tree as a swarm of enchanted insects swarmed over to her. Taking the sign of battle cries erupting from her figher's lips, she decided it was time she put her College training to use and rummaged through the scanty list of spells she had bothered to learn back in the day.
Ah-hah!
Mentally applauding her success, she poured all concentration into her spell and watched as her magicka form the most spiritual weapons; a bow and an endless pack of arrows. Stringing the first arrow back, she carefully peeped out of the tree and saw that her Dremora was once again, fighting a losing battle.
Inhaling a quick breath, she squinted one eye almost shut before letting her arrow hit the peculiar Spriggan's leg. The arrow lodged into it as stiff as the most hardiest steel ones, and Aljiah again congratulated herself on a job well done.
"Die, mortal!"
Shooting another arrow at the monstrosity, Aljiah confidently stepped away from her hiding spot and edged closer and closer to the battle with each direct hit. Until finally, the thing was killed. Sighing in relief, Aljiah watched as her weapons evaporated into thin air before walking over to her Dremora. And although her people were exceptionally taller than most races, (damn those Altmer..), she still had to tilt her chin upwards to come face to face with the Oblivion walker's abyssal eyes.
"Job well done, eh?" she said, trying to see if she could gouge a reaction from it this time. But to no avail, all she received was a intimidating stare, and Aljiah had to turn around to escape its capturing essence. Picking at the dead creature in front of them with the end of her staff, she observed its different animosities compared to the other two she had faced on earlier.
"Well, its bigger...stronger, and is more strategic. Terrifying, don't you agree?" she glanced back at her companion to see him disappear just in time. Rolling her eyes, Aljiah sauntered back to the real forest outside to declare the place safe.
"Aljiah..!" the Redguard's eyes exhibited a strange relief filling his eyes as he stood up to meet her halfway. "I was afraid you'd die as well." he admitted, crossing his arms in discomfort.
The Nord inhaled the fresh, cold air of Skyrim before grinning. Another day, another point for survival. She looked past the man in front of her and into the clearing where she left her horse tied up. "Then you had underestimated me like many," her eyes flickered to him briefly. "I'm sorry about your companions." she added in a softer tone.
So many comrades had fallen beside her in the countless of war campaigns she participated in, but none had had to die so tragically like his; there was never any real honor when dying in the hands of nature – no glory to tell at all. It also wasn't fair to pit a true warrior against a battle-styled mage. For although she was a magic-user herself, she only conjured weapons at most.
Blinking back another fresh batch of tears, Valdr nodded and dug in his pocket for something. "One of them, Ari," his voice cracked. "gave me this dagger when we first started hunting together." Finally finding it, he took Aljiah's hand and placed the hilt on her palm. "Always said it brought her luck. You should be the one to carry it now." he concluded.
Aljiah stared at the new dagger in her hands for long time before wrapping her fingers around it and giving it a few practice swings. She staggered a bit during her first few swings, but it would do her good while she was rendered swordless.
"New to using a dagger?" Valdr chuckled, then cast the cave a forlorn look. He sighed once more before nodding at Aljiah. "I should go, but feel free to come by my house in Falkreath. You are welcome there any time." he said.
Aljiah smiled over at him and pocketed the nifty weapon into her armor's poorly built in pocket. "It would be nice to see a familiar face in a new place. May the gods watch over your battles, friend." replied Aljiah. She didn't tamper with anymore of his time and therefore, headed over to her trusty stead and trotted off without another glance back; when she had entered the cave, it was a nice, sunny day. Yet now, as she wandered deeper into unknown land – the sun was once again lost and replaced by suspicious shadows sleuthing around in the darkest corners of the forest.
Maybe I should stop over in Falkreath now, she thought, hurrying her horse's pace. She was low on soul gems and a decent meal could make up for the energy she had exerted for the past hours. Gently tugging the reigns of her horse to the left, she changed route and warily traveled to the nearest hold.
A/N: I'm going to have to give a lot of credits to a fellow author in this site; FTAaee. She's more intune with video games, (like Skyrim), and has for the most part, turned my one-shot into something...better read. Anyway, this is really just a try-out of some sorts. I wanna write for Skyrim, (again, credits go to my brother whose got me hooked!), because of the games such good roleplay opportunities and because of its overall wonderful gameplay and storylines.
But Im going to stop ranting and say thank you for reading!
& If you think this is good, please tell me if you'd be interested in reading more about Aljiah's travels in a more detailed and actually-plotted story.
Thank you!