Chapter 3:
Spelunking
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"Talking"
"Thoughts"
"DOVAH-ZUL"
"Daedra/Aedra speech"
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Ilia twitched as a sudden sound, followed by a soft curse, floated into her ears.
She bleary opened her eyes, sighing as she saw the bed empty save for herself. Lifting her head to look over her shoulder, she half-smiled, half-frowned at the sight of her husband hunched over a stack of parchments on his desk, shadows from a candle flame dancing across his face, a quill in hand.
She quietly got up, slipping into her dress robe. She walked over to Alan, wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her chin on his head, "What time is it?"
"Four fifty-three in the morning," Alan said without looking up.
"And how long have you been up?"
"Not long".
"Alan…"
Alan stopped writing, "…One hour forty-three minutes and fifty seconds".
Ilia hummed, kissing the top of his head, "Nightmares?"
Alan scoffed, tilting his head back to look his wife in the eyes, "Vaermina was particularly vindictive, if uninspired".
"Oh?"
Alan snorted, "Nothing more than the manor in ruins and figure with red eyes standing over your corpses; hair-raising to be sure, but compared to what she sent me after Miraak, largely unimpressive".
Ilia chuckled at her husband's bored, analytical tone. She then gently grabbed the quill from his hand, setting it aside. She then started to rub his shoulders, "Come back to bed"
Alan moaned at Ilia's touch, but then shook his head, "I'm almost finished with the second volume".
"Of how many?" Ilia asked with a raised brow.
Alan hung his head low, "I'll know when I'm finished".
"You need to relax," she quietly stated.
Alan snorted, "Sleep won't help me in that endeavor, too much energy".
Ilia hummed, before grabbing a green vial from the shelf above Alan's desk, ignoring his cocked brow. She downed the potion in one gulp, shivering as she felt her previous tiredness disappear.
She slipped her hands down Alan's shirt, tenderly raking her nails against his chest, "All right, forget sleep". She leaned down to his ear "I've been reading up on the Dibellan Arts" she whispered huskily.
Ilia smirked as Alan stilled. Her lips widened into a full smile as he summoned an orb of blue magic in his hands, expanding it until it encompassed the whole room.
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Alan let out a low growl as he spotted yet another Snow Bear. He quickly shouted, "KAAN DREM OV" and the beast left him and Shadowmere alone.
Said horse then buckled, neighing in discomfort.
Alan patted Shadowmere's flank sympathetically, "I know, I know, you don't like the Shout," the horse nodded in affirmation, "But do you really want to kill another bear?" Shadowmere snorted, red eyes glowing at the thought, "Well…I don't, and I hold the reins so…Deal with it".
Shadowmere whinnied lowly, but trotted down the stone path.
They eventually came to an incline, and after following the upward path for a few minutes, Alan saw a stone bridge leading into the mountain.
The Breton hopped off his horse, "All right buddy, see you later". Shadowmere shook his mane, and trotted back down the mountain.
Alan slowly walked into the cave, frowning at the abnormally intense darkness. He snapped his fingers, and Dawnbreaker came forth from his extra dimensional storage, illuminating the cavern.
He felt something glare at him from the beyond, and he frowned apologetically at the lingering shadows, "Sorry my fellow Nightingales, but I do not have night vision".
The glare lessened slightly.
With a soft smile, he held the blade in front of him, walking forward. After a moment, he saw torches lining the walls, and he banished the mythical blade.
Rolling his shoulders, he 'whispered', "LAAS YAH NIR". Several red wisps entered his vision, after which he crouched low, inching his way forward. The path soon opened up into a greater cavern, Alan slinking behind a natural pillar.
He peered forward, noting a pair of vampires standing in front of the entrance to what looked like a Nordic ruin, along with those strange, coal black dogs that he'd sometimes seen wandering around with vampires.
Calling upon Nocturnal's blessing, Alan willed himself invisible. After a familiar tingle crept throughout his body, he slowly moved forward.
"…Lokil would hurry up," he heard one of the vampires say, "I've half a mind to tell Lord Harkon he entrusted this task to a fool".
Alan paused, hiding behind a boulder.
The other vampire snorted, "Good luck. You know how much favor Lokil has with him".
"You've got a point," the first vampire groused. The two were silent after that
Alan scowled; he'd hoped they would talk more of their infrastructure. Then he turned his gaze to the large entrance, and his eyes softened incrementally at the sight of Tolan, lying on the ground, a pool of dry blood around his head and neck.
Subconsciously, Alan brought a hand up to his neck. He then steeled his nerves, and charged up two separate spells—blue and purple—In his hands.
He shot both orbs forward, the purple one landing right in front of one of the vampires.
The undead man jumped back in fright as a hulking Dremora charged forward, bellowing at the top of its lungs.
"Where in Oblivion?!"
"You'll find out soon enough!" the Dremora cried as it slashed forward.
The vampire avoided all but a shallow cut, but that shallow cut still seared and caused him to hiss in pain as the fire enchantment inherent to all Daedric weapons kicked in.
The second vampire ran forward to help her ally, but paused as a low whine entered her ears. Whirling around, she started at the sight of that Nord Vigilant slamming his hammer down on one of their beasts, crushing its skull.
The vampire snarled, rushing for the resurrected Nord. Then a sharp projectile slammed into her chest, forcing her to gasp in pain. She staggered, and then a projectile pierced her throat, and she fell down choking on her stolen blood.
Alan rolled his shoulders as he emerged from behind the boulder. He eyed the crossbow in his hands critically, "Aim higher, see about making the lever easier to pull back," he muttered to himself.
He heard a strangled scream from ahead, and rolled his eyes as the Dremora roared in triumph. "Is this the most fun you have in your immortal life. Tell me, honestly?"
The Dremora scowled, "Be silent mortal! Allow me to bask in my kill".
Alan groaned, "See you later," he said as he banished the Dremora back to Oblivion.
He turned to Tolan, who moaned lowly. He shrugged, "If it's any consolation, you've probably earned a one-way ticket to Sovngarde. Plus, Alduin isn't a problem anymore so, yeah". He then shot two pale blue orbs at the dead vampires, allowing Tolan's body to disintegrate to ash.
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Alan growled as he downed healing potion. "Stupid vampires and their stupid ice spells and their stupid taunts". He pushed open a door, and started at two strange statues on the opposite end of the open room he entered. He peered closer, "These things look…so life-like…neat".
He then heard a strangled cry from ahead, and quickly (and quietly) moved forward. He frowned at the sight of a still-twitching corpse lying face first in front of a pair of vampires. He bit back a curse, just slow enough. He shouted, "LAAS YAH NIR," nodding when only the two vampires appeared as red wisps.
He stood up, "TIID," the two vampires jerked their heads up towards Alan, and one of them started to charge up a spell in his hands,"KLO UL!"
Alan rolled his neck his vision gained a blue tint, and time slowed to a crawl, obeying his will.
Staring down at the two vampires, Alan smiled sharply as he squared his shoulders. "YOL," he took in a deep breath, "TOOR SHUL!" he drew the last syllable out as long as he could. He was left panting as all the air left his lungs, panting over the railing; he shook his head, winded after three shouts in quick succession, he was getting sloppy. He made a mental note to take a trip up to High Hrothgar in the near future.
He then felt time lurch to its true speed, and smiled as the two vampires screeched in agony.
He hopped down, taking a moment to wave vampire dust away from his face. He then stared at the large structure just ahead, and after taking a moment to let his Dovah Sil, his draconic soul, regain its full strength.
He walked forward, frowning at the sight of a pedestal right in the middle of the structure. He walked up to it, looking around as he did so, frowning as he saw nothing of note. He poked the top of the pedestal, humming when it moved slightly. He pushed it with his left index finger, frowning when it didn't move any more than before. He placed his whole hand upon it, pushing down hard.
A spike jutted out from the pedestal, piercing his hand.
"By Sithis!" he cried out. He tried to remove his palm, but fell to his knees as his blood was forcibly drained from his body.
After what felt like hours of agony, the spike retreated back into the pedestal. Quick as a flash, he cast a healing spell, letting the warm magic wash over his body. He gazed up at his palm, sighing at the sight of his flesh stitching back together.
He sprung up to his feet, taking a moment to glare at the pedestal. He then turned his gaze to a tall brazier in line with purple flames.
He quickly solved the puzzle.
As he pushed the last brazier into place, he heard stone begin to shift. He whirled around to face the source, the center of the room sinking down, allowing a large stone coffin to rise up.
With a snarl, Alan summoned Dawnbreaker, charging up a flame spell in his hands, "Of course, what else would be sealed here but a vampire?" The lid of the coffin started to open from the top, "Okay, calm down. It might have been in there for so long, it's just a dried out husk".
The lid slid down onto the ground, revealing, to Alan's immense shock, an ordinary (if pale) woman in ornate clothing.
A/N: Whew! Another chapter done! Short but hey, I'm comfy with it. Be sure to leave a review. Later.