When Hjalti and Serana passed through the portal,they looked around curiously before shrugging lightly. "You'd think an Oblivion pocket realm would at least change every now and then..." Hjalti said dully before Serana shakes her head lightly.
"Out of the times that we've actually come back here,have you ever seen it change...?" She asked sarcastically,making him chuckle and nod lightly. "Good point." He said simply before they made their way across the dimly lit,ruin dotted wasteland in search of princess Anna.
"And so,off we trek into the desolate Soul Cairn again in search of the young princess of Arendelle..." He said to himself,making Serana look back at him curiously before he shakes his head. "That sounded so much better in my head..." He said,making her chuckle a bit.
"It could use some work..." She says before they heard something coming up out of the ground to their right. Hjalti pulled his sword and ignites a light flame in his other hand while Serana raised her hands when they noticed the blackened skeletons crawling out of the ground and rushing towards them with weapons raised.
"These things never get old..." He said sarcastically before flinging a fireball at a group of them,blowing them up without a second problem as Serana pelted some of the others with ice spikes and lightning bolts. One came up to Hjalti and tries to swing it's sword at him before he cuts it down when another group springs up and fires arrows at them.
"Oh,that's pleasant..." He rolled his eyes before flinging another fireball at the group then turning to the group heading towards Serana,who was steadily knocking them down one by one. He summons his bow and starts knocking them down with her until they meet in the middle of the field and eventually thin them down.
"I maybe giving these things too much credit,but I think they get just a little smarter every time we come here..." He says sarcastically,making Serana laugh. "Maybe about as smart as an old pile of bones can get..." She suggested wittily,making him nod a little.
"Sounds about right." He says as they kept walking,scanning the area thoroughly as they passed through. "If you were going to keep somebody prisoner in the Soul Cairn,where would you put them...?" Serana thinks out loud for a moment before they get the same thought at the same time.
"The Boneyard..." They said in unison before turning their attention to the massive mausoleum dead in the middle of the Cairn. "Which means we're probably going to have to deal with Keepers again..." Serana said kind of dully,making Hjalti shrug lightly.
"If the barrier's back up and if she's actually in there...still,no harm in looking,huh?" He says calmly,making her nod lightly before they start heading towards the Boneyard. "Why the Soul Cairn...? I'd think the king of worms would at least think of a better place to hide one of his prisoners..." Serana suggests calmly,making him shrug.
"Desolate wasteland,no signs of any life except long dead soul extracts that want to kill everything in sight,not to mention the undead dragon roaming the skies...and let's not forget the fact that you either have to be dead,undead or half dead to even pass through a portal to get here..." Hjalti pointed out in a somewhat sarcastic tone,making her nod in agreement.
"Right..." She said simply before lightning strikes right next to them,but it didn't phase either of them. "Ah,that beautiful Oblivion weather...never gets old..." He says in a witty tone,making her chuckle a bit. "Yeah...it's just wonderful,isn't it?" She said sarcastically before they start laughing lightly.
"Can I ask you something,Hjalti...?" She inquired curiously before he nods lightly. "I don't see why not,what's on your mind...?" He says calmly. "Queen Elsa...and how you've been treating her..." She stars calmly,making him nod lightly.
"I figured she'd start feeling better if I give her a little taste of how a lad should be treating her...by making my own observations." He answered simply,making her nod a little. "You're not going to make her fall for you then just leave,are you...?" She asks in a more serious tone,making him shake his head.
"Of course not...and if she asks about it,whichever one of us she approaches,we'll explain it to her." He says calmly. "Fair enough..." She says with a content nod as they continued on. After awhile,they noticed a black soul gem laying in their path that seemed to contain a feminine figure within it.
"Normally,I'd say that's a pretty strange place for a soul gem,but...there's definitely stranger." Hjalti says calmly,making Serana nod in agreement. "I wonder who's in there...?" She said,making him shrug a bit before picking it up and studying it.
"A young woman from the looks of it..." He points out as they study the gem closer before Serana raised her eyebrow curiously. "It looks like the princess..." She says,making him nod lightly. "It does,doesn't it...?" He confirms curiously.
"Which means that this must be the gem Mannimarco used on her to be able to hold her prisoner..." He said simply before they look between each other curiously. "Hmm..." He studies the gem a little longer. "What are you thinking...?" She asks curiously.
"If one can see a soul or at least a piece of a soul in one of these gems...do you think it'd be possible to communicate with the host if their still alive enough to respond...?" He inquires,making her raise her eyebrow in interest.
"It's worth a try..." She says calmly,making him nod lightly. "Hello...? Princess Anna? Can you hear me?" He said to the gem as they wait for a response. They didn't hear anything for a minute until a faint whimper emits from the gem.
They look at the gem for a minute. "Anna?" He called out again. "Hello? Who's there?" A frantic female voice responds. "Relax,we're friends...how are you feeling right now?" He says calmly. "Woozy,scared,confused. Where am I?! Where's Elsa?!" She says in a worried tone.
"You're in the Soul Cairn...a pocket realm of Oblivion where trapped souls are sent. Your sister and boyfriend are back in Arendelle." He answers. "Does that mean...?" She squeaked with a hint of fear. "No,Mannimarco just partially soul trapped you so he could use you as leverage against your sister. You're weaker here than usual,but we'll remedy that when we find you...now,we need your help in that regard,can you see where you are...?" He explains calmly.
"Yeah...I'm tied to some kind of post in the middle of some kind of graveyard surrounded by walls,I can't really tell much else,though." She answered in a still,somewhat frantic tone,making Hjalti and Serana look between each other.
"Can you tell if there's any kind of barrier surrounding the structure...maybe magical in nature?" He asks. "Not that I know of,it looks pretty clear...except for the monster that flies over every now and then." She answered.
"The dragon,right? Don't worry,we're on good terms with him." He says calmly. "No,but I have talked to a dragon while I was here,he's been keeping that other monster at a distance since I got here." She explained,making them both raise their eyebrow.
"We're on our way,just keep as calm as you can...okay?" He reassured. "Please hurry,I think it's coming back!" She said frantically as they continued to the Boneyard. "So,no barrier,which means no Keeprs,but we've got some unknown monster presumably guarding her by Mannimarco's orders who Durnehviir's been keeping at bay and we know that princess Anna's still alive..." Hjalti elaborated to himself,making Serana nod in confirmation.
"What's the plan?" She asks as he starts scanning the sky curiously. "See where it goes...?" He suggested,making her nod lightly. "That'll work." She says as they approached the Boneyard. "Is it just me,or does something about this feel like a trap?" She asked,making him laugh lightly. "We're dealing with Mannimarco..." He answered wittily,making her chuckle. "Good point..." She said before they walked through the gate.
The first thing they saw was Anna bound to a pillar made of bones by what looked like entrails trying to struggle loose as Hjalti summons his bow and notches an arrow before he and Serana approached her. "Princess Anna?" He calls out,making her light green eyes shoot towards them.
"Are you...?" She started before he nods in confirmation. "The little voice that was in your head earlier...this is my conscience." He answered wittily as he motioned to Serana,making her giggle lightly before they heard an unearthly roar echo through the sky as a frightened look crossed Anna's face.
"It's coming back!" She exclaimed when they noticed a nightmarish demon with six limbs counting it's wings,evil teeth lining it's jaws,four horns upon it's head with two curving up and two curving down,a powerful tail with an almost skeletal frame and evil claws decorating it's hands and feet.
"This should be fun..." Hjalti said before firing on the creature as Serana moves to his right before pelting it with ice spikes and lightning bolts. "We need to keep it away from her!" She said quickly,making him nod in agreement before they move forward as they continued their assault.
The creature glides down and lands a few feet in front of them before standing on it's hind legs. "Up close and personal,huh?" He grins before banishing the bow and pulling his great sword. "Serana,cover me!" He called out as she continuously pelts the creature who spits a fireball towards her.
"MUL QAH DIIV!" He shouts as a spectral dragon hide encased him before he cuts Anna loose so she can get to a safer spot while he and Serana distract it. "YOL TOOR SHUL" He shouted,sending a fiery blast towards the creature and making it stagger a bit before it spits a fireball at him.
He dodged it before strafing to the side while Anna watched the battle in awe. "WULD NAH KEST!" He shouts again before flying towards the creature and cleaving into it's leg,making it roar in pain before swinging at him which made him duck before cutting up it's wrist as he steps under it's arm while Serana steadily pelted it with magic.
The beast roars then fires at her again before she steps out of the way then pulls a thin,lightly curved sword with a blackened blade before making her way to the creature as she pelts it with lightning while Hjalti cuts chunks out of it's arms as it slings him backwards.
He jumps back to his feet as Serana strikes it with her sword,draining it's physical and magical energy with each swing as he charged and cleaves his sword into it's leg,draining it's life force and sending the arcane elements surging through it's body.
It kicks back at him then swings behind it's back before he dodged each attack then cuts into it's body before backing up a little bit. "FO KRAH DIIN!" He shouts,sending a blast of ice and frost towards it and making it stagger again before cutting one of it's wings off,making it roar in pain before it slams him to the ground.
He staggers back to his feet and looks to the creature with a smirk before rearing his head back. "TIID KLO UL!" He shouts,making time slow down around him before studying it,noting every move it made when it attacked and countering each one before delivering a few rather damaging attacks of his own then stepping around to it's tail and raising his sword.
The moment he had the right angle,he started bringing the sword down as time returns to normal then cleaving it's tail off and dragging it to the ground before it slams him against the wall while Serana starts draining it's life force and hitting it with her sword.
He staggers from the wall and regains himself before approaching it and cutting it's leg out from under it,making it collapse to the ground again only for Serana to cut one of it's arms down to make it fall further while he went to it's head and raised his sword again then brings it down on it's neck.
It roars in pain as the heavy blade bites into it's neck before he raised it again and cleaves again and again until it's head falls off,making him nod contently before propping the sword on his shoulder. "You think that'll do it or should we burn it...?" He asked,making Serana shrug lightly.
"I haven't even seen Daedra that could come back from that...not anytime soon,anyway..." She said calmly,making him nod contently. "We probably ain't seen the last of these things,though..." He said before she nods in agreement.
"We've got the princess now,let's get out of here..." She suggests,making him nod in agreement before they sheathed their weapons while Hjalti's draconic hide fades as they approached the shocked young princess. "How did you...?" She stuttered before they motioned for her to follow them.
"We'll explain on the way,this ain't the place to be talking..." He suggests simply,making her nod reluctantly and follow them out of the Boneyard. "You didn't happen to hear anything about Mannimarco's plan,did you?" He asks calmly,making her shrug lightly.
"I heard something about attacking the mortal world and something he called 'Oblivion'..." She answered,making them look between each other. "You don't think he's crazy enough to wage war on the Daedric Princes,do you...?" Serana suggested in a concerned tone.
"I sure as hell wouldn't put it past him..." Hjalti answered,making Anna look between them curiously. "Umm...what are you talking about?" She asked in a confused tone before they look to her and motion for her to follow. "Walk and talk,walk and talk..." He says quickly as she reluctantly obliged.
"I think I heard or maybe saw something to do with a spell that was supposed to completely destroy the 'veil between worlds' or something like that and he needed a consistent source of power to be able to do it...I don't know what he meant,though..." She explains as they made their way back to the portal while Hjalti and Serana contemplate every possibility Mannimarco could accomplish if he succeeded,how much havok it could cause and how much power he'd have if he actually managed to defeat the Daedric Princes.
"A 'consistent source of power...' where would I find one of those...the Staff of Magnus is a possibility,but it ain't in Arendelle and considering we've been here for a good while,he probably would have had it already...I need to find a better hiding place for that when we get back to Skyrim...Lorkhan's heart is a possibility,but as far as we know,all of the known pieces of it and the heart in general were destroyed...skeleton key,maybe...no,he probably would have done it by now..." He debates to himself for a minute while Anna and Serana listened to him curiously.
"Is he okay...?" Anna asked quietly. "Yeah,he does this when he's trying to figure something out..." Serana answered calmly as they listened to him 'ramble'. "A giant soul gem...?" He said in a stupid tone before shaking his head lightly when he thinks about something.
"Your sister...she was born with her powers,right...?" He asks Anna simply,making her nod reluctantly. "Yeah,they've been growing ever since she..." She stopped when it hits them and a horrified look crossed her face. "Elsa...?" She squeaked lightly before her knees started getting weak.
"Which can be accomplished with a highly extensive knowledge of necromancy,Oblivion realms and previous attempts to overthrow a Daedric Lord..." Hjalti states as he grabs Anna's arm to keep her on her feet. "Then we need to hurry back to Arendelle,especially now that we know he's planted vampires in the city and quite possibly in the castle." Serana suggests,making him nod before he gives the princess her essence gem.
"Here,hold this..." He said,making her reluctantly take it as she returned to her full strength. "What was that...?" She asked. "The piece of your soul that Mannimarco took so that he could use you for leverage against your sister...for which you would have to be alive,but trapped somewhere that nobody completely living could get to you." He answered,making her raise her eyebrow curiously.
"Then how can you come here...?" She inquires. "I'm a vampire...which comes with a few benefits when it comes to travelling between dead realms..." Serana said in a kind of sarcastic tone,making her study her for a minute before looking to Hjalti. "Long story short,we had to find a powerful artifact here and she used the same spell Mannimarco used on you so that I could pass through the portal...luckily,we found one of those gems that contained that piece of my soul and any drawbacks the spell had while I was here would be fixed." He explains,making her tilt her head a little.
"Drawbacks...?" She asks. "When you're partially soul trapped,you're weaker when you travel here and if you're lucky enough to find that gem and touch it,it counteracts that little problem and makes coming here as easy as it would be if you weren't completely living." He answers,making her nod lightly.
"I still don't understand most of that,but thank you..." She says with a light smile before he nods a little. "You're welcome." He said calmly before they noticed the portal not too far from them. "Is that the way out...?" She asks curiously,making them nod in confirmation.
"That's it..." Hjalti answers simply as they approached it while Anna reluctantly studies it for a minute. "It's creepy..." She said in a somewhat quiet tone,making him chuckle lightly. "You get used to it..." He said before they pass through the portal...
It's kinda short,but here it is. Figured I kept y'all waiting for the actual chapter long enough,but I definitely can't promise that the next one will be any quicker,I've been busy lately and ain't had much writing time.
Anyway,till the next one...
