"I've heard rumors of these Black Books before," Mianna muttered. "Only rumors. Well, that, and there was a madman I encountered who spoke of a Black Book... how he read it, and how its secrets... I don't remember."
The unlikely duo of Adalla and Mianna had reached Raven Rock in relative safety. They'd been set upon by horrific figures comprised of ash on the way, but the fiends were easily dispatched by Adalla's mace and Mianna's quick and scarily precise dagger work. Now, they were poking around the town, searching for any sort of clue pertaining to the Black Book in Raven Rock. So far, they'd turned up nothing; they'd been pointed in the direction of books with black covers, but Adalla, who'd seen the Black Book Mia had read, knew it wasn't the same thing. Unlike Mianna, the people of Raven Rock apparently hadn't heard about the Black Books.
"Why do you want a Black Book, though? How will it help you save your friend?" Mianna continued quietly, as they continued to search the town.
The questions were starting to bother Adalla. She wondered, if only for a moment, if this was how Mia felt whenever Adalla had asked about her past. "My friend was trapped in Apocrypha," she finally said. "I need a Black Book to get there myself, and get her out."
"Wait a- so you mean to tell me... gods, your friend is probably too far gone, then," Mianna said with a sigh. "I'd just thought it was to be some bargaining chip in a deal, and that she'd been taken captive, or something..."
"No." Adalla found it rather amusing that Mianna's mind had thought such. "I doubt Mia's truly gone, for that matter."
"Hmm... but Hermaeus Mora, if the stories pertaining to him are to be believed, is notorious for trapping mortals with promises of knowledge... when in reality, he's enslaving them in his realm, to do as he pleases with them..." Mianna apparently noticed Adalla's suddenly troubled look, for she stuttered briefly. "B-but actually, perhaps your friend is holding on... that's not entirely unheard of, either..."
"You know a fair bit about Daedric Lords - Hermaeus Mora in particular," Adalla murmured.
"Only what I've learned from court wizards," Mianna said defensively. "I'm no follower or conjurer, if that's what you think."
"Court wizards?" Adalla repeated.
"...Never mind. Forget I said anything about it." The Redguard cleared her throat. "So where should we go from here? We've searched just about everywhere, and we'd have to break into homes if we're going to search its entirety... I'd rather not dishonor my name."
Mianna had a point; they'd searched everywhere they could without possibly breaking and entering, and facing subsequent trouble with Raven Rock law. There was only one place they hadn't searched yet...
"I'm not holding out much hope," Adalla began slowly, "but what about the mine?"
Mianna laughed; Adalla hoped she was laughing at the suggestion, and not at her, or there'd be a fist in the Redguard's face shortly.
"It's the only place we haven't checked!" Adalla protested, annoyed. "What's that saying you humans have? 'It's always in the last place you look'?"
"Do you mean to tell me that doesn't hold true for elves, too?" Mianna mused, quieting down a bit. "Or do you just happen to have a knack for finding everything on the first try, as a collective people?"
Adalla sighed heavily, and stalked away from Mianna. "This is why I didn't want you to come along..." she muttered. "Why did I take so long looking at the map...?"
Apparently, her words were heard by the Redguard, for she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. "Hey... I don't want to be here, babysitting you, any more than you do-"
"You are not babysitting me," Adalla growled.
"-but I'm here anyway," Mianna finished. "So come on, let's just make the most of this, find you your Black Book, and get this over with so we don't have to look at each other again."
As enticing as the prospect was, Adalla was nonetheless annoyed that Mianna had been the one to vocalize it. She started toward the mine without a word.
"You... don't tell me you were serious?"
"Are you truly so deaf? I said it's the one place we haven't looked yet. If it's not there, then yes, we'll have to break into homes and search... but would you rather do that now, and risk trouble with the guards, or would you rather pursue the one last legal place we have to check?" The Altmer whirled around to glare at the Redguard. "If you'd rather not check the mine, then feel free to break into homes; I'll check the mine alone." She turned around again, and her last image of Mianna was to see the human reaching up to rub the back of her head. She heard a sigh and an incoherent grumble, but didn't press the matter. To equal parts relief and irritation, she heard the Redguard's footsteps following her.
She could only hope Clavicus Vile made this annoyance well worth her time.
For the first time since she'd left Haemar's Shame, Adalla felt movement in her pack. She was worried, at first, and swung her pack around to her front to investigate. The small statuette of Barbas was moving around. He - it? - looked up at her and barked, though the sound itself was quiet.
"Somethin' on your mind?" his voice rang in her mind.
"I just... you surprised me." She reached into the pack, gently grasped the statuette, pulled it out, then placed it in her palm. "You hadn't moved until just now."
"Eh, I get antsy sometimes." The statuette yawned, then stretched out before laying down in her palm. "'Sides, I can sense something powerful nearby. Like, really powerful. I'm not saying it's a Black Book - I don't know for certain - but it could be."
Adalla looked up to see Mianna returning from the far end of the corridor. They'd found old, Nordic ruins in the mine, and any smart comments Mianna may have had about 'Black Book in a mine?' were silenced the second they'd stepped into the barrow. Adalla would have felt vindicated, were it not a dangerous venture in and of itself. The fact that they'd been all but suckered into helping an old man with a completely unrelated task was of no comfort, either... but it had been their only way to get as far as they had.
"There's... well, you've got to see this for yourself to believe it." Mianna gestured over her shoulder briefly.
The comment piqued Adalla's interest, and she swung her pack around to her front again, then carefully returned the now-still statuette of Barbas back into the pack. He was silent, for which she was grateful; she wasn't sure how Mianna would have reacted to hear Adalla holding a one-sided conversation out loud.
"What was that statuette?"
"A gift," Adalla said, as vaguely and shortly as she possibly could. "Lead on."
The Redguard nodded, then turned to guide Adalla to whatever she'd discovered. "I still can't believe there's this barrow connected to the mine..." she murmured. "Maybe this is what the East Empire Company wanted to keep quiet. If the draugr were any indicator, it may well have been for the best."
"Probably." Adalla's attention wasn't really on the favor the old man had asked of them. As she saw an opening ahead of them, her attention was instead on what awaited them.
She had not been expecting a massive chamber, with a large, circular door in the far wall. Not was she expecting a pair of waterfalls preceding the stone platform and flanking the stairs leading up to the platform. Her breath caught at the majesty of the chamber.
This. This, undoubtedly, was a reward of its own... a chance to see something so grand, so... amazing. If ever there was a reason to adventure, Adalla suspected this may well be one reason for some.
And yet, as she neared the opening of the chamber, she came to the realization that the hole she and Mianna were standing in was rather high up in the wall of the chamber. They could climb down safely - relatively, of course - but getting out would be... a challenge in and of itself. In fact, the more Adalla looked, the more it appeared as if the massive door was their only way out, if they descended into the chamber.
Their investigation so far hadn't turned up anything that could reveal a Black Book... but what if they'd passed something? If they descended into this chamber, they wouldn't know. Not for the first time, Adalla worried that this could very well end up her tomb. What if the area beyond the door was a dead end? What would she do then?
Mianna was already starting to climb down. "Well, I don't see any-"
"Wait!" Adalla interrupted. "Wh-what if there's no way out?"
"Hmm... I doubt our luck is that bad," Mianna replied, continuing down. She was hanging off the dirt ledge by her fingers now, and carefully dropped onto the small earthen plateau below. "What if there is? Any adventurer takes that risk, elf. Most die to traps or inhabitants rather than anything else."
Adalla bit her lower lip and gazed into the chamber once more. At the top of the steps... was it just her imagination, or was there a skeleton laying...?
Mianna was already working her way to another earthen plateau. "If you're scared, then run back and tell the old man you turned into a chicken," she said pointedly. "Or, better yet, try telling your friend that you became a coward when it came to trying to save her."
"Don't worry," Barbas' voice rang in her mind. "From what I can gather, this ain't a dead end. You ain't gonna die in here - 'less something else kills you, like a trap or some such."
Hearing Barbas' words reassured her - at least somewhat - and she slowly began to follow Mianna down into the chamber. Once her fingers released the ledge of the hole in the wall, she knew there was no turning back.
"Oh, lovely," the Redguard called out. "Skeletons, and dead draugr." She was already making her way toward the massive door, while Adalla continued to carefully climb down the ledges. "Hmm... well, that's troubling..."
"What?" Adalla called back, feet finally landing on the ground of the chamber itself. She was starting toward the steps, eyes on the door.
"There doesn't appear to be a way to open the door. Not a conventional method, anyway." Mianna sounded about as troubled as Adalla suddenly felt. Were they really trapped here, then? "Maybe there's something we overlooked?"
Adalla turned her attention to the skeletons as she passed the first. Nothing of note there, but as she approached the second, she noticed two things: a large sword, most likely a two-handed blade, and what looked like an old journal tucked beneath the blade. She shifted the weapon to the side, then picked up the journal and opened it. "'Journal of Gratian'- Mianna, I found Gratian's remains!" She gestured to the skeleton she was now taking a tentative seat next to; she was afraid it would rise up and attack her, for whatever reason.
"Lovely. Don't suppose he has a key out of here, does he?"
Adalla ignored Mianna. She was thumbing through the journal, reading some of the entries. Most were about his preparations to venture into the mine and investigate the discovery the miners had made... the Nordic barrow. As she continued to read, though, she noticed mention of something called 'The Bloodskal Blade'. Her eyes turned to the sword, and she wondered if that was the weapon. As she continued to read, she saw not just an illustration that was identical to the blade, but she also saw illustrations of the very door that loomed ahead of her. Her eyes flicked from the Bloodskal Blade to the door, then back to the journal.
"Lose your voice?" Mianna said with a sigh.
"I'm busy trying to figure something out," Adalla replied with a sigh of her own - though hers was unmistakably irritated. "Don't get your panties in a knot."
"Excuse me?" the Redguard snapped.
Adalla closed the journal, set it upon the floor next to her, then stood and carefully picked up the sword. The blade was heavy - far heavier than she was expecting. Still, she'd had experience wielding two-handed weapons before, so it wasn't completely unfamiliar to her. She took a few, careful swings of the sword.
As the journal had suggested, there did seem to be a ribbon-like trail of energy radiating from the blade. Adalla felt hopeful... until she realized she was in the same position as Gratian, minus the life-sapping wounds that had led to his tragic end. She wasn't even sure how to open the door, though he'd seemed convinced the Bloodskal Blade had a part to play in that.
"What's that sword?" Mianna asked, eyes upon the trail of energy that followed the blade whenever Adalla swung it through the air.
"The Bloodskal Blade," she replied. She finally turned the blade so its tip was resting upon the floor, and let her arms rest. She hadn't swung a two-handed weapon of any sort since her training days in Alinor, and it was painfully obvious to her now. "Gratian found it, and when he took it, he awoke the draugr that I'm assuming now lay behind us. His assistant died fighting them, and he suffered severe wounds that slowly killed him."
"So it's a cursed blade," Mianna muttered.
Adalla was, once more, not paying attention to Mianna. She was looking at the door. She picked up the Bloodskal Blade once more, then stepped toward it. She had no idea what she was missing. With the exception of the odd, gash-like markings in the outermost section of the door, it didn't seem all that unusual.
A stroke of inspiration hit her suddenly, and she stepped toward the left gash-like marking. "What if...?" she murmured, then swung the blade in a slow arc in front of her. The tip of the sword flew through the marking, the energy trailing behind it - and her heart soared when the door reacted to the motion. The marking closed and the outer frame shifted from the bottom up. She couldn't believe she'd figured-
Her hopes were dashed almost instantly, however, when a new gash-like marking appeared well out of reach - a vertical gash, unlike the horizontal gash she'd just slashed through. Hoping that perhaps she'd be able to figure this out, she moved over to the right horizontal marking and echoed the slash she'd dealt to the left side. Again, it reacted - and again, a vertical gash appeared overhead, well out of reach of the blade.
"So he was right," Mianna murmured. Adalla could hear a page turn, and suspected the Redguard was reading the journal. "Still... how are you going to reach those two?"
"...I don't know," Adalla groaned. She looked down at the blade, the tip of which was now resting upon the floor once more. She'd begun to make progress that even Gratian couldn't make, and yet...
"Maybe... there's something more to it...?" Mianna offered, glancing up at the blade. "I'm sure the door's markings aren't that high up to taunt people... this barrow was once visited frequently by Nords, don't forget... or maybe it was, I don't know. They definitely left their dead here, though..."
Adalla looked up at the vertical markings, despair etching her face. This was just one of her first adventures, and she was probably going to die, trying to figure this out. She would starve, most likely, and slowly die in this little hole below the ground. No one would know she and Mianna were still down here, and no one would know that they'd died until it was far too late to save them. She was going to fail to save Mia from Apocrypha. Miraak was going to threaten Solstheim - and probably Tamriel, as well.
Rather than give in to her despair, as she thought she'd do, Adalla felt it give way to fury. She was most furious with herself, for daring to come this far. She was also furious with Crescius, that old bastard who put her up to finding his ancestor's remains. She was furious with Gratian, for filling her with false hope. Above all, however... she suspected she was furious with the Bloodskal Blade, for being borderline useless. Her hands squeezed the hilt with all the might she could muster, then she threw the blade as far from her as she could manage.
"Whoa," Mianna said, ducking beneath the blade as the weapon flew through the space where her neck had just been. "Okay, I get that you don't like me, but-"
"To Oblivion with all of this," Adalla snapped. "I don't even care anymore. Mia's been imprisoned in Apocrypha, and here I am, similarly trapped in some desolate pit in gods-know-where with some stupid sword, a bunch of corpses, and..." She let her insult for Mianna taper off to nothing but an absolutely frustrated sigh.
"...But still, did you need to throw the blade?" Mianna said with a sigh. "If it's somehow our key out of here, you'd think you'd want to keep it from breaking..." She moved toward the Bloodskal Blade and picked it up. "...Though it doesn't appear any worse for wear, even despite your treatment of it... in fact, it looks... like time hasn't touched it whatsoever." She ran her finger over the flat of the blade. "Curious..."
"We're going to die in here, and all you care about is the condition of the sword?" Adalla said, disbelief heavy in her voice. "Glad to know you've got your priorities straight..."
She heard the blade swinging slowly through the air a few times, and turned her full attention to the door that seemed to mock them now. She wondered how many situations Mia had been in, where she'd thought death was imminent... but she'd found a way out. Was this one such situation for herself, or was there truly no way out?
"Whoa," Mianna gasped. Adalla turned her attention back to Mianna - fast enough to see the red ribbon of energy flying directly at her. Her eyes widened, and she ducked beneath it moments before it could actually hit her. "I-I had no idea that-"
"...How... did you do that?" Adalla asked quietly, turning her gaze to the Bloodskal Blade.
"Thing is... I'm not sure. I was just swinging it around..." The Redguard rested the blade's tip on the floor, as Adalla had done a few times before. "And I'm not one for two-handed weapons, so... I think it happened when I swung it a little too hard...? Or maybe too fast, not sure which."
Adalla approached Mianna slowly. "I've had experience training with two-handed weapons before," she said. "I just prefer one-handed weapons, is all. Perhaps I...?"
The Bloodskal Blade wasn't given to her right away. "Are you going to throw it at me again?" Mianna asked dubiously.
"No. Not now that I've had a chance to..." She sighed and ruffled her hair a bit. "...Look, Neloth was right, I'm still kind of new to this whole 'adventuring' scene... and... the prospect of dying in here, one of my first adventures, is... well, maybe you can imagine how frustrating it is, how depressing...?"
Mianna nodded, but her eyes were narrowed. "You eavesdropped in Tel Mithryn," she said flatly. "It's not like anything I said was of grave importance, but it's always nice to know you can be 'trusted'," she finished sarcastically.
"I was curious, alright? If it's really that big of a deal, I won't tell anyone about the very vague things I heard."
For a while, they both just stood there, staring at each other. Adalla was pretty sure she was being judged silently by Mianna.
Then, the hilt of the Bloodskal Blade was thrust in her direction. "If you've had experience with these type of weapons before, you have better endurance for wielding them," Mianna finally said. "Whereas I've only ever dealt in daggers before now."
Adalla's fingers curled around the hilt of the sword, and she nodded. "I'm sorry, Mianna, for... for losing my temper, for eavesdropping... for everything."
The Redguard blinked, clearly in surprise. "A high elf apologizing to a human. That's a new one." She let a small smile creep to her own lips. "Apology accepted. I, too, think I ought to apologize for the things I've said that may have offended you." She extended her right hand to Adalla. "Friends?"
Adalla shook her head, but clasped Mianna's hand and shook it. "No. Our personalities clash far too much to be proper friends. Allies, though... definitely."
The Redguard laughed quietly at this. "Fair enough." She was first to break the handshake, and nodded. "Well then, ally... I'll let you have both hands back for the Bloodskal Blade."
It had taken quite some convincing for Vernanye, but she'd managed to persuade the owner of a small boat to bear her to Solstheim. She'd given him an alternative she suspected he wouldn't like, which was to watch as he lay, bleeding, on the dock while she stole his boat and took it to Solstheim herself. Although he'd threatened to report the threat to the guards, Vernanye changed the strategy by untying the ship from the dock and pushing it away, then threatening to push him overboard if he so much as opened his mouth wide.
Well, 'convincing' may not be the right term, then. 'Coerced'? Definitely more fitting. He was not too pleased, taking his boat well out to Solstheim. Vernanye, who had been there a few times already, knew the general direction, and was able to guide him there. He was definitely afraid of her - or more accurately, the threat of death that loomed over his head.
Vernanye didn't mind it. She was returning to Solstheim, and that was all that mattered to her. Already, Skyrim was becoming a distant speck on the horizon behind them, with the vast expanse of sea stretched out to the north, northwest and northeast.
You are taking your time.
Vernanye smirked as the voice of Miraak reprimanded her within her mind. 'Good plans take time, my lord,' she replied smoothly.
Suggesting you have one.
'Does the name 'Karstaag' mean anything to you?' she inquired.
...I've heard the stories, yes. Isn't he dead, though? Some plan this-
'It may not be impossible to bring him back,' she interrupted. 'I intend to try doing just that. His strength alone may be more than enough to stop Mia dead in her tracks.'
There is no guarantee she'd intervene just because he's returned, however. Or do you have some trick in mind to guarantee her attempted intervention?
'I do. I highly doubt she's going to ignore Karstaag once he starts his rampage.'
She could almost swear Miraak was trying to find a hole in this plan of hers. Even if he asked how she was going to guarantee Mia's intervention, she wasn't going to share that with him; she had a dramatic streak to her, after all, and wanted him to realize that her mind was sharp - perhaps even sharper than his.
It's not sharper than mine if you forget I'm still linked to your mind, came his calm and condescending reply. Vernanye's smirk grew a little at his tone. But sharp nonetheless. I assume you have a means of bringing him back, then?
'I'll find a way before long.' She didn't share anything further, and blanked her mind so he wouldn't be able to probe it.
So no.
'Good plans take time.'
Hmph. With that, Miraak severed the mental link with her, leaving her to her own thoughts once more. Her attention turned to the northeast, where a landmass was beginning to appear. She glanced to the southeast, and saw the unmistakable plume of smoke coming from what she knew to be Red Mountain.
"Adjust your course for that landmass," she said, pointing toward what she surmised was Solstheim. "We're almost there."
The Nord didn't reply, but did comply with her command.
Not long after that, his screams filled the air as Vernanye decided she'd be at her best if she wasn't hungry... and she'd forgotten to dine before she'd left Candlehearth Hall and Windhelm.
Adalla hefted the Bloodskal Blade over her shoulder, her breathing heavy. She'd managed to replicate the soaring ribbon of air twice now... twice, out of countless more swings. "What's... the secret...?" she panted.
Mianna shrugged as she watched. "Maybe the speed of the swing?"
Adalla's second ribbon had successfully connected with the vertical marking on the left, and when the external frame shifted again, it stopped to pose her with another horizontal marking, though this one was higher up than the first. She'd tried to replicate the feat on the other vertical marking, but either she was doing something wrong, or she was getting tired. She couldn't deny her arms felt heavy, but she suspected it was more so the former than the latter.
She moved toward the stone steps and sat down on them, gaze on the hole in the wall she and Mianna had descended from. She figured some rest wouldn't be out of the question; she'd been swinging the Bloodskal Blade pretty fiercely for quite a while now.
"So much for your training with two-handed weapons," Mianna mused.
"It's been decades, Mianna," Adalla grumbled.
"So I see." She heard the Redguard's feet hit the ground as she hopped down from the small stone pillar she'd been seated upon. "Where did you train, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Back home in Alinor."
"...Please don't tell me you're Thalmor." She could hear the trepidation and the hatred suddenly pouring into Mianna's voice.
"Formerly. When I came to Skyrim, I was. Events in recent months, however, have seen me detached from the Thalmor, such that I no longer hold loyalty to them."
The answer apparently wasn't the best for Mianna, whose sigh was heavy, but at least she wasn't belligerent. "Lovely."
"What of you, though? What sort of lord employs someone whose only weapon skills include dual wielding daggers?" Adalla asked in return.
"Well, my lord isn't part of a military organization, like you were with the Thalmor," the Redguard replied, "so there's that. I've never been asked to fight outside my comfort zone, or been expected to have a thorough understanding of every weapon under the sun."
Adalla shrugged it off. "Fair enough. I'm not asking who your lord is, just..."
She heard a small sigh, presumably of relief this time. "Thank you. Well, I will say he's a very private man. He does what he can for Tamriel, and that oftentimes involves sending me to all corners of the land. Which I don't mind, I may add; I quite like seeing new places."
"What of the mithril armor?" Adalla asked. "I haven't seen its like in many, many years... I doubt smiths nowadays even remember how to craft it."
"You know of the Oblivion Crisis?" Mianna asked. "My great-great-grandfather helped the Hero of Kvatch deal with that. The mithril armor was his and was kept in prime condition at all times. Though it was passed down through the generations to me, I think I'm the first to wear it since my great-great-grandfather did."
"Your parents don't care?" Adalla asked, turning her attention to the Redguard.
"If they were still alive, they might. I don't know, though." She saw Mianna shrug. "I don't remember them. My grandparents passed the armor down to me while my parents went to fight in the Great War." Her mood darkened. "They did not bear weapons, but that didn't stop the Thalmor from killing them." Her eyes went to Adalla slowly.
"I joined the Thalmor a couple years after the Great War ended," Adalla said simply, standing up and hefting the Bloodskal Blade into the air with both hands once more. "Don't look at me like that."
The words made Mianna blink, then nod. "Sorry. I just wasn't sure if..."
"I've been to Cyrodiil once in my life, and that was just a brief stop in Anvil." Adalla gathered her strength, then swung the sword in an overhead slash with as much strength and speed as she could muster.
It worked as she hoped; the ribbon of energy flew from the sword's blade and struck the marking. The door's frame shifted to reflect that, and soon, she was looking at two horizontal markings.
"Isn't it hard, though? Maintaining the armor when the secrets of its craft are probably lost to time?" Adalla asked, adjusting the blade for a horizontal strike.
"Not really. I may not know how to make mithril armor, but methods of mending and preserving this armor were passed down. If I applied myself a bit more, I could probably craft another set of armor... that's a lot of trial and error... but this armor was enchanted by my great-great-grandfather. It's going to be better than anything I could craft."
Adalla gave a small nod, then swung the Bloodskal Blade through the air in a horizontal manner, trying to strike both markings at the same time with a single ribbon of energy. To her dismay, neither marking was touched - nor, for that matter, did she release a ribbon. "Dammit."
"So where have you been, other than Cyrodiil and Skyrim?" Mianna asked.
"Hammerfell, for a scouting mission there. It was halted by an Alik'r ambush, though, and I was one of the few survivors. My superiors told me to run and get word back to Alinor of what had transpired." Adalla glanced at Mianna. "Our people seem to be quite at odds with each other."
"Considering what happened in the Great War, it's not entirely unexpected."
"I've also been to High Rock," Adalla continued. She gripped the Bloodskal Blade's hilt tightly, then tried replicating the massive swing once more. To her relief, a ribbon of energy flew from the blade - but it struck neither marking, instead landing between the two.
"Nice shot," Mianna said wryly.
"I was trying to get both at the same time," Adalla said with a sigh.
"So why High Rock?"
"Vacation." Adalla decided to give her arms a brief rest, and sat down on the steps once more. "Went with a group of friends, my best friend among them."
"And this 'best friend'... she's the one you're trying to save?"
Adalla shook her head gently. "No. My best friend back then is still a dear friend to me now, but she's still in Skyrim. I'll return one day and visit her, but for now, Solstheim is where I need to be."
"So who is this friend you're trying to save?"
She bit her lower lip. "...Her name is Mia, and... we're here because some cultists tried to kill us outside Windhelm, a few months back. They had orders that suggested they'd come from Solstheim, and... well, here we are. Or here I am, anyway... she's trapped in Apocrypha, after all..."
"I get the feeling you're not telling me the whole story... but I won't pry. Obviously it's for a reason."
"Thank you." Adalla once again picked up the Bloodskal Blade; her arms burned a little in protest to another attempt so soon, but she ignored it. "What about you? Where have you been to?"
"Well, I was born in High Rock - odd for a Redguard, perhaps, but it's true. I was raised in Hammerfell, for the most part. I've visited Elsweyr, what remains of Morrowind, considering the events of the Red Year, Cyrodiil, Valenwood, and now Solstheim."
"All business?"
"Excluding annual visits to High Rock, which I've always loved, yes. All business."
Adalla swung the blade in a wide arc, aiming at the left marking. She figured she was starting to get the hang of it; a ribbon of energy flew from the blade and struck the marking directly, causing the door's outer frame to shift. She noticed no new marking replaced it, and her gaze went to Mianna. "Almost there, you think?"
The Redguard was stepping toward the door, but was taking care to stay behind Adalla, and well out of the Bloodskal Blade's reach. "It's looking like it. Once more."
"Where in High Rock were you born?" Adalla asked, moments before she reversed direction on the blade, sidestepped to the right, and sent a ribbon of energy soaring for the right marking that remained.
"Wayrest," Mianna replied, eyes watching the door's frame shift. She glanced at Adalla, and smiled. "You did-"
"No, not yet." Adalla pointed at the frame - at the vertical marking that now appeared at the center of the frame. "I think that's the last one." She gripped the hilt of the sword firmly. "Wayrest... that's where we went, for our vacation. I wonder if I saw you, and I just don't remember...?"
Mianna grinned lightly. "Well, that depends on when you went to Wayrest."
"Sixteen years ago." She swung the blade, with all of her might, in an overhead swing. She watched in satisfaction as the ribbon of energy made contact with the marking that remained, and sighed with relief.
Then, the chamber began to tremble. Adalla braced herself for... something, she wasn't sure what. The door was opening, though... perhaps that was what caused the trembling?
"Well then... seems we have our way out." Mianna stepped toward the door, then turned to face Adalla. "...You seem to have a knack for that blade. I'm thinking you ought to keep it. It'll definitely see more use in your hands than it would down here, collecting dust."
She turned her attention to the Bloodskal Blade. She was still fond of one-handed weapons, but there was no denying the effectiveness of the Bloodskal Blade - especially considering she could probably use that ribbon to strike foes from afar. It would largely negate the need for her to carry around a bow and a quiver of arrows...
And yet, until she could get used to swinging such a heavy weapon around non-stop, it would only slow her down. Adalla bit her lower lip. Did she really want to keep the Bloodskal Blade...?
"You coming, or not?" Mianna called. She'd stepped through to the other side of the door.
"Y-yes." Adalla hurried toward the door, the Bloodskal Blade still in hand. She wasn't sure how often she'd actually use it... but she decided to keep it. Perhaps, with time, she would get accustomed to using it... and perhaps she'd even be able to learn more about the blade than she presently knew.
The massive chamber and mystery of the door now behind them, the pair continued through the barrow. A hall of swinging blade traps that scared Adalla greeted them beyond the massive door, but watching Mianna clear the traps swiftly reassured the high elf that she, too, could get past the traps. For the most part, Mianna led the way from here.
"You've seen these sort of traps before?" Adalla asked.
"No, but it's not difficult to keep track of their motions. Watch how they swing, how fast they move, and you'll learn how much time you have to actually move past them." Mianna watched as Adalla cleared the final set of traps, gave an approving nod, and pulled the lever sitting in the center of the floor, in front of a portcullis that was down. "Adventuring rule number one: if it seems to follow a predetermined course, you can thwart it with proper timing."
"Noted." Adalla took the lead now, and stepped into the chamber past the portcullis.
A pool of water filled the majority of the chamber, though there was a walkway leading to a chest very near the center of the room. There were steps visible in the water, suggesting that perhaps once, the chamber had been dry. At the far end of the room was an odd, curved wall with a carved statue above it... the statue itself seemed to resemble a dragon's head. Was the curved wall of any importance...?
"Well, seems we've found our prize." Mianna was starting toward the chest in the center of the risen walkway. "So how's this going to work? We both did our fair share of the work... so split it half and half?"
Adalla chuckled quietly. "If you find a Black Book in there, that's all I want."
The Redguard blinked, then shrugged. "Suit yourself. More for me, if that's the case." She reached the chest, then placed her hands upon the top of it.
The moment her hands touched the chest, both women were aware of a sound like water bubbling. Adalla's hand shot to her mace instinctively, and Mianna was stepping back slowly from the chest, both of her daggers in her hands.
"What's-" Adalla began.
"Something's in the water," Mianna murmured. She continued to back away from the chest slowly, and gasped suddenly. "A head..."
Adalla moved so as to get a better look - and saw not just a head, but... "Is that... a mask...?" she asked quietly.
Without warning, the masked being shot out of the water and into the air, then levitated over the water's surface. The being's arms and legs were severely withered, resembling a draugr's limbs; clutched in its right hand was a golden-colored staff, the head of which was shaped like a dragon.
It was this staff that was now crackling with shock magic - and it was pointed at Mianna. An unearthly shriek filled the chamber as the clearly undead figure loosed the magic at Mianna. The Redguard was swift enough to dodge the bolt, but she cursed nonetheless.
"I'd heard rumors from other adventurers," she grumbled. "Influential humans that were given powerful masks by their masters, millennia ago... and now, millennia later, it seems they are..." She grit her teeth. "Dragon priests... former servants of the Dragon Cult, extremely dangerous in life... and presumably far more so in undeath..."
Adalla's jaw dropped. Mia had regaled her, once, with a tale about a fight she'd once had with a Dragon Priest, back in Skyrim. She had said it was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult fights she'd ever fought in her entire life.
And now, she and Mianna both were being expected to face one down on their own.
A.N. - Dragon Priest fight! Who else loved stumbling across these when they were unprepared? Well, Adalla and Mianna just have!
So, why Bloodskal Barrow? Because I wanted to 1) introduce a new weapon for Adalla to use, 2) have the chance to write out a fight with a Dragon Priest, and 3) Raven Rock itself was among the most comfortable places Adalla could see on the map; why go well out of your way to track down something waaay the hell out of the way when you could just go to town and nab what you want, right? (Obviously, that's not the case HERE, but train of thought and OC logic...) Besides, Kolbjorn Barrow, the other choice, and because of periods of time you spend in-game waiting for that (not to mention money!), was not the optimal choice. I hadn't been to the other two places in a while, either, and there wasn't a ton of stuff in either one to entice me - not like the Bloodskal Blade was.
I was originally going to say 'Mianna is a descendant of the Hero of Kvatch', to explain the mithril armor... but then I thought 'nah, how about 'a descendant of one of the Hero's allies' instead'. As I mentioned before, Mianna's role in this story is mostly to keep Adalla safe and alive, but she's also here as a small introduction as a character.
So, back to the game of Skyrim for a bit... I've reinvented an old OC in-game. What I mean is, I had an OC I was planning to use in another story, the idea of which has been scrapped, and have remade her in a different image. Frostfall is active for her playthrough, and so far it's been fun. Not entirely sure what I want to do with her, insofar as 'story' goes, but I'll figure something out. Basically, she used to be a healer for the Imperial Legion, and was caught in the ambush on the Stormcloaks. (I had a way of explaining her arrest and the fact that she would have faced execution, but it was a bit of a stretch...) Now, I've created her as 'thief fleeing pursuit from other provinces, who was shipwrecked to the north of Dawnstar's coast' (I didn't activate Frostfall at that point because the one time I tried it with another new character, I was dead before I could get OUT of the shipwreck). Have her traveling with Arissa for fun - and for the prospect of 'two thieves traveling Skyrim and independently robbing places by night'. We'll see what I do with her, I guess. There's got to be something...
Now that I've got the challenge of writing a fight against a Dragon Priest ahead of me - and it's a challenge I'm looking forward to, mind - I know I'll have to try and make it convincing... without killing either of them off. That's not going to be easy whatsoever. Neither one's really prepared for a Dragon Priest. (Dammit, Mianna, why do you have to be so greedy?!) I'll figure something out.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and just all around Happy Holidays! It's not likely I'll be updating again before Christmas (may be offline until the day after, in fact), so I figured I'd write two chapters to... 'gift' the reader? *shrugs*
-Spiritslayer