Thankyou to the reviewers. Very much appreciated! :D
The rain was slowly turning to snow as they climbed. Claudia's hair had been soaked by a downpour just outside Riverwood and now started to freeze in the cold air. The wind snapped at her exposed face, feeling like it was chiselling holes in her cheeks. She looked up and saw Lydia a few paces ahead of her, forcing herself to pick up the pace, striding over the slippery rocks.
Aela led the way with Vilkas close behind, both as surefooted as if they had four legs instead of two, Vilkas managing to leap from rock to rock despite his steel armour and heavy pack on his back. Next came Farengar who strode through the weather as if he were walking through the courtyard in Dragonsreach. His cloak isn't even wet, Claudia thought bitterly. She even fancied she saw steam rising from his shoulder as a snowflake hit him. Ria came behind him; her mail was seriously hampering her, as it was Lydia and the two of them trudged up the hill with their heads down and panting, bags slung low over their shoulders.
Claudia looked up trying to see the position of the sun. It was still quite high above the Western skyline she thought thankfully, seeing a faint glow behind the grey clouds for a short time before once again the path turned 180 degrees and the snow blissfully blew into her back for a while.
They had made good time to Riverwood, leaving Whiterun well before noon, Farengar having completed his mysterious preparations earlier than he had thought. Claudia had meant to seek out Alvor and Sigrid but Vilkas had insisted they pushed on as soon as possible. "Bleak Falls Barrow is much further away than it looks, whelp" he had said to her as she looked up at the ruin from the village, where it seemed no distance at all.
He was right, she thought despondently. They had lost sight of the Barrow as soon as the snow started coming down but glances downwards showed a dispiritingly close valley floor.
Claudia's thoughts were ended abruptly when she walked into the back of Lydia, almost falling flat on her back as a result. Everyone in front had stopped and Aela shushed her as she let out a shocked cry. "There's someone ahead," she said, turning her head to indicate, red hair flicking forward. "They haven't seen us coming."
Vilkas was sniffing the air hungrily. "Six," he said after a moment, motioning forward, where just for a second Claudia could make out the silhouette of a stone tower.
Farengar had his eyes closed, muttering under his breath. "There are 5," he said suddenly. "One is recently dead."
"Who are they?" Ria asked anxiously.
"Outlaws, bandits," Vilkas said contemptuously. "Whatever they are, they'll be desperate and will attack us for the food we're carrying if nothing else." He looked at Aela
She nodded and smiled. "And they'll be dead soon," she dropped her small pack and bow and set off.
"Wait here if you don't want to get killed," Vilkas said to the others, his voice gruff, almost a snarl as he followed his shield-sister.
The others did as he bid: Ria, Lydia and Claudia exchanging confused looks while Farengar smiled to himself, his eyes still closed.
Aela and Vilkas returned quickly, though both were spattered in blood and Aela was carrying a new bow and quiver of arrows. "I found this, Little Mouse," she said, proffering it to Claudia. "You have the smell of a good archer." She smiled sweetly at Claudia, revealing teeth stained red.
Claudia forced a smile back and took the bow and arrow. "There may be more ahead," Vilkas said. "Keep a lookout."
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The weather was truly awful as they reached the ruin itself, the cloud so low that it was like walking through a wall of snow. They climbed up a series of rough steps carved into the stone, having to guess where the next one might be through the thick carpet of white, before finally reaching a ledge jutting out over the valley below.
"According to my maps, the entrance is just to the right here!" Farengar shouted. "It may be hidden under some snow."
It quickly became obvious where he meant, the doors had been ripped off in some past age, with only a huge gaping hole left in the side of the mountain. Aela went first, sword drawn and they followed slowly, one by one, buffeted by the wind.
The cave they emerged into was a sea of tranquillity by comparison; the only noise was the howling wind outside and the heavy breathing of the company. "Let's take a breather for ten minutes," Vilkas said and sat down, pulling a piece of salted pork from his pack.
Claudia stayed standing, moving the hair out of her eyes and moving about trying to get warm. Aela came over to her, hair falling in all directions though she didn't seem too bothered by it. "Warmer air further in," she said and led Claudia a little way from the group.
She looked back, seeing Lydia and Ria laid down flat on the floor from exhaustion, whilst Farengar shuffled back towards the entrance, inspecting the stonework. "Hmm... Third Era Stonework, but Second Era design..." Claudia heard him say to himself.
"Not used to the cold, little mouse?" Aela asked quietly as Claudia's teeth chattered.
"It gets this cold in Bruma sometimes," she said. "But I don't think I'll ever get used to it. I'm an Imperial, we're built for warmer weather!" I'm only 30 miles from Bruma here, she thought for a second. 30 miles from home, from my Uncle. She quickly banished the thought from her mind and refocused on Aela, who was smiling at her reasoning.
"You'll get used to it one day," Aela said confidently. "Become a real maiden of the snow." She wiped the icicles off the top of Claudia's head. "Do you like the bow?"
Claudia pulled it from beneath her pack and looked at it, smaller than Aela's own, yet finely made. The string was damp but it looked in good working order. "This is Imperial make," she said.
"The bandit was a deserter, or he killed a legionnaire," Aela said. "Either way, it's yours now, let me see you draw it." Claudia held out the bow and pulled the string back as far as she could. "Good," Aela complimented. "You are stronger than you look. Not too far; you need accuracy on your shot too, as well as power. Now, put an arrow to the string"
The string kept getting caught in her furs as she tried to reach for an arrow, so Claudia unwrapped herself until she stood in her armour, bow cocked and an arrow ready to fly. She no longer felt the cold as she had: her shivering ceased and she held the bow steady.
"Turn and face into the cave," Aela said her voice low, crouching down so they were the same height, adjusting Claudia's hold on the bow until she was satisfied. In the faint light of the cave Aela's auburn hair seemed to glow brighter than ever, trailing down all the way to the floor, brushing against Claudia's leg on the way down. Her stature was lithe, even next to Claudia's own.
She has a better figure than me she thought, tracing the lines of Aela's body with her eyes. It curves at just the right spots. Her gaze lingered on Aela's breasts for a moment, the shape clear even through her armour.
She jerked away suddenly, realising what she was doing and almost let fly with the arrow.
"Careful, little mouse," Aela said, laughing, her voice still quiet- and deep, almost hypnotic. "We don't want to wake him up now, do we?"
Claudia looked back to Aela and into the cave, confused. What, in the name of Talos was she talking about?
Then she saw him, her eyes adjusting to the gloom. A man was sat, laid against the rock, obviously asleep about 100 yards ahead of them. She gasped. "How long has he been here?" she exclaimed, rather stupidly.
Aela didn't reply but instead put one arm around Claudia's waist and the other on her left arm, holding the bow.
"B-but I can't shoot him!" Claudia said, staring at Aela in horror.
"Yes you can," Aela whispered in her ear. "He is the prey, and you are the huntress."
Claudia shivered despite herself, feeling Aela's warm breath on her and feeling her body pressed right against hers. "He's defenceless," she said, protesting, even as she trained the bow on the man.
"He is weak," Aela replied. "In the other position he would not hesitate to kill or rape you."
"He might not be a bandit!" Claudia whispered back. "Maybe just a lost man seeking shelter in the storm."
Aela laughed. "Not all men are bandits, but all men are rapists and murderers given the chance," she said. "And all prey is put in our path to be taken."
Claudia released the bow string before she even realised what she was doing. She gave a gasp of shock as the arrow flew away from her and buried itself through the man's chest with a solid thump. Her heart flew up into her mouth, but the man merely let out a grunt and tipped sideways against the wall. She breathed in, suddenly aware that she had been holding her breath, an odd feeling of satisfaction and pleasure surging through her body.
"Good mouse," Aela said, still whispering. She stood up and walked over to the dead man, ripping the arrow out from his chest, giving it back to Claudia, still dripping with blood. "He wasn't even wearing any armour," she laughed. "Foolish prey."
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The rest of the company didn't even notice the dead man as they moved through the cave, descending deeper, until the air was warm and silent. Claudia averted her eyes too, though she fancied she could smell the rot already setting in. Don't be silly, she told herself. Keep focused and don't dwell on it, we've still got that ancient evil to get past, then you can mope.
The cave narrowed as they moved further in, becoming a thin path, wide enough only for single file. Farengar led the way, a faint light radiating off him, closely followed by Vilkas. Then came Ria, followed by Claudia and Lydia with Aela bringing up the rear, holding a torch and glancing behind her every few seconds.
After what seemed like hours, they came to a wooden staircase which spiralled down below them, the wood was rotten, though the walls were smooth. "Someone has excavated the ruin before," Vilkas said, testing the strength of the wood.
"Aye," Farengar replied. "About 30 years ago some treasure hunters mined down to where they thought the main chamber was. It is our best chance to follow their steps."
Claudia moved gingerly down the steps, wincing every time she stepped on the wood and cringing harder every time she saw Ria ahead of her take a half jump out into the darkness, missing a particularly unsafe looking step. They reached the bottom without incident however, though a nest of rats awaited them, large and wild, nipping at Vilkas' feet before he killed two with his blade and the rest fled.
"What on earth do they eat down here?" Farengar asked in wonder.
"Stupid people like us," replied Vilkas gloomily.
"Rats can survive anywhere," Claudia said. "There were hundreds living in the sewers in the Imperial City."
"I see one of them escaped," Vilkas replied, sending Claudia into red faced silence once again. First a mouse and now rats, she thought. What is it with the Companions and comparing me to rodents?
They set out again, still deeper into the mountain side, the air practically warm now. There was also a hint of past carvings along the walls as they walked, worn images of people and animals staring down, as if questioning who dared to disturb this ancient and forgotten place.
Claudia looked around as they walked, letting the sounds of the footsteps ahead guide her way. The tunnel was opening up again as they went and soon they were in something resembling a hall, filled with rubble and pillars, stretching out left and white as far as Claudia could see. Vilkas stopped again, sniffing the air. More people? Claudia thought incredulously.
Aela moved up quickly to her Shield-Brother, drawing her sword as she did so. "No," he replied. "There are only two of them, let us see what they are doing down here."
They moved forward warily, walking as quietly as possible, Lydia and Ria in their clanking armour hanging back so as not give them away. Claudia kept close to Aela, following her towards the wall at the far end of the great hall. "We should get out now, cut our losses," she heard a female voice imploring suddenly from behind a great pillar to her right. "You know I'm right Harknir."
"Arvel is still down there," a male voice replied. "Do you really want to give up on all that treasure he kept going on about?"
"I really don't see why he had to go rushing off..."
Vilkas looked behind him, seeing the rest of the company with him and stepped around the pillar, sword in hand. Claudia heard a very loud shout, followed by the sound of steel being drawn.
"Now, now, let's not be silly," Vilkas said calmly as Aela and Ria ran to his side, weapons drawn. "Drop your weapons and no one need get hurt."
The woman, who was dressed only in rags threw down her bow hurriedly but the man, Harknir, broad shouldered and dressed in mail kept his sword raised. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing here?"
"He said, put your weapons down," Aela growled menacingly and walked forward, sword and teeth bared.
"You can't have any of the trea..." he began before Aela took a stride forward, almost lazily raising her arm around and slashing at the man's neck. He recoiled backwards, head lolling to one side and hit the floor, blood pouring out of his wound, a shocked cry echoing around the hall.
The woman's eyes went wide and she stumbled, falling to her knees as she tried to avoid the still advancing Aela. She disregarded the woman, instead casually stepping over Harknir's stricken body and plunging the blade downwards, ending any remnants of his life.
Vilkas looked at his shield-sister with something approaching reprehension and addressed the woman. "What is your name girl?" She was a girl too, Claudia noticed. Perhaps a year older than me, definitely not ready to see her friend hacked down so brutally.
"You... you killed Harknir!" she wailed.
"He should have dropped his weapon," Aela replied, her voice showing no compassion for the girl. "Stupid people do not live long when I'm around." Her face looked terrifying, Harknir's blood mixing with the tattoos. "Let's hope you're not stupid."
The girl blanched, her face turning white. "Who are you and why are you here?" Vilkas asked.
"Soling, my name is Soling... Arvel brought us here... Arvel the Swift they call him," the girl started hesitantly looking for signs of recognition from Vilkas who prompted her to continue. "He's one of the best thieves in Morrowind?" she continued desperately.
"This Arvel thought there was treasure here?" Vilkas asked, his voice warm and encouraging.
"Yes...treasure," the girl said, as if only now remembered why she was here. "I only came because Bjorn... Did you see Bjorn? He left for Whiterun a few hours... to get supplies in case we had to do some mining."
"No, we have seen no others in here," Vilkas replied. Claudia felt a wave of nausea rising from her stomach, the sight of a man tipping over, an arrow protruding from his chest playing through her mind. "Where is Arvel then?" Vilkas asked.
"He went on ahead," Soling said. "We got this Golden statue off some merchant in Riverwood... it would unlock the path to the treasure he said."
"Why go on his own?" Vilkas asked as Aela wiped her blade across her greaves.
Soling couldn't draw her terrified eyes from her. "I... I don't know. He never really told us what he was doing." Her eyes were welling up, glistening in the torchlight. "Please, can I go after Bjorn? I won't tell no one you were here or anything," she pleaded.
"Go," said Vilkas. "Take some of our food too, here and a spare torch." Soling accepted them with a nervous smile towards Vilkas and a short glance at the body of Harknir before heading off, back towards the wooden steps.
He's much nicer to random treasure hunters we find than to his companions, Claudia thought wryly, watching Soling scuttle up the first of the steps. She was already calling out for Bjorn, her voice echoing through the hall as the faint glow of her torch faded into the dark. I don't know whether to hope that she finds the body or not, Claudia thought as the party turned and searched for a way out of the hall.
They found it, a small passageway which Vilkas, Lydia and Ria struggled to get through, their armour scraping against the stone as they went. Claudia found herself behind Vilkas as the path twisted, heading deeper. He stopped for a second and sniffed before wordlessly passing her the torch and drawing his sword. Farengar came behind her, muttering under his breath.
"How far down is the Dragonstone?" Claudia whispered after a while. Farengar ignored her and kept muttering, words just too quiet for her to make them out.
Vilkas was several paces ahead of her so she had to rush to keep up, stumbling and thrusting the torch into the roof of the tunnel. Something dislodged and fell, silvery in the light, before it caught the flame and burnt up like touch-paper.
"It is almost directly below us," Farengar's voice came from behind her. "I can sense its power." He coughed. "There's a barrier though," he continued irritatedly. "We may be down here longer than I suspected."
"Hello?" came a cry from ahead, causing all of the party to tense, standing silently.
"Harknir?" the voice came again, male and in a strange accent: Elfin, though different to that of the High Elves in the Imperial City. "Bjorn, is that you? It's me Arvel, you have to help me down!"
Vilkas cocked an ear and headed onwards, sword drawn. Claudia followed, trying to draw her sword with her left hand as they turned a corner and entered a small cave, filled dimly with light from a hole high above. Across the cave there seemed to be a figure hovering, arms outstretched, covered with some white substance.
"Argh, not again!" the figure shouted. "Please no, not again!"
Claudia looked left to right, searching for what the elf was shouting about but seeing nothing. Aela rushed past her, sword drawn, staring above her.
"Watch out Claudia!" she heard Lydia yell before she was smashed to the floor, something careering into her back. Her sword and the torch dropped to the floor and skittered across the stone, as she twisted around to see her assailant. A giant spider loomed above, eight eyes darting quickly, trying to guess which way she would roll. It moved quickly, eight legs darting past, flicking Aela and standing over Claudia, a large sting ready to descend upon her.
Claudia rolled left then right, avoiding the spider's jabbed attacks. It hissed in frustration, clattering its teeth and moving across the floor where someone Claudia couldn't see jabbed at it causing a squeal of pain. The spider scuttled to the side, which she used as an opportunity to escape, crawling away and on to her feet. The spider spun and faced her, over twice her height two front legs flicking out towards her, only to find Lydia barring its path, slashing viciously, causing the spider to retreat.
Aela and Vilkas were on the other side however and pushed it back, with Ria attacking recklessly away to her right, carving a big section of spider flesh out from its haunch, black blood oozing down to the floor. The spider screamed, teeth chattering together, for a moment drowning out the shouting of the elf.
Claudia settled herself and drew her bow, which miraculously seemed unharmed despite her rolling on the floor. The spider seemed to be trying to make an escape, charging at Ria, knocking her aside- front legs scrabbling at the wall, trying to climb away but Vilkas hacked at the back legs, whilst Aela fired off an arrow at its haunches.
Claudia waited for the spider to turn around, snapping at Vilkas as it did so before loosing the arrow, aiming for the eyes but firing low. The spider reared, arrow stuck through the roof of its mouth, eyes looking left and right for a way out as Lydia stepped forward, joining Vilkas and Ria in raining down blows on it, forcing it onto its haunches before it finally fell still.
Lydia stabbed the huge mass a few more times before turning back to Claudia to see if she was alright, almost slipping in the black blood covering the stone floor.
"I'm fine Lydia," Claudia reassured her Housecarl, even whilst wincing at the cuts in her back- inflicted by the bow as much as the spider's attacks.
Vilkas and Aela were already investigating the elf, whom she was assuming was Arvel, strung up over the other side of the cave, in what now was clearly the spider's web.
"You've got to let me down," he was saying.
"Why?" Aela asked, voice flat.
"Well, there's only one way through for one," Farengar said behind Claudia, laughing-appearing from safety after the fight.
"Was that the ancient evil then?" Claudia turned and asked him, heart still pounding.
"No, I'm afraid not," Farengar replied, looking thoughtful. "Though it might be what inspired the stories about here. The ancient evil will undoubtedly be a bit more undead"
"Help me down and I'll show you through the barrier down below!" the elf was shouting, almost wailing. "You won't believe the power the Nords have hidden there!"
"What barrier?" Vilkas asked.
Farengar moved forward. "There is a magical barrier ahead," he told Vilkas, certainty in his voice. "Do you have the claw?" he asked the elf.
"Yes, the claw!" Arvel seized on this, trying to indicate where it was with his head. "I know how it all works: the claw, the markings, the door in the Hall of Stories. I know how they all fit together!"
"Where did you get this claw?" Aela asked.
"Bah, I bought it off a trader somewhere... I don't know! Just let me down!"
"We do need the claw," Farengar said. "To get through to the inner sanctum."
Aela got her knife from her belt and set to work hacking away at the web, quickly joined by Ria. The web was springy and resisted their attempts until they brought their swords to it and Arvel came crashing to the ground.
He picked himself up and clawed the white mesh away from his face and legs, revealing the blue-grey tinge of a Dunmer. "Thank you for freeing me," he smiled. "Unfortunately, you are all very behind him with an astonishing turn of pace.
Aela was first to react, leaping in the air and spinning as the Dunmer passed her, grasping one of his ankles, sending him flying forward, head hitting stone with an unsettlingly loud crack.
"I knew he was going to do that," she said laughing as she picked herself up, before breaking his neck just to make sure.
Farengar had already jogged over and begun ripping the rest of the web away from the Dunmer's body looking for something, excitement evidently noticeable. "Ah, one of the legendary claws of the Dova priests," he said, eyes flashing golden in the glow of the claw. "A gold one too, he whistled. "We must be in one of their most important temples. 5000 years ago, the dragon priests of old walked these tunnels doing the bidding..." his wistful voice was cut off.
"How much is it worth?" asked Vilkas.
"Priceless!" Farengar retorted. "By rights it should go in the Jarl's collection, though he doesn't like magical objects around..." he frowned slightly before tucking the claw under one arm and stepping daintily over the dead body. "It is useful, however. I should have thought before we came... we are lucky old Arvel was around when he was!"
Claudia too stepped over the body as they followed Farengar out of the cave and into the gloom, this time without a torch to guide them. "Best stay to the back, whelp," Vilkas said, pushing past her. "Don't want you getting caught up in the middle of the fighting again do we?"
"That was almost nice of him," Claudia whispered to Lydia once Vilkas was out of earshot. "I think he likes me." Lydia snorted loudly causing Ria to look around worriedly.
The spider attack had shocked Claudia, but she felt wide awake and alive in its aftermath. If that'd happened even a week ago I'd have keeled over, she thought. I must be getting used to it.
The tunnel descended steeply in what seemed like a wide spiral for a short while before levelling off when they came to a small chamber.
"Ooh," Farengar gave an excited squeal. "Carvings from... well they look like before the first era?" He stooped down, holding his palm up, a bright light suddenly shooting out from it. "I never thought they would remain in such detail," he quickly moved along the wall, following the stone carvings as they told their story. "Well this is incredible; it seems to tell the story of the last dragon- before they were wiped out. Paarthunax, he was..."
"Look at that!" Ria suddenly exclaimed. Claudia followed her gaze, seeing a shimmering wall at the end of the tunnel.
"A golden wall," Vilkas said entranced, "Well, we can see what Arvel meant when he was talking about treasure."
Aela bounded over to it and touched it carefully, as if fearful it would crumble under her touch.
"Ah yes," Farengar said. "The guardian wall... It's not actually gold I'm afraid." Vilkas looked at him disappointed. "That is a magical barrier, impossible for any mortal to breach."
"So, we kill ourselves and go through as Draugr?" Aela asked, knocking the barrier, which seemed to react just like normal metal, a clang echoing through the small chamber. "I nominate Vilkas."
"I wouldn't look half as good dead and you know it, Aela," Vilkas retorted, laughing.
"Given a few days I could wear down the defences until I broke through, though there would definitely be safeguards against that," Farengar said. "However, with our friend Arvel's golden claw, we should be able to open it properly, as the Dragon Priests did all those ages ago."
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It didn't take days, but the adrenaline from the fight with the spider had worn off by the time Farengar finally managed to twist the rings in the wall to his satisfaction.
"You might want to stand back," he warned. "If I've got this wrong we may all die."
Claudia closed her eyes as he slotted the claw into a hole, right in the middle of the doorway and turned it. A loud grinding sound made her flinch backwards, before a collective exhalation of breath persuaded her to open her eyes.
The circles in the wall span around violently, before individually clanging to a halt and the whole wall sank into the ground, leaving behind only a large cloud of dust swirling up. Claudia closed her eyes again and coughed loudly before peering through into what lay beyond.
"No one has stepped through here in more than 5000 years," Farengar said his voice full of uncontained glee. "Watch where you step, there may still be traps around."
"And dead people..." Aela said, smiling at Claudia as she did so, falling in besides her as they strode into the sanctum.
"There'll be Draugr in here?" Claudia asked nervously.
"Almost certainly," Aela said. "I've been in enough crypts in my time."
"They're not a just story then?" Lydia asked worriedly.
"In the old days magic was much more powerful than it is now," Aela said. "Curses cast would never end."
"Can Draugr be killed then?" Claudia asked as Aela moved ahead, going into single file.
"All prey can be killed," she replied. "You just have to hack this prey into more pieces."
She is rather scary, Claudia thought, remembering the way Aela had killed Harknir. But there's just something alluring about her, even when she is talking about hacking dead bodies apart.
Aela moved silently ahead of her as the passageway narrowed again, on tiptoes, Claudia noticed, and ready to react to a threat at any moment.
They suddenly stopped, Farengar holding his hand up as they reached the entrance to yet another cave. "It is near," he said. "Spread out, let's find it."
Whilst nowhere near as big as the grand hall where they had found Harknir and Soling, this place was elaborately decorated, carvings covering every inch of the wall, images of dragons, men and mer all depicted clearly, barely eroded at all in the warm, still air.
"No Draugr then?" Ria asked in a slightly disappointed tone as they made their way into the cave unmolested.
"What have I told you about saying things like that, puppy?" Aela reprimanded.
It wasn't a cave, Claudia saw as they moved further in, but a crypt. In the centre there lay a large stone coffin, littered in odd letters and pictograms. All around the edges were further coffins, stood upright, some of them broken open though inside they looked empty.
"The tomb of the founder of the cult, I guess," Farengar said indicating the large coffin. "The Dragonstone may be inside, though we would do well to try all other avenues before we disturb it."
The group spread out, looking into coffins looking for the stone. "No bigger than a shield," Farengar had said. "Though not much smaller either." Yet nothing seemed to fit the description, indeed there was nothing of any interest around the floor, only bits of rubble and collected dust laid thick over the floor.
Claudia moved towards the back of the cave, up some steps towards a curved wall at the back. It looked smoother than the rest, and felt it too, as she brushed a small amount of dust away, revealing thinly etched characters on the wall.
"Words in the Dragon tongue!" Farengar exclaimed softly behind her, sounding as if he might collapse right there. "It says: let's see, Het Nok, hmm... Here sleeps..."
"Here lies the guardian, keeper of Dragonstone, and a force of unending rage and darkness," Claudia finished for him.
Farengar took a sharp intake of breath. "How could you... what in the..."
Claudia ignored him, instead focussing on the dragon characters. It's just like reading Cyrillic, she thought, her eye was drawn towards the word for force.
"FUS," she said out loud as things came together in her mind for the first time.
"What was that?" Farengar demanded. "What did you..."
Again he was interrupted but this time from behind him. A loud crunching sound came, followed by a roar, rattling through the air, seeming shaking Claudia where she stood. She turned, to see with horror a fist smashed through the top of the stone coffin in the centre of the cave, a huge fist devoid of all but a few scraps of skin, fingers seemingly broken backwards. All around, Companions, mages and Housecarls alike stood still in shocked silence.
The arm moved sideways and a scraping noise echoed around before the coffin lid dropped to the floor and a figure sat up, seemingly breaking the spell. Vilkas and Ria ran forwards, drawing swords in readiness whilst Aela scooped up her bow and Lydia ran towards Claudia.
The figure took Vilkas' first blow on the chest without even staggering as it stood, picking up its own Greatsword one handed as it did so, parrying his second blow with ease, before backhanding Ria with a loud crack, sending her flying across the room.
Stood straight, the figure was about 8 feet tall, wearing a rusted hauberk and scraps of leather armour. Skin and tissue stuck to part of his bone but not all, clumps falling off as it stood and fought, huge sword in one skeletal hand. The eyes had disappeared completely; empty sockets save for two bright blue pinpricks of light which gazed menacingly out.
"Oh shit," Claudia heard Farengar mutter. "A Deathlord."
Claudia remembered herself and tried firing an arrow, missing as the Draugr rained down blows against Vilkas driving him backwards and down to his knees. Aela did not miss, however, an arrow flying straight into the Deathlord's face, forcing it a step backwards. "HET NOK FaaL VahLOK" its voice screamed, hoarse and rattly before it turned and looked straight at Farengar. "FO" it yelled and a torrent of ice spewed from its mouth towards the mage, just as it had from the dragon by the watchtower.
Farengar was ready however; he pushed his hands forward and fired flames from them, melting through the ice and setting the Deathlord on fire. This didn't seem to concern the corpse however, and neither did the blow which Vilkas struck on its neck from behind, which would have severed the head of any normal mortal. Claudia fired another arrow, this time hitting the chest, though it was not enough to halt the charge of the Deathlord as it advanced, sword raised towards Farengar. Lydia smashed her sword into the top of one leg, chipping bone and dislodging skin but with no other effect.
Farengar raised his hands but it was too late, the sword scything through his wrist as it went down, burying itself in his chest. Lydia grabbed Claudia and dragged her away, though her eyes never left the sight of the mage.
The Deathlord pulled the sword free, covered in blood, some pink tubes flopping free onto the floor, roaring as it did so, drowning out Farengar's final gurgle.
It turned, still ignoring the flames licking around the exposed bones and faced its remaining five foes, all now in one corner of the cave. Ria was up again, leaning against a wall, though her face was a bloody mess and Vilkas had blood dripping off the end of his fingers.
Aela fired more arrows as the Deathlord advanced on them, though none of them slowed it, whilst Claudia shakily tried to get her own bow to fire, unable to before it was too late and the Deathlord was upon them, blade ready to swing, before it seemed to think better of it.
"FUS" the Deathlord shouted instead, casting all around Claudia backwards and into the wall, loud clangs as metal hit stone.
Claudia, however, was able to stand against the voice, feeling a strong wind force her a step backwards, but no more. The Deathlord stared at her, blue eyes exuding a mixture of shock and malevolence, before tossing its head back to shout again.
Claudia was too quick this time "FUS" she shouted back with all her strength, feeling the power surge out of her throat, through her mouth, and strike the Deathlord full flush. It hit the corpse with such impact that bones began to fly apart even before it careered backwards, lifted into the air and clattering into a wall far at the other side of the cave, where it smashed apart, blue lights extinguished from the skull.