Slave to Fate

"What next, giant snakes?"

Hadvar

Chapter Eleven: The Golden Claw

Mjoll awoke with a start at the loud knock at her door. She noticed that she had somehow fallen asleep without noticing it and groaned as she sat up from her uncomfortable position on the bed. The knock ceased as the door was simply flung open. Alodie stood there with a deep frown on his face.

"I've been knocking on your door for the past five minutes now," he said. She groaned, popping a few of her backbones as she stretched. The warrior sighed.

"You're pretty impatient. I bet it takes you longer to get up in the morning," she said. Alodie narrowed his eyes.

"I got up before you so I don't quite see what you are trying to argue," he said. Mjoll sighed. He was going to win the argument again, wasn't he? When would he just give her a break? Before she could think of a good comeback, her stomach growled loudly as she fidgeted on her bed. Alodie frowned. "We already ate," he said. Mjoll's face exclaimed horror.

"You already ate?" she exclaimed. "Without me?" Alodie rolled his eyes.

"Maybe if sleeping beauty her actually got her ass up…" he muttered. Mjoll boiled in anger, standing. She hated his guts. Detested him. As if yesterday hadn't been bad enough what with Marcurio's screw up.

When she entered the tavern, she first noticed that the inn keeper was missing. The bar keep, Orgnar was wiping down glasses trying to avoid their eyes. She hoped that they would get to Whiterun at least by today. She didn't want to spend another night at this suspicious inn.

Aerin and Marcurio sat at a table by the wall, exchanging idle conversation. Alodie came in behind her, crossing his arms. She continued to simmer in anger. They were just going to go on with their lives without her, huh? And was Aerin actually talking with that mage? Were they drunk?

Alodie walked past her, shoving a pack at her. "We're getting supplies before we leave," he said. He turned to face her. "Make sure you're awake for it." She frowned.

"Ha, ha, very funny," she remarked dryly. Alodie ignored her sarcasm as he headed towards the door, Orgnar's eyes trailing him. Marcurio looked up towards Alodie and smirked.

"Where yah going chief?" he asked. Alodie glanced towards him, Mjoll following the Imperial close behind.

"Supplies," was all he said. Marcurio frowned. He was hoping that it was "adventure" or "fun" that came out of his mouth but he highly doubted that he would ever say those words. Feeling that his time was better spent at the inn, he made himself more comfortable. Aerin looked pleadingly at the two but knew that this mage would get them into trouble if he didn't watch him and sighed. He was always the one left out of things, wasn't he?

The early morning sky held no clouds except for near the Throat of the World where an ever-present mist hid its top. Mjoll cover her eyes from the blazing sun and breathed in deeply the smells of the mountains. It had been so long since she explored Skyrim's peaks, three years maybe? It had definitely been too long.

She started wondering again about Alodie, where has gone in the past? What experiences did he have? She highly doubted that she would be getting any of the information out of him any time soon though.

Alodie glanced about him at the town of Riverwood before spotting the "Riverwood Trader's," and headed towards it with brisk steps. The town beggar pleaded to them for a drink as he went down the wooden steps but he ignored the Nord while Mjoll looked back at him dejectedly. Alodie glanced back at her.

"Keep moving," he said. Mjoll groaned. He was so bossy, wasn't he? And so insistent. She shook her head as she followed Alodie's quick steps, glad that she didn't have to deal with him and the strange inn keeper this morning. What had happened last night? Alodie definitely didn't look like he had been drinking, though it was hard to tell from the way he always held himself.

They past the town's blacksmith, a tall Nord hammered away at hard iron – shaping a gear looking device. Probably for the lumber mill, Mjoll thought. He glanced up as he saw the same two strangers from last night, narrowing his eyes.

She looked suspicious, no doubt. The armor she wore was Riften's armor – basically Stormcloak armor. And they were in Whiterun, both Imperial and Stormcloak lovers lived in this hold. Things would not end well. So, she turned to Alodie as they headed towards the trader.

"I think I'll head towards the local blacksmith. See if they have a good price on some armor," she said. Alodie glanced back at her and nodded.

"Go ahead. I'm not your babysitter," he said. Mjoll sighed but otherwise ignored Alodie's childish comment.

Now that Mjoll was gone, Alodie entered the Riverwood Trader – an original name, granted. Inside, a fight was breaking out between a middle-aged Nord and his young…sister? He shut the door softly, glancing towards the pair.

"They saw a dragon up there, Lucan. That thing must have something to do with them," the young woman said to Lucan, the merchant behind a rich counter of goods and potions. The merchant frowned.

"I said no. A thousand times no! How many times do I have to say it sister?" Lucan said, glancing towards the door. Noticing the Imperial there, he straightened. "Just…leave it alone Camilla. I have a customer." The young woman glanced towards Alodie, frowning. There were rarely ever any strangers to their small town – most took a mountain pass near Helgen. Well…now that Helgen was gone…

She sighed, shaking her head, before heading towards the fire and staring directly into its flames – pouting. She hated it here, she wanted to go out – explore Skyrim. Not sit around a dusty Trader all day.

Alodie, knowing that he had a great shortage in gold, came up to the counter and glanced around at the merchandise. Aerin told him of the stable outside of town and the horses they had there, along with the stable hand. The hand told him that all goods were bought from Lucan, the only trader in Riverwood. Alodie groaned at this. When he could have made a few merchants at least a bit reasonable in their prices now he only had to deal with one.

Lucan smiled. "Welcome traveler. What brings you to Riverwood?"

"Horses, actually," Alodie replied. He felt a hot stare on the back of his head and turned to look at Lucan's sister – her face flushed for some reason. He wasn't sure why. Lucan noticed his sister's affectionate stares and coughed once, bringing Alodie's attention back to him.

"We do have a few mares for sale – I'm not sure if you can have them though," he said. Alodie raised his eyebrows.

"And why would that be?" he asked. Lucan coughed again. This man looked strong. He could probably handle those bandits. He already sent another stranger to go after the claw, a Wood Elf hunter, about a week ago. He never returned though. He doubted that he was alive. Lucan smiled.

"Because, I don't sell to strangers – that's why," he said. Alodie narrowed his eyes. Just how unreasonable were these people? How could this man, Lucan, ever hope to earn money if he cornered his goods? No, there was something else going on here.

Before he could say anything, Camilla sat up. "So, are you saying that he can go after the claw?" she accused Lucan. The trader sighed.

"Yes. Now you don't have to go now, do you?" Alodie was confused. He didn't remember agreeing to anything. Seeing the man's suspicious stare, Lucan shook his head. "You go and get my golden claw from those horrible bandits at Bleak Falls Barrow and I might give you those horses. Free of charge."

Alodie groaned. He didn't have to do anything to get those horses – he could just steal them and get it over with. But he felt that he had to prove to Mjoll something. Prove that he wasn't as callous as she thought him to be.

He stared at the trader before nodding once. He was pretty sure that this was the weirdest business transaction he has ever gone through.

"And why is this claw so…important?" Alodie asked. After all, it looked like the thieves hadn't touched anything else in the store. Lucan's face grew red.

"Do you want your horses or not?" he asked. Alodie still felt the offer was a bit suspicious and that there was more to all of this then there seemed but he agreed. Before he could leave, the young Nord woman stood.

"You don't know the way there, right?" she asked him. Alodie looked her over. She obviously wanted to avenge these bandits herself and to be honest, he would mind letting her. But he needed those two horses. Badly. He shook his head causing her to smile towards Lucan. "Then I'll show you the way."

"What? N-no! You…" The trader sighed. "By the eight...fine! But only to the edge of town," Lucan stuttered as his sister opened the door, the cold air rushing in as she escaped the prison. Alodie looked towards Lucan who was still flustered and shrugged.

When Alodie left, he noticed Mjoll standing by the blacksmiths beginning to put on a new iron casing. After talking with the blacksmith Alvor, the kind smith decided to lower his prices a bit after she told him her story. Not a completely factual one, but close enough. She hadn't told him of Alodie who walked up to her now trailed by a short Nord lass. She narrowed her eyes.

"What have you gotten yourself into now?" she asked. Alvor glanced over Mjoll's shoulder towards the dark looking Imperial and Camilla who was grinning ear to ear. That girl was getting herself into trouble again, wasn't she? Alvor handed Mjoll another armor plate which she took gratefully.

"And who's this?" Alvor asked. Mjoll looked over to Alvor who looked at Alodie with suspicion. The Imperial ignored the question.

"I'm going to the barrows, Mjoll," he said, pointing up into the mountains. The young Nord Warrior narrowed her eyes, looking towards the west. Tall statues and standing stones dotted the countryside. It looked like death. Mjoll looked back at Alodie in confusion.

"I thought we were leaving for Whiterun," she said. Alodie shook his head.

"Change of plans," he said. The young Imperial pointed to Camilla. "Her store lost some claw and the only way to get our horses is if we go up there." Mjoll frowned.

"Did you tell Aerin? And Marcurio?" she asked. Alodie rolled his eyes.

"It shouldn't take us too long," he assured her. Mjoll highly doubted that. And if he wanted to go alone, then why was he telling her? The young woman beside Alodie frowned when she saw Mjoll. Now there was a strong Nord woman who looked as if she could take care of herself. Why wasn't she like her? Because Lucan wouldn't let her.

Alvor sighed after he finished with Mjoll's armor, smiling. "Well, I guess I'm done," he said. Alodie looked towards Mjoll who gave her a "You didn't spend too much, right?" look. Mjoll ignored him as she secured her battle axe to her back, throwing a bag of gold to Alvor who didn't really look in it. She smiled.

"Thank you Alvor," she said. Alodie narrowed his eyes at the Nord. The young merchant beside him began to feel a bit nervous around the Imperial. She waved her hand.

"Bleak Falls Barrow is right up those mountains to the southwest," she said as they began walking towards it past the "gates" of Riverwood. Mjoll looked towards the inn where Aerin was and worried that he would go looking for them. She prayed that this would be over soon and that it wouldn't be too dangerous. "Actually, it's rather strange. The only thing the bandits took was that stupid golden claw that Lucan likes to wave about. He uses it to get customers in his store," she continued. They stopped at a bridge that went over the river that separated the town. The Nord merchant wiped her sweaty hands on her apron and gazed up towards a mountain pass. "He's a strange one. Thinks the damned thing brings him luck or some such. I highly doubt that though."

Alodie guessed that this was the way they were supposed to go and began heading across the bridge with Mjoll in toe. Camilla held out her hand. "Wait, stranger," she said. Mjoll frowned as she turned around while Alodie simply stopped. The more time they wasted, the more time Aerin grew suspicious of their whereabouts. He would never let her go with Alodie if he knew. The trader smirked. "Just in case you have second thoughts…I don't want to send you to your deaths," she began. "But a few weeks ago, we sent a mercenary group up there. They never returned. All of them were killed by those bandits."

They both grew solemn while Alodie looked towards the Barrow. "I don't know what is in there but for some reason, those bandits want it," she said. "Take care of yourself."

"You don't need to worry," he said, tightening his cloak, lifting his hood. He would have to do a bit of sneaking around; he only hoped that Mjoll didn't get in the way. The warrior checked her axe, making sure it was sharp, before following Alodie up the mountain.

As they climbed, Alodie jumping over a large rock in their path, Mjoll thought that it was about time he answered some questions.

"So, why exactly are we going to Whiterun? Why not Solitude or Windhelm?" she asked as they ascended the mountain. Alodie realized that it would have been best if they had brought their horses along for the climb up the pass, realizing that the Barrow was most likely miles away. He sighed.

"That isn't really any of your business," he replied. Wow, how suspicious, Mjoll thought, rolling her eyes. He had to be obvious, didn't he? And yet, it worked – she looked like she wasn't minding her own business. She thought blankly as they cleared another hill, the ground leveling a bit. She stared off into the nearby mountains.

"It's the Thieves Guild, isn't it?" she began. Alodie turned around to glare at her. He was pretty sure that he made his reason as indiscernible as possible. How could Mjoll guess that so easily? She snapped her fingers. "I see, so it is Thieves Guild business," she said as she continued walking. Alodie turned so that his face didn't give anything away.

"Let's just keep going," he said, attempting to change the subject. Mjoll saw it coming, however.

"What is Maven making you do this time? Oh, wait – frame someone else for a crime so that they spend eternity in jail?" she said. Alodie stopped as they began to climb the next ridge, glaring at the warrior.

"I saved you, Mjoll," he said. "Why I did what I did…I don't even know."

Mjoll crossed her arms. "You don't 'know?' How could you not know, Alodie? Now that you're out of Riften you are free of them – there is no need to do Maven's dirty work anymore."

Alodie tensed, staring up towards the mountain that covered the Barrow above. He remembered Aringoth's words – the High Elf that was now imprisoned – and felt that there was something…stirring behind the scenes. It was either his gut feeling or simple paranoia, he wasn't sure. He thought of an answer for Mjoll before heading up the mountain.

"You told me to save Riften," he began, noticing an old broken down Imperial tower. "This is the only way I know how." Mjoll had to agree, the only reason she had stayed in Riften was so that she could save it. Now that she had no way to do so, she had to rely on Alodie – the stranger she met one night wandering Riften. She still felt a bit doubtful about all of this though.

"And how are you going to do that when you are one of them, Alodie? Sabotage them from the inside? You're only one person," she said. After all, she didn't want to give the young man a task he would probably never be able to accomplish. He wasn't invincible.

Alodie continued climbing as she noticed the Imperial give her a small smile before giving her a cryptic answer. "As I said, it's the only way I know how." Before Mjoll could ask him about that, Alodie noticed a few people coming out of the tower and frowned – using a tall rock beside him as cover, pulling Mjoll along with him. The warrior glared at him.

"What was that—?"

"Shh," he muttered quickly, the Nord beside him sighing deeply.

A barbarian walked out followed by a ranger type woman, both of them laughing loudly at something. Alodie unsheathed his sword while Mjoll grabbed her battle axe, looking towards Alodie for a plan. He motioned with his eyes silently, telling her that he would make a strike first while she covered him. Mjoll nodded as Alodie grabbed his knife as well, preparing to make a run for the two bandits.

Before she could even prepare herself, Alodie shot out like an arrow – the two bandits jumping at the sudden appearance of the Imperial. The woman yelped as she backed up into the tower while the barbarian licked his lips, ready for the fight.

Alodie wasn't used to striking when his opponents could clearly see him and was not in the mood to deal with the weighed down Nord barbarian. He looked quickly over his shoulder to see Mjoll following him quickly as the barbarian began to swing at him with his axe. He rolled quickly out of the way, getting onto his feet while creating fire in his hand. The action was used more to blind the man then to burn him as Alodie easily slipped away from the Nord's view, heading into the tower.

Mjoll saw this action and knew that Alodie was leaving the Nord for her and began to ready her battle axe. It had been so long since she did these sort of raids and she feared that she wouldn't be able to perform to her best ability.

The Nord spotted her and growled like a wolf. She found that the barbarian's moves were predictable – an angry slash with his axe on her right and a slow counter with his axe near the middle. She easily held her ground and found herself pushing the Nord back onto the fort's bridge that was suspended hundreds of feet above the ground. She smirked as she pushed the barbarian back – the stupid Nord not realizing the open ground below him.

Finding an opening in his wild attacks, she ducked an incoming swing as she faked her next stroke, causing the man to flinch. And that flinch was what brought the Nord to his end.

While Mjoll dealt with the heavy barbarian, Alodie chased the ranger woman up the steps of the tower. Arrows flew past him as he followed, the woman grunting as he dodged each and every one of them. They were soon at the top of the tower with Alodie pinning the bandit against the wall. She cursed as Alodie pulled his knife out once again as she pulled out a short sword.

Alodie made the first attack, rushing at her with a speed no one would even be able to track. He feigned right before coming at her with his knife, the bandit however was still quick enough to at least dodge out of the way. Alod surprisingly found his knife digging into the side of the wooden plank that had been behind the ranger, cursing as he tried to pull it out. The bandit smiled, kicking out towards Alodie causing him to trip. He left his knife in the wood as he rolled away from the bandit's stab at him, getting up onto his feet quickly.

She growled as she turned around though not fast enough. Alodie quickly grabbed her head with both of his hands and twisted while a resounding crack accompanied it. The bandit's eyes whitened as she fell to the floor, dead.

Without even a second breath, Alodie grabbed the hilt of his knife – sheathing it onto his belt delicately before turning to look out the window. Mjoll glanced up after she dealt with the barbarian as she felt a pair of eyes on her. Seeing the bandit fall to his death, Alodie frowned.

"I hope you're in the mood to clean up that mess on the way down," he called out. Mjoll glared at him as she secured her battle axe to her back, the leather straps tightening.

"And I'm sure you did a better job than me," she half-muttered under her breath half-called out. Alodie smirked underneath his hood, going away from the wall. He checked the now very dead bandit for anything of use, only finding a few gold coins. He narrowed his eyes. For a rather elite group of bandits, they didn't seem to be that rich. It was quite possibly because they were only stealing golden claws.

He made his way out of the tower with Mjoll staring back at him, trying to see if he wasn't injured. Seeing that he was okay, she faced the now flattened out pass. They had to be close to the Barrow if there were watches all the way out here.

Alodie knew this as well and began to march past her towards the pass once again, intent on figuring out this mystery. Mjoll groaned.

"I have a bad feeling about this Alod," she muttered as they saw the Barrow over the ridge. Tall spires made up the ancient tomb along with steep stairs up to the top. Alodie kept his guard up as he edged his way towards the Barrow, his hand ever on the hilt of his sword. Mjoll felt a darkness coming from there as she felt from all Nordic tombs she's ever delved in. She hoped that these bandits hadn't woken anything up.

"So do I, but do you see me complaining?" he retorted. Mjoll shook her head as she saw a few bandits near the top of the towering steps. She sighed. There was so many of them …

She pulled out her battle axe, ready to kill as many of them as possible. Before she could however, Alod raised a hand before she could go into the fray. He looked back at her as if a plan was formulating in his mind. "I'd rather do this the easy way, wouldn't you?" he asked her. Mjoll glared at him.

"I don't think we should be letting these bandits live, Alodie. They are terrorizing the people down there," she protested. They should all die for their illegal acts of banditry. That was why she went adventuring, to kill those that could hurt others later. Alodie narrowed his eyes.

"If you just go charging up there, you're going to get yourself killed," he said. Mjoll laughed lightly, gripping her axe tighter.

"Then let them come," she said, grinning. Alodie sighed, shaking his head. He wanted to do this nice and quietly, Lucan never said he had to kill the bandits; he just wanted his stupid claw back. They couldn't destroy an entire bandit horde on their own.

But maybe what Mjoll really wanted was revenge. Revenge on those bandits that caused her so much harm years ago.

To be honest, he couldn't blame her.

Mjoll tensed when Alodie came closer to her so that he could whisper. "We don't have time for this. If you really want to, you can go after them later. But right now, I'm just focused on trying to get to Whiterun, okay?" he said. She didn't say a word as he left, crouching slowly towards a dark spire, glancing up.

What she did wonder was how she – the most ungraceful out of them all – going to sneak into there?

Normally, Arvel the Swift would be drinking along with his fellow bandits, but this day…this day was different. The Dark Elf swallowed as the spider ascended into its web above him and cringed when it began making sounds above him. He shook violently, closing his eyes. The thing wanted to make him a snack for later huh? Well, he would make sure he didn't taste very good.

His struggling in the web however didn't really help him in escaping. He whimpered as the spider's bite from earlier began to drain his energy.

He knew how to open that door, finally after months of planning. The golden claw and an even greater treasure behind that door was his to claim. No one here but him had to know about it.

The fools, he thought, smirking. They thought he had wasted his time to rob just the claw from Lucan's store when in fact it would give them the golden treasures of the ancient Nords! Who knew how much power they held behind that trapped door, he was rather sure that the dead wouldn't tell him.

All he needed to do was simply escape. That was all.

The spider above him began twisting a body of a skeever from above, sucking the poor rat's guts as its breakfast. He only hoped that he was dessert. He felt the golden claw that was still in his hands trying to free himself a bit so that he could reach his knife. No use.

He groaned as he stood back up. He couldn't burn his way out knowing that the web would catch both him and his trap on fire. He had to hope that his fellow bandits could find him.

It had all started last month, a group of them ran from the west – the Forsworn definitely didn't like competitors. It was there that they found the Barrow, Arvel recognized the Barrow as an old Nordic tomb – probably even older then the eras. The people in the settlement of Riverwood were afraid of the Barrow which gave them a base of operations.

He sort of regretted it now as the spider began to descend again – taking a long dead corpse and pulling it up into the web. Maybe it doesn't like its meals fresh, Arvel thought morbidly, trying to move again. Suddenly, he heard footsteps from down the hall he came from and smiled.

"Is that you? Forn? Zolek!" he yelled out. The spider began to devour the poor soul, touching it with its enormous legs. He had never seen a spider this large before in his life and wished that the other passage they used to use hadn't caved in on them.

He frowned when the footsteps stopped. "Look, I didn't mean to run off with the claw! I didn't!" he yelled.

Both Alodie and Mjoll looked at each other when they heard a voice accompanied by fear down the hall. Somehow, the two of them were able to slip by the bandits – though, not without the help of Alodie's muffle spell. He rarely used it since his initiation years ago but he believed that it had to make do for their situation. At least Mjoll's iron boots didn't clang as noisily as they did earlier.

They had to kill the two in the chamber; both bandits were surprised at the sight of intruders. Alodie guessed that they had been this Forn and Zolek this bandit was crying out for. Alodie unsheathed his sword, prepared for the worst while Mjoll copied him taking her axe.

They came up to a room filled with spider webs – some of the string being at least a foot thick. Mjoll swallowed nervously, holding onto her axe tightly. Alodie took a step forward into the room seeing a Dark Elf tangled in a web on the opposite side of the room. Dead corpses of skeevers and ancient skeletons littered the floor as he tried to avoid the sticky webs, glaring towards the Dunmer supposedly named Arvel the Swift. He was looking up.

"Gah!" he screamed as Alodie and Mjoll looked up into the hundreds of eyes that stared back at them from above. Alodie swept his hand back, the fire clearing any webs around the two of them as the spider descended again but this time intending to kill the intruders. Alodie stepped back with Mjoll behind him keeping her ground.

The large spider crawled towards them in bounds, the small room barely giving them enough space to dodge. Both Mjoll and Alodie separated, Alodie slashing at the spiders legs. He never hit it though, the monster moving just a bit too fast for him as the spider went after Mjoll.

The warrior growled deeply, preparing her axe to strike. The spider, however, was just a bit too fast for her as her strike hit hard stone. The monster was soon on top of her, the heavy thing tackling her down onto the ground. She grunted in pain, seeing the spider trying to stab her with its stinger. She pulled out a knife and stabbed up at its many eyes. The thing cried out in pain as both Mjoll and Alodie went on the attack. The spider ended up close to Arvel as it flailed around.

"Get it away from me! Get it away!" he yelled. Alodie didn't listen to the Dunmer's complaints as he hurled towards its back, holding tightly onto the spider's torso. It shrieked as it tried to get the Imperial off of it, shaking and crashing itself against the wall. Alodie however held tight as if trying to tame a horse and glanced towards Mjoll – or at least tried to.

"Kill it!" he yelled at her, puncturing his knife into the spiders back. The thing was more angered then hurt by the attack and flailed around even more, attempting to climb back up into its web but failed to because of the extra weight. Mjoll glared at the monster and lifted her axe.

Alodie was suddenly flung back – unable to hold on anymore— as Mjoll slashed at the spider horizontally and crashed gracelessly into a few old webs and pots behind him. Arvel laughed nervously as he saw the spider breath its last by Mjoll's axe, the Nord pulling her weapon from the dead insect.

"Th-thank the gods," he muttered tiredly. Alodie groaned as he sat up, feel a few new bruises on his back.

"You could have done that a bit more elegantly…" he muttered, rubbing his head, standing.

Mjoll rolled her eyes. "Shut up you big baby."

"Help me get out of here!" the Dunmer shrieked. Alodie wiped the old webs off of his cloak as he glared at Arvel, spotting a glint underneath the webs. He walked soundlessly towards the Elf and peered up towards the hanging bandit.

"Why should I?" he asked. The Dunmer smirked, glancing down into his hands.

"You want the claw, don't you?" Arvel said, moving slightly. Alodie didn't make any moves to nod but the Dunmer saw the Imperial's eyes glint in agreement. "Help me down and I'll show you the door," he said. Alodie narrowed his eyes along with Mjoll.

"What door?" Mjoll asked. Arvel frowned then began to laugh but not before the tightness of his bindings stopped him.

"You mean you don't even know?" He laughed even more. "Then Lucan was more of a fool then I thought."

Alodie came closer to the web and held up his hand, fire cascading in it gently. Arvel's eyes widened. "W-what are you going to do with tha—"

"Tell me what you know or you're going up in flames," he threatened. Arvel shook.

"P-please! Just listen alright! No need to get violent," he shrieked. Alodie lowered his hand by only a fraction, the act not really convincing. Arvel continued anyway. "The door leads to the tomb. The Hall of Stories. It has a puzzle you see. Y-you need a key." They all heard echoes coming down the hall behind Arvel. The Dunmer ignored it. "I have the key. The claw!" Alodie got closer to the Dunmer, the flames licking his cheek. Arvel tried to move back but failed.

"What in Talos's name is he talking about?" Mjoll interrupted. Alodie glared at Arvel who shook even more from fright.

"Give me the claw," he said. Arvel smirked.

"Does it look like I can give it to you from—"

Alodie took out his knife and began to jab quickly at the web, cutting out the Dunmer's figure. Arvel the Swift coughed a few times before he could feel both his arms and legs free from the web. He grinned as Alodie tried to untangle himself from the remaining web. "There's a reason why they call me Arvel the Swift you know," he said. He threw the web onto Alodie as he ran down the corridor he had been covering. Alodie cursed trying to free himself as he chased after the Dunmer followed by Mjoll. The warrior helped cut the remaining web off of Alodie then dashed after the foolish Dark Elf.

Alodie began to feel strange as he ran down the halls to catch the Dunmer, the walls beginning to move on their own. He heard Mjoll curse behind him and twisted around to see the very tombs of the barrow springing to life. Mjoll's eyes widened before waving sharply at Alodie.

"Keep going! Catch the bastard!" she yelled, swinging her axe at a nearby draugr. The bones crunched underneath her heavy axe as she pushed her momentum forward to the next undead Nord. Alodie slowed, glancing towards Arvel. The foolish Dunmer was already far away from the two – already heading past a tall pillar of rock.

Arvel laughed as he took his prize down the hall. He didn't know where he was going but he could finally reach the treasure. If only—

Alod stopped running after the Dunmer when a wall of spikes suddenly rushed past him. The Imperial backed up quickly as the wall of spikes smashed Arvel between it and the wall, the Elf's blood running down like water. It was obvious that Arvel was just too swift for his own good. He glanced back to see Mjoll still struggling with the undead, most of them already surrounding her. Before he himself joined the fight, another one of the dead beside him stood from its crevice. This one however, was a little… different.

Alodie suddenly found himself being lifted off the floor and crashing into the opposite wall by a …spell? An enchantment? He didn't know exactly what the undead Nord did to him. He only knew that the force of it caused the corridor that separated him and Mjoll to come crashing down, dragging a few draugr with it. Mjoll cursed, "re-killing" the last of the undead.

"Alod!" she yelled over the pile of rubble. She cursed again, trying to move a few rocks. "Alodie!"

Alodie couldn't hear Mjoll's calls over the undead Nord's ancient taunts to him in an old yet…familiar language. He rolled out of the way from the draugr's sword, drawing his own. The undead Nord beat his shield as they both prepared for their attack, circling each other menacingly.

Alodie attacked first, arching his blow towards the undead. It gave a short laugh before blocking with its shield and stabbed towards the living Imperial. He backed up gracefully, the point of the sword almost touching him before he grazed the weapon on his knife. The draugr, seeing what the Imperial was doing, dropped it's shield and engulfing Alodie in shards of ice. The young Imperial stopped his stride towards the undead as multiple shards of ice punctured his torso, grunting in pain.

Mjoll continued to call out as she heard the fighting, "Alodie, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mjoll. Perfectly okay," he slowly called back, dodging the undead's sword. He smirked seeing that it left itself open, digging his electrical sword into the old bones and fiber of the draugr. The undead Nord's bright blue eyes suddenly dimmed, its connection to the material world finally severed, falling to the ground.

Alodie took in deep breaths as he sat down slowly, feeling puncture holes in his leather armor. He groaned as he made the repairs to his body himself, his hand awash in a white light. He never had to use healing spells so much before. He glanced down at his armor and sighed. Tonilia was going to kill him – his armor was a complete mess of holes already. His old armor never got this ruined.

He called back to Mjoll. "It's dead." The warrior sighed in relief, pushing at the rock wall again.

"You have the claw?" she asked. Alodie glanced over towards the Dunmer's mangled body seeing the discarded claw covered in dark blood. He got up slowly, his healing spell still affecting him, picking up the solid gold object.

He nodded. "Yes," he called out. He could almost see Mjoll smiling behind the wall of rock.

"I'll get Marcurio. He could probably blast this rock to Oblivion," she said, smirking. Alodie looked the claw over between his hands, seeing the forms of a bear, butterfly, and owl. He touched the imprints delicately, confused as to what they could mean. He raised his voice.

"You don't need to," he said. Mjoll stopped walking away, coming up to the wall of rock again, puzzled.

"And why exactly?" she began. "There's no way you're getting out of here unless this wall comes down." Alodie turned the claw over, smearing Arvel's blood between his hands as he studied the object in a strange fascination.

"I'm going in there," he said simply. He saw his sword on the ground and picked it up, sheathing the blade. He heard Mjoll grumble in frustration.

"You can't do that. It's too dangerous," she said. Alodie laughed softly.

"Who said I was afraid?" he retorted, fixing his cloak.

"Don't. Alodie. Don't make me force this wall open myself," she threatened, digging her fingers into the rock. Was he mentally insane? They had the claw; they didn't need anything else inside this cursed place. Just standing here was giving her the creeps. She could swear someone was whispering softly into her ear as the silence grew between them and didn't want Alodie, no matter how "experienced" and "combat savvy" he was, to just rush in there alone. It was suicide.

Alodie apparently didn't care. "Fine, but I won't be here when you do," he said – looking towards the spike wall that was slowly retracting back to its place against the pillar. He took note of the pressure plate of rock and stepped over it, looking pathetically towards Arvel's body. It was just one step around you idiot, he thought. After he passed the mouse trap without a sweat, the Imperial continued down the hall slowly, aware that some more draugrs could be around the corner.

Mjoll pounded the rock. The bastard…