A Doom Driven Hero: Chapter 21 – A Growing Legend

The prison was cold. It was damp too, but that was mainly due to the coldness. Mould could be spotted on various walls, as well as the occasional trickle of water. It must have been raining outside. The smell of uncleaned bodies and various bodily fluids wafted through the circular jail. The lower levels ironically smelt better, given that hot air rises. All these factors combined to make the air rather thick, and it seemed to hang on the clothes of the prison's occupants.

The occupants were classed into two categories. Or perhaps three. There was the guards, in their red armour, patrolling regularly through the halls. There was the prisoners, in their makeshift rags and tattered clothing, in varying states of filth and dirtiness given the time each had spent there.

Then there was the third category, occupied by only one individual. He was a prisoner, but only in the loosest sense possible. Where the others wore tattered and grubby everyday clothes, he wore a strange set of armour, seemingly a mixture of silvery-steel metal, and robed cloth. He was sitting against a wall, in a cell with one other man, examining his gauntlets. His posture was very nonchalant, and he was in a much cleaner state than the other occupants.

This particular man had only been in the cell for a few hours, and thus he was still the talk of the prison, with a few other inmates watching him from adjacent cells and whispering to each other. The person whom the armored man shared the cell with hadn't said anything, mainly because he wasn't actually conscious.

The unconscious man was probably a drunk, thrown in the cell for causing too much ruckus the previous night, and stowed away here for a day or so to pay the bounty of his damages, and to sober up. His clothes were still dirty, but probably due to the events of the previous night, rather than from the prison.

The unconscious man then stirred, indicating he was finally emerging from his slumber. The armored man looked up, a half-curious look on his face. The drunken man sat up, rubbing gunk from his eyes. He blinked blearily over at the armored man.

"Who the hell are you?" he said in a slightly slurred, thick voice.

The armored man laughed, his voice sounding much younger. "Straight to the point, eh? That's probably for the best. I've no doubt speaking causes no small amount of pain for you."

The drunken man groaned, rubbing his forehead and wincing, "you got that right..."

The armored man smiled again, acting like this was just a regular meeting in the street. "My name is Marcus. I'm an… explorer, you could say."

The drunk man nodded dumbly, his head still pounding. "… Ok… I'm… groan My name is Irnskar. I'm a… housecarl."

Marcus frowned, "Bit of a decrepit state for a housecarl… though, the one I'm using for a reference might just be a finer example."

Irnskar shrugged, "It was my thane's birthday last night, I think. I can't remember what happened..."

Marcus nodded, glancing out the cell door. "You must've caused a bit of ruckus to get thrown in here. How long do you think you'll be down here?"

Irnskar groaned again as another wave of hangover pain hit him. "I… don't know. Probably only for a day. How long have I been here already?"

Marcus shrugged, "Don't know. You were here when I got chucked in a few hours ago."

Irnskar rubbed his eyes again, and got a good look at his fellow inmate. "You don't look like the usual rabble that would end up here."

Marcus chuckled, "I'm not. Situations out of my control put me here."

The nord frowned, "What do you mean?"

Marcus thought for a second, chewing his lip and thoughtfully rubbing his wrist. "To summarize, I intervened in a rather vocal event involving Thane Erikur's unwanted interest in a certain blonde female bard."

Irnskar said, "That doesn't sound like something that would get you thrown in jail."

"Well, not that, no. But I think it had something to do with how another man's prized ring ended up in my pocket this morning, and how someone knew exactly when to tip off the guards."

"Oh..." the gears in Irnskar's mind slowly clicked, making the connection. "Didn't the guards listen to you?"

Marcus shrugged, "I'm new in town. I'd be surprised if they'd be trusting of a new arrival." He scratched his thin with a thoughtful smile on his face. "It's funny. Couple this sordid event with the gruesome beheading I saw the second I stepped through the gate, I can't say that this has been my best welcome to a new city..." He scrolled through some memories, remembering his entrance to Skyrim. "Can't say it's been my worst, though…."

"Damn," Irnskar shook his head, "What are you going to do?"

Marcus stood up and walked over to the cell door. "I'm not too sure. Initially my hope was to simply talk it out with a guard, but I tried that the first hour I was here, and he threatened to execute me if I didn't shut up." He knelt down and examined the lock. "I was thinking I could perhaps use a spell to blast open the lock, or maybe even pick it, but I doubt I'd be able to fight through every guardsman between here and the main gate, especially not without my weapons."

Even in his delirious state, Irnskar could tell something was off about the man. He spoke about what would normally be an impossible task, as something not too unlikely. That said, he didn't want to be pegged as an accomplice should he actually decide to blast the lock off the door.

Irnskar warily said, "What are you planning on doing?"

"I'm not actually certain," Marcus admitted, "I suppose I could try to talk to a guard again, maybe straighten this whole business out, but I could potentially only end up in the same scenario as before."

Marcus walked away from the cell door, and paced the interior of the cell. Watching the young man go back and forth stirred up Irnskar's headache again. Marcus had his eyes fixed to the floor, thinking hard and considering possibilities. He'd been thrown into jail almost immediately, and hadn't even been given a chance to pay off a bounty. As such, he figured he'd probably be in here for at least a week.

His mind strayed to some of the things that he'd been hoping to achieve in Solitude, and the nearby area. He'd been warned about a Dragon near the southern mountains, and there was also a cluster of forsworn setting up camp a bit further north of the Reach than normal. What were the chances that either of those two forces would claim an innocent life while he was stuck here? If that eventuality happened, then the death would be on Marcus' head.

It was this thought that sealed the concept for him. He was going to get out of this jail. Within the hour, if he could help it. Marcus walked over and leant on the back wall of the cell. He was mulling over the decision to talk to a guard again, or try to break out. Timing his 'Whirlwind Sprint' and 'Become Ethereal' shouts might just be enough to get through the prison and outside onto the outer walls, if he was lucky.

As the decisions spun around in his head, he got distracted by a strange creaking noise. He was about to shift his weight off the wall, when his weight was suddenly shifted through it.

With a crack and a crunch, the section of wall that Marcus was leaning against crumbled down, and he fell backwards into a strange tunnel with a surprised yelp.

He hit the ground, and rolled backwards, flipping over and landing on his feet in a crouched pose, head quickly scanning the tunnel. Apart from a very stunned Irnskar, there was no-one in sight. Marcus stood up. Behind him, lay a long tunnel stretching into darkness. Presumably, it was some old section of what had been Solitude's sewers, or catacombs, or whichever variant this city had. Most cities, in his experience, had an underground section similar to what his eyes were currently showing him.

"Well..." Marcus said with raised eyebrows, "I think I just found a solution to my problem."

Irnskar found his voice at last. "You're insane."

Marcus looked back, raising an eyebrow at him, "Maybe. You want to come?"

Irnskar shook his head vigorously, face going pale. "I don't want to end up like Roggvir. I'll be staying right here."

Marcus chuckled, and crept down the tunnel. He knew he didn't have a whole lot of time until one of the guards passed by the cell and saw the gaping hole in the wall. He hurried along, a soft magical light glowing in his left hand. He came to a sort of fork, with a short path off to the right. Marcus looked down it, and saw a grate in the wall, right on top of a chest at could be seen on the other side. He slowly crept up to it, and looked through the grate.

The room looked like an armory, only more haphazard, with clothes and daggers as the majority. With a jolt, he realized that the room must be the prisoner belongings. He craned his neck and peered throughout the room, looking for his own belongings. After he couldn't see it, he only assumed that they were in the chest right in front of the grate.

That's really, really lucky, Marcus thought. That chest was the only place in the room he could actually reach without being inside the room itself.

He reached forward, sliding both arms through the bars, and began working away with some lockpicks. It was very hard going, given that he couldn't actually see the lock, and he only managed to sneak a few in with him, but the guardsmen hadn't really bothered to install a particularly strong lock onto this chest. Most prisoner belongings were just lying about, so they clearly weren't bothered about prisoners stealing back their stuff.

Marcus, after breaking two of his three lockpicks, managed to get the chest open, and from his awkward position, managed to withdraw his glass dagger, and the brand new glass sword he had smithed himself. He then stood up and quickly moved further down the tunnel. After coming across a few dead ends along multiple pathways, Marcus eventually made his way to the end of the tunnel, marked by a bright light.

As he emerged, he had to pull himself back, as the tunnel ended right above the Solitude docks, with nothing but a 30 metre drop into the water. Marcus looked back into the tunnel, hearing shouts of alarm drifting downward. He knew he wouldn't be able to return to Solitude for a while, and he'd probably need to do a few favors for some high-up people in order to gain his amnesty. He had a feeling whatever Erikur had had planted on him, or whatever the man had said to the guards, meant that solving this problem with the law wouldn't be simple.

Regardless, Marcus knew he could worry about that later. He looked out over the bay, seeing the distant land opposite Solitude an easy 2 kilometres away. Swimming would be a pain, but Marcus had been practicing. The new metal Eorland had managed to create from the Skyforge was light enough, as well. In any event, his armour was half robes at this point anyway.

With a small jump, Marcus dived off the rocky outcrop and dropped the 30 metres below, making sure his arms and body were in the right posture. It hurt like hell when he landed, but healing magic had already been charged in his hands by the time he resurfaced.

Then, not waiting for any onlooking guards to start shooting arrows, Marcus began swimming, pacing himself and ensuring he didn't run out of stamina halfway across.

Marcus looked out over the northern section of the Reach. He could see where the rocky mountainous terrain of Markarth Hold slowly morphed into the more spaced forestry of Solitude. It was pretty, but would be a bit better if the area he was currently in wasn't so damn cold. Briefly, he wondered if Sergius would be able to teach him a warmth enchantment…

"You ok?" came a voice from behind him.

Marcus turned, smiling back at Lydia. "Yeah, sorry. Got lost in thought."

She raised an eyebrow, "You do that a lot. Maybe you're going senile..."

Marcus shook his head, "You wish. Then I'd have to stay at Breezehome all day and do nothing but write memoirs and complain about neighbors. You'd never have to worry about me again."

Lydia sighed, looking at the sky wistfully and shaking her head in mock sadness, "it is but a dream..."

Marcus smiled, and walked forward. They were outside Harmugstahl, which he wasn't even going to try and pronounce. Urag had sent him here in order to retrieve the writings of an old Arch-mage of the College, back in the first era. Marcus hadn't been expecting it to be a simple fetch, and the name sounded similar to other nordic ruins. Thus, when he'd stopped by in Whiterun to spend the night in a bed instead of on a bedroll, Lydia had decided she was to come with him, seeing as such nordic ruins were always dangerous.

Marcus didn't really have too much say in the matter, to be honest. There wasn't much of a reason to refuse her help. Illia had decided to come along too, with an eagerness ill-fitting of a young girl to have when concerning creepy decrepit ruins.

She ran up now, her short hair blowing about in the wind. "I've had a bit of a look at the door to the crypt. It's got a pretty heavy-duty lock on it. I'm not sure how you intend to get it open."

Marcus walked past the young girl, smiling at her from the corners of his face as he passed. "Don't worry… I know the passphrase."

Illia frowned, not understanding. Lydia sighed, and said, "That man and his theatrics..."

Marcus walked up the door, and examined it for a moment. It was wooden, inlaid with strips of iron. Illia had been correct. It had a hefty lock on the other side, and probably a security bar or two. Luckily, the wood wasn't particularly new, nor was the stone around it. The place looked like a bit of a cross between a nordic ruin, and an old-fashioned fort.

He took a deep breath, and the valley was filled with the crackling thunder of Thu'um.

"Fus... Ro DAH!"

The door exploded inwards, bits of wood, iron and stone flying all over the place. Illia's eyes widened in amazement, while Lydia, who'd seen Marcus use the Thu'um a little more, didn't react in such awe. She rolled her eyes, instead.

Marcus noticed her expression. "I'm not doing it to look cool, you know," he pouted, "If you have a better idea on how to get a locked door open when the lock is on the other side, let me know."

Lydia frowned, and looked sideways at the ground, realizing Marcus had a point. He didn't speak further, and just walked into the ruin first. Illia watched him go.

She said, "He's really something special, isn't he?"

Lydia sighed, rubbing her forehead and nodding, "If by special, you mean, unusual, yes. He's the most unusual person in the world."

"That's the thing though," Illia said, "you can't even say that, not entirely. He's technically only half a person. That's part of what makes him so special, I guess"

Lydia chewed her lip, staring at the space Marcus had last been seen, before he walked through the door. "I… I think he's human in the ways that count. Don't go start treating him like some kind of demigod, or some kind of… entity."

"Oh!" Illia gasped, "Of course not, I only meant that he's… really unique, and amazing."

"Well," Lydia shrugged, "Keep it to yourself. The man has enough on his plate without worrying about his own humanity."

Illia nodded in affirmation, before following the housecarl through the door into the ruin. They couldn't see Marcus waiting for them, so they proceeded down a natural tunnel before hearing a shout of alarm, followed by another shout of exclamation.

Illia and Lydia burst into a run in unison, emerging into a chamber lit by braziers and candles. In the centre of the room, an unknown man was wrestling with a medium-sized frostbite spider that was climbing all over him. Marcus was running up to the man, in the act of drawing his sword. The unusual thing about the scene, was that the spider was… sparking.

It had little bolts of lightning running along its body, occasionally sparking and zapping something nearby, be it the adventurer below the spider, or just the dirt. The adventurer was in hysterics, screaming while trying to get away from the spider on top of him.

Marcus readied his sword, gripping it with two hands, and thrusted for the side of the spider. The blade sliced through two of its middle legs, and buried itself into the torso of the monster. It screeched and clicked its mandibles in pain, before Marcus pushed his blade in deeper, allowing the hunter to slide out from underneath it, in the opposite direction as to Marcus was pushing it.

The adventurer staggered backwards, panting heavily. Marcus pulled his sword out, and stabbed it into the head of the spider, finishing it off for good. He stood up straight and walked over to the stricken man, wiping the green blood off his blade.

Marcus said, "What the hell was with that spider?"

"I don't know," the man shook his head, "But this place is full of the fucking things. Every one I've come across has been enchanted, or something. I'm getting the hell out of here. Normally spiders make my skin crawl, but magic spiders? Yeuch!"

The man shivered, and jogged out of the room, passing the two women without pausing. Marcus walked over to the corpse of the spider, and knelt down to examine it. It seemed to have runes carved into its body.

Illia walked up behind him, leaning down and inspecting the dead creature. "I've never seen enchanting magic used like this..."

Marcus said, "Neither have I. Though, I suspect it's got something to do with those writings of Shalidor that are supposed to be here, but that doesn't explain how it's even able to keep itself unharmed from the magic..."

"I know," Illia murmured, "I'm thinking perhaps they've used ward magic? But how would it sustain itself? I wouldn't have thought frostbite spiders had any magicka reserves..."

"I best they've used a soul gem as a power source," Marcus mused, stroking his chin, "though, that'd make the effects only temporary..."

Lydia walked up behind the two and cleared her throat. "I think the more important question you should be asking, is who is behind this whole thing, and what threat they may continue to pose toward us."

"Ah," Marcus nodded meekly, "you're right. The magical analysis can come later. Let's keep going."

Lydia rolled her eyes. She had little to no magical aptitude, but sometimes that was necessary to keep Marcus, and the excitable Illia grounded in reality.

The small group moved further into the ruin, keeping close together, and checking their surroundings carefully. They came into another room, once that had a table near the far wall, with a dead spider on it. Marcus sheathed his sword and walked up to it. It had no visible wounds of any kind, and he wondered how it had died.

It had the same runes inlaid into the surface of its skin, all over its body.

"How do you think it died?" Illia asked, "I'm not seeing any wounds?"

Marcus shrugged, "Could just be a preliminary trial. You know, whoever is doing this mightn't have got the whole enchanted spider thingy right the first time."

Illia hummed in agreement, going over and inspecting the corpse. As soon as she reached out to touch it, and her fingers brushed it's body, the entire thing burst into flames.

"AH!" Illia cried, leaping backward and rubbing her singed hand against her side. Marcus instinctively ran over and grabbed her hand, applying healing magic before Illia herself got a chance to.

"Be more careful," Marcus said when she was healed, worry etched into his face, "We don't exactly know what's going on here, so try not to touch any more unknown variables."

Illia nodded quickly, anxious to not upset Marcus again.

They moved onward, not encountering any more of the weird spiders. They moved through a few more tunnels and chambers before coming across a strange room with 4 levers in the middle, and a passageway up ahead blocked by interlinked iron bars.

"Huh..." Marcus mumbled, walking up to the levers. He pulled one, and a single bar from up ahead clicked, and slowly sunk into the wall. He pulled the next lever, and another bar sunk into the wall.

"Oh, well this is easy," Marcus muttered, "Why would they even put this here if it was so easy to get past?"

He pulled the third lever, and then the second bar suddenly shot outward again, barring the way.

"Oh..." Marcus frowned. He pulled the fourth lever, then the third bar retracted, while the first shot outward again.

Lydia said, "I guess we'll actually have to think about this."

Illia asked, "Don't you have a shout to fix this? Maybe some kind of teleportation thing?"

Marcus laughed, "I wish. There might be a shout like that, but as of yet, I haven't heard of it."

"I thought you knew every Thu'um there was to know?" Illia frowned, "Didn't you say you were fluent in the Dragon tongue?"

Marcus sighed, "Only in a very basic sense. I don't know Dovahzul, nor do I know every Dragon shout. I only understand them if I see, hear, or read them. And even then, it's only an instinctual thing. I have to actually tap into the soul of a Dragon to truly understand the words."

"Oh, I see..." Illia nodded.

"It's not an easy thing, Illia," Marcus smiled at her, "I can understand Thu'um better than anyone, but considering it takes a decade for the average person to learn one word, that's not really saying much."

Briefly, Marcus thought back to his fight with Morokei, how he'd spoken in the Dragon tongue when he was close to death. He wondered if that was an indication that he was closer in reality to being draconic, rather than human. He shook his head and dispelled such thoughts. They wouldn't do him any good at the moment. He could ask Arngeir or Esbern later, if it was still bothering him.

Marcus then turned back to the levers, and started sporadically flipping them in no discernible order or pattern. First, third, fourth, first again, second. The process wasn't particularly thoughtful, but Marcus figured that a rapid series of random attempts would serve better than a measured series of calculated attempts. After 3 minutes, and despite the protests of both Lydia and Illia for him to try a different approach, he managed to get all the bars down.

"See," Marcus gestured to the open passageway in front of them, "there's method to my madness."

The two women returned a shared look of raised eyebrows at him. He sighed in mock despair, throwing his hands up at the ceiling, and walked onward.

They walked through the next several chambers, coming across a few spiders here and there. Despite the magical damage one would get if they got close, the spiders themselves weren't much stronger than regular frostbite spiders, which was pretty weak. Thus, between Illia's and Marcus' destruction spells, and Lydia's bow, the process was fairly simple.

Eventually, they came to a set of stairs going down, that overlooked a far room. Near the corner was a large cell, filled with spiders. In front of the cell, facing away from Marcus and the others, was a man. An elf, from what Marcus could tell, with his height and stature. He wore black robes, and stood looking at the spiders crawling around in the cell, while making notes in a small notebook.

Illia whispered, "He must be the one who's creating these spiders. How are we going to play this?"

Marcus didn't hesitate, "Lydia, get your bow ready. Illia, try and cast some of those larger ice spike spells. Aim for center mass. After the first volley, I'll get in close and finish the job, if need be."

Lydia frowned, and grabbed Marcus' shoulder before he had a chance to move away. "Wait, we're just going to kill him? Shouldn't we just maybe ask him some questions, or see if he's willing to stop the experiment? He mightn't know the full effect of what he's doing?"

Marcus shook his head firmly. "If we hadn't shown up, those spiders would've killed that adventurer. Whoever conducts these sorts of experiments and doesn't take action to stop said situations happening, isn't someone of virtue."

Illia looked worried, "Does that mean we have to kill him though?"

Marcus glanced in the direction of the elven mage, then back at the two ladies. "He's obviously a skilled mage. I'm not taking chances. He dies, here and now. The only other outcome would be our own deaths instead. I'm not about to let that happen, and I'm hoping you wouldn't either."

With those words, Marcus pried Lydia's hand off his shoulder, and slowly slinked down into the room. Illia and Lydia exchanged concerned, but resolved glances. The elven mage walked away from the cell, and leaned over a table near it, clearly examining some kind of book.

Illia charged up two ice spikes in her hands, while Lydia nocked a steel arrow to her bow. Both aimed at the chest of the Elven mage. With a nod to each other, they fired in unison, Lydia's arrow and one of Illia's ice spikes striking the unarmored back of the elf. He cried out in pain, staggering forward and bracing himself against the table. A moment later, from another, closer set of shadows, a bright black and blue lightning bolt streaked outward, and hit the elven mage. He flew backwards, his mortally-wounded body smacking against the stone wall. The mage crumpled to the ground, badly hurt but still alive. In an instant, Marcus was sprinting over. He turned the elf onto his back, and quickly stabbed him in chest, right through the heart.

It was a brutal, but very efficient death. Marcus stood up, and breathed a sigh of relief, before going over and examining the table that the mage was looking at. Lydia and Illia both felt somewhat… discontent with how easily, and decidedly they'd killed the man. They both knew it was for the best, but only just.

"Aha," Marcus muttered, picking up the book the mage had been looking at, and showing to the two women as they walked into the room. "These are the writings we need. It seems this elf here, in order to create his magical spiders, had taken a leaf from Shalidor's book."

His attempt at a pun went un-noticed, and they both walked up and looked in the cell.

Illia asked, "What about these spiders?"

Marcus looked over, and shrugged, "Just leave them where they are. Without food, they'll die in about a week or so, I'd assume."

"Ok," she nodded, and took a deep breath. "Now that we've got what we came for, can we get out of here? I'm craving some fresh air."

"I second that," Lydia affirmed.

"Agreed..." Marcus murmered, his eyes scanning through the contents of Shalidor's writings. It seems the elven mage had made several notes and translations where applicable. He didn't know if that would please Urag or not, but it certainly made it easier for Marcus to understand. He'd have to make sure he had a good read on the way back to the College.

They made their way out of the ruins, and emerged into the gradually fading daylight in the Reach. Marcus stretched, and breathed in a lungful of fresh air.

"It's getting late," Lydia said, "We should probably head to a nearby town for the night. I think Dragon Bridge is the closest."

"Uh..." Marcus wringed his hands and looked sheepish, "That might not be the best idea, with me in tow..."

Lydia frowned suspiciously at Marcus, "What are you talking about?"

Marcus chewed his lip, looking guilty. "Well… at the moment, I'm kind of 'wanted' in Solitude hold." Lydia's face lit up with horror and incredulity.

"It's ok!" Marcus said quickly, holding up his hands in an attempt to stem the tide of angry comments about to burst from the pretty woman. Illia looked quite surprised too. "I used an invisibility potion and spoke to the Jarl's steward while he was alone. He sent me to go clear out a cave near Dragon Bridge to clear my name, which I have since done."

"Then why are you still wanted?" Lydia asked, her smooth brow furrowing with frown lines.

"Well, I… uh, I haven't actually gone back and told him that I've done it, yet." Marcus looked at the ground.

"What?!" Illia chose now to speak, "You mean you went and cleared out a cave of goodness knows what, then decided instead of clearing your name in the capitol of Skyrim, you'd go delving into another ruin in search of a stupid book?!"

"Umm..." Marcus began to realize how badly he'd planned out the last couple of days. "I should probably get myself a journal, or something, shouldn't I?"

Both girl groaned simultaneously, rubbing their faces with their hands. Then they started walking.

Lydia said, "We better get moving, anyway, if we want to get to Rorikstead before sundown."

Marcus scooted along after them, eager to break the conversation away from his legal situations.

Illia asked, "Why were you even wanted in Solitude, after all?"

"I pissed off a wealthy thane."

"How?"

Marcus replied evenly, "He was making… 'unwanted' advances towards a young woman. I used an illusion spell to make him run away in fear. I don't think he was rather pleased with me afterwards."

Both women raised their eyebrows at this, and looked at each other in surprise. It seems Marcus hadn't been as bad as they thought.

The party continued in silence, each one occupying themselves with their thoughts. Bereavement aside, Marcus did enjoy traveling with friends.

"Just do it, Colette."

The woman looked upset, "It's inhuman, Marcus. It goes against everything I set out to achieve when I became a healer."

Marcus sighed in frustration, "I'm not asking you to kill me, Colette. It's won't even hurt me. At most, it's like a really strange version of euthanasia that may or may not actually happen, far in the future."

Marcus, Colette and Sergius were in the Arch-mage quarters. Marcus was sitting on his bed, with the healer mage and enchanter near him. The young man had his shirt off, and Sergius was in the process of tattooing a large rune across his left shoulder, and upper chest. It centered on the left side of Marcus' chest, tracing intricate circular patterns right where his heart was.

"That doesn't exactly make it sound any better," Colette said, "I really must protest."

Marcus sighed, then gritted his teeth as Sergius' needle dug in deeper than normal. Colette looked over at the master enchanter. "Why did you agree to do this? Don't you know what it means?"

Sergius looked up from his work. "Marcus told me the details, he told me why this was important. I believe he has the right to decide what he does with his own body, correct? Besides, he does get into very dangerous situations. This'll simply add a bit of a 'contingency' plan."

Colette looked unconvinced. "I really wish you hadn't found that book. Shalidor was a very skilled mage, but that doesn't mean everything he devised should be used..."

Marcus shook his head, "I had this sort of plan in my mind before I discovered Shalidor's writings. In any event, the old guy never managed to fully perfect the process. It took me 2 weeks of constant study to actually understand how to apply the magic."

Colette shook her head, "I'm still not doing it. It's the same as giving yourself a giant 'kill' button."

Marcus sighed, and put his head in his hands, resting his elbows on his legs.

Sergius walked out from behind him. "There, the last touches have been done. It's up to Colette now."

Colette frowned, "Does Brelyna know you're doing this? Do your parents know?"

"No-one is going to tell Brelyna." Marcus said firmly, "And my parents are… irrelevant, at this point."

Collete looked down at her feet, wrestling with her morals.

Marcus looked up at the healer with sympathy in his eyes. "Colette. Do you know about the prophecy regarding me?"

The look in Colette's eyes said that she didn't.

Marcus continued, "I'm supposed to kill Alduin, Colette. The firstborn Dragon of Akatosh. The nordic God of destruction."

Colette couldn't meet Marcus' gaze.

He said, "Now, I'm not sure what's going to happen between now, and whenever I finally face him. But when I do, it's probably going to decide the fate of the world. If I can't defeat him through conventional means, I'm going to need something 'unconventional' instead. Hence, why I need you to do this." He rubbed his jaw. "If I do need it, and use it, it will kill me. I understand that."

He stood up, and walked over to the older woman, and raised her head to look him in the eyes.

"But at the same time, if I'm in a situation where I do need to use it, but can't, I'll still die. Except, if I die, so does everyone on Nirn, theoretically."

Colette breathed out a sigh of defeat. She nodded slowly, eyes closed. "Ok… I'll do it."

Marcus smiled and walked back over to sit on the bed, "It'll only take a second. You're just linking my life force to the magic in the rune. That's all."

Colette opened her eyes, and looked at him. "You do realize… that if I do this… it means you're accepting that your fight with Alduin will almost certainly kill you, one way or another."

Marcus closed his eyes, and nodded, a sombre smile on his face.

"I know."

Author's notes: Bit of a different chapter. Basically a bunch of shorter, mini-chapters. They're still in chronological order, though it probably wouldn't matter if they weren't. The story is now over 20 chapters. I'm probably planning for it to have around 40-50 by the time I'm finished, or have finished all the things I've got planned out. I'm also wondering what the general consensus on the story's quality is. I feel like I should be getting a better reading of everyone's criticism, now that the story is getting surprisingly popular. Do you all think it's still as good as it was back in chapter 3?

What parts of the story would you like me to focus on more? The combat? Character interactions? Should I be doubling down on the romance with certain individuals, or keep it mostly low-key? Do you all want me to cover the inner thoughts and conflicts of Marcus in a more direct fashion, or a more subtle, hinting fashion? Are there any NPC's you want me to include in future? I've got ideas for most companions and a few neglected female NPC's, but that's it for the most part.

I'd appreciate any feedback. I still don't really know what I'm doing here. Many of the content and ideas in these chapters are conceived and written in the week, so I'm not going to pretend I've planned everything out. Just the general concept, and the general end-game theme for Marcus.