Chapter 21
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The cold wind of Skyrim seemed to grow even colder the closer one got to the coast. The sea of ghosts was fierce and ruthless and the cold air it seemed to generate only made a person feel more wary about the unforgiving sea.
Bundled up in her bear fur coat once more, Ayah pressed on with her Companion siblings as they crossed the ice field that created a walkway from the mainland to the little islands the sea had cut off.
"Not much further now!" Vilkas yelled back to the others over the howling wind. All four were cold and soaked, having slipped and slid across the ice and into the water more than once. Farkas had fallen in after trying to help Ayah when a sheet of ice gave way under her feet. The huntress had yelped in surprise as she'd fallen in not long after them. Vilkas had only just managed to keep his balance as the ice under him broken and his left leg disappeared into the chilling water.
By the time they all got to the tomb, they were frozen and shivering and the fires that burned brightly inside were a welcome relief.
"This is the resting place of Ysgramor and his most trusted generals…" Vilkas said in a voice that was just above a whisper. The younger twin looked around in awe at the carvings and the statue that greeted them as they wondered down the stairs.
"This place gives me the creeps…." Ayah mumbled and shuddered.
"I thought you spent a lot of time in tombs?" The huntress Aela smirked over at her. She was as confident as ever it seemed that being surrounded by dead things didn't seem to bother her in the slightest.
"Just because I do, doesn't mean I like it." Ayah replied quietly. "So, how do we get in?"
"Put the Axe in Ysgramor's hand." Vilkas pointed to the statue whose hands clutched at the empty air.
With Farkas's help, Ayah was lifted high enough to place the Axe into Ysgramor's hands and right on cue, the door before them opened.
A rush of stale air hit the Companions and smell of death and decay kept out of the tomb. The stench made all the warriors shudder. There was no normal person that could possibly get used to such a scent.
"Let's just get in there and do this. I don't really want to hang around." Ayah frowned and rubbed her nose, as if trying to get rid of the smell.
"Good luck!" Vilkas called to them as the three other shield siblings turned to enter the tomb.
Looking back at him in confusion, Ayah stopped in her tracks.
"Aren't you coming?"
"No." Vilkas shrugged and sat down on the base of the statue.
"Why not?" Ayah felt somewhat cheated that Vilkas had brought them all this way, only to sit back and not join them in saving Kodlak's soul.
"Kodlak was right…" He huffed out as he sat. "I let Vengeance rule my heart. Don't get me wrong. I regret nothing of what we did at Driftshade. But I can't go any further with my mind fogged or heart grieved."
"So we're going to do this alone?" she asked flatly.
"You should be caution. The original Companions rest with Ysgramor You'll need to prove yourself to them. But I have faith that you will do just fine." He smiled.
"So they're not going to be pleased we barged in here then I take it?" Aela grimaced.
"It's not that you're intruding. I'd wager they've actually expected us. They just want to be sure your worthy."
Shaking her head, Ayah turned from her brother-in-law and began to make her way down the stone passage.
-oOo-
No sooner had they stepped into the main body of the tomb, they were attacked by two wild skeevers, though they were quickly dispatched by Farkas before Aela or Ayah could even get their weapons out. Trudging further in, they were confronted by the first of Ysgramor's warriors.
The Companions of old, or more accurately, their spirits, walked free of their resting places and drew their ghostly weapons and banded together to attack the newer generation of Companions, who fought back with everything they had.
Aela, Farkas and Ayah fought through two waves of ghostly warriors before the tomb fell silent once more.
"The finest warriors huh?" Aela scoffed and examined the ash left by the dead Companion.
"They got me good…" Farkas coughed while sitting on a stone step, Ayah kneeling in front of him, healing a wound on the left side of his chest.
"I told you to be careful." His wife said softly, quelling the healing light from her hand and looking in her bag for a small healing brew. She handed it to him and watched Farkas down it in one.
"Their blades are just as sharp as ours, but they go through us like shadows. I'm surprised we managed to fight them off." The huntress frowned. "We'll have to keep our guard up in this place."
"I thought that's what Vilkas said." Ayah mumbled and stood, her eyes going to the small burial urns in interest.
Farkas silently looked around the room from his spot on the steps, his eyes going wide at the sight of something in particular.
"Don't get smart Ayah…" Aela grumbled and retrieved as many of her arrows as she could find.
"I…I don't think I can go any further…." Came Farkas's suddenly shaky voice.
"What?" Both women looked up from what they were doing to look at the only man in their little group as he stared intensely at something on the right side of the room.
"Farkas? What's the matter?"
Farkas gave a visible shudder and began fidgeting on the step. Aela followed his line of sight and gave a loud sigh.
"Oh Gods…"
Across the room, up the walls and across the doorway, were thick, white, silky webs. They were everywhere and looked fresh. On top of that, around the door sat a rather smallish looking spider, which gazed at them, unblinking.
"Spiders…Ayah, Farkas is scared of spiders." The older woman said, going over to her younger shield brother and stroking his hair comfortingly.
"You're kidding?" His wife asked, looking between them and the small spider sat in its webbing.
With a shake of her head, Aela motioned down to Farkas. "He won't be able to function properly if he goes any further." Farkas was sweating heavily and looked clammy and shaken.
Inwardly sighing, Ayah left the urn she had her hand stuck in and wondered over to Farkas and Aela, kneeling down and stroking Farkas's face.
"Love? Do you want to return to Vilkas? I don't want you getting hurt because you're scared."
Farkas gulped and then pulled his eyes away from the offending creature across the room, focusing them on Ayah.
"I'm not proud." He frowned. "But I can't go on. The big crawly ones are too much for me. I'll stay back with Vilkas." He stood and put his sword away. "Give my regards to Ysgramor." And after a quick peck to the cheek, he sprinted off the way they'd come.
"Well… I wasn't expecting that." Ayah mumbled and watched her husband run off out of sight.
"He never mentioned it I take it?" Aela rested her hands on her hips and turned her eyes from the retreating Farkas to her little shield sibling, Ayah.
"No. I suppose he wouldn't." Standing, Ayah turned to Aela. "As a nord, I doubt his pride would really let him."
-oOo-
Needless to say, with only two of them, the path to the inner most tomb was a hard one for the two Companions. They pushed through however, and eventually made it to the huge wooden doors that protected Ysgramor's resting place.
Ayah pushed on the doors and with little effort, they opened. The room inside was spectacular with its high ceilings and the lovingly decorated tomb in front, most likely Ysgramor's.
The centre of the room dipped down some, and in the centre of that was a torch that burned a beautiful blue colour.
Nearing it cautiously, her blade drawn and Aela at her back, Ayah was astonished to find a Kodlak's astral being stood at the fire, warming his hands.
"Greetings Shield sister." He chimed happily, his voice sounding other worldly, but it was defiantly him.
"Kodlak?" Ayah was convinced the poison from a spider bite was causing her to hallucinate.
"Of course." He chuckled. "My fellow Harbingers and I have been warming ourselves here. Trying to evade Hircine."
Looking around, Ayah found no one else there but herself, Kodlak and Aela who seemed to be confused by the whole situation. Perhaps she couldn't see him… Perhaps Ayah was talking to herself.
"There's no one else here Kodlak…."
"You see only me because your heart knows only me as the Companions leader." He explained. "I wager old Vignar could see half a dozen of my predecessors." He chuckled once more. "And I see them all." He added softly as his laughter died away. "The ones in Sovngarde. The ones trapped here with me…And they all see you. You have brought honour to the Companions. We won't soon forget it."
Pulling off her pack, Ayah began to rummage through it once more, trying to find one of the witches' heads.
"Vilkas said you can still be cured!" She said excitably, pulling a head free from her bag and holding it up.
Kodlak smiled sadly and Ayah felt her heart sink.
"I can only hope." He said and stepped back away from the flames. "Throw the head into the fire Ayah. It should release the magic, for me at least."
As soon as he had finished speaking, Ayah threw the head into the fire and watched as the witches face seemed to contort and scream a silent scream of agony as it burned.
She was still watching it as Aela yelled from behind her and giant wolf spirit leapt at the two women, Ayah throwing herself to the floor in order to avoid it.
"Aela! Shoot it!" She yelled and scrambled to her feet, the wolf spirit attacking the huntress as she struggled to hit it with her arrows.
Summoning Lucien Lachance, Ayah jumped on the wolf and began hacking at it with as much strength as she could muster. Aela had been knocked off her feet and was desperately tried to get a good aim at the spirit. Lucien screamed and sunk his blade into the wolf's neck.
It seemed to take forever but finally the wolf fell and disappeared from the companion's sights.
"Is it over?" Aela panted.
"I think so…." Ayah groaned and dragged herself up off the ground. Looking to Kodlak's spirit, Ayah found he'd moved from his position at the torch and was standing over by a burial tomb. "Kodlak?" She called over. The spirit said nothing and so she staggered over to him, her leg killing her from where she'd taken a bite to the thigh.
"Did it work?" she asked again.
Kodlak's kind smile told Ayah it had, but she still felt the need to have it confirmed.
"You've slain the beast within me Ayah. I thank you for this treasured gift. Though, the other harbingers remain trapped by Hircine." His eyes turned from her, up to the ceiling, where his smile grew. "Perhaps from Sovngarde, the heroes of old can join me in their recuse." He chuckled gently. "The Harrowing of the hunting grounds. It would be a battle of such triumph."
His hand stretched out and came to rest on her shoulder. Ayah felt an odd throbbing from the touch, like the transfer of energy. It made her head spin somewhat.
"Perhaps someday, you'll join us in that battle. But for today, return to Jorrvaskr. Triumph in your victory, and lead the Companions to further glory."
With that, Kodlak Whitemane disappeared from the world of the living and entered into Sovngarde. Or at least, Ayah thought he had….