A/N from moosesaregreat: Hey guys! Our deepest apologies for the long wait for this chapter. AC hasn't been feeling well, and my work makes me want to punch things rather than write-hence the hiatus. Thanks for sticking with us! Hugs and waffles for you all! On a high note, the next chapter is already outlined so it shouldn't take too long for us to publish. :D
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A brief warning for plot: We are beginning to tackle the Dawnguard DLC, so OMGSPOILERS.
Bioware and Bethesda own!
Chapter 21
They fought the draugr throughout the ruin until they came to a chamber with a round sphere in the middle of the room that glowed blue. The pulsating orb seemed to have a life of its own, bobbing from time to time in its place and made an eerie humming noise.
"What's this? Why, I've never seen anything like this! Fascinating!" Tolfdir murmured as he went down the wooden stairs as if in a trance, his eyes fixed on the orb.
"Watch out!" Anders called out as the draugr lying on a stone slab in front of the orb suddenly came to life. Tolfdir took cover behind a pillar, and Alessia quickly nocked an arrow as Anders flung a cold spell on the powerful lich. The arrows bounced off the draugr and Anders's spell dissipated into thin air. The draugr lifted its head, fixing its glowing blue gaze on the pair and then it laughed.
The laugh sent chills up and down Alessia's spine and elicited a frown from Anders. "Take cover, quick!" he exclaimed, pushing Alessia behind a wooden wall. Anders did the same and his glance fell on an old stone carving of some kind.
"Look there!" Alessia whispered as the draugr floated up towards the stairs while Tolfdir shot a spell at the thing to distract it. As before, the spell disappeared before reaching the draugr and Anders's eyes followed Alessia's pointing finger to the orb that glowed every time they tried to hit the monster.
"The orb!" Anders and Tolfdir almost cried out at the same time. "It's making this thing invulnerable," Anders added, his brow furrowing.
"I'll hit the orb with some spells," Tolfdir yelled at them from below. "You two get ready to attack when I say so!"
Alessia saw the spell hit the orb and the draugr screeched. She ran to the stone structure Anders had been hiding behind and nocked an arrow.
"Now! Attack it!" Tolfdir yelled, and they both stepped forward and away from the pillar, hitting the thing over and over again as they advanced down the wooden stairs. Anders caught a glimpse of a wooden staff adorned with carvings and a blue gem at the tip lying on the stone slab where the draugr had been before it rose, and turned to look at Alessia. "Cover me!" he mouthed and he sprinted up to the slab, just as the draugr opened its mouth to shout. Alessia, however, knew what the thing was about to do and quickly let her arrow fly. Its screech ended abruptly as the flame-engulfed arrow hit it in the throat, but it still did not fall. Anders reached the staff and equipped it, letting it fire at the lich, which shrieked and turned its attention to Anders.
Alessia, meanwhile, had run down the stone steps, brandishing her daggers. She performed a backstab and watched as the draugr turned to eye her malevolently. She opened her mouth and shouted.
"Fus – Ro – Dah!" The draugr was flung through the air and against the wall, and Anders's Winter's Grasp spell covered it in a sheet of ice.
"Fire, Anders! Use fire!" she yelled at him as she somersaulted out of the way.
Flames quickly enveloped the screeching draugr and Alessia was finally able to cut it down. It screamed one last guttural cry as it hit the floor.
Alessia stared at its lifeless form, still in the offensive position she had been before.
"We did it!" Tolfdir exclaimed, walking towards the orb that was now spinning gently. Alessia sheathed her weapons, and she approached the stone slab cautiously. "There is an edict here," she murmured. "This lich was Jyrik Gauldurson."
"Are you absolutely sure of that?" Tolfdir asked as he also approached the stone slab. "This is remarkable!" he exclaimed a few moments later as he glanced at the edict. "Jyrik Gauldurson is the eldest of three brothers! According to ancient history, Arch-Mage Geirmund led a company of battlemages to destroy the three brothers. The three brothers wreaked havoc, and it was all because of an amulet their father had. They wanted it for themselves."
"He was sealed inside Saarthal," Alessia said in a low voice. "This is why he woke – he was protecting the orb…"
"And the orb was protecting him," Anders added.
"Why don't you go on ahead and tell the Arch-Mage about this?" Tolfdir said to Anders. "I'll stay here and study it a little longer."
…
As they made their way to the excavation site, Alessia spotted a Word Wall. She immediately went up to it, absorbing the first word of the Ice Form shout. She also looted a chest with some gold and artifacts in it.
When they reached the College, they immediately sought out the Arch-Mage, who was standing in the library, talking to the orc librarian. Anders smiled as he talked, but the Arch-Mage didn't seem very impressed or excited about the news. He did give Anders a Magelight staff to add to his now growing collection.
"Urag gro-Shub may be able to help you out," the Arch-mage said as he walked off to his quarters.
The librarian sighed deeply as Anders fixed an amused gaze on him. "Please don't tell me that another one of the apprentices has been incinerated. I have enough to deal with right now."
"We found something in Saarthal," Anders replied with a smile. "Tolfdir thinks it's important. It's some kind of a glowing orb."
"So you said," Urag replied, nodding. "I've read about this 'orb' before. I think the information you want is in one of three tomes, I can't remember which one though…"
"Well, if you give us the books, we'll look for it ourselves," Anders grinned.
"Well, that's exactly it. Unless you can fly, I doubt you'll be reading them today," Urag shot back in his usual sarcastic manner. "Those books are long gone. I lent them to Orthorn, who is no longer in the College."
"Where can we find them, then?" Anders hurried to ask.
"I heard Orthorn joined a group of renegade mages in Fellglow Keep. My guess is that the books are there. I'll mark the location on your map."
Anders thanked the Orc, turning to Alessia. "Time to tend to your business. If we come across Fellglow Keep along the way, then we can look for the books."
"Have you heard of the Dawnguard?" Alessia asked Urag, who seemed to know just about everything.
"Aye. Their headquarters is an old fort in The Rift, east of Riften. One of my brothers has joined and he stopped by to tell me all about it on the way," Urag replied.
"It's in The Rift?" Alessia replied as her eyebrows shot upwards. "We were told it was in The Reach!"
"Well, whoever told you that is either very stupid, misinformed, or doesn't like you very much," Urag responded, dipping his quill into an inkpot on the desk and rolling his eyes. "Give me the map back and I'll mark the right place to go. My brother is part of the order. The Fort they are at is also called Dawnguard and they are looking for recruits. Something about vampires attacking people the cities. Nasty business, if you ask me..."
…
They arrived at the canyon which led to Fort Dawnguard two days later, exhausted from the journey as Alessia had insisted on stopping only to eat. Anders had suggested getting some sleep the night before, and was silenced by the look she gave him. He knew her well enough to know that she had only one thing on her mind, and that was getting rid of the vampires. He also knew she was extremely angry at the Jarl of Whiterun for giving them the wrong directions to the fort, and felt relieved he wasn't the one who was making her angry this time.
"Are you here to join the Dawnguard as well?" a blond Nord called out in a carefree voice as they left their horses in the stables next to a small group of other Nords who were sitting around a campfire.
"Yes, as a matter of fact," Alessia replied, her icy-blue eyes meeting the Nord's. "Why?"
The pale-faced man gave her a shaky smile. "Well, I'm kind of anxious, and…safety in numbers, right?"
Anders watched the man's eyes widen as Alessia's brow furrowed and her eyes became even colder.
"Oh, I – I merely wanted to ask you if I could walk with you. My name is Agmaer and I'm too nervous to meet Isran alone. I hear he has a terrible temper…"
Alessia snorted at this, her eyes amused for a split second. Then the fire in her eyes returned, and they narrowed slightly, making the young man wonder if this woman had a worse temper than Isran. "You're afraid of Isran? Aren't you a Nord? And aren't Nords supposed to possess unlimited braveness?" she said in a sarcastic tone. The Nord who had spoken to her was taken aback and she sighed, shaking her head. After a few moments, the fire was gone, and she nodded to him. "My name is Alessia," she deadpanned. "You can come with us, but keep up and keep quiet."
"It's not his fault that the Jarl lied to us, you know," Anders whispered to her, his brown eyes warm.
"I know," Alessia said in between clenched teeth. Shaking her head again, she forced herself to smile apologetically at Agmaer. The Nord blinked back and gave her a half-smile, then glanced at Anders who gave him an encouraging nod and smile. Agmaer smiled back and Alessia turned to continue their walk up to the Fort.
"She hasn't had much sleep," Anders whispered to Agmaer. "She's usually more agreeable when she does…"
"I heard that!" Alessia practically snarled at them both without turning as she made her way up the winding path, causing Agmaer to trip.
Anders bit his lip as he felt the uncontrollable desire to laugh. Agmaer glanced at him nervously and the mage shook his head, his eyes serious as he fell into step beside the Nord.
"Wait till you see her when something or someone attacks her. Then she gets really dangerous…"
…
Upon entering the fort, the trio was greeted with a pair of men in the middle of a discussion. After listening for some time, Alessia realized that the large Redguard was Isran and he was arguing with a man who was a Vigilant of Stendarr. Isran eventually noticed them in the doorway, and asked who they were. He immediately accepted Alessia as a member of the Dawnguard, gifting her with a crossbow and a full set of armor which she accepted graciously but shoved into her pack to be sold later. Isran asked her to travel to Dimhollow Crypt, where they had gotten reports of vampire activity. The Vigilant decided to meet them there regardless of both Isran and Alessia's disagreement with it, and left the fort as Alessia and Anders explored the hallways leading from the room.
When they turned to leave however, Isran was talking to Agmaer about why he wanted to join. The young man was nothing more than a farmer, wanting to protect his family. Alessia watched as Isran attempted to show Agmaer how to use the crossbow that the Dawnguard favored, and cringed at how horribly he was doing.
"Exhale as you release the bolt, Agmaer," Alessia said, stepping from the shadowed doorway. "It will keep your shot steady."
"I was trying to teach him the basics," Isran grumbled, annoyed at the interruption.
"Yes, and it won't work if he doesn't know the fundamentals of it. BASIC fundamentals," Alessia replied coolly, then turned back to Agmaer. "Try it again."
The young man nodded, and did as she asked, the bolt hitting high. "Release it mid-breath, not at the beginning. Again," she commanded him. Once more, he did as she said and this time hit the target. He turned to her with a wide grin, and Alessia clapped him on the shoulder. "See? It's not as hard as Isran here seems to make it. Keep practicing and maybe I'll give you some more pointers when I return."
Anders grinned at Alessia's words, until he glanced at Isran, whose face looked murderous.
"Um...we'd better get to it, then," he half-whispered, his eyes flicking over to Isran nervously.
Alessia smiled and shrugged as she pushed open the door. "It's not like he could hit me with an arrow from here."
…
Dimhollow Crypt was situated south of Dawnstar, which was far to the north. Alessia kept her eyes on the road ahead and while she didn't force her horse to a gallop, she was still quiet, as if focusing on the task ahead.
"This place we're going to...does it have vampires?" Anders asked her, trying to keep the eyes on the road, so that he seemed casual about it. In truth, he was worried about Alessia. The Taint in him would protect him from becoming a vampire, but Alessia could be bitten and fall to the disease.
Alessia nodded. "Isran said he'd had reports of them there," she said, sensing the slight distress in Anders's voice and glanced over at him. "I have plenty of cure disease potions, and we both can deal out fire damage. We'll be okay."
"That's good to know," Anders said, giving her the lopsided grin she loved so much. Alessia shook her head and spurred her horse to a gallop. Anders did the same, wondering when she would finally forgive him completely. He wished for nothing else but to whisk her away somewhere, away from the danger and into his arms.
The sky began to darken and they searched for a suitable spot to camp for the night. It was still chilly this far north, but with summer upon them, it was much milder than it was normally.
Alessia spotted a formation of rocks where they could set up the tent, and led her horse from the road. Dismounting from her horse, she turned to Anders. "If you would set up the tent, I'll go find us some firewood and something to eat."
"Not a problem," Anders responded with a smile.
By the time Alessia returned with an armful of firewood and a rabbit dangling from her belt, the tent was up and Anders was brushing down the horses. She tossed the wood to the ground and sat down beside the pile to skin the rabbit. Anders watched her work as he lit the wood with a flick of his hand. Stepping closer, he sat right next to her.
"You need any help, sweetheart?" he asked in a soft voice.
Alessia glanced at him briefly, raising an eyebrow, before going back to her work. "No."
"Look, I know you are still angry at me, and it's fine. I would be too, but...don't you think it's been long enough?"
Alessia ground her teeth and tossed the rabbit skin to the ground before shoving a stick through the carcass with more force than necessary. "I wish you'd just let it be, Anders," she replied, putting the rabbit into the spit over the fire.
"We could be attacked by anything and die, wouldn't you like to make up before that?" he asked, moving closer to her. "I know what I did was wrong..."
"Wrong doesn't even begin to describe it, Anders! You were more than willing to help a few people for a reason that doesn't even matter here, when everyone's life is at stake! The lives of the people of Skyrim are in my hands, and I can't do it alone...but you were more than willing to walk away," she snarled as she stood. "I know that this isn't Thedas, but by now you should know that it isn't as well."
Alessia stared at the fire for a moment, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "I need to wash up," she mumbled, then stalked away from the campsite.
Anders sprang to life and followed her. Alessia had blended in with the half-evening shadows and he frowned, peering through the gloomy area. He cocked his head and heard the bubbling creek and made a beeline for it. Alessia was squatting at the edge, washing her hands. Her armor had been flung to the ground and she was clad in her tunic and leggings.
She heard him approach and straightened, still looking at the creek before her but Anders could tell she was still rigid with anger. Shaking his head, he grabbed her arm and spun her around, holding her tightly.
"I care for you, dammit! I don't want to leave you, alright?" he half-snarled as his lips descended hungrily on hers. He felt her stiffen for a few seconds then melt right into the kiss, a soft moan escaping her. He pulled her against him even tighter, and his hands were suddenly alive with electric sparks that made her shudder with pleasure.
"Damn you!" Alessia said in between kisses. A part of her wished she wasn't kissing him, knowing that what they shared was doomed to be brief, and the other part was thrilled to hear him say he cared about her. She arched against him, grinding into his arousal and Anders let out a whisper of a growl.
"I know," he shot back, his lips now on her neck. "I am damned. But I'd rather be damned with you right here with me, than anywhere else..."
…
It was eerily quiet at the entrance to Dimhollow Crypt and Alessia's superior elven sight scanned the whole area before her as she crouched, Anders doing the same as well. The whole place was extremely dark and Anders cursed under his breath.
"Stay close to me," Alessia whispered.
"I can hardly see," Anders whispered back, the annoyance in his voice evident, causing Alessia to smile briefly.
"Stay very close to me, then. We'll go very slowly," she retorted. "Hold onto my shoulder."
"Oh, I most certainly will," muttered Anders.
Their process was slow, but along the way there were also lit braziers, the flames allowing them to make sure they were on the right path before the darkness engulfed them yet again.
In spite of their slow progress, they soon arrived to a point where the path sloped down, opening into a large cavern with a babbling brook running across its length. A couple of vampires were talking about a kill they had made. They had managed to kill Vigilant Tolan, and sounded extremely proud of it. Alessia's keen eyesight quickly picked them out in the darkness. She quietly motioned to Anders to stay back and readied her bow and arrows, first dispatching one vampire and then the other in quick succession. A death hound growled in her general direction and she smiled to herself as she nocked another arrow. The hound fell to the ground dead and she put her bow away and crept down the slope after making sure the area was empty.
There was a closed gate not far ahead, and she made her way up the stone structure, Anders following close behind. His hand was no longer on her shoulder, but firmly grasping his staff, as there were a few lit braziers making it easier for him to see. Alessia turned to the right, and ignored the closed gate, looking for the lever that would open the gate they had just passed.
When they reached the top, she spotted a pull chain and smiled, knowing that it would open the closed gates below. Once she had pulled it, and heard the familiar noise of the gates opening, she crept back down, with Anders close behind.
Alessia paused and shook her head at the Vigilant's body next to where the gate had been, then continued. The room right after the open gates held a vampire that was accompanied by several skeletons. Alessia's arrow tore into the vampire's chest and Anders quickly sent out a fire spell that finished it and the skeletons off. There were glowing mushrooms all along the area and flanking the path beyond that made it easier for Anders to see despite Alessia plucking a few from the walls and stashing them in her satchel.
"That path leads to another room," he whispered. "I'm readying an electricity spell, all right?"
Alessia nodded, and silently crept forward. There was a vampire fighting some draugrs there and they waited. The vampire seemed to be winning the fight but two more draugrs joined the fray, and one of them was a deathlord. It knocked the vampire off its feet with a shout and laughed as it cut off the vampire's head. Alessia turned to glance at Anders and he nodded back at her, gesturing that he was ready. She nocked her arrows quickly, dispatching the draugrs nearest to them first while Anders fired an electricity spell that had the deathlord jerking around for a bit. Alessia drew her blades and quickly slashed it down before it could recover.
There was an arcane enchanter in the room, which Alessia ignored as she moved silently down the path to the next area - a large chamber with four locked gates. The stone floor was littered with the corpses of many frostbite spiders and two vampires stood over the remains, one of them looking worse for wear. Alessia first focused on the weaker vampire as Anders froze the other one to give them time, while focusing on a powerful fire spell.
"Get away from the area!" he hissed as he flung an Inferno spell at the frozen vampire. Alessia dove out of the way and the whole chamber shook as the fire exploded, killing everything in the area instantly.
"Nice one!" Alessia commented as she looked at each of the four gates before them. They went through each one, and Alessia looted the empty coffins and chests before they finally opened the last of the closed doors, which was to the left of the chamber, behind what looked like a dilapidated altar.
"I'm guessing this leads to the next area," Anders whispered.
"Fun times ahead then," Alessia muttered. "Be ready…"
…
They arrived to what looked like a stone balcony overlooking a vast circular area. Large stone gargoyles stood guarding the entrance and dotted the pathway leading below. Alessia could hear talking and she paused, creeping closer to the stone bannister in front of her. They both quickly realized that it was a vampire who was talking to a Vigilant. As they listened, they discovered that the vampire called himself Lokil. When the Vigilant gasped, Alessia realized that the vampire had killed him. She quickly and silently unsheathed her bow and nocked an arrow. Even though they were some distance away, she could see three forms on the circular stone dais below. From this distance she knew that if she succeeded, the arrow would prove fatal to whatever living or undead thing it embedded itself in.
The first arrow found its mark and Alessia saw the figure slump down to the ground. The second one did the same as well as the third. Smiling, she waited, ready to kill anything else that moved.
The minutes ticked by and after a while, she sheathed her bow and stood up. Surveying the scene, she could tell that all was quiet, but she crouched again as she descended the steps slowly and carefully. Upon reaching the dais, her eyes spotted three corpses on the ground along with a fourth one that was a short distance away. She straightened herself up to take in the view before her.
There were stone structures all around the center of the dais that looked like smaller braziers, all at irregular intervals around the dais but each sitting on an engraved line that led to the center, the flames glowing pink. There was a small stone structure in the center of the dais with a button on the top. Alessia approached it slowly, her eyes fixed on the button. Anders followed close behind, a feeling of uneasiness gradually seeping through his body. Before he could warn her, she pressed the button and a spike emerged, stabbing Alessia in the hand as a purple light came out of the ground and surrounded them. The light ran in a circle around them but an offshoot led to one of the braziers, and its flame now glowed with the same purple light.
Alessia sighed. "Oh, good! Another puzzle."
...