Chapter 21: Glenmoril and the Secrets of the Mind
Katie found herself fighting to keep from trembling at the sight of the bizarre figure that stood before her; its horns moving back and forth as it swayed its head in the air, much like the serpent that it partly resembled. However, its hands were beginning to glow, and that seemed to indicate that it knew some magic too, and was preparing to use it. A week before, Katie might have charged in with her spear, but she'd seen that charging a magic-weilding enemy without understanding their powers could lead to disaster, so she'd decided to play that fight defensively instead; hoping that the monster would reveal its powers to her soon.
Brighter and brighter, the beasts hands glowed, and at last, it leaded its head forward, and...
Katie's mind started racing, because she could have sworn she'd caught a glimpse of the beast lunging off to one side, for just a fraction of a second, and then it was gone. As fast as she could, Katie spung around, catching another glimpse of the thing. Still, it was moving -much- faster than she could, and that meant that if she wanted to defeat it, she'd need to do something clever.
In a moment, Katie had swung her spear around, then jabbed upward with it, until she was holding the spear upright with one hand, turning it around to face her enemy, and just in time. The beast's hand struck the spear, palm-first, and knocked Katie back again, but she could tell as she struggled to regain her balance, that the blow had done more than just bounce off the steel handle of her spear. There was a glowing, red symbol on the handle of her spear.
Realizing the danger in a flash, Katie hurled the spear directly at the monster. However, the magic rune began to do its work before the weapon had even left her hand, and soon, a massive, scorching blaze had erupted in the center of that chamber, burning Katie's arm, and driving her back. That spell, apparently, had been meant to incapacitate warriors by sabotaging their weapons. Still, Katie had reacted faster than another nord warrior might have, and while her spear had still left her hand, and she was definitely hurt, a blazing pillar of fire was flying directly at Jonuuma.
Jonuuma seemed to realize the problem in an instant, and reached forward with one hand to try to deflect the spear in mid-flight, but that only caused it to rotate in mid-air and become wedged in the ground. By the merest luck, the whole time that happened, the flaming eruption was either pointed directly at him, or passing near enough to him to burn any normal man, and when it hit the ground, the pillar bathed the monster completely, concealing him from Katie's sight. Still, she wasn't about to relax, as she watched the pillar of fire carefully.
Soon enough, Katie's caution proved to be justified. After several seconds, the beast stepped forth from the flames, smelling like smoke, but utterly unharmed.
"I can see how you made it in here." the beast remarked in what seemed like astonishment, "That was fast thinking. Show me what else you can do."
Then, before Katie had time to react, the monster lunged forward again. Katie only had enough time to dive forward on the ground, and out of the way of its first punch, which shattered one stalagmite and caused two others to split, falling to the floor like broken sticks. Katie tried desperately to kick one of the broken stalagmites into her enemy from her place on the ground, and found, in amazement, that her foot was actually able to reach that far, but it simply didn't work. In seconds, Jonuuma had caught the stone spike out of the air, and crushed it in his left hand. Still, it had given Katie the time she needed to get back to her spear, though not long enough to get back up again.
Jonuuma had been shrugging off one attack after another up to that point, but Katie was learning to anticipate his attacks by watching the way her enemy moved his muscles, so she saw that he was preparing to charge in her direction; one hand still glowing as he moved.
Just as the beast began to move faster, as it had before; so fast that Katie could barely even see it, she acted quickly, jamming her spear into the ground, even though she couldn't get any good footing, and pushing herself sideways along the floor with a mighty shove. In moments, she was back on her feet, and facing her enemy again, but Jonuuma had put himself in an even worse position than just allowing her to get back up.
When he'd charged her, Jonuuma had apparently been planning to plant a very destructive spell directly on her back, but instead, the spell had wound up on the wall which had been behind her. As a result, Jonuuma had hit the wall full-force, and so had his spell, engulfing him in flames again, and sending shards of rock flying in all directions. Still, the monster had stepped back out of the flames again a moment later; just as unhurt as before, and that was when Katie made her move.
Aiming her spear at the ground, Katie charged forward, jamming it into the stone floor as she moved, and vaulting herself up into the air, just as she'd done against the dragon. For a moment, Jonuuma actually looked stunned and dumbfounded, but only until Katie collided hard with his chest, knocking him to the ground. Then, before the creature could make another move, she was standing over him. Her spear was still on the stones behind her, but she had her hands balled up into fists, and at last, jumping as high as she could over the beast, Katie of Hammerfell drove both fists hard into the beast's midsection on the way down, putting every ounce of her weight and strength into the blow.
The noise that followed sounded like a glacier splitting right down the middle. Jonuuma found himself lurching about six inches straight down into the rock below him. Cracks formed in the stone all around him, and shards of rock flew away from him in all directions. In fact, out of the corner of her eye, Katie was just able to spot the evil witch Kinnah, who was cringing behind one of the cave's larger stalagmites; probably to escape the flying rocks. It had certainly been more dynamic than Katie had expected it to be, and the astonished, frozen look on Jonuuma's face put a little hope into her heart when she saw it. Still, after only a second or two, the monster began to move its left arm again.
Katie tried to pin the beast's arm to the ground again as it began to move, but she was too late. Jonuuma's hand rose up out of the ground and swatted her back, towards where she'd left her spear. Then, in seconds, he was on his feet again, and if Katie wasn't mistaken, he seemed to be smiling.
"That hurt." Jonuuma said, still grinning, "It hurt a lot. I like that. Show me more."
However, even as Katie seized her spear from the ground again, she wasn't sure what else to show him. The thought of driving her spear into him full-force had occurred to her, but she couldn't do that without knocking him over, and she couldn't knock him over, and still keep hold of her spear. The thought of using her sword again came into her mind, but she wasn't sure what kind of effect it might have on a beast like that one.
On top of all of that, one other thing had been worrying Katie since she'd started fighting Jonuuma, and that was what was likely to happen, even if she could manage to win. Would that really be it? Would the witch try to surrender? That seemed very unlikely, since she'd summoned Jonuuma with a spell. Could she summon him again, just as easily, even if he perished? Katie didn't know much about conjuration magic, but she had a feeling that summoned creatures might not experience death in the same way that people did. Would defeating Jonuuma do any real good, or would Kinnah just summon another version of him; just as powerful and ferocious as the last, until she was finally worn down?
Katie wanted to think that she might eventually get used to monstrously-strong enemies like that, but she was still only mortal, and mortals eventually got tired. She was already starting to feel exhausted after all the jumping, rolling and vaulting that she'd done over the last few minutes, and she was sure that she wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer. Her mind was racing for some kind of clear solution, and she was just about to draw the black sword in desperation, when an idea finally occurred to her.
Even as Jonuuma's left hand began glowing with magic power again, and he moved one foot forward, preparing to charge, Katie Raised her spear in one hand, though it was off to one side, and would need to be moved forward before it could be of any use. Finally, when Jonuuma rushed forward, with his glowing fist outstretched, Katie made her move.
Once again, the creature lashed out with its spell. Once again, Katie deflected the attack with her spear, and a glowing rune materialized on the weapon. Once again, Katie moved to rid herself of the weapon. However, that time, she'd planned ahead. The very same swing that had carried her spear into the path of the monster's spell was also enough to send it flying out of her hand, a moment later, when she released it.
Off the spear sailed through the air, the rune igniting as it moved, until finally, with a mighty clang, the spear hit the wall right next to the spot where Kinnah was hiding. Katie began to grin the moment she saw that; even before the flames spread, covering the whole platform and igniting the robes of the evil witch. However, out of the corner of her eye, Katie saw something else, which made her feel more than a little worried. Jonuuma was smiling too; a crafty smile, with an eager light in his eyes, even as he watched the evil witch start to be consumed by the growing flames.
Kinnah shrieked and howled, but didn't have enough time for any more spells, and in moments, her whole body was ablaze. Still panicking, she tried to rush down the stone ramp at the side of the cave, but the fire was a lot hotter than Katie had realized. Soon, the light went out of the witch's eyes, and only a couple of seconds after that, it became obvious that she was dead.
Katie and Jonuuma watched the grim spectacle, as Kinnah's remains were consumed by the flames, until there was nothing left but bones and ashes. The fight, at least for the moment, had stopped, and when the fires finally faded away, Katie turned to face Jonuuma again with a puzzled look on her face.
"This was part of your plan, wasn't it?" Katie asked, feeling confused, "You wanted her dead more than anyone."
Jonuuma's smile faded quickly when Katie asked him that, but he did reply to her in just another moment.
"Yes." he replied, "I wanted her dead. However, it would be too much to suggest that I planned for this precise thing to happen. A summoned creature can't orchestrate the death of their summoner, regardless of how weak she may be. Still, I admit, I had hoped that this would happen. It's the reason I've used fire so much whenever I was sent into battle. You never know how far fire will spread, or what it will consume."
"It must have been insulting, being ordered around by someone so much weaker than you." Katie guessed, but Jonuuma responded to that by scowling and turning up his jaw.
"That isn't your concern." Jonuuma replied gruffly, "My motives for this are my own."
"That's fine." Katie just replied, finally loosening up just a little, and letting her arms descend to their usual place at her sides, "I'm just glad this worked out well for both of us."
However, at that point, Jonuuma's crafty grin returned, and the sight of that grin made Katie feel very uncomfortable.
"You have no idea of the implications of what you've just done." Jonuuma almost chortled, and in just another moment, there was a blinding burst of flame, which seemed to surround his whole body for just a moment. It was so bright, that Katie had to cover her eyes, and when the flame was gone, so was the monster.
By that point, Katie was very scared, but she scaled the stone ramp as fast as she could, to reach the platform where the charred bones of the witch remained, along with her spear, In just a second, she'd retrieved her spear, and, after pausing to consider it for just a moment, she retrieved the witch's skull as well. There was no guarantee that it would work as well as a head, of course, but there was no point in just leaving it there in the cave.
As Katie stepped out of the small tunnel and back into the main chamber of the cave, however, she had a feeling that her last fight, at least, had been far too noisy. Even through the stone walls of the cave, she knew that at least some of the witches must have heard it, and sure enough, just as she set one foot outside the tunnel, she felt something tugging at her; forcing her forward into the room.
Katie tried to resist, but she wasn't able to get any kind of firm footing against the invisible force, and in seconds, she was back in the center of the large chamber, and found that the strange force was trying to move her arms and legs outward. Still, she was able to resist that. It took a conscious effort, but she was keeping one hand on the handle of her spear, and both of her legs in a combat stance, which she'd learned from the companions. It was only then that she heard another voice from nearby; an old, crackling voice, which was answered by another, slightly higher-pitched, and a bit less scratchy.
"She's much stronger than a normal warrior. See how she's resisting my telekinesis?"
"I see. Don't let her go. If she breaks free, I'll have to fight her myself."
Those remarks told Katie all she needed to know about the people watching her. Both were witches of the Glenmoril Coven, and each had mastered some form of powerful magic. One seemed to be able to push and pull things without even touching them, and the other's powers were probably even greater. Katie didn't relish the thought of having to fight two witches at once; especially since one of them was slowing down her movements severely.
In fact, that fear of fighting two witches simultaneously was the main reason why Katie hadn't made any moves yet. She didn't want to risk setting off the second witch if she could help it.
"Well," the first voice said, "Dassan and Kinnah are both dead. There can't be any doubt that she's at least partly responsible, somehow. It's strange, since I can't sense any magic in her, and she hardly looks like a warrior."
"Still, Aranes, you should be careful." the second voice said, "Those two had been practicing their magic for a long time."
"Right." the first voice replied, and in just a moment, much to Katie's dismay, three of the stalagmites that had been sticking out of the cave floor broke loose, and rose into the air, all around Katie. That was when she began to realize the power of her enemy. Not only could she move things without touching them, but she could move a lot of things at once.
As one, the sharp pieces of rock all flew at Katie, and she whipped out her spear as fast as the invisible counter-force would allow her to, knocking two of them away. The final one, unfortunately, struck her left hip hard, but it didn't hit anything vital, and in a moment, she'd wrenched the piece of rock out of the wound, dashing it to the ground.
"Did you see that, Loquasi?" the first voice; apparently belonging to Aranes asked in clear astonishment, "That blow would have impaled a wild boar, and she shrugs it off like nothing happened."
"I told you she had to be tougher than she looked."
Katie was still looking around carefully as she tried to locate the source of the voices. They almost sounded like they were coming from all around her, but that was probably just an effect of the cave's size. As hard as Katie looked, she couldn't get a decent glimpse of the witches. It wasn't that it was dark. It was just that as close as their voices sounded, she couldn't see them, no matter how hard she looked.
After a few seconds, therefore, Katie decided to focus on listening more carefully, even as more stones began to rise into the air all around her. There were at least sixteen large rocks encircling her before long, as well as a decent selection of pebbles, but by that point, it was becoming clear to Katie that no matter what, she was going to be hit by most of those rocks. The only question was whether she could locate the witches themselves somehow.
At once, the rocks all made their move, lunging at various spots on the dragonslayer's body, and each had moved with incredible force and speed, striking points all over her arms, legs and torso. Several of the rocks pierced her flesh like arrows, and it hurt a lot, but by that point, she was very experienced in taking blows like those. In spite of the pain, Katie kept focusing, and listening carefully for any other noise that the witches might make.
"What's wrong with her?" Katie heard one of them say at last, "Is she giving up?"
At last, that noise had told Katie all she needed to know. Spinning her spear around as fast as she could, Katie threw it across the room in the direction of the sound; or at least, the direction that she guessed the sound had come from. In response, there was a gasp of shock, and much to Katie's dismay, she saw that the spear had stopped in mid-air.
As fast as she could, Katie headed for the place where the spear had stopped. Soon, it had turned in mid-air, and was aimed directly at her, but she didn't slow down, rushing up one of the ramps that surrounded the room, and continuing to run, even after the spear had been launched in her direction.
Katie was sure that she'd almost hit one of the witches with that spear. In fact, that was why she'd started running towards that spot; in the hopes of catching her. After all, if she hadn't come that close, why would the witch have stopped the spear? Wouldn't she have just let it hit a wall, or the ground?
Katie was convinced of something else, too. Both of the witches had somehow turned invisible. Whether it was a spell that they both knew, or whether only one of them knew it, she couldn't be sure, but they were clearly both in the room, and just impossible to see with her eyes.
She'd been hoping to reach the spot she'd aimed for before her own spear came flying at her, but unfortunately, she had no such luck. The spear shot through the air towards her well before she could make it to that spot, forcing her to pause for a moment and react to it; ducking down and seizing the handle of the spear; just below the point, in order to keep it from impaling or nicking her. Stopping the spear in mid-flight took a lot of effort, since the witch's spell was still pushing against it from behind, but at last, the force of the spell proved insufficient, and Katie was able to get her spear back under control, just in time to be assaulted by another shower of rocks.
The pain had begun to grow really hazardous as Katie emerged from the pebble onslaught intact, but injured. However, in her mind, the worst problem was that the magical counter-attack had given the witch time to get away. When she reached the spot that the witch had been at, sure enough, there was nobody there.
Then, however, Katie got one more lucky break. It seemed that there'd been some communication failure between the two witches, or else that one of them was planning one thing, and the other was planning something else, because all of a sudden, Aranes; the first witch blurted out "What are you waiting for?! Can't you see she's tracking me down by my voice?"
In response, however, before Katie could react to the witch's new location, a green beam of light seemed to appear from nowhere, zipping across the room, and striking her right in the face.
At first, Katie didn't feel like anything bad had happened to her at all, although she'd definitely been hit by a spell of some kind. However, a few seconds passed, and she became more and more convinced that the spell had had no effect, that she was just fine, and at last, that nothing was wrong at all. In fact, she felt totally filled with a sense of calm, until it seemed that everything was right in the world. Even the fresh onslaught of rocks that bombarded her a moment later was insufficient to jar her out of that notion. She barely even recognized the pain.
However, Katie did remember that she'd been chasing down a witch, even though she was starting to forget why, and in that respect, the sense of calm had actually done her some good, because she was starting to think a little more clearly, and spotting small clouds of dust and debris, which were being kicked around the room by invisible feet; dust and debris that wouldn't have been there, if not for the assault of so many rocks.
Quickly, Katie hurried to catch up to the trail of dirt, and heard a shriek of fear and anger as she did so; coming from right in front of her.
"It didn't work, idiot!" the invisible witch shouted furiously, as she continued trying to flee, but in seconds, Katie was on top of her, and had wrapped her big arms around the wriggling witch. That, however, was when the witch reappeared, looking positively terrified, and she had a daggar in one hand. Struggling to break free of the superior strength of her opponent, the witch lashed out with her weapon, slashing Katie across the arm, and getting blood everywhere.
However, far from making things any better for the witch, the use of that weapon had, in fact, broken the calming spell that her associate had put on Katie. In a flash, it all came rushing back to the dragonslayer; the attack, the spell, and the recent pain, and her arms started tightening around the body of her enemy.
At that point, the telekinetic witch; Aranes, really should have tried to surrender, but she'd never been sorry for any of the evil deeds she'd done, and wasn't about to start. Again, she tried to stab Katie, but stopped short, as the larger woman was putting pressure on her ribs. With a cry of pain, Aranes dropped her weapon, trying to use her telekinesis to force Katie's arms apart, but it was no use. As strong as her spell was, the dragonslayer was stronger.
At last, the witch's eyes seemed to glaze over, and Katie could feel a mighty, rumbling sensation all around her in the cave. In seconds, she began to notice that the cave roof, right over her head, was beginning to develop cracks, and small pebbles were falling from the ceiling, onto her helmet and shoulders. Once again, she was in a hazardous situation, and once again, she realized, it was either her or her opponent.
Wincing in desperation, Katie squeezed both arms together again, until she felt a loud "snap," and dropped the witch to the ground, feeling awful. The cave-in had stopped, and the other witch seemed to have appeared. Her arms and legs were covered in fur, and she had fox-like ears on top of her head; probably the result of some spell, but also somewhat noticably, her forehead was wider than the foreheads of any of the other witches by at least two inches. She was clearly furious, as she realized that Katie had killed three people that day; people who she'd probably known for centuries, but she also seemed to be unsure of what, precisely, to do next.
It would have been too much to say that Loquasi had ever considered Aranes, or really, any of the others, to be her friends. She'd been part of their coven, largely because they'd helped to protect her from various kinds of threats. Without their assistance, she had, for example, no defense from a falling boulder, or a dwemer automaton, and even against the living, it helped to have backup when confronted by a group.
Still, one by one, the glenmoril witches had been picked off by that oddly-shaped woman, until only she and Yukosa were left alive. Loquasi called out to Yukosa in the depths of her mind, but she wasn't sure how long it would take the leader of their coven to respond.
Unfortunately, as she'd spent time among the others, many of Loquasi's powers had begun to focus around aiding her allies; calming enemies, encouraging her allies, making others like her, and so forth. Each of her spells was for manipulating the mind; for shaping the perceptions of others, and it was she who'd made herself and Aranes invisible a little while before. However, there was one spell that Loquasi still hadn't completely mastered; the spell to control others.
It was the crown jewel for the mentalist; beyond stunning, muddling, or even paralyzing one's enemies, the ability to take control of those who opposed you was coveted desperately. As such, it proved to be an intensely difficult spell to master. Loquasi could have done anything else to the big woman's mind by that point, but the only thing that she wanted to do was command her to kill herself.
At last, Loquasi made one last, desperate gamble. She decided to attempt to control Katie through a form of mental manipulation that she'd mastered. The reason why it was a gamble, however, was that it required actually entering the warrior's mind, and tampering with her thoughts from within.
When she'd been younger, Loquasi wouldn't have thought twice about entering another person's mind, but there were always dangers involved in doing so. One never knew what the mind of another person would look like, and the mental world had dangers all its own.
Still, Loquasi had made her decision, and in seconds, a powerful thought had shot out of her own mind, and towards the mind of the big, nord woman. She froze in her tracks, as Loquasi made her move, feeling as though she was growing much, much larger and more solid; entering the mental realm once again.
At first, everything seemed very dark to Loquasi; almost as dark as it had been in the cave, but as her eyes adjusted, she finally got a good look at what was going on around her, and it was certainly quite a sight.
Loquasi was surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of women; all closely resembling the nord warrior woman, though none of them seemed to have recognized her. They seemed to be divided into three groups. One group was sitting on the ground, looking angrily across the large, grassy field that stretched on for miles in all directions. That group had their arms folded, and were clearly being obstinate about something.
The second group was standing up, and seemed to be milling around; unsure of what to do next. They were standing near a large pile of leather bags, which shimmered as though they were enchanted. Those bags were filled with throwing spears, and the second group of warrior women seemed to be trying to decide whether to pick them up or not.
The last group, and the largest, consisted of women who'd already picked up bags of spears, and were standing quite some distance off, some throwing spears at something that Loquasi couldn't see from where she was, and some carrying something to and from the battle, which at first, Loquasi assumed were important resources, like those needed for any war.
As interesting as the people of that place were, the rest of the environment seemed to be even more interesting. The sky was full of dark clouds, which blocked out most of the light of the sun, but there was no rain, and yet, the plants still seemed to be growing. In fact, they were much larger than the plants that Loquasi was used to seeing in the physical world, which surprised her a little bit, until she looked around even further, and discovered that off in the distance, there was a house, which was even bigger by quite a bit.
Loquasi could move much faster through a person's mind than she could on foot, and soon, she'd arrived at the house, near where the third group of warrior women were throwing their spears and carrying their burdens, but she'd expected to arrive at the house long before she actually did. It was far, far larger than any house that Loquasi had ever seen.
It wasn't that it was a mansion. It wasn't. In fact, it bore more resemblance to a simple, humble shack than any kind of wealthy palace or estate, like the kind that Loquasi often saw in people's minds. Still, it was much bigger. So big, in fact, that the front step was too tall to scale. It was at least ten feet tall by itself, and Loquasi found herself wondering what the meaning of that kind of image; the giant house, might be.
Finally, the mentalist stepped over to the place where the warriors were throwing their spears, and began to notice, in interest, that the things being carried away from the battlefield were actually not things, but people; men and women of various types, who weren't even bound up as prisoners, but actually seemed to be innocent civilians. That image also puzzled Loquasi, as she had little experience with the minds of heroes, but it seemed to indicate that Katie actually thought that part of her struggle involved saving others from harm. Soon, however, Loquasi had passed the innocents, who were sitting on the ground and waiting for the fight to finish, and it was only then that she got a really good look at the enemies that the warrior women were fighting, and was horrified by the sight.
It would have been one thing to simply see a dragon, hanging in the air, blocking the way forward, or even a couple of dragons, but the path further onward was blocked, not just by one or two dragons, but by hundreds and hundreds of the most ferocious-looking dovah that Loquasi had ever seen in her life. For a moment, she wondered what kinds of things the nord woman had seen, to give her such horrifying, subconscious images.
Still, Loquasi recognized the image of a battle against a fearsome foe. It meant that the nord woman was desperately struggling to overcome some obstacle, which she thought was nearly insurmountable, for the purpose of attaining some goal, which lay just beyond. Indeed, as Loquasi watched, several dragons fell to the ground, dead, but more always rose up to take their place. For that woman, at least, that meant that the end of her struggle wasn't in sight for her.
Loquasi had an idea for what to do next, however. In just a moment, speeding up, she charged forward, through the ranks of the dragons; most of whom were airborne anyway. The dragons tried to react as the witch zipped in between them; some of them clawing at her, and others snapping at her, but ultimately, they all failed to touch her, because she was just that much faster, and after a little while, she'd reached the end of the path, and the dragons seemed to have given up on trying to stop her.
Oddly, however, as Loquasi looked around, she found that the other side of the path really didn't look much different from the first side. The main difference, as far as she could see, was that all of the plants, rocks and buildings on that side of the path were normal-sized, instead of absolutely gargantuan. After passing by a house that closely resembled the one on the first side of the path, however, Loquasi soon found herself at another building, which looked more like a bar or inn of some kind, and she could sense that there was something very important inside; the very thing that the nord woman, who, she was starting to sense, was named Katie, would give anything to have.
Quickly, Loquasi pushed open the front doors of the inn, and there, sure enough, was an empty bar and restaurant, with stairs leading upwards; probably to rooms for those who wanted to stay. The whole place was empty, however, except for one large woman, sitting behind the bar with a welcoming smile on her face.
"Hey, there." the woman said happily, "Welcome to Journey's End; the only place you've ever wanted to go, and the first place you'll never want to leave."
"How do you know what I want?" Loquasi asked, looking suspiciously at the woman, who was still seated as they spoke.
"Because you've always wanted the same thing, ever since you were a little girl." the woman replied, "Frankly, I'm surprised it didn't take you longer to get here. Those dragons can be... Well, I guess saying they can be a bear would be understating it, huh?"
Loquasi was starting to get the impression that she'd actually been mistaken for Katie by part of her subconscious. It felt odd, but after all, if she wanted to have absolute power over the woman, she decided, it would probably be best to play along.
"Alright." Loquasi replied, grinning a deceptive grin, "You've got me. I'm here for the one thing that I've always wanted more than anything. I think you know what I'm talking about."
"Sure." the big woman replied, waving to a brown door, off to one side of the room, "Just go through there, and open the cabinet at the end. That should give you what you want."
"Thank you kindly." Loquasi replied, still grinning. It was a ploy she'd used before, to gain control of people; simply acquire the one thing in their thoughts that they most wanted, and use it to gradually blackmail or bribe their thoughts, ony by one, but all at the speed of thought. If it worked, it would enable her to gain control of a person with only a fraction of a second's effort.
Casually, Loquasi stepped into the room indicated, and proceeded to the far end in only a few steps. There, sure enough, was the cabinet, and she grinned a wicked grin as she reached for the handles. At last, Loquasi was going to find out just what it was that Katie of Hammerfell wanted most.
For a moment, Katie had felt as though she'd been paralyzed somehow, but all of a sudden, the paralysis faded, and the whole cavern was filled with dreadful, high-pitched wailing. First, screeching, then shouting, and all of it coming from the lips of the fourth witch, who was writhing on the ground in what looked like a cross between total terror and physical agony. It was over a minute before her screeches became even slighting intelligible, and even then, Katie didn't know what she was talking about.
"No! No! No!" the witch shrieked in horror and pain, "Out! Out! Get me out! Get me out! Get... G-get... g... g-g-g..."
Katie had rushed over to the witch while she'd been shrieking, but when her screams finally faded, it was obvious that there was nothing more to be done for her. She was laying on the floor; her eyes glassy and distant, and her mouth hanging open in a gawking expression. Whiterun's thane checked her wrist quickly, and sure enough, the witch was still alive, but there was no sign of intelligence left in that glassy stare. Just like that, she was gone. Something horrible, Katie thought in astonishment, must have happened to her mind, though she didn't even have the slightest clue what it might have been. By itself, Katie of Hammerfell found that pretty terrifying.
Beyond the mods addendum; Things you can't do in-game
1. Enemies -never- use runes in Skyrim, despite them being some of the most useful destruction spells.
2. You can't cast runes directly onto an enemy's weapon or armor, or onto your own.
3. You can't damage the walls or floors in Skyrim, regardless of what you try.
4. You can't damage or knock over enemies by jumping on them, and jumping adds no force to your attacks.
5. In Skyrim, telekinesis can only be used on small inanimate objects; not people or pieces of the environment, as Aranes does here.
6. In Skyrim, telekinesis can't be used to lift multiple objects at once, or to wield them in a group.
7. In Skyrim, enemies will almost never try to use invisibility. This is just another one of those magic spells which were common in previous games, but for some reason, are hard to come by in this one.
8. No, telekinesis can't be used in Skyrim to block, seize or change the path of enemy projectile attacks or weapons, even though this would make sense.
9. Enemies never use illusion spells to modify the main character's behavior. I would like to see them attempt this, actually.
10. Most of the mental abilities described by Loquasi are real illusion spells, but invading the mind of another in the way she does is not present in Skyrim, though something like it is done with an amulet to enter another person's dreams in "Oblivion."