A Stranger in Skyrim

Chapter Twenty-Five: Twisted Magic

By: N3k0

In which mistakes are made.

The road wasn't exactly an easy one, but it wasn't terrible.

They occasionally passed signs pointing towards Ivarstead, which was the only reason Mariah knew for sure they were still going in the right direction. There were wolves and more of the giant rat things that Lydia identified as skeevers - but generally it wasn't so bad.

No detours, no stops - she wanted to poke around a bit, maybe explore some. There were ruins lining the path, which followed the river.

The biggest of these was a massive stone tower stood on the side of the road before them, a barbarian of some kind standing guard at the front door. The ill-kept young blonde approached them, arms folded. "Pay the road fee," she said, "And nobody has to die."

Mariah looked to Lydia. Lydia looked to Mariah.

"I don't want to hurt you," Mariah said quietly, dancing lightning across her fingertips.

The blonde woman smirked. "A mage, eh? Bet you have plenty of valuables on you." She grinned, drawing her weapon - a sword - and Mariah sighed.

Lightning burst forth from her hands, blasting the woman back against the door. She slumped to the ground, thrashing uncontrollably. Mariah kept the constant stream of electricity up until she saw electrical burns on the woman's skin and the screams of pain stopped.

She regarded the corpse uncertainly, looking at her hands, then at the woman. Had she meant to kill? Didn't the bandit deserve it?

Killing was just something that happened in Skyrim, she reminded herself. If she didn't do it, the woman would have killed her, or the next traveler, or the next.

And, this presented an opportunity. Twisting the magic inside just so, she drew the woman's soul back into her body - she was fresh enough, the kill was new enough, that it was easy. The young woman's glazed, staring eyes began to focus. She opened her mouth to speak, to scream, gasping in breath, thrashing.

"What are you doing?!"

Mariah glanced at Lydia, confused - she'd forgotten someone was with her - damn -

The magic spun out of control, the creature was infused with it, screaming in pain, rage, anguish - she leaped suddenly at the pair, and Lydia expertly blocked the attack, slashing across her stomach, then hacking at her neck. It took three hard swings to sever her head from her body, which fell limp once more. "Why would you do something like that?" Lydia asked it, her expression hard, as she stared Mariah down.

Not for the first time, she felt small. "I … I was …"

"You were what? I'd thought better of you than that," she said with something not unlike disgust.

"I just … I wanted to learn," she said weakly.

"By making an abomination? By defiling that woman's body? That's what you wanted to learn?" Lydia sighed softly as the worst of the anger subsided. "My Thane, necromancy is - it isn't clean. Most Nords can barely stand the kind of magic you've already learned - think how they would react if you brought a corpse with you to Ivarstead."

The housecarl's expression begged her to understand.

"I - I wasn't thinking," she admitted. "I'm sorry."

Lydia didn't seem wholly satisfied with that, but she let it go, a fact for which Mariah was deeply grateful.

She was sorry, yes - sorry that Lydia had gotten angry, sorry that she hadn't taken appropriate precautions - but no, she wasn't sorry for the act itself.

They walked in silence - it gave her a bit of time to think, and Lydia didn't seem to have much to say to her. Maybe she was still angry.

Probably she was still angry.

There were some interesting sights - an incredibly tall waterfall near a bridge they had to cross, for example, or a massive feline - Lydia identified it as a saber cat - taking down a deer. Mostly it was tall mountains, which gave an amazing view of the land sprawling below them. She kind of wished for a camera. Or a car. Mostly a car - she was exhausted before they'd even gotten halfway there, and that was after the third time she'd asked for a break.

When evening fell, they were within sighting distance of the town. Howls echoed around them in the dark as they continued to travel. Mariah lit the spectral light to illuminate the road before them - and hopefully, to scare off any predators.

Hopefully they'd see it and think fire, not 'delicious prey.' The howls were getting louder, closer.

Mariah turned to look behind herself for a moment, sure she'd heard something. There came a growl from the front - and a flash of pain. Lydia shouted - something - and the beast, it was a beast - redirected its attention.

So much blood. Lydia's weapon cut into the monster, splattering Mariah with its blood, while her own gushed freely from the angry bite. The clash of claws screeching against metal was almost too much for her - it was too loud. Lydia drove the wolf - was it a wolf? - back a step, two - it stepped on Mariah's side, stumbling slightly, before being gutted by Lydia's blade. The entrails made a sickening noise as they fell, and suddenly Mariah was vaguely grateful for the charm that kept the robe clean and even mended its tears - otherwise the thing would be completely unusable after this.

It seemed to be over, for a moment, before more growls circled the pair, angry eyes glimmering in the light of the spell.

"Come at me, then!" Lydia shouted, bracing herself for the inevitable attack.

When it came, they came in force - two more of the creatures, one from the front, one from behind. They were - Mariah couldn't believe her eyes. Werewolves? Were they really werewolves?

She felt delirious, maybe she was just hallucinating this entire thing.

The housecarl was an expert fighter, but even she was quickly becoming overwhelmed by the pair, blocking and dodging as many of their attacks as possible. She seemed to be trying to move the fight away from Mariah entirely.

Mariah just had to - focus. She slowly, agonizingly dragged herself up to a sitting position. More blood splashed down her front as she drew forth the magic in her soul. Fire erupted from her hands, and she was rewarded with the smell of singed fur. One creature, then the other, yelped and ran off, under the conjured inferno. Lydia made to follow, for a second, before deciding against it. She couldn't blame her - who really wanted to fight two enormous (and angry) werewolves, anyway?

Lydia helped her to her feet, and together they staggered toward the town. A guard took over from there, helping to carry Mariah's weight since her legs were starting to give out on her.

Fading in and out of consciousness, with gray rimming her vision, Mariah realized she wasn't doing so well. She tried to focus again, to heal the injury, and she thought she might have been starting to succeed, before that last shred of will, that last drop of adrenaline finally gave out.

She fell facefirst against the guardsman, before slumping to the ground, entirely unconscious.