Chapter twenty six: Glory of the Dead
Even to Ellayna, Wuuthrad was a marvelous sight. The dark grey-blue steel, crafted as a double sided axe with the exaggerated head of a screaming elf in the center. The majesty that was held within the ancient metal was clear to everyone. The Circle, once Eorlund brought them his finished work, passed it between them, holding the sturdy metal in hand as though it would shatter like brittle glass. When Vilkas held it, the wonder in his eyes clouded over with regret. "We can't even share this moment with the other Companions yet."
Farkas didn't follow. "Why not?" He demanded. They were all gathered in the cold, gloomy cavern that was the Underforge for the very reason of secrecy.
There was an awkward tension following the silence that overcame them and everyone but Farkas looked toward Eorlund. The broad shouldered nord sighed, held his hand up in understanding and turned away. "I'll not breathe a word." Once he was gone, the pressure from the tension rapidly evaporated.
"Because they can't know of the beast blood, they don't know of why we must take it away from Jorrvaskr and out of Whiterun," Vilkas snapped.
"He's right," Aela added. "They'll want answers we can't give. No, until this business with Kodlak and the beast blood is over, no one else can know."
"They'll question why we're all leaving at once," Ellayna took the axe as Vilkas gingerly gave it over. The metal was heavier than the others made it seem and, being used to a bow or magic, Ellayna struggled with the weight. The musculature Ellayna gained over the years weren't the sort that helped her lift this sort of heavy weapon. Farkas reach over and with one hand aided to steady her. "What are you going to tell them?"
"We can't keep lying," Farkas remarked. "It's not fair, they are Companions too."
Aela shook her head. "They aren't members of the Circle, they don't need to know. We aren't obliged to answer all questions."
"They're not fools," Vilkas asserted, "Not Athis, Njada or Ria. They will begin to guess and won't get it right, which means they will think the worst and blow the entire situation out of proportion."
"How about we don't give them enough time and leave now?" Ellayna suggested, giving Wuuthrad over to Farkas completely.
"We can be back within two weeks. That's too much time without explanation."
"Which is worse?" Ellayna snarled, "Explanation and revealing the Circle's secret or no explanation and dealing with a rotten witch head? Let's just go. We've already gathered what we need, the supplies and the bedrolls. We're ready." Over the night it had taken Eorlund to complete his repairs on Wuuthrad, the Circle and Ellayna had gathered, purchased and made all that they required for their journey and stored it inside the Underforge. It looked as though that work was about to pay off for them.
"I'll go tell everyone we're going–" Vilkas began to offer, but Aela held her hand up.
"It would be better that I do it," Aela insisted, using that voice everyone knew not to object with. She left them to it, signaling to the supplies lined up against the wall, waiting to be shouldered and collected.
"She would be a good harbinger," Farkas mused.
Vilkas made a face of indecision. "I don't think she wants to be, or wants to have the weight of that responsibility. She's always valued the amount of freedom she's had over the years."
Ellayna made no comment. How could she, when there was still a possibility that she would leave the Companions? Instead she went to where the supplies where. Evenly, she distributed what they needed to take and left what Aela would carry while the rest of them organized themselves.
"Pup," Farkas held out Wuuthrad to her with one hand. "Shouldn't you be the one to carry it?"
Farkas didn't think twice about his insistence but the jealousy that briefly clouded over Vilkas was clear. Ellayna smiled and then shook her head. "You carry it, Farkas. It's too heavy for someone used to light armor and bows."
He nodded, accepting her reasoning. The tension from Vilkas evaporated. That was one argument averted, at least. Truth be told, she didn't need Farkas' twin disliking her any more than he already did.
Once Aela returned, they left through the Underforge. It was a mutual decision that their journey would attract too much attention if they paraded through the center of Whiterun. Especially with both the Dragonborn and the mythical Wuuthrad in tow. Once they collected their mounts from the stables, Ellayna with her mare Butter, Farkas with the horse Ellayna named Freckles years ago, and both Vilkas and Aela with random Companion owned horses, they began their journey to the Tomb of Ysgramor.
It took near two weeks to reach the tomb. It was luck they reached it when they did; Vilkas was not a well man. His recovery from having his shoulder shattered proved not to be complete. Whenever they encountered trouble, usually in form of a pack of ice wolves or a lone frost troll, Vilkas was nearly useless. The first few times, he tried to fight; swinging his greatsword caused him immense pain and was not nearly as effective as his attacks were when he was healthy. Due to Ellayna's ranged weapons and magic, Vilkas safely tucked himself away behind her when fighting broke out. Aela or Farkas would have helped him but their melee style combat would have left him open to attack –Aela had been using a sword, insisting that they only needed one bowman with them for this mission. At first Vilkas was reluctant to do that, but when his health deteriorated more, he was grateful for the aid. Despite all of Vilkas' vileness and envy toward Ellayna, something in helping the man had formed a bridge between the two of them. Though they were no friends, there was a new and unspoken air of peaceful coexistence.
But by the time they reached the tomb, Vilkas was sick indeed. He suffered terrible nightmares and had become feverish, regardless of the potions they gave him. Healing him with magic helped more, but Ellayna was not as skilled with restoration spell as she wished she was. Getting him out of the frosty winds and layers of thick snow, they descended into tomb and burst through the front door, blowing snow in behind themselves. Aela forced the stubborn door closed them while Farkas clung onto his twin, waiting for Ellayna to lay down the bedroll. Once that was ready, Vilkas was lowered down onto it with much fretting and fussing by Farkas.
"I'll be fine," Vilkas hissed low, out of breath. "I just need some rest out of the cold."
"You can hardly move your shoulder," Aela snarled. "Damn it all to hell, I thought you'd healed."
Ellayna dropped her bags down beside were Vilkas was. She had taken them from Butter just to be sure nothing was tipped out of them. "We can take him to the College of Winterhold after this," she suggested. "I know some people."
Aela wasn't all that surprised. "You joined the College?"
"Not exactly, I just needed some new destruction and conjuring spells and had to do a few jobs for a certain Faralda and Phinis Gestor. I'm sure one of them can call a favor in with Colette Marence."
"You know what, I don't want to know, so long as you get him fixed."
Vilkas snorted the word, "Fixed," before grunting in pain and lying down fully.
"What about the horses?" Ellayna asked as everyone but Vilkas shed their thick, cold weather cloaks that had been draped over their armor. Though Ellayna was mostly covered by her glass armor, and her cloak, she was still freezing cold outside; how the others managed to managed without complaint was beyond her.
"Leave them outside," Aela gave the command and it was followed. "We can't be long. Kodlak wouldn't want Vilkas dying on us."
"I hope not," Vilkas mumbled from the floor.
Ellayna took Wuuthrad from its place secured on Farkas' back. She now cast her gaze over what could only be described as a shrine dedicated to Ysgramor. On a dais stood a ten foot statue of Ysgramor, clad in heavy armor with a tall, decorated helm, his empty hands held out in a position that indicated Wuuthrad had rested there once. At his huge stone feet were various gifts he had been left over the centuries. Some were small bottles of potions, others bear or wolf pelts, or iron helmets or daggers. Judging by one set of flowers, people had been there relatively recently. With some difficulty and a lot of maneuvering, Ellayna returned Wuuthrad to Ysgramor's grasp. As she did so, an unseen mechanism groaned and opened the stiff door behind the shrine.
"That was surprisingly easy," Aela scoffed. While she and Farkas were focused on the door, cautiously peering into it, Ellayna quickly bent down and plucked a small coin pouch of the ground someone had left as an offering. Upon weighing it in her hand, Farkas looked back and settled a disproving eye on her.
"Finders keepers?" Ellayna grinned.
"Put it back."
"Ysgramor doesn't need it, or does Shor's Hall charge tax?"
"Puppy."
Giving up, Ellayna returned the rather hefty pouch back where she had found it.
"You three better come back," Vilkas mumbled, through gritted teeth. "Or I'll die here." He wasn't just concerned for himself. A gruff voice and nearly permanent scowl didn't do anything to fool Ellayna, not now.
Aela and Farkas grew out their swords and Ellayna pulled her helm over her head then readied her bow, attaching an arrow to the string. She went in first; it made sense, as if anything was far away, she wouldn't risk shooting either of her comrades. In that moment, she recalled in sickening detail how she had shot Farkas, in his beast form, in the leg when Aela first taught her.
"What'd you think we'll find in here?" Ellayna asked in a hushed whisper, creeping through the usual ancient style crypt hallway. Just as she said that, a skeever ran at her, its ugly rodent fangs bared. Ellayna yelped, flinging herself back as she shot it. Bumping into Farkas, she watched as the skeever squawked and collapsed.
"I think that's what we'll find," Farkas grinned at her.
"Of all the creatures in Skyrim," Ellayna muttered. "I hate skeevers the most."
They had to continue, luckily not being lunged at by any more skeevers. Ellayna, as they were trekking through the dank and dim hallways, lit any torches or lanterns they came to. She was preoccupied by lighting their way when something caught her eye. It was blue and shimmering and walked toward her in the form of a warrior. When its eerie blue head turned and looked at Ellayna, it reached to its back and began unsheathing its sword. Ellayna, quicker than the spirit, fired an arrow into its chest. It stumbled back, and when another one hit it, disappeared into nothing. The only sound was the clatter of the two arrows falling to the ground.
"There aren't anymore," Aela said, returning to the pair after going a search of that room. "We should continue."
Farkas snorted. "I don't know about you, puppy, but I preferred the skeevers."
"Agreed." Ellayna collected her two perfectly good arrows and they moved on from that chamber. It was the next, larger chamber that caused issue. Inside, there seemed to be some sort of throne in the center, and to every side there were the black, upright tombs common with Nordic crypts. About half a dozen pale blue ghosts crept out of these tombs, locking onto the first Companion they saw first. Knowing what to expect now, they didn't have much trouble defeating those spirits. The only injury was a minor cut Farkas sustain on his upper arm, which he quickly assured he would heal later because it was likely he would only get more gashes.
They moved onto the next room, becoming more wary. This chamber was twice as large again; the center was lower than the rest of the room by a few steps and there was a thick layer of oil over it. Ellayna, with a swift scan of the room, estimated there were fifteen ghosts emerging from their tombs. "Avoid the oil," she told them as the two slipped passed her, hurrying to the other side of the long chamber. They would deal with the ghosts there and leave her to the ones at the front of the chamber, but she hoped frantically they heard her warning.
With one hand, Ellayna conjured her trusty flame atronach then took to firing well placed arrows at the ghosts. The ghosts, however, seemed to learn from how their follow spirits died. They soon became adept at avoiding Ellayna's line of fire. If they made a mistake, she got them, but with so many around it was becoming increasingly difficult. There were more than she first counted. Placing her bow over her shoulder, she willed her magic to her hands. Fire flowed to her fingers and she hurled a fireball at the nearby ghost. It had presumed wrong she it witnessed her sheathe her bow. She managed to destroy three more ghosts that way until she heard feet behind her. Narrowly she avoided the sword thrust of the ghost, feeling the power of the Voice build up in her chest. When the Words, "YOL TOOR SHUL," escaped her, the ghost was send flying back wrapped in the flames of an inferno. The inferno not only engulfed that ghosts, but anything unfortunate enough to be in the soaring blaze's way.
It was what happened when the ignited ghost hit the ground. It had not yet disappeared, which meant the flames still clung to it. The place where it landed was the oil in the chamber's center and Ellayna knew a split moment before that she had made a mistake. When oil erupted, the entire tomb shook. Ellayna, standing rather closed to the edge, was knocked from her feet. The breath left her lungs when she hit the ground and she was suddenly very glad for her armor, especially her helm. If it wasn't for that, she would have been severely burnt instead of just a little bruised. She also very nearly crushed the witch head attached to her hip. After a pause to regain her breath, she was on her feet again. Her atronach had survived, waiting nearby and passing the time with nimble steps. That was sign that the explosion had destroyed the remaining ghosts. Her heart missed a beat when it occurred to her what else it could have killed. "Farkas, Aela?" She called out shrilly, running passed the burning remains of tree roots with the atronach floating along behind. "Farkas?"
She could see them now, in the doorway of the next room. Aela was forcing Farkas to drink out of a little red vial. Ellayna was running more quickly now, nearly tripping over when she reached them. Farkas' skin was rejoining itself, but the faint scaring from the burns would always be there. Along both upper arms, on the inside of one and the outside of another, and one side of his jaw, pale silver scaring would always be noticeable. With wounds so serious, even healing potions only saved the drinker, not made the marks invisible. "How do I look?" Farkas grinned, wincing as he did so.
After removing her helm, Ellayna tucked it under her arm and reach out to touch the scared part of his jaw. "You're going to have a lopsided beard," she smiled, unable to stop the pounding in her chest that made her breathless. That was far, far too close. "But you'll be fine."
Aela threw her head back and drank a potion for her own wounds as she, too, had burning on her skin. One the backs of her legs were the only place and she had been standing further away than Farkas had been. Once she was also healed and they got Farkas on his feet, he insisted on continuing. "I'm fine," he repeated, "I'm fine."
"As long as you say so," Ellayna pulled back on her helm. "Just don't go dying on me."
"I wouldn't do that to you, pup."
They pressed on through to the next room, until they found it blocked with cobwebs. Farkas blanched, murmuring, "I've decided I'm not fine," under his breath.
"You're staying right with me, you giant softy," Ellayna brought flames back to her hands, having let her magicka recover. "Or, at least, behind me where I can protect you from the spiders."
"You make them sound small," he grumbled as she ignited the cobwebs, "They're not small."
There were two chambers crammed with the horse sized spiders and dense cobwebs everywhere. Farkas, as Ellayna suggested, stayed behind her. Between Ellayna's destruction magic and her atronach's fireballs, they managed to well and truly char all of the frostbite spiders inside. Even the largest spider, twice the size of all the others, resembled coal more than a deal creature when she was finished with it. Exhausted of magicka now and with her atronach gone due to the length it had been summoned, she let Aela and Farkas lead into the next room that was pleasantly less spider-infested. Unfortunately, now there were more ghosts. Ellayna hung back that time, but as they advanced again and there were –surprise surprise!– more ghosts, she took up her bow and arrows again. There were never as much as there had been in the room with the oil, something to be thankful for.
Eventually, they came to the last chamber. It was wide, with open stories at both sides and an incline in the center where a brazier of blue fire burned. It had to be some important, Ellayna mused privately.
"Kodlak?" Farkas mumbled, blinking in disbelief. Ellayna followed his gaze and found what he saw. Another light blue honest, only this one had a gentle old face they knew very well.
"You're not hallucinating, at least," she mumbled and began toward Kodlak. He had his hands out to the brazier, as though he warmed himself with the eerie flames.
"Hello, Ellayna," Kodlak greeted her with a warm nod. "I see you found everything I intended for you."
"You old…" she shook her head. "All you want is for me to cure you, isn't it?"
"You came all this way. My fellow Harbingers and I have been waiting here, hoping to avoid Hircine's notice."
"I won't ask why I can't see them."
A smile spread over his transparent face. "Believe me, my dear, they can see you in all of your glory and honor."
"Does this head work on just you, or every harbinger here?"
"Just me, for now, but that's all I ask for. Please, Ellayna, do this for me."
Ellayna was unhooking the witch head. She gave a glance at Kodlak as she lifted the head into the blue flames. "All about redemption, aren't you?"
He smiled as she dropped the head inside. Immediately the fires took hold of it; crackling and the scent of burning flesh came as the head disappeared into the insanely hot flames. Kodlak's form distorted and flickered with black, pulsing through his body. He was laughing, not screaming though. From his shadowy form stepped the blood red figure of a wolf, the beast over six foot at the shoulder. Farkas and Aela would have helped, she knew, if her weapon of choice hadn't been flame. It took much of her already depleted magicka, but the snarling and fierce beast that had kept Kodlak imprisoned was dead. At the last collision with the fireball, it let out a shrill, agonized howl and dispersed into nothingness.
Kodlak was waiting nearby, his spirit having gone to stand with Aela and Farkas for the last time. Out of breath and feeling a sort of weight lifted off her, she began toward them. "Thank you, for everything," Kodlak nodded. "You've freed me, even if my brethren remained enslaved. Perhaps I could free them. Ah, that would be a marvelous sight. The heroes of Sovngarde invading the hunting grounds of Hircine," shaking his head now, he freed himself of those thoughts. "But you, all three of you in fact, must return to Jorrvaskr. I can feel news times ahead, with a new Harbinger leading the Companions," he smiled, stepping forward, "I can think of no one else but the Dragonborn herself."
Just like that he was gone, as though his spirit had never been there. Aela and Farkas stayed silent for a moment, then erupted with conversation. Ellayna just stayed still. She knew then and there what she had decided.
There is only one chapter left now and then that's it!
PS, I know that the oil is actually water in game but I decided to make it a little more exciting.