24
Öenthir.
The first thing she saw was the throne in the centre of the room. A large, stark, stone throne with no adornments. Sat upon the throne, she could see a draugr. This one was fully armoured, gripping a large, two-handed sword, by the hilt in one hand, its tip resting on the floor. The other hand held a long, thin, white staff. A globe of energy seemed to surround the draugr, a powerful magickal shield of some kind. The draugr was tall. Very tall. Even amongst Nords, this creature, in life, would have been head and shoulders taller than anyone else.
"Come in. We've been awaiting your arrival." Loremaster Dukhat emerged from the other side of the throne, almost casual, walking before the seated draugr. "Before you attack me, let me just say that my colleague and I are fully prepared to defend ourselves. With deadly force, if we must, but we would rather this all end amicably."
Another figure emerged. This one cloaked in shadow, they're features blurred and unidentifiable. The second figure joined Dukhat and, together, they stood in front of the draugr, eyeing the four companions with disinterest.
"You want the last Gem of Unison. We, I, can't let you have it." For once she found herself standing in front of her companions, stepping forward to confront her old mentor. "You betrayed me and I'd rather die than let you have it."
"Would you rather an innocent child die for your injured pride?" Dukhat raised an eyebrow and smiled in that kindly fashion she had once felt so comforted by. "Finish your task and then walk away. We won't stop you. Unless, that is, you try to stop us."
Öenthir looked back at her friends. None of them seemed to know what to do, instead looking towards her for inspiration. Dukhat was, after all, her old mentor. Revna and Itagaki were fine if something needed needed hitting. Tilly deferred to anybody else most of the time, anyway, but this was, for certain, not something she could deal with. The dark elf's eyes were darting around the room.
"We need to talk about it." If the consequences had not been so dire, she would find it comical that she was asking for time to talk in such a situation.
"By all means, old Æfiror isn't going anywhere." Dukhat reached out and tapped the draugr's shoulder through the globe of energy and the blue eyes in the dead mage's head flared in impotent anger. "But you know there is only one way this can go."
"What do you think?" She turned her back on Dukhat and his shadowy colleague in a deliberate show of defiance. "How can we trust what he says? He's already betrayed me. Lied to my face. I don't think I can make an unbiased decision here."
"I say we return the Gem and then kill them." Revna had to lean down as she whispered, trying to hide what she was saying. "We can't let anyone have all these Gems, they're too powerful."
"You have a point, sister, but if we die trying to stop them, they will have all the gems anyway." The Redguard scowled at what she was about to say. "But the mage also has a point. We must save the child. All other matters mean nothing until that is done. We can alert the Mages Guild about Dukhat and the Gems once we are out of this place."
"Well, one, I think I know where the exit is in this room. There are counterweights at the back wall. I've seen things like that before, for opening heavy doors." Tilly nodded in the direction of the counterweights. "And, two, why didn't Dukhat and his friend just take the Gems from Borgun? They could have broken the curse, if that's what they wanted to do, and made off with the Gems and no-one would have been any the wiser."
That gave Öenthir pause for thought. She wheeled around and stared at Dukhat as he and his colleague conversed between themselves. It was true. Dukhat was a powerful mage and, presumably, so was his comrade. They could have taken the Gems of Unison from them at any point before and after they left Riften. Why didn't they? Why this game of cat and mouse?
"You can't just take the Gems, can you?" She strode forward a few feet, stamping her staff on the ground with every step, using that to convey her anger. Dukhat glanced up as if she had asked a question in class.
"Very clever. I always knew you would amount to better things." He clasped his hands before him and looked as if he were about to lecture her. "No, we can't just take the Gems. Part of the curse meant that only those that did not wish to use the Gems could return them. Each time you replaced a Gem, you broke part of the curse and we, I, could then take them. You've been helping us all along. Why not just finish it, save a girl's life and go home?"
Öenthir looked again at her friends, her eyes questioning them, begging for an answer. Revna stepped forward, taking her hand. The Khajiit looked into her eyes and smiled as she placed the final Gem of Unison in the palm of her hand. Revna trusted her to do the right thing. A quick look at the others showed echoing sentiments.
She looked down at the Gem in her palm. It wasn't a particularly well cut gem. It wasn't what anyone could call beautiful. It was dull, apart from the faint pulsing blue glow. She took one last look at her friends and turned towards Dukhat and his mysterious colleague.
"Go ahead. Æfiror cannot harm you. Not while my shield is in place. But you can place the Gem in his coronet." Dukhat stepped away from the draugr Æfiror, giving her a clear path.
She walked as if she were in a dream. It was almost like she wasn't controlling herself, her seeming to legs moving without any command from her. Reaching the throne, she looked into the burning blue eyes of Æfiror. She saw hatred there. Pure, undiluted hatred and the eyes glared at her in mute fury as she reached up, placing the Gem in a socket in his crown.
The feeling of relief rushed like a tidal wave through her. It was not her relief, or that of her friends. It was the relief of a father knowing his child would live. Jarl Borgun, back in Riften, knew immediately that the curse had finally broken, that his daughter, Ysrey, was safe. The relief rippled through the binding and Öenthir knew that she had done the right thing.
And she felt guilty.
ii. Revna.
There was a pregnant silence as Öenthir stepped away from the draugr that had once been the Nord mage Æfiror. Revna could feel the rage of the imprisoned creature, she was certain she could. Its baleful eyes poured out its fury, unable to move.
Dukhat moved to the draugr even as Öenthir rejoined the rest of the companions. Lifting the crown from Æfiror's head, the old Breton mage removed the Gem if Unison and tossed aside the simple coronet as if it was a piece of garbage. Worthless to him now. He chuckled, turning to his veiled colleague, showing him the Gem.
"You have what you came for, mage. Time to honour your agreement." Revna didn't relax. If it was up to her, they would attack right now. Better to die trying to stop their insane plan than stand aside.
"And I, we, will. But first, we must free our final comrade." Dukhat crooked a finger towards Öenthir. "And now you will see the other reason we allowed you to continue your quest. Öenthir, child, come here."
The Bosmer looked confused. She had already done as asked. She had returned the Gem and broken the curse. What could they want her to do now? Revna stepped in front of her friend, refusing to let her move towards Dukhat.
"This is not what we agreed!" She didn't need to look, she knew that Itagaki had joined her standing in front of their friend. "She put the Gem back. Leave her alone and let us leave!"
"Foolish girl!" It was the first sign that Dukhat had given that he was no longer the kindly old man that had mentored Öenthir. His hand flashed outwards and Revna found herself rooted to the spot. The same spell he had used in Onzngknd's tomb. "You don't have a choice here! We make the demands! Öenthir! Come here."
From the corner of her eye, Revna saw the wood elf, hesitating, step forward, past her and the rooted Itagaki. Revna tried with all her might to move, to reach out and hold her friend back, but there was nothing she could do. She was utterly immobile.
"What do you want of me?" Öenthir seemed meek, almost brow-beaten.
"It will take three mages to free the Third Head of the Dragon. Here." He gave Öenthir the Gem of Unison that she had minutes before placed in the draugr's crown. "All you need do is focus magicka into the Gem and we will do the rest. That's all. Trust me, child, everything will be over soon."
Dukhat moved away from Öenthir, standing some ten feet from her. The other mage, the shadowed one, stood at a third point, making a triangle with Dukhat and Öenthir. Then the two mages began working their magick.
Öenthir looked back at Revna and her other two friends. There was nothing Revna could do. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move to help the Bosmer. Dukhat had sealed them all away, helpless. All except Öenthir, and all she could do was as she had told. She began focussing on the Gem in her hand.
Revna wanted to yell. To shout and tell her friend that this was their chance. That she would rather die than let Dukhat and his comrade win. If Öenthir refused to help them, they couldn't free the third mage, whoever that was and it was obvious to Revna, now, that having three mages was important. At least if they stopped these two freeing their third member, they wouldn't be able to use the Gems of Unison until they found another. Revna couldn't believe Öenthir hadn't worked this out herself.
But it was too late. The three Gems of Unison had now connected to each other with bright, sparking beams of light. A wind had erupted in the room, swirling around and around, lifting dust, catching at clothes. Öenthir seemed terrified, but there was also something else in her expression. A look of joy.
And then the air within the triangle of light ruptured. A tear in the fabric of reality. It forced the space within the triangle to crack and break and then flames began to appear, spinning in a lazy circle, forming a flaming vortex.
A hand emerged from the flames, reaching out, clutching, grasping. The hand formed a fist and was then joined by an attached wrist, then an arm, a shoulder. A leg emerged, finding purchase on this side of the vortex, bending to make itself stable. It was as if the figure was pulling against something on the other side. As if what held him on the other side of the flaming vortex would not let him go.
The figure fought against this invisible enemy until the entire body seemed to snap through the vortex, landing upon his knees, his hands planted upon the ground as the figure breathed in short gasping breaths.
Revna felt her arms were able to move. She looked over at Dukhat. He appeared exhausted from opening that fiery portal, that seemed clear. It seemed possible it was enough? Was it also possible that he had weakened enough to break his immobility spell?
She fought, once again, against her invisible bonds. She strained every one of her considerable muscles, fighting like she had never fought before. First her hand moved, flexing the grip on her axe. Then her leg inched forward. With one final, enormous effort, the spell broke and she ran forwards with a roar, lifting her axe in the air, ready to bring it down upon the head of Dukhat.
Only to be flung to the side by an invisible hand, held against the wall of the tomb, feet dangling high above the floor. The third mage had stood and, contemptuous, flicked a hand towards the charging Revna. It was his magick that now held her against the wall.
"Dukhat! You imbecile." Even held against the wall, Revna was sure she recognised this third mage. It was an Altmer. Something told her she knew this mer. A memory from a dream? Or a memory of a memory? "If you can't control your pets, I shall."
Revna found she couldn't breathe. The invisible hand that held her had begun to squeeze.
iii. Itagaki.
She recognised the man immediately. Her ability to remember things was uncanny at the best of times, but this face was particularly recognisable. She had seen it only recently, in the vision of Jarl Borgun's early life.
"Tiirakan! Let the girl go!" Dukhat grabbed the arm of the Altmer mage, pulling him around to face him. "We agreed they would not be harmed."
Tiirakan, the mage that had been part of Borgun's group when the Gems of Unison were first rediscovered, glared at Dukhat. Itagaki wondered if he would attack his comrade and then, after seconds of silent rebuke between the two mages, opened his hand allowing Revna to fall to the ground, gasping for breath.
With the immobility spell already broken, Itagaki and Tilly raced to the Khajiit's side, helping her to stand. Revna had murder in her eyes as she regained her breathing. Itagaki thought she would attempt another attack, but the Khajiit remained where she was, flexing her hands upon the shaft of her battle axe.
The Altmer mage ignored the three companions and turned towards Öenthir, the tiny Bosmer finding herself at the centre of the three mages, the Three Heads of the Dragon. Tiirakan held out his hand, saying nothing, but Öenthir appeared to know what he wanted. With only a slight hesitation, she placed the Gem she was holding into the Altmer's palm.
"Now that I am free and the Gems of Unison are ours, we can begin our preparations." He held the Gem up and examined it in the light of the braziers, turning it around and around.
"How are you still alive?" In a tight, cracking voice, Öenthir asked the question on all their minds. "In our vision, you were being overwhelmed. How did you survive that?"
"That is unimportant." The Altmer stared down at Öenthir as if she were nothing. "Suffice to say I had to ... compromise. I was allowed to live, but lost my freedom in exchange. It was a joke, you see?"
Itagaki was paying little attention to the exchange. She had other things on her mind. First was the door that would lead out of the tomb. Trying to communicate without words, she caught Tilly's attention, nodding towards the door and its counterweights. Tilly understood, slipping away, becoming one with the shadows.
The other thing that caught her eye was the still body of the draugr, Æfiror. At least, the almost still body. Ever since Dukhat, his comrade and Öenthir had opened the portal, it had become clear Dukhat's power was waning. First Revna had broken the immobility spell holding them and now she could see the spell on the draugr was reaching its limit. The draugr was stirring.
"That was a daedric portal that brought you here. Who did you make a deal with? Molag Bal? Mehrunes Dagon?" Öenthir was being clever, holding the attention of Tiirakan and the others. She had seen Tilly move. "You think losing your freedom was the only thing you lost in your deal? And now what? You're going to get your revenge on Jarl Borgun, is that it?"
"Revenge? On Borgun?" Tiirakan looked shocked and it appeared genuine. "I could never hurt that man. He was like a brother to me. Revenge? For what? Accidentally being thrown through the portal? Not coming back to see if I had, somehow, survived a horde of enemies? No. I hold no grudges against Borgun."
"Then what? What are you going to do with the Gems?" Tiirakan had almost turned away but Öenthir persisted, glancing towards Itagaki and Revna.
"We will bring peace to Tamriel. Enough questions! Dukhat. Your Gem." Tiirakan held out his hand to Dukhat.
"We agreed, Tiirakan, no one of us would hold all three Gems until we had learned how to unlock their full power." Dukhat held his hands, and his Gem behind his back. Tiirakan frowned and turned to the mage veiled in shadow, holding out his hand once again.
"No." The veiled mage hissed, his voice manipulated by magick.
"You both defy me?" Tiirakan clenched the hand he had held out into a fist, slow, scowling.
"One can only defy orders. Equals do not give orders to their equals." Dukhat remained stoic, unmoved by Tiirakan's clear anger.
The power play erupting between the three mages had made Itagaki almost forget about Tilly and the draugr Æfiror. She looked at them both. Tilly had reached the door, pulling on the counterweight, slow and steady, trying not to make noise as she opened their way out.
It was, however, Æfiror she should have kept her eye upon. He was moving now, shifting in his seat, his blue eyes flaring in their sockets. Itagaki clutched at Revna's arm, urging her to be ready. She looked over to Öenthir, catching her eye as soon as possible. It was too late to try and communicate with stealth, she pointed towards the draugr and then to the now open door at the other end of the room. Öenthir nodded.
And then the draugr Æfiror raised its head, its jaw opening and a scream erupted from deep within the undead mage. A long, piercing scream that echoed and reverberated from the walls of the room, causing Tiirakan, Dukhat and the veiled mage to turn their heads towards the draugr.
At first, there was silence after the scream. The draugr Æfiror dropped its head back to a normal position, staring at the three mages.
And then a scream came from outside the room. A scream in reply. And then another, and another. Soon the room was echoing with the sounds of many replying screams from the depths of Deep Frost Barrows.
The draugr were coming.
iv. Tilly.
She'd managed to get the door open and now she wondered if she should go back to the others or only hope that they did the sensible thing and run for the door. She drew 'The Sisters' and began to make her way back.
Revna saw her beginning to move and held up her hand, shaking her head. The draugr Æfiror had stood up before the three mages, raising his staff. The sounds of the other draugr were getting closer, now, answering the call from the undead mage.
"Give me the Gems!" Tiirakan glowered at his comrades even as he cast a protective shield around himself. He seemed to be tiring, his shoulders slumping. Still the others refused and in a fit of anger, Tiirakan hit them with a spell, sending them staggering backwards. "Then I will simply take them from your corpses!"
The draugr Æfiror slammed his staff to the ground, sending lightning sparks tracing in arcs before him, hitting Tiirakan's shield and snaking over its surface. This caught Tiirakan's attention and he fired back at the draugr with a ball of flame that the draugr parried aside with ease.
And now the other draugr began appearing, racing through the doorway towards the first living being they saw. Itagaki. She blocked the first blow from an enormous greatsword, pushing the blade aside and slicing at the creature with her companion sword.
Revna swing her axe over Itagaki's head, taking the draugr's head and and shoulders from its body in one impressive blow. Then, grabbing Itagaki, she pushed her towards Tilly and the door. Another draugr had arrived by then, catching Revna on the shoulder with a glancing blow from an axe. The axe pinged off Revna's armour and, still feeling pain from the passing hit, swung her axe in a desperate arc, backing away until she could find her footing to follow Itagaki.
Tilly could feel herself fighting between diving in and waiting. The internal struggle causing her gut to twist, but Itagaki had almost reached her. Until an arrow slammed into her leg, sending her sprawling to the floor. That decided it. Tilly launched herself forward, only managing to duck as a second arrow whipped past her face, clattering against the wall behind her.
"The counterweight!" Itagaki shouted. Tilly looked behind her. The errant arrow had caught the rope holding the counterweight, almost cutting it through, leaving frayed twists of rope dangling from the rest. It was about to break.
Tilly understood, if the counterweight fell, the door would close and none of them would get out of there alive. Helped by the fact that Revna was about to reach Itagaki, Tilly spun back to the door, grabbing the rope of the counterweight and holding it taut with all her strength.
The three mages were in the midst of a pitched battle, between Dukhat and his veiled comrade fighting Tiirakan and the draugr Æfiror. The veiled mage slammed his hands together sending Tiirakan and the draugr stumbling from some unseen force and Dukhat took the opportunity. He grabbed Öenthir's hand and seemed to whisper something before pushing her towards the door.
Revna had dragged Itagaki from the floor and almost threw her through the door to the corridor beyond. Turning, she caught a sword in the 'horns' of her battle axe, twisting it to the side and then launched a punch into the draugr's face knocking its jaw flying from its skull.
"Little elf! Get through the door!" The Khajiit swung her axe in a wide arc, holding the draugr at bay. And then moved in front of Öenthir as the mage ran, blocking any pursuit and protecting the Bosmer with her own body. "Both of you!"
One of the draugr thrust a spear towards Revna. She jumped backwards avoiding it, but another draugr struck her arm, slicing through the gap between her bracers and the armour on her upper arm. She howled in pain, dropping her battle axe. Injured, weaponless, Revna was unable to stop the blow dropping towards her head.
Until the blow stopped. A bright blue, shimmering wall of energy had appeared between the draugr and Revna. Öenthir stood behind Revna, her hand outstretched, her face sweating and strained. Several draugr were beyond the magickal wall, now, striking with swords and axes, arrows and hammers, but the wall held.
Tilly had made it beyond the door by now, checking to see if Itagaki was alright. Her head snapped around in horror as she heard a tell-tale snap of rope and the thud of the counterweight dropping to the floor. The door began to close and she jumped up, grabbing hold of the thick stone trying to arrest its inexorable movement towards closing.
Through the door, Tilly could see the three mages breaking away from the draugr. Each of them, almost simultaneous, summoned portals, disappearing to Oblivion knows where. And now all the attention was upon Revna and Öenthir and Tilly had no idea how long the Bosmer could keep up her shield wall.
"Revna! The door's closing! I can't hold it!" She felt her grip on the door slipping, the skin on her fingertips ripped by the rough stone.
And then Revna was there, pushing against the door, holding it open with those ridiculous, powerful muscles of hers.
"Get the mage. Drag her if you have to, but get her through this door." She could see the pain from her injury etched over Revna's face as Tilly reentered the room, grabbing Öenthir and dragging her back towards their escape.
How Öenthir managed to keep her shield wall up, despite obvious exhaustion on her face, and how Revna managed to hold open the door despite her injury, Tilly could never understand. Despite the Khajiit's strength, however, the door was still closing.
Leaving Öenthir on the right side of the door to concentrate on her shield, Tilly made a frantic search of the corridor. She looked around, desperate, needing something to hold the door open for only a few seconds longer. Finding a funeral urn, she ran back, thrusting it in the gap between the door and the wall. It started cracking immediately.
"Come on, you big oaf, get through the door, quick." She tried reaching in to grab her friend and pull her in, but Revna shrugged the hand away.
"I won't fit through." The Khajiit couldn't be right. There had to be enough of a gap.
"Of course you can! Just take off your armour. Öenthir can hold her shield a bit longer." She realised that she was pleading with the Khajiit. Revna shook her head and nodded towards Öenthir. She was on her knees, her whole body shaking with the effort of holding the draugr at bay. "Just get through the door. Please, just .. try!"
Revna stopped pushing against the door and funeral urn cracked again, loud. Stepping back, Revna untied the leather string that had held her sword, Jotnbann, to her back for so long. Wrapping the string around her hand, she grasped the old greatsword tight and smiled at Tilly.
"Be good. Little elf." She turned her back on them, then, facing the draugr in the room as the funeral urn cracked once more, finally breaking and the door ground to a close. Öenthir collapsed to the floor, her face covered in sweat, tired and drawn.