Life is More Than a Game: Restart
Chapter V: Clearing out Embershard
Victoria and I crept along the tunnel. The others would have definitely been more of a nuisance than anything. Bodyshields at best, in all honesty. It was not a kind thought but a practical one. They didn't have Victoria's training or my abilities, on top of being malnourished, worked to the bone, or psychologically traumatized. Actually, they were probably all three of those things.
Ignoring the thought, for the time being, I focused on the path ahead of me. The tunnel split once more, though there was really only one direction to head. Oil lamps, lanterns, and torches lined the walls or hung from the ceiling throughout the whole mine, up until now.
Three paths lay before us. One straight ahead and two 45 degree turns in either direction. However, the straight path was clearly the site of a cave-in and only really existed for about four feet. The angled path to the right, which seems to descend, was unlit. It was impossible to see anything after six feet or so, so there clearly wasn't anything that way.
All that left was the left path, which opened up to the all-too-familiar scene from the game. It was a large cavern with a waterfall at the very back. Wooden pathways were suspended across the whole thing, with various pockets in the walls. If the logic from the game carried over, they'd be used as storage and sleeping quarters.
On the cavern floor, an Orc and a Nord were working at a forge. Neither of them appeared to be prisoners. We'd already found all the men, according to that Redguard's information, so I wasn't expecting there to be any.
Straining my ears, I tried to listen in on their conversation. It was difficult, and I could only make out a few words here and there, but the Orc definitely called the Nord Vorkmar. Pulling Victoria away from the entryway, and well out of earshot, I whispered that to her.
"I was beginning to piece that together myself." She nodded, gripping the handle of her sword tightly. "The faces and names of these men have changed from what I remember, but it doesn't change that their actions are identical, and would've been identical, had I remained in Helgen."
"Did you notice the large holes in the walls along the bridges?" I wondered, receiving another nod. "I think Ravaru is probably in one of those. I need to find her, and quickly. If she summons an Atronach, things end badly for all of us.
"This whole place could come crumbling down like the Barrow did. Even if it doesn't, that Flame Aura means you wouldn't be able to get close to it, and I'd have to try and banish it with a bunch of Ice Spikes." In all honesty, I'm not sure I'd be able to take down an Atronach with all my previous abilities, let alone with just the starting spells. Even just thinking of taking one on was starting to make me uncomfortable. "If I can find her and just take the staff, though, then there shouldn't be anything that could stop you from killing Vorkmar, and the rest shouldn't be difficult either."
"The bridges don't exactly leave much room for stealth." Victoria lamented. We were quiet enough, but the pathways were well-lit and offered zero cover from vision or projectiles. "What's with that smile of yours?"
"It's not stealth we're aiming for, Victoria." I pointed out. "Don't you remember how I handled this the first time? I don't need to get to Ravaru. I simply need to see her. I have a spell that I can use to steal the staff, but I need to be able to see her with it first."
Understanding dawned in the Imperial's eyes after a moment. "You want me to make a large commotion and draw the rest of the bandits out of hiding?" It was my turn to nod. She thought it over a moment before grinning on her own. "I think I just might be able to do that."
I trailed a bit behind Victoria as she walked out into the open. No one seemed to notice her for a moment, but I didn't expect them to. No one was looking in our direction, to begin with, and her armor didn't make any noise as she walked. I'm not sure what I expected her to do, but it definitely wasn't what happened.
Victoria ran forward a few steps and leapt off the bridge, crashing to the cave floor below. Well, it was more like she landed on top of the Orc, and took off Vorkmar's head before he could scream out.
As his corpse fell to the floor, the Orc made sure to make his pain known as his scream echoed through the cavern. From my vantage, I noticed that one of his legs seemed to be bending backward, and the bone was protruding from the skin both at the knee, and the ankle.
Victoria ended his suffering by crushing his skull beneath her steel-armored bootheel.
Shuddering at how much strength that must've required, I focused on the bridges. It was partially to avoid looking at the mess of red painting the cave floor. I didn't really feel guilt or nausea or anything, but more of the ghost of a reaction that you get when you see something painful and imagine going through that yourself.
The other part was because I really didn't want to be shot by an arrow or a spell. Victoria had drawn the attention, sure, but I was at eye level while she was well below them.
Luckily for me, the other seven bandits seemed to be drawn to the screams of their comrade. It was pretty amusing to see them look at her and nearly trip over themselves in fear that the Legion had found their little operation.
That moment passed, though, and I found my target. It wasn't exactly difficult to piece together who Ravaru was. She was the only Dunmer, the only woman, the only person in glowing, black robes, and - most importantly - the only person with a gem-topped staff.
Reaching out, I cast Void Palm and felt the system work its magic. As opposed to the brisk cold or gentle heat of my other two spells, Void Palm sent a shiver through my whole body. It was… an uncomfortable feeling. I couldn't quite place it, but it was as if there was something trapped just under my skin that wanted to escape.
The feeling passed, though, as I felt the smooth, oaken handle touch my hand. Reflexively, I tightened my grip around it and immediately stored the staff into my inventory. There was no way I was about to summon an Atronach in a cave again.
Ravaru, for her part, looked around wildly as she lost her prized possession. Our eyes met in the moment I sent an Ice Spike hurtling towards her. She was a bit more agile than I expected, though. The spike meant for her chest ended up in her shoulder as she tried to move out the way.
She screamed loudly, which gathered the attention of her compatriots. I couldn't make out what she was shouting, but they turned their attention from Victoria to me. Two of them brought out bows even as I ran back and sought cover around the corner.
A moment later, two shafts whizzed through the air past me and ricocheted off the stone wall. Gamer's Body probably would've kept me alive so long as my HP didn't hit zero, even from something like that. I really didn't want to find out, though.
Peeking around the corner, I watched as Victoria navigated her way onto the main bridge and took down two of the bandits. Another tried to slam his mace into her helmet, only to meet her shield instead. The archers now seemed more focused on the much larger threat that was my partner.
Taking the opportunity, I fired a couple of Firebolts into the crowd. They struck their targets, though neither ignited as I'd hoped. It did lower the combatants once more, which was what I'd most wanted. There were three bandits left, minus the wounded Ravaru, but Victoria managed to take them out without much intervention necessary on my part.
Stepping out from my cover, I made my way to Victoria. When I got there, I noted that she was stabbing each and every one of the bandits on the bridge through the chest. I figured it was to ensure they were dead.
Ravaru, for her part, seemed to be halfway in and out of consciousness. As a mage, she probably wasn't used to injuries of that magnitude. The spike was already melting, and the rather large hole in her shoulder looked very painful.
"What should we do with her, Orpheus?" I know I must've looked quite confused, so she continued. "She's got a pretty hefty bounty on her head from the College, moreso than any of these brigands. Though, handing her over might require you to relinquish the staff as well. We could just kill her and let her die in obscurity as well."
I looked down at the Dunmer a moment and stroked my chin. "Well, she's not going anywhere, so let's leave her for now. Maybe she'll die from shock before we make a choice." Victoria nodded.
"I assume you'll want to store these bodies and hand them over to the Hall of the Dead once more? If we go along the same route, we could also send these prisoners along to… what was the Priest's name? Andurs? Or did you have something else in mind?"
A sigh escaped me, despite my best efforts. "I'm really not sure. The men are perhaps still put together enough to devote their lives to Arkay. The women, though… they may need to seek help from proper healers. I'm unsure if the priestesses of Kynareth could heal them, but that might be the best place for them."
"That may be the best course of action, considering their states. They do seem to be significantly worse off this time around. Is that the work of your gods, by chance?"
"Knowing them? Probably. They seem to revel in suffering, and not just mine. Yours seems to be good enough, and the world's is also admirable, or so it seems. To answer your question, though, yes. I'd like to store the corpses. If nothing else, it should prevent any large-scale infestations of Skeevers at worst and deny bodies to a necromancer at best."
"I'll let you get to that then. Perhaps there's some useful supplies in these pockets of the cave that we could use on our trip to Whiterun to warn the Jarl. Hopefully, you've come to a decision by then as well."
I spared one more glance to Ravaru and nodded. Some choices would be nice right now, System.
Of course, no menus appeared to give me paths to go down and their consequences. Such things only occurred when I didn't want them to or didn't care, after all.
And that's it!
With this, Embershard is all wrapped up, and Orph is left with two decisions: what to do with Ravaru, and where to go from here.
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Orpheus out! See ya!