Chapter Six: Stonekeep

Munching on the crunchy carcass of a scorpion, Khali slowed her trot to more of a swift walking speed. She'd been walking through the desert for the better part of five days and nights but seen nothing resembling a city, palace, or even a town. She counted herself lucky she knew how to survive in the desert, but wished she had asked Kewlith how far away Rihad was. Even a khajiit grew tired of sandy isolation.

Khali tossed the rest of the scorpion exoskeleton aside and squinted at the horizon, the setting sun casting a painfully bright light all along the west. Scanning the wavy dune covered line between the sky and land, she spotted some odd shapes far in the distance. Recognizing the sight of a desert city she quickened her pace, sand billowing up behind her as she jogged. The sun had nearly set by the time she reached the city wall and she slowed to a walk as she passed through the gates, the patrolling guards giving her suspicious glances for entering the city so late at night. She turned to face one, an angry looking man with skin heavily wrinkled from the unwavering heat of the desert sun under his tunic and cowl.

"I'm looking for Fang Lair. Any leads?" she asked.

The guard narrowed his eyes and looked at his patrol partner, then turned back. "What's a Khajiit want with Fang Lair?" he sneered.

"Wealth of knowledge and history!" she responded with a smile. It wasn't their business why she needed to find Fang Lair, but she needed some story besides 'the Emperor was sent to an alternate dimension and replaced with an evil battlemage and I need to search Fang Lair for a piece of a staff to help me bring him back.' Something told her she'd become a laughing stock before promptly being executed if she let that slip.

The guard who hadn't spoken yet decided to pipe up. "She might be able to help her majesty. She asked us to send armed travellers her way."

The other guard mumbled something about dirty Khajiit then raised his voice back to Khali. "I'll guide you to the palace. You can speak to the queen and she can decide if she wants your help."

Khali's tail twitched uncertainly. "My help?" She hadn't offered to help. Kewlith had said that Queen Blubamka had an interest in Fang Lair. Was she looking for it? Maybe she could convince the queen to let her go into the dungeon with a whole battle party. That would make life easier. Trotting after the guard, they walked along the city wall before coming to an iron gate. The guard opened it up and led her onto the palace ground. A variety of cacti and other desert plants happily stood in the sand. A well tended stone brick path led straight to a massive granite building that towered over the city walls, stained glass filling almost every window.

The inside of the building was open, with a commanding red and gold carpet leading up to a large sandstone throne with red cushions and clawed feet intricately carved into it. Queen Blubamka herself sat on the throne, clutching a gold scepter and shouting some sort of angry retort at a group of three guards. The queen was rather lean, with skin paler than the majority of Redguards Khali had seen, wearing flowing silver robes and a thin golden crown resting on her head of shoulder length brown hair.

Queen Blubamka glanced over as they approached, pausing the beratement of her guards and motioning for the guard to speak.

"This traveller has made inquiries about Fang Lair," he replied.

The queen's eyes lit up like someone had just presented her with a cart full of jewels. "Welcome to Rihad…" she paused.

"Khali," the Khajiit replied.

"Welcome to Rihad, Khali! I am Queen Blubamka and I am more than happy to tell you all there is to know about Fang Lair… for a favor."

Of course there's a catch, Khali thought ruefully.

"You see, earlier today, someone," she glared at the three guards she had been shouting at, "failed to stop a band of goblins led by Golthog the Dark from stealing a large portion of treasure from this stronghold. One of these treasures was a parchment which held within its writings clues to decipher the part of the Elder Scrolls which spoke of the location of the legendary Fang Lair."

"The location wasn't deciphered yet?" Khali asked.

The queen shook her head. "No, not yet, but my scribe was close to completion when his notes and translations were snatched away. Golthog and his goblins fled to an ancient and ruined fortress called Stonekeep, not too far outside the city. If you agree to go retrieve the parchment and are successful in your endeavors, I will give you the location of Fang Lair for your help, and you will be allowed to take three things from the dungeon."

Well, at least I can take the staff piece without complaint. "I see that as fair," she replied.

"Excellent! Stonekeep lies north of Rihad. Be careful, Golthog is crafty and evil. It is even rumored that he is a necromancer serving the Underking. When you have the parchment, return with it here and I will find out the location of Fang Lair for you. Thedas!" The guard next to Khali straightened up. "Take Khali to a place where she can rest tonight. Swiftly now!"

The guard bowed politely and led Khali out of the palace, the queen returning to her scolding as soon as their backs were turned.

Khali trotted down the path to Stonekeep, adjusting her new leather armor as the weather stone fortress came into view. She had visited the local blacksmith in the morning and picked out some armor that the blacksmith had to adjust for her tail, along with some new throwing knives to replace the dull stone dagger she had gotten from the sewers. The blacksmith had also sharpened her sword, which she unsheathed with a delightfully satisfying shing. Finally, she had bought a snug, single strap back that didn't inhibit her movement while running or fighting, but also let her store items she might find on her journey, mainly the Staff of Chaos pieces.

Sticking to the shadows of the dunes, Khali bent down and stalked closer to Stonekeep. Keeping her ears bent back, she peered over the dune down to the fortress, relying on the wavered light from the dawn sun to help hide her. Looking down at the ruined building, she spotted some goblins trudging around in the sand. These goblins looked different than the one she had run into in the Imperial sewers; they had heavily wrinkled sandy skin, but still had the telltale red eyes glaring at all of its surroundings.

Watching the disorderly patrol of the goblins, Khali spotted an opening and swiftly charged in, waving her tail on the sand behind her as she ran to cover up her footprints. She leaped up and dove through a broken wall, landing inside on a moldy red carpet. Keeping to the shadows she followed the rug down the dark stone entrance hall. Stonekeep looked like a run down castle, and Khali found herself wondering if Rihad was built before or after Stonekeep fell, and if any of the royalty in the area were descendants of Stonekeep's king and queen.

Khali paused as a growling goblin slunk by, snarling and dragging a club behind it. Continuing on, the Khajiit soon reached the throne. It was heavily battered and part of the back had been broken off. She wasn't sure where the missing piece was. There were two doors on the left and right of the throne. She trotted over to the left door and attempted to open it. The chipped wooden door was locked and she immediately abandoned it. She had learned that goblins had no knowledge of how to unlock doors, and the fact that the wood hadn't been ripped out meant that the parchment was likely not in the room.

Crossing the entrance hall again, she reached the right door and turned the rusty iron handle. The door opened without much complaint and Khali walked on in. It was painfully dark to a normal eye inside the ruin, but Khali found herself thankful for her night vision. She was able to keep to the shadows with no need to light a torch and draw unwanted attention to herself.

She continued on through the dungeon, grimacing as she had to walk through dirty water infected with who-knows-what. She even crawled over a ledge, unsure how to get to the next room or where else to look for the stolen treasures. Reaching a new room she paused, ears pricked. Something sounded odd, an ominous creaking sound filling the room. Crouching down with her sword drawn, Khali followed the wall to where she saw a turn into a hallway, where it seemed the noise was coming from.

She peeked around the corner and immediately jumped back as a flash of silver swung at her head. "Great Alkosh!" she swore, eyes wide as the source of the creaking noise came into view. It was a skeleton, pure bone with scratches and chips across their white surface. The skull was missing quite a few teeth, and the black sockets seemed to emit an unearthly aura. Whining, the skeleton raised an arm, a longsword clutched in its hand, and charged at her.

Leaping into action, Khali darted to the side, kicking out as the skeleton brought the sword down. Khali's foot came into contact with the ribcage and three successional cracks reverberated around the room, aided by the stone walls. Whirling around and bringing her own sword up, she watched as the skeleton, unfazed by the damage done to it, stumbled back around to face her. Tail twitching, Khali swung her sword in an amateur swing, but it did the job. The curved sword sliced cleanly into the skull, and the skeleton fell apart, the monster's sword clattering to the floor with the bones and dust.

Coughing, Khali dislodged the skull from her sword and looked at the remains. Necromancy. Why did it have to be necromancy? The undead gave her nightmares, and she smoothed out her tail which had fluffed up during the fight. She shook her head to clear it. Khali firmly believed that dead should stay dead, not wake up and wander around looking for living things to kill.

Turning, she walked down the hallway the skeleton had been guarding, ears pricked and senses strained. The skeleton had made a lot of noise, and she wouldn't be surprised if every goblin in the stronghold was making its way towards her as fast as possible. The hallway eventually opened out into a large room that was almost entirely flooded. Squinting, Khali spotted an island in the middle of the room, and it looked like there were a bunch of random objects piled all over it!

Trying to be as quiet as possible, Khali trotted through the water to the island of treasures. Reaching it, there was no further doubt in her mind that these were the stolen items from Rihad. She started shuffling through the pile of gems, goblets, and other valuables as she searched for the parchment. She found it sticking out of a golden edged chest that was thankfully unlocked, and she rolled it up, shoving it into the pack she had bought. Not wanting to spend another moment in this disease ridden ruin, she swiftly retraced her steps, keeping a wide circle as she passed the defeated skeleton, and making her way to the exit as fast as safety allowed.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the VERY late update! Work was absolutely crazy today and I got back home around 11pm and realized I hadn't finished writing the chapter yet! I've been typing like a maniac and I desperately hope there are no major spelling or grammar errors, but please let me know if you see any. Have a great weekend everyone!