"The bigger they are, the harder they fall

This makes it all the more important that you stand clear when they do.

Nobody sings of the hero who slays a dragon and then gets smashed beneath it."

- Unknown Akaviri dragon hunter

It is rare to be put under siege without warning. The march of an army kicking up sand in the desert could be likened to a miniature sandstorm and is easily picked out from a tower. Plus an army makes a lot of noise. Unfortunately, an enormous slug, possibly of malevolent origins, is a little more stealthier as it does not disturb the sand. Avoiding detection is also far easier when the occupants of the said tower have been tied up dealing with internal vampire problems. One would wonder if death by monster slug, while esoteric, would be a fitting and merciful end. The ex-Vigilants were not about to go quietly. They were all very unsettled by its arrival though. Whatever planning happened, it all occurred on the spot and in the spur of the moment.

"Why is there a giant slug outside?" Sylva demanded amid all the hustle and bustle of Do'Ravier, Bann-Je and Sibylla rushing to throw on their armor.

"Don't know and I don't intend to ask it." Do'Ravier murmured.

"I don't think we can feed that thing if it's coming to visit." Muraat said as he tugged Karl the camel inside. The camel continued to be obstinate until Sibylla whacked it on the hindquarters.

"I think it would rather feed on us." Sibylla murmured, giving a warm up swing of her ax.

"And what do you three plan to do?" Sharza inquired.

"Go outside and kill it, of course." the Nord replied, in case it was not obvious enough.

"How?"

"I don't know. Any ideas, cat?" Sibylla asked Do'Ravier.

"Why are you asking me? Do you think Do'Ravier has read this in a book somewhere?" the battlemage shot back.

"I don't know what kind of books you read, maybe you did!"

"Salt, lots of salt would be good. Ice works just as well. Large hammer would be helpful." Bann-Je muttered. Everyone ignored him.

"We're going to have to fight it outside. We'll just get cornered in here and our weapons won't do much. We'll be more vulnerable of course, but we can at least warn others or distract it away from the tower." Sibylla analyzed out loud, watching the creature approach ever closer from the open door.

"I agree. I don't like it, but I agree." Do'Ravier nodded.

"Question: where exactly is the neck bone of a slug?" Bann-Je asked curiously, stepping up next to them.

"Do'Ravier does not think they have neck bones."

"Unfortunate." the assassin grumbled.

"We should step out and have them lock the door." the Khajiit suggested.

"Right."

There was a moment of tense silence as the Vigilants shared a look with the tower occupants, minus Zelphia and Claudia who were still up in the tower. There is always that one moment before a conflict where everyone involved takes a deep breath and realizes that more than just their own lives are at stake. Whatever petty problems there were before, they suddenly disappear while the individuals find stores of concern they may have never realized they had for others. It is always a very sobering moment.

"Engage the locking mechanism once the doors are closed. If anything goes wrong, retreat down into the ruins on the lower levels where the food and water are stored. Don't do anything stupid." Do'Ravier instructed although he seemed to be looking more at Sylva.

"And don't you three die out there." Muraat replied before the heavy metal doors banged shut.

Once again, the three were left staring at their approaching enemy. The slug was a good quarter of a mile off now but they could already smell a rather pungent stench. It was also clear that the sticky shimmer the saw was from a thick layer of slime that carpeted the entire fiend. Ominously, all six eye stalks were already bent down and pointed at them.

"Hope you two still know how to wear your armor and that it still fits you." Sibylla chuckled, poking the plate armor under the Khajiit's robes. Both he and Bann-Je were not amused but they were reminded of Sibylla's light hearted approach to battle. They felt a distant but well welcomed feeling of familiarity.

"The way I see it, we have one tower and three tiny 'us' versus big 'him' over there." Sibylla laid out for them, highlighting each entity with the point of her ax. "I suggest we split up around the tower. I'll stand on the right and you two stand on the left. Either it needs to focus on one target at a time or try to take on all three of us at once. Either way, we can adapt to counter him."

"You sure sound confident we can handle it."

"I don't plan on dying, Khajiit. Do you?"

"I fully intend to live." Do'Ravier murmured, cursing himself silently because he realized he forgot to bring extra bottles of magcika potions.

"Hmmm, very good. I intend to live as well. Well, all three of me." Bann-Je agreed.

"All right then, lets move." Sibylla declared, immediately placing her jet black helmet over her head. Do'Ravier and Bann-Je wasted no time getting into position either. It could not have come at a better time. The slug was nearly upon them.

Anyone who does not understand the underpinnings of claustrophobia have never been cornered in their lives. A frantic urgency starts to suffocate at the person who fears they are in mortal danger and there is no space to turn. It is all someone can do not to frantically start tearing at the walls. This suffocation threatened to seize the people in the tower. Only the camel was blissfully unaware of what was going on.

Nonetheless, an individual may find strength in the fear. The mind can be unpredictable under such duress. One moment all thoughts may be focused on trying to escape or being locked up. The next moment a small whisper may rebound and every ounce of fear may suddenly go up in an inferno of rage. It's all a matter of keeping it focused and controlling it.

As Muraat and his wife disappeared down the doors that led to the underground ruins, Sharza looked up and noticed Sylva heading the exact opposite direction. The mage was ascending the tower. Closing the door behind the blacksmith and his wife, the Khajiit eagerly bounded up the stairs to catch up with Sylva.

"What are you doing? We should be going back to safety." Sharza said.

"You can do that but until the doors look like they are on the verge of breaking, I'm going to see if there's a way I can take a stab at that thing." Sylva muttered, eyes focused further up the stairs.

"Do you have a giant crossbow upstairs?"

"No, but I'm a mage. I'm sure I can think of some type of nasty spell."

"Sharza supposes she should help then." the Khajiit sighed. She did always keep a few literal tricks up her sleeves. It just went with her trade.

The two heard a door slam open further up the steps followed by rapid footfalls. Sylva let out a sigh of strained annoyance while Sharza glanced at her in curiosity. The thief had not been properly introduced to everyone in the tower. Sylva already sensed a trainwreck approaching, mostly in the form of Zelphia heading straight towards them.

"Sylva, what is the hold up? You all know that our new guest is ravenous! Where is the food?"

"We have a little bit of an emergency outside, Zelphia." Sylva bit.

"We're going to have an emergency in here once my new cell mate wakes up from the concussion I gave her!"

"...What is going on?" Sharza asked, completely bewildered.

"Ahh, new blood! Just what we need." Zelphia stated just a little too eagerly upon noticing Sharza. This immediately unnerved her.

"Uhh, what's going on?"

"Oh, I'm a special sort of cannibal, the type that just likes blood. And my new roommate shares the same problem. Care to make a donation? It makes every a little less ornery if you just willingly donate and we don't take it from you." Zelphia grinned wildly. It took a moment before Sharza suddenly realized exactly what Zelphia was talking about.

"That's not funny." Sharza sputtered.

"She's not joking." Sylva grumbled, still marching up the stairs.

"Why do you have a vampire in your tower?" Sharza squeaked with fright, rushing away from Zelphia.

"Long story. Zelphia, you don't think you could take blood from a giant slug, could you?"

The vampire stared at her quizzically.

"Follow us, you're going to have to see this."

The three went up to the very top and into Do'Ravier's study. Beyond the bookshelves and opposite to his desk was a large balcony that looked out into the dunes and the far off horizon. It also afforded a good view of anything in front of the tower; including the direction from which the giant slug came from.

"Good gods, in all my three centuries I can't say I've seen anything like that!" Zelphia exclaimed when she first saw the monstrosity.

The creature had now parked itself very near the tower. They could also see that their friends had split up. For the moment, the tactic seemed to have some kind of effect since one head had gone in Sibylla's direction while the other two followed Do'Ravier and Bann-Je. Whether or not the monster realized it, all three of them were leading the creature slowly past the tower where the slug could become wedged upon the building itself.

"Provided they kill it, how are you all going to get out?" Zelphia inquired.

"You know, I think we'll put that fire out once we get rid of the much bigger one of actually killing it." Sylva muttered.

"Might help if creepy vampire could uh...eat slug." Sharza suggested, hoping to entice the vampire's interest on something other than them.

"Ugh, that looks more like mucus than blood. No, absolutely not. Please Sylva, do you have nothing? You don't want two hunger starved vampires in this tower." The Redguard fell silent, trying to decide what would make the most tactical sense in this situation.

"You'll find a camel at the bottom of the tower. Keep the animal alive. I'm sure Sibylla will understand. Well, it will be easier to ask forgiveness from the woman rather than beg permission from her." Sylva finally decided. Zelphia actually hesitated for a moment.

"Ugh, it is so hard to find good and willing help these days." the vampire muttered before trudging off to make the descent down the tower. Sharza waited until she was long gone before looking over at Sylva.

"Are you sure this is the best living arrangement?"

"It's what I have to live with. And you and I better start thinking of something to do otherwise we won't be living here for long."

"But what are we going to do against that thing?" Sharza sputtered, pointing down at the slug that had now embraced the tower in a sticky, slimy hug, still following three heavily armed morsels.

Sylva frowned again, trying to think. She let a faint ball of ice form at her palms, the only field of destructive magic she had learned over the years. Back in the old Dwarven ruins when she first bumped into Do'Ravier, she had no mastery of any offensive spells. Looking back, she wondered why she ever chose ice. Ice was more complicated, it had to be formed into a solid mass before it could do catastrophic damage. Fire and electricity needed to only be cast at an opponent. Ice needed a longer form time. Suddenly, a light turned on behind her eyes.

"...I think I have an idea, Sharza."

The Alik'r sun was becoming an inferno overhead. That sands only mirrored the burning orb overhead and the place had become unbearable. For Sibylla, her white robes helped to keep the worst of the heat off of her but it was very unpleasant within the confines of her jet black armor and they had barely started moving yet. She wondered how Do'Ravier and Bann-Je were faring. It had been a long time since she had to keep a small cache of worry in the back of her mind over comrades and teammates. It felt odd, like a misplaced finger in a glove. That was about as much reflection she could do before reality prompted her to focus on the one giant slug head in front of her.

It looked big enough outside but now it just seemed overwhelming. She imagined this was what a bug felt like when they stared up at a human. The slug was just a mountain of slimy green flesh and she was certain she could feel moist particles in the air from where the mucus cascaded off of it and onto the sand from it's sheer size. The eyestalks and the orbs utop of them were twice her height and both seemed fixed on her.

Sibylla glanced over. A good distance away from her, she could see that Bann-Je and Do'Ravier were keeping roughly parallel to her, baiting the slug to continue following them. At this point they had nearly completed their idea of lodging the monstrosity upon the tower. They just had to keep retreating a few more feet...

The Nord immediately glanced up when she heard a reverberating roar echo from the slug. She saw the creature begin to rear it's whale like head. While all of its motions had been slow and predictable until now this one movement seemed to be a massive leap forward, as if it had been biding its strength until this moment. The mountain of bulk lurched toward her. Sibylla's instinct to leap back was the only thing that prevented her from getting squashed as she winced from the impact upon the sands. Ignoring the gratuitous amount of slime that had showed upon her, she hacked at the flesh in front of her. Tissue and skin fell away easily enough from the blows of her ax but all she found was more soft mire and for all her efforts, the thing only let out a rumbling sound of annoyance. She found no blood.

It was only then that the Nord realized that even though the wound she had made would have been catastrophic to any other creature, to this slug the crater she had gouged out might as well have been a tiny ripped scab upon her own body.

"I'm not going to be able to kill this..." Sibylla sputtered in shock just as the slug shuddered and her vision filled with mucus again.

Opposite to her, the Argonian and Khajiit were moving as fast as they could.

"Do you think it's sufficiently caught now? I don't think it could back up if it wanted to and I doubt it's going forward." Do'Ravier observed. They both took a quick glance over to see how Sibylla was doing. The situation was getting desperate but they could at least take solace in that she was still alive.

"No more time, must silence this thing. For three brains it is not very bright." Bann-Je muttered in his usual broken fashion.

"Sibylla is going to need help."

Before Do'Ravier could make any more statements, the heads on their side began to get aggressive as well. Both reared up to expose their circular mouths lined with multiple rows of sharp teeth. The giant maws repeatedly stretched up only to attempt immediately crashing down on them. Bann-Je and Do'Ravier both dodged but just barely.

"All of this mass will mean nothing if it can't see us." the assassin said before starting to circle off to the side.

"What are you doing?" Do'Ravier demanded.

"I intend to climb it." Bann-Je announced.

"What?"

The battlemage had no time to try and deduce his friend's line of thinking because the Argonian was already moving. Smoothly, as if he did this all the time, Bann-Je continued circling closer to the creatures' side, confident that the slug's eyes were still focused on Do'Ravier. Quickly, the assassin was trying to climb up the monster's side when he ran into an immediate problem.

"Oh for the love of the Divines..." Bann-Je murmured to himself as he became mired in slime and found himself more concerned with wiping the gore off of himself rather than climbing. He had simply floundered and flailed in the sticky mess and got nowhere. He also felt a stinging sensation where the mucus had lingered too long. This was a nuisance.

"Do you have anything that could help?" Bann-Je called to his friend. Do'Ravier smiled before planting his spear into the ground. There was a trick he learned back in the deserts of Elsweyr.

"I won't get a second chance so you better make this count."

"I won't need a second chance and this slug won't have another either."

Without a word, Do'Ravier raised both of his paws and started to focus his magicka reserves. Initially, it did not look like anything was happening until the sands around him started to shift and rise. With a rapid forward motion, a massive sandstorm rose from the ground as the Khajiit focused his telekinetic abilities to sweep the sands around him. Bolts of lighting punctured the dark cloud driving home onto the slug. At first Bann-Je was not sure how Do'Ravier considered this as help until he noticed the sand starting to collect on the slug. The grains of sand were drying up the mucus and would provide him traction. The assassin wasted no time.

It was an odd feeling, climbing a writhing mountain that moved underneath his claws without any care for him. Bann-Je had little time to consider what was going on. Trying to keep the sand out of his eyes, he fought his way upwards since the dust would only afford him a precious few seconds of footing before he would start to slide again. Somewhere across the tower he could hear Sibylla shouting but there was no time for that. He heard the occasional lightning bolt split the air but he had to focus. He made it to the top and then switched his direction. There was little sand here to help him now so he was on his own. He trotted before setting his feet and letting himself slide the rest of the way. Rapidly growing in his vision were the two eyestalks of the head he had climbed on. Bann-Je summoned his ethereal blades just before he was upon them. For all their length, neither eyestalk was particularly bulky. The assassin's heart skipped a beat when both seemed to be snipped right off and he just barely caught himself from skiing off the slimy behemoth.

Claws sunk into the flesh, and wrist deep in mucus, Bann-Je let himself catch a breath as time seemed to stop. Down below him, he heard Do'Ravier let out a nervous bark of laughter.

"I think you hurt it!"

The slug immediately roared from all three heads. Bann-Je instinctively tensed up as he felt the laws of physics suddenly get amped up. He was a flea on a suddenly rapidly moving body and he was not sure where it would take him.

"I think I just made it angry!" the Argonian shouted back.

Sibylla was not sure what those two jesters did but whatever it was, she did not appreciate it. For a while her standoff with the monster come to a standstill. The Nord was not about to make the first move so she started to bait it. Letting out a battlecry, she began to beat her ax on the side of her shield. All she needed was it to continue to move in the short, deliberate lunges it had been making. The warrior felt like she was getting somewhere when the slug suddenly shuddered throughout its whole body. Instead of a small reaction, she sensed the monster getting full on enraged. This got Sibylla angry too.

"What did you two mangy beasts do?" the Nord screamed angrily in their direction.

"Do'Ravier is not mangy! You take that back!"

Sibylla let out a shout of fury and frustration and quickly turned her attention back at her enemy. She was going to get far more than she ever bargained for and there was nothing she could do about it. The creature reared its head, exposing its gaping mouth and many maws and Sibylla realized she probably only had one good way of hurting this beast. She did not like it because the Nord knew that she would only get one shot at it. If she did not do it right, it would be catastrophic.

The slug let out a roar, one that she matched as she fell into a stance, shield raised and ax readied. The monster plunged back down and in an instant Sibylla was swallowed.

Do'Ravier stared in bewildered horror as Sibylla disappeared. Bann-Je was holding on for his life and Sibylla looked like she had just become an extra crunchy snack. The battlemage stood there, unsure of what to do. Either he help his friend who was in dire straits or gamble on the slightest glimpse of hope that maybe he could prompt the slug to cough up the Nord. He felt his magicka reserves running close on empty. Whichever decision he made, he could not do both.

"Bann-Je, hold on!" the battlemage shouted, building a crackling, writhing storm between his paws.

"Not that I have much choice." the Argonian muttered. Letting go meant the very likely possibility of getting crushed upon the sands under a slimy heavy mass. At least the creature did not seem to have a way of brushing him off.

One head, the one whose eyes he had not removed, spotted him. It reared up and landed to rest upon the one he was clinging to. The Argonian realized exactly what was going to happen. The thing aimed to sweep its head upon the other and pulverize him in the process. Bann-Je let out a shout and began to wiggle his way down the mass of flesh and slime. He had to get clear.

Do'Ravier let the electricity fly from his paws and the lance of energy struck the target. The slug reared back up with a furious roar revealing Sibylla still standing on the ground, shield still up while her ax was covered in dripping gore. A torrent of crimson was falling from the slug's mouth. Seeing blood for the first time, she let out a whoop of victory before suddenly realizing she was still under the slug which could come crashing down any moment. Sibylla turned on her heels and ran.

Do'Ravier looked over just in time to see one of the heads coming his direction. He had no time to react and simply grabbed his spear and held it in front of him. The force that hit him effectively knocked the air from his lungs, the spear stuck to the flesh and he clutching onto it for dear life. Whether he liked it or not, he was going for a ride. Whatever worry he had for the fate of Bann-Je was ever so momentarily alleviated when he heard a familiar voice let out a complaint.

"I need to start getting paid for this nonsense, like I used to."

Do'Ravier's study had turned from a library to an icebox. A ludicrous pile of discarded bottles sat near the entrance of the room. All of them had once contained an elixir restore a mage's magicka reserves. Sylva's plan had been simple. A large ice shard is often fatal to normal sized enemies. A bigger target requires a bigger spike.

Sylva had spent the last half hour nursing the mother of all frozen stakes. It was as long as four men and far too wide to pass through any door.

Sharza had added more robes to her body and even found some mits to wear, a very odd sight in the middle of the Alik'r. It was her job to continue brewing elixirs while a very frayed and exhausted Sylva continued her magic, seemingly massaging and growing a massive weapon out of thin air. In contrast to Sharza, she still had her regular clothes, some beads of ice clung to her but otherwise she continued her work through deep breaths and trembling muscles.

"Sharza thinks that's big enough." the Khajiit shivered, hopping awkwardly for warmth next to the mage.

"Just a little more..."

"Sharza has another question."

"What?" Sylva snapped, her exhaustion was making her a little peevish.

"How are you going to drop that on the slug?"

Sylva promptly stopped dead on her handiwork. This whole time she had been so focused on making the projectile heavy and dense she had forgotten how she was going to actually fire the entire mass at the monster. She at least kept the width from exceeding the dimensions of the balcony area but that was where any lucky happenstance ended.

"Oh...oh...shoot. Help me push this." Sylva sputtered in resignation. There was no more time to plan.

"Call Sharza a little pessimistic on this, but we're not moving this thing." the Khajiit shook her head.

"Help me push this!" Sylva hollered, putting her back into it.

"Very well..." Sharza muttered, not willing to argue with the ill-tempered Redguard.

The two heaved and pushed but the boulder of ice was stuck. They were not going anywhere. Sylva continued to blindly push, not wanting her efforts to be in vain. They could hear the fight getting more violent outside but the laws of physics was getting in the way of them lending aid to the melee.

Suddenly, the ice shard began to move rapidly. Someone was in their midst and was singlehandedly sliding the projectile of their own accord. The surprise caught Sylva and Sharza off guard and both slipped to the floor as the stranger shoved the freezing mass across the floor and over the balcony. The spike emerged like a crystal blade in the bright sun before the point swung down as gravity dictated. From there it was just a matter of watching nature work.

The projectile fell and before anyone could take a breath the mass slide right into the juncture point where all three of the slug's heads connected to it's body. The monster immediately fell silent and an ominous shudder rippled through it's bulk.

Everyone let out a gasp as a thunderous crack rent the air. The sudden heat of being exposed into the desert sun caused the ice shard to rapidly expand cracks began to snake along the icy form. The spike split in half, further driving the massive wound open. With the sound of ponderous flesh falling dead to the ground, the slug stopped where it laid and moved no more. Somewhere on the ground, they could heard Sibylla yelling.

"Are you two mangy idiots still alive?"

"Yes, and stop calling us mangy!"

Upstairs, both Sharza and Sylva looked up to see their helper who had single handedly moved what would have taken an army to do the same thing. Both of them let out a gasp at what they realized it was Claudia.

The Imperial seemed collected now even if she stood over the balcony with a contemptuous sneer over the slug's corpse. Clasping her hands behind her waist, the vampire continued to survey the necrotizing bulk while her voice sounded like a grave in the dead of a Skyrim winter.

"Sylva, is there rope in this tower?"

"...Yes."

"Good. Send it down this balcony so my team may return without having to hack through that thing. I need them up here immediately." Claudia ordered before looking back at them. What Sharza and Sylva saw made their hearts stop.

Claudia looked normal, about as normal as a vampire could be expected to look like. However, there was one very glaring distinction that set her apart from everyone else. Just below her amber brown hair her eyes had turned into chilling, radiant sapphires. The deep cerulean orbs was enough to make Sharza's and Sylva's bones shiver.

"It is impolite to gawk." Claudia sniffed at them before leaving them where they were still sprawled out on the floor. Neither of them dared breath until Claudia had left. Sylva had scarcely gathered her wits before she felt Sharza furiously poking her.

"What?"

"Um, Sharza thinks we need to do something. Sharza thinks that mean vampire lady bit Claudia and now she's a vampire. Claudia is not hiding it very well!"