Chapter Eleven: Fortress of Ice

Khali trudged along through snow, thankful that the waist high powder had been cleared from the roads, even though it was storming pretty bad last night. Satisfied that her horse was being well taken care of in the stables, the Khajiit had left the warmth of the building at sunrise to find the Mages Guild. The Nords that lived in Winterhold gave her strange and confused glances as she walked along, bundled up in her bearskin and her ears covered in a scarf she had bought, which was now tightly wrapped around her head. Despite her attire, and bushing out her fur, the cold still cut through, numbing the tips of her ears, her nose, and the entirety of her tail. There weren't any clothing options for a tail; Khajiit and Argonians typically lived in warmer climates, so there was no need for them. She had considered shoving her tail into one of her pants legs, but decided she would be too off-balance, not to mention the mere thought of how uncomfortable it would be made her shutter. Maybe after all this was over she could invent a tail wrap for the beast races so they could travel more comfortably.

It didn't take long to spot the Mages Guild. The main road seemed to lead directly towards it, and the castle-like stone building towered high above the houses and markets in the rest of the city, dwarfing them with its sheer magnitude. Padding up to the guild was quite intimidating, especially when she met eyes with a rather sour looking Nord woman who seemed to be guarding the entrance, her arms crossed over her chest in a defensive posture. She seemed amused at Khali's attire, almost as if they were in a contest to see who could tolerate the cold more and she won by a landslide with her simple leather outfit. Khali noticed she was wearing a gold ring, and guessed it held some spell to make the wearer a comfortable temperature, no matter how cold it was outside.

"What do you want, cat?" the woman spat irritably.

Khali tried rotating her ears that were pushed flat against her head. Thanks to the scarf, she had barely registered the insult because all the noises were muffled. "I need to find the Labyrinthian. I heard you guys could help."

The woman paused for a second, looking surprised, then burst into laughter. "Right! A Khajiit looking for the Labyrinthian! That's priceless!"

Khali waited semi-patiently while the woman laughed, her tail twitching as her mockery continued on and on. "I'm not joking," she said finally. "I wouldn't come all the way here to this Alkosh-forsaken province for a joke."

The woman stopped laughing and stared at her. "Oh yeah? Why do you need to find the Labyrinthian?"

Khali paused, not sure how to answer. "I'm looking for an artifact that's rumored to be in the Labyrinthian."

The Nord's eyes lit up. "An artifact? What sort of artifact?"

"Oh no," the Khajiit responded. "I'm the one searching for it. I'm not going to just hand that information out to whoever wants it. If you want to know, find out like I did."

That seemed to have settled it. "Fine. I'll cut you a deal under the table. You get something for me, and I'll tell you where the Labyrinthian is."

Khali snorted. "I'm not giving you the artifact," she snapped.

"I don't want your stupid artifact! If a cat is looking for it, it's probably something dumb like a ball of yarn anyway. I want something that's actually useful; an ice spell."

Khali raised a brow. "You want an ice spell when you live in a place covered in. . . ice?"

"You wouldn't understand my needs. Do you want to know where the Labyrinthian is or not?"

"Fine."

"Good. Go to a place called the Fortress of Ice. It's down south, maybe half a day's walk. Inside, I'm assuming at the very back of the place in a protected area, is a scroll with a very powerful ice spell written on it. Get it, and bring it back. If I'm not on guard when you come back, ask for Orlana."

Khali sighed. More favors. "Before I go on this obvious suicide misson, can you show me how to cast a spell?"

Orlana seemed surprised. "You want to learn about magic?"

"I need all the skills I can get. I've got a tome for Sparks, but I don't have any experience in spellcasting." Khali reached into her bag and pulled out the weathered book.

Orlana held out a hand to take it, and after a moment of hesitation, Khali handed it over. She flipped through the pages, skimming the text quickly. "I suppose I can show you if it makes you more likely to come back with my scroll."

"I don't know if I have the ability to use magic," Khali confessed.

"You do," Orlana said without hesitation, pointing to her amulet. "I can tell with this. If you actually have talent, that will have to be determined with practice."

Khali let out a sigh of relief. She could use magic! Any weapon against Tharn was a good weapon. She just had to learn how to use it, like with her sword.

"Come with me," Orlana said, handing the book back. "A newbie casting magic in a populated area could cause some destruction and death."

Khali followed the Nord to a cleared spot near the Mages Guild. A few people were scattered around, most bundled up like she was, reading thick spellcasting texts or looking at scrolls. One man held a staff and shot a fireball at a snowman, causing the sculpture to blast apart and melt, revealing frozen dirt once the snow was cleared away. Orlana walked up to him and gave brief instructions to guard the guild entrance so she could take a break, and the man obediently set off, casting a curious glance in Khali's direction before he turned and left her line of sight.

"Step one," Orlana said in a commanding tone. "Find a target." She held out her hand and shot a large ice shard into the ground. The magical material glowing ominously as cold mist rose from its sharp edges. "Step two; focus your energy on the target. Step three; fire."

Khali opened the spellbook but Orlana slapped it out of her hand, making it land in the snow with a dull thud. "You only need that if you don't have someone to teach you," she said. "I'm teaching you, so you don't have to worry about following all those long, boring steps. It's seriously dull. I don't know how people read it without falling asleep." She pointed to her ice shard. "Now, hold out your hand to that and focus on the static in the air. Force it to your fingertips. . . er, claw tips, and command it to shoot!"

A little put off by Orlana's stern teaching instructions, Khali obeyed. She had been zapped by static electricity more than once thanks to the fuzzy rugs or the Imperial Palace rubbing up against her fur, so she knew what it felt like. Khali tried to focus on that feeling, willing it to her fingers. She closed her eyes in concentration, only to receive a slap from Orlana.

"What was that for?!" Khali hissed, jumping back.

"Don't close your eyes!" Orlana shouted. "Do you want to zap the target or not?"

Khali huffed, knowing that her teacher was right, but still mad about the whack across her snout making her already stinging nose feel worse. Tail twitching, she tried again. After a few moments, she thought she felt a weird fuzzy sensation in her hand. Believing this to be the spell, she refocused her attention on the ice spike. In that moment, an indigo burst of lightning shot out, blasting the ground next to the ice spike and sending snow and dirt flying into the air. The recoil was something Khali hadn't anticipated, and she fell backwards into the snow.

"Oh yeah," Orlana said. "You gotta make sure your feet are firmly planted on the ground. Sparks has a strong recoil."

"I noticed," Khali replied, sitting up.

Khali trotted along an unkempt path through the snowy forest, heading towards a massive Ice structure that was partially hidden in the trees. She and Orlana had practiced for a few hours, making sure Khali could fire the Sparks spell without falling onto her tail again. The Nord had also been kind enough to lend the Khajiit a ring that kept her warm in the frozen climate, and Khali had graciously accepted. It felt good to be back in her leather armor, able to move swiftly and silently instead of flopping around in an oversized coat.

Her ears swiveled around constantly, taking in the sounds of the icy mountains. She could tell there was a fox nearby, its snuffling breath slicing through the air to Khali's upright ears. The fox seemed content, so she assumed there were no predators nearby. She didn't fancy being jumped by a bear or saber toothed cat; she had enough problems already.

Khali paused at the entrance to the fortress, looking through the broken door made of dark ice as she did so. She touched the Ring of Warmth on her finger, again thankful for it, drew her sword, and padded silently inside.

She crouched by a broken bit of wall near the entrance, listening to the noises of the building. She heard the regular creaks of ice, but her ears shot up as the sound of a wolf's howl rang down the hallway in front of her. At first she thought it was another hell hound, but corrected herself. This howl was long and mournful sounding, not like the angry snaps of the dogs she had fought getting the other staff piece. This was a different animal, but that didn't make it any less dangerous.

She sat there for a while longer, listening some more to try and pinpoint where enemies might possibly be. Satisfied that she couldn't figure out where anything exactly was because she didn't know the layout of the fortress, Khali got up and made her way down the hallway. The floor of the dungeon seemed to be made out of some ice and stone mixture while the walls and ceiling were pure ice. However, the ice was a deep blue color, and impossible to see through. Maybe that was better. If Khali couldn't see the monsters, they couldn't see her.

Khali eventually found herself in a large room with ice columns scattered around it. Using these columns as cover, Khali slowly made her way across the huge space. Some scraping sounds made her stop. Peering around the column she was behind, she spotted a white wolf with brilliant blue eyes charging through the space. After a few moments a massive humanoid creature shuffled along, following the animal. Its hunched, bulky white body moved slowly, almost as if it wasn't meant to move, and its long arms scraped along the floor, leaving scuff marks in its wake. The ice golem only seemed interested in the wolf that had run past, so Khali kept hidden and quiet, even after the golem had shuffled out of the room.

Deciding it was safe enough, Khali left the safety of her hiding spot and started making her way across the room again. She paused as something caught her eye. Darting to her left, she ran over to a rolled up piece of parchment. She opened it up, scanning the arcane writings and figures.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Khali grumbled as she read the top few lines.

Orlana,

Do NOT lose this scroll because I will not make you a third replacement. Keep it away from fire, trash bins, and absolutely DO NOT take this scroll into a dungeon. This is an experimental spell and it first needs to be tested in a controlled environment. This is a privilege I've given you because of your talents. Don't abuse my trust.

-Guild Leader Larsul Ice-Mage

Of course. The almighty powerful scroll was just something Orlana had dropped as she disobeyed orders from the guild leader. Somehow, that didn't surprise Khali. Orlana's cocky attitude made something like dropping an important scroll near the entrance of a forbidden fortress pretty believable.

Khali's tail bushed up as a growling noise manifested behind her. Turning, she spotted the ice wolf, cold mist coming from its nose. She jumped out of the way as the wolf barked, sending an ice spike right at her from its mouth, the magical ice embedding itself in a column where Khali was a moment before.

She jumped behind another column, stuffing the scroll into her bag as she readied her sword. She listened carefully as the wolf's claws clacked against the cold floor. Determining the wolf's location with her ears, she darted around the column and swung her sword at the animal. Resistance met her blade and the wolf screamed, its shoulder turning bright red. The wolf jumped back, wrenching itself free, and crashed right into the ice golem.

Khali leaped back as the golem grabbed the wolf, suddenly moving with a speed that seemed impossible for the creature, and slammed the animal's head into the ground with a sickening crack! She didn't get a good look at the wolf as the golem turned to her and charged, but from the blood pooling from it's head, the ice wolf was most definitely dead.

Not wanting to end up like the arctic canine, Khali, slid to the side, dodging the charging golem. It seemed to anticipate her dodge, because the golem suddenly brought its arm out, colliding with Khali's gut. She gasped in pain as she was sent crashing to the ground. Adrenaline taking over, she quickly scrambled to her feet and swung her sword in a strong arch at the golem.

The ice golem caught the sword in its hands and pulled it out of Khali's grip, shattering the blade in its fingers before throwing it into a nearby column. Panicking, Khali scrambled backwards, pain flaring up in her chest and gut from where it had hit her. The golem charged forward again and Khali raised a hand, sending a blast of lightning at the magical creature. The golem fell, sparks crackling over its body. Taking the chance she had, Khali bolted out of the fortress into the snow, running as fast as her feet could carry her.

Khali trudged through the town, coughing up another mouthful of blood, staining the snow a bright red. She limped up to the Mages Guild. She didn't recognize the man standing at the entrance. He said something sharply, but Khali couldn't make out what his words were, pain throbbing through her skull.

"Or… Orlana," she coughed. Then everything went black.