Chapter 16 — Twilight
— A Dragon's Game —
It's great to have some time to relax and unwind again. Training a bit with the companions, convincing Eorlund Grey-Mane to teach me how to smith, and cuddling Lydia.
No, really. When not wearing armor, her lap is very soft. Excellent for reading a book. I'm halfway Mystery of Talara.
Her scratches behind my ear are perfect. Purrfect? It makes me purr, anyway. I trained her well.
Sadly, it only works when she doesn't notice what she's doing, as noticing sometimes stops her out of embarrassment.
Silly housecarl.
On the less indulgent side, I did some miscellaneous training.
Your Blade Proficiency has increased by 7(42)!
Your Shadow Magic has increased by 12(12)!
Your Wind Magic has increased by 4(44)!
Your Healing Magic has increased by 4 (45)!
Your Eromancy has increased by 4 (82)!
Your Archery has increased by 6 (16)!
You have learned a new Skill: Smithing (level 17)!
Skill: Smithing
Smithing allows the user to create items with the use of a forge and related equipment.
Class: Craftsman
Attributes per level:
Strength: 1.5
Endurance: 0.5
Perks Granted by level:
0 Material: Iron
0 Material: Hide
0 Material: Fur
5 Material: Leather
10 Material: Steel
20 Material: Mithril
30 Material: Dwemer Metal
40 Material: Moonstone
50 Material: Orichalcum
60 Material: Glass
70 Material: Ebony
80 Material: Adamantine
And my work on Shadow Magic gave me a new spell.
Shadow: Flickering Shadows:
Shadows move in the corners of everyone's eyes.
Cost: 20 (15) Mana
Not much direct power, but when unseen, I can probably use it to get people jumping at shadows easily.
I'm getting restless, though. Sure, it's great to become stronger. Just spending time with Lydia is also amazing.
But I feel the upcoming conflict with the dragons hanging over me. I've killed two. I don't know where others are, but there are some scattered reports of people being driven from their homes.
I've checked in with Lucia. She's doing great with Malleus.
She respects him more than she did me after the same amount of time. I think that's a good sign.
She's definitely up to no good. But she'll be fine.
This is getting boring, though. Just hanging around.
"Lydia?" I ask, my head still in her lap.
"Hm?" She's still reading her own book. Luckily, she hasn't yet noticed she's scratching behind my ears.
"While it's fruitful to have days in between excursions, I'm growing bored."
"What were you thinking about?"
"You know anything to do? Preferably something fighting?"
"This again about you being a dragon?"
I hadn't even thought of that. "Dunno? Just… restless."
An easy silence falls while Lydia thinks it over.
I don't know what she's thinking, but she is considering something.
"Perhaps a bounty?" Lydia proposes. "There's always bandits somewhere the Jarl doesn't want them to be, and sending guards on a multi-day campaign rarely works. Sometimes because of bandits finding out about it, or sometimes because screw-ups from the guardsmen who weren't trained for it."
"Don't the Companions usually take care of that?"
"Jarl only really asks them when the bandits are trying to kill people. They're too expensive otherwise."
"Perhaps it'd be nice to do a few. Keep us active, earn some gold, and help the hold at the same time."
"I'll go ask Uncle Balgruuf."
"I can do it myself, you know."
"And I'm your housecarl. Which means I act on your behalf. Humor me and let me pick something out?"
"Ah, why not."
A moment of silence falls.
"That also means you have to get your head out of my lap, though."
— A Dragon's Game —
Halted Stream Camp. That's where the bounty is. It's an Iron Mine, and it used to be a productive one. However, with the civil war, the mines in both Imperial and Stormcloak territory started producing more, and the market is flooded. The mine's owner had it temporarily shut down to save money, and some bandits have taken up residence there.
While there's no special bounty on any of the bandits, they're all outlaws, which means killing them is perfectly legal.
It's also nearly a day away. Without Oblivion Gate, we'd probably spend the night after clearing the camp, but we can just Gate back.
So we decide to leave early morning. Since it's directly north from the city, we spend some time right next to the city wall, but it falls away after half an hour, and we just walk straight through the hilly terrain.
The path that the mine used when it was in operation is short and just goes towards the road between Whiterun and Dawnstar. That's a day and a half instead of a full day, but making a whole new road is too expensive for a mere mine.
But when just on foot, we don't need a road, so the fast way it is. It should also allow us to scout the place out from a nearby hilltop.
With perhaps an hour of daylight left, we reach it.
Halted Stream Camp is just a hole in the ground, with a modest palisade around it. Some thought has been put in defense. There's even two guards, not that they spotted us.
This really shouldn't be a problem.
I think over my Conjuration spells. And actually… why not this one?
I focus and cast Conjure Dark Seducer. My magic rips a hole to one of Sanguine's Myriad Realms of Revelry, finds the daedra, and pulls her to me.
The binding takes hold, tying her will to mine. Mostly to stop her from killing me. Which essentially every unbound daedra would attempt.
She looks almost human. Her skin is ashen grey, but with a bluish tint that shows she's no Dunmer. She wears… armor, for a certain definition of the word. Definitely not mine, though. Then again, daedra aren't slain permanently, so presumably they don't care too much.
She's also got quite the wicked-looking mace in her right hand. Which is perfectly appropriate to her emotions.
Apparently, she's female enough for what do women want, despite being a daedra. Because right now she's angry at being enslaved to a puny mortal, and wants to work off that anger by killing something.
"What's your name?" I ask her.
"None of your business, mortal." She scoffs at me. "I guess I'm here to kill something?"
"Yes. You are winged, are you not?"
She feels surprised. Not that it shows on her face. "Of course. Every Mazken of respective rank is."
That's not entirely true. Actually, a near complete lie. Less than one in ten is winged, perhaps as few as one in fifty. No reason to call her on her bullshit, though. I nod at her. "Good. Lydia and I will go around the right of that fortress, where they have the gate. As soon as you hear the disturbance, you will attack on the other side. Kill all that aren't me or Lydia."
She pushes against my binding, but winces as she fails. She's disappointed about failing to break free, but not surprised. "Your binding is strong, mortal. I will do this."
I nod. I can support her theoretically forever. I reach out and tap her shoulder, casting Courage on her as well.
She jerks back for a moment, but then just looks confused, as she realizes what the spell does. "Why?"
I shrug. "I'd be annoying if you got dispelled by some unexpectedly powerful bandits halfway through your attack."
The Mazken scoffs at the notion.
I say. "Expect to attack in ten minutes at most. Get into position."
She forms bat wings on her back, and flies off.
I sigh. I thought it'd go without saying that I wanted a bit more stealth.
Apparently, I should be clearer when talking to daedra. Then again, this is the first time I summon one intelligent enough to speak with.
I look at Halted Stream Camp. They haven't noticed, as far as I can tell. I hope they're just not paying much attention.
— A Dragon's Game —
Lydia and I head towards the gate. I touch her with Courage as well.
No reason to take risks, after all.
When we get there, I open the fight with a Wind Blades at a watch post, who appears asleep on his post. Four blades of wind cut deep, almost killing him, but he wakes up with a shout of pain.
I cast another, and he dies, one of the green blades taking his head.
I hear more shouting, so I decide to open the gate with a barrage of Fireballs. It cracks after three, the fourth flying inside and exploding against a structure.
More shouts from the other side of the stockade signify the Mazken has also started her attack. With her wings, she won't have any issues getting where she needs to be.
Lydia heads in, and I follow close behind. She engages the rabble with melee weapons, while I focus on archers and mages.
There are few archers, and no mages capable of more than a Firebolt. Nothing that's scary to either of us, so I help Lydia thin the numbers, even taking out my sword for a bit.
The Mazken seems pretty happy with her job, gleefully pummeling bandits. Most die in one hit, though that orc needed two.
She's pretty fast, though. Dodges more than she blocks, so that she can keep attacking. Moving like water.
Before long, there's no bandit left on the surface. I have the Mazken put away her wings, and lead along with Lydia. I'll stay right behind them.
At the end of the path down, there's a single orc, who goes down fast. We take the only way forwards, another shaft sloped down towards the right.
At this point, the others have heard our attack, and they try to hold us at the bottleneck.
It's futile. The Mazken is stronger and faster than they are, and Lydia is much better trained, alongside her more minor superiority.
They easily break the enemy line, pushing into the cavern and giving me full opportunity to attack the bandits.
From there, it's more of a slaughter than a fight.
The last one falls, the Mazken's mace caving in her head.
"Well, that was quite easy." I say.
"These mortals were all very weak. I'd hoped for more of a fight." The Mazken supplies.
"It is what it is. I'm about to send you back. If I summon a Mazken another time, do you want me to grab you again?"
She shrugs. "If you have a real fight. Not something like this."
I nod. "I'll keep that in mind." I reverse the conjuration, and she disappears into a swirl of purple flames.
"She was actually nicer than I expected." Lydia remarks. "You know, aside from all the condescension."
I shrug. "She didn't actually mind that much. She had fun, even if she was disappointed in the opposition. She was keeping up a front to hide it. Do you like her enough for a potential re-summon?"
"Eh, why not." Lydia replies. "Could probably have been worse, and it's a good idea to summon females. It'll let you understand and handle them better."
"I hoped so. And I just want to say I'm glad we can do things without getting tangled up in some Daedric Prince's plots."
I head to the platform in the back of the cavern, finding their stash. There's some gold, and a big pile of iron ingots.
Also, a few jewels. Garnet, Ruby… I don't know what this white one is. I pick it up to have a closer look.
A loud female voice resounds inside my head. "A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON."
